bathimpact Vol 13 Issue 4 by bathimpact

Movemb-err?!

Brain training

News page 4

Science page 19

Old School with bite

bathimpact The University of Bath Students’ Union Newspaper

Monday 21st November 2011

www.bathimpact.com

Sam Short

Volume 13 Issue 4

In this week’s bathimpact Students take gov to court In a ground breaking court case, two students will take the coalition to court after stating the rise in tuition fees contravenes the Human Rights Act. The trial will take place at the High Court in London; a date has yet to be announced. We at bathimpact look forward to it. See page 5 of News

St Paul’s Cathedral has been the centre of controversy in the hight

The fireworks were all down in the centre of town this Bonfire Night and beautifully lit up the our gorgeous city.

RAG Fireworks: Wreck at the Rec Gemma Isherwood bathimpact Deputy Editor impact-deputy@bath.ac.uk hose of you who attended the

a few weeks ago will no doubt have had a wonderful (and thankfully not too chilly) night watching a spectacular display, despite it not taking

the Rec, however, was not a decision taken lightly. RAG (Raise and Give) usually hold

day. Rather than competing, RAG were approached in March and asked if they would like to collaborate, in the hope that they could bring something more to a popular town event. This involved, on RAG’s part, organisational work including entertainment, volunteers for the collection and the funfair. tion of the money collected; a meeting

with RAG and the Rotary Club resulted

the Royal United Hospital (RUH), despite this not being RAG’s chosen charity. All further collection money was to be split 70/30 between the cohosters. Throughout the process, RAG felt they were being patronised and not trusted and were left unable to deliver the event that they wanted. The problems arose in a lack of communications between the Rotary Club and the local council (B&NES). RAG were told by B&NES one week before the event that the entertainment licence held by the Rugby Club did not cover the necessary conditions for entertainment, so the entertainment was cancelled. Two weeks prior to this, it was discovered that the funfair would not be allowed due to lack of permissions. This had already been widely advertised across student media, in the Bath Chronicle and with posters up on campus and around town. The Rotary Club also voiced their unhappiness at not being able to have a

funfair; it transpired that the idea had been for RAG to deal with such matters from start to end, but a breakdown of communication meant emails were said she felt “out of the loop in important matters which made things really entertainment and the funfair was impossible”. Subsequently, press releases had to be changed last-minute, nobody was fully aware of what was happening at all times and there was a lot of unnecessary hassle for all involved. There was also an occasion in negotiations when the RAG Chair was told to “shut up” during a meeting and told do “do as [she was] told” in a meeting between the Rotary Club and RAG where our VP Community and Diversity was also present. At the event, volunteers had to count collection money by hand as a counting machine had not been provided due to arrangements being miscommunicated. In this process, RAG volunteers, who were mostly graduates

with jobs and previous RAG committee members, were told they’d have to “do some work for once”. The RAG Chair said that this attitude epitomised the Rotary Club’s attitude throughout the whole event. The Rotary Club commented “RAG brought so much to the event, we couldn’t do it on our own... They helped us generate much more than we anticipated for local charities. We’re hoping to move this forward to RAG’s Chair said “The whole idea was for RAG to bring something to the something to show what we do for charity and in the community - helping the town and gown relationship. The worst thing for me is that, aside from the stress it caused, for the average student, we didn’t deliver what we promised and that makes RAG look bad.” In cases like this, one must remember that the ends do not justify the raised for local charities, which is ultimately what RAG is all about.

one hand the church profess to support the poor, and on the other they are trying to turf citizens away from their grounds who are standing up in a fight to reduce inequality. A bathimpact reporter has a closer look at the holy hypocrisy. Turn to page 9 of Comment

Hunger strikes hunger levels across the developing world are at a new high. In 2008 there were over a billion hungry, after levels dropped to around 900.000 at the start of 2011, the world once again has a population of over 1 billion people, that’s one in seven, who go hungry. bathimpact looks at the challenges of food security. Read page 16 of International for more

The Sun rises in the forgotten East Business takes a look at the current state of economic affairs. The West’s influence has been in decline for years, but the influence of the BRIC countries is now much more prevalent. What does this mean for us? Read more in Business page 20

Monday 21st November 2011

Editorials

bathimpact www.bathimpact.com

bathimpact

Kylie Barton Editor-in-Chief

impact-editor@bath.ac.uk

The University of Bath Students’ Union Newspaper

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

e at bathimpact were very interested by the story that you read on the front page. We consider RAG our friends and have heard, on a near daily basis, all aspects of their struggle to put on an and students. It’s very easy, now that

Holly Narey bite Editor

impact-bite@bath.ac.uk

Jonathan Gleave Sport Editor

impact-sport@bath.ac.uk

Ben Hooper Publicity/Distribution

students who contribute to create every issue of bathimpact, they are involved. If you are active in a Society, or a Sports team, if you are an Academic Rep or you volunteer, if you support or represent students anywhere, then you are involved too.

For any involved student, what has a little disheartening, and if you, in your involvement in a group, have any experience of similar treatment it can be disenfranchising. In the run up to ing student who turned around and said that the whole thing had been so traumatic that they never wanted to be involved in the SU again. That’s disappointing, seeing as the problem didn’t stem from the Union, but multiple outside bodies. It is also a great shame.

ing (and should be according to the values of journalism) and angry if we feel justice is compromised. It is worrying, however, how muted the SU have been on the problems have expressed concern over their minimal support for RAG. In many situations, students are susceptible to organisations that have the potential to be exploitative, and treat student societies as secondary bodies rather than the professional groups many of them are, whether an organisation,

est example) when students have been calling out for help for many months. There is currently a petition going around to permanently move the RAG bathimpact’s editorial team supports that decision and we advise students to sign it. We, as a student run, student led organisation, pledge to stand to defend any students feeling unsupported, unvalued and underapprecitowards something as morally admirable as charity, and we are sure the Students’ Union would agree with us on that.

teams ran into problems with the Student’s Union. This year, however, the SU is more supportive of our efforts in

for inaction. Our organisation has a responsibility to protect each of its students, particularly, (to use this lat-

sight.

lic purse to fund the pensions of those that left us in an era of austerity and restriction. That said, any person feels as though policy which affects them is unjust, they do indeed have the right to protest against that no matter what

ment, with on-going protests against tuition fees, the arms trade, and the global economic system to name a few. It is great that such civic activity is becoming popular once again. Within the structure of a university however, this could be viewed quite differently. Students are paying an increasing amount of money to be here, and so deserve all the contact hours they can get, and adequate support from tion may not cause direct harm to the student experience, but the situation does have the potential to escalate and therefore so do the effects. The protest against the cuts to ent meaning to our generation. The

view (and therefore the University’s) on the subject. Political activism is important, and has particular resonance at the mo-

of prosperity and liberation, and now the younger generation is suffering for their over expenditure. We will be -

cuts, or prioritise slightly differently. The Union have given you the opportunity to directly affect their stance on an important issue, so use it.

preneurs who come up with the ideas

enjoy writing, there’s no reason not to

Admittedly, that also means we’re

(change the record), it’s a great opportacts and it also give you a vital extra support system outside of the standard

To read an SU comment on this issue please turn to page 11

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.bathimpact.com

U n i v e r s i t y

o f

B a t h

S t u d e n t s ’

U n i o n

STUDENT

m edia Advertising Enquires Helen Freeman

wo of the unions which represent university staff have an-

on the 30th November. The trade unposed national government pension scheme which will in the main affect staff on a lower pay grade. They organised the day of action that will see staff across several industries includThe University and Colleges Union (UCU) have agreed to join the action. This group however, are mainly concerned with a differentuniversity sity Superannuation Scheme (USS). The group have been engaged in a long standing campaign since Octo-

beyond their hours, and in a time of cuts, this is becoming a more common

Chancellor (Learning & Teaching), released a statement in October, ensuring that the university ‘does not envisage that this will impact on your student experience’. Prolonged action such as this however, is bound to have ings of the university which if continued and escalated, would begin to affect students. This would especially be the case in departments that are already strained through low numbers It is interesting to note that the

gain a wider base of support is another into the profession because they believe in the potential of the next generation, and want to nurture and encourage it. Should this value outweigh the former? That will be left for you, the student body, to decide in the online poll which will be open soon. Use your vote, use your democratic right and either sup-

01225 386806

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

tudents are fantastic. Student life is the perfect springboard for

to do, careers they want to pursue and as well as enjoying a rich variety of interactions with a world devoted to recognising that we are the future. This means being a part of the NUS, being nominated for prizes from the Guardian and the Student Radio Association and ultimately, being introduced to something to us and to our peers. with three bronze awards out of four nominations at the Student Radio student radio station in the country

of people who started their professional careers while at University, it’s hardly surprising that the wonderful things students can do are encouraged and celebrated throughout the year in hundreds of different ways. We are a unique demographic. We are independent, we have a disposable, but we have more free time than any other group of society and we have the Students’ Unions and universities behind us all the way. They can help us to realise that, actually, we’re not just streets on a Friday night: we’re next -

and then but there is not a shadow of a doubt that our time at University is the time when we realise just what

becoming a more rounded individual gain national recognition just because there were once some students who

achieve if we start now. If you’ve got an idea, do something with it. That’s how most of the members of Media got involved - they realised they wanted to try something new and have ended up loving it. Whether you want to be a journalist or you just

lot out of trying something. This university has so much to offer to enrich out student lives. We can use just how fantastic we can be.

uate’s future.

Monday 21st November 2011

bathimpact

News

www.bathimpact.com

Unite and strike Occupy goes on Jenna Logeais bathimpact Contributor

Grace Shepherd bathimpact Contributor

bathimpact went Dave Pickersgill

More than a million Unison

biggest ballot in union voting his-

week later to see the evolution of the Sam Short

ecturersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; unions will strike on 30th November, it has -

seeking further concessions before consulting with their members as to

200,000 votes in favour of the acaction comes after the government

the effects of the action, before a -

Scheme, which came into effect on

as to whether they wish the Stu-

cal views, left-wing as well as right-

Whilst

negotiations

continue

staff at Bath, yet the University believes that this action is unlikely to cause either the University to close,

nor that they have got any intention

will return to its usual self on November 11th at 11am, the length of their

No ifs, no buts... no education cuts!

Politics unravelled Alice Oakley bathimpact Contributor

Clodagh McGuire bathimpact Contributor

from all over the country from 31st October to 6th November

out of control with more than 150

Billy Rowlinson

Police prepared for the worst

Protest 4 housing

to use rubber bullets in extreme cir-

turnout at roughly a quarter of this -

cation cuts, the increase in tuition -

mission to change a house into one

they have concerns about the number

Monday 21st November 2011

bathimpact

News

www.bathimpact.com

News Nuggets Rising youth unemployment End of Park and Ride?

Claudia Shute investigates why youth unemployment in Bath is on the up and how our city fares nationally -

Sophie Sachrajda bathimpact Contributor

www.bathnes.gov.uk/transportandstreets/Parking/parkandride/Pages/fares.aspx

South West News

[We focus on] the employability skills students need to survive Matt Atkinson -

Scanners stationed Sam Lane bathimpact Contributor

Are you having trouble looking for a part time job? Consult the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s careers service.

Bath, you need a shave -

Kolyo Kolev bathimpact Contributor -

Olympic torch in Bath

Maddie Winn bathimpact Contributor

Jon Candy

The logo on the Olympic torch

Did you embrace the tradition and get your tash out this month?

Monday 21st November 2011

bathimpact

News

www.bathimpact.com

plying to university because they do not have information about how the

courses is in January 2012, so UCAS makes it clear that it is too early to extrapolate from this data. Universities UK have also called these pretors’. The window for applications to Oxford, Cambridge and medical schools is now closed, and applications have showed a drop of 0.8 percent. The number of students applying to university from the UK has dropped from 59,413 to 52,231, a decrease of 7,092 applicants. The number of applicants from outside the UK to British universities, howevre, has increased by 204 over the same period, with an increase of 8.8

7,092

fewer applicants this year

per cent for students outside of the European Union. The number of Welsh applications is down by 8.3 percent, the smallest drop of any home nation, and also of any region besides the South-East of England. There were 2,004 applicants from Wales for 2012, which is 182 fewer than for 2011. Eight Welsh universities will be charging the maximum rate of £9,000 a year. However, Welsh students will pay approximately £3,400 a year with the rest being funded by a £280 million a year subsidy from the Labour-run Welsh

Government. The President of NUS Wales, Luke Young, told the BBC: “Even in the devolved governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, where students will be paying lower fees, there is a knock-on effect as young people reconsider going to university. Although Wales has seen the lowest fall in applicants, it is deeply concerning that they may be basing their options on a funding Scotland had also suffered a large drop in applicants, with 2,497 Scottish students applying for university for 2012 as opposed to 2,832, a fall of 11.8 per cent. Tuition fees for Scottish students have been abolished by the Government in the Scottish Parliament, with the SNP reasserting their commitment to this policy. However, Robin Parker, who is NUS Scotland President has said: “We just hope that it’s more that people are putting off applying rather than being put off from going Ken Macintosh, Scottish Labour’s education spokesman has urged the Scottish Government to make sure proper support is available for Scottish students. He said show the effect that the introduction of huge increases in tuition fees is having. Coupled with the lack of clear information from the SNP government on wider access policies, it is no wonder young people are reluctant to commit themselves to a The number of English applicants has dropped from 52,876 to 46,499, a decrease of 12.1 per cent. There are now only 1,321 Northern Irish applicants this year, as opposed 1,519 last year, a 13.0 pe rcent fall. The only subject category to post a rise in applicants was Veterinary and Agricultural Science, showing an increase of 5.1 per cent of applicants. Mass Communications and Documentation endured a reduction from 905 applicants to 538 applicants this year, meaning a 40.6 per cent drop in applicants, the largest of any subject category. Business & Administrative Studies, Creative Arts & Design and Education all showed drops in applicants greater than 25 per cent. Applications from women were reduced from 43,286 to 38,744 this year, a fall of 10.5 percent, with male applicants declining from 33,326 to 30,980, a 7.0 per cent loss on the previous year. UCAS will publish data for individual universities based on the October deadline in January 2012, with a full report of the complete data being published in July 2012.

Tuition fee court case Tomos Evans bathimpact Contributor

he battle against £9,000 tuition fees is due to reach the High Court in London. Teenagers Callum Hurley and Katy Moore, both 17 are taking the government to court after saying that they were both higher education. It is argued that the increase indirectly affects those from poorer backgrounds and ethnic minorities. The case, which is being heard Mr Justice King and Lord Justice Elias because students are have just began applying for university on the Autumn.

“

Going to university depends on ability DBIS The Justices are being asked for a judicial review against Business Secretary, Vince Cable. The pair’s legal team has been funded by legal aid and pro bono work by the Birmingham-based Public Interest vice one of the UK’s foremost human rights lawyers, Rabinder Singh QC. Advice over the case was also received from Professor Aileen McColgan who is a barrister and professor at King’s

College London. Sam Jacobs, who is representing the pair, explained that there are two grounds in which to bring the case. Firstly, he will argue that the trebling of fees means the government is in breach of the Human Rights Act 1998. A right to education is enshrined in this act and although it does not guarantee free higher education, it does place conditions to prevent limitations on access to higher education. Secondly, Jacobs argues that the the promotion of equal opportunities as required by the Race Relations, Sex Discrimination and Disability Discriminations Act. Female, disabled and ethnic minority students usually earn less over a life time than that of a able-bodied, white male. The ultimate goal of the case is the repeal of the Higher Education (Higher Amount) Regulations Act 2010, with the insurance that a proper and all-encompassing Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) is done before any new legislation in the area. The team argues that the EIA performed was “cursory

per cent drop in UK-born students applying to UK universities have been attributed to this change of higher education policy by the National Union of Students. A spokesperson from the Depart-

ment for Business, Innovation and Skills defended the changes to tuition fees: “...going to university depends on the argument that tighter rules have been put on universities coupled with an increase in funds available for students from lower income backgrounds. Hurley, who was kettled during protests in December and lives in Peterborough, said how the government failed to acknowledge the protest believing that “taking legal action will ing for a BTec in Web Development and aspires to attend university. Moore is currently studying for her A-Levels at Lambeth Academy in South-West London. She hopes to further her study of science at university and eventually have a career as a research scientist, investigating the behaviour of cells and diseases along with the exploring new treatments and cures.

