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Monday 24th September 2007 Volume 9 Issue 1 www.bathimpact.com
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More Arrests on the Way as Police Identify Main Mass Brawl Perpetrators Jack Mitchell Editor-in-Chief impact-editor@bath.ac.uk
BATH POLICE are preparing further arrests after identifying the key offenders in a mass brawl that erupted in the city centre recently, when around 30 thugs scrapped fiercely in Kingsmead Square. Frightened onlookers watched as, at around 9pm on Saturday the 8th of September, the mainly teenage yobs exploded into violence, aggressively throwing punches, aiming kicks and launching chairs and bicycles at each other. Nobody was seriously injured but one person was treated for facial injuries and two boys, aged sixteen and seventeen, were arrested and bailed pending inquiries. CCTV footage was released by local police in an attempt to trace specifically five of the fighters, and the move appears now to have yielded positive results. Detective Constable Andy Bessell explained: “A number of people have
come forward with names for those seen fighting in the footage and we are now acting on that information. “I am satisfied that, thanks to the public’s response, we have now identified all of the main offenders.” A spokesman for Bath and North East Somerset Council added: “CCTV is a useful way of helping the police and the council to keep streets safe. “When the council receives requests from the police for footage, officers are able to assist and this can lead to offenders being brought to justice.” In a separate incident, a 39-yearold woman has been arrested in connection with the stabbing of a man in Bath last Tuesday. Police found the man, in his mid40s, on the pavement in Julian Road with wounds to his chest. He was rushed to hospital, but his condition is not considered lifethreatening. Students are urged to call Crimestoppers free on 0800 555111 if they have any information concerning crime in Bath.
Photo Editor David Kennaway captured beautiful Bath in all its glory here... but did our city’s architectural creativity end with the Georgian era in 1830? Find out on page 3. In impact this week... Scant’s Regard on baggage restrictions Page 5
Would you recognise this man? Page 8
Why would anyone want to look like this? Page 18
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IMPACT
MONDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
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BRIGHT ORANGE BUS: not in black & white, it isn’t Amira Fathalla Chief Sub-Editor HIGHER PRICES have been announced for tickets and passes on the First Bright Orange bus service with the start of the new academic year. The price of single and return tickets has gone up by 10p in comparison with last year – to £1 and £1.60 respectively – while bus passes have seen a rise of several pounds, with the 8-Week pass increasing from £61 to £66 and the 13Week pass from £77 to £82. The buses, which run between the University of Bath’s Claverton Down
campus and Bath Spa University, provide an essential link for students between campus and the centre of town, as well as to Oldfield Park. Commenting on the new prices, Students’ Union President David Austin explained that they have undergone a smaller increase than in previous years, representing a positive result of several negotiations between the SU and First Buses. “What is clear from the table is that the largest price increases have been imposed on the more irregular journey tickets and therefore the passes represent better value for money because of this.”
What’s changed? Ticket Day ticket 10 Journey Week pass 5-Week pass 8-Week pass 13-Week pass 36-Week pass 52-Week pass Single journey Return journey
Old Price £2.60 £7.00 £9.60 £45.00 £61.50 £77.00 £220.00 £285.00 £0.90 £1.50
New Price £3.00 £8.00 £10.50 £48.00 £66.00 £82.00 £231.00 £299.00 £1.00 £1.60
Student Zapped for Kerry Question Adam Luqmani Deputy Editor impact-deputy@bath.ac.uk A UNIVERSITY student in Florida has been stunned with a taser gun while trying to ask a question during a forum with US senator John Kerry. Andrew Mayer, 21, was held to the floor and, as he cried out, was electrocuted with the police weapon in front of the forum audience. He was trying to question Senator Kerry’s decision not to contest the 2004 presidential election results. In those elections, as in the 2000 elections, there was controversy over irregularities in the voting, with questions raised as to whether George
W. Bush had won voting in the state of Ohio. Mr Mayer was instructed to stop speaking, but refused to step down despite having his microphone turned off. He was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. An investigation will be conducted by campus police into whether the use of the weapon was appropriate. Opinion was divided among members of the forum. One witness commented: “I didn’t see a student resisting arrest. I saw a student asking why he was being dragged off the auditorium like that”.
HELLO YOU. Welcome to student impact 2007-2008! My name’s Jack and I’m your Editor for this year. I’m delighted to say that we’ve got a cracking editorial team in place this year, a fine blend of youth and experience and of various writing styles that should combine to make the newspaper a big success. The team is never complete, however, and that’s where you come in. impact is a real university newspaper, written by students for students, and we will never turn away anyone who wants to help in any capacity – be it writing, taking photos, proof-reading, online or anything else. We’re still looking for Deputy Editors and regular contributors for each section of the paper, but there is no maximum or minimum contribution you can make, so even if you just want to write one article on a subject that’s close to your heart, please do so! To meet the team and find out more about how you can get involved, come along to our first meeting, to be held in Elements at 7pm on Monday the 1st of October. In the meantime, keep an eye out during Freshers’ Week for mintyFresh, impact’s daily newsletter which will be packed with the previous night’s stories, photos, gossip and randomness. Talking of Freshers’ Week, let’s have a closer look at this first issue. On the centre pages you’ll find all the main events in what promises to be one of the best times of your lives. Freshers’ Week really is the ideal chance to meet people, make friends and take part in a whole range of new and exciting activities – so get out there and do it! Elsewhere in the paper, look out for some top-notch pieces from our regular columnists Adam Luqmani, Laura Scantlebury, Rosanna Pajak, Amira Fathalla and the mysterious Madame Soufflé. Sports Editor Adrian Dalmedo and our Ents man Phil Bloomfield have also contributed colourful sections to this week’s issue, both well worth checking out – as is Features Editor Josie Cox’s take on cultural Bath. See you around.
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IMPACT
People of Bath are “Nimbys” Adam Luqmani Deputy Editor impact-deputy@bath.ac.uk HEAVY CRITICISM has been levelled at the ‘not in my backyard’ attitude from the people of Bath in a bitter article in the Sunday Observer. Journalist Stephen Bayley laid into the City’s supposed “virulent hatred of all things modern”. Mr Bayley’s own website proclaims him to be “the second most intelligent man in Britain”. He is well known for his ‘black and white’ approach to his commentary on modern culture. He pointed to a recent news item as support for his argument: Sir James Dyson, inventor of the dual cyclone vacuum cleaner, has lost the South Quay site of his planned engineering college in Bath. Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES) sold the site to Bath Spa University instead. The South Quay site in Bath had been earmarked for development by B&NES for several years. Bath Spa University and the James Dyson Foundation were forerunners among several organisations invited to bring forward an exciting project to provide training and education facilities, which would contribute to B&NES’s ‘Vision for Bath’.
Bayley claimed “Unfortunately, he [Dyson] chose Bath, the World Heritage site suffocating in its own wintry selfregard.” Originally intended to be opened in September 2009, the Dyson School of Design Innovation would “give young people the skills they need to become the UK’s future innovators.”
“...it is quite dull, but it is old. And that is what matters in Bath” The college, which is still planned to go ahead – provided an alternative
location is determined – would have been a state school for 2500 pupils aged 14-18. It would have been the first school of its kind in the UK. A spokesperson for the Foundation stated, “We’re currently investigating other sites…in the South West.” On the Stothert & Pitt cranemaker’s works, an abandoned facade on the South Quays site in Bath which would have been affected by the proposed developments, Bayley jeers: “Save Britain’s Heritage said the Victorian facade was ‘threatened’ by Dyson’s proposal,” which he goes on
to say “is quite dull, but it is old. And that is what matters in Bath.”
“...a brainless, airless, lifeless pastiche of bogus classicism” Bayley also pointed to the demonstrations held by locals to save Churchill House, and to planning inspector Stephen Marks’ campaign which successfully repelled a proposed extension to the Holburne Museum. He denounced the campaigners as “nimbys, led by a superannuated planner, demonstrating an obduracy that reflected the ignorance of pigs”.
“...Bath, the Wor ld Heritage site suffocating in its own wintry self-regard”
BEIGE BATH: How much does the Georgian Heritage of Bath mean to you?
In his article, he suggested that the City of Bath was “a brainless, airless, lifeless pastiche of bogus classicism”. Bath MP Don Foster said that there was at least some merit in what Bayley was saying; and agreed that the way the Holburne had been treated deserved criticism. However, he commented that the writer had failed to acknowledge the city’s strong arts, culture and tourism industries, or new development projects like the Western Riverside.
1 in 5 England Students HSBC has 2007 Graduates’ Best Interests at Heart Expected to Drop Out David Kennaway Photo Editor impact-photo@bath.ac.uk A RECENT report by the National Audit Office (NAO) shows a fifth of students in England will not complete their course. The report shows that 28,000 students who started courses in 2004-05 did not go on to do a second year.
“Compared to most other countries, a high proportion of students in higher education are successfully completing their courses.” Drop-out reasons are usually a mix of institution, course related and financial, though the most common are personal reasons. The report states, “Homesickness is thought to be a common cause of very early withdrawal, especially among young women and students from rural areas”. Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, commented “Compared to most other countries, a high proportion of students in higher education are successfully completing their courses. This is a good achievement at a time when higher
education is being opened up to more students. But variations in retention rates between higher education institutions indicate that retention could be increased further, bringing major benefits to the extra students who would complete their studies, and more value to the taxpayer and the economy from the public funds expended on higher education.” In addition, certain students are more likely to continue their course than others; a full-time student with three A levels at grade A is more likely to continue than a similar student with two A levels at grade D. A full-time, first-degree student is more likely to continue their studies into a second year than a similar part-time student. The report also shows a drop in applications to universities in 2006, when the new fees where introduced, though they recovered for 2007 applications. Overall applications continue to rise: United Kingdom students entering via UCAS increased from 332,000 in 2002-03 to 346,000 in 2006-07. In the same period there have been small changes in the subjects studied. Subjects such as medicine and the creative arts have seen an increase in accepted applications, while there has been reductions in Mathematics, Computer Science and engineering.
