bathimpact Issue 1 Vol 13 by bathimpact

I predict a riot

B*nking

Comment page 8

Welcome to Bath

Business page 17

bite page 25

From the outstanding team who gave you a

Freshers’ Week, this is your student newpaper

bathimpact The University of Bath Students’ Union Newspaper

Monday 3rd October 2011

www.bathimpact.com

Sam Short

Volume 13 Issue 1

In this week’s bathimpact Bath: University of the Year! The University of Bath won the title, awarded by the Sunday Times. The acclaim was given for all round excellence, also demonstrated by the University’s position on the paper’s league table where Bath reached an all time high position of 5th in the country. See page 4 to read more

Two states or one big mistake? Amy Bradshaw takes a look at the situation in the Middle East as yet another resolution is tabled. The Palestinians have been bidding for independence for decades, will this peace? Or will the Americans just say no? See page 13 to read more

Freshers rock up and rock out Kylie Barton Editor in Chief impact-editor@bath.ac.uk

reshers of 2011 certainly showed their colours on campus last week. As always, the week of first year arrivals boasted an array of fantastic events, fine celebrities and frivolous freshers. The week went very smoothly thanks to all the hard work of those involved, including the Freshers’ Week Event Managers (FWEMs) headed up by Alix Chadwell. When asked about the week they said, “[It has been] a fantastic success. With the introduction of halls colours and the free t-shirts, it was amazing to see hordes of you walking across campus in your halls colours. With the late September heat

wave in Bath, the daytime events have been a complete success and we hope all you freshers have had an amazing week just like we have. The freshers crew, captains and sabbatical team also had major roles to play in ensuring the week went off without any problems. SU President David Howells commented, “Everyone should be incredibly thankful to the FWEMs who have outdone themselves this year”. As with all large events however, there were a few hiccups. Last year, the accommodation ‘crisis’ was the main focus of freshers’ week problems when nearly 60 students were forced to seek private accommodation after being promised a space in halls. This year, however, all seems to have been resolved. The larger Wood-

land Court residences have been made into shared rooms to accommodate more students, which has helped to avoid a repetition of last year’s drama. Day one of arrivals didn’t go as seamlessly as the team hoped, but for a whole different reason. A crash, resulting in closure on the M4, stopping many freshers from reaching university in time to collect their wristbands and meant that moving in day became moving in night for many. The FWEMs had a few problems with the delivery of the all-important tshirts that were the centre focus of the ‘Show Your Colours’ theme when the supplier’s printing machine broke down. Fortunately the tshirts arrived in the nick of time; each hall of residence had a

different colour, which spurred rivalry throughout the week. Additionally, on Tuesday night, Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills was at the centre of a technical hitch, when the electricity went down in the Sports Hall on the night of the beach party. Thankfully, it only lasted five minutes and, miraculously, the DJ mic was still working so the freshers didn’t seem to mind too much. Our radio station URB caught up with the man himself afterwards, you can listen to the interview at 1449urb.co.uk Freshers’ Week is the busiest time of year for almost all involved in campus life whether it is working in Fresh, organising security, recruiting volunteers or reporting on the week’s events. Continues on page 2

Separation is hard Our sex columnist takes an in-depth look into the hazards of long-distance loving. Moving to uni is a time you are yet to meet, but what about those you left behind? See page 5 of bite for the juicy bits

Bath’s champion team go karting The University’s go karting team, (we truly do have every sport here) have won the British University Karting Championship (BUKC) this summer. The winning team even had a photo op with F1 driver Mark Webber! See page 27 of Sport for more

Monday 3rd October 2011

bathimpact

Editorials Kylie Barton Editor-in-Chief

impact-editor@bath.ac.uk

Gemma Isherwood Deputy Editor

impact-deputy@bath.ac.uk

Cerian Jenkins News/Comment Editor impact-news@bath.ac.uk impact-comment@bath.ac.uk

Esther Osarfo-Mensah Features Editor impact-features@bath.ac.uk

Holly Narey bite Editor

impact-bite@bath.ac.uk

Jonathan Gleave Sport Editor

impact-sport@bath.ac.uk

Ben Hooper Publicity/Distribution

impact-publicity@bath.ac.uk

Magali Calabressi Treasurer

impact-money@bath.ac.uk

Jack Franklin impact-IT@bath.ac.uk

Nick Hill Secretary

impact-secretary@bath.ac.uk

Sam Short Social Secretary www.facebook.com/bathimpact www.bathimpact.com

Advertising Enquires Helen Freeman H.Freeman@bath.ac.uk 01225 386806

bathimpact Students’ Union University of Bath Bath BA2 7AY 01225 38 6151 01225 44 4061 The opinions expressed in bathimpact are not necessarily those of the bathimpact editors nor of the University of Bath Students’ Union. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this publication is correct and accurate at the time of going to print, the publisher cannot accept any liability for information which is later altered or incorrect. bathimpact as a publication adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Conduct. Please contact them for any information.

University of Bath Students’ Union

Printed by Harmsworth Press Ltd.

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Your student newspaper

We are the editorial team; here to make an impact

Kylie

Welcome to your student newspaper. My name is Kylie Barton and I am your Editor-in-Chief for 2011-2012. I am in my second year studying Politics with International Relations. I have recently completed some work experience for the BBC, am a long term member of the NUJ, through which I have attended several courses, am a political blogger and I love Lady Gaga and seafood. First of all, I would like to thank last year’s team who primped and primed us lot ready to take bathimpact to the next level. That process is now well and truly under way. This year’s team is make your student newspaper the best yet. Watch this space. As Editor, my goals for bathimpact this year are to increase participation, widen readership, build a new photo-

Ceri Hey, I’m Cerian Jenkins, a second year Politics with International Relations student and the News and Comment Editor for bathimpact. Writing about current affairs is a passion of mine; I run my own political commentary site, and am which, of course, is no rival for the mighty bathimpact. This year I am looking forward to cultivating a team of enthusiastic contributors, ranging ers, to work beside me to produce top notch News and Comment sections, focused not only on local and university news stories, but ing on wider issues. Comment promises an array of eclectic rantings, and I can’t wait to read what you guys come up with. Here’s to another year of bathimpact - perhaps the best year yet?

Continued from page 1 One of the biggest highlights was undoubtedly watching the newly elected sabbatical team let their hair down a bit. Or off in the case of VP Sport Chris ‘Clemmo’ Clements, who had his head shaved whilst sporting an orange mankini at one particularly rambunctious halls party. Other highlights included serious healthy competitive streak between halls in the campus challenge and the sun coming out for BBQs. There was also a fantabulous display of the University’s impressive variety of sports clubs. Hundreds of freshers signed

graph database, strengthen the news and activities sections, work to improve bathimpact.com and continue to make the newspaper as visually attractive as humanly possible - hence our mug shots on the left. Also of high importance this year is nurturing an already wonderful relationship with the sabbatical team. Last year’s team ran into some issues which we have now resolved. We are very much looking forward to working with the Students’ Union to make this year the best yet. I would also like to offer up a big making it through what was a splendid week. I hope mintyfresh was thoroughly enjoyed by all; we certainly had fun producing it! I encourage everyone this year to get involved to help myself and the team make an impact.

Esther My name is Esther Osarfo-Mensah, and I’m a second year Chemistry student and probably the biggest Doctor Who fan you’ll ever meet. Most people look forward to going out with real friends having a good time in the outside world and, as much as I love that too, I’d be just as ecstatic sitting in front of the TV getting my mind blown by the crazy adventures of Doctor Who. I’m also the Features Editor for bathimpact meaning I’m in charge of the Science, International, Business, Sabbs and Activities sections of the paper. I enjoy learning about random stuff, reading about how dwarf stars are made and despairing about how want to contribute to Features, it’s your ideas fascinating. If you want help put the paper together, you will be just as welcome.

up for an assortment of activities including snow sports, karate, and trampolining among many others. The School Disco event was highly successful, with many freshers commenting it was the best night, despite layed the start of the night by 20 minutes. Chesney Hawkes performed admirably, which mostly went down well, although it was clear that the act was over way before the time of many of the new arrivals. The UV party went off with the same success as previous years, with

Gemma

Hi there, I’m Gemma Isherwood, Deputy Editor and chief grammar extraordinaire at bathimpact. My job is to check the articles for mistakes, look at the pages before we send them to print to make sure they look lovely for you and generally be there to assist Kylie. It’s a very satisfying thing to be trusted with and I’m happy that last year’s and this year’s team think I’m up to it. I’m determined to help to make the paper even better this year. I’m looking at getting more content from a greater number of students and groups across the Union, so everyone knows bathimpact is full of useful, relevant information and a valuable resource for all students who want to make their voices

Holly I’m Holly Narey, a second year biologist and your bite editor. Last year saw the birth of bite and I hope that this year it will grow, becoming more than just a magazine. Bite currently covers the entertainment and student lifestyle sections of the paper and we’re looking to get students more involved in their paper, through gossip and rumour columns It is an opportunity for many of you to go out into the world and interview and review real artists. We’re also going to work this year on event organising to promote local acts. I’m looking for contributors and people to help put the magazine together, and if you think you’ve got the next great idea to take bite to the next level then come have a chat. Feel free to come up and say hi if you see me around campus, (probably in The Plug) help us expand the bite team and help to know what’s going on in Bath.

covered in face paint and glow sticks. At the end of it all, the SU President said, “This year’s Freshers’ yet, we are especially pleased that a lot of the really great new ideas have paid off and that freshers have really thrown themselves into the Show Your Colours theme, it is something we will consider continuing next year.” In addition to the ‘Show Your Colours’ theme another successful new addition to this years events listing was ‘Celebrities; Dead or Alive’. The night was headlined by tribute Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse support

heard. If you’re interested in helping with the layout, proofreading or just setting up a regular communication between us and you so we always have plenty of content, get in touch with me or the relevant Editor and we’ll see what we can do! Remember, we’re printed every fortnight and we shift 2,000 copies every time so it makes sense to use us as a platform to contact students. Oh, and for those of you who may wonder, I’m in my second year at the moment, studying Psychology and loving it. I also sit on the Media Exec as the Media Editorial Officer which basically involves keeping the radio station (URB), the tv station (CTV) and this wonderful paper all on the same page. Pun intended.

Jon Hi. I’m Jonathan Gleave, a fourth year Sports and Exercise Science student and your Sports Editor for the year. I was born and bred in London, however, I despise the use of words such as gov’ner and geezer. Anyone who thinks it’s remotely funny to go “You sound like you’re from Laaaandan maaaaate” - you are wrong. It is not and we will instantly fall out. Probably. Hopefully this year I will be able to give our more obscure sports a larger voice within the paper. The only affiliation I hold with regards to giving clubs coverage lies with the highest bidder... no, seriously, everyone should have a voice regarding their club and events, so just let me know if you’ve got a story to tell, want to get involved in taking sports photos, laying up the paper or know of something sporty that’s happening!

acts; students in attendance made a fabulous effort with the fancy dress, with some Michael Jacksons, a few Britneys re-using their uniforms from School Disco night and some very good Gaga attempts. The mintyfresh team would also like to thank all new arrivals for their hospitality and willingness to co-operate and for providing us with some fantastic content to create something which will no doubt be a wonderful way to remember Freshers’ Week 2011. Visit www.facebook.com/bathmintyfresh for all the highlights, photos and copies of mintyfresh

Monday 3rd October 2011

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News

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The England riots of summer 2011 Survey Cerian Jenkins bathimpact News Editor impact-news@bath.ac.uk

results T

his summer saw England erupt with a level of rioting not witnessed since the unrest of the early 1980’s. On Saturday 6th August, what started out as a peaceful protest at Tottenham police station over the death of Mr Mark Duggan quickly escalated into a mass of country-wide disturbances, resulting in 5 deaths and over 3,000 arrests. Mark Duggan was shot dead on 4th August by police during a specialist operation by Operation Trident, the unit which deals with gun crime in the African and Caribbean communities. At the time it was widely speculated, including by the mainstream media, that Mr Duggan was killed after shots were exchanged. The Independent Police Complaints Commission’s ballistics report, however, later revealed that there was ‘no evidence’ that a handgun found near Mr Duggan had actually been used. Although all reports stated that the initial protest was entirely peaceful, siles were thrown at police vehicles which were later set alight. The Lon4:30am they had received over 250 emergency calls relating to the riots,

Tomos Evans bathimpact Contributor he annual National Student Survey has released its results for 2011, revealing that student satisfaction

as the violence continued, including buses and shops being set alight. This was to be the start of mass turmoil across England. As well as property damage, the riots prompted widespread looting, Sports all affected. This fact remains a highly contentious element of the riots, with journalist, politicians and academics alike speculating about the psychology behind such actions. Some point to a capitalist society which conditions its members to be materialistically obsessed, others to a decline in society’s moral standards resulting in nihilistic and opportunistic tendencies and yet more to a frustrated generation indiscriminately venting their resentment. In the days which followed, the rioting spread within London, affect-

and the Walthamstow area, leaving ings and police facing copycat crimes across London. In a statement they said “small and mobile groups” of

3,000

Riot arrests

looters had been targeting areas of north, east and south London. Johnson, announced that they were cutting their holidays short, and as returned to deal with the situation., which had “demonstrably worsened”. Further rioting broke out across the country, spreading to major cities out-

bances. MPs were also recalled from their summer break for an emergency had happened since 2002, when MPs and peers returned in September to debate Iraq and weapons of mass destruction. The riots lasted until Wednesday 10th August and, since then, the prison population has risen by more than 1,000 due to the charges against those involved. One positive element of the riArmy’; a concept which went viral when London residents were pictured holding their brooms aloft in a show of solidarity as they started their massive clean-up operation which was organised largely through Twitter. For further debate about the UK riots, turn to pages 8 and 9.

Straus-Kahn still in the ‘merde’ Claudia Shute bathimpact Contributor

he allegations of sexual assault against former Director of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) have sent shockwaves through the French political elite. Charged with the sexual

May 2011, he faced up to 15 years imprisonment. The case has, however, been abandoned due to Diallo being an unreliable witness and he is free to return to France.

sex. Strauss-Kahn’s DNA was found charges and pleaded not guilty. Four

frontrunner is far from in the clear. A him in the US as well as a preliminary investigation in Paris, following jourtempted rape in 2003. DSK may have slipped the net this time, but is he off the hook? Arrested on 15th May in New York’s JFK Airport, minutes before quently imprisoned for ‘violent and deplorable acts’. Diallo claims a naked DSK emerged from the bathroom of his $3,000-a-night suite on 14th May and forced her to perform oral

million bail and a US$5 million government bond later, DSK was under house arrest in his luxurious apartment in Manhattan. man, no time was lost in searching Diallo’s background and detectives were sent to West Africa where she was born in order to trawl through her past. Flaws found in single, illiterate mother Diallo’s story damaged her credibility, such as lies on her asylum application and tax forms as well as changes in her account of the alleged

attack. The discovery of a phone call with an alleged drug dealer in which cial rewards of taking DSK to court, further jeapordised her case. DSK’s lawyers cited her motive to be purely solicitors revealed they had found a 23rd, New York judge dropped all sex crime charges against DSK. over for Strauss-Kahn. On returning to France he is under investigation for during an interview at his Parisian apartment in 2003. Writer and comfor eight years to protect her mother’s

future in the Socialist Party. It seems as though Strauss-Kahn’s ‘faux pas’ of the past have come back to haunt ing incidentally experienced ‘brutal’ albeit consensual sex with him two years earlier. Former mistress, MarieVictorine, described this ‘coureur de jupons’ as a ‘serial manipulator of women’ with ‘a huge sexual appetite’. Diallo’s new lawsuit claims DSK has assaulted women in ‘hotel rooms around the world’. So, what now for DSK’s future? A few months ago it seemed impossible for the resigned IMF Director to return to frontline politics, let alone join the presidential race. Yet senior members of the Socialist Party are beginning his rehabilitation and a poll revealed that 60 per cent of the party would vote for DSK were he to run for candidacy in their October elections. The Socialist Party’s reputation will no doubt be damaged and National Front leader Marie le Pen is likely focus on DSK’s past in the upcoming elections. As a possible liability to his party, will DSK take a step back from the lime light? At the age of 62, perhaps it is time to say ‘adieu’ StraussKahn and not just ‘au-revoir’!

have shot up from 86 to 91 per mains one of the highest rated universities in the country for now sixth in the national table; a whole eight points above the national average for universities. Pro-Vice-Chancellor

(Learning lighted to see the overall satisfaction rate of our students rise to such a high level” and credited rating with the close relationship between the institution and the ion. The results are a satisfying payoff for departments across the University and the SU; a good indication that there are 14,000 students who are very happy with their choice of establishment.

VIP fresher Gemma Isherwood bathimpact Contributor ucky fresher Rachael Dougherty must have had an awesome Freshers’ Week when she found out she was th lucky winner of this year’s new VIP wristband. All freshers who bought their wristbands, along with a combo pack, early were entered into the draw and the winner was chosen at random in the weeks before Freshers’ Week. Announced on 12th September, her winnings include a £50 food and drink voucher for use in the SU bar The Plug or our club The Tub, VIP entry and backstage access to every FW event for herself and a friend, a free NUS Extra card and an SU stash bag! On top of that, Rachael won guestlist entry to the first SU club night later this week, not a bad start to university life at all. Personally, I’d recommend spending that voucher for The

house doubles. Not that I spend too much time in there or anything.