Council tighten their belt

Petitions are a peaceful method of active citizenship available to all A petition by the Bath Taxpayers’ The petition collected over 100 sigAlliance group is seeking to reduce natures in an hour at the weekend the pay of the Chief Executive of Farmer’s Market in Green Park. Bath and North East Somerset Tim Newark, local spokesman for (B&NES) Council. Taxpayers’ Alliance, has said this

Sam Short bathimpact Contributor A nationwide marketing stunt by Redbull reached Bath last month, as the ‘Bullman’ used a traditional sustinance. turned home to envelopes upon their door mats; if the instructions within were deciphered correctly, their reward was a morning delivery by a very different kind of milk man. You may have been lucky enough to

hummed quietly about the streets of Bath, delivering free Red Bull to students who had left the cardboard crate on their doorstep. bathimpact was lucky enough to hitch a ride one morning and join in spreading love and caffeine to the students of Bath; providing a muchneeded pick-me-up for the many who struggle to haul themselves to lectures. If only it could be a permanent arrangement...

was a good response. John Everitt, the current Chief Executive, was paid a salary of £178,388 last financial year, with employer pension contributions bringing his total pay package up to £212,186.The petition calls for this package to be reduced to £160,000. B&NES Council is reducing the number of strategic directors from five to three. This comes as part of the wider initiative to make required savings of over £12 million in the next financial year.

Sam Short

Applications drop Anthony Masters bathimpact Contributor CAS, the university admissions service, has reported that university applications for 2012 are 9 per cent lower than in 2011. The report, which is available on the UCAS website, compares applications for the 19 October deadline in both years, splitting the results on categories such as gender, domicile and university course. tions since the cap on tuition fees was raised by the Coalition Government to £9,000 a year. Both the NUS and the UCU, the lecturers’ union, have attributed this fall to the rise in the rise in tuition fees. Universities Minister David Willets MP said the information campaign dents would be extended. He said “It is important no one is put off ap-

Monday 21st November 2011

bathimpact

News

www.bathimpact.com

M5 crash highlights road dangers in winter Andy Reevo

Anthony Masters bathimpact Contributor

even people have been killed and 51 left injured by a 34-vehicle crash on the M5 motorway. The crash happened at around 8:30pm on Friday 4th November, northbound close to junction 25. Of the 51 injured, 25 were taken to Yeovil District Hospital, 17 were treated at the nearby Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, with the remaining nine being attended to at the scene of the crash. After the crash, motorists were delayed on The Highways Agency lifted the closure between junctions 24 and 25 late on Sunday 6th November, following the removal of all vehicles involved in the crash. The 34-vehicle pile-up caused what Avon and Somerset Police

Winter brings about a different set of conditions for drivers, heavy fog limits visibility ern Ambulance Service saying the

of the crash’s aftermath showed several jack-knifed lorries and the burnt-out remains of many small cars. Sylvia Ackland, 73, who lives close to the crash, said to the Bath the rugby club and saw something of what was going on. She said it

Dr Andy Smith of the South West-

Alcohol awareness

a confused state. Police responded with extensive forensic tests and searched for clues throughout the city. It was, however, concluded that no crime had in fact been committed. Last week was ‘Alcohol Awareness Week’, something which the University and Students’ Union avidly support, although VP Community and Diversity Naomi Mackrill pointed out the irony in that it coin-

cided with National Student Finance Day. The Week is part of a wider initiative to rid the UK of ‘alcohol-related harm’ through the enaction of an ‘Alcohol Concern Charter’ which is based on the charter of the World Health Organisation. Some thought provoking stats: 1. Every minute alcohol-related problems cost the UK economy around £48,000 2. Every hour more than 100 people go into hospital in England and Wales with an alcohol-related condition 3. Every day more than 40 people die as a result of alcohol in England and Wales The key advice to remember is to stick with your friends on a night out, look out for each other, and never drink outside your limits.

Sam Short

Charlotte Lightowler bathimpact Contributor Police in Bath are urging young people to stay safe and drink responsibly. The calls come after, in recent weeks, a female student at the University of Bath worried she had been the victim of a crime. Her housemates feared for her safety after she returned from The

screaming but they could not get The cause of the crash remains unclear, Anthony Bangham, Assistant Chief Constable of the Avon and Somerset Police stated there will be the crash, and is appealing for witnesses. Mr Bangham said that drivwet road and fog, but also said that witnesses have claimed there was

hicles and people who were entering into the smoke bank have just described it as being impossible to drive through and that of course display at the Taunton Rugby Club, close to the M5 motorway, is being investigated and witnesses questioned. A rememberance vigil was held

on Friday 11th November for invited friends and family to pay their respects at the scene of the tradegy. Well-wishers who were not directly affected by the crash were asked to stay away from this private event and to return at a later date to lay Wellington Football Club have set up a fund to construct a permanent memorial place in honour of the people who lost their lives. The crash was the largest in many years. The Highways Agency gional weather advisory issued to Avonmouth had warned of ‘isolated being a hazard. Other parts of the motorway have electronic signs controlled by visibility sensors to warn motorists of such weather problems but there were no sensors on that stretch of the M5. The investigation continues.

Joanna Yeates case Imogen Grace Warer bathimpact Contributor

he trial of murdered Bristol resident Joanna Yeates concluded with the defendant found guilty. Vincent Tabak was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court with a 10-2 majority verdict and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years. Thirty-three year old Tabak admitted to the manslaughter of his neighbour but furiously denied murder; however, reportedly showed no emotion when the verdict was given. Tabak dumped Joanna’s body on a roadside where she was found on Christmas Day last year. He was arrested on January 20th when police

Bethan Reesr bathimpact Contributor Bristol City and Bath and North East Somerset Councils are supporting a new proposal to introduce cheaper bus tickets that could be used on any bus, regardless of its service operator. Bristol council has suggested that it would answer passengers’ desires for increased flexibility and the convenience of not having to buy separate tickets for each travel company. A similar ticket already exists in Bath, but executive council member for transport Richard Symonds has criticised its high cost,

matched his DNA to samples found on Joanna’s clothing. tious comments leading him to make a pass at her. She allegedly screamed out, and he put his hands around her throat and mouth in order to ‘calm her down’. He told the jurors she ‘fell limp’ after about 20 seconds. Prosecutors told the court that Miss Yeates had also sustained 43 other injuries, including abrasions and bruises. The Judge decided to hold back information regarding Tabak’s sexual secrets, which included a history of of women being strangled. Detectives fear he escalated from ‘observer to perpetrator’ and killed Joanna for

puter also had pornographic images of a woman bearing a striking resemblance to Joanna. The woman was also wearing a pink t-shirt; similar to the one Joanna was wearing on the night she died. His so called monogamous relationship was also a lie with revelations of the reoccurring use of prostitutes. One even stepped forward claiming Tabak asked to strangle her during intercourse. He could now face further criminal investigation after it was exposed that police are examining ‘suspicious material’ on his computer hard drives. Joanna’s parents David and Teresa Yeates hope Tabak spends the rest of his days in ‘a living hell’.

stating that the new scheme, proposed by the Competition Commission, would be: ‘competitive

with the main operator’s price’ and is ‘exactly what the public want’.

Monday 21st November

bathimpact

Comment

www.bathimpact.com

What does the Article 4 Direction really mean?

prevented from expanding at the same rate. The council do not want to prevent students from entering Bath, only to keep them away from the electorate, so they will pressure the University to build more accommodation while also inviting external student accommodation companies such as Unite to build most likely be a few horror stories any housing at all and being forced to commute from outside Bath, but for the majority of students the expansion of University-run ac-

Those of you who wish to stay in Bath after completing your degree, however, will not have the option of living in specialist student accommodation. You will have to either rent a whole house that you do not want and cannot afford, or have to live in a single-bedroom long-term sexual partner, the latter option can be quite sensible. Unless of course the relationship falls you, prepare for a life of loneliness; you want to live with your friends, but the Government and the coun-

cil have intervened to deny you that choice of lifestyle. Some don’t mind living alone; others will live sadder lives than they would have wanted. Expect graduate retention in Bath to drop like a stone (despite the council saying they want to increase it; a classic case of politicians saying one thing and doing the exact opposite) and depression to rise. Depression creates a huge burden on society through increased strain on the NHS and the a responsibility to itself to stop depression occurring when it can. Whether student accommodation is available or not, Article 4 will divide our city between the generations. What is ultimately more damaging than Article 4 itself is the fear and mistrust between young and old that it will create. Those outside the new blocks of student accommodation will view them as prisons and asylums where the student infestation is safely contained; those within will view them as fortresses where they from safeguarding Bath’s sense of community, Article 4 will kill it. A true sense of community must be built on a foundation of love, not hate. Trust and freedom are essential; trust between the generations, freedom for friends, families and couples of any age to live together, or not, according to their own choice. Not the choices of politicians. These are two vital steps towards the vision of society imagined by the architects of the old Empire Hotel in Bath, whose roof depicts cottages, town houses, a manor and a castle, symbolising the different kinds of people happen, it is imperative that as many people as possible campaign against Article 4, both locally and nationally.

Anthony Masters bathimpact Contributor lames of the eurozone debt crisis have been burning through the economies of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain for many months now. The spectre of default looms as Italy's national debt now looks ignitable. After a series of marathon talks based in Brussels, the leaders of the 17 eurozone nations have reached a deal that they hope will prevent further catastrophe. The plan is to force a 50 per cent haircut for private holders of Greek debt, greater recapitalisation for European banks and an extension The Eurozone is currently about as stable as a game of monopoly total of €1 tn (£880 bn). A new EU commissioner for the euro will also be appointed, with greater powers acceded to the EU's Economic Commissioner Ollie Rehn. The deal will also create a new level of supranational governance for the eurozone, what German Chancellor Angela Merkel terms "true economic governance". This will involve reviews of eurozone member budgets before they are put to their respective national legislatures. The currency itself was established by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, and before its full introduction on 1 January 2002 The European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) was a nascent form of the euro, preparing the continent for monetary stability. Having entered the ERM in October 1990, the United Kingdom crashed out of this monetary constraint on 16 September 1992, often dubbed "Black Wednesday", leading to an implosion of support for the Conservative Party. The return other currencies contributed to good nancial crisis. Like the gothic buildings on the euro banknotes, architecture behind the euro is non-existent. To participate in the euro, countries should

harmonised to the EU average. Even Sarkozy says that it was a "mistake" to let Greece join the euro on "false -

crisis have not just been economic, main governing party in Ireland's Irish General Election, reducing themselves to the third largest party in Irish politics. Greece has suffered riots and social unrest. After proposing a referendum on the bailout package, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has resigned and is succeded by Lucas Papademos, former Vice President of the European Central Bank. Silvio Berlusconi, who had endured many allegations during his premiership, has resigned as Italian Prime Minister. The Italian political parties have coalesced around Mario Monti, a former European Commissioner who was made Senator for Life in November 2011. Even eurozone members that -

bailouts, saw their popularity rise from 4.1% to 19.1% in just four years. Slovakia, which only joined the euro in 2009, initially rejected the expanPrime Minister Radicova's coalition and Solidarity Party, joined together with the opposition Social Demotion. The price exacted for the support of the Social Democrats is early elections next year. The BBC's Rob Cameron explains: "Mrs Radicova must now resign after tying a vote -

rules between 2001 and 2004.

It is now conventional wisdom to say that the problems of the eurozone are caused by having a common monetary policy without a ever, many currencies have pegged themselves to the US dollar without

the more permanent European Stathat occur naturally in sovereign nations like the US, where money leaves growing areas through taxation and is sent to receding regions through social security payments and other types of government spending. It is evidently clear that the Euro does not operate effectively as a currency union, as the periphary states German core, which dominates the decisions made by the European Central Bank. The euro has caused tremendous hardship for some of interest rates too low for their economies, whittling away savings and encouraging spending. Now, the current interest rate is too high for periphary eurozone members like Ireland, leaving them imprisoned in a recessionary environment. The review of eurozone budgets also erodes a fundamental function of the national legislatures of each member state. Vastly different economies, such as Germany and Greece, cannot remain fastened together in this way. This deal does not solve this inherent problem. You can bailout a country, you cannot bailout a currency.

A word from your sabb Sam Short

Simon O’Kane bathimpact Contributor he Article 4 Direction is a piece of Government legislation that if implemented by the council will restrict the number of houses in Bath that can be converted into houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs). In Bath, the most common use for HMOs is student housing, although they are also popular with young people in general. Existing HMOs are unaffected by the legislation. Let’s assume the council decide to implement Article 4. As the University expands, the number of

Euro-ver Europe? Me too

Naomi Mackrill: “There will be a housing forum for all cur7th of December, where you can

related. It may be worth starting to think about who you want to live with, how much rent you can afford

fect property, let's get Christmas

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The Church closes the gates on protestors Julian Stallabrass

Julia Fioretti bathimpact Contributor

he alarm bells are ringing all over the world. St Paul’s has now heard that call.” said the Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, after the debacle surrounding St Paul’s cathedral and its fraught relationship with the protesters camped outside seems to have subsided for the time being. One might point out that St Paul’s has heard that call rather belatedly, to say the least. About 200 people and dozens of tents have been pitched in the churchyard since October 15th to protest against “corporate greed and inequality” in the City, inadvertently sparking a massive public debate about the Church’s position in socito close St. Paul’s for a week because of health and safety concerns. The next episodes in the saga saw the resignations of the canon chancellor Dr Giles Fraser, because of the recourse to legal means, and the dean of the cathedral, the Right Reverend Graeme Knowles, over his mismanagement of the case. This rapid succession of events seemed to prompt the sharp U-turn in the cathedral’s position, with its announcement in the space of two days that it had suspended legal action against the

The protesters erected banners outside the famous St Paul’s Cathedral in London this Octoprotesters. The convoluted evolution of the debacle has led many to question where the Church of England stands when it comes to the competing demands of God and Mammon. The location of St. Paul’s in the UK could not be more apt to highlight the situation. It professes to be a friend of the poor and marginalised in society, thus leading one to assume it would throw its full weight

behind the protesters’ cause, however vague and ill-framed it might be. Its initial actions, both the closure of the cathedral and the resort to legal means, belie this traditional stance. The week-long closure to the public could not contrast more stridently with Dr Chartres’ later overtures to the protesters. It visibly showed a disinclination to engage with the protesters and, more importantly, to kick-start a public discussion on economic justice and

the broader societal issues regardchurch’s remit. As Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University, has said: “it’s not the business of the Church to be a set of economists. What the Church can do is to invite people to think thoughtfully, be honest and to ask the right questions”. However we may be going too far in claiming that the Church of

England actively sought to shun its role in helping the most vulnerable elements of society by attempting to evict the protesters. Nor does it follow necessarily that the Church ought to position itself squarely in either the establishment or anti-establishment camps. Church historian Stephen Tomkins argues that this debate stretches back 2000 years to the birth of Christianity itself. The Church has ambivalently been both a radical and conservative force in society, thus making it too diverse a phenomenon to be on one side or the other. Furthermore, from the article on the Financial Times written by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, it trancantly with the protesters in backtransactions. It is regrettable that he did not speak out sooner to assuage the public ire. Thus whilst the Church’s fudging response was indeed shambolic and plain incompetent, it is inaccurate to lambast it for having forgone its duties to society. In excessively prioritising and mismanaging the practical issues of health and safety it allowed the broader philosophical debate to run away, scuppering its chance to be at the forefront of it.

Don’t panic! Housing is not an issue I

t is getting around to that time of year, when you are considering where you will be this time next year. Where will you live? Who with? How much will it cost? Will I be in town? What are the busses like? All of these questions run through every student’s head when thinking about the impending house search that the majority of students go through annually. You are not alone, and there is plenty of support provided by the University to help you navigate your way through the pool of estate agents, landlords, and people desperate to live with you next year. Once you have decided on your housemates, the next task is to find a house that will suit all your needs. The majority of accommodation will not be online until late January, when landlords have uploaded their details and the

bathstudentpad database goes live. After going through this process last year, and having a somewhat turbulent experience I can give you three pieces of advice…

with, and a little bit about where - thats it.

3) Be selective: Choose your house wisely, but do not be too picky. The most important thing is location, remember you will have to get to Uni for those 8.15’s, and so a good bus route is imperative, and this doesn’t mean you have to live in town or Oldfield Park.

1) Listen to University advice: Make sure you consult with a recommended estate agent, as there are some out there who may try to take advantage of your inexperience. The University also provides a contract checking service which you should definitely utilise before signing anything.

2) Start your search reasonably early: BUT bear in mind properties get added to the list right up until April/May, so it is not the end of the world if you haven’t found anything by February, even if your friends have. You will find a house. By early, I mean think about it in early February, the furthest you should get before Christmas is merely thinking about who you may want to live

Sam Short

Kylie Barton bathimpact Editor in Chief impact-editor@bath.ac.uk

For many students this will be the first time they have actively searched for a house. Moving into halls is a relatively easy transition compared to finding a house and dealing with real estate agents, but the University is here to provide as much support as when you moved into halls. The key is keeping on-track and on-top of your housing hunt, and realise that everyone is in the same situation as you. This is the time of year when you already have a large amount of potential stress. Christmas can be a financial strain for many students as it is approaching the

first University assessments of the year (or even university career), and many are still getting used to the new routine of the new academic year. Do yourself a favour and concentrate on your studies, your christmas shopping, and spending some quality time at home. The housing hunt can wait, and you won’t suffer if it is a little bit further down your list of priorities until after the January exams. There will be a housing forum hosted by your Student’s Union and Accommodation Services on the 7th December, there will be several sessions that will provide a platform for you to voice any queries you may have. These are well worth going to and are sure to reassure you if you’re at all worried about any aspect of the housing process. You are paying to be at this university (or at least will be some day) so you should defintely utilise all the services on offer whilst you are here.