David Kennaway Photo Editor impact-photo@bath.ac.uk HSBC HAS reversed plans to scrap interest-free overdraft for students who graduated last year. The multinational bank had previously planned to become the first high street bank to scrap interest-free overdrafts for university leavers by charging new graduates 9.9% APR. For those students using their full overdraft of £1500, this would cost over £140 a year or around £12 per month in interest.
holders both directly and via the National Union of Students (NUS), we have taken the decision to freeze interest charging on 2007 graduates’ overdrafts up to £1500, and refund any interest charged in August. We are also pleased that we will be working with the NUS to enhance our new account offer so that it fully reflects the needs of recent graduates”. The National Union of Students said a campaign organised on Facebook, to which thousands of students signed
“...a campaign organised on Facebook, to which thousands of students signed up, made all the difference...” Other high street banks traditionally allow new graduates a three-year interest-free period on their student overdrafts, to give them time to clear the balance. Andy Ripley, HSBC’s head of product development, stated “Like any service-orientated business, we are not too big to listen to the needs of our customers. Following the feedback from our graduate account
up, made all the difference to the protest. Plans are still going ahead to charge interest on the overdrafts of students graduating this year. However there is the option of avoiding interest on their overdrafts by opening a Premium account at a fee of nearly £120 per year.
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News News in Brief Children Stress Levels Linked to Health RECENT RESEARCH at the University Of Bath suggests that children with high stress levels from starting school are less likely to become ill with a cold. The research, led by Dr Julie Turner-Cobb, a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology, looked at levels of the stress hormone cortisol in children starting school. The team wanted to look at children’s experiences of starting school and examine how the stress of starting school affects children’s behaviour, learning and health. Levels of cortisol were measured at various points throughout the day by collecting saliva samples in the morning and evening at specific time points. The team found that levels of cortisol rose at the start of term as expected, but also discovered that the samples taken several months before the children started school were already high. These levels then fell significantly when measured six months later. Children whose stress levels stayed high throughout the day were more likely to become ill during the school holiday than during term. This study provides the first scientific evidence of the idea that people refer to as ‘getting ill after the stress is over’.
Oxbridge Graduates Lack Job Preparation
A LEADING recruitment advisor to multinational companies believes students who attend universities other than Oxford or Cambridge are better prepared for interviews than their ‘Oxbridge’ counterparts. Andy Gibb, previously head of recruitment for the Royal Dutch Shell group and director of International Resourcing for Ernst and Young, attributes this to the content of their degrees. “Students from non-Oxbridge universities are often better prepared and do better at interview for their first job. In part this is due to better preparation – their courses often include business-style presentations and case studies”. He also puts their better performance down to their focus on what organisations are seeking, and criticises the Oxbridge attitude: “At Oxbridge, the academic regime often leads students to take an academic approach to issues, endlessly examining – but never deciding on a course of action.”
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IT IS Bristol airport, just before midday. A stressed, wild-haired 21 year-old arrives at the check-in desk, fumbling with a folder bursting with paper as she attempts to extract her passport and tickets without emptying the entire contents onto the tiled floor. For once, she succeeds. She hands the documents over, before turning her attention to two large suitcases, which she heaves onto the conveyor belt next to the desk. A screen with red digits on flickers to life, and the passenger eyes it nervously: first 11, then 12, 13, 14kg flashes up. She waits with bated breath as the figure creeps higher, and it is a moment of jubilation when the number finally rests on 20kg exactly. That is 20.00kg. No more, no less. Well, it went something like that anyway. When faced with the prospect of packing for my year abroad I hardly jumped for joy, especially when to
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Regulars
Scant’s Regard: Baggage Allowance
Every issue Laura Scantlebury reports on the perils of spending a year abroad in France. That’s if they’ll let her enter the country in the first place... my dismay I discovered that I would have to limit my possessions to only 20kg. Would it be possible, or would I end up bankrupted by excess baggage charges? Even if it meant removing items from my suitcases at the check-in desk, it was imperative that I avoided the latter. My list of items to take to France dwindled – did I really need a vast and exciting range of hair products? (Answer: heart - yes; head - definitely not.) As for shoes, boots were of course out of the question, but trainers… well, it’s not as though I ever do any sport. Once my things had been whittled down to the barest minimum, it was still doubtful that I would be within the 20kg baggage allowance. Cue the entrance of the kitchen scales, as in desperation my mother and I resorted to weighing everything from pillowcases to handbags and travel mirrors, rejecting a towel of 700g in favour of another that weighed 699g. After all, every gram counts. There were two main consequences of this stringent selection process.
Internet
Firstly, I ended up with a collection of the most worn-out, raggedy linen in Provence, because a threadbare sheet naturally weighs less than a new one. More significantly, after spending the first couple of days scrounging shower gel from my flatmate, I realised could no longer put off a visit to the wondrous French hypermarche and purchase the goods I was lacking. The hypermarche, or centre commercial, is the offspring produced when a supermarket is crossed with a shopping mall. It sells absolutely everything, but you have to be willing to dedicate an afternoon to trailing from one side of the shop to the other in order to locate the specific objects you desire. With steely determination I did just that, so thanks to the French centre commercial I am now fully kitted out – in spite of the baggage allowance – and I feel ready to embark on my year abroad, ready to launch myself into French life with confidence. Besides, if I can manage to reduce my necessary belongings to 20kg – exactly 20kg – I can do anything.
WE HAVE LIFT OFF: hope those bags aren’t too heavy
Intermission
Deputy Editor Adam Luqmani’s regular look at the weird and the wonderful on the World Wide Web. This week: a student favourite and a timewaster’s dream.
EACH WEEK I’ll be providing a little light-hearted insight into a small corner of the internet. It could be claimed that filling a university paper with internet crap is a cop-out… and that any educated monkey can copy/paste from a Googledup joke website. Have faith. I want to make it my goal to aim for the creme de la creme of the funny, useful, informative, welldesigned and inventive pages that lurk out there, and that are relevant to us, the students of the University of Bath. We begin this week with a double-bill of absolute staples for a 2007 student.
www.wikipedia.org Firstly, I look at one the real established favourites among students in recent years, Wikipedia. In essence, the site is simple. It is an online collaborative encyclopaedia which can be accessed by everyone with an internet connection, and edited by anyone with a (free) account. Users can log on and create an article on any subject, imparting all of their own worldly knowledge out of the goodness of their hearts. Founded in January 2001 by Jimmy
Wales and Larry Sanger, the scale of Wikipedia is monumental. As of September 2007, Wikipedia has 8.2 million articles in 253 languages. It is roughly fifteen times larger than the longest printed edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica. The real strength of Wikipedia is its sheer vastness. It is a popular source of information for academic study, for most subjects useful for school homework way up to university dissertations and research. There are two large points of concern with the website. Firstly, there is the
ARRR WARS: An offering of irreverent wisdom from Uncyclopedia, currently celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day.
problem of accuracy – how do you know that information you are reading up on Celestial Mechanics is correct, when you don’t know who added it? It could have been written by a wizened professor of astrology, or a 13-year old girl from Berwick-Upon-Tweed – but when you don’t know anything about the subject; how are you to tell them apart? Secondly, and similarly, critics of Wikipedia are quick to point out that the ‘open nature’ of the website lends itself easily to so-called vandalism; where ill-meaning individuals spend a couple of minutes deliberately inputting inaccurate information. While almost all such entries are corrected almost immediately, some are not. One such case being the Seigenthaler controversy, where false information was added to a biography which falsely implicated journalist and writer John Seigenthaler in the assassination of former American President John F Kennedy. This stayed as a ‘fact’ for over four months until it was discovered and corrected. As Wikipedia has grown, so has the appeal of vandalism. It has become almost an institution among some users to add “plausible misinformation” to pages, for humorous intent. Ironically, the articles on Wikipedia about vandalism are among the most heavily targeted articles.
www.uncyclopedia.org
This brings us nicely to the second featured site for this week. Since January 2005, there has been a ‘twisted sister’ of Wikipedia called Uncyclopedia. This site is a haven where remarkably intelligent and dedicated individuals waste their time completely by writing made-up entries and news stories purely for the amusement of themselves and other like-minded people – and very funny it is too. Ranging from satirical parodies and spoof headlines (“O.J. Simpson to replace Alberto Gonzales as U.S. attorney general”) to the downright dark (“HowTo: Hotwire a Uterus”), I really rate Uncyclopedia for a guaranteed laugh and great conversation starter.
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Features
Studious Pigs Wallowing in Cultural City of Bath Features Editor Josie Cox takes a light-hearted look at the cultural heritage of your new home city. ALTHOUGH MANY of you shed a customary tear when your parents wearily left the campus after hauling your stuff into what now counts as your home, you know that the prospect of the first week of uni was enough to cut the umbilical cord weeks ago. Admit it: when you received your letter of acceptance from the Unquestionable Cold-blooded Allknowing Superpower (UCAS), you already began to fantasise about the liberty of being in control of your own lives; answerable to no one, aside from your alcohol tolerance and your bank account (granted, the law probably deserves a mention too). You probably already began to envision the pub crawls and socials that would pepper your new life as that wild untamed species commonly referred to as a Fresher. It is almost an understatement to say that Freshers’ Week offers a plethora of events. I cannot deny the vivid memories of watching hundreds of people gravitating towards the Sport Hall wearing makeshift beach outfits, togas and ball-gowns. I contend that this year, what is titled The Silent Disco, will probably prove to be somewhat of an extravagant experiment. Whether voluntary or not, Bierkeller will indubitably expose hidden characteristic traits in one or two of you, and memories of the momentous Freshers’ Week closing party will hopefully last longer than the dull ache that may inconspicuously
AQUAE SULIS: why the long face?
