impact student
Monday 7th April 2008 Volume 9 Issue 12 www.bathimpact.com
Students Throw Out Sweeping NUS Change Jack Mitchell Editor-in-Chief editor@bathimpact.com
PLANS BY the national NUS executive to radically reform the organisation of the Union have been narrowly rejected by delegates at the annual NUS national conference in Blackpool. A two-thirds majority was needed to implement the motion, but the figure of 692 attendees voting in favour – despite constituting a simple majority – fell just 25 votes short of the required threshold. The proposed changes involved replacing the 27-member national executive committee with a board to run the Union, advised by a new senate body comprising elected student representatives. ‘Zone committees’ of Sabbs would have developed interim policy and reported their proposals to the senate. Those in favour of the reforms argued that they would modernise the NUS and make it more representative of minority groups such as part-time, international and mature students, while opponents claimed they would make the Union less democratic. National NUS President Gemma Tumelty asked delegates: “Will you vote yes to an NUS of the future? Our structuresandourcultureareholding
us back – you’ve got the opportunity to change that for good.” Bath SU President Dave Austin, a strong supporter of the motion, told impact he was naturally disappointed with the result. “I guess they’ve seriously got to think about how we go forward from here,” he commented, adding that the probable course of action will be for the policy to be tweaked and presented again for approval at next year’s conference. “There clearly is a consensus out there among the student movement that the NUS needs to reform and that it’s failed over the last couple of decades. “The current structure isn’t unfit for purpose, but another would be more effective.” Austin admitted that, although he would be against such a move, it is not inconceivable that next year’s Sabbteamcoulddecidetodisaffiliate Bath University Students’ Union from the NUS. Union Council representative James Claverley told impact that he has planned a discussion to be held in the next meeting, whereby the councillors – elected by the Bath student body in October – will consider whether, in the light of the outcome of the conference vote, the case for disaffiliation has been strengthened or weakened.
In
impact
It’s all part of the masterplan. Don’t miss out on your chance to tell the University what you think. See News (Page 2).
Choc-a-Block Uni Considers Cadbury’s Laurence Cable Treasurer treasurer@bathimpact.com
THE VICE-CHANCELLOR of the University of Bath would neither confirm nor deny whether the management are considering MP Dan Norris’s proposal to expand into the Cadbury’s factory in Keynsham, which will shut its doors by 2010. Mr Norris wrote to Glynis Breakwell to suggest the idea of redeveloping the site as one of the new universities proposed
recently by the government. Professor Breakwell did reveal that the idea had been “discussed” among the management, and that they would shortly be responding in writing to Mr Norris. It seems likely that the University will attempt to delay any decision on the matter until the current Masterplanning process is completed, and the future possibilities for developing the site at Claverton are known. Professor Breakwell said: “With the movement of the Green Belt and the Masterplanning exercise
underway we will be in a [better] position to judge our future needs effectively.” Mr Norris, the Labour MP for Wansdyke, is keen to cushion the blow to the local economy of the factory’s closure, which will see some 500 staff lose their jobs. Chocolate production is being moved to sites in Birmingham and mainland Europe to cut costs. The Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University has also been contacted about the site, but he too has yet to make an official response.
this week...
Do your bit for the local economy! Comment, Page 5
A career change for the Beatles?
Uni of Bath cheerleaders on a winning streak.
Ents, Page 13
Sport, Page 19
2
IMPACT
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
News
student impact Mastering the Masterplan is brought to you by... Andy Burton & Matthew Hartfield
Editorial Team Editor Deputy Editor News Editor Deputy News Editor Comment Editor Deputy Comment Editor Features Editor Deputy Features Editor Science Editor Deputy Science Editors Ents Editors Deputy Ents Editor Sport Editor Deputy Sport Editor Online Editor Photo Editor Treasurer Chief Sub-Editor
Jack Mitchell Adam Luqmani Josh Cheesman Matthew Hartfield Charlotte King Hadleigh Roberts Josie Cox Sian Lewis Matt Ash Liam Mason & Sally Nall Phil Bloomfield & Sean Lightbown Max Watson Adrian Dalmedo Tim Leigh Kieron Macknight David Kennaway Laurence Cable Amira Fathalla
Contact Details Phone - 01225 38 6151 Fax - 01225 44 4061 Email - impact-editor@bath.ac.uk Web - www.bathimpact.com Address -
Student Impact Students’ Union University of Bath Bath BA2 7AY
If you want to write, design, take photos or otherwise contribute to impact, come along to a Contributors meeting, held every Monday in Elements at 6.30pm, get in touch with the Editor, pop into the office in Norwood House level 4 or log onto our website (www.bathimpact.com)
Students’ Union SU VP Activities and Development Hayden Arrowsmith SUactivities@bath.ac.uk 01225 383667 Societies Administrator Andree Peacock A.Peacock@bath.ac.uk 01225 38505
Advertising Enquires Helen Freeman H.Freeman@bath.ac.uk 01225 386806
Information The opinions expressed in impact are not necessarily those of the impact editors nor of the University of Bath Students’ Union. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this publication is correct and accurate at the time of going to print, the publisher cannot accept any liability for information which is later altered or incorrect. impact as a publication adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Conduct. Please contact them for any information Printed by www.quotemeprint.com 0845 1300 667
THE UNIVERSITY is currently carrying out a planning exercise which will set out the development plans for the campus for the next fifteen years. Students are major users of the campus and you now have a chance to give your input, by visiting the ‘Planning for Real’ consultation in the Library foyer between now and and April 15. ‘Planning for Real’ is a novel way of gauging feedback from a wide variety of groups, and the masterplan is the first university redevelopment plan that this scheme is being used for. Under this method, people come along to
a scale model of the University and place cards on buildings pertaining to what areas they want redeveloped and improved. This includes development of new buildings and what they should be used for, such as academic space, social space, arts facilities or sports facilities. From this an action plan will be created with priority points outlined, and will be used to inform the overall masterplan, alongside other reports such as a landscape assessment, ecology assessment, and so on. Jennifer Joynt, who is overseeing the ‘Planning for Real’ scheme, is optimistic about how well the scheme willrun,tellingimpact thatshe“hopes to improve the quality of life in the
University.” The SU urges you to take this chance to air any grievances you have with the facilities on campus and to shape the futureofourcampusforthebetter. Visit the scale model of campus in the Library foyer, during the times below, and give your thoughts and ideas about what should happen on campus. Everyone who uses the campus (students, staff, local residents and businesses, etc.) are being invited to visit, so make sure that the student voice is heard. Thedatesandtimesfortheconsultation are as follows; 2-8pm Monday 7 April; 10am-4pm Tuesday 8, Wednesday 9, Thursday 10, Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 April.