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Sabbs Corner

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Article 4 is at the door Naomi Mackrill VP Community and Diversity sucommunity@bath.ac.uk Hands up who remembers what happened on 9th December 2010? Fear not, I had to look it up too, but that was the day that £9000 tuition fees were voted on in the House of Commons and introduced with 323 “ayes” and 302 “noes”. One of those who voted “aye” was Don Foster, our Liberal Democrat MP here in Bath. That was a little under a year ago. Now in Bath, our Liberal Democrat-run council are looking to introduce legislation that governs where those students will be allowed to live. From September, the students in question will be paying at least £27, 000 for the pleasure of studying at Bath. The decision will be made on January the 11th by the eight members of Bath and North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet. Last year, all but one local councillor agreed to the council budgeting for a consultation into the possibility of an Article 4 Direction in relation to Houses of Multiple Occupancy in Bath. Across the country, councils with large student populations are bringing in Article 4 Directions to “combat the one goes through, it makes it harder for the rest of us to defend our right to chose where we live. “HMOs are businesses, so people living around them should have a say in their development, just like they

Fireworks

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

N “Don’t leave us homeless” students protesting on campus last week would a shop or a take-away” is one of the arguments in favour of an Article 4 Direction. Well yes, to the landlords they are a business, but for the duration of our time in Bath, and until we can afford to buy, they’re our homes. HMOs are also no more of a business than any other privately rented property lived in by people who can’t afford to buy. According to the Halifax-Generation Rent Survey, June 2011, and The Guardian 31st May 2011, the average cial backing of relatives is 37, lowered only to 30 with the help of families. Any legislation that effects HMOs will affect far more than the current student population, it will affect students for generations to come and young people up until the age they can afford to buy. This is me, this is you, it’s your siblings, and your friends. This legislation is being brought in up and down the country, and the most galling thing about it

isn’t a case of bad planning from our older generations letting things go bad, leaving us to face the brunt of it, it’s a case of no planning. I don’t think anyone would try to argue that there are no problems in areas of this beautiful city, but actually students have become the scapegoat for all of this, with no real evidence. The majority of anti-social behaviour calls occur in the city-centre, the three wards being represented had over 287 calls each last year and the numbers in areas commonly associated with students had less than 61, along with a over 40 other wards in Bath. The discussion of whether an Article 4 Direction should be applied in Bath will hopefully be over on the 11th January, but if the Cabinet votes for it, it will continue for a lot longer. For now, visit www.BathStudent.com/ article4 and write to your local councillor, asking them to represent your views ahead of the Cabinet vote on 11th January.

ovember 5th saw another successful year of the Bath RAG Fireworks, tary Club at Bath. Firstly, a huge thank you needs to go out to all of RAG’s volunteers, who have put hours upon hours of effort into the event, all voluntarily. As anyone who’s read the front page can probably tell, it’s certainly been very stressful, and that the a testament to how serious and professional these people. The event has also been a learning attitude RAG volunteers have faced is unacceptable. While we have done what we could to support RAG once we knew of their problems, it is perhaps fair to say more should have been done be-

forehand, and we will move forward doing just that. Speaking of moving forward, ready begun working on plans for next year. We know many students are disappointed at campus, and we are investigating bringing it back. Fireworks at the Rec has great opportunities to promote students to the

it is now clear that many things enjoyed about past displays just and foremost, we want RAG to get the best event possible, both in terms of enjoyment and fundraising. We want to hear stuso if you want to have your say, let me know at sucommunity@ bath.ac.uk

Fireworks were held on campus last year, they were missed

Make of this photo what Strike update you will, it’s a sabbs life! David Howells SU President supresident@bath.ac.uk

Matt Benka VP Education sueducation@bath.ac.uk Back when I was applying for placements, towards the end of interviews, when I got to ask questions, there was one question that I would always ask: what is your typical day like? And always, without fail, the response would be “no such thing”. Which is pretty much the most useless response possible. It pretty much just came across as an attempt to make the job seem more exciting, as if one day you would be doing some generic programming, and the next day you would be doing sick with unicorns. By the way, if anyone wants to draw that, please email it to sueducation@bath.ac.uk. So, what’s my typical day like? Packed with meetings. With Pro-ViceChancellors, the Library, Academic Reps, Learning and Teaching Enment, and so on. That was just the last three days. Somehow, between all that, papers on academic issues for univer-

n Wednesday 30th November two campus trade unions will be joining with millions of people across the country in strike action, with the third union awaiting the result of its strike ballot as this issue is being distributed. public-sector employees across walk-out on the 30th against changes to public pensions. Freshers’ Week frolicking - notice the hand on the back of the neck? sity committees, training Academic Reps and the Academic Exec, writing a report on the work I’ve been doing, meetings. Again, just the last three days. pretty cool stuff, and get lots of nice people coming up to me to say hi and

talk to me about education and multiple other queries and concerns. One of my main joys is writing for bathimpact, last week was a particular busy one for me, but I still managed to and write this for my favourite media group who continue to provide students with a fantastic array of content on a wide range of issues. Keep up the great work, guys.

represents academics and academic-related staff, are taking ongoing action due to disputes over imposed changes to their now this has been in the form of working to contract, but they will be joining the national strikes on the 30th. The final campus trade un-

ing its member to strike over recent pay offers, but the results will not be known until Monday 21st at the earliest. son have over 600 members between them, it is clear there will be considerable disruption to campus that day, although in what form that disruption will take remains to be seen. spoken to all three unions, and one thing is clear: no one wants to strike. But strike action is now a reality, so we will be doing our best to keep you informed on what is happening and how it will affect all students.

asking members to vote towards the end of this week on whether or not we should officially support the action on the 30th, so make sure you look out for more information in the run up to this landmark day.

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Sam Short

Some of the many talent on display at last year’s Fashion Show you have a life-changing illness, there’s little left. We don’t.” - Sue Ryder’s Vision Sam Short

ooking fab and being fab is just a hint at what is our university’s own annual fashion show: Fashion@ Bath - where on March 14th, 2012, shops in and around Bath will present their finest pieces at the very prestigious Bath Assembly Rooms. Preparations for Fashion@ Bath 2012 are underway and we are more than excited to get this project moving! We have a hardworking team of twelve students ready to offer you a night that, let’s be honest, Bath needs to see more often! So what is Fashion@Bath all about? Not only do we all get to admire Bath’s young women and men in clothes we all wish we had, but with the assistance and support of Bath RAG, we are helping out for a good cause: Sue Ryder. “Some people believe that once

A national charity, Sue Ryder provides health and social care services for local communities across the United Kingdom. Every year they offer 4 million hours of care and over 100,000 days of long-term residential care, all with the aid of over 8000 volunteers. By compassionately providing care to people living with complex long-term and end of life conditions, they dramatically improve patients’ living conditions; many of whom are affected by cancer, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, stroke, brain injury or other life changing illnesses. For more information, visit them online at http://www.sueryder.org/. So come support Sue Ryder, come support your university and come support Fashion@Bath on March 14th, 2012.

THINK week

re you ready to THINK? This year, THINK week returns on campus with some exciting campaigns lined up to promote health and well-being awareness to students! Organised by the THINK Team made up of student volunteers and the Advice and Representation Centre, THINK will take place from 28 November to 2 December. One of the issues addressed is Sexual Health, organized by one of the teams who has planned out a range of fun and informative activities as part of their one-day only campaign on 1 December. Taking place between 11 - 2 pm outside the library, this campaign aims to raise awareness on topics such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs), contraception and general sexual health. This will provide students with an opportunity to learn more about

various aspects of sexual health whilst having fun! To make it even better, there will be prizes for winners and information packs for everyone who stops by at the stand, as well as free condoms, Chlamydia test kits and freshly baked food! Activities to expect – quizzes, a wheel of fortune, and condom games. The team is also working on a special edition of a Sexual Health e-magazine for which students can sign up at the stand. Sounds exciting? Come along to our stand on the day, 1 December, 11 – 2 pm, to get ‘’thinking’’ and collect some amazing freebies. For more information, ‘like’ the THINK page on Facebook, or visit http://www.bathstudent. com/think/. There has never been a more fun and easy way to learn about sexual health. Flickr

Catwalking for Charity

The TH!NK team posed for action, ready to raise awareness.

o with fresher’s week (and flu) now well and truly over and the assignments steadily piling up, it would be an easy time to fall into a boring rut, forgetting about all the fantastic diversity and support groups available at Bath. Whether you’re a fresher or a final year, it is never too late to come along to one of the many inclusive and welcoming groups operated by Bath students. At the best of times university can be a lonely and isolating place, let alone when something means you are other than the status quo, for example moving from a new country or understanding and accepting your sexuality. While it can seem a daunting prospect coming to a meeting alone you are always

more than welcome to bring a friend and if that is not option, you are guaranteed a warm welcome by the organisers of the group. The groups provided are here to both support and include everything and everyone. You can find support and friends at many of the diversity/support groups including; LGBT group (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Friends), Gender Equality, Mature Students, BEN (Bath Exchange and Erasmus Network), Access, Student Parents, Global Group and Nightline (01225383030). Now is a better time than ever to try one of the meetings, as groups prepare for Christmas celebrations and socials it’s easier than ever to integrate into the group and you

will be warmly welcomed. Attending meetings not only allows you to meet a variety of new people with common interests to you, but it helps you to feel included within the university. Many of the groups not only hold meetings but also organise events throughout the year, including the LGBT group’s recent trip to London and Gender Equality’s pub quiz. These events and meetings are all informal and are a great way to meet like-minded people in a safe environment. To find out more information about all of the offerings head to www.bathstudent.com/welfare where you can find event details and contact information for all of the groups mentioned.

See-ming Lee

Don’t isolate yourself this winter... integrate!

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The Insider visits… MASH Café Anya Quinn

athematics and Statistics Help (MASH) is run by the Maths Department and helps students with maths. This year, however, they have adopted a softer side called MASH Café, which is run on Tuesday evenings between 17:30 and 19:00 (5:30 pm to 7 pm) on Level 3 of the Student Centre and aims to promote maths through strategy games. There are a wide range of games available, but they all have one thing in common; they have either no or very little element of luck, with the outcome almost entirely determined solely by the actions of the players. I have been to the Café twice now and played two games: the wellknown classic Othello and the lesser-known Ingenious. For those of you who don’t know Othello, it has the same 8x8 square grid as chess and

MASH makes doing maths as easy as ‘one, two, three!’ draughts, but is simpler than either. Players take turns to place double-sided counters on the board; any counters of your opponents colour in a line connect-

ing two counters of your own colour are flipped over and become yours. Whenever you move, you must flip over at least one counter; if you cannot do this, you can’t

move and play shifts to your opponent. The games ends when either all squares are occupied or neither player can move; the person with the most counters at the end wins. Othello is simple and yet it’s not; broadly speaking, the aim is to use the rules to predict and restrict where your opponent can go, allowing you to seize control of the edges (where counters cannot be flipped except by other counters placed at the edges) and the corners (where counters cannot be flipped at all). The state of play can change at any time; being greedy and seeking to turn too many of your opponent’s counters at once can open up those elusive edges and corners, or alternatively leave your opponent with so few counters you can no longer move, allowing your foe to plan ahead. Ingenious plays a lot like Scrabble in that you draw tiles from a bag, put them on a rack and place

them on the board, but instead of making words you make lines of the same colour. The number six features everywhere; there are six colours, you hold six tiles at a time and the board is hexagonal. What makes the game interesting is that players have not one score but six, each corresponding to a different colour; only the lowest of the six scores that counts, so the way to win is to make lines of all six colours and ensure all six scores are high. You don’t have to write the scores down (players are provided with counters) and there are no double/triple scores. If you like this sort of thing, head up to the level 3 of the Student Centre on Tuesday evenings. If you failed to elope with the RAG Committee, there are plenty more fish in the sea. I hear Mackrill is tasty this time of year.

Winning in gaming Give a little more

John Hancook

game is typically played one on one, although it happens that the Collegiate Starleague has a 2 versus 2 round as well. Each player picks one of three races, humans, the technologically advanced protoss, or the gribbly zerg, and pits their strategies and wits against that of their opponent. In Korea, StarCraft and StarCraft II are a Big Deal, with a following comparable to football in the UK. It is, however, growing in popularity in the West, through tournaments such as the MLG Pro Circuit and the NASL in America, and the DreamHack event in Europe. Due to the complexity of the game and the pace of individual matches, it makes for a thrilling viewing experience as

A character from the game: Starcraft Two... chilling!

well as a mental and physical challenge for the players. In fact it has been said that to be a professional StarCraft II player, one requires the mind of a chess grandmaster and the dexterity of a musician. Our season started well with a 3-1 victory over the University of Exeter, with Sam "Suspense" Spence, Joshua "Ayres" Ayres and Christopher "Chrs" Taylor taking games over their counterparts, while a hardfought 2 versus 2 match was lost due to an unguarded back entrance into the base of Steg "Adam" Barker and Jordan "Jord" Fox allowing a crippling counter-attack while they were moving out to attack. The second match was against tournament favourites Manchester Metropolitan University, who have two members of Pro-gaming team Team Dignitas and who compete in the 'Grandmaster' ladder bracket, consisting of the 200 top players in Europe. MMU games, but unfortunately we lost 3-2; Suspense lost two tough games to Team Dignitas' Dream and Johnny "Caliber" Thompson losing a game to ReGoLamBorGN. This leaves Bath entering the third round of the tournament in sixth place of eleven teams in our division, with everything to play for! The third game of the season will be against Durham University on the 19th of November. Whilst we do not know the result at the time of writing, we wish "Good luck and have fun" to the gaming team!

this Christmas

K Clauson

ith the focus the University has on sports, you may have missed the results of a tournament currently in progress by some members of BUNCS, the video gaming society. It turns out that electronic sports, eSports for short, are rapidly growing as both for competitors and as a spectator sport. In fact, BUNCS (and some friends!) are currently competing in the Collegiate Starleague, representing the University of Bath against other universities at StarCraft II, and are two matches into the season! StarCraft II is a real time strategy game - two teams command units and buildings in real time in an attempt to defeat their opponent. The

UNICEF sell an array of gifts perfect for Christmas annually Christmas is here! Christmas is here! Well not quite, but we BBA students are going to do our very best to make you feel that way. Please come join us on the 24th and 25th of November for Christmas on Campus, a charity event sponsored by UNICEF. This is a one and only opportunity for you to get everything you need in time for the festive season and tick all those boxes on your to-do list. We will be running a stall selling different ranges of wrapping paper, Christmas cards,

Advent calendars and all other sorts of Christmas paraphernalia in front of the Library from 8 am onwards. The proceeds from this event will be donated to UNICEF’s Christmas appeal and will help build a better future for children around the world this Christmas, contributing to the improvement of their health, education and making every day special for them, not just Christmas. If you want to know more come to our event next week and get what you need for this holiday season.

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The grow campaign has rapidly spread across the planet Ivaylo Iaydjiev bathimpact Contributor

s students, when we move to off-campus accommodation we enter the world of private property. Thus, if you have read your contract carefully before signing, you can use it to defend your rights if for example your landlord suddenly decides to sell the house and gives you a notice of eviction. This is not the case everywhere in the world, however, and especially not when huge profits, large corporations, and small famers in developing countries are

involved. At Oxfam, we call this a land grab - large-scale acquisition of land from governments in developing countries by transnational corporations. Although not new, this practice has become widespread after 2008, when food prices exploded. Land grabbing skyrocketed from 4 million hectares in 2008 to more than 46 million in 2009 according to conservative estimates of the World Bank. The overwhelming majority (70 per cent) of land grabs occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa.

So why buy this much land? The answer, as always in a globalized economy, is opportunity for profits. Thus, one third of the land grabs are destined for food production by commercial means, but more than two thirds of the land is converted either to the production of profitable biofuels or kept idle in order to be sold off with a profit later. This means local food security is sacrificed for the benefit of the global market. The strong economic incentive for land grabs is easily seen – but its effects on local population are often ignored. Large corporations often sign long-term leases (sometimes for up to 99 years!) with developing countries, which are tempted by the promise of cash and development. Only between 2 and 10 per cent of the land in Africa is formally privately owned, however, with the rest usually owned by the government, which means that local people can be easily pushed from the land they live on. This land insecurity feeds directly into the second problem - transnational companies often negotiate with the government directly and bypass the local population. Additionally, local small farmers are unaware of their rights to consultation and fair compensation. Together, the final effect of

land grabs is the displacement of those farmers, who lose their livelihood and source of income, too often without adequate compensation. What can be done? Perhaps you noticed the people in green t-shirts in front of the library this month (4th November) next to a part of the Parade, which was ‘land grabbed’ with tape. Our goal was to increase awareness of the case of the British New Forests Company, which is in the process of buying a huge land mass in Uganda, which would force 22 500 local people off their land.