nestle itself between your eyes, come the next morning. But, no matter how fervently you have striven to comply with the archetypical image of a perfect grandchild in the past, there is no way you can tell granny that the thing you appreciate most about Bath is the assortment of alcoholic beverages available in the pubs. (OK, you may
“The Baths are definitely worth a visit, even if it’s just to max out your privileges of being a student.” be able to, but not without risking her disowning you or suffering a premature coronary arrest). And as we all know, granny indeed always knows best: there is more to Bath than booze, babes and drunkenly being carted back to campus on the Big Orange Bus at 3am. I’m afraid I can’t claim to be an exception when I say that most people don’t prioritise the cultural sites of Bath on their list of things to do during Freshers’ Week. In my defence however, before leaving for summer, I had managed to allocate time in my oh-so-busy schedule to visit the Roman Baths and Pump Room, Bath Abbey and the Holburne Museum of Art. Additionally, I endured the brief
Photo: David Kennaway
but arduous (and slightly unplanned) climb up to the Royal Crescent and The Circus. Of course it was purely coincidental that I decided to venture to the Royal Crescent after being told that Johnny Depp owns house number 7 up there. Pure chance. No sarcasm intended. So are the cultural sites of Bath really worthy of your coveted Freshers’ Week time? Obviously, with regard to the fact that it was awarded the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site, somebody thinks they are. Let’s start with the Roman Baths. The Baths were built in the middle of the 1st Century AD, shortly after the Roman conquest, and soon became one of the major therapeutic centres of the West. To explore their origins we must go back a few more centuries, allowing us to come across the charming eldest son of the legendary King Lud. He went by the sonorous name of Bladud. Allegedly poor old Bladud was unfortunate enough to contract leprosy and (as the NHS wasn’t quite as principled back then) he was subsequently banished to Swainswick to become a pig farmer. The pigs being his only companions, it isn’t really surprising that Bladud soon noticed that they had a bizarre habit of rolling around in the thick mud of the marsh, fed by a bountiful hot spring. Upon closer inspection he noticed that the mud seemed to have cleared up the pig’s scurvy. Convinced that it therefore must have extraordinary healing properties, he promptly immersed himself in it. His leprosy soon disappeared, providing a confirmation of his hypothesis. This ingenious discovery was enough to grant Bladud the status of King. As a sign of celebration, he built a temple by the hot spring. The city of Bath was born. So what have we learned? History may actually repeat itself. Bath used to offer a place for pigs to wallow in the muck. It now provides a place for students to… study… hard. On a different note, I managed to squeeze in a visit to the Roman Baths on my last day before going home for summer. As a loather of large crowds, I naively assumed that a Tuesday afternoon would be a rather tourist-free time. I was quickly proven wrong by the hoards of earsplitting French school kids who seemed to have taken over the whole complex, the gift shop included. I spent a liberal five seconds considering taking an audio guide before deciding against it. Retrospectively I am glad that I did. I think that the whines and screeches resonating from the mouths of the
THE BATHS: I prefer showers, myself hundreds of youngsters would not have been an advantageous accompaniment to the rambling information about Aquae Sulis and the like. In conclusion, the Baths are definitely worth a visit, even if it’s just to max out your privileges of being a student: students have free entry. If you tend to have a bit of a fetish for ruins and Roman antiques, you may find that this is just your element. From the point of view of a person who tends to get bored by ruins rather quickly, though, I would recommend that you shouldn’t plan to spend more than an hour and a half to explore the site. There is a lot to see, but in my opinion there is only so much information about Roman ruins that you can absorb. Go on a rainy afternoon while trying to alleviate a hangover, enjoy a coffee in the square afterwards, check out the rather artnouveau bathroom facilities; but if you try to dodge the tourists, be aware that your chances of success are virtually nil. Aside from the Roman Baths, the Abbey is the other structure which not even the most culturally oblivious student can overlook. The Abbey
Photo: David Kennaway
has towered over Bath since 1499, contemporarily being one of the last great medieval churches of England. The imposing front wall dramatically depicts the dream of the Abbey’s founder, Bishop Oliver King, to demolish the ruined Norman cathedral and erect the present building on its foundations. Although it took me up until Christmas to find time to peek inside, it was positively worth it. If you are only planning a single visit to the colossal church, my advice is to attend the annual candle-lit carol service which takes place around the first week of advent. I’m sure it could have rather stirring effects, even on the atheists amongst us. Hopefully offering you a little taste of what can be explored in the City of Bath, I will now leave you to immerse yourself in the lunacy of Freshers’ Week. Enjoy your freedom, respect your limits and don’t worry if the cultural sites are not your main concern during your first week. Bearing in mind that most of them have been around for a couple of hundred years, something tells me that they probably won’t spontaneously vanish anytime soon.
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MONDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
Features
Recognition Beyond Face Value In her first article, Psychology student Rosanna Pajak examines an overlooked skill. IN THIS first term of a new year at Uni, many of us will be bumping into old friends in the Parade, recognising a flatmate’s ex in the library, or noticing that someone we just met in our halls is struggling through the same lecture. It’s an essential skill that we take for granted as we do it almost constantly, but our brain is continuously working to recognise faces. Research has shown that humans can remember up to 10,000 faces. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the more attractive the face, the easier it is to recognise. Wouldn’t you find it easier to recognise that hot guy from your course than the other ninety-nine? Thirty-five years after leaving school, people have proved able to identify 90% of their classmates, and we are
often able to recognise someone even if we haven’t bumped into them for ten years or more. Yet would you recognise your best mate’s arm? Your girlfriend’s hand? What is it about faces that allow us to recognise them instantly, even those of people we barely know? Facial recognition is one of the most difficult visual tasks humans perform, a truly amazing skill because human faces are essentially so similar. The vast majority of people we meet have eyes, a nose, a mouth, a chin, cheeks… the differences from person to person are really very subtle. Yet we somehow manage to tell people apart, even if they are of similar colouring, siblings with similar features, or even twins, within a matter of seconds. Experts have known for some time
that there is something special about faces that draws us to look at them, and this may be the key to our special recognition ability. An old 1960s classic of a psychology experiment, by Robert Fantz, found that a twomonth-old baby looked twice as much at a picture of a face than it looked at a bullseye image, and a psychologist called Hunt found that by three months old, babies can tell the difference between members of their family. Research has shown that it is the hair, face outline, eyes and mouth that are most important for our recognition of a face – bizarrely, the nose is almost always ignored. But how exactly do we do it? A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has focused on a brain region called the fusiform face area (FFA). They discovered
that the FFA was not activated when the volunteers looked at pictures of houses, suggesting that it is indeed specific for faces. They also worked out that it was the face as a whole that was recognised, rather than the individual features or the relative spacing of these features. However, others argue that facial recognition is more complex. One interesting experiment by psychologists at The Institute of Neurology at University College London used sophisticated scanning equipment to monitor the brains of volunteers while they watched Marilyn Monroe morph into Margaret Thatcher and then Pierce Brosnan turn into the Prime Minister (the random things us students will do for money!). They pinpointed the three parts of the brain that are activated during facial recognition. One area studies the physical aspects, one identifies the face as known or unknown, and the third retrieves the name or other facts linked to that face. The right fusiform gyrus, located just behind the ears, lit up when volunteers looked at a somewhat changed face and compared what they saw to stored memories. The inferior occipital gyri, located at the back of the brain, were sensitive to slight physical changes in the morphed faces. The anterior temporal cortex became more active when the volunteers knew their celebrity well, but remained inactive if they failed to recognise them at all. That study helps explain that familiar nagging feeling of being able
to recognise a face, even if you cannot place them – recognising an actor in a film but not knowing where from, seeing somebody in a club but finding it impossible to remember exactly how you know them. One part of our brain immediately tells us we have seen that configuration of facial features somewhere before, but another part struggles to retrieve more information, especially if the sweet innocent boy you went to primary school with is now dancing not-so-innocently with your best friend… Another difficulty our brains come up against is known as the cross-race recognition deficit – the problems people of one racial group have recognising faces from another racial group. A new research finding by Kent State University suggests that the information we see when looking at the face of a person of another race is information that allows us to classify that person as White or Black, not information which allows us to individualise that person, such as the colour of their eyes or shape of their nose. It seems that in completing such a complex task so many hundreds of times a day, our brains do sometimes let us down. Copious amounts of alcohol during Freshers’ Week probably doesn’t help it either… so when you experience that feeling of horror, seeing someone you swear you’ve never laid eyes on before running over to greet you in the Plug, forgive your poor tired brain – 10,000 is a lot of faces.
HOROSCOPE Madame Soufflé
GREETINGS FROM the heavens, my star children. I am Madame Soufflé and I will traverse the astral planes and helicopters in order to guide you through the year. There are only twelve kinds of person in the universe; to begin the year I have compiled a brief summary of what it means to belong to each sign. DO YOU RECOGNISE THIS MAN: Use your fusiform gyrus
Tea for Two Quid
Amira Fathalla’s regular food column.
SO YOU’VE just moved in and your bank account is struggling with tuition fees, rent and the prospect of several consecutive nights out. Well, don’t starve yourself, we’ll provide you with an array of delightful meals to keep your taste buds happy without hurting your wallet. The ingredients will cost just £2 total per one-person portion, and no complicated haute cuisine-style techniques will be needed. This week, try this easy chicken and mushroom pasta in a creamy sauce.
Serves 1 100g pasta of your choice, preferably fusilli or penne 1 chicken breast, diced, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped 4 mushrooms, sliced Olive oil and butter for cooking For the sauce: 1 tbsp butter 1 tbsp flour ½ stock cube ½ cup cream and/or milk (use more flour if using milk) Finely chopped parsley (optional) 1. Boil pasta in boiling salted water according to packet instructions. (You could add a few small broccoli florets three minutes before the pasta is done). While pasta is cooking, heat up a tbsp of olive oil and a tbsp of butter in a non-
stick frying pan, turn up the heat and add the seasoned chicken pieces. Tip: as long as the chicken’s not sticking to the pan, stir it as little as possible to let it brown. 2. Once the chicken pieces are almost done through, add the garlic and mushrooms. Sieve the pasta and keep in the colander, then (in the same saucepan if it’s non-stick – less washing-up!) gently heat the butter. Add the half stock cube and mash it up a bit, then slowly sprinkle in some flour. Pour in cream and/or milk and stir on low heat. When the sauce has thickened, stir in the pasta, chicken, mushrooms and garlic. 3. Sprinkle on some finely chopped parsley and grated cheese if you want. Enjoy!