Monday 3rd October 2011

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University of the Year Students’ Union Cerian Jenkins

Professor Glynis Breakwell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bath, said: “This is a prestigious honour and a fantastic achievement for Bath.

he University of Bath has been named ‘University of the Year 2011/12’ by the Sunday Times; one of the top newspapers in the world, with a readership of over three million. According to The Sunday Times, the honour is intended to recognise a university’s all-round excellence, encompassing a range of aspects of research, teaching, employability and the student experience. Alastair McCall, Editor of The Sunday Times University Guide, said, “Bath is a thoroughly deserving winner of our University of the

Year award for 2011/12. It provides a high-quality, distinctive university experience that is valued by students and employers alike.” The paper also provides a league table guide to British universities, in which the University of Bath has risen to 5th out of 122 UK universities and colleges. This is the highest position Bath has ever achieved. The table takes into account a number of criteria, including research quality, student satisfaction, academic peer review, degree results achieved, dropout rates and graduate employment levels.

commitment of the entire University community, both our staff and students, and is something we can all take great pride in. “We have always been committed to the pursuit of excellence in our research, teaching and learning and so it is particularly pleasing to have this recognised and rewarded at a national level. “We attract real academic high75 per cent of our entrants coming with grades of at least AAB or equivalent, reinforcing our position in the top rank of UK universities.” The formal announcement of the award was published in the paper on Sunday 11th September.

wins Gold Award Tomos Evans bathimpact Contributor

ath University Students’ Union has recently been honoured with a Gold award by the Student’s Union Evaluation Initiative (SUEI). Bath is one of only four institutions in the country to receive the award, making your Union one of the absolute best there is. The SUEI is a National Union of Students sponsored scheme which aims offer guidance to students’ unions in serving their students in the best way possible. An SU is judged against criteria such as engagement, representation and support, democracy and organisation. Ratings by by staff and students alike in making our SU as impressive as can be. On receiving the award, SU President David Howells said “We are absolutely thrilled to get this award

and it encourages us to keep moving forward with innovative and inspirational ways of supporting and representing our students.” The overall Gold award given to the students’ union comes with two Gold awards from SUEI (for Parade and Elements), and a Gold ‘Green Impact’ Award. Chief Executive Ian Robinson added “This prestigious tion and commitment of the Union’s staff and students who provide such excellent service and advice to our 14,000 members. We are all very proud to have been recognised for the hard work we do representing students and helping them get the most out of their time at University.” So there you go, our Students’ Union is one of the best in the country - and with the great recent updates to our bar and nightclub, we

NHS reforms go ahead? Vote for your Academic Rep Simon O’Kane bathimpact Contributor

he coalition Government’s controversial Health and Social Care Bill, which seeks to implement radical reforms to the National Health Service in England, was passed by the House of Commons on Wednesday 7th September. Currently, the NHS in England is run by 151 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), such as Bath and North East Somerset NHS Trust. The PCTs are overseen by ten Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), each of which covers one of the nine Regions of England. In addition, there exist NHS Foundation Trusts, which are independent of the PCT/SHA structure. Under the proposed new system, all PCTs and SHAs will be abolished and the entire NHS restructured into Foundation Trusts run by clinical consortia, which will consist of doctors, nurses and other NHS staff. The consortia will be responsible for allocating the majority of the NHS budget and able to buy services from ‘any willing provider’; that is to say any part of the NHS, private companies or voluntary organizations. The money is allocated to the consortia by a national commissioning board, which will also be directly responsible for allocating the budget for specialist services such as neurosurgery. The aim is to make the NHS more and reducing bureaucracy, while also giving the different Foundation Trusts and consortia more autonomy by reducing regulation and oversight.

David Howells bathimpact Contributor

T Proponents of the Bill believe that the new system will take decision-making away from bureaucrats and give it to doctors and nurses who are closer to patients and know more about the day-to-day realities of the service. Prime Minister David Cameron has said that, given the country’s ageing population, increasing obesity levels and the rising cost of care, the NHS will become unaffordable if it is not Opponents of the reforms, including the opposition Labour Party and the left-wing campaign group 38 Degrees, believe that they will not in fact reduce bureaucracy at all, as the consortia will outsource the day-to-day commissioning to consultancies or existing professional commissioning bodies from other countries, with the consortia only playing an overseeing role. Critics also believe that the emphasis on competition will fragment what was previously an integrated health service and that private companies will “cherry pick” the most

resourced NHS to cope with the more The Bill has been a source of political tension within the coalition government; after the Liberal Democrats’ spring conference voted to condemn the Bill, a two-month “listening exercise” was announced in which a number of concessions were offered, including a delay in the pace of reforms, the creation of additional overseeing bodies and Government opposition to Tory backbencher Nadine Dorries’ proposed amendment, which would have banned abortion providers from counseling pregnant women. As a result, the majority of Lib Dems voted through the bill in the Commons, with four voting against and ten abstaining; Bath MP Don Foster was among those in favour. Shirley Williams, Lib Dem leader in the House of Lords, remains a prominent critic. The British Medical Association has been more forthright in its criticism, while the Royal College of Nursing has called on Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to resign.

his week sees the opening of nominations for the positions of Academic Rep across the University. These posuiitions involve representing all students from your particular course and elections are held annually within each department, typically with one or more Reps for each year/course combination. The system covers all undergraduate courses as well as postgraduate and learning partnership courses. Academic Reps sit on departmental Student Staff Liaison Committees (SSLCs), representing their peers and providing feedback from other students on all aspects of their experiences of their course. The success of the Academic Rep system can be evidenced by this year’s impressive National Student Survey results, with the University of Bath ranked amongst the top institutions for listening to its students. One former Academic Rep commented on the value of the experience by saying, “It gives you a unique opportunity to engage with students as well as developing your own skills”. This year the Students’ Union will be looking once again to improve participation and turnout in

the elections. Last year saw a 108% increase in voter turnout, with 1853 students casting their votes online, but this still fell short of the impressive turnout for Sabbatical When asked about his hopes for this year, Matt Benka, VP Education, said, “The Academic Rep tunity in the year for students to take ownership of their education. It is my hope and expectation that we will see even greater number of students getting involved in these elections, especially given that we are moving into the environment of £9,000 fees next year.” Voting in all departments is open next week from Monday 10th October to Friday 15th October; students can vote online at bathstudent.com/elections. For more information on standing or voting in Academic Rep elections students should contact the Advice & Representation Centre (academicreps@bath.ac.uk) or see bathstudent.com for full details of all upcoming Students’ Union elections.

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Bath graduate wins The Apprentice Alice Oakley bathimpact Contributor

teacher brought in a class rule that any spelling mistake found in an essay had to be written out correctly 20

e all know that the University of Bath turns out the best graduates with the highest potential and best chance of success in life. Just look at Justin King, the current CEO of Sainsbury’s; Amy Williams, Britain’s skeleton gold medalist at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games; and Stewart Till, Chairman of United International Pictures - just a few of the University of Bath’s impressive alumni. Add to this list Tom Pellereau, who graduated from Bath in 2002 with a First Class honours in our MEng in Innovation and Engineering Design, and has gone on to be crowned the winner of the seventh series of BBC1’s The Apprentice. After eleven demanding tasks and four gruelincredible prize of a £250,000 business partnership with self-made millionaire Lord Sugar. It was certainly not an easy ride for Tom, however, who had an appalling record of eight losses during the three-month series, landing him in the boardroom three times. Yet Tom kept persevering and

100 mistakes, which made for a lot of extra homework!”. As a result, Tom evidently learnt very early on that hard work and con-

Bath MechEng Graduate Tom developing throughout the process, proving that, in his own mum’s words, “if you’ve always been a trier, you’ll eventually get through.” This struggle in The Apprentice is nothing new for Tom, who has had to and overcome challenges due to dyslexia. In an interview with the BBC, Tom revealed that he has always struggled with English and languages at school, but fortunately for him his early on and provided extra lessons. He remembers how “a new English

potential; his amazing success is now proof that determination and persistence will always pay off, an example that we should all strive to follow. In Tom’s own words, “the best way to double your success rate is to treble your failure rate. So you’ve got to keep on trying, keep on pushing”. Furthermore, Tom demonstrates that dyslexia does not have to be a hindrance in life, and even credits his dyslexic mind as the source of his creative thinking, innovative thought process and drive. He says, “I discovered I could do things better than other people. If I had an idea, I could visualise it in my brain and spin it around. Not everyone can do that. Dyslexia for me has always been a massive positive.” This creative and innovative mind led Tom to develop

at the University of Bath, an S-shaped which has sold in chain stores across the country and will now continue to grow as a fantastic product with Sugar. Tom is proof that dyslexia can not and does not prevent people from obtaining their goals and, in fact, many of the world’s most successful men and women are dyslexic. It is extremely common in the business world; research undertaken by Cass Business School even shows that ento suffer from dyslexia. In fact, dyslexia has been no barrier to success for Lord Sugar himself, who has accumulated a personal formillionaire Richard Branson, who is now the 212th richest person in the world, according to Forbes, and runs 300 companies through the Virgin Group, is also dyslexic. Nevertheless, far from seeing his dyslexia as a handicap, Branson says: “Being dyslexic can actually help in the outside world. I see some things clearer than other people do because I have to simplify

things to help me and that has helped others.” One can now hope that Tom Pellereau and many more Bath graduates in the future can follow in these entrepreneurs’ footsteps to achieve enormous success, whatever obstacles they may have to overcome on the way. with university workloads due to a battle with dyslexia, there is plenty of help on offer. You can visit www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk, the biggest dyslexia charity in the UK, which provides a wide range of services to people of all ages who have dyslexia and struggle with literacy. Moreover, students with dyslexia at a university in the UK can apply for a Disabled Student’s Allowance, which can help towards buying equipment such as a tape recorder and cassettes for recording lectures, a laptop, an electronic spellchecker or the cost of photocopying. If you are - or think you may be dyslexic, the University of Bath offers Student Disability Advice. To book an appointment or talk to an advito www.bath.ac.uk/studentservices/ services/contacthere.

Results system struggles PoLIS unveiled Charlotte Stone bathimpact Contributor

e understand that many students are trying to access your results. Please bear with us and try again later tonight. That was the message rolled out to many frustrated students this year, as SAMiS proved it was, once again, unable to cope with the apparently overwhelming number of both undergraduates and postgraduates trying to access their results. ”Students may have been prepared for their results but SAMiS certainly wasn’t!” exclaims second

year French and Italian student Sam Miller. Indeed, the University of Bath’s results were released two days early, begging the question as to why such a decision was taken when the system clearly was not in a position to handle it. This hasn’t been the only problem that students faced, however, when trying to meet pressing hand-in deadlines. Many final years were confronted with the issue of the library printers also failing to keep up with demand, as dissertations were simply ‘disappearing’ in the printer queue at the beginning of May, leaving stressed students at a loss con-

cerning their final year submissions. Again, this isn’t the first time students have been faced with such problems With the recent introduction of higher tuition fees, along with the highly contested sports fee, students of the University of Bath will be looking for value for money in improvements within the Bath University Computing Services as well as other University Departments for the next batch of module results. SAMiS: Student and Applicant Management Information System? More like SAMiS: Simply A Most Infuriating Situation!

n 1st August, the Department of European Studies and Modern Languages (ESML) ceased to exist. Instead, it has been unveiled under the new title of the Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies (PoLIS). After years of lengthy discussion, the Department has finally changed its name in a move aiming to reflect more widely the range of subjects and courses it teaches, which include Modern Languages and European Studies, Politics with Economics and Politics with International Relations. The change was commented

on by the Acting Head of Department, Dr David Clarke, who said that “our name change reflects the Department’s global focus”. The amendment in title acknowledges the large proportion of students who study politics as part of their course. Recently the department was ranked fifth in the country by the Sunday Times for its teaching of politics, ahead of institutions such as Durham, UCL and St. Andrews. The change in the department’s name also comes with the launch of a new departmental webpage which can be found at www.bath. ac.uk/polis.

Bath homeless shelter plans scrapped Tomos Evans bathimpact Reporter

ath and North East Somerset council has put a stop to plans for a homeless shelter

tion from the public and local businesses. Councillor Tim Ball, Cabinet Member for Homes and Planning, said the plans drawn up by the previous administration did not have planning permission, and the £3million required to be provided

by the council represented an exclimate. Julian House, a local homeless charity involved in the project, estimates that around 40 people in Bath sleep rough every night, whether on the city’s streets, using someone’s provided by the Julian House night shelter. This shelter is currently the only one of its kind in Bath, and would have been replaced by the proposed -

pansion of the facilities available to those sleeping rough in the city. The shelter, which was to be housed within a Grade II listed building on James Street West, was originally estimated to have catered for 60 people, although the Liberal Democrats now claim that it’s more likely that the capacity would have been around 25. The Conservative party, who initiated planning during the previous administration, describe the project’s cancellation as “totally unacceptable”, with Les Kew, Shadow

Cabinet member for Homes and Planning, labelling it “an issue of major concern to residents and businesses in the city”. The council withdrew from the development following the demand for an investment of £3million, in addition to the £2million applied for by the housing charities from the Homes and Communities Agency. Tim Ball now says he is looking for a “realistic report” from the scrutiny panel about what the council can do to tackle the issue of people forced to sleep on Bath’s streets.

Monday 3rd October 2011

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Summer redevelopment takes place in SU

VP Sport Chris Clements keep us up-to-date on the changes made in our bar and nightclub

f one thing is for sure, it is that students will always be up for a good night out. Over the last two years the clubs in town have realised the value of the student pound to the extent that we have student nights - of varying quality - almost every night of the week; many offering discounts. This has had an impact on your Students’ Union. In previous years, students would queue up on a Monday to buy a ticket to the Wednesday and Friday nights. Due to the increased options in town, however, these numbers fell and eventually petered out, leading to last year’s Friday night, Theory, to be prematurely stopped. You may wonder what this has to do with you. Well, a lot actually. The Union funds the paper that you are reading and the radio you are listening to. It funds the 130 groups, societies and sports clubs you can join. It makes it possible for you to get free advice, representation and training. It is the Union that runs Freshers’ Week and the Summer Ball. We are a registered charity and it is important to be aware that the success

of the bar and club is linked with the Union’s funds and therefore what we are able to offer to enrich your experience here. Last year we had three club nights and unfortunately only one (Score) remained successful. Not un-related, we have had to make some very difficult cuts this year. So the success of the bar and the club nights matters to every one of us who is committed to making your time at Bath as amazing as possible That said, we’re not expecting charity. We recognise that you need and deserve entertainment that you genuinely enjoy. So, as a student-led Students’ Union, we listened to you and made some changes: 97% of you said leave Score alone: so we have 94% of you said drop the name Theory: so this year, get ready for Fuzzy Ducks! 90% wanted a new name for Elements: so we renamed it 90% of you said drinks were too expensive: we’ve done the research and believe that not only are our prices competitive, but also as low as they can go

87% wanted a club night on a Saturday: so there is one 70% said Elements and Plug could do with a facelift: The Plug is now a much cosier space for you to socialise and The Tub (which used to be Elements) has also seen some major changes. We’re introducing discounted ‘Sundown deals’ on food and drink for most of the week; Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 till 7pm, Wednesdays from 3:30pm and on Fridays you’ve got ‘Weekend Warm-Up’ with massive drinks discounts and 20% off food! Some of you might also notice other changes around campus, with Parade being redeveloped, and Fresh and the Student Centre Shop receiving an upgrade. The Students’ Union reception area has unfortunately been closed, but watch out for developments on level 2 of the Student Centre in the coming year. We have done everything possible to give you what you want and we hope you have a really great year. Keep in touch with me and let me know what you think. After all, it’s your Union and your bar!

Elements no longer, this is The Tub

Brand new bar: welcome to The Plug

The Fresher Guide to Survival Jonathan Gleave Sport Editor impact-sport@bath.ac.uk

eaving home for the first time is never easy and, for a lot of you, this will be the first time you’ve flown the family nest and had to make it on your own. Be comforted, though, this new found independence will probably only last three weeks because as soon as you discover you can’t cook, you can’t clean and you can’t function on your own, you will go running home to Mummy and Daddy to do your laundry for you. Admittedly, if you are one of those who have taken a ‘gap yah’, then this will be the second time you’ve left home for a prolonged period of time and the transition won’t be quite so hard. Although actually having to do some work and learning how to operate a shower again will prove challenging. Incidentally, for those of you who have taken gap years, the best way to make friends is not to start every sentence with ‘This one time, on my gap year…’. Once all the partying is over and you’ve tried (and failed) to

Beautiful, isn’t it? Doesn’t mean you can’t get lost here. have sex with everything in your halls that moves, you’ll actually have to do some work. So let me help you out a bit and take you through your first proper day of Uni... The first thing you will notice on your first day of lectures is that you feel like you’ve just gone twelve rounds with a very angry grizzly bear. This is called Freshers Flu. Well done, muppet, that’s what a week of drinking and not sleeping will do to you - get used

to it and man the fudge up! Within your halls you may have become the awesome one who’s really funny, always wears flip flops and is everyone’s best friend. As soon as you leave your halls for your first day of lectures, however, you are essentially the food chain equivalent to a dung beetle. You are a fresher and, although I’m sure you are lovely, everyone can spot you a mile off. You will look like you’ve just gotten out of bed (because you have), smell like

you’ve skipped the morning shower (because you have) and will be a slightly horrible shade of yellow (because you’ve got jaundice). We won’t be mean to you or anything; we will just stare at you in such a way that suggests we’re better than you. We may also point at the Freshers’ Week wrist band you’ve left on (because it looks cool, obviously) and go “Aw, look at the wee diddy fresher!”. After a few minutes of venturing outside, you will discover that you don’t actually know where you’re going. You will be left up on parade five minutes after the start of your first lecture still trying to get your bearings. The only people left on parade with you will either be other freshers, equally as lost as you, or fourth years like myself who, rather than write dissertations, would rather pull up a seat outside the library and laugh at you as you ask for directions to buildings you’re stood right in front of. We will, eventually, help you. If you do ever find that first lecture, you will notice a number of things. There will be ‘that funny guy’ who tries to crack a joke

within the first minute in front of everyone. He may seem like a jovial chap right now, but after a few weeks he will just get on your nerves. There will be the ridiculously hot girl/guy (every course has at least one - except mechanical engineering) who you will fancy, but will never go out with you. This is because you sit next to them every day trying your best to work your way in but continually forget you’ve skipped your morning shower and subsequently smell like a hobo’s knob sack. Then there will be the loner who is sat on their own in the corner. If you sit on your own, in the corner, on your first day then I’m afraid to say that this is you. Don’t be shy - you will make some of the best friends of your life at university, you just need to put yourself out there! At the end of a really not-sohard day’s work, you will retire to your halls, attempt to make some food, fail to make some food and end up having a pot noodle. It’s all right though, just two weeks and six days until you run out of clean clothes and food and get to go home.