Our goal is to create public pressure on the company to ensure that the rights of local small farmers are respected. To do this, we need your help in signing the latest petition to the NFC at www. oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/campaign/food, and join more than 4,500 people in the fight for food justice in Uganda. In conclusion, we believe that land grabs is just one of numerous injustices which go on unnoticed around the world. Such practices should be unacceptable in a world that will soon have to feed 9 billion people. It’s up to us.

OXFAM

Land grabbing: a growing scandal

Farmers in developing countries face ever-increasing problems

Student Community Action needs you W hen Christmas is proaching and we forward to seeing families, eating home-cooked

aplook our food

is sometimes hard to realize that there are people out there who have not experienced Christmas. It is hard to

realize that for some people this time of year does not make a difference to them. Whilst some of us might put on a couple of pounds, or start revising for exams, some people struggle even more to get to sleep in the cold nights, missing their families. When we realize the massive difference a small time commitment can make to them, it is then when we value how good it is to make a difference and make someone’s day. As Elisabeth Andrew said once, “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time, they just have the heart” but because we realize that we’re all students with degrees, with lives outside the degrees you can commit your time as much or as little as possible. For these reasons, SCA offers a wide variety of projects working with different social groups, charities and projects such as Age UK, Julian House, MenCap, Your Say and much more. The contribution you can make depends on your availability and your own interests! For those of you interested in workties, Your Say is the project for you.

Consisting of entertainment events, trips and workshops , your role would be to ensure that the sessions run smoothly and to provide a supportive environment for them. Potential events could include trips to a theatre, meals, pub trips and much more. Our upcoming events include a chocolate making workshop, bowling and of course the Christmas Party on 9th December. If you are interested, pop over to the VolKaren. Because we understand that you have a variety of tastes we would also love to introduce a scheme for those of you who have a passion for the environment! The Sirius Woods Conservationist Scheme is a project whose volunteers ensure that the new woodland grows adequately. Why not work to preserve our wonderful woods?

The Mentoring Scheme has currently got some space available too! Mentoring will take place in a oneto-one form, with a student from the Culverhay Boys School aged 1315. Your role is to be some kind of a role model to them, help them with homework, motivate them and help them realize their goals. Although it has a few spaces left, this scheme has traditionally been a very popular one, so one of the things you will have to questions about why you would like to apply. Finally, Oxfam Campaigns are already bursting! Some of you might have seen their land grab a couple of weeks ago, more information about this will come up in future SCA newsletters! Remember: their meetings are on Thursdays at 12.15.

Are you still not a member of SCA? You can join us at bathstudent. com for FREE! You’ll receive fortnightly newsletters about the upcoming events and the successes of different projects! Follow us on Facebook and keep informed about all of the project meetings, campaigns and events! “SCA (Student Community Action) at Bath”.

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14 4 9 A M

URB win triple bronze at the SRAs Michael Parry Head of IT at URB urb-it@bath.ac.uk

Tamar Hudson

embers of University Radio Bath travelled en masse to the O2 arena in London to attend the Student Radio Awards, winning three bronze medals in the prestigious national event. The star-studded annual awards ceremony was hosted by Scott Mills and Annie Mac at the indigO2 concert venue. The venue looked fantastic - like a cyber-punk ballroom, pick’n’mix on every table - and the URB delegates were dressed to an unusual level of dapper. The bronze award for Best Journalistic Programming went to Buzz Demolition 2010. This literally groundbreaking coverage of the infamous student protests in London was presented with professional ahead of commercial news.

The URB team at the Student Radio Awards (SRA) in London this month. They did us proud. Bronze in Best Student Radio Chart show also went to URB. The show is hosted by a different station

every week, and URB’s entry involved live music, a celebrity phone conversation and two of the sexiest

voices in radio. Finally, ahead of about 76 others, your student radio station won

bronze in Best Student Radio Station behind York (URY) and Nottingham (URN). This was a huge personal victory for Stephen ‘Disco’ Briscoe, our previous station manager, who probably single-handedly raised the station from zero to hero in its darkest years with nothing but a small screwdriver, a funny t-shirt and a dream. The after-party was all-out, and the URB team partied hard to the sounds of three too-close-to-call DJ-battles. One boisterous exmember was even removed from the event for stealing a jacket and licking a girl without her consent, but said he thought it was funny and, to be fair, so did we. This example of success is one of the many reasons you should get involved with media, so head over to bathstudent now to join the third best student radio station in the country!

Happy Movember! love bathimpact

Monday 21st November 2011

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International

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Somalia’s hunger crisis Spy scandals

number of correspondents who can report on a daily basis as to how the situation is evolving? Barbara Jackson, of CARE International has warned that "the level of suffering they have endured is beyond our imagination and they require im-

Somalian family in need of change

mediate assistance. Everyone I met had the same message, “Please tell the world for us, that we need help, and that we need it now. We cannot last much longer.” UN refugee head Antonio Guterres, has stated that the levels of malnutrition among children to a “human tragedy of unimaginable proportions.” The UN has estimated that around $2.5 billion in aid is needed for a humanitarian response and if this response is not quickly and comprehensively scaled up, the UN expects famine to spread across all the regions of southern Somalia. Every day of delay in assistance is literally a matter of life or death. There is so much to blame for not having dealt with this problem sooner. As Fran Equiza, a regional director at Oxfam, has said: “There has been a catastrophic breakdown of the world’s collective responsibility… The warning signs have been seen for months, and the world has been slow to act.” For me, this just shows a great lack of interest and I must say that I feel utterly appalled at how indifferent we can be towards the death of thousands of people.

Population boom Laura Richardson bathimpact Contributor nlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess.

knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of the billions who are its victim.” By saying this, the American activist the view that overpopulation is a “symptom” we are currently un-

Human population supposedly reached the 7 billion mark on the day of Halloween last week – however, it is uncertain whether these statistics are correct as reports show that this estimate may remain unfounded for up to 2 years (so, really, who cares that the 7th billion baby was born in the Philippines or elsewhere – no one this is indeed the case). Should this number be seen as a big “plague”? Is humanity really under the threat of its own kind? There were a billion peo-

ple two centuries ago, 2 billion people around 1927, 3 billion in 1960, 6 billion in 1999 and (possibly) 7 billion today. Close to a billion people already go hungry each day, the poorest countries are growing the fastest. How is this going to work – more hungry people? food production must increase by two thirds in order to keep pace with population growth. In the Malthusian belief, population will always grow faster than food supply unless war, famine or disease reduces the number of people. However, looking at recent years and especially at countries such as India, the Malthusian thinking is less relevant. India, with an incredibly fast growing population, became selfsustaining in cereal production in 1974 with what is called the ‘Green Revolution’. Even though world population keeps growing, the growth rate is nonetheless slowing. The peak was in the late 1960s when the growth rate reached 2% a year, now it’s half that. The problem of ‘overpopulation’ for now is not so much about numbers of people; but rather population behaviour. Sustaining 7 billion plus people could come in different ways: slowing

fertility rates and allocating resources rates decelerate, measures should not be as authoritative as in China with the one-child policy. Today, 200 million women still lack access to contraception, family planning and better education. It should be said that women’s education on the subject needs to remain on governments’ top agenda. In terms of the availability of resources, that greatly depends on human consumption. Overpopulation today is not as important as hyperconsumption. If 7 billion people consumed like the Northern-Americans do, we would need three whole planets worth of resources. By clearing forests, burning coal and oil, over-extracting natural resources and freely scattering fertilizers and pesticides, developed societies have already used a lot of the planet’s natural resources; making the planet less sustainable for future generations. That is the real challenge of our time: pushing developed nations to reduce their overall consumption but also making sure that fast-growing populations do not take the same path of environmental unconsciousness.

World Economic Forum

ood security has become one of the most important challenges in the 21st Century. Despite the great global effort in previous decades to eradicate hunger, over one billion people still suffer from starvation. mains an urgent problem. We must act immediately if nine billion people are to be fed by the year 2050. More mouths to feed requires international consensus and although the challenges ahead are daunting, they are by no means insurmountable. I would like you to imagine for two seconds that you are a Somalian suffering from the worst case of drought and famine in Africa. Now imagine that one of your children has starved to death and that you can´t even mourn his death because you need to walk for over 20 kilometres to collect water if you are to keep the rest of your family alive. There is nothing more to imagine because this is happening now, in the 21st century. It is real and it needs a solution. I think of them, of all those people living in Somalia dying from hunger every single day, of all those courageous mothers in Somalia who never

survive and to those 750,000 people who are currently facing death as Somalia´s drought continues to worsen, and I cannot believe that we are not being informed on a regular basis about this situation. How many times has Somalia come up in the news this week? Have articles stating the gravity of the situation come up in the past days in newspapers? If experts are enlightening us about the disastrous effects this can have for Somalis, why

Oxfam East Africa

Cristina Rodenas bathimpact Contributor

Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos Julia Fioretti bathimpact Contributor

onday 31st October saw the dissolution of Columbia’s spy agency, the DAS, as the culmination of a series of scandals that had racked the agency for years came to a head. Columbia’s President, Juan Manuel Santos, issued an executive order late on Monday announcing that the current employees and that a new entity will replace the disgraced agency. The DAS had long been mired in scandals which included spying on presidential foes such as judges, human rights activists and reporters during the previous Alvaro Uribe administration. The agency had also been accused of colluding with right-wing paramilitary groups that have wrought havoc on Columbian society by killing and displacing thousands of people and targeting labour activists. Uribe had prioritised the demobilisation of these paramilitaries, which were set upon rillas, as one of the pillars of his security policy; however the allegations that surfaced subsequently have cast a shadow on its effectiveness. Only last month a Columbian court sentenced a former intelligence chief, Jorge Noguera, to 25 years in prison for collaborating with rightwing paramilitaries that were involved in the assassination of a prominent academic activist. Noguera led the DAS from 2002 to 2005 which coincided with part of Uribe’s administration and was a close friend of the President. To highlight the extent of corruption with the DAS, one needs only to look at the case of another former DAS chief, Maria del Pilar Hurtado, who has obtained political asylum in Panama with Uribe’s help to avoid charges of illegally ordering wiretaps of government opponents. The former President’s chief of staff,

Bernardo Moreno, has similarly been charged and jailed pending trial for allegedly ordering illegal espionage of Uribe’s foes. The scandal broke back in February 2009 and subsequently led to the imprisonment of at least 20 The current DAS director Felipe Munoz said 92 per cent of the agency’s employees would maintain their government jobs by being transferred Foreign Ministry and the national police. Santos further emphasised that “a lot of people in the DAS have been stigmatized, unjustly I would say. So many law-abiding people shouldn’t pay for a few sinners”. However, the new agency, details of which Santos said would be announced soon, is still shrouded in uncertainty. Given the scale and extent of the scandals in which the DAS was mired, it is worrying that neither Santos nor Munoz explained how they would prevent previous DAS employees involved in illegal activities from simply being transferred to the new agency. As it does not seem to be merely a case of a few rogue employees engaging in illicit activities this issue is anything but marginal. Another concern regards the U.S. funding for the new agency. Previously, the DAS collaborated closely with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, receiving training and equipment, as its

the U.S. claiming that aid was closely monitored to avoid it being mishandled or funnelled into illegal channels, it remains unclear how much assistance the new agency would receive given the pervasiveness of the scandals. How these issues are tackled will largely determine whether scrapping the DAS will successfully eradicate the corruption that pervadcial measure.

Monday 21st November 2011

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International

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Are Italians better off? A Wad of bathimpact reports the resignation of Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi World News

Sam Dawson

A Chinese award called the Confucian peace prize was given to former Russian president Vladimir Putin. Officials claim that he won thanks to his criticism of the Nato’s military presence in Libya.

ilvio Berlusconi has stood down as Prime Minister of Italy. The announcement came after a calamitous week for the media mogul, even by his standards, in which interest on the country’s debt rose to nearly 7per cent, and he lost his absolute majority in the lower house of parliament. It was his own coalition partner, Umberto Bossi, who twisted the knife. He declared, even before the vote to approve last year’s public accounts occurred, that “we have asked the prime minister to step aside”. Berlusconi had earlier attempted to allay fears over his ability to solve the debt crisis by declaring that “rumours of my resignation are without foundation”. However, this assurance failed to stabilize the markets or quieten those calling for his head, and the PM went into Tuesday’s vote knowing that a loss would make his position all but untenable. A majority was not secured, and an era had come to an end. Berlusconi stayed on until his economic austerity measures were passed on 12th November, before offering his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano the same evening. Power was seemingly destined to go to Angelino Alfano, the prime minister’s protégé,

but former European Commissioner Mario Monti has instead been chosen as the man to take the reins. However, Berlusconi has already fuelled speculation that he will seek a return to power by announcing that ‘I hope to resume the path of government’. This will certainly not hearten those who gathered in Rome to sing ‘Hallelujah’ as their prime minister stood down, nor Barack Obama, who described the resignation as a ‘positive change’. It is by no mean feat that Silvio Berlusconi has lasted this long as leader of one of the eurozone’s biggest economies. His behaviour during his ministerial, to say the least. A number of gaffes have marred his latest term – he once remarked that ‘it is better to love beautiful women than to be gay’, and referred to Barack Obama as ‘suntanned’. The mind boggles at the press’s reaction should David Cameron ever come out with something along those lines – the faintest whiff of sexism is enough to get the media wolves at his door. More seriously, Berlusconi is still under investigation for corruption and for using an underage prostitute and then using his position to cover it up. The prostitute in question, a Mo-

roccan runaway named Ruby Heartstealer, was 17 at the time she allegedly attended sex-fuelled parties at the PM’s Milan residence. of women and money by adopting a man-in-the-street persona, which made him appealing and admirable in the eyes of many Italians. Yet the Ruby Heartstealer affair was a step too far even for Berlusconi, and his

Steve Jurvetson

World Economic Forum

Danny Lane bathimpact Contributor

approval ratings had recently dropped to just 24 per cent. In this context, the escalation of Italy’s debt crisis and that of the eurozone as a whole could not have come at a worse time for the Prime Minister. The cacophony of voices calling for his resignation reached fever pitch, and after Tuesday’s ballot disaster, Silvio Berlusconi could ignore them no longer.

Giovanni Tonutti bathimpact Contributor

Syrianna2011

At a recent press conference, Japanese MP Yasuhiro Sonoda came under pressure from journalists and drank a glass of water from a radioactive puddle that was inside the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.

The situation in Syria is beginning to increasingly resemble a civil war situation according to a Russian Foreign Minister. Violent protests have continued despite efforts to mute them by the ruling body. Last week rebel soldiers attacked a central army base, escalating the situation. Other Middle East countries suggest the situation in Syria has been overlooked due to the lack of wealth and resources which are of interest to the west. This is one to watch.

Alessio

was born 20 years ago in an Italian family where politics has always been one of the main issues of discussion during any social gatherings. In 1994, Mr. Silvio Berlusconi was elected Italian Prime Minister for the the period of my life when my basic intellectual skills were starting to form. So it was no wonder that, alongside with “Mamma and Papà”, “Berlusconi” learnt to pronounce. From that very year until Monday 14th November, he has being ruling our country, not just politically, but also culturally. He owns three public televisions, two newspapers, and even more popular and rather trashy magazines. It would therefore not be extreme to argue that, as a media tycoon and as a Prime Minister, he had the capacity to brainwash many Italians. He managed to somehow expel all the negative characteristics that Italian people that have always seen as obstacles in the development of a modern, democratic and fuelled the widely spread machismo ideals that are very common in Italian culture, which in turn sustained the way that women seemed to hold more

Berlusconi has certainly left his mark on Italian politics poorly perceived positions in society. The constant battle he faced against the judicial system and the harsh dethe hatred many Italians started to feel. On an economic front, his silent asled to the current situation the Italian mated that in Italy tax evasion counts for a loss of 23 per cent of the country’s GDP. These are only two of the many principle issues that prevent the Italian economy from bringing itself out of its present state of stagnation. With almost zero growth predicted and towering rates of youth unemployment, the future isn’t bright for the youngest generation. In fact, many Italian kids like myself have chosen to give up the beautiful ideal of “la dolce vita” in or-

der to seek out more secure possibiliHowever, Berlusconi’s resignation has thrown a light on the path that Italy is taking to vacate its existing economic and cultural crises. Now is not the time for young Italians to be shy. We cannot and to give up on the idea of contributing to the rebuilding of a solid democratic system that for so long has made us proud of our country. Although a long time, they represent nothing compare to our glorious history and to what we can still do as a country. At the same time, the world should have faith in Italy as we have always been our own protagonist for our peculiarity and creativity. Therefore, heads up and... Forza Italia!

Monday 21st November 2011

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Science

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Power of the future NASA

Christiana Langma bathimpact Contributor ndia has announced this month -

Professor Science

Why do we close our eyes when we need to sneeze?