CAPRICORN (DEC 22 - JAN 20) You are goat-like. You’re an amazing mountaineer and you eat anything. AQUARIUS (JAN 21 - FEB 19) Aquarians can breathe underwater. PISCES (FEB 20 - MAR 20) Pisceans, despite being fish, cannot breathe underwater. You have a bad memory and make a dull pet. ARIES (MAR 21 - APR 20) Your animal is the ram. You head butt people and knock down locked doors. TAURUS (APR 21 - MAY 21) You are the bull, angered by the colour red and killed by Spaniards everywhere. GEMINI (MAY 22 - JUN 22) You have an identical twin. One of you is evil and will attempt to destroy the world.
CANCER (JUN 23 - JUL 23) You are like a crab in that you walk sideways all the time, even when it is inappropriate.
(JUL 24 - AUG 23) LEO The Lion is your animal. Your uncle will kill your father to gain his thrown.
VIRGO (AUG 24 - SEP 23) You’re a woman and a virgin. You need to get laid.
LIBRA (SEP 24 - OCT 23) Your sign is a set of scales. That kind of sucks really. If all the signs had a fight yours won’t win but it may tip the balance.
(OCT 24 - NOV 22) SCORPIO Like a scorpion. Duh. You are poisonous and others think that you’re prone to suicide.
SAGITTARIUS Sagittarians don’t exist.
(NOV 23 - DEC 21)
MONDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
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Freshers’ Week 2007
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Freshers’ Week 2007. The traditional curtain-raiser to your university life is an ideal opportunity to kick off your student days in style, and this year’s event promises to be bigger and better than ever. There are a shedload of activities timetabled for every day of the week, the best of which we have compiled into this handy pull-out guide. To liven up proceedings, we’ve allocated Freshers’ Week points to each event, so put a tick beside each activity you attended and, at the end of the week, tot up your points to see how you fared using our guide below. And don’t forget to look out for mintyFresh every day, where we will feature all the stories, photos, quotes, gossip and randomness from the previous day’s revelry. Good luck, and happy Freshers’ Week!
Tuesday 25th September
Friday 28th September
10am-6pm 10am-6pm 10am-5pm 10:30am-12pm 11am-3:30pm 1pm-5pm 2pm-3:30pm 5pm-8pm 8pm 8pm 8pm-12am 9pm-2am
10am-4pm 10am-5pm 11am-3:30pm 5:30pm-8pm 8pm 9pm 9pm-2am
Wristband issuing, Elements – 1 point Kitchen group tours, campuswide – 1 point Poster sale, Main Parade – 1 point Vice Chancellor speech & Unismart presentation, Founders Sports Hall – 2 points Dog walking, Bath Cats & Dogs Home – 2 points Tours of town, main campus bus stop – 2 points Vice Chancellor speech & Unismart presentation, Founders Sports Hall – 2 points Coffee Shop, Plug Bar – 1 point Rugby World Cup: Romania v Portugal, Plug Bar and Elements – 1 point Film night – Babel, Arts Lecture Theatre – 3 points Bar Footsie, Elements and Plug Bar – 4 points Launch Night, Founders Sports Hall – 10 points
Wednesday 26th September 8:30am-10:30am 10am-5pm 11am-3:30pm 1pm-5pm 5pm-8pm 6pm & 8pm 6pm-10pm 8pm 10pm-2am 9pm-2am
Free big breakfast, Chaplaincy – 2 points Wristband issuing, Plug Bar – 1 point Dog walking, Bath Cats & Dogs Home – 2 points Tours of town, main campus bus stop – 2 points Coffee Shop, Plug Bar – 1 point Rugby World Cup: Georgia v Namibia and Samoa v USA, Plug Bar – 1 point each Global Group Welcome Party, Elements – 3 points Film Night – 300, Arts Lecture Theatre – 3 points 411 Freshers’ Week Special – African Caribbean Society, Elements – 6 points Toga Party, Founders Sports Hall – 10 points
Don’t forget to visit the Societies Fair at some point between 4pm and 7pm on Monday the 1st, as well as the Sports Clubs Fair the next day from 4pm until 8pm. Both events take place in the Founders Sports Hall.
Commercial Fair, Founders Sports Hall – 2 points Poster sale, Main Parade – 1 point Dog walking, Bath Cats & Dogs Home – 2 points Elements of Laughter Comedy Night, Elements – 5 points Film Night – Ocean’s 13, Arts Lecture Theatre – 3 points Rugby World Cup: England v Tonga, Elements and Plug Bar – 2 points The Oscars Ball, Founders Sports Hall – 10 points
Saturday 29th September 11am-1pm Dog walking, Bath Cats & Dogs Home – 2 points 11:15am-5:15pm City Sightseeing Bus tours, main campus bus stop – 2 points 12pm onwards Arts Day, campuswide – 2 points 12:45 and 5:15pm Live Premiership Football, Plug Bar and Elements – 1 point each 12:30pm-3:30pm Backstage technical services workshop, Founders Sports Hall – 2 points 1pm onwards Sports Day, campuswide – 3 points 2:30pm Historic walk of Bath, outside Chez Gerard – 2 points 7pm-9pm Karaoke, Elements – 5 points if participating, otherwise 1 point 8pm Film Night – Hot Fuzz, Arts Lecture Theatre – 3 points 9pm Rugby World Cup: Scotland v Italy, Elements and Plug Bar – 1 point 9pm-2am Freshers’ Week Closing Party – Smurf World Record Attempt, Founders Sports Hall – 10 points (plus 5-point bonus for dressing as a smurf)
Sunday 30th September 8:30am Paintballing, Delta Force Bristol – 4 points 11am Ikea trip, Bristol – 2 points 11am-1pm Dog walking, Bath Cats & Dogs Home – 2 points 11:15am-5:15pm City Sightseeing Bus tours, main campus bus stop – 2 points 2pm-7pm Console gaming event, 3E 2.1 – 2 points 3pm, 5pm and 8pm Rugby World Cup: France v Georgia, Ireland v Argentina, South Africa v USA, Plug Bar and Elements – 1 point each 6pm International students Welcome Evening, Chaplaincy – 2 points 8pm-10pm Pool Competition, Plug Bar – 4 points 8pm-1am Salsa Night, Claverton Rooms – 4 points 8:30pm Latin and ballroom taster, Level One Café – 3 points 8pm-10pm Pub Quiz, Elements and Plug Bar – 6 points
Thursday 27th September 10am-5pm Poster sale, Main Parade – 1 point 11am-5pm Inflatables, Archery Field – 4 points 11am-3:30pm Dog walking, Bath Cats & Dogs Home – 1 point 2pm-6pm Snowboard simulation & BBQ, Amphitheatre – 3 points 5pm-7pm Music and performances, Main Parade – 3 points 5pm-8pm Coffee Shop, Plug Bar – 1 point 7pm, 8pm and 9pm Bierkeller, Elements – 6 points 8pm Film Night – Smokin’ Aces, Arts Lecture Theatre – 3 points 10pm-2am Silent Disco, Elements – 8 points 9pm-2am Beach Party, Founders Sports Hall – 10 points
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How did you do?
0-25 points – Come on, you can do better than that! University is a great opportunity to get out there, meet new people and try new things; it’s not all work, work, work! 26-50 points – A worthy effort, but a little diversification of your interests is still recommended. Go on, walk a dog or sing some karaoke; you know you want to. 51-75 points – Well done for being an active, lively fresher. You have sampled a good taste of university life and are hopefully hungry for more. 76-100 points – A fine effort. You are a well-rounded fresher with a great ability to pick and choose the events that interest you. See you around. 101-125 points – Triple figures! Good job… but can you keep up this frenetic partying pace for the whole year? 126-150 points – An excellent score; give yourself a huge pat on the back, then go and have a well-deserved rest. 151-175 points – The term ‘party animal’ was invented for you. You are extremely versatile, ready to try your hand at almost anything. Just don’t forget to turn up to your lectures once in a while. 176-200 points – You possess the superhuman ability to be in more than one place at the same time, so you are probably some kind of time-travelling super-robot sent to kill us all. You also like doing the same thing over and over again.
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New Arts Man BUST Booming A WARM welcome to those who have just arrived at the University, and indeed to those who are returning. My name is Tom Newman and I am the Student Union’s Arts Officer for 2007/08. As Arts Officer, I act as a representative of all of the arts societies within the SU, and alongside the Arts Executive I work closely with both the SU and ICIA to ensure the best possible arts provision is available here at Bath. We have a thriving arts scene here, and things are only going to get better; in particular, construction will begin this academic year on a brand-new, multi-million pound arts complex, and student participation in the arts has been rapidly on the rise in recent years. I’ll be featuring on this page regularly, offering a personal perspective of the arts on campus
in Bath. You can also check out the Arts Union page on BathStudent for further details on what’s happening as part of the arts scene here at Bath. This Saturday’s Arts Afternoon promises an opportunity to see what the SU arts societies here have to offer (plus a BBQ!). I’ll be there, along with the other arts reps to answer any questions you may have. I l o o k f o r w a r d t o s e eing you there!
Bath University Student Musicals Society presents Ruthless Fri 5 – Sat 6 Oct, 7.30pm ICIA Arts Theatre Tickets: £5 BUSU, available from the ICIA Box Office (1 East 2.1)
EIGHT YEAR old Tina is a parent’s worst nightmare! She knows she was born to play Pippi Longstocking in her school show and is prepared to do anything to win the part… A musical farce, Ruthless is fast and furious, combining The Bad Seed, All
Tom
IN JULY 2007 Bath University Student Theatre (BUST) embarked upon a unique journey, taking a production of Kafka’s The Trial to two fringe festivals. Our experience in Buxton was interesting; our accommodation consisted of an old farmhouse located in the heart of the Peak District, surrounded by rolling hills, green fields and plenty of sheep. The ten of us shared this quaint abode for just under a fortnight. Our venue in Buxton itself was an infants’ school; perhaps not the obvious location for a production as dark as The Trial, but it was wonderful little space. We performed for four nights in Buxton, after which we were nominated for the award of ‘best drama production’ by
the fringe committee. We then exchanged peaks for punts as we travelled to Cambridge. The beautiful architecture, accompanied by some unusually nice weather, made our three days in this city very enjoyable. We delivered three performances in a more traditional theatre space, and though audience numbers were small (and indeed there was no evidence that a fringe festival was even taking place), we had a great time nonetheless. Many of those involved in this tour have now left us, having graduated. I hope that it was a final university experience that they will treasure. I would like to thank dearly the BUST committees of the past two years who helped to make this activity a reality, and also the ICIA and the Alumni Fund, each of whom provided invaluable assistance.