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A new night, A summer of rioting: a new start T Imogen Ware bathimpact Contributor

count myself as one of those rather lucky students who managed to repel the requests from home and decided to stay in Bath for the summer. Though I will not discuss the merits of this decision right now, it is noteworthy because it left myself

week. Instead we can have two, and they can be better. This is the decision which resulted in the removal of Theory and ComePlay and the arrival of Fuzzy Ducks. A strong sabb team have spent their summer hell-bent on making it work this year. And not just

Sometimes, change comes in the form of a duck in sunglasses and bathimpact privy to all the steps that have led to the refurbished bar, the new club night and the vast changes to the ents programme. Over the last two years the Students’ Union has endured hard times at the bar and has often struggled to find the right balance on both its club and non-club nights. Flirt lasted 18 months and Theory lasted only six. Both were not particularly popular and hugely dropped off in numbers for many of their last nights. So what makes Fuzzy Ducks any different? Should we be prepared for the same thing to happen again? In short: No. This summer the Union has discovered a new flexibility in the way they run bars and ents. Willing to admit that in the past running a club has not been our forte, we’ve brought in the big guns. Fuzzy Ducks is run by the same guys who run ‘SecondBridge’, arguably the most popular club in town. More than that, the night itself is not a new incarnation for them. It’s been selling out in Oxford for years, where it has earned a reputation as the place-to-be for students. BUSU have realised it’s quality not quantity. We do not have to run three club nights. Students simply do not want to go to the same club that many times in a

one night. They want it ALL to work. I have seen them pour all their efforts into it and I know that they considered a multitude of options for everything from names to prices to furnishings. And I am impressed. Most of the changes made to the bars are fairly obvious. Gone is ‘Elements’, a name that bore no relevance to anything, and gone is its village hall feel; here is ‘The Tub’. New furniture in The Plug and booths in The Tub create a more club feel and bring the club bang up to date. A 3m HD screen in The Plug makes it great for sports and Sundown Deals make it worth eating there for the first time in years. They have even gone as far as to rethink the way that bar staff are trained. As if all these changes were not enough, there is a cherry on the icing on the cake. The cherry is the student body. The sabbs played their part but it would be misleading to suggest these ideas were all their own. They asked students all the right questions and then did the right thing with all the answers. This is finally a sabbatical team that is more than willing to listen to its students. It is willing to follow them. Ours is a student bar. Led by the students, for the students. I am not sure we have been able to say that before.

he UK riots this summer left hundreds of innocent citizens fleeing their homes, abandoning their possessions and fearing for their lives. Many watched their streets turn into a war zone with teenagers and adults alike looting, vandalising and ultimately destroying the city in which they live. Five people were killed and historic buildings were burnt to the ground. There have since been over 3,000 arrests and 1,000 people have been charged and sentenced. The riots began in Tottenham after 29-year-old Mark Duggan was shot dead by police. The reaction to this escalated to five days of violence throughout the UK. The riots were co-ordinated quickly and targets identified within hours, implying that the speed at which the violence moved was the work of gangs using social networking sites and BlackBerry Messenger to organise themselves. The suggestion that the riots

were the result of excitable teenagers being led astray by the chaos around them is prevalent and accurate. The violence was, in my opinion, an immoral and uncontrollable act by bored teenagers with nothing better to do, with no-one watching over them and in no fear of the law. Although some parents have reported their own children to the police, many appear to have taken no interest, with one 14-year-old girl turning up to her court hearing unaccompanied. Despite the horrors of these attacks, there have been many complaints that the sentences have been too harsh. Have we forgotten those that have lost their homes, businesses and livelihoods? If there were a true cause that these youths were fighting for, we would possibly be more sympathetic towards their punishments. As there seems to be no true consensus apart from an opportunity to cause trouble, I am in full support of the court decision to send a ‘tough message’. One question many would like

answered is where were these children’s parents during those violent days? Many parents work full-time and, although it is unlikely that a teenager would have a babysitter, the situation still begs the question of the whereabouts of these children’s’ morals and respect for their community. One could easily argue that these riots were the result of negligent parenting and the bandwagon effect of the UK’s gang culture. The effects of these horrific days for the UK go beyond targeting gang culture, but we must also look to the parents and the moral education of those children who have destroyed the lives of so many. We must also question the work of the authorities who displayed a complete nonexistence of leadership and of any strategy to stop the rioting. Why was BlackBerry messenger not shut down? Why was facebook not contacted? The extremity of these riots could have been prevented and a serious re-evaluation of the police and the judicial system is obviously in great need.

Bath graduate talent Sabrina Earnshaw Charlie Gillis bathimpact Contributors

fter completing four years at Bath, many graduates choose to continue their studies and complete a Masters. The question is: why choose Bath for a second time? counts for a large part of the decision process: a Bath graduate receives a 10% discount, which really does make a considerable impact. It can’t be just that which keeps people coming back, though, what about the wealth of opportunities Bath has to offer? A Masters course has to be looked at as an investment and you have to make sure you can cash in on getting a return; job potential and employability are key. Bath’s strong focus on for many and a strong contender in the league tables. In fact, when asking graduates about their experiences, proved tellingly popular. There are a number of programs on offer which span a wide-range of employment sectors; from Management to Translation to Sports Physiotherapy, meanthing that will suit your tastes. The beautiful city of Bath itself is also a strong attraction - not too big and not too small, it has everything you need and a great atmosphere. Our

nightclubs may be a bit cramped and perhaps we don’t have some of the delights a bigger city could offer, but tastic cocktail, a good restaurant and will always be surrounded by friendly people. This familiarity of a city does make it easier when the work load is tough and there is little time to settle in, hence many graduates who choose to study at Bath also look to settle permanently in the area. It doesn’t come as a surprise, therefore, that Bath’s Chamber of Commerce recently stated that graduate retention “was now widely accepted as a priority” (108th AGM). Still, you might be reading this article whilst queuing up to get your CV checked by the Careers Centre for the hundredth time, asking yourself

why on earth no students you know manage to actually stay in Bath after graduation. Much to your despair, a number of graduates keep mumbling that Bath is “the graveyard of ambition”. So are you ready to take a pay cut to shy away from the bright lights of the London tube? Probably not! Bath needs to capture and keep the full potential of its talented graduates. With many upcoming projects, the city should start working more in conjunction with the University, offering more internships with local companies and, even though the University’s main recruitment area is academia, what about headhunting and recruiting students straight from graduation? We could be offered the one of the many opportunities to develop new projects during the space of an academic year. The University offers so much supmany useful services to a graduate. As a smaller University, you can feel part of something and have a more personal experience. Personally, we do sometimes feel that I’m being left behind and should be moving away from Bath. When I get out the train at Bath Spa Station, however, and think about what we can gain through doing this Masters, the feeling quickly disappears and we know we made the right decision. We want more students to be able to feel like this.

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Aga Jezierska bathimpact Contributor

on’t worry, this isn’t going to be yet another piece trying to convince you that what happened between August 6th and 10th on this island was a breath of the wind of change coming from the Middle East, nor will it be romanticising the rioting criminals. This is about, to take the words of the Youtube legend Pauline Pearce, ‘getting it real‘. About realising that if the authorities were ‘getting it civilians, over 180 injured police lion worth of property damage and

more than 100 homes destroyed. Not to mention the future potential economic decline brought to the looted areas by a lack of investment from wary businesses. Don’t misunderstand me. I‘m not forgetting that the damage was done by rioters or that they are the ones responsible for it. The continuing arrests, charges and courts proceedings will ensure that they will be held to account for their criminality. No doubt about that. But in this whole situation it is worth getting straight that if the authorities asserted their power the way would not be any criminal acts to

Pauline Pearce, who spoke out against the rioters in Hackney

Anthony Masters bathimpact Contributor iddle Eastern autocracies, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, made attempts last year to ban the use of Blackberrys within their borders. The BBC reported that this was because Saudi Arabian authorities “object to the devices because they operate an encrypted message service meaning that communication from Blackberry devices cannot be monitored”. The government of Uganda recently gave orders to Internet Service Providers to shut down social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, stating that “the opposition was planning to incite violence and prepare the youth for armed insurrection”. Social media, Blackberry in particular, has been blamed for the organisation of the riots in London and other major English cities. Prime Minister David Cameron gave a speech to Par-

information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill. And when people are using social media for violence we need to stop them”. When social media has allowed the ian regimes, allowing people to coordinate mass action, it has been treated as a liberator and positive to the freedom of all people. When such meth-

ods are used in a liberal democracy to commit crimes, however, social media has been viewed as a danger to those very same freedoms, and in desperate need of state oversight. The salient point about attempts by any government to control communication between individuals is that they almost always fail. The Chinese government has gone to extraordinary lengths to stop people associating freely, removing phone lines when people organised demonstrations by telephone and now banning the use tered the entire Internet access with the country, creating what is known as the “Great Firewall of China”, and censored newspapers to attempt to remove any reference to the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests and other information which the government believes will result in a seditious sentiment amongst its people. The powerful State Administration of Radio, Film and Televsion (SAFRT) feature time travel, since such shows “casually make up myths, have monstrous and weird plots, use absurd tactics, and even promote feudalism, superstition, fatalism and reincarnation”. Despite these strict practises of censorship, there is a huge black mar-

arrest, charge and jail for.As many people have since pointed out, if police had stopped those looting initially, people would not have been brave enough to continue. Richard Bowes, Haroon Jahan, Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir did not have to die defending their local properties. They would not need to defend their local communities if, as the Met Police wrote, the police focused more on executing their responsibility ‘to ensure that the inhabitants keep the peace and obey the law’ rather than on confusing themselves with exaggerated Political Correctness. Given the scale of disorder and criminality, the fears over breaching human rights while using more adequate and effective community protection methods cally, worrying about rioters’ human rights exposed local citizens to breach of their rights to life, security and respect at their own homes. Let’s just ‘get it real’ - the riots happened because they were ‘allowed’ to happen. Does the situation not bring the realisation of the importance of

‘getting it real’, doing it right and taking responsibility for your own actions? Would not the world be a beautiful place if we all did? Politicians would build moral backbones for society and set examples by not getting involved in expenses or phone hacking scandals, police ofians and punish the bad guys, angry citizens would not resort to rioting and looting to vent their various frustrations.

ket for many of the items banned by SAFRT and proxy websites are used to allow people to access restricted information on the Internet. Whilst it is obviously terrible that criminals have used Blackberrys and other networks to organise their riots and looting, before the advent of the internet and social networking, such activity was organised by personal meetings. It is already illegal to incite riots and other crimes, whichever medium such incitement occurs on, as Paul Chambers discovered when he was convicted for tweeting in jest “Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!!”. We also mustn’t forget that the organisational power of Twitter and Facebook were put to a positive use following the riots, letting people plan the clean-up that was necessary. It

should also be noted that there was far more response to the clean-up organisation than there was to the incitements earlier in the week. The power to disconnect people from social networks can only take two forms; either a targeted removal

We should ‘get it real’. Some say the state has so far invested very little in teaching the skills that could help people make a contribution to society. I disagree. I would say that so far it has inper year and will increase this inDo not waste that money. ‘Get it real‘- think. If we are studying for a cause, let’s study for a fucking cause.

“

This is fucking reality. Allow out the fucking burning of property. Allow out burning people’s shop that they work hard to start their business. You understand? This is about a fucking man who got shot in Tottenham, this ain’t about having fun on

”

the road and busting up the place. Get it real.

Pauline Pearce

individuals would need to be identias a preventative measure and could only be applied whilst a riot is in blanket ban would stop the ability of innocent people to communicate, a collective punishment hardly in keeping with the tradition of British justice. To blame Blackberry for these riots is totally absurd – it is rather like blaming radio for bad music. In the weeks following the riots, the New York Times said that Cameron’s proposal to stop those who used social networking as means to achieve

Blackberry Messenger: should it have been shut down?

such ends was an “appalling violation of civil liberties and a threat to public safety”. The Xinhua News Agency, the largest news entity in China, reported that this proposal represented “[t]he British government, once an ardent advocate of absolute Internet freedom, has thus made a U-turn over its stance towards web-monitoring” and that “a balance needs to be struck between freedom and the monitoring of social media tools”. Following this from the idea, stating that it “did not seek any additional powers to close down social media networks” and that it wanted to “build on the existing relationships and co-operation”. It should be a shock that this policy was even being considered in a free and open society. It is also rather incoherent, given the Coalition’s commitment to civil liberties, and that mobile and internet communication is being encouraged in other areas of government policy, such as e-Petitions. Blackberrys and other internet phones empower people, giving them access to an ocean of information at which to speak to the world. Thomas Jefferson famously said “The liberty of speaking and writing guards our other liberties” and thus we should guard our right to speak freely, through whatever medium we choose.

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Bean bags in the Student Centre, anyone? Simon O’Kane explains why the Student Centre could do with one more improvement

sing my knowledge as a Physics graduate, I have come to the conclusion that the Student Centre should have beanbags. To explain how I arrived at this conclusion, I need to tell you about sound waves. All waves travel in a certain direction and carry energy in that direction by moving the material through which the wave travels in a manner that is periodic in both space and time. That’s quite a mouthful, so imagine, if you can, a sine or cosine function moving along its axis; the value of the function varies periodically in both space and time. That’s basically what a wave is. Now, there are two basic types of wave. Waves on the beach or created by a “wave machine” are transverse waves, where the material moves at right angles to the direction in which the wave travels. Sound waves on the other hand are longitudinal waves, where the material moves in the same direction (or opposite) to that of travel, resulting in regions where the material is compressed, separated by regions where it is stretched. You can see both types of wave for yourself by vibrating a spring in different ways. In mathematics, waves are rep-

resented by - you guessed it - sine and cosine functions. The output of the sine function represents different things depending on type of wave in question; for water waves it simply represents the height of the water, for sound waves it indicates the pressure of the air or whatever else the sound wave is travelling through, while for light and other electromagnetic waves (radio waves, microwaves, heat, ultraviolet rays, X-rays etc.), the sine function strength. The maximum value (for example, the crest of a water wave) is called the amplitude. Now we have a mathematical representation, I can explain the principle of superposition: if there are two or more waves in the same place, just add them together. Sound waves illustrate these properties in everyday life. Imagine sound waves A and B are added together to make wave C. If wave A has a much higher amplitude than wave B, wave C will be very similar to wave A. This is why trying to talk over loud music is doomed to failure; since the music is much louder than the speech, the person you’re trying to talk to will hear only the music. If waves A and B are of similar amplitude but carry

Not just pretty blobs that are fun to jump on different information, wave C will be different from either and sound like gibberish to the receiver; this happens when you’re trying to talk in a crowded place. Waves travel at different speeds through different materials depending on their impedance. When a wave reaches the boundary between two materials of different impedwhile the other travels into the new material. The greater the difference

in impedance, the more of the wave and other mechanical waves, the impedance depends on the density surface also depends on the angle at which the wave approaches it. This will simply absorb everything due to ly across the surface. The walls and roofs of old

churches are made of polished stone; the combined smoothness and large difference in density between air and stone make these surbined with the sheer size of such buildings, produces a long echo or ‘reverb’ that gives rise to the phrase ‘church acoustics’. That is great for music (indeed, musicians love churches for this very reason), but not for casual speech; the multiple interferences between many different voices, echoing over and over, are bound to make all speech unintelligible. Where does the Student Centre come into this? On a quiet day, do some experimenting and you’ll notice that its reverb is longer than that of most cathedrals. Now don’t get me wrong, the Student Centre is great, but church acoustics are really not appropriate for it. Something soft is needed to absorb the sound and reduce the reverb. Now the Student Centre? Then I thought about it; the Library used to have beanbags, so why can’t the Student Centre? Hence my proposal is this; put some beanbags in the Student Centre as soon as possible.