the scheme to be a success. The University, since implementing the AF&RS policy, have seen the number of false callouts drop by 87%, from 23 between September 2006 and March 2007 to just three between September 2007 and March 2008. Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor George Lunt, describing the action taken by the University to
reduce unwanted fire alarms, said: “Last year we improved ventilation in kitchens, introduced modern technology in detection systems and ran a campaign to raise student awareness of the issue. “Towards the end of 2007 we also introduced a new management regime that, during working hours, requires an immediate investigation by University staff before a call to the emergency services is made.” So how can you as a student help the University’s and AF&RS’s success? By following these three simple steps: make sure your cooking area is well ventilated when grilling those Sainsbury’s basic sausages; Turn extractor fans on when cooking - they may be noisy but compare that to the sound of the fire alarm and having angry housemates when you cause an evacuation of your block; not smoking near smoke detectors is always a good idea. As you can see, it doesn’t take much; it’s mainly just down to using your common sense and you too can help AF&RS in its battle.
increase in demand for higher education from people coming from poorer backgrounds, and from students in part-time education. The report also claims that the demographics of people attending undergraduate courses will change drastically in the next few years. Whereas the number of undergraduate places will decline, the number of exchange students is predicted to increase. As a result, a larger share of the undergraduates at UK Universities will be exchange students. Currently, the Chinese are best represented amongst foreign students, even though the number of people moving here from China fell between
2006 and 2007. The report further concludesthattheriseinIndianstudents was strongest. Amongst EU nationals theIrisharestillbestrepresentedacross the UK, but the share of students from eastern European countries such as Poland, Lithuania and Latvia rises fast. This shouldn’t stop the University of Bath from allocating seating space though, as the drop in students is only a temporary one. By 2027 the number of undergraduates in the UK will be even greater than it is now. One thing is for sure, however: that the variety of cultures represented on the Parade at lunchtime is only ever going to get greater.
Bath Blazes Brightly as University Burns Off False Fire Alarms Lucy Saunders News Contributor THE UNIVERSITY of Bath has been recognisedinthefightagainstfalsefire alarms by Avon Fire and Rescue Service (AF&RS)inarecentarticleontheofficial AF&RS website. Bath University is one of many organisations who have been involved in the scheme introduced by AF&RS to cut unnecessary callouts occurring from unwanted fire signals. The scheme was introduced among businesses and organisations after the proportion of Automatic Fire Alerts found to be false reached 96% in 2006. It highlights the need for basic signs of fire to be confirmed with a 999 Fire Control Operator before a response to an alert can be mobilised. Its aim is to discover the sources of false alarms and to take appropriate action in order to prevent them being a trigger in the future. Since AF&RS introduced this policy in September there has been a drop in unnecessary callouts by 56%, showing
Universities Facing Big Drop in School Leavers Marcel Oomens News Contributor IN TEN years’ time, the Parade will look very different from what it is now. That istheconclusion,notoftheconstruction work that’s going on near 2 West, but of research conducted for Universities UK, the umbrella body for executive heads of UK Universities. This research will feed into the preparations for the review next year of the variable fees, which were introduced to England two years ago. The body projects that the number of undergraduate places available at Universities will drop by 70,000. This decline would be even greater if it weren’t compensated for by an
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
IMPACT
A Fund Day Out
News editor Josh Cheesman was on hand to report on the NUS’s Great Higher Education Funding Debate.
ON MARCH 18, impact joined Tom Milburn (VP Education), Eddie Bell (VP Welfare and Campaigns) and Charlie Slack (Representation and Democratic Services Coordinator) in attending the Great Higher Education Funding Debate, a series of discussions held by the National Union of Students on the future of university fees. The day was split into four different talks, offering a wide range of opinions on the current top-up fee system and changes proposed by the government, which could mean that students at some universities will end up paying a much higher price for their education. Thefirstdebateofthedaywasentitled ‘What future for higher education?’, and featured Bill Rammell, Minister of State of Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education; David Willetts, Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills; and Prof Deian Hopkin, Vice-Chancellor of London South Bank University. The question was raised as currently getting value for money and the importance of the student experience was stressed. The higher fees of foreign students were also discussed, as the ministers said ‘no’ to the idea of up front loans. For the ‘Impact of Variable Fees’ debate, higher education consultant Prof Brian Ramsden and the Vice-Chancellor
IT’S A HIT: What is the future for university funding? impact seeks answers. of the University of Central Lancashire, Malcolm McVicar, joined the outgoing NUS President, Gemma Tumelty, and incoming NUS president (then VP Education) Wes Streeting. Streeting commented that he felt that bursaries had failed to decrease the divide between richer and poorer students, and that raising the cap would only serve to widen the gap. The suggestion that MPs should have their expenses loaned to them met with approval from the audience. Anne Jamieson from Birkbeck, University of London gave a presentation on part-time students, highlighting how they are often overlooked in the debate on fees. Currently, part-time students struggle to balance work and study due to the limited funding available to
them. The final panel of the day proved to be the most interesting, and the most controversial. Three speakers with quite varying views took part in a ‘Looking to the Future’ panel. The first was Prof Nick Bar of the London School of Economics, a government advisor in higher education policy. He argued that fees are not the greatest deterrent for students thinking of entering higher education, but rather attainment, aspiration and money are. He was in favour of variable fees, claiming that market forces were capable of creating reasonable prices, but opposed removing the cap altogether. Neal Lawson, chair of the pressure group Compass, disagreed with Bar. He said that increased fees would lead
Government’s ID Card Plan Provokes Backlash
Matthew Hartfield Deputy News Editor
THE NATIONAL Union of Students is leading a campaign against the recent government plans to introduce identity (ID)cardstostudents,afterthepolicyfor lauching ID cards was announced by the home secretary, Jacqui Smith. In a speech to the thinktank Demos, Mrs. Smith outlined how students will be oneofthefirstgroupstobetargeted,with ID cards to be issued to all international studentsapplyingforavisafromtheendof thisyear.16-19yearoldswillbegiventhe offertoapplyforavoluntaryIDcardfrom 2010, with the scheme being open to all UK citizens from later that year. Opposition to the scheme arises from the fact that the use of ID cards will be encouraged when young people apply to open bank accounts, for student loans and when submitting an application for further education courses. In a statement issuedbytheNUS,theystatedthattheyare “extremely concerned that young people andstudentswillbethefirsttobetargeted in the roll-out”. Furthermore there is a generalfearthatthosewithoutavoluntary
IDcardwillfinditalothardertoapplyfor certain services. The NUS is encouraging dialogue with students’ unions across the country so as to gauge views on the matter, and subsequently present them to government officials. This protest is being echoed on Facebook, where young people are beingencouragedtojoin an anti ID-card group “Stoptheintroduction of Government ID cards for students by blackmail”.Thetoneis thattheabovemeasures areaplantointroduce IDcardsbystealth,with the group’s description claimingthattheplansare tantamount to strong-arming students into getting ID cards as the main way to access important facilities, such as loans. impact spoke to Jonathon Delve, a Second Year Natural Scientist, who is againsttheplanstointroduceIDcardsand offered a scathing rebuke to the proposed
scheme.“TheworstaspectofIDcardsisn’t the concern about security or the overall cost-it’sthethick-skinnedcontinuation of the scheme despite adamant public opposition.Thatrightthereisarestriction of freedom”. The plan to introduce ID cards has been one of the more controversial plans put forward by the government in order to combat terrorism. Initiallythereweretobe made compulsory for all UK residents, but afterspirallingcosts andfiercecriticismlead mainly by the group NO2IDtheirintroduction has been scaled down. There is still a lot of disagreement surrounding theiruse,withrecentnewspaper polls showing the public’s opposition to ID cards. There are also concerns about security, with a team of mathematicians last year managing to crack the security presentinsuchcardstogainaccesstothe fingerprint data stored within.