About Eve, Gypsy and nearly every other classic story of stage mothers and precocious daughters. This hilarious spoof of a musical is full of wacky characters and riotous numbers, and is a telling tale of the dangers of wild ambition. A must-see musical and a fantastic way
to see the type of thing you can get involved in throughout your time at the University of Bath. Get involved… the musical theatre society (BUSMS) meets every Thursday, 7.30pm-9.30pm, Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex.
Tom Newman Arts Officer
Ruthless BUSMS On Show in Bath
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Arts
First Rehearsals, Workshops and Auditions:
Orchestra – 1 Oct, 7pm, Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex Orchestra Wood Wind Auditions – 5 Oct, 2.15pm, Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex GASP – 2 Oct, 1.15pm, Wessex House Lecture Theatre 1 Lifted Auditions – 3 Oct, 1.15pm, Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex Wind Band – 2 Oct, 5.30pm, Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex Chamber Choir Auditions – 2 Oct, 7.30pm, Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex Samba Drumming and Dance – 2 Oct, 7.45pm, Chaplaincy Centre Choral Society – 3 Oct, 7.30pm, 5 West 2.3 The Alley Barbers – 4 Oct, 1.15pm, Hall Music Room Student Musicals Society – 4 Oct, 7.30pm, Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex Salsa – 7 Oct, 12pm, Level 1 Cafe Student Dance Society – 7 Oct, 1pm, ICIA Arts Theatre DJ Skills – 9 Oct, 6.30pm, 1 West 2.7 BUBBA Big Band – 10 Oct, 7.30pm, Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex Rhythm Section Auditions – 3 Oct, 7.30pm, Studio 1, ICIA Arts Complex Student Theatre Society – 10 Oct, 7.30pm, ICIA Arts Theatre
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Live Preview: Foals @Bristol Thekla 8/10/07
THE AGIT pop oddballs bring their brand of superbly wonky disco meets the Discord back catalogue to Bristol’s rockingest boat. Fresh from an appearance on Skins, they return to the Uk to promote their as yet untitled Dave Sitek-produced album. Expect health threatening levels of body popping and indie boy dancing. And watch out for the Impact Editors drunkenly getting down at the front. Miss at your peril.
Live Preview: Frank Turner & Jonah Matranga @ The Croft, Bristol 26/9/07
THE FORMER Million Dead man and the former Far man tour the UK. Venue-sized singalongs and honest heartfelt lyricism from the former: just don’t expect him to play any Million Dead songs for you. Just hope that Jonah plays his Deftones approved cover of Be Quiet And Drive. But don’t mess with him, he delights in taking down hecklers. For £8, this is a bargain.
NOW BOOKING: Queens Of The Stone Age, Bristol Academy 1/12/07
OH MY. This editor’s favourite band hit the UK for a full tour in support of recent album Era Vulgaris. Expect a greatest hits set of epic proportions, remplete with monolithic improvisation sessions by one of the most technically able and brilliant bands to ever have the ‘rock’ tag stuck on them. Well worth the £20 ticket.
Film Preview: Superbad Director: Greg Mottola Now Showing
FRESH FROM the set of Knocked Up, Seth Rogen writes and cameos in what on paper sounds like a mediocre American teen comedy. But this is Rogen after all, and the magic of Superbad is not in the originality of its plot, but rather in its brilliant execution and snappy dialogue. Starring onetime Arrested Development star Michael Cera as a high school loser intent on making it with the ladies, Superbad will provide crass jokes and embarrassingly funny sex scenes with a deliciously warmhearted edge. Highly recommended, and not just for bringing the word ‘macking’ back into slang vocabulary. Philip Bloomfield Entertainments Co-Editor
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Entertainment
Tired and Very Tested A WARM welcome from impact to a new year of sounds, sights and more pre-deadline stress for us co-editors. Yes, within five minutes of arriving back in the office, all the fun and joy of summer nearly evaporated when we saw how long we had to write and edit an ENTIRE NEWSPAPER SECTION! But never fear, we have a great year ahead of us, and a great summer behind us. Over the next few issues regular readers will be seeing some changes: Firstly we’ve added a brand spanking new preview section to let you keep your ears to the ground and your eyes on the ball about what’s happening and when in Bath and Bristol. ‘Cause we care that much. We’ll be adding more things over the next few issues, and we’d love any feedback or comments you have, send them to impact-ents@bath.ac.uk. Back to the real business. These next few issues will be partially devoted to washing our hands of the booze-sodden memories of summer festivals. This week we bring you mammoth metalhead fest and spiritual home of rock; Download, along with the annual trance and rave junkie’s mecca: Global Gathering. All kinds of awesome, basically. Filmwise, we take a sneaky peak at the new Simon Pegg and Dylan Moran vehicle Run, Fat
Album: Kala M.I.A Out Now XL
SRI LANKAN/LONDONER Maya Arulpragasam, had a big task on her hands in making the follow up to her 2005, mercury nominated, banger of a debut ‘Arular’. With a new fluoroglam look, complete with the sort of flashing animations on her myspace page that would appeal to even the least open minded of ‘nu ravers’, slicker production, and big name friends, including serial collaborator Timbaland, Kala seems to be aimed at widening her fan-base out of the realms of those ‘in the know’. M.I.A takes the listener on a sampletastic journey from India, with Bollywood inspired beats (see ‘Jimmy’), to Australia with didgeridoo laced rhymes (‘Mango Pickle Down River’), still making time to incorporate her signature politically-fuelled lyrics and sounds, best shown in the poignant melange of gunshots, children’s laughter and ch-chings of cash registers heard on the inspired ‘Paper Planes’. Now that’s multitasking. At times, you have to wonder where she is taking you, particularly with the brilliantly filthy beats of XR2, a stand-out track, not just
in the article. Phwoar. Oh and do remember- if you disagree or agree with our reviews, let us know! If the responses are good enough, we might even print them! Enough of my senseless whining, get on and read to your heart’s content. Seriously. I spent time doing this. Time when I could have been in the pub, you selfish ingrates. Respectfully kickin’ out the jams, SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: Ents co-editor Philip Bloomfiield and LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. Boy, Run. It’s directed by Ross from Friends, y’know. And of course, there’s a smattering of new singles including a scorching candidate for Single of the Year from LCD Soundsystem. We get nasty and say some bad things about certain bands. Naughty. We also look at two summer albums: veteran welsh what-the-hell-were-they-on-whenthey-made-this-record popsters Super Furry Animals, and the ‘difficult’ second album from mouthy Tamil M.I.A. I had more fun than should reaosnably be had in an office finding racy pictures of her to place for its spiky electro urgency, but sadly for how completely random it sounds on this globetrotting album. Her strength is in a punchy delivery, NA-NA-NA NAA NA-NAA NA-NAA, order like skits that leave you no option but to jump up and grab the nearest thing resembling a tambourine and shake, cue my house keys in the case of the infectious ‘Boyz’. But whilst her discordant tones on some songs lead you to clap clap along and celebrate her roots, on others such as the opener ‘Bamboo Banga’, the dissonance leaves you screaming at your stereo in pain, as she drawls on every word ending in –er, a problem I didn’t encounter with Arular. Kala left me wondering if the lady can stretch her ideas to a third, without losing yet more quality. Nonetheless, what can I get for 10 dollars? A good record containing some vibrant little gems. HHHPP Lorna Greenwood
Philip Bloomfield- Entertainments Co-Editor WANT FREE CDS AND PRESS PASSES TO GIGS/ PRESS CONFERENCES AND FILM PREVIEWS? WANT TO INTERVIEW YOUR ICONS? WANT TO GET MOUTHY ON THESE HERE PAGES ABOUT WHAT YOU DO AND DON’T LIKE? Of course you do. Email us at impact-ents@bath.ac.uk with your name and a quick, onesentence reason why you want to write for us. Or just pop along to our meeting at 7PM on Monday 1st October in Elements and introduce yourself. We don’t bite, honest. Well, Sean might.