Faster than the speed of light A heated demise Esther Osarfo-Mensah reports on a strange inquest

Esther Osarfo-Mensah Features Editor impact-features@bath.ac.uk

n Irish coroner has ruled that a 76-year-old man died from Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC). Michael Faherty, from Galway, Ireland, was found at home in

esearchers at CERN (the infamous underground bunker that houses the colossal Large Hadron Collider) have stumbled across a startling discovery that reduces all current theories about the world as we know it to pile of shuddering shambles. It appears that neutrinos, subatomic particles with strange properties including the ability to pass straight through almost any material, can travel faster than the speed of light. Many of you may be thinking – so what? Superman could out-fly light any day, any time. However, if you put down the comic and dig into the deepest recesses of your room to find a physics text book, you’ll find that our basic understandings of the universe revolves around an important aspect of Einstein’s special theory of relativity, where the speed of light is the absolute limit that anything could travel at. The report author Antonio Ereditato tells BBC News, “We wanted to find a mistake - triv-

was completely charred, yet the only parts of his house that suffered were

ial mistakes, more complicated mistakes or nasty effects - and we didn’t.” After carrying out the experiment around 15,000 times over a 3-year period, the researchers have come to the conclusion that the neutrinos travel at 60 billionth of a second faster than light… give or take 10 billionths of a second. The particles and light travelled over the same distance, 732km, from CERN to the Gran Sasso Laboratory in Italy. The report has now been placed online for other scientists around the world to critique; so the experiment will be replicated and checked. If the findings are confirmed, then the effects will shatter all that we had learnt about cause and effect back in GCSE physics.

Oxford University’s Head of Particle Theory Subir Sarkar says, “Cause cannot come after effect and that is absolutely fundamental to our construction of the physical universe. If we do not have causality, we are buggered.” The finding, however, could lead to us being able to send information back in time, which (as a Doctor Who fan) I don’t find a very frightening concept at all. As the Doctor says, “People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but, actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it’s more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, time-y wime-y... stuff.” He may just have a point.

below him. SHC is not as simple as the case of the character Krook as described in Charles Dickens’ novel Bleak House. The writer makes a link between the fact that the Rag and Bone dealer is a drunkard and enjoys hanging out by his hearth, which seems to inevitably lead to his explosive demise. Some scientists have decided to ignore this and come up with a more probable explanation to SHC, calling it The Wick Theory. The speculation likens the phenomenon to an inside out candle,

where the body fat is the wax, and the hair and clothing are the wick. An external heat source ignites the victim’s clothing, which leads to the fat softening and eventually socking into the material, thus causing the clothes to continue burning. This would occur incredibly slowly, when the victim is unconscious. The process could continue until the entire body was consumed, or stop at the extremities, as they would not be as warm as the rest of the body. Many believe that SHC is simply a myth, and is more likely to be caused by the person falling asleep with a lit cigarette or pipe, or be a part of an elaborate criminal cover-up most probably conducted by the likes of the Whatever the real reason is, Spontaneous Human Combustion is certainly a puzzle that will take a long while to solve.

Krook: SHC isn’t as easy to explain as Dickens makes out

Monday 3rd October 2011

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The world of placements in Kiwiland

Jonathan Gleave gives bathimpact an insight into a year in New Zealand (not just partying in paper hats)

y name’s Jonathan and I have just come back from a year on a Sports and Exercise Science placement at the Auckland University of Technology, which is to Auckland as Bath Spa is to Bath. Those of you for whom geography is not a strong point, this means I have spent the last year living and working in New Zealand. It was a year that offered many an interesting experience, plenty of travelling and is one I would like to share with you. My primary role was as a Sports and Exercise Science Research Intern within the Sports Performance Research Institute. As the title ‘intern’ dictates, I spent pretty

work the aeroplane’s TV screen. Being a jet from the 1980’s (yeah, it’s even still got the ash trays) touch screen hasn’t been invented yet. I have tried hitting it, swearing at it Flickr

doing whatever my supervisor told

me. Typically he would give me an assignment to complete within a given time frame, usually ranging from a couple of hours to a couple of months, depending on the complexity of the task or how lazy I was feeling on that particular day. I’m going to take the chance now to apologise for any typing errors or general nonsensical statements I make. I’m currently 35,000 feet up in the air on my way home from Auckland and haven’t really slept for 30 hours. The only reason I am doing this now is because I cannot

Jonathan working hard on his placement

in various languages and was about to attempt urinating on it when the stewardess told me to zip my pants up, sit down and stop scaring everyone. There is also a curious little French boy staring over my shoulder at everything I write which is off-putting; although I am 90 per cent sure he doesn’t speak English. “You smell, little boy.” No reaction English... Now, my tasks took on a variety of forms, most of them were literature research projects. So, for example, I had to compile a host of tests used to measure repeatable sprint ability (being able to run around quickly, then stop, then do it all over again) and determine from the literature available which was the best one to use on high performance athletes. To be honest, not the most engaging of tasks. When I wasn’t dently had no windows and made for a very drab environment, one so drab in fact I took the liberty of setting my desktop background to that of the sky, just so I could pretend I had a room with a view) I was in the labs. Possibly the work-related highlight of my placement was being able to introduce myself as ‘the land triathlon team. This was basically a very fancy way of saying I got them to jump up and down on a force plate (a device that determines the balance and gait of the body by measuring ground reaction forces). This essentially summed up

my placement work-wise. Sitting in front of a computer screen typing (or watching youtube), playing lab assistant, taking blood samples from children and so on. When I wasn’t doing any of that I was either travelling around New Zealand, Australia or Tonga. Or making tea. In terms of how I think my placement has helped me regarding later life, I would like to think that I am a more rounded individual. The old saying of travel broadens the mind couldn’t be more true; my mind is now broader then Lou Ferrigno’s biceps. It’s also helped me by improving my communication skills through the constant engagement I had to have with other professionals in meetings, my work ethic (if I didn’t work I would’ve failed), and in giving me a general working life mentality which can only serve me well when/if I decide to get a proper job after I graduate. The fact that New Zealand, one of the world’s most picturesque countries, was on my doorstep was also a massive bonus. Placement is ommend to anyone who has the opportunity to do it. You gain a lot of useful contacts, valuable work exarea of study - which will make you more employable than the average schmuck, and I guarantee you’ll enjoy it (even if it is unpaid, like mine). If you can do it in another country then all the better! As for New Zealand itself, it’s a bizarre land. Parts of it are so quintessentially British that you could

be tricked into thinking that you were walking around Bath or Oxford. Other parts are so foreign (for example, palm trees down Auckland’s’ main shopping street - in winter) you are reminded instantly of where you are. Being British, I obviously have to address the weather. It can go from a glorious skin cancer inducing day to a full on monsoon within minutes. In winter, the hardest decision to make when going out is how big an umbrella to take out with you (it rains more in Auckland per year than Manchester how depressing), and in summer the biggest challenge is to decide just how much sun cream to slap on and how much ice cream to guzzle. Temperatures regularly hit the mid to high twenties, and the UV rating was more often than not, quite literally off the scale. Despite this, NZ has some of the best beaches I have ever come across, the most awe inspiring mountains I can imagine and the plushest forests out of anywhere I have been. I was genuinely devastated to leave. We’re just coming into a pocket of turbulence now so before I leave to throw up violently I will leave you with this: If your course offers a placement option and you are not yet signed up to it, then do it. You will not regret it one bit! If you do end up doing one and regretting it I give you permission to Although that may just be the jet lag talking, there...

The Berlin Wall : Half a century later... Jenna Logeais bathimpact Contributor

n the midst of August 1961, at the height of the Cold War, Berlin and the entire international community awoke one Sunday morning to barbed wire and a solid concrete wall. Across the globe, both stupefaction and incredulity monopolised the prevailing atmosphere that day. A wall of separation, division and utter impediment between the Germans themselves was to act as the symbol of the western and eastern blocs for almost three decades. Families were kept apart, and living conditions in the East and the West were frightfully discrepant. Half a century after the ‘wall of shame’ was raised, and over two decades after its much acclaimed collapse, it still casts its shadow over the people of the country and the feeling of a longlasting and abiding wall remains. -

ny, the newly combined government was determined to take all indispensable proceedings to ensure the unity, oneness and integrity of the federation. In spite of numerous efforts, total to yet be accomplished. Since 1989, the economy in the eastern part of the country has struggled and unemployment rates remain higher than in those the former Federal Republic. Over on the Eastern side, a feeling of “nostalgia” is known to be felt, whereas on the Western side there is concern with regard to the large sums of money which are regularly paid to the east to further its development. What surprised me was what survived from the past among the people. Leaving the airport car park on the rainy evening of August 1st, the lights turned to red, the car ahead of us ignored the change and turned right. I was then told the driver must have

believed we were in East Germany, for this was a remaining law from the German Democratic Republic which had inadvertently been maintained. A few days later, I woke up to a knock on the front door. As I looked through the window, I managed to see a polizei car parked just outside the drive. Later that day, I was told that there was a long-running dispute between “my family” and their immediate neighbours ever since they had bought the house twelve years ago. They could not give an accurate reason for this, but said that very soon after they had moved in, as they were introducing themselves, the neighbour instructed her husband not to talk to them for they were from the West. The next day, the grandmother confessed to me that this was not an isolated case in former East Germany. I thereafter proceeded to ask the younger generation if they saw among themselves variables be-

tween those whose families are from the West and those from the East. They responded negatively. The Berlin Wall may be the most famous separation wall that has existed in contemporary times, it is nevertheless one of many. Walls or fences separate Zimbabwe and South Africa, China and Burma, Mexico and the United States, Morocco and Spain,

and Israel and Palestine to name but only a few. Reasons for constructing such walls range from keeping armaments, drugs and even people out, to preventing hostilities. However, is building a wall a pre-eminent and effective solution? Indeed, when we say in colloquial English that something is “going to the wall” it is usually not a good sign.

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How to survive working abroad Sian Barnett bathimpact Contributor

r. Manager, after having called me in to his office whilst I was on placement in London this year, said to me, “Clear your calendar for the last two weeks in May, you’re going away, dear.” I felt my eyes - well, all my organs - roll at the thought of going to the firm’s other office in Rugby for a fortnight. “But Mr. Manager, I’ve scheduled lots of Very Important Meetings for us during that time, is a fortnight in Rugby really necessary?”. He chuckled. No, I lie, he downright chortled. “Rugby? No, a fortnight there is never necessary. You’re off to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.” Now I was the one doing the laughing. ‘Daunted’ wasn’t the word to describe my state as I boarded my Emirates plane to Dubai as the sole representative of the UK arm of the firm I was working at. It turned out that the United Arab Emirates operations needed someone from the UK to consult on a number of UK projects they wanted to replicate in the UAE. That someone they needed was, apparently, me. Of course, working abroad was more than a two-week stint to talk through a couple of project strat-

egies. For many students a whole year working abroad looms as part of their degree and, given how intimidated I was upon arriving at the UAE Headquarters for my fortnight’s stay, I can only but imagine the pressure of a full year’s sojourn. In quizzing a few friends who have been faced with such a feat there was a general consensus of never really being able to fully prepare yourself for such a move. Helpful, I know. Yet a few common themes did arise in terms of how to best prepare oneself. Entering into a new internship or job is intimidating enough with both feet upon home-soil, simple matters such as understanding the company’s dress code can cause a newbie quite a quandary; “but what if I turn up looking like a dick in a suit?!” was one male friend’s predicament. This, along with understanding your expected working hours, being bereft of companions, solving the maze of a new city and trying to communicate in a language you don’t naturally speak is a quandary indeed. By all accounts, working abroad really requires you to be a yesman. Accepting invitations to absolutely everything you can wangle

Play your cards right and you too could be jetting off to Dubai yourself to is the only way to fully push yourself out of your comfort zone, improve your language skills, understand your city and company culture and start making the friends and contacts who are going to enable you to set up your new life abroad. There is one key thing to remember on a year abroad, however; you’re not just flying in and out of a business as I did. This is your life for the next twelve months

and it really is down to you how it goes. No one is going to hold your hand. Your enjoyment, your learning and your success in that alien land will be down to you. Had I not gone to see The Grande Mosque in Abu Dhabi with some of the guys on the team I was working with, I never would have met another strategist who had one final key piece of information I needed to solve a problem within the UAE strategies. This said, had I not ac-

cepted an invite to play volleyball on Jumeirah Beach, I also would not have been subject to giving my ‘email’ to the Sheik of Blackwells books. My point is, that you never know what will arise from an invite. A drink, a lunch, a meeting, a presentation - even a camel ride for goodness’ sake - could be the next step to making your experience of working abroad that fraction more, your experience. So take it. Take it and run.

Will the two state solution be a failure? Amy Bradshaw descibes the current situation regarding Israel and Palestine O n Wednesday the 28th September 2011, the United Nations Security Council agreed to send the Palestinian application for statehood to its admissions committee for review, heralding a symbolic debate in the face of a promised US veto. Despite warm reception for the dis-

cussion (which at the time of writing was set to take place on Friday 30th September 2011), however, from proPalestine campaigners, many continue to hold out hope of Palestine’s statehood application being accepted. The UN debate is a progressive move for a country whose history is marred

In 1967, Israel miraculously defeated the surrounding Arab nations in the Six Day War, taking the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Since then, the Palestinians, represented by the Palestinian Authority, have wanted this back in order to create an independent, sovereign Palestinian state.

Having asked individual countries to recognise a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, Palestinian the same. For this to be a possibility, the 15 members of the UN Security Council must recommend statehood to the General Assembly. If this is the case, then a General Assembly vote could take place on September 20th. Approval of membership to the UN and recognition of statehood requires a two-thirds majority of the 193 member states, or 128 votes; currently 122 countries are said to be in favour of the independent Palestinian state. As mentioned earlier, a critical obstacle that stands in the way of this vote progressing is the veto power manent members of the UN Security Council. If statehood is to be apwin over not only the US, but also France and the UK - who remain politically ambiguous, with Foreign Of-

Will the Middle East finally reach the end of the peace process that has divided the world?

that the UK is “taking a studied and considered approach” to the negotiations. It seems that they have a long way to go.

So what would happen if the Palestinian dream of statehood became a reality? According to the BBC, the Palestinians believe that recognition of their own Palestinian state would strengthen their hand in peace talks with Israel, which would have to resume in order to solve other issues, such as water, refugees, and arrangements for sharing Jerusalem. The Palestinian record of advancing in peace after concessions of land have been made, however, is not a good one. Since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005, rockets launched from Gaza into civilian areas of Israel increased massively from 179 rockets in 2005 to 1,752 rockets Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Will an independent Palestinian state bring about the peace that the Palestinian Authority claim to so eagerly desire, or will September 20th herald in a new era of violence on Israel’s borders? By the time this article comes to print the decision will already have been made; with hindsight, was it the right one? This is an instance when only time will tell.

Sam Short

Welcome to

bath A guide for students by students

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EDITORIAL

Alice down

by Holly Narey Holly Narey bite Editor

Welcome to the rabbit hole; welcome to bite. It was born

impact-bite@bath.ac.uk

CONTENTS Student Lifestyle Alice Down the Plughole Page 2 & 3 Why I Never Left University Page 3 Overworked and Underpaid Page 4 Premature Disconnection not Desired Page 5 Finding your Feet Page 10 City by Night Page 10

Fashion Harriet Goes Shopping Page 6 & 7

Food Don’t Fear the Kitchen Page 8 Recovery Minestrone Soup Page 9

Music The Hidden Music Scene of Bath Page 10

Puzzles Page 12 www.facebook.com/bathimpactbite www.bathimpact.com

fashion, food and student lifestyle sections were all compiled into one fantastic magazine. This year, I hope that this section will grow with the help of our current contributors and the new ones that will come to join the team. This week, bite is having a temporary move away from its normal structure to become a guide to our very own Roman city, but will be returning next issue to its normal structure. This week Simon O’Kane enlightens us on what he thinks is great about the University experience and, for all those Freshers out there, check out page 5 for Siân Barnett’s advice for starting out your university career. For those who have left your other half at home or some other far distant place read our sex and relationship column on page 5 on how to not go insane from missing them and from... restlessness. For all you fashion-conscious girls and boys out there who are bored of the highstreet chains, check out our centre spread on pages 6 and 7 for Harriet Tangney’s stories of aimlessly wandering through the streets and alleys of the city, in search of hidden retail gems. We all know that Bath is renowned for its placement opportunities, so to hear about the real-life experience of one placement student; none other than former bite editor Rowan Emslie, as he tries to assimilate himself into a workplace and look busy stapling. For those scared of facing the student kitchen; a dingy lair with ancient encrusted mysteries, get some motivation from Nia Evens, our resident kitchen cheerleader, who will try to get you out of bed and cooking up a storm. Who doesn’t love music? No matter what your taste, read Iwan Best’s advice on who to look out for in the pubs and bars of Bath, see them live now before they get too famous. For the Freshers out there who want the low-down on where to have a good night out in Bath, head to page 11 to read Ben Hooper’s advice on where’s hot and where’s not for an embarrassing night out. Finally see page 12 for the age-old classic; the puzzle page where you can enjoy a quick crossword and a few favourites from the Overheard in Bath site, where you can spot the ridiculous things your friends have said. If any of you want to get involved in bite, drop me a line or head on over to www.facebook.com/bathimpactbite. There are opportunities for all those who want to become part of the bite team. Come on, as they all say; get involved. Let’s change the world... or maybe we’ll just start with Bath. Baby steps.