to students choosing institutions based on their price tags, and that high fees were destroying social mobility. His speech was focused on democratising higher education, and trying to break free of the model of students judging their university prospects on a purely economic basis. Lawson’s proposed alternative to top-up fees was a 1% graduate tax. The final speaker was Claire Fox, director and founder of thinktank the InstituteofIdeas.Inpart,sheagreedwith Lawson, saying that students should focus on learning for learning’s sake, rather than seeing education as another step on the ladder to a high-paying career. She was scathing of the student experience, claiming that students today demand too much, and should instead trust their lecturers to educate as they see fit. She championed the idea that students should concentrate more on learning new things than worrying about whether they were getting value for money. Wes Streeting closed the discussion by stating his view on what the official NUS line should be – graduate repayment of loans should be linked to earnings, not price or the student’s economic background. The alternative would be free higher education, a goal seen as unrealistic and undesirable by many.
3
News
More Money for Vice (Chancellors)
VICE CITY: Universities’ ViceChancellorshaveagripontheirsalaries. Josh Cheesman News Editor news@bathimpact.com
AN ANNUAL salary survey has shown that the average pay of a vice-chancellor has gone up by 8% since last year, rising to £177,844. The highest paid university head is Sir Richard Sykes, Rector of Imperial College London, with a salary of £348,000 in 2006-07. Alex MacLennan, principal of Bell College in Scotland (which has since merged with the University of Paisley to become the University of the West of Scotland), was the lowest paid on £87,550. Sally Hunt, General Secretary of the University and College Union, said that “at a time when some universities are pleading poverty and suggesting they may have problems fulfilling commitments on staff pay, it does seem alittledistastefulthatvice-chancellors have once again enjoyed above-average pay increases.”
Waterstone’s and Hair Salon Set to Close
SPELLING IT OUT: The hair salon are not happy with the loss of business. Amy Pearson News Contributor WATERSTONE’S ON campus is set to close, leaving thousands of students without textbooks to help them with their studies. It is not yet known why
the store is closing, with the store manager unable to comment on the matter. Waterstone’s are planning to release a statement within the next few weeks, confirming and explaining their reasons to close. Until then it is merely a guessing game. Andy Burton, VP Communications, confirmed that the Sabb team and SU were aware of the closure of Waterstone’s, but admitted it was a University matter and not to do with the Students’ Union. He was however able to provide an explanation as to what was to happen to the space: “The University have decided to relocate the Careers service from 4 West into that space while they build the new 4 West building”. He did continue to say the Students’ Union had wanted to occupy the space with a further social area. Waterstone’s is not the only service on campus on the verge of closure. Additionally the hair salon situated near Fresh is also set to shut down. This could result in students having to spend more money by visiting salons in town. The salon has launched a petition in response to this to help prevent it being moved out.
4
IMPACT
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
IMPACT
5
Comment
Students Must Drink More to Boost Bath’s Local Economy!
Hadleigh Roberts looks to local students in order to save Bath pubs. Drinking can almost be classed as Community Service!
THE PUB culture is fighting for its life; people just are not drinking enough in pubs! Taking a (probably welcome) break from politics, I appeal to the best drinkers in town, you students, to rectify the situation to help me save an important part of Bath. Over Easter, I was working for Don Foster, Member of Parliament for Bath, and attended a meeting with local licensees. The pub and club managers all expressed concern over the same thing: people are staying in and not going out. The smoking ban could well be responsible, although it is not the main issue in this case, as the pro-smoking lobby rest on the weak argument that now pubs smell of people instead of tobacco. Nevertheless, it stands to reason that if smokers go out to a pub and suddenly feel the need to feed their habit, they take to the streets. The pub industry is reeling from the damage done by people being outside smoking instead of inside drinking. Perhaps the other problem is that now the air is clear, patrons can see the other people in the bar, and do not like what they see. The Chancellor has been a popular hate-figure for pubs. Ever since Alistair Darling raised the taxes on alcohol, there has been a well-publicised campaign from pub landlords, including one or two in Bath, working under the slogan “Sorry Darling, you’re barred!” Starting in his own
constituency, pubs across the nation have been working together to show that the Chancellor is not welcome to buy a pint (or whisky, because he’s Scottish) from them. Barring Darling is funny, but it guarantees
one fewer customer. However, it is a serious issue portrayed in a cleverly humourous way to maximise coverage, having been featured on the BBC and even mentioned in the Commons.
*Non-alcoholicalternativesavailable.
Before the prosecution rests, it is time to discover the real reason why Bath Pub owners are so irate. The criminal mastermind is Mr. Sainsbury; the real problem pubs and clubs face is BOGOF booze in superstores. The price of Sky Television has increased, and if pubs cannot afford to show sports, there is no way people are going to come out and drink when they could be watching the match at home with a six-pack of cans.
The criminal mastermind is Mr. Sainsbur y; the real problem pubs and clubs face is BOGOF booze in superstores.