Album:
Hey Venus! Super Furry Animals Out Now Rough Trade Records GRUFF RHYS certainly possesses a keen sense of irony. When he opens his new album with a forty-three second burst of sonic nonsense which sounds perilously close to Status Quo, you can’t help but admire his balls. Gateway Song is less of the ‘gateway’ to the album its name suggests, and more of a red herring to throw you off the album’s true odour. Because, in true Super Furries tradition, this is an album which blends the catchy with the downright bizarre. A perfect example of this is lead single Run Away. Quite how a song can blend Beach Boy’s Harmonies with a Dexy’s Midnight Runners style powerchord rhythm and still come out sounding credible and focused is beyond me. The album is conceptually based on the story of a teenage runaway which Rhys gruffly (sorry, I had to) describes as “a true story, which will be found to be autobiographical”. Yet this isn’t the kind of concept album which makes Mars Volta fans paint the insides of their trousers a new shade of white. The concept is underlying in the truest sense of the word, providing a gentle progression of sounds and tones throughout the album. This means the stomping Santana meets baile funk vibes
Single: Someone GreatLCD Soundsystem 22nd October DFA
You know that feeling, right? James Murphy does. If only every time you had post relationship blues, you could do something like this. From ebbing synth washes Murphy slowly builds a veritable Jackson Pollock of a song, all splattered and overlapping beats, blips and pulses. Sure, it’s hardly an original subject matter, but from a man best known for yelping about Daft Punk, it’s revelatory. “The worst is all the lovely weather….I’m stunned… it’s not raining” is delivered with the weary air of someone who really has seen too many parties. Single of the year material, without a shadow of a doubt. Buy it, Get it to number one. It’s the least James deserves for all his troubles of the heart. HHHHH Philip Bloomfield Entertainments Co-Editor
of Into The Night are sandwiched between the football shout along of Neo Consumer and the pysch-funk oddities of Baby Ate My Eightball. providing an epic showcase of the Super Furry’s main songwriting ingredients. The fantastic production means that every song is perfectly layered and textured - it’s the kind of album you can listen to over and over and keep uncovering more melodies and harmonies. Electronics twitter and blip in the background, which is a breath of fresh air in a time when brash sampling and blunt synths are de rigueur for bands. But there is a sense of a band which isn’t really trying to go any further than where they have already been. Anyone familiar with SFA’s back catalogue will see breathy melodious qualities recently utilised by Rhys and co mixed with the more early techno fuelled pysch pop style which the band first became renowned for. Yet this is no cause for consternation, and as the album slowly grinds to a halt with the euphoric Battersea Odyssey and a countrified Let The Wolves Howl At The Moon, the lasting impression is a highly impressive band at the peak of their career. Bring on album number 9, please. HHHHP
Philip Bloomfield Entertainments Co-Editor
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MONDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
Impact Festival Fever
Riots at Download? We have The Answer. SUMMER ISN’T the same without the numerous festivals, and you can’t get much bigger than Download at Donnington Park. Surprisingly good weather made for a weekend of sunburn rather than the usual floods that are often associated with festivals. This year Download was bigger than ever, with more than 80 artists performing on the three stages over the weekend. The lineup was more diverse than ever: from the controversial Friday headliner My Chemical Romance to the comical set of Bowling for Soup to the stunning bluesy riffs of The Answer. Though for most people, the weekend belonged to Iron Maiden making their fourth headline appearance at Donnington Park. It wasn’t all about Maiden though- Friday night saw Korn return with front man Jonathan Davis to play a crowd-pleasing greatest hits set to a completely packed out tent. It seemed everyone but a few bottle throwers had deserted the main stage leaving MCR to play to an empty field, cutting their set short by 20 minutes to avoid the crowds returning from Korn. Why MCR were ever allowed to appear at Download we will never know. Sadly, Satrurday was a mostly mediocre day. However, the exception to the up-and-coming
band classic rock revivalists The Answer. Reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, they made themselves at home on the third stage with their second Download appearance to date. Pulling out yet another stunning set, showing their raw talent they won over those in the audience who were simply there to get a good spot for the next band, or wisely trying to hide from the scorching sun. Some clever marketing saw the tent being filled with ‘Rise’ branded beach balls to publicize the reissue of their debut album. By the last day most couldn’t wait for Iron Maiden to hit the main stage and turned up early to find a spot, camping out the day mainly enjoying the end of the sunshine while the last of the main stage bands had the tough job of filling the spots in the lead up to Maiden’s. Those who wandered over to the second stage were rewarded with a first class performance from Bostonian progressive metal outfit, Dream Theater - one of the few they played during the summer in the UK. But Download this year was clearly all about Maiden. The highlights were most definitely high, but overall it was an average weekend, which was made worse by idiotic security and the overpriced refreshments. Sadly, this writer missed all the fun of the riots, instead catching up
Globally Great
WITH ANOTHER massive lineup this year’s Global Gathering (Global to those in the knowwell ok, maybe just me!) with the likes of Basement Jaxx and Faithless headlining (the former being awesome and the latter being a slight disappointment) there was pretty much nothing that could have tainted this ever growing festival; and at the end of the day, nothing did. Even the miles of muddy fields, overpriced bacon and huge queues for everything had no effect on the electric atmosphere of the place. With over 10 stages and arenas on each night, 30 hours of action and DJs and acts from across the world and dance/electronica genre, there was something for everyone. The range of people there was almost equal to the music. It is surely one of the friendliest environments I
have ever been in, with a spread of punters like nowhere else. From oldschool ravers daygloed of clothing and fluffy of boots, to rude boys ‘track’suited and ‘trainer’booted and even the so called ‘A-Gay’s’- who spent most of the weekend half naked. Of course the festival royalty - those still wearing past years’ wristbands, commanded the highest respect. But in the end everyone came together to just enjoy the music, the sun, the rides, the red arrows, the light shows and the copious number of bars. To sum up the Global Experience in one sentence is hard. I could probably write my dissertation on it (if only there was a way to blag it as a Politics essay). It’s far beyond ‘near impossible’. All I will say is that, if you like dance music or any of its sub-genres, this is the festival for you. The music, the atmosphere, the people and, as said earlier, the copious number of bars will make you want more and more and more and more and more…. Words and photos by Tom Trevelyan
Single: Be Good Or Be Gone- Fionn Regan Out Now Bella Union
Single: Rhinemaidens - The Envy Corps 8th October Vertigo Records
GENERALLY A soothing track with easy-to-memorise lyrics, Regan’s self-penned single is simple yet pleasant. The acoustic aspect is classically comforting, practically incompatible with the almost-threat of the title. The song remains pretty calming throughout, although the singing does sound quietly haunting at some point. It is a very matter-offact, nicely chilled out tune which unfolds gently to the end. It does, however, get quite repetitive eventually, and wouldn’t be considered a breakthrough of any sort. In fact, the more you listen to this track, the more you realise that after a rather promising intro, the rest of the song may be a little bit of a letdown. All in all it’s a fairly neutral song, and that may well have been Regan’s intention.
SO I’M back from the summer, having listened to hundreds of high quality tracks from gifted artists like Jimi Hendrix, Thom Yorke and Amy Winehouse… and then I get handed this. Call me elitist. Call me old fashioned. I like my music with some bite, some quality, some intelligence. This song is lacking in those three ‘key’ areas. Where do we start? The tune kicks off with an optimistic little drum roll into a jingle-jangle, elbowtwitching tune, with ‘nice’ vocals forming ‘nice’ harmonies with each other. The lyrics are boring and unoriginal “laugh because you know you’re free”. Yay. This tuneless drawl has no particular start or end. If you had it playing on loop in your car, you wouldn’t be able to detect it alongside the drone of the engine. The melody is immediately forgettable. Sure, it’s easy to listen to, but that’s because it doesn’t do anything. It’s like saying that a goldfish is a good pet because it’s easy to look after. It doesn’t affect your life. It doesn’t make you look forward to walking home and shuffling on to it with your mp3 player. It is, despite what the band and promoters tell you, not music.
HHPPP
HPPPP
on his beauty sleep. Yet with next year’s rumoured line-up of Muse, Foo Fighters and AC/DC, maybe it is still worth considering a return to Donington Park….
Photos and words by David Kennaway Photography Editor
Amira Fathalla Chief Sub Editor
Run, Fat Boy, Run
Director- David Schwimmer Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newtion, Dylan Moran, Hank Azaria, India De Beaufort, Harish Patel Cerificate:12A Release Date: 7th September BRITISH COMEDY has taken a fall of late. With Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow heralding a new era in American comedy that’s actually witty and engaging, the genre once universally admired has stumbled slightly. And Run, Fatboy, Run does nothing to change this. Simon Pegg and Dylan Moran are too good for this. Honestly. The stars of Spaced and Black Books have been catapulted into fame following the success of the brilliantly ironic and subtle Shaun of the Dead, and suddenly have become ‘the’ comedy actors to be seen working with. But an actor is only as good as the lines he is given. And I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with the likes of Moran and Pegg, elegantly schooled in comic subtlety and understatement, starring in an Americanised ‘Romantic Comedy’. The film constantly teeters on the very edge of mediocre, which really is a crying shame. The premise is fairly bog standard romantic comedy:
Adam Luqmani Deputy Editor
ordinary bloke loses girlfriend to flashy ‘perfect’ dreamboat, is inspired to compete against him to impress her by running in a marathon. The only drawbacks: he’s lazy, unmotivated and so unfit that he gets outrun by a crossdressing male stealing a bra from the ladies clothing shop where he works. The film hums along, without a genuine sense of guidance or motivation, a bit like Pegg’s character. There are funny moments, in particular the frankly ridiculous and hilarious scene where Pegg is rubbing himself against a mannequin to alleviate chafe marks from training, and Dylan Moran has a few choice lines, which he delivers with relish. But overall the film relies too much on easy laughs- the Indian man who leases a flat to Pegg is supposed to be funny because he has an Indian accent. And though the ending is entertaining in its inventive nature and there is a genuinely heartwarming set piece, the film is too poorly written to be anything more than ‘fun’. It’s a waste of Simon Pegg, a criminal waste of Dylan Moran and David ‘Ross from Friends’ Schwimmer could have picked a better script to direct. To be avoided. HHPPP
Philip Bloomfield
MONDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
IMPACT
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IMPACT
MONDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
Rag & Sport
Join a Rag Raising Raid Today Chiok-Sing Li Rag Publicity Officer RAG IS one of the largest student-led organisations across Universities in the UK, raising literally millions of pounds for local, national and international charities – and Bath Rag is one of the best, raising up to £100 000 a year. If you’re looking for a great time in a new city, doing something a bit out of the ordinary and meeting some like-minded people, then Bath Rag is the thing for you. Many a weekend is spent in a different city on street-corner ‘raids, collecting much-needed funds for different charities with your best costume, smile and a bucket. It sounds weird but is thoroughly rewarding and really makes a difference to the charities that rely on our collections. Plus you get to travel and experience Dublin, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London and occasionally further, while meeting other University Rags; not to mention the social events afterwards… Organising events is another big part of the Rag experience. A huge fireworks night, hitch-hike to the Eiffel Tower, our very own pantomime, a duck race down the River Avon and Bath Rag Week; a jam packed week of Rag events, craziness and fundraising! You can be a part of it all and help out or even organise a whole event with our dedicated and experienced committee with you every step of the way. Convincing 200 people to sleep rough to raise funds and
awareness for homelessness looks amazing on the CV. If all this sounds like something you would like to be a part of then we’ve got a number of events lined up for you. Saturday 29th September sees University of Bath students attempt to break a world record by having the largest number of people dressed as Smurfs in one place! You will have an opportunity to pick up a “Smurf Pack” throughout Freshers’ Week, containing a t-shirt and hat while volunteers will paint you blue to finish you off. If all is successful, then each participant will
UDDERLY BARKING: Rag raisers
receive a certificate and become a bona fide record holder. Visit www.BathFreshers. com for more information. Before you head into town for the first time, don’t forget to pick up “The Great Rag Guide to Bath”, a guide put together to help you navigate your way around this beautiful city, with some super-useful vouchers inside to save some money. All this help in a pocket-sized guide can be yours for only £3, with all proceeds going to charity. If you can’t pick one up during Freshers’ Week, come see us in the Rag office in 1 East Level 3 (to the right of the Library) or buy one online through www. BathRag.com. Also coming up is the Bath Rag “Lost” competition, taking place on the weekend of the 27th-28th October, which will involves teams of students taken to an undisclosed location somewhere in the UK with the aim of returning to Bath in the fastest time possible – with one catch. All travelling must be done by walking or hitch-hiking, so travel money is not allowed. Prizes will be awarded to the fastest teams and also the team that raises the most sponsorship money (it is a charity event after all). We also have a sponsored Bungee Jump coming up, so you can jump up and down, then up again for local and national charities. All events will be conducted under professional supervision but it won’t take away that exhilarating rush of freefalling, or perhaps the warm fuzzy feeling of helping a good cause.