Powerplants like this could be a thing of the past in India

THEORY TWO: YOU’RE PROTECTING YOUR EYES FROM NASTY GERMS

THEORY THREE: IT’S JUST A REFLEX -

Train away depression Clodagh McGuire bathimpact Contributor

THEORY ONE: YOUR EYES WILL FALL OUT. -

on to impact-features@bath.ac.uk

William Brawley

and then told to adopt this into -

Be considerate and catch your own nasty germs in a kleenex.

Monday 21st November 2011

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Business

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The fall of the West and rise of the East downgrades

A bite of business Magali Calabressi brings you business that’s short and sweet

n the 10th November, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) accidentally downgraded France’s exemplary AAA rating. This came as quite a shock, especially during this extremely tense and difwith every minor move having a dramatic effect on the global markets and economy. Markets had already had their fair share of scandal out of the ordinary, with former Greek PM George Papandreou’s call for a referendum (that he later called off), which effectively shed billions of euros off the world’s markets. Besides the need for extra attention to detail, S&P managed to mistakenly downgrade France, one of Europe’s biggest economies and key player in saving the euro, causing the French 10-year bond yields to jump to 3.46% – a 27 basis point rise on the day – while the country’s extra cost to borrow over Germany rose to a euroera record of 168bp, a 21bp jump

on the day (FT). Europe is reliant on France and Germany’s ability to still borrow money cheap on the international markets, which will then be used to stabilise and bailout Greece, Italy and the EFSF (Stability Fund) accordingly. S&P has already acknowledged that this was a technical glitch and France’s AAA credit rating has not been affected, but this hasn’t seemed to help their situation. Credit Rating Agencies have already been criticised for failing to detect the signs of the 2008 credit crisis (it’s their job to do this), and heavily criticised by Greece and countries alike for increasing the price that they can borrow money for in order to help repay their debt. Such a mistake has increased the EC (European Commission’s) proposals to setup a rival agency and enforcing a ban on downgrades on counties at times of speculative attacks (FT). Ultimately, this would be Europe’s way of getting back at credit rating agencies.

Isabel Zhang Zhang bathimpact Contributor

ast week’s summit marathon produced very positive results. An agreement was reached to tackle the EFSF and recapitalise European banks, but more importantly, the agreement has shown the markets that on the severity of the crisis. Good news from across the Atlantic also boostshowed a 2.5 per cent increase during the third quarter. The effect of these two events transworld stocks gained sharply. But now, it is time to face the truth. Stock futures and stocks have plunged again on Monday as analysts and investors have come to realise that there are

still many uncertainties related to the agreements reached during the EU summit, which questions the overall effectiveness of the package. Although the good news from America is easing fears of a double-dip recession, it is far from enough as unemployment rates stayed at around 9 per cent and the political arena remains unstable. The failure of western “powers” to show signs of strength has proven to me that this is the beginning of a new era. The EFSF chief executive Klaus Regling’s visit and French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s call to China for help is showing the increasing importance of the new emerging economies, China in particular. Helping the EU means giving a hand to China’s biggest trading partner and would help diversify China’s massive dollar reserves - but no commitment has been made so far as it fears EU’s ability to

recover and the possibility of the ECB to pursue an ultra-loose monetary

world. For example, in terms of the car industry, the Chinese carmaker JAC has managed to establish itself in Brazil as a strong brand in less than a year while Pang Da Automobile Trade Co and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co are considering buying the Swedish carmaker Saab to rescue it from production shutdown. Not to mention everything else that is happening around the world which point at the emergence of China. China will be the spotlight of future investment opportunities. Although it is still heavily regulated, China is slowly opening the doors for foreign investment – for example, the launch of the offshore “CNH Dim-Sum bonds” as it gives foreigners partial access to the Chinese market. This has been a very successful move as investors’ appetite for dim-sum bonds is increasing as

they identify more and more growth opportunities in the Middle Kingdom. It is true that we should not ignore the hard fact that China is still politically and economically “immature”.

same fashion as the Fed’s QE policies. decision, it is clear that China has increased its bargaining power and economic help would come about with political leverage over the EU while giving China a greater say within the global political and economic environment (regardless of Jean-Claude Juncker’s insistence that help would not involve political concessions). This is just one of many developments that are hinting to what is going to come next. In my previous post, I emphasised why the US should not pressure China on the currency issue – well, China did not take its time to retaliate. All of the thirteen Wal-Mart stores in Chongqing have been closed for 15 days solely because of a mislabelling Jimmy Baikovicius

S&P France by mistake

Is this the price of democracy?

n 31 October 2011, George Papandreou, the former Prime Minister of Greece, sent shockwaves around the world with his call to hold a referendum. ures alike, and they will say that referendums are hardly ever called, but when they are, they are planned ahead and expressed such that the PM/political leader knows the most likely outcome, and that such outcome is of course, in their favour. Many will argue this can be a form of pseudo-democracy, but such is the practise nonetheless. It seems the lesson is the following: referendums should be called, so long as they’re not used as cannon fodders for economic policies. The advice from China seems to correlate quite clearly in this regard – Europe’s welfare system is too generous and the EU should fast-track austerity measures; effectively implying that economic development should be prioritised. dum hold for the nation? The answer is simple, and perhaps a brilliant, yet costly move by George Papandreou. As the Guardian puts it,

“George Papandreou is famously nice. Personable, polite and disarmingly mild-mannered.” Still this nice PM has been fraught with daily protests by thousands of Greek protesters, an extremely uncooperative opposition party, a bullish EU, a hated IMF presence and a whole host of credit rating agencies and investors/market makers that seem, to the Greeks, hell-bent on increasing the 10-year bond yields of the Greek Government, which has risen to a dangerous and unsustainable, all-time high, 30%. To put this into context, the German Government 10-year yield is at 2.25%, and

effect of money being worth less each year) and German economic growth, means that Germany, in effect, borrows money for nothing. Although democracy might not have been offered to the Greeks as part of a referendum, Papandreou reminds us all that ultimately, politicians and bankers alike can never ignore the voice of the people. If the referendum went ahead and Greek citizens voted that they should leave the euro, ultimately resulting in a default, then the situation would have been catastrophic.

of ordinary pork as organic, and surely many other relatively trivial problems will follow up. China is (correctly) taking advantage of the economic climate and setting a strong foot, as emphasised by news agency Xinhua in a commentary “leaders [need to] take heed of the voices of emerging economies, whose remarkable contribution to world economic recovery and growth deserves better understanding and reciprocal treatment.” This is not just an ordinary commentary, but it is backed by evidence. China’s undeniable and increasing presence in the world economy is declaring its increasing importance (as opposed to the vulnerability of its western partners) and players who are reluctant or fail to understand lost in the new global order as China penetrates in markets all around the

economy is still heavily regulated to protect itself from outside shocks. Despite central government discipline in policy-making, it still faces serious problems such as corruption within local governments. However, it is evident that China is rising and that the balance of economic power is shifting from the West to the East. Europe and America might be able to avoid a douits way out of these multiple crises, but ferent then and the question will only be whether they have the courage to face it or not.

Monday 21st November 2011

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Business

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Teaching others is a learning curve

Sian Barnett looks into the rise in popularity of the TeachFirst scheme

all 44 areas evaluated and reported: so whether it was made from veiled intentions or not tapers down to insigcharity on the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list (this year TeachFirst hit seventh place), the organisa-

Bart Everson

eachFirst: the brainchild from a discarded McKinsey study that looked into placing motivated graduates into challenging schools bolstered by only 6-weeks training became a reality in 2002. Their stated aim? “To make a real impact on one of the UK’s most damaging social issues, educational disadvantage.” The by-product? To discard the UK’s notion of “those who can’t, teach” and make teaching a more viable career option for some of the country’s highest echelons of students. But is TeachFirst made more from smoke-screen intentions than altruistic ones? Is the scheme actually more intent on creating a mass-movement of high-caliber graduates into statesector teaching than actually improving urban educational deprivation? Quite frankly, who cares? The scheme sted rated TeachFirst’s initial teacher

Teaching is the place to learn, suitable for a range of graduates tion has undoubtedly started paving the way for teaching to become a more reputable form of employment for the UK’s higher placed graduates. But how has TeachFirst achieved such a monumental climb in less than a decade? Brett Wigdortz, the entry level analyst at the world-leading conwho took on the unwanted project admits that his “naivety really helped.

It was good that I had never led anything in my life.” Mr. Wigdortz was convinced that the idea would work and took a six-month sabbatical to get things up and running, but found that those he approached to lead the charity were too skeptical of its chances to get involved. “Some said ‘that might happen in other countries but England’s graduates are very cynical’,” he

The world in three years

he next three years will see

of economic power across the globe. Western countries will see their economic power decline as the rest of the world becomes wealthier. The countries of Western Europe will take a “boutique” role in the global economy providing highly specialised research and services to larger manufacturing players such as China and India. Evidence of this change of direction can be seen already in areas such as the British reinsurance market and the degree of innovation achieved by the Nordic countries. In Eastern Europe economic progress will be different, Germany will continue to be a manufacturing powerhouse, providing medium tech industrial products across the

sive structural changes. Greece will default and leave the Euro in a maelstrom of political unrest, whilst this will shake the Eurozone to both the Greeks and the Euro countries since the Hellenic economy will be more competitive and the Germans will not be dragged into other people’s messes. Widely predicted to become a new economic superpower to challenge the USA, China will underperwell-educated population will lead to political unrest in a country that has been ruled by the same party for over 50 years. A consequence of the infamous one child policy, China has a large population of young Kenneth Lu

Alexander Latter bathimpact Contributor

as Poland and the Baltic states will Germany and a newly ascendant laissez-faire regulatory regimes will allow rapid growth in these areas. Recent events in Greece and Southern Europe will lead to mas-

The world will have a new look

single men who will want greater freedom of expression and movement. It is possible that uprisings similar to that of the recent Arab spring will start in China, but more likely accelerating political reform will occur that, whilst attempting cant economic disruption. India and Brazil will be the rising stars of the global economy in 3 years time. With large populations and liberal, democratic government these countries will not have to face the political upheaval that China will eventually be forced to address. Brazil has developed a particularly clean, responsible system of government that will stand the country in good stead as it moves forward. Weakening economic hegemof liberal political agendas in the USA will lead to slow growth as the world’s largest economy becomes more inward looking. Despite these issues, America still has key advanforce and a strong work ethic and it is likely that the USA will bounce back aggressively, continuing its sustained role as leader of the global economy.

a background in education, thought that the training time was unrealistic and that participants would not be accepted by fellow teachers or pupils. Yet the critics of Mr. Wigdortz will nowadays be nowhere to be found apart from in dark corners, with their metaphorical tails between their metaphorical legs. The TeachFirst Leadership Development Programme, to quote Tony Blair, is all about “education, education, education”. UK graduates appear to be less than “cynical” about that. The one thousand-plus of them who will join TeachFirst in September 2012 will receive a six-week intensive teaching crash course alongside high quality training, supportive coaching and ongoing initiatives to reon the job. This is not only where the value in TeachFirst’s programme lies. It is the age-old value in hands-on experience where TeachFirst graduates can differentiate themselves. Put simply, graduates who can engage, manage and inspire a class of challenging young people can handle pretty well any situation in, well, any industry. Few other options offer the same degree of genuine responsibility so early. And rarely, if ever, will graduates have the opportunity to make such a direct

and important impact. That's why over eighty companies, government agencies and other public bodies back TeachFirst's ability to effect change and to develop leaders for the future. So where does this charitable superpower make its next move? In the next three years, the organisation is looking to double in size with graduate intake levels to rival that of The Big Four. Not a dissimilar model of graduate training is encapsulated here, as with the likes of Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young and PwC; TeachFirst aims to set up its graduates tions, and ungrudgingly will enable them to move freely to other industries once they’ve obtained them. Yet there is more. TeachFirst has become the double-edged sword that none of the large private sector employers have been able to evolve into. Not in the short-term, but, in line with the organisation’s philanthropy, there is a long-term sustainable element to their work. Educational deprivation is a downward spiral, yet seemingly, TeachFirst’s work has, and will undoubtedly continue to uncurl this spiral and educate future generations in how to keep it straight.

Berlusconi resigns Magali Calabressi bathimpact Treasurer impact-money@bath.ac.uk

ilvio Berlusconi has resigned from his long held post as Italy’s prime minister. After losing his parliamentary majority, he promised to resign upon knowledge that both houses of parliament had agreed austerity measures demanded by the EU. Mr Berlusconi has given up reigns on Italian politics after being first elected nearly 18 years ago, making him Italy’s longest post-war prime minister. It seems that not long after the Greek PM’s resignation, Berlusconi antics were running out of time. People were no longer in the mood for frolicking, particularly when Italy’s debt problem is at 1.9 trillion euros, which is over 4 times more than Greece’s. Berlusconi is proud of his record spent in office and claims he wants to return to government. Italy’s president, Giorgio Napolitano, has appointed a technocrat, Mr Mario Monti, to succeed Mr Berlusconi. Mr Monti is a professor of economics and the former European com-

missioner of Competition. This respected economist has been asked to form a new transitional government. There have been some complications in choosing a prospective new government after rounds of consultations last Monday evening, but Mr Monti has provisionally chosen a Cabinet of other technocrats for this transitional period. While the world’s political entertainment scene promises to be a dull one without Mr Berlusconi, the economic future of Italy and Europe on the whole seems to be in better hands, as demonstrated by the improvement of the stock markets and the 10-year Italian government bond falling 0.8% since his resignation and continuing to fall (currently at 6.33% from 7.25% making it slightly cheaper for Italy to borrow money). Although resigning as PM, Berlusconi will still be in politics and in parliament and will continue to remain extremely influential – in other words, he may have left the stage but wields considerable power from the wings.

Monday 21st November 2011

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Sport World Cup hangover Jamie Hosie bathimpact Contributor It was a memorable tournament for Kiwi fans, and a forgettable one (on the pitch at least) for England. But returning to domestic affairs, followers of several top clubs are nursing a world cup hangover as their teams wallow in unfamiliar surroundings towards the bottom of the table. A case in point are the Leicester Tigers, who sent 14 men to the tournament. With a handful of key players also missing due to injury, places off the foot of the table with just two wins from eight games. Conversely, Harlequins, who lost only a handful of players, have had their best start to the season in decades, winning all eight of their league matches and sitting pretty at the top of the table. With 20 points already separating the two teams and over a third see how the Tigers, or indeed, the Saints and Bath, who were both similarly affected by the loss of key players, can mount a serious title time the Tigers have felt the effects of a World Cup. Typically, they send the core of their team to the tournament, and in every world cup year (barring Dean Richards’ 1999 “invincibles”) they have struggled. The difference since the World Cup players have returned has been huge, but will it prove too little too late? Peter Wheeler, CEO of the Leicester club, is amongst a group of disgruntled onlookers calling for the entirety of the LV CUP (the Anglo-Welsh Cup in which clubs normally give their reserve and younger players a run) to be played at the beginning of World Cup seasons, to give the big-name players a chance to return in time for the start of the Premiership. Drastic as this may be, it could be the only way around a system that currently seems to punish the top clubs for having the best players.

Staff have to start paying the price like we do Jonathan Gleave bathimpact Sport Editor impact-sport@bath.ac.uk A new system was put in place last Monday (14th November) which saw a change in the way staff use the University’s sporting facilities. Previously it had been the case that staff got free use of some of the sporting facilities, much like the students.

With the introduction of the Sports Pass earlier this year, however, staff were still getting some facility use for free while students (the ones who don’t get the pay cheque) were having to pay to use them. With this new system however, ties, and although it is at a discounted rate compared to the public, it is still

Ashley Quinlan SA Sport Reporter

team barely had to shift out of second gear during their

they swept them aside 105-55. Coming into the game, Bath were expected to take a comfortable victory after their unbeaten start to the season in the league. They did not disappoint with a man-of-thematch, and top-scoring performance (with 36 points) from Mark Rovira. Indeed, Rovira was the stand out character for much of the game, getting Bath off to a storming

terestingly however, it was Bath’s defensive play that was to prove most impressive. The team worked tirelessly to close the play down, restricting Gloucestershire’s mobility and offensive options on the court.

onds of the match. This was made possible as a result of some very sharp positional awareness from the whole team. Bath built up a lead that they were never going to relinquish, with progressive quarter scores of 32-11, 21-13, 23-15, and 29-17. In-

Despite a solid performance, some issues still remained. With missed free throws littering the match, and offensive moves breaking down time and again in the second and third quarters, the performance left a few questions to be answered. If Bath hope to progress a long way in the competition these problems will need rectifying. Team Captain Tom Janicot commented: “It was obviously quite an easy game. We weren’t focussed for the whole game, and played quite badly to be honest. We should be better than this. We won by 50 points in the end, but the opposition, with respect, was not of our level. “It’s a case of maintaining focus for the whole match (against stronger upcoming opposition), doing the simple things well and coming away with wins in the tougher matches.” If Bath can do this then they stand a good chance of going quite far in the trophy knock-out competition this year.