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bathimpact Students’ Union University of Bath Bath BA2 7AY 01225 38 6151 01225 44 4061

‘I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is “who in the world am I?” Ah, that’s the great puzzle!’ - Alice

ith time, everything changes, whether it be your life circumstances, your possible futures, or even yourself. This year, for many people reading this, a huge change has come about; like Alice before you, you have fallen. The difference here, however, is that it is not a rabbit hole that has swallowed you up; you have fallen down the Bath plughole, and it is not a white rabbit that you are in pursuit of, it is whatever has motivated you to get here. The desire for a degree, the need for independence, the thirst for adventure... whatever it is, now that you’re here it’s down to you to get it. Don’t let it be forgotten that you have achieved something amazing by even getting to this stage; rated 5th for student satisfaction in the UK; every place that every changed your lives forever and, in turn, your lives will begin to change you. Over the next few years, alongside the drinking, dancing and industry that will nothat you meet, the things that you learn about your course that shape your aims for your future career and maybe a new relationship, It could totally change your life and it happens to a lot of us here. Hey, don’t forget that a lot of people meet the person they later marry at university. When you’re surrounded by eligible young people with similar interests to yourself, it’s not surprising, but is a pretty terrifying thought.

‘It was so much pleasanter at home, when one wasn’t always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered around by mice and rabbits’ - Alice When my parents dropped me off at university I felt almost as though they were more excited than I was about the opportunities opening themselves up to me, or maybe they were just happy to be rid of me. So once they drove off (I can only assume cackling gleefully) I, like everyone else at the beginning of this new chapter in life, was left with a pile of all my earthly possessions and the slow sinking feeling that comes with the knowledge that this is it, I now have to look after myself. travelling, without any support from my parents, so cooking food, clothing and cleaning myself wasn’t the challenge it could have been. That said, there are many people just left reeling by the total lack of parental support after being coddled for the entirety of their lives. For the people out there that feel this way; think of the fact that every adult human before you has managed to do this, more or less successfully. This surely means that it can’t be that much of a challenge. It’s like riding a bike when your parents hold on to the back of the seat, supporting your efforts, then suddenly, without warning, they let go and port other than the knowledge that if you really need some help, you can get it from your fellow students, resident tutors, or other systems set up for this purpose, like Nightline. remember both that your friends will still stand by you and be your new support structure and that your parents are still just a phone call away.

‘Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the dif-

The opinions expressed in bathimpact are not necessarily those of the bathimpact editors nor of the University of Bath Students’ Union. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this publication is correct and accurate at the time of going to print, the publisher cannot accept any liability for information which is later altered or incorrect. bathimpact as a publication adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Conduct. Please contact them for any information.

and Derision.’ - The Mock Turtle

University of Bath Students’ Union

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Written by Holly Narey

A photo of your head of studies and personal tutor

The long and short of it is that you’re here to learn, whatever you get on with in your free time. There will be times that you hate your course, unless you are one of the few incredibly lucky people who live for academia. You will most likely struggle, but everything you put into this will be worthwhile and, of course, there is more to university than the subject you do. One of my favourite things about this university is, unsurprisingly, given what I’m doing right this second, the opportunities in areas such as the arts, media and sports. Sports are a huge part of the student life of this university, which is highly unfortunate for me,

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the Plughole

The White Rabbit

The King

Those weirdos youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve just moved in with will probably end up being your best friends

Why I Never Left University Written by Simon Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Kane

very academic has at one point been a fresher and I am no exception. I started

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Hey, ever noticed our campus is totally gorgeous?

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Overworked and Underpaid Written by Rowan Emslie

oly Jesus do not be late on your first day. They will brand you lazy, probably fire you and then kill you. The transport system in London, it is famously noted, is run by lazy fucking useless... well you know how the song goes. On my first day of work I was forced to rearrange my carefully laid out route to work not once but four times. I was on various buses, trains and tubes for over two hours. Me and a thousand other sweaty, irritable commuters, face to armpit. Wa-wa-wankers, they’re all waaankers. Eventually I emerged into the sunlight and only slightly lost my way getting to the office from there. I opened the door and walked into my new job. Well, I waited for the receptionist to buzz someone who could come in and let me into my job (note: nothing is simple). For any of you who are planning to do an internship at some point in the future let me give you a warning – dress down. Not all the way down, obviously, because nothing makes you office pariah like a birthday suit, but coming turning up in a freshly bought, slightly cheap suit runs it a close second. We see each other on the tube, recognising the eagerness to impress that, in lieu of actual experience or expertise, we have decided must be communicated through overly showy office attire. It’s a problem. Entering a new work place is daunting at the best of times but particularly when it represents your first foray into ‘real jobs’ (as we euphemistically describe stapling other people’s work) and you’re desperately hoping that no one asks you to do anything difficult, thereby revealing your complete incompetence. First off, you have to deal with various inductions from HR, from your supervisor, a rather cruel introductory waltz around the office as you’re introduced to this person, another intern, then that person, works on our regional programmes, oh and this person whose work you’d be fascinated with- did you meet them before on your interview? Obviously, remembering anybody’s name is out of the question. I know, I know, I don’t understand very much about my actual job but look at my shoes! I polished them. With shoe polish. Is that... is that good? The people in my new office (dare I call them col-

leagues?) are all extremely nice and very understanding about my (lack of) skillset. I should establish this before anyone gets the idea that I’m working in some sort of awful corporate law office as an intern where I’m expected to work 16 hours a day, seven days a week and smile while I’m being used as my bosses ashtray. It’s not like that. I work at an NGO that specialises in defending people’s freedom of expression so there are a lot of lawyers. In pretty much every other respect there are no similarities to the horror offices of folklore. People do laugh. We’re allowed to see natural daylight. It’s not too bad. I know there will be some people reading this who are either flat out terrified at the prospect of working in an office or who have a niggling suspicion that The Office was much more ‘doc’ than ‘mock’. Fear not, fellow travellers, for I have struck on ahead and you know what? From personal experience and extensive surveying (Editor’s Note: ‘extensive surveying’ = pub chat) I can reveal that, at the very least, you will have access to lots of snacks. Cake after biscuit after cupcake after eclair after more bloody cake. There is so much cake that the phrase

‘office belly’ is used in tremulous tones by traumatised workers. One victim told me,“They used to put the cakes on my desk at my last office... It was horrible. I couldn’t stop eating.” At this point she grabbed the table and started gibbering YOU CAN’T MAKE ME GO BACK over and over or maybe I stopped listening and imagined that, I’m not sure. Either way, the moral is office cakes are both a blessing and a curse. For me, the mountain of cake was a delightful way of easing into the first day. I took comfort from endless mouthfuls of icing and sponge and the slowly dissolving whipped cream. Another warning: if your desk becomes cake desk, do not overindulge in a conspicuous way. You will be branded ‘Cake Eater’ in intra-office emails for ever more. Perhaps this is a good way of establishing rapport with some of the near strangers (for the first few weeks that’s what they are) you spend eight hours per day with. Actually, ignore that second warning - stuff your face with cake, stuff in so much you get cake coming out of your nostrils. That way they’ll remember you by something more than ‘that fancy intern with the suit’.

Looking sharp

Looking blunt

Rail replacement service

The University of Bath is well known for its excellent placement scheme, and 70 per cent of its students opt to take a placement year either in the UK or abroad. Contact your personal tutor to discuss changing to or from a placement course and see the bath.ac.uk for student testimonials.

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Premature Disconnection not Desired Written by bite’s Sex and Relationship columnist

here comes a point in almost every relationship where you have to spend some time apart, whether it be a two week vacation, working away, moving to university, or that you both had to be prepared for the whole long distance thing at the outset. First comes the missing the person you call after a you’ve had some exciting news, second comes the longing for that person to be at home waiting for you with open arms after a hard day (and hopefully some dinner if they are well trained), and third, you miss the way they wake you up slowly in the morning from a gentle nudge, usually in the thigh or lower back for us who prefer the male variety... depending on who’s big spoon and who is little spoon of course. I think I may have muddled up the priorities here. Let’s face it, the niceties are nice necessities, the things that make the relationship more than a fling, more than just sex, the things that make you only want to have sex with that one person. Sex, however, is the addiction, the hook, the thing you miss most when climbing into bed at night,

and ESPECIALLY when waking up in the morning. Being without your other half makes you stronger in many respects, it makes you appreciate them more; it strengthens your connection, and makes you further value the preciousness you have when together. It also makes your right hand stronger – and is a good opportunity to cultivate ambidexterity. After seeing a naked torso and curvaceous, biteable backside every night, it is hard to live without it. Like a child being denied its pacifier for the first time, you need to satisfy that urge to put something in your mouth, so you swap the real thing for whatever else you can get your hands/mouth/ears/eyes on. You must be pacified. This is the point where you start testing the water, pushing the boundaries, explore those internet sites more than ever before, pop into the local Ann Summers or host a party to try out some new toys, invest in some new literature that has never before graced your shelves (well you wouldn’t have admitted that it did before now anyway - now you

have a certified reason to be erotically charged!). You subconsciously start using your lips as a pen holder at work, surreptitiously eating bananas for the thrill and shamelessly laugh at the most benign, almost imaginary, innuendos. You can smell male pheromones from a mile off, your flirting (although harmless in your mind as a sort of abstentious release) is severely damaging the respect that friends once held for you and, worst of all... you have extensive, exhaustive, perfectly scripted, flawlessly executed damp dreams every night, which leave you wondering: “was the real thing ever that good?” Then it is still days… weeks… months until you can find out. The long distance relationship once relied upon the hand-written letter which took eons to arrive at its destination, but a positive outcome of the advances in communication technology now means we have the benefits of sexting, e(rotica)-mailing, Skype sex sessions, web-camwanking, picture perving, good old phone sex and video voyeurism; ensuring that the detachment is easier to endure. The negatives however are that not all people are naturally racy writers like myself *uhum*… the camera adds 10lbs and there is always that fear of your hard work and explicit material one day falling into the wrong hands - if your partner’s phone or camera gets stolen for example, equating to a bribery hazard later in life. You are required to learn new levels of seduction techniques involving all mediums of modern technology and feel obligated to exude oodles of confidence and sexuality which you never realised you had inside you! Or not, as the literal case may be. These minor endeavours are mostly advantageous to said relationship, however, even if stress and/or risks occur, it is all worth it for the kicks. Out of the various options for keeping the spice in your knickers, oops, I mean relationship, whilst apart from you partner, my favourite method is most definitely Skype. It combines instant erogenous messaging with web-camwanking AND good old phone sex; three birds with one stone... win. As I have previously described, there is a knack to these things. Getting that web-cam on your laptop at the perfect angle, so that the spectator can see all the best bits but not the ‘bad’ bits is an art form. The amount to which this is a concern, is calculable by the length of time you have been with the person, plotted against the duration of separation. You could have been with someone ten years, and after ten months apart some anxieties are bound to return, if not amplified. Practice makes perfect, as always - although you may want to invest in a keyboard or screen protector for your precious PC.

Some tips for perfect cybersex: 1. Don’t use food items such as ice lollies to represent you mans throbbing third leg – it may short out your computer – therefore loosing you your orgasm, no one likes a premature disconnection. 2. Ensure that no-one is around, someone walking in on a good cyber-sesh IS just as bad as them walking in on the real thing and they have more of a chance of seeing something as there are no duvets, although it does make for a good ‘I have never’... 3. Try not to laugh, it is as much of a mood killer as it is in the flesh and can bring on disaffection for the whole act, meaning no sex of any form for anybody. (This bit probably takes the most practice).

Marilyn knew what she was doing, the kinky bitch

All in all, technology is there for us to use abuse and evidently; screw up... so you may as well get a few good screws out of it first.

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that last year I was very stuck in the student bubble; in fact if I hadn’t been working in one of the

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Fashion; Rediscovering Bath Written by Harriet Tangney

Cath Kidston beside Waitrose called The Podium The Bertinet Bakery

bridges in the world to have shops going along it on both sides. It’s rather a strange sensation walking along it, look-

better than I do.

upon what I believe to be the best shop in the world. Jack + Danny’s is to bathimpact) I started off around Milsom Street and the narrow alleys off Milsom Street “Brit-

end shops. On Old Bond Street -

Square purchase was that Square

Yellow Shop, a very cool and very student John Street is Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights -

Bath, Save The Children

Queen Street is Scarlet Vintage, had a sale on, and there were lots of reasonably priced accessories such as -

Shopping Bag

Found, and

tion of hand printed stationary at the front, including cute cards and beautiful notebooks. Further down the back there is an obviously very carefully

My periodic table tie, I hope once owned by a very cool high school chem teacher

Oh so pretty...

New skirt and cardigan

A beautiful case for a bad habit

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Food: Don’t Fear the Kitchen Written by Nia Evans

tarting university is an exciting time but it can seem rather daunting. For some of you it’ll be the first time you’ve properly lived away from home and even the simplest of tasks like food shopping and cooking a meal can feel like climbing a mountain. Well, that’s where I come in! I’m on a mission to get the students of Bath in the kitchen cooking healthy, affordable and most importantly, tasty food! Believe it or not the kitchen is a place to cook up a storm not just a space for pre - drinking sessions! Don’t be afraid of the kitchen; cooking is a really hands on, fun and sociable activity. Think about it, what better ice breaker with your new housemates do you need other than getting stuck in and making a delicious dish together? There’s nothing better than sitting around the table and having a good old natter over some decent food. Although cooking is good fun and an essential skill whilst at university, there is more to it than just experimenting in the kitchen. Yes, I’m afraid I’m going to repeat what all of your parents have probably already nagged you about and that is: YOU NEED TO BUDGET. I know it’s tedious and boring but it’s something you must do unless you want to run out of money halfway through the month and eat nothing but baked beans on toast and crisps. We all know that a healthy and balanced diet is vital so don’t be a ‘ping student’ and live off ready meals, Dominos and Pitstop sandwiches, this will do nothing for your waistline or your purse strings! My quick and simple step-by-step guide to budgeting will help keep your bank balance in the black and out of the red! 1. Create your budget. Work out how much money you have per week to spend on food and try not to go over the budget. There is no point spending more than you can afford so be sensible and don’t blow your whole allowance on champagne and caviar! The average student spends about £25 a week on food. 2. Plan your meals. If you plan your meals you will be able to make your money go much further. Think about it, if you buy a pack of mince meat, that’s enough for a chilli con carne and a spag bol! Remember, you can make meals in bulk and freeze them so they are ready to eat on another day. 3. Write a list. Make a note of all the food you need to buy regularly, such as milk, bread, fruit, veg. Then write down the things you might need once a week or so. By doing this you can roughly work out how much the essentials cost and then you will be able to tell if you can afford a few luxuries every now and then. 4. Stick to the list. Take your list shopping with you and stick to it. This way you know you won’t go over budget. And there you have it, my straightforward guide to budgeting! It may take a few trips to the supermarket to get the hang of it but it will make your life so much easier in the long run, and then maybe once it gets to the far-off distant summer you might have a few pennies left over, rather than being in the depths of your overdraft. So, my advice you all is to enjoy your time in the kitchen. Get together with your new housemates, have a chat and make cooking a relaxing and sociable activity rather than a chore and a necessity. There will be some disasters and some triumphs but I can guarantee you will have endless amounts of fun, and it will be one of the few types of fun you can brag to your parents.

Don’t even think about it, unless it’s a Tuesday

The Store Cupboard

here are some ingredients which are essential to cooking a decent dish but might not instantly come to mind, so it’s always good to have them at hand in your cupboard. When starting out it may seem like these ingredients are expensive but remember; most will last a while and will add that extra special taste to your favourite meal. So here’s what’s always in my cupboard and why:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

It is worth spending a bit of money on a decent bottle of extra virgin olive oil as it can make such a difference salad dressings to pastas and risottos. But remember extra virgin olive oil is different from the cheaper normal olive olive and is therefore in its purest form. So, don’t waste it on frying keep it for when you want to bring the best out of your ingredients.

Soy Sauce

Soy sauce is a must when it comes to cooking Asian food, rice and noodle dishes such as stir fry just aren’t the same without it. There are many varieties of soy sauce and come in either light or dark form. Light soy sauce is thinwhich is much richer.

Sweet Chilli Sauce

For those of us (myself included) who aren’t fans of spicy food sweet chilli sauce is the perfect alternative. With a small kick of chilli and sticky sweetness sweet chilli sauce is brilliant in a cooler chilli con carne or even with pasta.

Flour

Flour is a cook’s essential so make sure it is always in the cupboard. Use it to thicken sauces which have gone a bit awry or to create a roux, the basis of many sauces.

Tomato Ketchup

My store cupboard wouldn’t be the same without a bottle of tomato ketchup. It can give a tangy twist to a boring sauce and be a basic ingredient in marinades like a sticky BBQ sauce.

6. Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce Lea and Perrins should always be at hand in the kitchen. Pie, Spaghetti Bolognese and my favourite snack Welsh Rarebit.

Balsamic Vinegar

From Modena Italy this vinegar has a smooth sweetwith some extra virgin olive oil for a perfect salad dressing or over a roast chicken and it will leave an unforgettable taste.

Stock Cubes

Stock cubes are my secret weapon. For sauces, gravies cous or in onion gravy stock cubes are a must in the kitchen. So people, stock up and get stuck in.

Monday 3rd October 2011

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Recipes: Tomato and Bacon Pasta Written by Nia Evans

one are the days when Bath students have to feast on beans on toast or left over dominos pizza for dinner - The Tasty Student is here to help! I’m

foodie. After spending a year in France and Italy I’m on a mission to get every student in the kitchen cooking some of the recipes I learnt on my travels. Don’t bother with excuses like “I’m too busy” or “I have no money” because these quick, easy and most importantly cheap dishes will have your mouths watering and your housemates begging for more!