You may come to University for your degree, but Bath Rag could give you so much more, offering experience and opportunities second to none to make your time at University all the more worthwhile. The NewScientist.com website even rates Rag as number 9 of 50 things to do before leaving University! For more information about any of our events, or if you would like to join Rag, then visit our website at www.BathRag.com. We will have a stand at the Students’ Union Societies Fair on Monday 1st October, where you can meet some of our lovely volunteers and make yourself known in
exchange for some goodies. Alternatively you can pop by to one of our weekly meetings, held on Tuesday at 6:30pm in 1 East 3.6, where we give a rundown of upcoming collections and events and how you can be involved. Failing that, swing by our office across the hallway in 1 East 3.5 and sit down for a chat over a hot drink to find out what Rag can do for you. Don’t forget to pick up a “Smurf Pack” and a “Rag Guide to Bath” to really get into the student lifestyle here in Bath. Most importantly, come see us; we might just have the thing for you…
SPORTING COMMENT
Doom and Gloom at an International Level Chris Gammond has been keeping an extremely close tab on the few highs and many lows of our English rugby players, cricketers and footballers over the last couple of weeks. NATIONAL SPORT: can you really get too much of a good thing? My own intensive and far-reaching research dictates that this should be broken into two questions. Firstly, how much is too much? Is the Rugby World Cup, Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, Football Euro 2008 Qualifiers, plus the Women’s World Cup all being seen together, too much of a good thing? Simply, no. It’s brilliant and everybody wants to see high class international competitions in whichever of our national sports they follow. Secondly, and this is the question which gives us the more telling answer, are you English? Now, as we’ve mentioned high class international competitions I feel that we must remove the Women’s Football World Cup from the list, because for this article, to be classed a high level football competition, Goalkeepers have to be allowed to participate. This, by watching any game, and in particular the 11-0 drubbing handed to South American champions Argentina by Germany, is quite clearly not the case. Anyway, the argument comes down to nationality because we’ll start analysing it at the bottom and work our way up. Where’s the bottom? “Nil Point”? England Rugby? The main thing to realise here is that in a game of Rugby, for you nonRugby fans, you cannot score less than zero. It’s an easy concept really, to win
you need to score points, and England on Friday night, whilst losing 36-0, could have stayed playing in Paris for a further four days without looking any more likely to get anything on the scoreboard. Old man Jason Robinson was the only player asking questions on the pitch against the Springboks, but there were many more questions flying around in the stadium. How could something like this happen to the World Champions? Who is to blame? Why have we got this ridiculous looking sash-thing on our kits? Why is Andy Farrell even here? Can Mike Catt at least try to hide his South African accent? On the other hand for English rugby, who can argue that this World Cup’s most intelligent play came from English Captain Phil Vickery when he got suspended for a deliberate trip in the first game and therefore missed the South Africa ‘game’? Genius? Unfortunately, English captains involved in misdemeanours are not uncommon. If we switch focus to our other national sport, Cricket, we immediately stumble upon the Twenty20 World Cup. As we stumble we read that the England Captain, Paul Collingwood, was found drinking at the nearest strip joint on the eve of a crunch game with (coincidentally) South Africa. Don’t worry fans, he responded to the allegations vehemently, claiming that he realised he shouldn’t have been (found) there and “wasn’t drinking
seriously”. Mind you, I guess he’s simply indulging in the sort of behaviour that is de rigueur in the modern game. It’s not very long since Freddie Flintoff set sail on his misguided maiden pedalo voyage. His misdemeanour is compounded when you understand that Twenty20 cricket is an English invention, an English format and with the only noticeable addition from the rest of the world being to erect a stand for scantily clad dancing girls (and men) to greet boundaries and wickets alike. Is anybody else getting
ANDY FARRELL: Clueless?
mixed messages? Did I mention the England Team are all but out, helped by Collingwood’s duck in the South Africa game. However, both the RFU and ECB can find solace in the fact that they did in fact qualify (if not simply on rankings) for their respective competitions, which Steve McClaren and the football elite have yet to do, and may not do. Where do we start here? Emile Heskey? Diamond formations or an analysis of McClaren’s Hair? Obviously, with all these football problems it would be easy to find opinions on the matter and construct well thoughtout arguments about the usual selection issues, grass roots funding, simulation, foreigners and goal line technology. Thankfully, within the confines of this column we haven’t got time or space to dissect and analyse all the issues. Or even some of them. Or even any of them. We simply join in the national fixation on highlighting and then moaning about the problems which face our national sports. We moan about why England have to stretch as far as playing the Villa captain in a game against Israel. We moan about whether we choose Robinson, James, or Carson or, heaven forbid, having to pick any other English premiership ‘keeper when we know full well it won’t make a difference if we have Wes Brown in front of them. But maybe this is the single biggest issue facing English Sport. The
media, fed by the public and the everincreasing level of expectation, put more and more extra pressure on the players to perform. Maybe. And then we look over the borders, where lowly Scotland beat the mighty French in football without moaning about anything apart from how much the pies cost, and were able to have a good knees up after the game without having to spend the night in the local gendarmerie’s cells. We look at Wales who won 5-2 without moaning about the fact that they need to call up league 1 players, relying on those playing at Gillingham come next weekend, or that their centre forward doesn’t even own a house. You may say that this column accentuates the problem as it highlights mistakes and by doing so entwines itself as part of this national problem. But you would be wrong, because this is not moaning about England’s current dip in the national sports. It is celebrating it. It is written from across the Severn Bridge and therefore it joins all the non-English students at Bath in smiling about England’s current form. Smiling and laughing.
Please note that all views and opinions expressed within this article, and indeed all of impact, are those of the author and not necessarily of impact as an organisation.
MONDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
IMPACT NEWS IN BRIEF
FOOTBALL
TeamBath Power Facilties Getting on in the F.A. Cup a Needed Facelift TEAMBATH FC face a trip to Portsmouth to take on Moneyfields in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup, sponsored by E.ON. The University of Bath side booked a place in the second qualifying round with a 2-0 over Bodmin Town at Twerton Park on Saturday September 15th. T he second q u a l i f y i n g r o u n d tie, scheduled to take place at the Moneyfields Sports Ground in Portsmouth on Friday 28th September, will be the first meeting between the two sides. Ged Roddy, TeamBath FC manager, said: “We don’t know a lot about them, but we won’t be taking anything for granted. Everyone loves the FA Cup and we’re certainly hoping to put together another decent run in the Cup again this year.” The team will be hoping to emulate the magnificent run to the 1st round proper where the team lost to current
league two side Mansfield Town 4-2 in front of Sky Sports cameras live on campus, the first time in 122 years that a university side made it to the 1st round. C o a c h A n d y T i l l s o n remains philosophical about the side’s chances of emulating the former accomplishment. Tillson said he wants his players to focus on this season’s campaign rather than reflecting on past glories. “We can’t live on memories of the past,” said Tillson, who joined TeamBath just after that FA Cup run. “We need to have a good FA Cup run this season, starting on Saturday.” TeamBath currently lie in 5th position in the British Gas-sponsored Southern Premier League, with 12 points from their opening 7 matches. Their next home fixture is on Tuesday October 2nd at 7.45 pm, with a local derby against Bath City in the Somerset Premier Cup.
HOCKEY: Can’t blame the pitch any more! Adrian Dalmedo Sports Editor impact-sport@bath.ac.uk
TEAMBATH: in past BUSA action at Loftus Road
ALREADY WELL-KNOWN for its excellent sporting facilities, work has been going on during the summer break to maintain the high standards on offer to students. The squash courts in the Founders Complex have all been repainted and serviced, and work has been carried out to remedy the state of several walls, which had literally been crumbling away. The condition of the playing surface on Astroturf Pitch 1 could have been described as dubious at best last year, with its undulating contours. The pitch has been entirely re-laid over the summer, with the
hockey club in prime position to benefit from the improvements. The ongoing saga of the cricket nets has finally been solved, as a jointly funded project between the SA and Sports Department has resulted in the necessary extension to the roofing of the nets being installed, protecting the sports hall from those textbook straight slogs. Funding has also been secured to expand the number of teams representing the University in BUSA competitions this year. Men’s table tennis will be fielding a 2nd team, a new Men’s 2nd team is also starting for volleyball, and both male and female hockey will operate a 5th team for the first time. Finally, the netball club has increased to five full teams.
COMMENT: FOOTBALL
A Scottish ‘keeper for £9 million?
Marcus Haydon on the spiralling transfer fees in the Premier League
IT WOULD be fair to say that it has been a summer of carefree spending in the Premier League. It seems that a combination of Sky’s generous new TV deal and an influx of wealthy foreign owners have resulted in many clubs having millions of pounds burning a hole in their pockets. Manchester United shelling out £51 million will hardly have raised many people’s eyebrows, but the sight of smaller fish such as Sunderland spending over £30 million on new additions is rather more surprising. The deluge of funds into the Premier League from Sky is seemingly bringing about an invigorated confidence amongst members of the top division. With each club now receiving a guaranteed £30 million it’s hardly surprising that many are using that revenue on strengthening their playing squad. There are more examples beyond Sunderland however. The total spending of Premiership clubs this summer topped £500 million, smashing the previous record of £300 million from 2006. A more startling figure is that twelve clubs spent in excess of £20 million, compared to just three last year.