Have your say Do you love sport? Perhaps love is too strong a word, do you at least like sport? Do you know the difference between a try and a touch-down? Do you have a talent for writing? Maybe you can’t write, but are you pretty handy with a camera instead? Don’t have a camera, but reckon you have a knack for designing and making things look pretty? If you answered yes to any of the above questions then get in touch. impactsport wants to hear from people like you! Contact bathimpact Sport Editor Jonathan Gleave (impactsport@bath.ac.uk) to find out more details about how you can get involved.

Swansea Titans get a sting from The Bees Simon Love bathimpact Contributor he Bath Killer Bees got their BUAFL season off to a great start with a dominating 20-6 win over the Swansea Titans earlier this month. Right from the off the Titans showed how much they had improved since last season by holding the Bees to a couple of short offensive drives. The Titans couldn’t generate much offense themselves though, with the Bees defence continuing

from where they left off last year with some key stoppages on third down. The second quarter came around long offensive drive, Mike Hutchin-

the score 3-0. The Titans then made a strong goal line stand, eventually turning the ball over on downs and taking the ball on their own one yard line. The Bees defence made their presence felt though. So much so the Titans quarterback was forced to run

All results correct as of 11/11/11

Emma Wiltshire

Quote of the day “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” Seven time Tour De France winner, Lance Armstrong.

considerably more than what students are paying now. VP Sport Chris Clements agrees with the new fee for staff saying, “It’s fair that these charges have been introduced in line with the students’ charges that were brought in at the beginning of the year.” Students will still get preferential treatment when it comes to making bookings though.

Bath dunk Gloucestershire out

Ashley Quinlan

Inter national sports news

www.bathimpact.com

http://www.sxc.hu

out of the back of his own endzone by fearsome defensive end Tom Owen for a safety. Bringing the score to 5-0 at the half. The Bees offense were quick out of the traps in the second half, with touchdown throw from quarterback Aaron Linley to wide receiver Eddy Anastassacos. A combination that will doubtlessly be seen numerous times this season. The snap on the ensuing extra point kick was however fumbled so the score remained at 11-0. After this score, second quarterback Christoph Cox came in to ing some nice throws in his time on rushing skills aren’t quite up to the same standard, and a promising drive was halted when he leapt like a salmon straight into a crunching hit from a Swansea linebacker, fumbling the ball on Swansea’s own two yard line. Whilst Swansea rightfully cel-

ebrated the turnover, their cheers were silenced when, after a quick three and out, their punter failed to get a handle on the ball and was munched by linebacker Dom Chao to force an unprecedented second safety of the day. With the score now at 13-0, Swansea looked to pin the Bees back with a booming safety kick from their own third. The kick was colossal, but unfortunately went straight to Hutchinson. He found a seam and gassed Swansea’s special team to take it all the way to the house for an 80 yard safety kick return touchdown. He then kicked his own extra point to took a rest after this, with the Bees sideline whipped up into a frenzy. Bath’s backups played out the rest of the fourth quarter fairly uneventfully. The only blemish being the short rushing touchdown conceded on the last play of the game. Swansea didn’t attempt the extra point kick to Bath.

Monday 21st November

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Bath Snowsports shred up Swansea Anna Ross bathimpact Contributor

Snowsports made the trip to Pembrey, Swansea for round two of the Kings Ski Competition, against ‘The Best of the West Universities’. Round one had seen Bath perform well, with the Skiing

We had a reduced squad for round two however, and struggled with the minimum of one girl per

The second team (James Dowdall, Jon De Beaux, John Pentelow, Will Miller and Anna Ross) lost their then beat Bristol seconds and Cardiff overall. The board teams struggled on a fairly tricky course, but consistent individual performances from the Bath team, comprising of Rob Wagner, Oliver Pocknell, Rob

whole race, with every team member Earley, earned them third place overall, winning three out of their feated in the second round of racing. This included beating the Carround one in an extremely closefought race. This put us through to

close call on the line, but Bath were judged to be the overall winners.

Yetis to blame for GPS skiing craze

ski team has won a King’s Competition in at least as long as any current members of the team can remember

Whilst out drinking with some skiing buddies of mine, the topic of GPS tracking came up. They claimed that a new trend was emerging whereby parents were tracking their children via a GPS monitor while they skied. Presumably to make sure that when said little one slammed into a tree they would know exactly

on the British Universities Dryslope say, one of the biggest events of the year. ing a go, then come along to our dry slope training sessions in Gloucester

girl skier sharing her skills between trast to round one (where Bath arrived a little late), we arrived very early for racing. This gave us plenty of time to practice, to get the fancy dress sorted and of course to have a little play on the luge run.

need to be a member of Snowsports

James Dowdall

is a mere £5 per session which includes transport, equipment hire

made up of Simon Beckett, Aidan Faria, Anna Ross, Ollie Tulloch and Henry Carr, started well, winning Matt Franceschi: “I’m the best skier on this dry slope”

Gleave’s gripes

for this winter are to be believed then pretty soon we’ll all be up to our knees in the powdery good stuff and the only way to get into town from campus will be to ski down Bathwick Hill. Best get practising now people.

as drunken poppycock, ignored their nonsense and got back to my blue lagoon (it was on offer). Following a quick Google on my reare actually starting to do this, it’s snow joke people! thought of hurling myself down a mountain on two very thin pieces poles to steady myself scares me.

Ashley Quinlan SA Sport Reporter For your Thursday night delectation, myself and Will “Chilli” Chilcott are hosting a brand new, vibrant and largely off-the-cuff sports show on up-to-date sports news you can find, music, banter, debate and special guests (the first week we got VP Sport Clemmo, future weeks… Could we have bathimpact Sport Editor himself Jon Gleave?!). So join us, every Thursday

Netball set BUCS record Mia Ritchie bathimpact Contributor

vious week, Bath knew this game would count a lot for goal difference.

over a century of points to overcome Gloucestershire University in their second game of

and surging on to end the quarter

had, simple stats dictated that we should end the game with at least

Sam Brightman

Ash and Chilli Sports Show. It’s super hot!

fence, Bath continued to dominate with some slick passing and fast paced movement from Mid-courters, Mia Ritchie, Millie Grey and Scarlett Williams. The second quar-

ly by servicing shooters Kat Hayes and Kadeen Corbin with ease. Becky Watkins came into the game and immediately made an impact by intercepting at least three of the opposition centre’s passes in a row. The A few last quarter changes saw Williams come into the defensive circle with Hayes and Kate McGinley remaining the lead shooters. With four minutes left of the game, Bath ference was going to be important we needed to push on. Scoring eight

breaking scoreline. The third quarter saw some changes as Bath tried out new comin at wing attack and started bright-

games are as good as this, don’t be surprised if we see another century in the near future.

Your selected match of the week Robert Dinsey bathimpact Contributor

Bath University Kickboxing’s anone of the most highly anticipated events in the sporting calendar, dents for each of the last three years. The event returns on December 1st, which this year sees Cambridge University travel to Bath’s STV.

The evening will feature a card of around 15 bouts showcasing University Kickboxers at all levels, from beginners to black belts. The University which wins the most bouts will be crowned champions and take home the prestigious trophy. Every year, a huge crowd helps create a great atmosphere which Hopefully this year will be no exception.

in the STV in the evening of the 1st December. Tickets are £5, with charity. Tickets will be available on Parade, online and from The Plug, with details to follow shortly: look for posters and Kickboxers around campus over the next few weeks and please come along and help us remember!

Stephanie Darvill

» Fight Night vs. Cambridge. December 1st, STV Hall, 6:30 pm

to know that it involves a lot of snow... snow is also white... again, you are pimping your child out in a perfectly white babygrow while they ski, surely it can’t be that hard to spot them amongst a perfectly polar bear in the arctic from a mile away if you gave it a pink party hat to wear. That made me wonder, perhaps children are skiing off so far from the view of their parents that they physically can’t see them anymore. Again, this may just be my lack of skiing knowledge coming wouldn’t want to lose sight of my hypothetical kids then it would be up a mountain in the alps, where it is about ten degrees below freezing and any number of snow yetis could tear them apart. What happens if, say, you did lose your kid? Would the parents then ski home, grab their laptops and look them up on the internet to see just how lost they were?! which time the yetis have thawed them out and made a lovely child soup out of them? What happened to the good old days when if you wanted to keep sight of your child you just attached them to the end of a dog ally lazy, you can just have them drag you back up to the top of the mountain...

impactsport Monday 21st November 2011

Happy Movember from impactsport

Bath rack up a century of points Netball, p23

Inside impactsport Bath Snowsports win King’s Competition

Owen Tomlinson

Jonathan Gleave

For the first time since anybody involved with Bath Snowsports can remember (so at least five years then), a Bath Snowsports mixed team has claimed a win at a King’s Competition.

New 3: Thirty Club in full swing Nik Simon bathimpact Contributor he University of Bath has always sold itself to prospective students on the basis of its sporting and academic excellence. For many potential students, its sporting reputation can even prove one of the pivotal factors in their decision to come here. However for many, the university’s reputation as a leading sporting institution can be cut both ways. Some of the best young sporting talent in the country are attracted to the university. This often results in many ‘normal’ students

university sport altogether. Either because the training is too intense, or the standard is simply too high. With the backing of Sport England, the University of Bath hopes to buck this growing trend of students dropping out of sport. The University has been awarded a £113,000 grant from the Active Universities fund to invest into their sports development. The fund is a part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics’ legacy programme and sets out to increase mass participation in sport. The University’s answer to increasing participation levels in sport comes through the 3:Thirty club. The club is a new student focussed initiative to get more students actively involved in recreational sport. The clubs’ aim is simply to engage non participating students to partake in three lots of

thirty minute exercise per week. By offering an array of sessions in a variety of sports, the project has a three year aim to encourage 4,000 more students to participate in sport than currently do so. For those still bitter about having to pay the £100 Sports Pass, the club could prove as a welcome tonic. those already signed up with the pass (it is only 50 pence per session for those who are not signed up). Unlike regular BUCS sports, you are not just activities either, as different sports are available seven days of the week. The current range of sessions on offer is vast, ranging from trampolining to cricket. There is still activity space available, so if there’s a sport you want to play that is not currently on the programme, then let them know! With the club being a completely student run initiative, students get to choose which activities take place and how best to use the 75 hours of allotted activity time. VP Sport Chris Clements has been one of the main programme, “We’re asking people what they want to do and then putting it on. It’s a personal development opportunity as well as a sporting one. It’s completely student run, so it’s sustainable. There are no external coaches so students have complete ownership over their sport.” Unlike the high performance

ethos which runs through many of Bath’s sports teams, the club very much holds a ‘it’s the taking part that counts’ stance. “The 3:Thirty club is mainly aimed to bridge the gap existing between BUCS and ‘do it yourself’ activity. It is about sport being available for everyone to take part”, added Tom Lacey, the 3:Thirty Club’s Lead

75 hours The amount of allocated activity time Ambassador. There are no trials, no training sessions and no expectations of ability, students are just being encouraged to try out new sports and get involved on a more social level. The club has just entered its fourth week of running and feedback so far has been positive. As the clubs’ Lead Ambassador, Lacey is working hard to boost student awareness, “The feedback so far has been really positive, the main issue is making people aware that this has been set up. Once people are aware of the programme and what it has to offer then we’re sure more students will be getting involved as the weeks go on.” One example of where sport on a recreational and social level is already working very well is that of the Interdepartmental Football Competition. Matt Walley, the IDFC’s Coordinator had this to say; “The IDFC has been successfully running in its current

form for a few years now and it is our hope that other sports can follow its example. We have recently attained ally recognised league and we hope to keep building on this solid foundation.” The eventual aim of the 3:Thirty club is to hopefully build a series of sustainable and successful intramural competitions around it. Featuring more sports and generally expanding on the system that the IDFC currently has in place, but perhaps with more emphasis on inter-hall competitions rather then inter-departmental ones. backing, this is a set up which has the potential to completely turn around sport participation levels throughout the university. Still in its early stages, students are encouraged to get involved and help shape the future of their sports club. Clements issued this rallying cry, “Students will be more inclined to get actively involved in something they know they can inple of the 3:Thirty club!” It is an opportunity for all students to boost the university’s reputation for sporting excellence, not through results, but by promoting sport as a social medium for everyone. For more information on the 3:Thirty club, including a timetable of sessions, visit http://www.teambath.com/sport/student/3thirtyclub.

Turn to page 23 to read more about how they got on

Killer Bees sting the Titans The Bath Killer Bees American Football team stung the Swansea Titans where it hurt, as they beat them 20-6 in their first game of the season. Touchdowns from Eddy Anastassacos and Mike Hutchinson helped to ensure that The Bees got their season off to a buzzing start. See page 22 for the full report

Bath Basketball beat Gloucestershire Ashley Quinlan’s (our newly elected Sports Association Sport Reporter) first role in his new job was to go and scout out our Men’s Basketball first team in their first trophy game of the season. They did not disappoint as they convincingly beat Gloucestershire University’s first team 105-55. For a full match report and to see how Ashley got on impactsport, see page 22

Snowball tickets The Snowball is nearly upon us. It will be taking place on the 7th & 8th December at the Bath Pavillions opposite the Cricket ground. Tickets will be £15 and are already available to SA members. They go on general sale to all students on the 25th of November. It always a great even so make sure you get your tickets early to avoid dissappointment. Tickets are available from www. bathstudent.com/sport

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EDITORIAL

Old

Holly Narey

Holly Narey bite Editor

impact-bite@bath.ac.uk

CONTENTS Student Lifestyle Old School - Page 2 &3

Sex & Relationships If your grandparents can... Page 3 Overworked and underpaid Page 5 Men in their prime (wink wink) - Page 6

The Guide Page 7

Fashion Mo for a bro - Page 8 & 9

Arts

Bryony Kimmings interview Page 11

Music

Crouching Beaver, Hidden Squirrel - Page 11 Live reviews - Page 12

Film In Time - Page 6

Videogames

e’re approaching the end of another year, how inconsiderate of Time. When we get to this point, as well as thinking about what the next year holds, it’s also nice to cast our minds back to the great things that have happened over the past years. Did you know that this year the children starting secondary school will have been born in the year 2000?! have no idea what a cassette tape is, and they probably all own I was happy with it. It had Snake, it changed my world. If one of these millenium babies saw it, they would probably think its purpose is building, not communication. I’m currently sitting next

disk drive?

new things, or look as nice, but goddamn it I’m the sort of person who has to take a stone home with them if they kick it along for long enough, I can’t leave the past behind me. So here we are, in this week’s issue of bite. Welcome to the nostalgic theme of Old School. Ben Hooper tackles the topic head on in our lead article this relationship columnists commentary on the difference between relationships now and in the past. Page 5 has a return of Rowan Emslie’s description of his placement experience in Overworked and Underpaid. Page 6 as usual has our sex column, this week from a different writer, as our normal columnist has been making America sexy for the last week. This weeks columnist tells us what our grand-

Retro videogames - Page 13 Sonic Generations - Page 13

Food

of In Time, Justin Timberlake’s current attempt to breaking into

A rainforest in your shoppingPage 15 Chunky chicken and courgette risotto - Page 15

Puzzle corner Page 16

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o f

B a t h

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On page 7 Tom Rookes tells us what’s on in Bath and Bristol over the next couple of weeks and you’re in for a real treat on pages 8 and 9 where we wander Parade and knock on your windows looking for some Movember men. ance artist, Bryony Kimmings, after her recent campus showing Crouching Beaver, Hidden Squirrel, telling us what new releases to keep an eye out for. To see what acts you should be following

U n i o n

STUDENT

m edia Advertising Enquires Helen Freeman H.Freeman@bath.ac.uk

bathimpact Students’ Union University of Bath Bath BA2 7AY

have to be cool and not use a space. Imeanwhousesspacesthesedaysany-

First came old skool and google provided me with “A spelling of ‘old school’ used by those who most likely didn’t get A’s in spelling class”. I thought this quite interesting, so those who received the grade of B, by this method of analysis were unable to spell simple words like school. I’m sorry but I got a D in spelling class, I have daily sex. Woops, that was supposed to say dyslexia. Urban dictionary’s best explanation was “Anything that refers to a previous generation of a subject/idea/object/etc. Typically, they are highly regarded and sometimes the very thing that started it all. Guy: Damn, Super Mario Bros. The gameplay this kid is playing Mario with a random old guy. It seems to be the generations whose lives have been saturated by television, pop music, computer games and materialism that cling on to the old school. the days before mobile phones and the industrial revolution, they don’t get very far of course as these journeys into the past are constantly broken up between each compulsory cup of tea and its subsequent trip to the toilet. So let’s explore what appeared to be better about the past, and the question as to whether some things were simply better or perhaps there are many great things available to us, but without the blissful ignorance of childhood, our weary brains just reject

and I quote “we wouldn’t be here today if the oldskool didn’t pave the way” and I think what he was saying there, was that paving slabs are made of dinosaur bones and are therefore more old school than anything. He also could have been trying to get across to us that we simply forget all the good things in the world, because of all the troubles we encounter as adults and that, sometimes we should forget about the strictures of everyday life in modern society and listen to the child inside of us, aching to get out. My advice is, never keep children Since the marking of armistice day I’ve been thinking, and it’s hard getting to grips with the fact that most of the OAPs I see staggering around in the cold looking for their spectacles, weren’t the so few that us many owed so much to (war veterans). In fact a lot of them were only toddlers during the war. This is faced by a worthy original wielding septuagenarian was, where were YOU durthem cross the road unless they’re so weighed down by medals they can’t move. This brings me to my next point, what’s the world going to be like when you

by various bite contributors. -

try. the kitchen and think more about what food we buy. Again, Dorian Liddle is king of the puzzles as he challenges us

So, enjoy. Any comments, queries, or desire to get involved, send me an email at

OAP McDonald’s menus. Some things the older generations were lucky to have: the necessity to wear a hat if you were a man, the necessity to remind a man to wear his hat if you were a women. They also had records on vinyl, with a choice of nothing else but radio. They had B sides on all of their albums, because we don’t just want to hear your best stuff, we want to hear collaborations with literally anything. If you don’t know who he is, Youtube him, and if you do, Youtube him anyway. I feel obligated to write a little about the old school University of Bath. I’m sure most of you know it started off as a pharmaceutical school which was Back in the late sixties and early seventies the student body was only a few thousand strong, this was a time when barely anybody lived on campus and the notion of campus we have today didn’t really exist back then. From speaking to a lot of alumni as part of my job at the alumni fund, one has the opportunity to build a somewhat jaded vision, but a vision none the less of what campus was like back then. A lot of students lived in the surrounding villages of Bath, as

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.

students and people who lived in a particular area. Throughout the years the student body has grown and grown, the university has begun to offer more and more diverse areas of study, though sadly they no longer offer horticulture as a

University of Bath Students’ Union

Printed by Harmsworth Press Ltd.