Method: 1. Heat a large frying pan with olive oil and add the chopped onion and pancetta or bacon bits. Allow the ingredients fry for a couple of minutes and brown. 2. Next, add the tin of chopped tin tomatoes, to add a little more liquid put some water into the empty tin so none of the tomatoes are wasted. 3. Whilst the tomato sauce is simmering boil some water for the pasta. Make sure the pasta is covered with water

Super Simple Tomato and Bacon Pasta

boil with salt; NEVER oil!

This quick and tasty tomato and bacon pasta will make your tummy and your purse strings happy. It’s the perfect pasta dish after a long day in the library which can be ready in less than half an hour.

4. As the pasta is cooking add the crushed garlic and salt and pepper to the tomato sauce. Be careful not to add too much salt as you have already salted the pasta and the pancetta or bacon bits are naturally salty.

Omnomnomnomnom

Ingredients: 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (Tip: gram for gram chopped tinned tomatoes are cheaper than whole) 1 onion 1 garlic clove Pancetta or bacon bits Handful fresh basil Grated Parmesan cheese Olive oil Salt and pepper Penne pasta (75g-115g or 3oz-4oz per person).

5. Once the pasta is almost cooked, drain it and add it to the tomato sauce (Italians never put sauce on top of the pasta!). Make sure the pasta is cooked al dente with a bit of bite to it. 6. parmesan cheese, it’s a bit of a luxury but totally worth it.

BUON APPETITO! ENJOY! (Serves 2 portions)

Recovery Minestrone Soup N

o doubt after a week of hard partying some of you will be feeling the effects! So, here is my Freshers’ Flu remedy: a sumptuous minestrone soup. This may sound difficult to make but in fact it is the complete opposite. There is hardly any cooking involved, just a lot of chopping. So, get all your housemates together and make a feast which will have you back on your feet and ready for those 9.15 lectures!

Ingredients: 1 large onion 1 large carrot 1 stick of celery Savoy or Sweetheart Cabbage (about 6 large leaves) 1 tin of cannellini beans Spaghetti (about 10 strands) Pancetta or bacon bits (a generous handful) 1 tin of tomatoes ½ pint of chicken stock Olive oil Salt and pepper Basil Parmesan cheese

Method: 1. The preparation for this soup is the most time consuming part of the process and does involve a lot of chopping (I find this rather therapeutic though!). So, first of all dice the onion, carrot, celery and bacon bits into small cubes. Also finely shred the cabbage.

2. Then add some olive oil to a large pan. Wait for it to heat up then add the bacon and onions, after they have browned, add the vegetables and cook until they have softened.

3. Next, add the tin of tomatoes, beans and chicken stock. Allow the soup to simmer and reduce a little.

4. Once the soup is nearly ready, break up some spaghetti strands and add them to the soup. Remember to season the soup with salt and pepper.

5. To finish add some fresh parmesan cheese and basil. Parmesan cheese is a real luxury and quite expensive so if you can’t get hold of it just use some grated cheddar instead.

6. Serve with some crusty bread and butter BUON APPETITO! (Serves 4 large portions)

It may resemble something else you’ve seen a lot of recently, but I promise it will be delicious

Monday 3rd October 2011

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City by Night W

hen you’re a university student, you ask yourself questions on a daily basis that ‘normal’ people only ask themselves at the weekend. It’s not always a question of staying in or going out, but a question of WHERE to go and whether or not you’re going OUT out (very different from just going “out”). Of course, there is the further dilemma about what time the party should move from its genesis to destination; and this isn’t always as smooth an operation as most of us along the way become a natural and ill-fated resting place to certain inebriated individuals. There are, however, ways to avoid this. One of the best ways to navigate your party without losing companions by the wayside is to turn the journey into a fun little game. The Ideal method would be to have all the men dressed as Batman and then proceed to show the Bat Symbol directly over your destination, though this could cause trouble with local vigilantes and also I’m pretty sure it was always cloudy in Gotham city, I reckon on a clear-skied night in Bath this plan would fail miserably. Plus if DC Comics ‘did’ nights out, they’d almost certainly be sausage fests. If you can’t afford this option I advise the use of a competitive jaunt, this often gets an enthusiastic response in the form of running, shouting and sabotage, in no particular order. Not all students follow these trends as you well know and some like to indulge in the far more sensible pastimes. bite has, in most part, been tailored for our lovely freshers, undergrad and postgrads alike, ‘cause I know how hard some postgrads like to party. I mean for postgrad freshers the Fwems have organised a café crawl, look out Avon & Somerset Constabulary! So without further ado I’m going to attempt to give you a breakdown of what the nightlife in the bumpy little city can offer you. I imagine shortly before or after settling in, your every waking thought and facebook page will be littered with the following words: Monday at Second Bridge, Thursday night Kitsch at Weir Lounge annnd Friday night Delight at XL. These seemed to be the most popular nights last year, however there are alternatives. First I’d like to tell you what clubs there are in town. I seem to remember never really being sure I knew of all of them, in fact, I’m still not 100 per cent certain. So you have at the top of town (up the hill), XL, Moles, Blue Rooms, and down t’other end Celcius (aka Ice Bar), Weir Lounge (also known as the Velvet Underground), Po Na Na and Second Bridge (open Thurs, Fri, Sat & Mon). Most of the clubs offer a variation of music and are open throughout the week (‘cept Bridge), with Moles and Poo’s leaning more towards, without sounding too much like a Mel Gibson loving Goth Teenager... ‘alternative’ whereas the other clubs are a bit more mainstream. Moles and Poo’s do give off dungeon vibes; good dungeon vibes though. My weekly go to nights are Cheesy Tuesday’s at Moles, Discord at Po Na Na (my one true love) and Friday night Confession at Moles, though the Friday nights got a little dry towards the end of last year so the Jury’s still out on that one. There is a music scene in Bath, it just likes to keep itself a little more hidden than in other cities or towns. I’d like to compare it to Michael Barrymore’s career. A lot of gigs happen in small taverns or venues across the city (see Iwan Best’s article on the following page for more details) there are however some bigger venues such as Komedia and Moles which book acts who attract bigger crowds. Komedia is the largest of the two but Moles has been hosting acts since the late 70s and its gig history is quite impressive, including bands such as Blur, the Smiths and the Cure. There are nostalgic reminders of all the greats that have passed through the doors at Moles stamped all over the walls. Ben Howard and Jake Morley were highlights from last year and also the brilliant Frank Turner turned Komedia upside down with his heartfelt

Written by Ben Hooper lyrics and raw passion. One of the great up and coming music nights, is the biweekly music night in Market (restaurant/beer garden/upstairs whatever you want it to be). Market is a happening restaurant just by the theatre at the end of Westgate street and every other Friday they get in acts from all over, but often local musicians entertain until the wee small hours. As Market was formally a night club it has a late licence, this coupled with the tremendous selection of beers, funky décor in a listed building and overwhelming heaven-like candlelight makes for a rather good evening. of live music on offer at our beloved SU. Do not fear however, as that is something that bite plans to change over the coming year, so keep your ear to the street… or alternatively, like bite on Facebook to keep up to date with what’s

hot and worth seeing with info on the local art and music scene; you will even have the chance to win some free tickets. So enough about music and clubs, lets talk bars: As far as Bars go, the Westgate’s pretty good for beer selection, Beau Nash, for cheap drinks on Monday nights and the Slug and Lettuce often do 2 for 1 cocktails, like, most of the time. Aside from that the Porter is literally the best place to hang out and drink, the drinks are good and averagely priced, and the music is good, they’re open ‘til 2am on Thursdays and 3am on Friday and Saturday. Then for real ales and quaintness go to the Salamander or the Raven. For the rest, you can just explore yourselves, stop being so lazy, I bet you didn’t even read this far. Lazy. If you’re not happy with this article you can hunt me down and we can discuss your qualms with my views on the nightlife of Bath over a beer which you have just bought for me.

The beautiful Roman City at night

Finding your Feet Written by Siân Barnett

t’s that time of year again, when the Freshers rock up and the good times roll in; eyes as wide as tourists making the

bands ready to display at any opportunity, each other’s beds to surreptitiously slip into... Ah, Fresher’s week. Let the games commence. First experiences at university are like the Orange Buses in the snow; inconsistent, scary and downright unsteady. Eveday. So, I won’t even attempt to compile a list as it would run longer than the Bath Half, but just know this, nothing will be as you imagined. What I will try and give you is a bit of advice from someone who has been there. On asking some of my fellow Bathians what their top tip for Freshers would be, the overwhelming response was to Get Involved. So on that note, get out there Fresher! Peel yourself out of your wonderfully conveniently located beds (have you realised how unlikely it is that you will and then turn around on a spin chair and be in your bathroom? You don’t know how good you have it) and head on down to...anything. There are so many societies, clubs and teams, all with something to offer you. I know it’s a cliché, but clichés are clichés for a reason...... The beauty of Bath, apart from the obvious, is that it gives you the ability to have more than the typical social circle; instead you will develop what geographers know as the Coremay just take a while to separate the wheat from the chaff. Luckily for us, because of the nature of small-city-campusliving and the countless extra-curricular activities to be a part of, you’ll also develop a ‘periphery’ social group. But fear not Fresher - this is not where the fun ends. The real brilliance of a university like this is that all the groups connect and you’ll end up with even more people to run into on your way from Fresh to Parade than you could ever imagine. (Though as one friend pointed out - this not always the best if you’ve had a particularly eventful evening at Second Bridge or Score the night before).

You’re lucky, if there’s anything you want to do this is your year to do it. You have the luxury of time to experiment and discover things you didn’t even know you might be interested in, that us old-timers no longer have. Don’t let it whizz by (and trust me, whizz by it will) without having done anything with your time. This is backed up by my second most popular response of “Don’t take yourself or anything you do too seriously.” Yes, you are here to get a degree, and try not to lose sight of that, but you should also ensure you are attending what some of us like to call “The University of Life”. In the spirit of aiding this, I have compiled a list of the top tips from your Bath peers of what to do and what certainly not love to call our own. 1) Sign up NOW! Get involved in as many clubs, societies and activities as you can. Gain a whole new set of friends in a New York minute. 2) Buy a doorstop. An open door = passing trade = more scared to introduce yourself or break the ice. Everyone else is secretly wishing someone would! 3) Club together when it comes to food and do group online food orders (much cheaper than Fresh, and much easier than lugging half of Sainsbury’s up Bathwick Hill), and cook together. Cheap and social; simples. 4) Set your internet homepage to BBC News - it is terrifyingly easy to become completely cut off from the ‘real world’, or instantly resort to facebook. 5) Sign up to discount websites, such as my favourite; studentbeans.com. Great deals all round. 6) If you’re not a fan of Score, take advantage of Orange Wednesdays and the deals at The Little Theatre Cinema (St Michael’s Place, off Westgate Street) for cheaper evenings at the movies (don’t forget your library card!) 7) If you can face it, sit at the front in lectures - exponential increase in learning rates (and saves your eyesight!) 8) Don’t make your merry way round half of your halls/ course/club - you absolutely will see them around in the Library/Fresh/on Parade at some point.

Monday 3rd October 2011

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Bath Music: More Than Just the Choir Written by Iwan Best

ath is a city renowned worldwide for being established by some Italian blokes who built some spas and then a while later some other people built some nice buildings out of yellow stone. The town is not particularly well known for its music. This probably won’t be the case for long. There is a plethora of talented musical acts threatening to burst through the seams of a music scene which is almost inaccessible thanks to the incompetence of the major venues at promoting gigs and a lack of alternative venues. But never fear, no matter what sort of music you are in to, punk, indie, blues, ska, or whatever; there will be something here for you. Here’s just a small selection of the amazing talent that Bath and the surrounding areas have to offer, as well as some of the places to be to avoid hearing Rhianna.

Green Guns are a superb three piece blues rock band from Bath who have just released their debut album. They play regularly at Flan’s and are well worth checking out; you won’t hear anything quite like them in small venues anywhere else. Zen Hussies, “The sonic definition of happiness” are a ska band all the way from the distant lands of Bristol who after 4 albums have a tendency to “create a sea of beaming revellers on the dancefloor”. One of the best live bands for miles around, catch them in Bristol this October.

The pick of the indie bands are Birds of Ares and El Wristo. The former sound like Jimmy Eat World would if they’d have been born 20 years earlier and have engrossing melody driven tunes (check out Starry World), while El Wristo have “drawn comparisons to The Pixies, Weezer and early Manics”. There’s nothing you can really say to add to that. By the time this comes out it’ll be unfortunately too late to catch them at Flan O’Breins but keep checking Bite for details of their next live set. Both are phenomenal bands, and that’s coming from someone who really hates indie music.

The Zen Hussies As this will be the maiden voyage into Bite for some 3,000 of you, what you really want to know about is the nightlife. This time next month you will be sick of the words ‘Second Bridge’, ‘Blue Rooms’ and ‘XL’. But never fear weary traveller of identical club nights, there is an alternative no matter what kind of music you’re actually in to and Bite will gladly guide you along the path to righteousness. Po na nas boasts a dubstep / D ‘n’ B night on Mondays and (not so) guilty pleasures run rife at cheese night on Fridays. Komedia hosts a phenomenal Motown and funk night on Saturdays, and Moles’ Blow night on Thursdays is an indie kid’s wet dream. But the best night out in Bath is, without a doubt, Discord. Taking place on Wednesday nights at Ponanas, you won’t find cheaper drinks, a better vibe or louder music anywhere else. With two rooms playing everything from Blink 182 to the Bloodhound Gang, Muse to Metallica and literally everything in-between, try and avoid my mistake of failing to discover it until January. Don’t get sucked in to following the crowd, stand up and be counted for real music. Bath’s El Wristo Punk music probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Bath either, but Seven Crowns are working hard to change that. After six years and a handful of albums they’ve gathered a fan base from Indonesia to California. Although they’re “more likely to be playing in Jakarta, Medan or Kuta than just about any other cities on earth,” they do occasionally play pubs and clubs in Bath. Check them out at The Croft on October 16th.

Some Bath students standing up for good music at Discord If you’re looking for a quieter night out and want to avoid the student hang outs, The Porter is a pretty funky vegan pub with quality music and a couple of pool tables downstairs. They even have some live music every once in a while. Flan O’Briens is a good Irish pub even when there aren’t any bands playing, and they show live sports – the only place to go to avoid the crowds of dick heads at Beau Nash / Belushi’s on a big game night. The Hobgoblin is a decent pub where the ‘alternative’ groups tend to frequent, and The Trinity is the place for those of you who, like me, like a grotty little pub with good beer and the same crowd every single night. Say hi if you come in, I’ll be on the table on the left under the big mirror.

Seven Crowns

Over the coming months expect to hear about interviews, gig listings / reviews and everything you need to know about music in Bath here first, in bite. Take a regular look at the facebook page for some live performances too. Also, if you’re in a band and you’d like to be featured in bite, help booking gigs, or any other reason, get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!

Monday 3rd October 2011

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Puzzle Corner Crossword made by Harriet Tangney

You should really know Bath better

bite needs you From next issue, bite will be returning to its normal structure and content, including articles on student lifestyle, food, and sex and relationships, and entertainment articles on topics Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re also looking for contributors to start up a gossip and rumour column, and so we need

learning how to lay up a magazine, get in touch -

Get in touch at: impact-bite@bath.ac.uk

Across

Down -

Bath celebrities

perpetual struggle for room and food, was more than supplied by the mighty power of population, acting, in some degree, unshackled, from the constant habit of em-

Monday 3rd October 2011

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Business

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Choosing the right A bite of business student bank account O T he first year at university provides such an exciting (often overwhelming) plentitude of experiences; making friends, leaving home, spending time in a new residence, being bombarded with people and events, signing yourself up to extra-curricular activities, studying, partying - and with such full agenda it is often difficult to keep on top of things. So in case you haven’t yet done so, the following table will help you choose a bank account that is most suited to you - so you can tick one of the ‘to do’s’ off your list. So, first for the important things you should remember: It’s essential not to get caught on the perks - they are just a distraction; banks know once you’re signed up to a student account you’re likely to stay with them after you graduate. The account that offers the greatest interest-free overdraft should be the biggest draw - basically, if you go over your planned overdraft you will incur ridiculous bank charges, something every student wants to avoid. If you want help controlling your spending

you may be best off with the tiered overdraft; this gives you a greater interest-free overdraft over time and upon request. Bear in mind that your credit will be scored - so be careful. When you graduate, do some bank hunting again, things will have changed and other banks might offer better graduate accounts. Don’t forget to find out the conditions of your account - some insurance perks which cover your mobile phone and laptop are not activated unless you deposit a minimum amount to your account per semester. Secondly, here are some important terms you will come across: AER - this stands for Annual Equivalent Rate. It allows you to compare interest rates of different accounts. Remember that the interest will be higher if it is paid monthly, quarterly or half-yearly than if it is paid annually; you will earn interest on the interest you’ve already been paid. EAR - this stands for Equivalent Annual Rate. It is the full percentage cost for using an overdraft fa-

cility (other than that arranged) and takes into account basic interest rates, when interest is charged and any additional charges. APR – this stands for Annual Percentage Rate. APR illustrates the percentage you will be charged on loans and credit cards. Again, it takes into account basic interest rates, when interest is charged and any additional charges. Subject to Status - this means your credit history will be checked, and the bank will also search your employment history and previous addresses. Gross Rate - this is the interest rate you are paid before deduction of income tax. Net Rate - this is the interest rate you are paid after deduction of income tax.