RESPONSIBLEDRINKING:WhereyouhavearesponsibilitytodrinkforBath.
I shall not take the position that adults like to take when it comes to anti-social behaviour or that students ‘drink just to get drunk’ but I am sure that you and/or someone you know has either bought Sainsbury’s Basics Vodka (which is marketed as a drink, but could also be used to clean submarines) or partaken in some ‘pre-drinking’. Pub owners in Bath estimated that they are losing out on about two drinks per person per night as people are coming out later due to 24-hour drinking. People, particularly students, are
just coming out later. Having drunk about 4 pints on average before leaving home, pub staff members are finding it more difficult to monitor customers and unsure when it’s time to say “I think you’ve had enough, mate!” A gentleman (having been pre-drinking) getting rowdy and about to start a fight when the licensee says to his bar staff, “How much did you give that guy?” to hear the response “Well, just one drink” is becoming a frequent occurrence. At the meeting, it was revealed by the police spokesman that, as the law currently stands, it is the licensee that is accountable should a person be drinking in their bar who then goes on to commit an offence around the premises. However, the same measures do not apply to superstores. Furthermore, in pubs, if an employee serves an underage person at the bar, it is the proprietor who faces legal action, not the negligent staff member or even the offender. If the same thing happens in Sainsbury’s, it is again not the offender who is in trouble, but the shop assistant who served them, while the manager is not held to accountability. People need to get out more. Once again, it is up to students to lead by example and head off to the pub. Support the local economy and stay away from Sainsbury’s. Now you’ve read this, it is your moral duty to stop revising, and go buy yourself a pint!
Vive Monsieur Blair Encore Une Fois
Hadleigh Roberts Deputy Comment Editor
TONY BLAIR would make a good candidate for “President of Europe”, a new post created by the treaty approved by EU leaders at their Lisbon summit. The reasoning behind this is that the job will enable the EU to function more efficiently and to enjoy greater unity as Europe will have a face, principally that of its president, who will be elected for two and a half years. The question remains though, whether Tony Blair will accept this position. While close allies claim that he would like to take on the job, the role of EU president could conflict with the portfolio of advisory roles Blair seems keen to take up. At this stage, the problem with the new post of ‘President of the European Council’ is that it comes third in the pecking order, behind the President of the Commission, currently Jose Manuel Barroso, and the foreign affairs
supremo, likely to be Javier Solana, who already holds half the post. Do not underestimate Blair though. William Hague, amidst a performance of his typically humorous stand-up routine in the House of Commons, managed a serious analysis of the situation. “Occupied by someone with the political skill of our former Prime Minister, this job would become in not so many years a far more substantial one than the government now pretend; seen as the president of Europe by the rest of the world.” French opposition was to be expected; President Chirac was often referred to as ‘the unofficial president of Europe’. Indeed, two of France’s senior statesmen have launched an “Anyone But Blair” movement in an attempt to prevent Tony from becoming the first president of the European Union next year. On February 8th, an article appeared in The Times by Edouard Balladur, the Prime Minister of France from 1993 to 1995, describing Blair as
an inappropriate candidate for the position. Interestingly though, Blair, the former Labour Prime Minister of Euro-sceptic Britain, launched his unofficial campaign by seeking support from conservatives in Euroenthusiastic France. As Hague put it, “When he goes off to a major political conference of a centre-right party, and simultaneously refers to himself as a socialist, he is on manoeuvres.” His name was put in the frame last month by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, who described Mr Blair as “a very remarkable man – the most European of all Britons... to think of him would be a good idea.” Having Blair in the role would benefit Europe enormously. He was on very good terms with most European leaders, excluding Chirac and Schroder due to Iraq. There is no doubt that the biggest danger to the EU is no longer the Russians, Americans or even Chinese. It is not terrorism or expansion. It is Britain. Of course,
it would be a gross overstatement to suggest that the British Conservative Party is a viable threat to Europe, but the fact is that the Tories want to “renegotiate” (meaning ‘renounce’) Britain’s membership of the EU. To have, say, a Frenchman in the role would enflame an already growing phobia of anything European, to have Tony Blair at the centre of the EU could possibly stop (or at least alleviate) the UK’s sulking. On February 7th, it emerged that even Gordon Brown will back Blair should he choose to run, although the awkward relationship of the two men could easily bring the sincerity of this statement into question. In his article, Balladur argued against Blair, claiming that he fails to meet two criteria; “First, to come from a country that is completely in step with the EU’s forward march and that participates in all its different forms of co-operation; and, secondly, to be determined to build the independence of Europe,
notably in the diplomatic and military fields.” He therefore implies that the UK is disjointed with Europe, a fair assessment perhaps, and in his second point refers to Blair’s association with the USA. This ‘independence’ theme appears palatable, but really evokes old-fashioned Gaullism at its worst. In Anthony Seldon’s biography of Blair, the ‘Anglo-American special relationship’ is a key theme and reports that Blair always took it upon himself to act as the ‘bridge’ between the USA and EU; admittedly not a display of ‘independence’, but surely internationalism and multilateralism is preferable to isolationism and unilateralism. Ultimately, it is undeniable that Tony Blair is a remarkable man with great qualities, including flexibility, rapidity and a feeling for how to communicate. He is in no way disqualified for this new function because he is no longer a sitting head of government; the only question is whether he actually wants the job.