Ben Hooper

its golden age, with a massive proportion of the student body being members of a society which had power and presence on campus. Can we please bring back I have 3 portable tape players. What a waste of money.

and prosperous galactic empire. Or, just remember how lucky you are to be a

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Skool part of such a great university, the life here as a Bath student is pretty damn old school, just look at all those communist looking buildings. In conclusion though, I must say this, know that I make this statement in full peared, pure, fruitful and above all else.. Could amaze me more than it could ever do today. No-one could grab you like Michael Jackson, nothing could excite you more than Wrestle Mania, nothing was quite so important as Pogs and sleepovers were always so much simpler before sex came along. And what’s with that anyway? Egg and soldiers with gran was nice and you always seemed to be wearing a school uniform, ALL THE TIME. I remember being excited about getting some football stickers and a wispa gold before going to school to grin and bear lessons in between vicious rounds of pog wars and another disappointing packed lunch with only two courses. A quick after-school debrief with mum before proceeding to put on my playing out clothes (which didn’t match) and spending hours on end playing football in the old school ing if that’s even a name. I played until about two hours after I was supposed to be home for dinner. I remember a time when my favourite drink was bath water from a sponge, when I struggled to pick up exceptionally heavy cats, when I didn’t pay when I was more interested about gaps in pavements than I was about not being run over. All of this brings warmth to my heart, because these were the days when happiness was dirt cheap, this is how our characters were developed and some of the best spontaneous and fun conversations are built on nothing but careless reminiscing. Every day we’re reminded of how it used to be, compared with how it is now, all of our distant dreams on the horizon weigh heavy on our hearts, in assignment, forget about your bank balance, and just for a minute, think about the time at when you had to do PE in your pants, when you thought France was river in Egypt, when you thought diversity was an old old wooden ship or the time when you swallowed your yo-yo in the playground. Now, doesn’t that feel better.

A challenge no child can resist

If your Grandparents can... Written by bite’s relationship columnist

ld fashioned relationships are most commonly associated with the negativity that plighted gender relations in generations gone by. A time when women were subjugated and were merely an adage to their male counterpart, and relationships existed merely to ensure the survival of man. In an age where the purpose of marriage was to hand the daughter over to a husband as if she were property, relationships could easily become stagnant and un-enchanting. This however, is not the entire story. Although partnerships in this time may have been a little one sided, they retained a purity that could be said has been lost in love today. Romanticism was very much alive and kicking before after doing something wrong today, but small gestures like that make love last the distance. We have all seen it, an old couple sat on a bench in the park, or on the bus, still holding hands, still with a glint in their eye, a scene that evokes a synonymous ‘aww’ from anyone who sees. And yes... old people do have sex, and usually quite experimental at that, I once heard a story about someone’s grandparents at it on There is a lot to learn from the older generation. Promiscuity was limited, and mating for life was in most cases taken very seriously. This attitude and respect for love has been lost to an array of elaborate presents which now say I love you, and technology which has blighted communication. Text dumping is now a regular occurrence or worse, Facebook ditching - man up and do it face to face. It really is the small things that count, the things that are worth more than any purchasable good; walking your loved one home from work, giving your partner your coat if they are cold, cutting out a piece of the newspaper for your other half simply because you know it will make them smile. All of this means so much more TV, the computer, the pub, away from friends and family, work and chores just to enjoy each other’s company. The best thing about all this is that now it works both ways. Women should feel proud to look after their man like before, but men should feel proud to take care of their woman too. Old fashioned romanticism is in need of revival, anyone up for the challenge?

“I can’t wait to get you back to the kitchen...”

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Overworked and Underpaid Written by Rowan Emslie

hen I first started working in a human rights charity, it struck me how peculiarly insular the world of ‘Human Rights Defenders’* was. It seemed like everyone in the sector knew everyone personally. People who definitely don’t work in my office are constantly being casually thrown around with no explanation:

“Is Anton going to this transparency thing on Monday?” “Oh no, he can’t make it, he’s going to Gavin’s thing the night before.” “Gavin’s having a thing? We didn’t get invited - did you ask Rebecca for one? She-” WHO ARE

longer worry about it. This might be considered a natural progression to apathy, as a result of the ‘new job!’ buzz having worn off, but I have a different theory: 1. Maintaining an aloof, outsider’s perspective is hard work. Being detached and James Deanlike (Ed: In your dreams) takes up quite a lot of time and effort. Take lunch: you have to eat lunch alone disappearing at lunch = mysterious - which means you have to eat further away from the office to reduce the likelihood of bumping into colleagues. Traversing said distance cuts into your eating time which means getting smaller meals which means malnutrition and, probably, scurvy.

THESE PEOPLE? Added to the insufferable acronym plague that afflicts all third sector work, cosy first name dropping makes starting a job like mine feel like you’re working in an impenetrable fog while faceless people shout incomprehensible strings of letters at you. At first, I thought that having an outsider’s perspective would allow me to identify problems and maybe even help me come up with useful suggestions for how to improve the ways things are done. I made a few suggestions with this aim and, to my chagrin, not only did I not receive any medals OR parades I was largely, but politely, ignored. In retrospect, I don’t think my suggestions were particularly bad or out of line but I realise that a) no one wants the new guy to be critical and b) people freakin’ love their own personal work habits. I should have known that last one is true; as everyone at bathimpact is well aware, I can’t write articles without my dressing gown, 1000 brown M&Ms in a brandy glass and the constant chuntering of Sabbatical officers droning witlessly on about libel. After about two weeks, I stopped thinking of my outsider-ness as being quite such a useful thing and decided that I should probably attempt to dig down into the mysterious world of human rights activism. While I cannot claim to have actually learnt who all the mysterious people are or what conferences/forums/meetings my colleagues are attending, I no

ple would let you will give you stress ulcers. Ask anyone who has ever had ‘superiors’. That constant, burning sense of injustice at the nature of the world is actually heartburn. 3. Not really understanding what people are talking about is counterproductive. Ain’t that right Rick Perry? (Yes, I am doing satire.) Now, don’t get me wrong, this is not me saying that change is bad. If organisations become stagnant, unchanging monoliths, they will probably be horrible places to work and, what’s much worse, they probably won’t be very useful. In the world of do-goodery, not being useful is about as bad as it gets. Often, outsiders’ voices and opinions can be incredibly useful catalysts to induce change hell, the entire global development industry is pretty much built on that premise. But, just as in global development, it’s important to realise that if you do not integrate insiders into such change, you’re doing something very wrong. My transition from ‘outsider’ to ‘insider’ is by no means either a completed process or, frankly, a particularly important one. But if you look at the development as a whole you see that it is exactly this transitional paradigm that people have realised is incredibly vital. The noted development blog, A View From The

Cave, put it this way in a recent post:

“We continue to do a disservice to the poor if we insist on innovating on their behalf.” If I want to help people I want to be able to facilitate them to help themselves. That means I need to be very good at widening discussion, communicating and including people in various sectors - sectors that are normally as closed off and bubble-like as the human rights one I find myself trying to invade at the moment. I am not a human rights law specialist. I work with them, finding what they do quite impressive and often hugely above my head. As such I feel rather alienated from their work. I suspect many of you feel the same way. Does that mean you and I don’t care about human rights issues? No. Does it mean we can’t help? Again, no. A panel discussion at LSE recently highlighted the problem of distance - between victims and those who help, between sufferers and onlookers - as being one of the biggest hurdles in development. The Chief Executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee, Brendan Gormley, said something very interesting:

“Distance

is reduced by your advocate being your mate.” If someone you know down the pub tells you about something awful and how you can do something about it, you’re more likely to respond to it than watching some god-awful, identikit charity appeal. This is, for me, an exciting thought. It means that those of us who aren’t world leading experts within our little do-gooder bubble can, as Gandhi put it, be the change we want to see in the world. It’s much less intimidating than it might seem! *I can now genuinely list my occupation as this. As it makes me feel like a superhero, I welcome submissions for suitable theme tunes - send them here: http://twitter.com/RowanEmslie

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Men in Their Prime (wink wink) Written by bite’s Stand-in Sex Columnist

ello there wonderful readers and fellow havers of sex. Due to a séjour in the US, the usual columnist is currently jetlagged and gorging on chocolate, so this week, c’est moi. I’m not really sure what to say - obviously it’s got to be about sex, which is an area I have experience in, but there’s not much of a way I can relate the theme ‘Old School’ to it. Unless we’re talking old men… in schools. Grim. Actually, that’s opened up a whole new avenue. What about old man sex? My best friend used to date a 49 year old chap when she was 20. He was lovely. Let’s call him Mick (because that was his name). He was an old punk who lived in a house covered in dragons and gothic artwork, he had house parties constantly and there was a piano in his lounge. That’s not a euphemism. Regardless of the fact that his son was a more dateably appropriate age for my friend, she stands by her word that he was one of the best she ever had. What causes that? Have older men had more practice? How do they have the stamina? I’m not saying they’re old and past it (much) but I happen to know this particular friend was rather, er, energetic in the bedroom department. I’m impressed he managed to keep up. I suppose there’s also the appeal of older men knowing falling straight to sleep. Word on the street has it that this

older man in particular had no problem making good use of his hands and mouth even when his man cucumber was takMy only concern would be wrinkly balls. Yes, I said it. There’s nothing quite like a nice, young, smooth, rock hard pocket rocket to satisfy a girl’s needs. I can’t say I’ve ever slept with anyone over 40, but I imagine, like the skin on the face, something must change down there, which isn’t massively appealing. Do ballsacs get wrinklier? Do blowjobs feel funny? Is there excess skin in places where you don’t expect it? Those wonderful images aside, another friend told me, on a wonderful drunken evening, that her long-term 40 year old boyfriend had one of the nicest looking secret sausages she’d ever seen. As usual, it’s a matter of luck. It’s always a massive gamble; you really can’t judge length (or girth, for that matter; yes, girth) based on pecs. I remember one occasion where the man with the most chiselled abs was also the least satisfying of his three friends. Don’t judge. That said, recent experiences with equally chiselled gentlemen (Well, gentleman. Yes, you.) have resulted in nothing but girth. God I love that word. To be honest, I doubt I’m ever going to venture more than, say, ten years outside of my own age, but to those who do? Good luck. Good, wrinkly, girthy luck. Yum.

Your potential ideal man

Film: In Time Written by Ron Morrow Think of In Time as the bare bones of an idea. Of course with any good idea there’s a hook, so for the sake of this analogy let’s give our skeletal friend a clock on his arm. Obviously he’s not much to look at yet though Now we already know our puppet can dance but Scarecrow’s telling me we’re all out of brains so it looks like we’ll settle for added suave. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t always need brains to make something work (the idiots on reality TV are a testament to this) but I can’t help but feel In Time had an opportunity for greatness but lost its way. In a simple hand wave explanation of how the situation came to be, Will Salas (Mr copulatory-organ-in-abox) wakes showcasing the funky green timer on his arm. Here everyone is born with a year on their clock, which only starts ticking when they hit 25; at which point they pull a pose which they’ll look like for the rest of their life. Time is the universal currency and can be earned, spent, given and stolen through a bro-tastic arm grip or fancy scanners, and in the ghetto (the nice ghetto that rich people imagine, not the “Imma’ shank you for datbiscuit” kind) theft and death are rife. Salas is a nice guy and a mother lover, even saving a stranger from getting got by ‘Minutemen’. Immortality is within man’s grasp in this system, but for the few to be immortal many must die, something Will becomes aware of after ‘inheriting’ Salas’ century and so sets out to change. Eager to share his riches with those close to him, off goes Robin Hood. But what goes around comes around and, having messed that up, Will goes after ‘The Man’ to get more to share with the people. Enter Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) and about as much futuresex infermore Bonnie and Clyde, the two of them on the run from

an excellent Cillian Murphy as ‘Timekeeper’ Raymond Leon (not a timecop, that’s Van Damme territory). The aim? Redistribute the Weis family fortunes amongst the masses. For a concept as obsessed with time as a bad Batman villain (enforced by constant out-of-context puns), you would think they’d take more care with basic numeracy. A journey that takes hours is reduced to minutes during a chase, Salas bets time that should kill him and the enof other plot holes and questions that go unanswered, but through the cracks in the surface you catch a glimpse of some intriguing back-story deemed unworthy of more

attention. At its heart, In Time means well and wants to impress with its slick action and memorable characters, but the childlike naivety with which it approaches story and consequence let it down. JT is still working his way into the acting scene and while he can do action and suave it’s going to be a while before he can cry me a believable river. If nothin’ else it’s fun and has a concept still stuck in my head; it’s just a shame they cut the strings on the plot or this could have been one for cult status. ences, only shame.

JT perfecting his Blue Steel

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The Guide Written by Tom Rookes

Explosions in the sky’s Post-Rock performance is guaranteed to please

Music

Arts

Explosions in the sky Bristol - O2 academy - 20/11 Hailing from Austin, Texas the epic instrumental band Explosions in the Sky promise to put on quite a show at Bris-

(I think) I love you... Theatre Royal - Bath - 24/11 to 26/11 If you’re looking for a bit of culture in your life but, y’know, not too much culture (we wouldn’t want to overdo it) then maybe YPT Acting’s production of (I think) I love you... is just the thing you’ve been looking for. The partially improvised play surrounds the social circle of a group of teenagers during their break ups and make ups as they fall in (and out) of love with each other. All you gossip mongers and old

over summer the band is back in the UK and ready to blow your minds with their technical skills and awe inspiring stage show.

Beans on Toast The Croft - Bristol - 02/12 Beans on toast, a self confessed ‘Drunk Folk Singer’, has earned himself a place on the country-folk scene with his mix of catchy acoustic melodies and quick-witted lyrics. He delivers his songs with a gruff, earthy growl singing about topics ranging from love to political satire to cultural diversity. This modern day troubadour is not likely to blow you away with fancy guitar riffs or impressive musical prowess but you’re guaranteed to come away from his gig having enjoyed some wry lyrics, a good old fashioned sing along and a few laughs.

Visions Tour Motion - Bristol - 03/12 The multinational DJ trio, Visions, is kicking off a European tour this November that promises to bring the best of RnB, DnB and Hip Hop to a city near you. The tour de force trio has already gained wide spread critical acclaim having played with the likes of Mark Ronson, Skrillex, Drop The Lime and Seb Chew. With these guys only on the way up you wouldn’t want to miss out on catching them at Bristol’s very own electronic music night Motion.

and reminisce about those scary teenage days of heartbreak and heartache. The Bath Film Festival is unfortunately coming to an end this week but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get screen names are still going strong in Bath’s Odeon cinema and there are still a few gems to be found in our very own Picture House cinema, The Little Theatre. We need to talk about Kevin Little Theatre Cinema - 22/11 Based on the 2003 bestseller by Lionel Shriver, We Need to Talk About Kevin is an atmospheric thriller following the relationship between a mother and her troubled son. Tilda Swinton gives the performance of a career as a reluctant everyone else in between whilst rising star Ezra Miller, in the role of Kevin, gives a convincingly creepy performance whilst managing to avoid the dark, angst ridden teenager vibe so commonly seen in Twilight, The Vampire Diaries and the like. Readers should take note however: this is no frothy, feel good romp with the story throwing up some big questions such as nature versus nurture, grief and guilt.