1. £750 second term, £1,000 third term. Second year: £1,250. Third year: £1,500. Fourth year: £1,750. Fifth year: £2,000 2. 0% AER (no interest fee earned) 3. Credit limit up to £500, 56 days interest-free credit. Representative 18.9% APR 4. Student Discount Card (incl. PLAY.com, Apple, Subway), £100 discount on the Asus K53TA laptop (model subject to change) un-

1. Tiered overdrafts throughout Universy life - first year: £500 for the first 6 months, £1,000 in months 7-9, £1,500 thereafter. Second and third year: up to £1,500. Fourth and fifth year: up to £2,500. Also offers an extra untiered, no interest charge £1,500 overdraft 2. 0% AER (no interest fee earned) 3. Minimum limit of £500, 56 days interest-free credit. Representative 19.9% APR variable 4. NUS Extra card for three years, three year YHA membership, 40 free music downloads from eMusic plus a free LAVA Mini Speaker (subject to availability). Visa debit card. Free mobile banking, Internet Banking and PhoneBank®, chequebook, offers a 2 in 1 card, mobile top-up at ATM, comission-free foreign currency, grace period: until 3:30pm (UK time) if you go over your limit, Save the Change® 5. Exchange Rate Transaction Fee: 2.99% of transaction value plus 1.50 % (min. £2.00, max. £4.50)

1. First year: £1,000. Second year: £1,250. Third year: £1,500. Fourth year: £1,800. Fifth year: £2,000 2. 1% up to £499 0% £500+ interest paid monthly 3. No student credit card (other credit cards available) 4. Mobile phone, gadget (against damage and theft) and laptop insurance (against theft only) up to 3 years Mobile phone, gadget (against damage and theft) and laptop insurance (against theft only) up to 3 years. Visa debit card. On campus, chequebook 5. Cash Withdrawals: 1.5% of the value (at least £1.99). Exchange Rate Transaction Fee: 2.75% + £1.25 VISA handling fee

25 Railcard (if you held an account with NatWest before June 2011). Visa debit card. 24/7 telephone and online banking, chequebook, mobile top-up at ATM, up to £300 emergency cash if you lose your card, free day-to-day banking, online statements, text alerts when account hits highs or lows set by you, iPhone & iPad mobile banking apps 5. Cash Withdrawals: 2% (min. £2, max. £5) Exchange Rate Transaction Fee: 2.75% of transaction value + £1.25 VISA handling fee

n 6th August 2011, Standard & Poor’s, one of the world’s leading credit rating agencies, downgraded the United States’ blue-ribbon AAA rating

The downgrade of a notch is a result of the agency’s concern on emphasises that although little, the current risk implies that the US may one day struggle to pay off its debts. Inevitably, such news comes at a low-point for the country as it is currently tackling unemployment of 9.1% along with huge debts and potential double-dip recession. It’s debateble whether the lower rating wil be a case of cause or effet for S&P, but there certainly will be repercussions.

There are five main things to look for, take a look at the table below: 1) Interest Free Overdraft (0%EAR) 2) Interest Rate (AER) 3) Credit Cards (not essential) 4) Perks 5) Services Abroad

his summer the America Invents Act was signed into law by President Obama with a special ceremony in Washington DC. It is expected to mark a major shakeup of US intellectual property rights, and signals an important intervention in the ongoing patent frenzy taking hold of the ICT sector. The new legislation, critics say, may only make matters worse. Either way, events in the US reveal an interesting new approach to conducting business. For example, the recent acquisition of Motorola by Google is the latest stage in a continuing arms race between ICT enterprises to accumulate patents to employ in lengthy legal proceedings against one another. There’s also over who releases what, when and where - something to keep your eyes peeled for. What will the America Invents Act mean for situations like this?

1. Up to £3,000 (Subject to status and account conduct, applicant must be 18 or over.) Guaranteed £500 2. 2% up to £999 0% £1000+ 3. Minimum credit limit £500, maximum credit limit subject to status, 56 days interest-free credit. . Representative 18.9% APR 4. Two year Worldwide Travel Insurance (first year students only cover starts 1 Mar 2012) 25% off Lonely Planet guides (offer ends 31 Mar 2012). Visa debit card. 24/7 Banking, Online Budget Calculator, SMS alerts, no overdraft arrangement fees 5. Cash Withdrawals: 2% (min. £1.75, max. £5.00). Exchange Rate Transaction Fee: 2.75%

1. Up to £2000. 2. 0% AER (no interest fee earned) 3. No student credit card (other credit cards available) 4. £75 off a mobile phone contract with Phones4u, up to 20% discount on student travel insurance, 10% discount on student possessions insurance, 30% discount on Lonely Planet guides (until 30/09/2011), free Kaspersky internet and mobile security. Visa debit card. On campus, free SMS alerts, online, mobile & telephone banking 5. Exchange Rate Transaction Fee: 2.99% of transaction value + 2 % (min. £1.50, max. £4.50) for using an ATM other than Barclays or those within the Global Alliance

Monday 3rd October 2011

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Business

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How would you like to be a trader? Magali Calabressi reports on recent news from the business world

ne of the hardest and most important decisions in life is what career path you will follow. When you are at university, often you meet someone who asks what you would like to do when you graduate and, whilst many think they know exactly what they want to do, many don’t. There are, however, several opportunities to get involved in events organised by UK based and international companies, which provide an insight into the different roles that they have to offer. Amplify Trading, a professional trading company based in Canary Wharf, is one of them. I attended a Professional Trading Day Experience at Amplify Trading to explore my options as a trader. At the beginning of the day, the group was given some background information on how macroeconomics and US data releases affect fast-moving markets. To explain, co-founder Will De Lucy used various examples of past and current events and how these influenced markets. For example, oil prices have recently hit a two-and-a-half year high. This is a figure clearly influenced by Syria’s mediocre international relations, resulting in the country getting limited media attention; something not well accepted by Syrian - amongst other Middle-Eastern - leaders. It is also important to notice that supply and demand plays a huge role in the movement of markets. For example, the US and the UK amongst others have significantly reduced their annual oil consumption by finding alternative sources

of energy, offering the public different disposing techniques, recycling, etc., which (theoretically) means that since the demand for oil has decreased then the cost of oil per barrel will decrease also. This, however, is not the case because, whilst the demand in Western countries has fallen, it has greatly increased in countries like China and India where the economies are growing and industry driven. These, amongst others, are factors that must be taken into account when trading. In effect, ‘big news’ is good for traders as it means a ‘busy trading day’; that is, great fluctuations across different markets imply greater profits. After a very basic but informative and easy-to-understand overview on the influence of macroeconomics, the group was shown the trading software and how to use it. The software used by traders is very convenient since it allows users to be logged in from all over the world and thus can trade being away from their place of work. There is a chatroom where traders discuss daily influential

The software used by traders is very convenient since it allows users to be logged in from all over the world. events and help each other make informed decisions about when to buy and/or sell. Also, Amplify Trading’s Piers Curran, Head of Trading, gives his traders ongo-

Trading certainly isn’t for everyone

ing updates on current economical situations that are likely to affect markets. The software itself is composed of ‘ladders’ - a stack of boxes as if it were Excel - where you are able to see the current value of what is being traded and several other values above and below. Beside each value you can see how many people are willing to sell at such value and how many are willing to buy at such value. Alongside your ‘trading ladders’, you have a candlestick chart for each trade. This procedure for recording changes in a specific market is a Japanese technique where you have a block representing closing and opening prices and a line showing the highest and lowest prices reached. Also, the colour of the block indicates the direction of the market for that particular period of time; blue indicates an increase in price and red a decrease in price. The idea behind these charts is that seeing the price activity allows traders to identify different patterns and trends. Although this was a lot of information to take in during a space of two hours, and probably nowhere near enough to be a good trader, I was really excited to get to do some actual trading myself. On the day, we worked mainly with three different markets: S&P 500, Nymex Oil and EUR/USD. The markets were mainly driven by the deteriorating Syrian uprisings - which affected trading on oil in particular - and the current political un-

rest between the US and China as they would both like to see the weakening of their currency; in a nutshell, this is so that they may facilitate exporting. Trading on Euro/USD was very slow, as the day following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) was to conclude its two-day meeting with a press conference by Chairman Bernanke whose aim was to make monetary policy transparent and outline the exit strategy after the end of QE (quantitative easing essentially this means flooding the market with money) in June. At the time, investors and traders around the world were weary and vigilant since the outcome of this meeting was to have a great impact on markets. To keep you informed, the changes made the following day at the FOMC meeting

Trading itself, dare I say, was surprisingly easy. were the following two, “Inflation has picked up in recent months, but longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable and measures of underlying inflation are still subdued” and “Increases in the prices of energy and other commodities have pushed up inflation in recent months”. During the meeting, the FOMC confirmed that it would continue with its $600bn QE2 ‘assetbuying’ programme and modified its economic outlook to higher inflation and slower growth but lower

unemployment in 2011. Despite increasing inflation - principally a result of oil prices - in the US, following the FOMC meeting Bernanke said that the increase in prices would be “transitory”. Trading itself, dare I say, was surprisingly easy. You simply choose how many contracts you would like, you place your buy order to the left of the ‘trading ladder’ and your ‘sell order’ to the right of the ladder where you feel you have enough profit or where the maximum loss you will accept is if the price decreased after you bought. In fact, when trading you are your own boss and you call all the shots. This can be either a good or a bad thing. For example, if you are a risk-taker you may ‘double-down’ on a trade and there won’t be anyone stopping you from taking such an excessive risk. In contrast, you may find you enjoy managing your own time, spending as long as you like in front of a computer, which can be

There is a certainty to the phrase “trading is informed gambling”. from as little as 20 minutes to 18 hours per day. If you are considering trading, however, you should note that it is important to get a healthy balance. After all, trading can be a roller coaster of emotions since it is as easy to loose thousands, as it is to gain them. There is a certainty to the phrase “trading is informed gambling”, since despite strong economical and political knowledge, the erratic behaviour of markets means the opposite to what was predicted can and does happen. Still, the way markets behave is currently dominated by a phenomenon known in the trading world as ‘Risk On - Risk Off’. This is based on the way the market ‘feels’; either it believes future prospects are good and risk is on or it believes future prospects are bad and risk is off. On the whole, trading is a very interesting and motivating career path. If you are an alert and driven person, you may find it hard to deal with losses at first but a good trader is one who can accept when s/he has lost and use that information to make a better future trade. After all it is a career in which, as Will De Lucy puts it, “absolutely anything can happen at any time”.

Fancy journalism? Radio? Television? All we’re missing is you. Join Media for £6 and take advantage of the best things the Students’ Union has to offer (in our opinion, anyway).

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Monday 3rd October 2011

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Sabbs Corner

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Your sabbatical team for 2011 at the Launch Party last week... From left to right: Naomi Mackrill, David Howells, David Cameron, Matt Benka and Chris Clements.

Stand out, make a difference David Cameron VP Activities and Development suactivites@bath.ac.uk

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sabb life Chris Clements VP Sport susport@bath.ac.uk

bathim-

A healthy little bit of rivalry

Naomi Mackrill VP Community and Diversity sucommunity@bath.ac.uk

pact

Monday 3rd October 2011

bathimpact

Activities

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The diary of an SCA volunteer in Romania

the morning and one in the after-

phans there. -

eight. and in the awesome surroundings. -

throughout.

from the outside it was run-down lots of food. Of the state run orSCA volunteers helping the needy in Romania -

he was prone to hitting himself.

phanages. than others.

and temperatures getting to -30 in

ing into one of the state orphanages

elled and with some new friends. For more information on how orphans started to open up a lit-

Get out your fishnets - youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re off to Bristol!

bathstudent.com/volunteer/SCA

Latest from BUSMS -

and use our own words to define

bath. ac.uk/icia

group showing our support to all

Ever pull a wide load? Scott Barbour/Getty Images

from London to New Delhi. The

for the winning team plus 2nd and the person who raises the most

word in order to redeem the term ing of women who dress â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;pro-

Date Time Location The SlutWalk underway in Toronto last year

Monday 3rd October 2011

bathimpact

Activities

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Ready for an explosive RAG event?

RAG Event managers Navraj Thandi and Hanna Wade with BIB Sponsor and Rotary Club Sponsor

his year, members of the Rotary Club of Bath and students from the Univer-

the volunteer fundraising group, are combining their talents to put on a joint fireworks display for the people of Bath. The annual event, sponsored by the Bath Building

Society, will take place on Saturday 5th November at the Recreation Ground and is expected to attract thousands of people. Historically, the two groups have organised separate firework displays at the Recreation Ground and on Claverton Down. This year, the organisations have

decided to collaborate to offer the public a magnificent night full of attractions. Alan Keeling, the Chairman of the Fireworks Committee at the Rotary Club of Bath comments, “We have decided to work together with the students to put on a single, fantastic family-oriented event. The students from RAG are extremely enthusiastic and full of new ideas and we hope to attract a full house to the Recreation Ground. This project is a great opportunity for Rotary and RAG to work together integrating and interacting with the people of Bath.” Hanna Wade, student representative from RAG adds: “We believe that joining forces instead of running two separate events allows us to really focus our efforts and strengths to organise a stunning display. This year’s headline beneficiary is The Royal United Hospital’s A&E Department and we hope generous donations will be made to this, and our other local, worthy causes which we support.” Jonathan Cook, Community

and Retail Operations Manager at the Bath Building Society added, “We are proud to be supporting this much anticipated event in Bath which not only provides a safe, spectacular display for the people of Bath but also helps raise significant donations for local charities.” The organisers will also be launching a school posters competition to communicate the dangers associated with fireworks and bonfires. Entry posters will be delivered to 7,500 school chilSeptember. Several students from the university will be involved in judging the competition at the fire station in October and attending the prize giving in the mayor’s parlour afterwards. Tickets for this year’s event can be purchased in advance at BIBS offices and Bath Rugby ticket office or at the gate on the night. Standard admission costs £5 and

RAG are looking for volunteers and marshals for the evening; free food will be provided to anyone who volunteers. There will also be an hour’s entertainment from university societies on stage beyou want more information, or for your society to perform on stage at bathrag.com the student run volunteer fundraising group of the Students’ Union based at the University of Bath. The members raise money through various events (collections, RAG Week, Sleepout, Fashion Show, Paris Hitchhike, Duck donate the funds to both local and raised £35,000 through events and collections it organised. The ties this year are Julian House, The Golden-Oldies, The Rainbow Centre for Children and Timecharities will receive a share of the funds raised after the donation to the RUH. For more info go to

tickets will be available on cam-

A guide to Diversity and Support groups B USU has a loads of free, student-run groups which exist solely to ensure you feel represented and looked after in everything to do with diversity, welfare and support - and they’re fun too! These all come under the Diversity & Support Exec, and are therefore vital for representing you to the SU and the University. Here’s the lowdown: Diversity & Support Exec suadvice@bath.ac.uk The Diversity and Support Exec is responsible for supporting and coordinating the eight student groups as well as working on a variety of representational issues. Most of the we do have some vacant positions: Race Equality Rep. If you’re interested in running for any of these positions email suadvice@bath.ac.uk for more info. Access access@bath.ac.uk For students with any disability, medical condition or learning learning about them. This group doesn’t have a committee at the moment, so we need enthusiastic people to get involved - email suadvice@bath.ac.uk if you’re interested

or just want a bit more information.

lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer,

more details.

Bath Erasmus & Exchange Network (BEN)

pansexual, unsure/questioning… or even heterosexual! Meetings cover a range of topics with a trip to the gay bar after, we run several campaigns and there are socials to suit everyone. Meet on Thursdays at

Mature Students

For ESML and exchange/erasmus students to network, practice your languages and gain handy hints for your year abroad. Regular nights at OPA on Wednesdays at 10:30pm special events throughout the year. They’re running a free welcome cream tea in the Claverton Rooms, Friday 7th Oct at 4pm. Gender Equality A discussion group for anyone interested in issues concerned with gender equality or the betterment of the world. We are interested in gender issues such as identity, gender roles and expectations, institutionalised and casual discrimination, privilege and sexual violence. We aim to hold weekly discussions, talks on a variety of subjects by a variety of speakers and eventually some campaigning. Meetings are

LGBT and Friends

A discussion, network and social group for all those who identify as

and everything is conducted with rules. A social for new members to meet each other and the committee is at 7pm Tuesday 4th Oct at Wetherspoons in town. Sign up to the mailing list on the website for

Older than the average student? Or have a life experience that makes you feel it? Mature Students group is a social and representative forum to meet others in the same point in life as you. Email for more details about the next event. Nightline suadvice@bath.ac.uk Nightline is a service run by student volunteers for students at the

tial listening service which students can call during its opening hours like to volunteer for nightline email suadvice@bath.ac.uk Student parents suadvice@bath.ac.uk A network for sharing hints and tips about life as a student and a parent, this group arranges regular social events for parents and children, including outings in the local area. Bath University Global Group (BUGG)

Here for the integration of students from every culture, this group runs socials and a language café to bring together home and international students in fun and friendly events to promote cultural interaction. Postgraduate or international student? The PGA and ISA, while not under the D&S exec, are also part of the diversity and support provided by the SU and University. Find them and bathstudent.com/ PGA and bathstudent.com/ISA. Remember, all of these are free to join on (sign up forward to seeing you!