6
IMPACT
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
Comment
Apparently, impact is the Cause of Global Warming (Not That it Exists) Matthew Butler says the media is just playing an April Fool’s prank on us. IN MY home county of Dorset, snow is a veryraresight,eveninthedarkestdepths ofwinter.Yet,duringthisyear’spaschal festivities, many of us were surprised by that most exceptional of events: a White Easter. Much of the country saw heavy snowfall and bitterly cold temperatures, with the North East suffering the worst, most treacherous conditions. ButitisnotjustinBritainthatithas been exceptionally cold. In February, Jerusalem experienced two snowfalls, while 200 villages in Greece and Crete and 1000 in Turkey were cut off by blizzards. In America, there have been blizzards as far south as Texas and Arkansas, while Canada’sweatherhasbrokenrecordsdating backto1873.InAfghanistanandChina,six months of snow and record-breakingly low temperatures have threatened lives and killed hundreds of thousands of animals. The Chinese are calling it “the Winter SnowDisaster”;theCanadians,“thewinter from hell”. It would, of course, be foolish to draw conclusionsfromsuchshort-termtrendsas these. But how much have you heard about them? These major weather events have gone almost completely unreported by the
media.Yetthisisthesamemediathatnever ceasestotrumpetitsconcernfor“climate change” and feeds us a never-ending diet ofever-moreterrifyingstoriesofimminent environmental catastrophe. What a difference a year makes. Last April, when it was unusually warm, the hot weather was held up by many commentators as a harbinger of worse to come. Environmentalists for whom the end is ever nigh warned that it was now nigher thanever;here,afterall,wastheweather toproveit!Themedialappeditallup.But getaspellofcoldweather,andnotapeep will you hear. Soegregiouslyselectiveisthemedia’s coverageofclimate-relatedissuesthatit amounts to pure propaganda. Recently, 500leadingclimatologists,policy-makers and economists signed the Manhattan Declaration that rebutted the theory of man-made global warming and asserted that “human-caused climate change is not a global crisis”. But it was filtered from news coverage, because was not what they wanted to hear. Instead,theyforce-fedusthealarmism of that ecological Holy of Holies, the International Panel for Climate Change,
whose shrill, doom-laden reports supposedly bear the signatures of some 2000 of the world’s top scientists. But what we were never told is that the IPCC’s Summary for Policymakers is written by a small clique of officials, and many of the scientistsonthelistactuallydisagreewith its polemic. One, Professor Paul Reiter, oftheInstitutPasteurinParis,wasforced to threaten legal action to get his name removed. As he has lamented, it is extraordinary that in an age of reason we should have succumbed to such irrationality, panic andgullibility.Butforitsaficionados,the theory of man-made global warming is an article of faith. Theinconvenienttruth,however,isthat itsscientificbasisisopentoconsiderable doubt.Atitsheartistheideathatcarbon dioxidedrivestheclimate.ButCO2formsa tinypartoftheatmosphere,andtheamount produced by humans is even tinier. As the University of Winnipeg’s climatologist Professor Tim Ball has remarked, the obsession with carbon dioxideislikeamotoristwhosecarbreaks down and, when attempting to find the problem, ignores the engine (the Sun) and
thetransmission(watervapour,byfarthe biggest greenhouse gas) and looks only at one nut on the right rear wheel (man-made carbon dioxide). The theory, he says, is that bad. Indeed,ifitwascorrect,wewouldexpect temperaturestohavesoaredaftertherapid riseinindustrialproductionthatfollowed World War Two. Yet what happened was the opposite: much of the last century’s warming occurred before the war, while the three decades that followed it saw a sharp cooling. The warming we have seen since the 1970s is entirely normal and within cyclical fluctuations. Moreover, as the palaeoclimatologist Professor Bob Carter of James Cook University, Queensland, has observed, no global warming has occurred since 1998. The global warming alarm,hesays,is“sophisticatedscientific brainwashing”. It is easy to understand why media coverage is so distorted: scaremongering sellsnewspapers.Butcontemporaryclimate hysteriaisespeciallypernicious,because ourentirepoliticalclasshasjumpedonthe bandwagon and now threatens to impose ludicrous measures that threaten to drag
our civilisation backwards. Mercifully,ourrapaciouschancellorwas persuaded to delay his 2p increase in the priceofpetrol.Butadelay,lamentably,was allitwas–andthecostofallhisnewgreen taxes has been estimated at £3bn a year. Thisisontopofthevastamountspurloined to squander on pointless, inefficient wind farms, the already crippling cost of motoring, and the pernicious penalties slapped on the marvellous blessing of cheap air travel. One of the alarmists’ most emotive criesisthatthepoorwillsuffermostfrom man-made global warming. In fact, they are already suffering from our misplaced alarmism.IntheFirstWorld,impoverished parentsonhousingestatesstruggletopay thepetrolbill,whileintheThirdWorldthe wretchedpeopleofAfricannationsaretold theycan’tusefossilfuels,andtherefore can’t develop, by our glorious leaders sittingintheirair-conditionedconference centres. Climateisalwayschanging,justlikethe ruses our leaders use to extort money from us. But as for our capacity to be duped by spurious scaremongering, that will never change.
Don’t Snooze or Cruise in the Middle Lane Comment Editor Charlotte King talks about driving... watch out, Clarkson! I HATED every second of my driving lessons. If I made one mistake then the remainder of the lesson was a series of flustered movements by myself and attempts by my instructor to put me at ease. It was the thought of what could have happened as a result of my dodgy manoeuvre or my forgetfulness of observation that whizzed around in my head while at the same time I was trying to coordinate my feet with that oh-so-sensitive clutch and my hands on the gear-stick and brain thinking about what gear I should be in. I am pleased to say that that is all in the past. Having passed my test over two years
ago now, I find every driving excursion a mini challenge and sometimes a mega challenge. This is because the way that some people drive with such disregard for the car in the next lane or the car in front never ceases to amaze me. The worst ones for me are those who insist on using the middle lane on the motorway to cruise in. This lane is, in fact, only intended for over-taking, a means of getting from the left-hand ‘slow’ lane into the right, but it seems a lot of people do not seem to know this. This must be due to the fact that the driving test does not include motorway driving or any lessons even
theoretically about the motorway at that.It’sutterlyridiculousthatassoon as a fresh-faced 17-year-old passes their test, they can immediately take the next turning on from the test centre onto the motorway, having had no guidance from an instructor whatsoever. ‘Pass-Plus’ is always an option, but this involves paying for lessons that aren’t compulsory in order to drive legally, so most people probably wouldn’t bother. In other countries, for example Holland, part of the test involves motorway-driving. Although on test-day I probably wouldn’t have appreciated an extra half an hour of
nerve-racking scrutinisation from a high-visibility-jacket-clad instructor, in hindsight it would be much safer for everyone if it was compulsory to be taught how to safely negotiate the multiple, high-speed lanes. It is the safety aspect of peoples’ bad driving that is the real downer. Those middle lane drivers also seem to be the ones who overtake in a way that makes them extremely close to the car in front when they do it; they speed right up to the car in front and practically drive them off the road even when they’re already doing 90mph, and they brake at the last minute possible; it is as though
they want a ten-car pileup. It would be much easier if cars weren’t manufactured to be able to drive above a certain speed. Why does a car need to be able to drive at 150mph; why make the speedometer able to get so high?! The reality is that I’llneverfeelsafedrivingas,afterall, I am controlling a fast-moving hunk of metal containing flammable liquid and I am surrounded by people with minds of their own and infinite distractions who are also driving the hunk of metal containing flammable liquid. But the reality is that I’ll still hop into my car and hedge my bets.
