Hello! Welcome to the 2002 edition of the RAG MAG, as always, a packed piece of particularly potent print! I’m Stuart, RAG's President, and it's my job to oversee everything that RAG does, and make sure that we don't break too many laws or attract the attention of the major international superpowers whilst raising money for charity. Well, apart from that one time with the Russians...but enough!
Let me tell you a story...
There are a couple of moments in life when you are happily and unsuspectingly mooching along and something about your life hits you unexpectedly, sometimes with force. Suddenly realising that you’re engaged, for example...that the piece of work is in fact due in this week, that you really did call that bloke a "f***ing stupid tw*t" after he got the £100 question wrong on Millionaire, and the massive guy behind you in the pub taps you on the shoulder and says, "Dat's my bruvver, pal...".
Stuff like that.
One of my big realisations was when I was elected as RAG President. It hit me that I was now involved as much as I could be in one of the biggest, most fun and worthwhile societies at Warwick University. Each year we raise astronomical amounts of money for charities both in the local area and nationally, and have one hell of a lot of fun doing it.
In the time I've been involved in Warwick RAG, I've come to see it as a kind of barbarian army with a heart. Much like the hordes of Genghis Khan, or the Vikings of yesteryear, we rampage around the country, raiding cities and large towns for money, spending the evenings drinking too much and attempting to ravish or be ravished by the locals (and each other). The 'with a heart' bit comes in when give the money to charity and refrain from burning the cities to the ground and raking the ashes with salt - if only so we can go back there the next year and do it all again.
RAG does a lot of crazy stuff on campus...RAG Week is seven days of sheer bedlam with people in lectures being brought roses and pints of beer (...and liberal quantities of flour, water, cling film and baked beans), all in the name of charity, of course. In fact, it’s amazing what we can get away with if we put our hands up afterwards and say "It's alright, it’s for charity!". Buggering off for alcoholic weekends in Dublin and Edinburgh, for example, or maybe even Paris. Oh, did I mention you have to hitch-hike there? Thought you might like to know...
All this is a good laugh, and of course it’s worth it for the money raised for charity, but there are a few people who put in a lot of time and effort (in a fun way) to organise and generally make sure that everything works out and no one dies.
They’re the RAG Exec, and in the words of the apparently immortal Tony the Tiger, “They’re grrreat!”. In this RAG Mag, you’ll hear a bit more from them about what they do for RAG, and how much they enjoy it. (In Alek’s case, maybe a bit too much.)
RAG stands for Raise and Give, and to break it down, we have a damn good time doing the ‘Raise’ bit, and then get a big kick out of the ‘Give’ bit. A plan, I think you’ll agree, with no drawbacks. There’re perks from being a member of RAG, too. You can get into events in the Students’ Union for free AND completely bypass the queues simply by doing an hour’s shift in the cloakroom, after which you’re free to enjoy the night, and of course there’s the bonus of being able to spray people with water and pelt them with flour and beans from the relative impunity of a large animal costume.
Not many societies offer that, you see. That’s why I can wholeheartedly say that if you get involved in RAG, it will make your time at university!
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