On Campus ICIA Seen any pictures or photographs on the walls on your way to lectures lately? It’ll be ICIA’s doing. As this semester starts, they are not only busy with their dance, performance, visual arts and music classes, but also with bringing today’s artists’ work to the campus. On Wednesday the 23th November at 7:30pm, make sure you grab a seat at the showing of Jean Renoir’s 1939 social comedy La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game), introduced by Steve Wharton from the Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies. On Saturday 26th head to the ICIA Theatre and Arts Barn to in Practice, followed by an informal discussion. On Saturday the 3rd December don’t miss a solo concert by leading American free-jazz pianist Matthew Shipp. Hailed by Newsweek Magazine as having helped “to make jazz vibrant and cool again”, maybe give Fuzzy Ducks a rest this week and do something a little different. Also on Saturday 3rd, get into the Christmas spirit with the University of Bath Chamber Choir’s Christmas Concert at St Philip and St James’ Church, Norton St Philip. It’ll be worth the journey to this quiet rural setting.

website at www.bath.ac.uk/icia

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Arts

Listen Up URB’s Crouching Beaver, Hidden Squirrel give us an overview of recent releases

Albums

out more about the goings on behind the scenes as bite contributor Anna Vidos interviews performance artist Bryony Kimmings. Florence + The Machine: Ceremonials

Manic Street Preachers: National Treasures - The Complete Singles

Florence’s decision to pair exclusively with ‘Rabbit Heart’ and ‘Cosmic Love’ producer Paul Epworth for Ceremonials is both its greatest strength and

If You Tolerate This Your Chil-

Atlas Sound: Parallax

A Design

Bradford Cox, frontman of American indie elite Deerhunter, has had a hard time dealing with his bands new fame (suffering a nerv-

Enough. Faster. Motorcycle Emp-

year), so it’s unsurprising his solo

since their first single proper, the Manic’s have created some of Britain’s best loved and most successgreatest export.

stripped down and understated route. The songwriting chops and pop instincts are still present though - it doesn’t stray too far from Deerhunter’s template.

Listen to:

Listen to: Motorcycle Emptiness.

Listen to: Mona Lisa

Student distraction award: Most

Student

Student Distraction Award:

sing. Ever.

the guitar.

nearly an hour of face-melting vocal performances, with more focus than Lungs’ stylistic hop-scotch and some of her best songs yet, but by half-way you’re yearning for some of the dynamic variety of her debut.

Could you sum up the show for those that missed it? It’s a one-woman show, somewhere between performance art, cabaret and stand up. It was made during a controlled experiment over 7 days,

Against the Classes.

distraction

award:

nice feelings inside.

put into various states of intoxication to see if alcohol affects artists in stance abuse in the artist community and our acceptance of that. What did you want to give to the audience of your show? cinated by the dodgier, seedier sides of British culture, there is also an give people a memorable night, a chance to come out of their comfort zone, but in a fun and appealing way! Do you mostly perform to students or are we the exception? Does it affect the performance? I don’t do a lot of student gigs, BUT I do love a good uni gig - the demographic is generally younger, more open and up for a laugh. I loved doing ICIA in spring, it was a bit of a mix of arty people from town and acts, then they loosened up and got dead into it. A lot of my chat is improvised so a quiet audience is a bit of a nightmare, BUT there is enough audience onside.

you remember any of it? Did it change your attitude towards alcohol? I remember a lot; we started sober on Day 1 and went up to 0.10 on the

that state at the end of the day. If I forgot elements of what was made I had audience forms and hours upon hours of studio footage from 7 cameras on me at all times to use for reference. as sharp as it had been before and I thought I might have done some per-

output was psychological rather than physiological. I have mellowed. Why do you feel it is needed to clarify that you are NOT an alcoholic in the show advertising? culture in the UK. The main focus was alcohol and its effects on creativity. It is not the story of an alcoholic - alcoholism for me is a disease and

show to be about everyone, not people from a particular demographic; that seemed a little closed.

Singles The Kills: Baby Says

The third single from Blood Pressures is by no means its third best song. In fact the combination of instant-classic guitar motif, surly dualgender vocals and nightdrive atmosphere might

Mazzy Star: Common Burn Mazzy Star end a 15 year hiatus with a song as mercurial as it is understated: brave for most bands, but Mazzy Star minding fans that noone has ever managed to

Lonely Boy The legendary Roots crew team up with up-and-comer Big K.R.I.T. for a song as much lullaby as hip-hop. Chiming instrumentation and a soulful chorus credrop for K.R.I.T’s thoughtful verses.

Last

year’s

‘Brothers’

popularity soar, in part due to excellent singles. Latest album ‘El Camino’ steps up to that – if ‘Lonewant to do the twist, you can’t be helped.

Monday 21st November 2011

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Live

The Darkness Written by Thomas Gane

Our bite contributors tell you about their recent live music experiences

Ugly Duckling Bath Moles 8.10.11

www.bathimpact.com

MJ Tribute Written by Kylie Barton Cardiff Millenium Stadium 8.10.11

Written by Harriet Tangney

Neyo

Smokey Robinson

Gla-

dys Knight

Diversity

Christina Aguilera

Yolanda Adams

Enter Shikari Bristol O2 18.10.11

Back and as mad as ever

Written by Iwan Best

Enter Shikari have announced another tour for March 2012 and release their new album on Januray 9th

MJâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kids pay tribute to their dad

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Some Games Never Get Old Written by Simon O’Kane

he market value of a videogame starts out high when it’s released, then begins to fall as more and more of those who want the game already have it,

the environment. For what is in many ways a simple game, it provides a surprisingly realistic insight into policymaking; I therefore recommend this to anyone studying Politics, Social Policy or Economics.

it on, increasing supply. For me, however, the true value of a game does not change with how long it’s been out, but how long I’ve played it for. Although I have less time for gaming than I used to, when I am on the Wii I’m often not playing Wii games at all but using its backwards compatibility function to play GameCube those of you who don’t know what this is, you’re missing out; using the Wii Shop Channel you can download games from the N64 era or earlier at around £7 per game, although NES games are usually half that.

Pokémon Red/Blue: A favourite of a certain bathimpact committee member. Despite Pokémon now being in

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast: As multi-platform as they -

about the original. Whether it’s the catchy 8-bit music or freedom from the burden of having to learn new Pokémon and moves every few years, we will never know.

platforms are in some way backwards-compatible; indeed PCs are innately so. Many people, for budget reasons or otherwise, go a step further and actually own older consoles. Whenever my friends display embarrassment about this, I respond by saying that a console is never too old until it stops shopping one can buy games for any console. Without further ado, I present a short list of retro games I would recommend: SimCity: form or another; there is even an open-source version out there. As the mayor of a virtual city, your task is to make life for the residents as good as it can be by zoning areas of land for Residential, Commercial or Industrial use, while also providing electricity, transport and emergency services. -

Age of Empires II: Age of Kings: isted for going on ten years now, this PC real-time strategy mies and naval vessels from one of a wide range of historical civilizations, forging alliances and rivalries with other civilizations and helping their society to progress from the Dark

Of course, I cannot write about retro gaming without mentioning the various newer games that are clearly designed with a retro style in mind. New Super Mario Bros. while the brand new 3DS offers 3D versions of two N64 tionary PC game that looks like it’s from the 80s but is actually new. Speaking of the 80s, compilations of arcade classics abound for all platforms.

Sonic Generations Created by Darius N

n 1991, Sega released a new mascot on to its new Megadrive console in order to rival Nintendo’s Mario. He instantly became a commercial success and a driver of Megadrive sales, featuring in a game that blended platforming with beautifully rendered environments and speed. I personally remember this, sitting by my Megadrive on

before your face melts from the speed of Modern Sonic. For a game that could have been hideously repetitive, Sonof levels from previous games. Some of the new additions to these almost feel like an attempt to squeeze in other mo-

through Green Hill Zone. is now 20 years old. Fittingly, he was recently a winner of a Golden Joystick Award for his outstanding contribution to video games. Yet this 20 year history has been tumultuous,

undertaken after completing stages also reference this histoPlant, à la Sonic 3’s co-play and Sonic 2’s level design.

over the last 10 years has been particularly tricky, with Sega

through this game both in level design and the interactions between Classic and Modern Sonic. It’s nice for older gamand for more recent Sonic-fans to see tongue-in-cheek nods

werehog?!), and team-based platforming that frustrated the hell out of gamers who keenly remembered the 2D games they wanted the games that they had grown up with in the 1990s. For Sonic’s 20th anniversary, Sega have pulled out something rather special with Sonic Generations. Gamers can now play as both Modern Sonic and revamped 90’s Classic Sonic. Each version of the character has a different style of game-

and then had their layouts redesigned to make things feel fresh. A selection of the 90’s 2D levels have been rendered in beautiful 3D for Modern Sonic, and the selection of later 3D levels have been reformatted to allow for Classic Sonic’s side-

with re-imagined music from all over the Sonic franchise, and there are a lot of moments where you recognize the backing music but can’t remember where it’s from. So much thought has gone into this game. celebration of two decades there could have been more levels and bosses on offer for gamers. Fans are going to be moan3). Newcomers to the franchise might struggle with the gamers will take a little time to adapt. As such, it’s a game inclusion of all of Sonic’s “friends” in the story also makes

the cut-scenes feel childish compared to the challenging gameplay. And so many ideas and memories have been placed into a game that is ultimately too short. Yet the levels that are on offer are nostalgic and fun when provide a lot of replayability. It’s almost as if Sega read all of the franchise’s criticisms over the last 10 years and responded accordingly. So yes, it’s a fun but short sonic game with great graphics, lovingly reproduced music, and replay value in the minder that Sega still cares about the Sonic franchise after so long and that old-gen and current-gen gamers should care too. In an era with countless life-consuming, Hollywood mimicking action-adventures, it’s refreshing to pick this game up. In short, this is a game that amply rewards die-hard fans of Sonic and proves fun for brave newcomers to the franchise. My only criticism is that it could have been longer.

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A Rainforest In Your Shopping Written by Nia Evans

rom chocolate and cream cheese to oven chips and ready meals, half of all supermarket products have one thing in common and I’ll bet you’ll never guess what it is! The answer is simply: palm oil. This extremely versatile oil is used in almost everything and anything you could possibly think of such as cosmetics and biodiesel, however around 70% of all palm oil ends up on our supermarket shelves in food products. The oil is obtained from the fruit of oil palm trees which are cultivated in the tropical areas of Asia, Africa and South America. In recent years the industry has thrived and is a massive contributor to the economies of the producing countries as the fruit of oil palm trees are highly efficient oil producers. Each fruit contains about 50% oil meaning ten times less land is required compared to other oil producing crops. As a result of the high efficiency and versatility of the oil, its demand has soared during the last 20 years and is predicted to more than double by 2030 and triple by 2050. This fact may be pleasing to growers and industrial food producers, however environmentalists and wildlife campaigners are deeply concerned by the rapidly growing demand because the cost to the environment is completely devastating. From the 1990s up until now, areas under palm oil cultivation have increased by around 43% which has led to the mass destruction of rainforests and areas of high conservation value. Some campaigners have predicted that within 15 years 98% of rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia, the principle palm oil producers, will have disappeared unless drastic action is taken. And it is not just the rainforests that are in danger but also their inhabitants. Orangutan habitats have been

threatened by palm oil production since the boom began and scientists believe that the palm oil industry is the biggest danger to their survival. Just 50,000 orangutans remain in the wild but this number could reach zero within 12 years if palm oil production continues on this scale. So what is being done to prevent this disaster from happening? The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is an international organisation made up of oil palm growers, retailers, food manufacturers and environmental campaigners which has introduced guidelines and rules to promote and encourage sustainable cultivation of oil palm plantation. However, in spite of this effort, only 11% of global palm oil supplies have been certified as sustainable and what’s more, a huge quantity of the oil is not being bought by the food industry; in fact only 24% of the palm oil in products sold

in Britain is sustainable. Why is this? The problem is that palm oil is rarely stated on food labels because laws have yet to be put in place making it illegal to hide the use of non-sustainable palm oil; instead manufacturers simply label palm oil as vegetable oil. This makes it increasingly difficult for us, the consumers, to find out which products in our supermarket trolleys are contributing to the destruction of rainforests and the habitats of thousands of wild species. Certain supermarkets are now beginning to state “made with sustainable palm oil” on food packaging however the vast majority of non-sustainable palm oil goes undetected to the daily shopper. With the demand for palm oil constantly increasing and its sustainability quickly spiralling out of control I wonder if we will ever know the dark side to our shopping baskets?

Not something one would call sustainable

Chunky Chicken and Courgette Risotto R isotto is one of my favourite dishes and there are so many ways it can be done, you can use this recipe as a basis and experiment with whatever ingredients you like. This one is super simple and the best part is that it’s made in one pot so there’s not much washing up! A great way of using up some leftover chicken and it will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

Ingredients: Arborio rice (175g or 6oz) Handful of leftover cooked chicken 1 onion 1 garlic clove 1 large or 2 small courgettes ¾ of a litre or 1 ½ pints of Chicken stock Salt and pepper Handful of grated parmesan cheese Olive oil Method: 1. First of all prepare the veg by chopping the onion and courgettes (cut the cour-

gettes length ways and then into cubes, removing the soft white centre). 2. Heat some oil in a large pan and then add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until softened. 3. Next, add the rice to the pan. Allow it to brown for a minute or so making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom. 4. Pour in a little bit of chicken stock and allow the rice to soak it all up. Keep adding the stock little by little and remember to stir it from time to time to stop it from sticking. 5. If you have some leftover white wine from a party add a splash of this for extra 6. Stir in the leftover chicken and courgettes and continue to cook until the rice is tender (the rice should still be a tad saucy). 7. Finally, don’t forget to season well with salt and black pepper and stir in some fresh parmesan, it makes all the difference. BUON APPETITO!

(Serves 2)

Risotto makes bite swoon

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Puzzle Corner Quick Crossword

Across 1 Female thespian (7) 5 Skimpy underwear (1-6) 9 Type of wide-angle photographic lens (7) 10 Having a continuous run of good fortune or success (2,1,4) 11 Violence (5,5) 12 Oral exam (4) 14 Old Germanic letter (Þ, þ) (5) 15 Repugnant, loathsome (9) 16 Troubled, worried (9) 18 Protection, sponsorship (5) 21 Metrical foot consisting of a short syllable followed by a long one (4) 22 Evildoer, criminal — rectal foam (anag.) (10) 24 Memory loss (7) 25 Obscuration of one heavenly body by another (7) 26 (7)

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Created by Dorian Lidell

JigsawDoku

One-Upper

Enter the numbers 1-9 into the grid so that each number appears precisely once in each row, column and barred block. In standard Sudoku, the blocks are nine 3x3 squares, but here they can be any shape at all.

Enter the numbers 1-5 into the grid so that each number appears precisely once in each row and column. A bar between two cells indicates that the numbers either side of the bar must differ by 1; if there is no bar between two cells, the numbers in the cells differ by more than 1.

27 Non-portable personal computer (7) Down 1 Initially (2,5) 2 Roman military formation employing a shelter of overlapping shields (7) 3 Fair, impartial (4-6) 4 Absolutely nothing — many fans sweated (anag.) (5,5,5) 5 Suddenly lose one’s temper (2,3,3,4,3) 6 Prized wood of Tectona grandis (4) 7 Revere excessively (7) 8 Brave and chivalrous (7) 13 Fragile items (10) 16 Stock illustrations (4,3) 17 In name only (7) 19 Deteriorate, go wrong (2,2,3) 20 Provide or dish out (food) (5,2) 23 Sparkling Italian white wine (4)

Last Week’s Solution

Darius N

Quiz This fortnight: History!

bite needs you If you have any interest in getting involved at a contributor level, or if you’re interested in learning how to lay up a magazine, get in touch and join the team. There will also be chances for free gig tickets for reviews, and even chances to interview your favourite artists.

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

One-Upper Solution

ANSWERS 1. Persian Empire 2. Winston Churchill 3. Kon-Tiki 4. William Bligh 5. Sussex 6. The Crown Jewels 7. Elba 8. Alexander the Great 9. Charles II 10. Sudetenland

Jigsawdoku Solution

1. Artaxerxes is the throne name of several kings of which ancient empire? 2. 3. What was the name of the raft used by Thor Heyerdahl on his famous 1947 expedition from South America to Polynesia? 4. The 1789 mutiny on the Bounty was led by Fletcher Christian against which naval captain? 5. Which county of England was historically subdivided into six divisions known as rapes? 6. What did Thomas Blood attempt to steal from the Tower of London in 1671? 7. In 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to which Italian island? 8. Which Greek king of Macedon rode a horse called Bucephalus? 9. Which King of England was known as the Merry Monarch? 10. The Munich Agreement of 1938 allowed Nazi Germany to annex which region of Czechoslovakia?