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
IMPACT
7
8
IMPACT
Features
Psychology student Rosanna Pajak takes a closer look at that sticky brown stuff which always seems to pop up around Easter.
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
Taking a Closer Look at Chocolate After Easter’s Binge THIS MAY be blasphemous, but there’s sharingapassionatekiss. Theyfoundthat a distinct possibility that I prefer the for both sexes, that chocolate created a Easter break to the Christmas one. If more intense and longer lasting buzz than you’re anything like me, it’s likely that the kissing! It actually caused a greater over the last few weeks you overindulged increaseinbrainactivityanddoubledthe in a heavenly, creamy, chocolaty Easter volunteers’ heart rates. holiday. Society may make us chocoholics So what makes chocolate so heavenly, feelguilty,butactuallyquiteafewstudies so pleasurable and so addictive? It’s have absolved chocolate of causing acne, thought that part of the addiction could cavities and high cholesterol levels. In be due to the presence of theobromine facttheresearchgoesevenfurther,finding and caffeine. Perhaps more importantly that chocolate contains antioxidants though, chocolate contains a - which can help called “Asked the ultimate substance fight cancer and phenylethylamine. q u e s t i o n , 5 7 % o f It’soneofagroupof even improve our women would choose chemicals known as memories. chocolate over sex.” endorphins, which Many of us admit to being completely addicted to have an effect similar to amphetamines. chocolate. Infact,a1995studyfoundthat Endorphins lift the mood when released women were especially tempted, with into the blood stream, creating positive an astonishing 97% reporting cravings. energy and feelings of happiness - even Asked the ultimate question, 57% of euphoria. Chocolate really can create a women would choose chocolate over genuine chemical high. sex. Some psychologists are totally This decision actually makes sense convinced by the positive mood enhancing considering the findings of recent effectsofchocolate. ScientistsinFinland research by the University of Sussex. even found that women who eat chocolate They placed electrodes on students’ during pregnancy had happier babies. heads and compared the effect of melting They smiled more, laughed more and chocolateontheirtonguestotheeffectof were more active. The psychologists
Bathwick Hill Fun Run in aid of Romanian Orphanages Grab your sign-up forms ASAP and get yourself involved!
ON THE last Sunday of April, staff, students and fellow Bathonians alike will take a challenge all in the name of charity - a three-mile course out of the University of Bath, down North Road and back up Bathwick Hill. Organised each year by Student Community Action (SCA), the Bathwick Hill Fun Run encourages participants to get sponsored to run the course, with all the money raised going towards funding its annual Romanian Aid Trip. Every summer a group of SCA volunteers travel out to a small town called Comenesti in North East Romania to work in two orphanages; Casa Lumina - an orphanage for
disabled children funded by the charity Cry in the Dark (www.cryinthedark. co.uk), and a state-run orphanage. Money raised from the fun run will be used by Cry in the Dark, to help develop and sustain their work in Romania, and also by our volunteers to improve the quality of life of the orphans they will be working with. This year’s race takes place on Sunday the 27th of April, starting at 11am on the University campus. To register for the race simply hand in a deposit of £10 with a registration form to the Volunteer Centre in Bath University Students Union (forms available from there), or to the volunteers on Bath University
parade on the morning of the race. All participants will receive an entry pack, and those participants who raise over £25 for the race will get their full deposit refunded. There are only 100 places available, so make sure you get your forms in early! As an added incentive to run up Bathwick Hill, prizes will be awarded to the winners of the race (male and female), as well as for best fancy dress and best team. The overall winner will also be awarded the Bathwick Hill Fun Run Trophy! For more information please e-mail bathwickhillfunrun@googlem ail.com, or drop by the Volunteering Centre.
argued that the happy chemicals in chocolate were so strong that they passed to the foetus whilst in the womb. Other psychologists remain unconvinced about chocolate’s seemingly miraculous qualities. Many argue that the levels of chemicals in chocolate aren’t high enough to explain the mood boost it clearly provides, let alone be passed on during pregnancy. Even Cadbury’s admit that ‘Phenylethylamine is found in much smallerquantitiesin chocolate compared to other foods like tomatoes and fruit’. Clearly there is something more to chocolate’s intrinsic appeal – I don’t know many tomato addicts, do you? It’s possible that we are simply hardwired to love it. Researchers in California set up a 33-foot trail of chocolate essence. Two thirds of their blindfolded volunteers were able to follow the scent to the end of the trail, justlikedogs!Soisourloveofchocolate
satisfying a basic, human desire? Intheend,mostpsychologistsconclude that the predominant factor causing the cravingsislikelytobethebasichedonistic appeal of chocolate. The sugar, the fat, thetextureandthearomaareallintensely pleasurable. Infact,chocolateisunique. It is apparently the only substance that melts in the mouth at body temperature, gently exploding into a warm sensual liquid. Thatsoothing pleasurable quality can’t really fail to make people feel happy. Chocolate is so visual and tactile the flavour truly overwhelms our taste buds. We even get pleasure just from the anticipation of eating it. Given its pleasurable sensations, addictive ingredients and mood-boosting chemicals, is it really any wonder we’re a bit nutty about chocolate? So if you are feeling gluttonous or guilty just remind yourself of the facts, and any Easter overindulgence can be easily justified. After all, we’re only human!
Imagine...
...what the world would be like if we all had dreams like Features Editor Josie Cox...
JAMES DEAN, one of my personal heartthrobs,iscreditedwithsaying:“Dreamas ifyou’llliveforever,liveasifyou’lldie today.” I don’t really know what to make ofthis.Ishesuggestingthatweallbecome ambitious fops with over-sized egos? Or perhapshe’sinferringthatweshouldrisk our lives more often? After all, we might die tomorrow. Unlike James though, even ifIwantedto“dreamasifI’llliveforever”, dream-controljustisn’toneofmyfortes. My dreams tend to unfold pretty much as they please, randomly churning out the most fantastic of stories. Let me share. When describing my dreams, the term “weird” just does not do them justice. A few weeks ago for example, I dreamt I was a tree. Yes, a tree. I was standing on a tor, drenched in the dewy sunlight of a hazy morning. Other trees surrounded me, butitwasn’taclaustrophobicsetting.Iwas solidlyrootedintotheearthyforestfloor with gentle breezes stroking my rough bark. I stood tall and proud, my ancient rootshavingamplespacetoextendtotheir entire length. A few nights later I was in an underground KGB bunker in some remote part of communist Russia. Aside from wandering around the labyrinth of corridors and passing the odd commie with aprettystarembellishinghishat,Ididn’t getuptoomuch.Suddenly,outoftheblue, I came across the recording studio of BBC Radio One. Those of you who were avid listenersbeforeEasterwillknowthattwo presenters were challenged to run a mile at every Premier League football ground in the UK in aid of Sports Relief. Sure
enough,thetwoofthemwereinthestudio, shufflingalongontheirtreadmillstraining for their challenge. I then woke up. Despite spanning as far as the remote Ruski bunkers and forests that resemble those of J.R.R Tolkien, my dreams sometimes stay as local as the streets of Bath. Once I was walking into town on a rainy Saturday when I came across a busker. He was playing some exceptionally melancholic Verve song and looked like a homeless person. My boundless kindheartedness made me reach into my pocket foraquid,butasIbentdowntoputitinhis hat,Inoticedthatlettersthatmygranddad had written to me a few weeks ago were scattered all around him, resembling my room during revision week. The music died down and our eyes met. “Hello Josie” he said to me. So what have we learnt today? If dreams came true, I would be a tree, an intruder in a KGB bunker who is visiting some charitable Radio One DJs, and finally, weirdly related to a homeless busker who turned out to be my granddad in disguise. I wonder what Freud would make of me?
