At a sunny Intromarkt on Monday afternoon, prospective students scored gadgets and willingly absorbed information about sports and social life. But there was also room for volunteering, politics, Gaza and banned beers.

‘Hard and wet’, ‘splendour and glory’. Ambiguous puns are flying across the orientation market like so many balls in the many games on offer. While the sports and social club stands are bursting with visitors in the first hour of the orientation market, the stands of the social and political clubs are still rather quiet.

Students do have their priorities straight. Scoring free gadgets and sweets, cautiously exploring the student associations, getting information on housing, and joining the games of the major banks for the chance to win free tuition or some other cash prize – even if the odds of winning a toaster are much higher.

‘Are you planning to join an association?’, a new student asks his group mate. ‘Yes, but not at a Christian one,’ is the reply. The social club stands are located on the path between the Maria Montessori and Thomas Aquinas buildings. Two independent fraternities are sporting an Adt Meister that measures how fast you can down a beer.

Schultenbrau

A fraternity member stands under the stall, clumsily pouring Schultenbrau into a glass. This all has to do with Article 3, paragraph E, of the orientation market’s internal regulations, which states that alcohol is prohibited at the IntroMarkt.

Mind you, the regulations also specify that any gadgets handed out should be as sustainable as possible (Article 2, paragraph b), and it is unclear whether the free plastic water bottles from the Zaanse Schans supermarket (AH) that is still looking for staff meet this criterion.

All this is attracting raised eyebrows from the Radboud Green Office team, proclaiming their sustainable message a few metres further – with a club raffling off free air travel as their immediate neighbour. ‘There is clearly a field of tension here,’ is the apt response from a Green Office employee.

Housing shortage

Student housing provider SSH& has no rooms to raffle, only gadgets. ‘Unfortunately all we can do is listen to the students’ stories; we know it’s hard to find a room,’ says the spokesperson. ‘We do enjoy getting to know new students and telling them about our work. Beyond that, we can only advise them to keep actively looking for a room and build a network.’

Defence

One notable participant is the Ministry of Defence. You might say they are coming a bit late at an information market where students have already made their choice for the future. But they are promoting internship opportunities and their Civic Service Mission. ‘The aim is to empower young people and society by getting young people to volunteer,’ says staff member Anouk Hellingh.

Among the many fraternities and Christian associations, the socialist students of SSV Het Spook are the odd ones out. ‘Ah well, there are enough people showing interest,’ says student Justijn. He explains that while their political comrades are a long way down the road among the political association stands, Het Spook is there for the social activities of the socialists.

Dartboard

While we at the Vox staff are glad we didn’t come up with a game in which you can accidentally hit your thumb with a hammer – after all, our neighbours are the Bond tegen het Vloeken (Association Against Swearing) – a few stalls away, Nijmegen Encampment is getting a lot of attention and sympathy, despite their dartboard sporting a portrait of President of the Executive Board Alexandra van Huffelen and the caption ‘war criminal’. The pin with the watermelon is less intense by comparison.

As we reach the end of the market, between the Maria Montessori and Grotius buildings, Brouwers Bier is appearing less discreetly on the stands of the student associations. However, most of the nuisance is caused by the Dutch-language music blaring from the portable speakers, which for some reason was not banned.