Additionally, some fees paid for individuals have been greatly inflated. Craig Gordon’s £9 million move to Sunderland from Scottish side Hearts certainly sparked debate. Although an established international, he certainly has a lot to do to justify such a hefty price tag, compared to the £7 million Chelsea paid for Petr Cech, arguably the world’s best keeper, in 2004. Diomansy Kamara’s £6 million switch to Fulham is another that catches the eye. Kamara is a player who struggled to make a telling impact with both Portsmouth and West Brom. Compare this to the fee six times smaller paid for David Healy, a proven goalscorer at international level with a recent hat-trick against Spain to his name, and you begin to wonder how there is any parity in the fees paid for players. This summer has seen an influx of foreign investors. The American takeover of Liverpool has produced an immediate effect on their summer spending total of £50 million. With numerous similar takeovers, the clubs of the Premier League are the champion spenders of world
SVEN: Sitting pretty for now football. Should a club’s sugar daddy decide to walk away, however, clubs have an oversized wage bill to finance through club revenue alone. Take West Ham, although a well-supported club, the wages of £70,000 that they are paying players such as Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker will be totally unsustainable should their Icelandic backers be taken out of the equation. There is much scepticism among supporters regarding the motives of many of these new investors. Thaksin
Shinawatra’s takeover of Manchester City raises questions over his suitability for owning a high profile football club. During his tenure as Prime Minister of Thailand criticisms regarding human rights were rife and a number of arrest warrants have recently been issued in his homeland relating to irregularities in the sale of his company and corruption involving land sale. Whilst the current state of the transfer market provokes plenty of interest and discussion for supporters and pundits, the effect of this inflated spending does raise questions over clubs long-term stability. Leeds are a prime example of overspending when feeling flush only to find that the players aren’t very easy to sell on when they have been playing badly and commanding astronomical wages. The long-term motives of the new foreign investors is also an area of concern. Fans of clubs like Portsmouth and West Ham may be enjoying their clubs’ high spending right now, but what happens should their backer get bored of his new toy and walk away?
JUDO
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Sport
TEAMBATH’S GEORGINA Singleton just missed out on guaranteeing a GB berth in her weight division at the Beijing 2008 Olympics when she finished seventh at the World Championships in Rio on Sunday September 16th. The 29year-old judo player secured vital qualification points in her attempt to compete at her second successive Olympics. The top six finishers in each weight division secured a place for their nation in Beijing next year. Singleton – who returned to the sport for one last crack at Olympic glory after retiring from judo a couple of years ago – just missed out on a place in the semi-finals in the women’s under-52kg division in Rio. Singleton finished fifth at the 2003 World Championships in Osaka to claim a place at the Athens 2004 Olympics, where she came seventh. University of Bath students Andy Burns, Brett Caswell and Tom Reed have been named in Great Britain’s team to compete at the Fighting Films GB Judo World Cup for Men next month. They feature in a 23strong team for the World Cup at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena, which is a qualification event for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Caswell, a Sports Performance student at the University of Bath, contests the under-60kg class, Business Administration student Reed goes in the under-81kg class, while Sports Performance student Andy Burns contests the under-100kg division.
SPORT IN BRIEF
TEAMBATH’S HARRY Wright won the men’s singles title at the opening competition of the new badminton season. Wright, who recently returned from representing Great Britain at the World University Games in Thailand, beat former TeamBath player and top seed Neil White in the final of the Hertfordshire Open. Wright, a University of Bath Sports Performance student, ran out 21-9 winner in the deciding third end of the final. TeamBath player Helen Ward knocked out top seed Jo Dix in three games in the ladies’ singles semi-final, but then went down 21-17 in the decider to Panuga Riou in the final. Fellow TeamBath player Hana Littlecott reached the quarter-finals. TEAMBATH HAVE pulled off a coup with the announcement today that talented England teenage shooter Jo Harten will play for the side that bids to win a historic third successive national elite Superleague title this season. The squad will feature six of the 12strong England squad for this year’s World Championships – including four of England’s five shooters. TeamBath have announced a 19-strong squad for the 2007/8 season starting in October. Ten members of the 19-strong squad are still in their teens. Head coach Jan Crabtree said: “It’s going to be a very exciting season. Our senior England players will miss the first half of the season, so the younger players have really got to step up and make their mark.
sport impact
Football - 19 Judo - 19 Comment - 18
Covering the issues that matter to students
All Change for Sports Association
TRAFFIC LIGHT PARTY? The SABBs model the new house t-shirts Adrian Dalmedo Sports Editor impact-sport@bath.ac.uk
THE SPORTS Association (SA) has re-structured the way club memberships will operate for the new academic year. After proposals brought to the SA Annual General Meeting in May 2007, last year’s sports club committee members voted with a significant majority to introduce a ‘Sports Association Membership’, which will be mandatory before students can become members of the individual sports clubs. In addition to this change, membership can only be carried out online from this year via the SA section of the BathStudent website. Accordingly, returning students
can join their sports clubs as soon as you sign up on BathStudent and not have to fight their way through the fresher’s fair with a pocketful of bank notes. SA membership will cost £10 and as well as allowing members access to a number of centrally run SA programmes, students will receive a handbook, membership card and T-shirt in your ‘House’ colour, which is determined by your course of study. SA members are offered free membership of the Recreational Club, which is an equipment loaning service, which cost £10 on its own to join last year. If you and your friends want to play tennis, squash or football, the Recreational Club will be able to loan you, without charge, items like rackets and balls.
New for this year is a Wellness and Fitness Programme, which is being run as a collaboration with the Sports Department. Students will be offered a variety of sports classes and workshops from circuit training to nutritional and dietary advice. The SA is also organising a wide range of Intramural competitions during the year in several sports, both in league format and tournament play. Finally, SA members have access to the Coachbase scheme of coach education and officiating courses, where the SA can potentially subsidise any course costs. Club Memberships will cost either £10 or £15 each. Individual clubs will continue to offer coaching and training sessions,
trips and training courses, equipment and kit of the highest standard, and the opportunity to represent the University at BUSA competition. The initial extra cost involved with joining a sports club may upset a number of students, particularly those who only want to join one club, and this year have to pay the extra £10 SA membership. VP Sport, Rich Howell, was quick to address any concerns about the new scheme, highlighting how it is an exciting and progressive step for the SA. “It has allowed us to make some huge improvements to the Intramural programme and other central services, which all members will now be able to access, and I’m really excited about the new wellness-fitness programme we’re piloting this year.” Doubters of the new SA membership may question why they should join the SA if they have no interest in Intramurals or Coachbase, and only want to play their favourite sport. Rich was also keen to point out that the SA is prudently investing significant amounts of money this year, specifically on coaching and equipment. “The Students’ Union allocates considerable resources to enable the Sports Association to operate such a comprehensive sports program, but as costs inevitably rise we must find ways to continue to increase income - we are always looking for new sponsors and fund-raising opportunities. In order to ensure clubs continue to have good quality equipment and coaching availability it was decided that we would introduce the SA Membership. I would stress that we are still incredibly low-priced compared to most institutions who routinely charge well over £25 for every individual club. Really, every member is accessing sport at an incredibly subsidised rate, even if they only take part in one specific club.”
Lifesaving: Swimming in Pyjamas?
Chris McCorquodale Bath University Lifesaving Club MANY PEOPLE remember lifesaving as towing a bricks across a swimming pool while dressed in pyjamas. But what is
lifesaving? And how is it a sport? Lifesaving is difficult to define, but can include learning, practising and using any of the skills needed to save a life, either on land or in the water. A lifesaver is a trained bystander who helps out when needed, whereas a lifeguard is a professional, with a responsibility to the people that they are supervising. Anyone can be a lifesaver. Land-based techniques such as first aid, CPR and the use of Automatic defibrillators can be learned by anyone. Water-based techniques require some level of confidence in the water, but they become much easier with practice. Lifesaving can be pool- or beach-based and there are a wide range of internationally recognised events. These can be split into two types: Simulated Emergency Response Competitions (SERCs) are incident-based, where judges will mark
how well competitors react to a set situation. Other events are timed, and can involve swims and tows, rope throws, fins, torpedo buoys, obstacles, skis and boards. Many competitions are biased towards SERC type events, so you don’t need to be a great swimmer to get involved. However there are also separate ‘speed’ competitions. The club trains every week and works on both the ‘skills’ and sports aspects of lifesaving. The sessions are fairly structured, and we try to let club members know what each session is in advance, so that they can attend sessions that interest them. We run water and land based qualifications, attend beach lifesaving events, and host and take part in competitions across the country. We’re a very friendly club, with lots of different socials, often combined with other University Lifesaving clubs at events at
various universities. Everybody is welcome, and we will be running a basic lifesaving course and attending ‘freshers’’ competitions, as well as completing some more challenging events for those who have done lifesaving before. Come and see us at the Sports Fair or drop in at any of our training sessions at the 25m swimming pool. The Lifesaving Club is thriving and its members recently enjoyed success at the regional round of the National Lifesaving Championships. Three competitors from Bath took part in water-based and First Aid initiative tests, a ‘swim and tow’, and a rope throw rescue. Rachel Armstrong came first in the Ladies’ competition and retained the winner’s trophy for a second year. Chris McCorquodale and Richard Rowe competed in the Men’s category and were placed second and fourth.
World Cup Review
UNIVERSITY OF Bath student Mhairi Spence finished sixth in the Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final in Beijing. Spence, a 22-year-old Coach Education and Sports Development student, wasn’t out of the top five all day until after the fifth and final discipline, the 3k run. Despite dipping inside 11 minutes for the first time in her career for 3k, she dropped from second to sixth after the run. With the fourth best performances in the shooting and fencing under her belt, she ended the day with 5472 points at the event, which was the Olympic test event. Fellow Brits Katy Livingston and Georgina Harland, who both train at the Great Britain modern pentathlon high performance centre at the University of Bath, finished 12th and 13th respectively, with 5400 and 5388 points. Livingston produced the best fencing performance of her career during the competition, finishing second overall with 24 victories and 11 defeats.
MHAIRI SPENCE: On target
Refurbishment news on page 19