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
Coming Soon for 2008: The Societies Awards are Moving into Bath’s Pride and Joy! Hayden Arrowsmith VP Activities and Development suactivities@bath.ac.uk THIS YEAR’S Societies Awards Evening sees a complete relaunch of the event, with a move to the prestigious Pump Room in the centre of our historic city, on 2nd May. The event is held in recognition for those societies that have organised and held the best activities and events this academic year. The awards also recognise the contributions from society members who have successfully assisted their society and others, in providing exceptional opportunities for students to get involved. In total there are eighteen special
awards available this year so plenty of opportunities for you to nominate your society! If you’ve attended a society event and thought it was brilliant then why not submit a nomination yourself? It’s simple to do. Just login to BathStudent.com/societies/ awards and follow the link to submit a nomination. Nominations close this Friday 11th April at midnight. The evening will kick off with a drinks reception in the Roman Baths from 7pm, followed by a desserts buffet and the awards ceremony from 8pm. With performances from the best the Students’ Union has to offer, and awards presented by guests including the Vice-Chancellor, this black tie event is one not to miss!
9
Features
HOROSCOPE Madame Soufflé
GREETINGS FROM the heavens, my star children. I am Madame Souffle and I will traverse the astral planes and helicopters in order to guide you through the year. This week, as the spring term commences, everyone should strive to make some eco-changes. We on the astral planes will be buying solar powered torches. CAPRICORN (22 December - 20 January) I know you’ve been told this before but I feel I should reinforce the statement. Incest is not cool. AQUARIUS (21January-19February)If you see Bigfoot this week and he’s riding a flying carpet with a talking camel, I’d say it’s safe to say you’re on drugs. PISCES (20 February - 20 March) If you’re going to mug someone in the near future, be polite about it. ARIES (21 March- 20 April) There’s nothing funny about sticking a needle in your eye. Go ahead, prove me wrong.
CANCER (23 June- 23 July) Next weekend would be a good time to thwart your enemies. LEO (24 July- 23 August) You’re going to help a rabbit this week. But it won’t appreciate it.
abducted you? You’re going to go on a lovely bike ride with them. Bring a puncture repair kit and an anal-probeantidote, but don’t get them muddled up.
VIRGO (24 August - 23 September) A cricket will claim to be your conscience. PersonallyIthinkit’slying.Don’ttrust insects that wear hats. LIBRA (24 September - 23 October) Thinking about going into outer space? Think again.
TAURUS (21 April- 21 May) Do you know what an erogenous zone is? Whatever you do, don’t try and park in one.
SCORPIO (24 October - 22 November) You’ll consider reading a credible horoscope but then realise that if you do that I’ll kill you.
GEMINI (22 May- 22 June) A thorn in your side is worth two in the bush.
SAGITTARIUS (23 November - 21 December) Remember those aliens that
TeachFirst. Ask Questions Later. Jack Smith-Keegin Contributor
Nearly Naked Mile
In summary, the Nearly Naked Mile includes the following: 1 Mile, 2 Feet, 3 Prizes and one For the Most Money Raised. Rebecca Drake explains more.
BATH ENGINEERS Without Borders (EWB) are organising a Nearly Naked Mile round campus, to take place on the last Friday of lectures. The aim is to raise as much funding as possible to support developing communities, and to have a great time once lectures are finished! Four words spring to mind to describe this event; run, eat, drink, PARTAY! EWB UK makes available funding to give poorer communities around the world the opportunity to sustainably bring themselves out of poverty. It has
IMPACT
often been proven that despite being low on funds, students can be incredibly supportive towards charities. We aim to show once again the positive influence students have regarding topical issues. Money raised would be made directly available to these poorer communities, as well as paying for the training of individuals to manage development projects. Additionally, an after-“run” BBQ with drinks offers and live music will be organised. All runners will receive free food and drinks tokens!
HERE AT Bath, we students frequently find ourselves targeted by recruitment campaigns. Whether or not you appreciate the constant flow of flyers, posters and free branded items, the benefits are certainly manifest: job opportunities. Almost all of the largest graduate recruiters are represented here in Bath, and anyone studying at Bath who has given thought to their career will surely have considered a graduate training programme with one of them. But is this the only possibility? Will an alternative beginning to your career necessarily set you back? Of course, this is not the case; there are many and various ways to begin your careerthatallowyoutoattainallofyour aspirations. One such alternative is offered by TeachFirst, a registered British charity, which runs a two-year training programme, using teaching as a means of developing a wide range of your skills. At the end of the two years, you have qualifiedasateacher,gainedawealthof experience, and have a skill set strong enough to enable you to move into any career you choose.