Monday 3rd October 2011

bathimpact

Sport

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Bath Cricket dominate, Bath City struggle Jonathan Gleave bathimpact Sport Editor impact-sport@bath.ac.uk

f you thought you had a busy summer then think again, our ing powers had one hell of a summer local goings on! Starting off with football, Bath City F.C. reinforced their squad heavily at the start of last season in

bat their style of play. This, coupled with a host of new signings - including a loan move for Bristol Rovers team has taken longer to gel than manager Adie Britton would have liked. To top it all off, matters were not helped when 38-year-old vetthe away game with York and was rushed to hospital. He was discharged the following day and is reported to be recovering well, but it looks to be a long hard season for the boys in black and white. On a more successful note, Bath Cricket Club enjoyed a very prosperXI win the West of England Premier years, the second XI also won their championship for the seventh year on the trot. The women’s team also won an impressive second place bathruby.com

Blue Square Premiership side. They cal of a newly promoted side riding the crest of a wave. The start to only their second season as a Blue Square team, however, could not have gotten off to a worse start. They currently sit at the bottom in 24th, having taken just three points from a possible 30. It would appear that most teams have measured up the Romans and know how to com-

in the Southern National Premier League. Unfortunately, with autumn fast approaching, the cricket season and the success it seems to bring Bath along with it, has drawn to a close. Those of you desperate for more will have to wait until the Spring. Or log onto one of the internet’s more fetish-orientated porn websites. One season that is just starting though, and one which usually gains the most support amongst locals, is the Aviva Premiership. Bath Rugby have enjoyed a solid start to the seature away to the Newcastle Falcons quite comfortably 22-9. son did not go quite as swimmingly as they narrowly lost to reigning champions Saracens 26-28. It was always going to prove a challenging throughout. Bath led 26-25 until the dying seconds when a sloppy penalty gave Saracens’ Farrell the chance to win the game. His resulting kick hit the left upright and looked to be a wasted opportunity, when it ricocheted off the right upright as well before dropping the right side of the posts, winning with the last kick of the game. Now I know journalistic etiquette dictates I’m supposed to be completely impartial to such events, but, seriously? Jammy sod. They reacted in the right way the following weekend 23-19, a game

which saw new signing Dan Hipkiss

Gleave’s gripes

was at the game in question and the highlight had to be a four-year-old

One strike and you’re out isn’t the way to go

fan (and subsequently making him A phrase I am sure that has been uttered many a time in divorce courts up and down the country. Considering that a number of the best to Banahan, Mears and Moody in their pursuit of the Webb Ellis cup), Bath can be pleased with their start to the campaign. With heavy investment in the squad from owner Bruce Craig (as it looks that the team is essentially acquiring the Tigers championship winning squad of 2010/11 one player at a time) anywould be deemed a disappointment. Remember, you can show your support for your teams by getting down to the matches and cheering them on from the sidelines, novelty down at Twerton park, Bath Cricket can be found at the North Parade Ground (although if you try to watch a game now you will just feel very cold and lonely) and Bath Rugby play at the Recreation Ground and even offer occasional £5 student tickets for some Premiership and cuse for not cheering them on. All results correct as of 23/09/11

Famous sporting faces aplenty Jonathan Gleave bathimpact Sport Editor impact-sport@bath.ac.uk

ne of the contributing factors as to why a lot of students pick the University of Bath over other leading British Universities is owing to its superior sporting facilities. As a result of such fantastic facilities, it is no surprise therefore that a host of world class athletes regularly grace the STV with their presence. If you are new to Bath than hopefully this article will give you an idea as to who you might see over the coming years. You can even print off a list of everyone mentioned and tick them off once you have seen them. Kind of like what a bird watcher might do, although that would be pretty sad and borderline creepy. Perhaps one of the most regular visitors to the STVs’ gym, and the biggest hitters in terms of popularity with the students (particularly with the girls for some unbeknown reason), is the Bath Rugby squad. The typical response to seeing England centre come winger, Matt Banahan, floating around the gym

doing a few curls is ‘crikey he’s actually pretty big’. I once lifeguarded the entire Bath Rugby team. Not only did I very nearly kick Jonny Fa’amatuainu (who has since moved on) in the shin, I also noticed that they are so ‘dense’ they genuinely had to wear life jackets to aid with floatation. Another face which occasionally relay gold medallist, Jason Gardner. Good luck trying to talk to him though. Don’t get me wrong he is a lovely chap, but he walks as fast as he runs and is a bit of a mission to catch up to! Iwan Thomas, another former athlete from the British school of sprinting (having won gold at the 1998 European champs in the 400m) will visit the STV a few times a year too. Dai Green, who recently won the 400 m hurdles at this years’ World Championships also trains at the STV. It is not all that uncommon that the England netball team also come up to play international matches in the STV. Although individually they may not be that famous, as a group they are pretty

hard to miss - they will be the tall group of women walking around in England netball stash. When she’s not sledding down the alps, Great Britain’s sole gold medallist from the 2010 Vancouver winter games, Amy Williams, will make an appearance on her old University stomping ground. A product of Bath’s education system, she remains true to her West Country routes. Bath seems to like their snow sports because Zoe Gillings, Olympic snowboarder, is another sporting face regularly seen in the gym. Greg Rudeski, tennis’ former world number four no less, has also been spotted up on campus. Sticking with the theme of tennis, a lot of you may remember the worlds’ longest tennis match from the first round of Wimbledon last year. Main instigator for what is to ever happen in tennis, Nicolas Mahut, has been seen to be floating around a few times as well. A final local hero who still lives and trains in Bath, is Paralympian Ben Rushgrove who set a world

record for the T36 200m in 2007. He also came away from the Beijing Paralympics with a silver medal in the T36 100m. So, there you have a list of some of the professional athletes, both past and present, who share some of the facilities with you - and I haven’t even mentioned the fact that the Great Britain swimming team base a lot of their athletes at Bath. I have probably missed some out, but if you get the chance, don’t be afraid to say hello. Although it is probably best not to say ‘you played like my Nan on Saturday’ and then run off giggling like the little pansy that you are, because remember, these guys are all professional athletes and they will catch you.

Being a highly opinionated fellow, each issue I will feel the need to bemoan something within the world of sport. Whether it be drug cheats in athletics, ‘simulation’ in football or how Scott Parker’s haircut makes him look like he belongs in a 1950’s cartoon. sue by voicing my opinions on why the new ‘one strike’ rule in track athletics is a pointless addition to the rules that the sport just simply did not need. You may also notice how this ties in nicely with the international sports news column on page 27. Oh yes, this is all planned, these links don’t just happen by coincidence, I do try and keep my rants relevant to recent goings on. When I can. A lot of you would have probably seen or heard about Usain Bolt’s nal at the World Championships earlier this month. Bolt is generally accepted by everyone with even a worlds’ fastest man, and indeed the fastest man in history. It is a travesty therefore that the event was won by what many would consider to be lesser athlete. Yes, sport is unpredictable, and yes, shock events like this do keep things interesting (especially for us reporter types), but when the best athletes in the competition are being eliminated before they’ve even been given the chance to really compete, you have to question the rules of that sport. This new one false start and you’re out ruling would, in my eyes, be the equivalent to being shown a straight red card in football for an accidental hand ball or a baseballer being struck out after just one successful pitch. The fact of the matter is that thousands of people paid good money to watch the fastest man on Earth, and will then have felt cheated when they are instead forced to watch him complete the athletics equivalent of the walk of shame. They should’ve stuck with the old system of two strikes and you’re out, it worked for many a year (ignoring Jon Drummond’s protests at the 2003 World Championships) and the simple motto of ‘if it ain’t To be fair, I’m only moaning about this because I have tickets to mighty pissed.

Monday 3rd October 2011

bathimpact

Sport

Sports and Exercise Science student wins inaugral Nike sport blog competition

here is more to the University of Bath’s sporting legacy than the actual playing of sport. Perhaps just as important is the academic sporting legacy that we can also boast about. One person who would agree that the academic side of things is just as important as the actual playing side is current fourth year Sports Scientist, and bathimpact Sport Editor extraordinaire, Jonathan Gleave. Also, yes, my ego dictates that I have to write this in the third person. Jonathan has just come back from a year on placement at the Auckland University of Technology in Auckland, New Zealand and, while out there, kept a blog documenting both the sporting side of life in New Zealand and the academic side of his placement. The only reason he has any column space devoted to this blog at all is

because he then went on to win the inaugural Sport Science Nike prize for blogging. One quote from the blog states how ‘it’s no coincidence that the majority of professional rugby players out here [New Zealand] are Maori. They just lend themselves to the sport. Without being rude, they are a naturally robust people, and are built for battering into solid objects (i.e. other rugby players) at high speed.’ It was humorous insights like this one, along with useful tips on how to survive in New Zealand which saw Jonathan voted the winner. Fellow bloggers Anna Ross, Natalie Greening and Joe Dale should be commended on entertaining entries throughout the year also. When asked how he felt about tition, Gleave was unavailable to comment, although sources close to the fourth year layabout claim that he is ‘well chuffed to have won a shiny pair of new Nike trainers.’

For anyone wishing to read the blog entries from last years’ placement students, visit http://blogs. bath.ac.uk/sesblogcompetition/. If Jonathans’ success has inspired you to get involved with blogging itself then there are no lack of blogging sites out there available on the web; Tumblr and Twitter being just two examples. For those of you who just want to get involved with writ-

ing then you have to look no further than your very own student newspaper! Editorial note: For the record, I do not actually have a massive ego. I was asked by the bathimpact Committee to cover the story about the guy who won the Sports Science placement blog. It just so happens that that guy was me.

ou talk to someone about gokarting and most will picture

four stroke Honda lawnmower engine, roaring around inside some cold war aircraft hanger. They will then proceed to tell you that they too have done a bit of go-karting in their time and they are the best at it because they beat their Dad’s mate once - and he drives a Subaru Impreza. This is one form of the sport, true, but there is a more glamorous side to it. Formula 1’s current crop of stars all started in karts and they are a world apart from the indoor kind. Outdoor karts are almost invariably two stroke, rev into the high teens, deliver supercar levels of acceleration and normally require a race licence and balls of steel to compete in. It is in this style of kart that universities across the country race in the British University Karting Championship; a championship that Bath won earlier this year, beating our previous best result of fourth. different national circuits. There

four endurance rounds, and all the points are then tallied together. Sprint racing is a simple 30 minute race is a two-man 60 minute relay with two mandatory fuel stops. There is a real mix of ability at BUKC events as, usually, the only pre-requisite to competing is a minimum experience requirement of one hour of testing in the competition karts. There are also many competition licence holders taking part with experiences as diverse as formula ford and stock hatch car racing. A dodgy combination of impatient, fast drivers and tentative novices means that even the best don’t avoid the odd accident. As well as providing good spectator opportunities, it also helps to keep the championship unpredictable to the last. The best teams always prevail, but as with this years’ championship it can be fought down to the last race of the last round. In fact it was so close this year that we didn’t

line. The man of the moment, Fred Martin-Dye, was called upon to take a mid-pack grid position and turn it into a display of utter domination. The only problem was; he hadn’t driven the track before. Fortunately a combination of driving talent and luck saw us through. For whatever reason, Oxford Brookes couldn’t get the measure of the task at hand and whilst Loughborough were given a stop and go penalty for blatant banditry. By this stage, Martin-Dye was

looking pretty comfortable with his kart. From an anxious spectators point of view, it was obvious that he had to maintain the position he had earned early on or he would fail to pick up the necessary points required for the championship win. Displaying the sort of race craft often reserved for the likes of Vettel, Martin-Dye last three corners and crossed the line in front of everybody important ship. The rest is history.

With the introduction of the one strike rule in athletics, whereby one false start results in disqualification for the offending athlete, it was always a possibility that the favourite for an event could be knocked out before the race had even started. That is exactly what happened to lightening fast Usain Bolt at this years athletics World Championships. The reigning Olympic champion jumped the gun and was subsequently disqualified. Thousands of people were left infuriated at having paid money to see the fastest man on the planet complete possibly the slowest walk off the track in history. He made up for it in the 4 x 100 m relay however by leading Jamaica to a new world record time of 37.04s.

A devestated Bolt leaves the Daegu arena head in hand

Birds a hit with ManDe Jong De Jong, known for his tenacious and aggressive style of play admitted the secret to his success earlier this month. It has been revealed games, the 26-year-old Dutchman will insist on playing angry birds on his iPod before each game. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the game (shame on you), but the idea is to propel a variety of birds at green pigs and make them pop. It has no relevance to football what-so-ever and it can only be assumed that when he is running around the pitch launching into bone crunching tackles, De Jong is actually just pretending to be an angry bird.

Quote of the day

presentation.

still open to three teams; Bath, Oxford Brookes and Loughborough. The only certain way to win was to

Bolt too quick even for the gun

Jonathan chilling out at one of New Zealand’s many waterfalls

Bath steer Loughborough off pole position to claim BUKC title James Plunkett bathimpact Contributor

International sports news

Guardian.co.uk

www.bathimpact.com

Jonathan Gleave bathimpact Sport Editor impact-sport@bath.ac.uk

The Bath Uni A Team, meeting Mark Webber as part of the prize - a tour of the Red Bull facilities at the British Grand Prix. L-R: Chris Bell, Dave Turton, Jacques Jenson, Mark Webber, Fred Martin-Dye

‘Rugby players drink beer... Shocker’ Martin Johnson defending the acts of his England Rugby team after they were caught drinking after their game against Argentina at the World Cup.

impactsport

Go-karting, p27

Inside impactsport Sports Science student wins inaugral blog competition Fourth year Sports and Exercise Science student Jonathan Gleave competition whilst on placement in New Zealand. Find out his views on why Kiwis are so good at rugby and more on page 27

Bath Cricket Club continue to dominate

Greene elated at having added World Champion to his growing collection of titles

Greene grabs gold in Daegu »

Matthew Givans bathimpact

ith a year to go before the Olympic Games arrive in London; the athletics community was focused on Daegu, South Korea for the 2011 World Championships. Held earlier this month, the Championships provided a welcome barometer for athletes likely to compete next summer, as well as giving vital tournament experience to a number of those hoping to qualify for the proclaimed ‘greatest show on earth’. The University of Bath was well represented at the championships, with six Bath based athletes competing for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team. The headline act was to be the hurdler from South Wales. David ‘Dai’ Greene ran a sensational race to win gold in the 400m hurdles, snatching victory from Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson

the Championships, Greene was instantly trending on Twitter with one particularly creative tweet noting how ‘Daegu was transformed into Dai-gu’. Afterwards a delighted Greene said “I was desperate to come away with the Gold, I’m really

relieved and proud. I’ve been working so hard for this over the years.” Steven Baddeley, Director of Sport at the University of Bath, commented on Dai’s win: “I’d like to congratulate Dai on this fantastic achievement. Dai has produced some outstanding results since he’s been training with Malcolm Arnold [UK Athletics National Events Coach] at Bath. Winning the Europeans and Commonwealths last year was impressive enough, but adding Gold at the World Championships takes Dai to another level.” Greene was not the only Bath athment experience. Lawrence Clarke, William Sharman and Eilidh Child were three others coming into Daegu with recent form after all three

for touching China’s Liu Xiang with only two hurdles remaining. The reman was bumped up to a share of

was capable of getting a medal - it’s really frustrating,” said Sharman “it’s been a hard year and I haven’t been able to train for a large part Child, who trains part time at Bath, ran in the women’s 400m hurdles and was also selected for the 4 x 400m women’s relay team, although she did not get to compete in the latter. Child, on the back of a silver medal in Delhi when representing Scotland, has taken a break from full-time athlete and was hoping

Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Clarke and Sharman both competed in the 110m hurdles after leaving India with a bronze and silver medal respectively. There were contrasting results in Daegu, however, as Clarke crashed out early in the heats and Sharman got all the way

the controversy caused by Cuba’s

Unfortunately, that ambition was shattered as she dropped out in the Bath Sports Performance student Danny Talbot, coached by Dan Cossins, was selected in the 4 x 100m relay squad alongside Olympic champions Mark Lewis-Francis and Marlon Devonish. Talbot, like Child, unfortunately didn’t get the chance to run in the relays. The team quali-

Fellow Sports Performance student, Jack Green, was making his senior GB bow in Daegu after an impressive summer performance at the European Under 23 Championships where he won gold. Jack dles, but sadly couldn’t repeat Dai’s success, as he crashed out in the a time of 49.62s. In the aftermath, his reaction told its own story; “It was embarrassing. It was a waste of my time and the team’s money, and I’m not happy at all.” Perhaps a little harsh on himself, but he will have no doubt learnt from the experience. With a mix of performances there letes based at Bath can take from their experiences of Daegu. With the one of the priorities for the coming year, it will be an exciting time to be involved with athletics at the University. As for Greene, Mr Baddeley sums gold for Dai to win in 2012 to complete the set.”

aged to win the West of England Premier League for the sixth time in See page 25 to catch up with the latest news from Bath Cricket Club, Bath Rugby and Bath City F.C.

Many a famous athlete to be seen on campus For all you freshers out there, you may have the fortune of bumping into one or two famous faces from the world of sport, as the likes of Amy Williams and Dai Greene regularly use our impressive facilities Go to page 25 to see the list of athletes you might bump into around campus

impactsport needs you! Do you want to write a match report for your team? Do you have something to say about sport at our University? Interested in sports journalism, design or photography? Or even just passionate about sport in general? Get in touch, impactsport wants to hear from people like you! Contact the bathimpact Sport Editor Jon (impact-sport@bath. ac.uk) to find out more details about how you can get yourself involved.