I spoke to two Bath alumni, Alex Pett and Deji Odunlami, about their experiences with TeachFirst. As with many TeachFirst participants, neither Alex nor Deji had any long term plans to begin a career in teaching. Alex had “always felt a very strong pull for a highly paid job for some sort of financial company. I only came across TeachFirst during my final year and to my delight I found that it combines both career paths in which I had an interest. Not only this,butitsoundedliketheexactsortof challenge I relish”. Deji had been planning to begin postgraduate study in Musical Theatre, and even had an offer from the Royal Academy of Music. After his time with TeachFirst though, Deji’s mind had certainly changed: “after completing the programme I worked for TeachFirst for a year, having been elected into the role of Participant President [a position analogous to BUSU President] ... On completing that, I returned to the classroom... soI’mdefinitelystayingin the sphere of education for the immediate future”. All TeachFirst placements are in challenging schools in Central London, the Midlands and the North West, and participants begin teaching after just
six intensive weeks of training, so it is certainly not an easy undertaking. Deji found the first three months the most challenging: “It was incredibly difficult taking knock backs everyday from the kids whose lives you were trying toinfluenceforthebetter. Oneoftheones I’llneverforgetwasbeingtoldtop***off by a GCSE pupil who had done no work for two weeks, just because I offered to help. When I explained that I was her teacher she explained that she hadn’t noticed. “Once those times passed though, the teaching was an absolute joy. I still laugh so much every day, it’s fantastic.” Another aspect of TeachFirst is the chance to make contacts that will aid your progress in any number of careers. Deji says he has “gained an invaluable network of people” including “influential people from many of TeachFirst’s supporters. It amazes me that I have access to some people who I would never meet if I worked for their organisations”. As well as networking opportunities, the TeachFirst programme extends beyond teaching in other ways. Every participant is guided through the two years by an experienced coach from one of TeachFirst’s supporters. The break between the first and second years can be used for an internship at a company of your choice, with many placements available that are exclusive to TeachFirst. You also take part in the Leadership Development Programme, which offers invaluable training in a variety of fields. So TeachFirst can definitely be considered a strong beginning to your career,asitsplaceastheonlycharityin the top 20 of the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers attests. And, as Alex says abouthistimesofarwithTeachFirst,“you neverquitegetusedtoathirteen-year-old girltellingyouto‘f***off’justbecauseyou askedhertotuckhershirtin. Nevertheless, I simply would not swap these past 11 weeks for anything”.
10
IMPACT
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
Features Scant’s Regard: Tourist Time in Spain for Laura
Laura Scantlebury drops the smokescreen and gets back to her tourist roots.
DURING MUCH of my time abroad, first in France and now here, I have been learning how to be a chameleon. From avoiding brightly coloured clothing in France to eating lunch at 3pm in Spain – not good for the average week’s snack tally – I will do whatever it takes to blend in with the locals. And yes, that even includes developing a taste for coffee, although nothing could ever cause my loyalty to waver from a steaming mug of English Breakfast. Tea aside, when in Spain I want to live as the Spanish do, or in other words to
become as near native as I can in order and past field upon field of olive trees, to understand the country, its people and not a single cow managed to obstruct its language. the line. However, over the past two weeks my IfeverIhadthepossibilityofkeeping chameleon-self has shown yet another my non-tourist respectability intact, different colour, as with one week’s it was soon shattered by the arrival of break from university, followed by an the Scantlebury clan. Abandoning any Easter visit from the family, I found attempt at appearing local, I picked myself turning into a tourist. Stooping up my camera and embraced life as a to such a level can be justified on guiri, or foreigner. Travelling through the grounds that at Easter the entire time and space in a very Doctor Whopopulation of Spain becomes tourists like manner, we witnessed Roman – as the traffic jams Spain in the town and train fares bear “I will do whatever of Segovia, admired testament. All I did it takes to blend in the astonishingly with the locals.” was join in. intricate traces of First on my tourist the Moors at the to-do list was a trip on the Spanish Alhambra palace and in the Sierra high speed train, the Ave, to visit a Nevada obtained sunburn that would friend in Malaga. Modern, efficient make any Brit proud. Journeys in my and comfortable, with free sweets, family have a tendency to become an on-board movie and enough space geography lessons – thanks to for luggage, the Ave proved to be a geographer father and geologist everythingtheBritishrailserviceisnot. mother – and each expedition was duly My hopes for a delay – the company peppered with the exclamations of “Just promise to refund your money in such look at that vertical strata!” that have a circumstance – remained unfulfilled, punctuated my family holidays since and as I sped south through mountains childhood.
On one day, we ventured just north of Madrid towards the Valle de los Caidos, the burial place of General Franco, who ruled over Spain for nearly 40 years of dictatorship that only ended with his death in 1975. An enormous stone cross – built by prisoners from the defeated Republican opposition – ostentatious in size but simple in design, towers
over a cavernous chapel that has been dug out of the rock in a peaceful valley. The chapel gleams in its grey austerity, providing a glimpse of the character of a person who would wish to be buried in such a place. Impressive yet cold, the monument speaks of the imposition of authoritarian rule, the death, on both sides, during the civil war and following it, and the ruthlessness of Franco himself. It is an unsettling reminder that Spain was not always the relaxed, lively country that it is today.
A Cap on More Than Just Bottles Cocktails Gone Quirky Laura Best explains why students are lying down in protest. A GROUP of 24 students lay down on the parade over their lunch break to demonstrate their support for more recyclingfacilitiesattheUniversity. The group formed a bottle shape, indicating theneedformoreplasticbottlerecycling facilities around campus. “It’s shocking that when we leave lectures, we just throw our plastic bottles and paper in the same bin. Think how much more of our waste could be recycled!” said one inspired supporter. Final year management students are running the “Revive your Rubbish” campaign with the aim of raising awareness and promoting the use of recyclingfacilitiesoncampus. Theyalso hopetocollectenoughsignaturesontheir petition to show the Vice-Chancellor how unhappy students are about the lack of recycling facilities. The University introduced a pilot scheme for the recycling bins outside the libraryandFreshlastyear,butthishasn’t been followed up. The University hardly providesanyfacilitiesforthevariousbars and coffee shops on campus; in fact, they withdrewplansforrecyclingfacilitiesin the Blues cafe in the STV because it cost too much – now all of their rubbish just gets mixed together. Although recycling in halls has got much better, the University really needs to look into how it can make our carbon footprint a few sizes smaller; token gestures won’t do it. In a nationwide analysis of how environmentally friendly UK universities are, Bath finished 16th out of 102. Not bad? Sure, Bath did OK, but when it comes to recycling we are distinctly average, recycling only 11% of waste, compared to Southampton’s 68%! The fact that a group of passers-by were rallied into lying down outside the library in the middle of a busy lunchtime shows just how much passion there is for
Anni Kasari Contributor AS THE days get longer and the gorgeous spring sunshine makes it harder and harder to keep your nose glued to the textbooks, it is time to visit Sainsbury’s for a good alcohol stock-up. There will be reasons (or excuses) aplenty to celebrate during the following weeks as the BBQ season kicks in, all this making it an ideal time to try out your bartender skills at home. Forget Sex on the Beach and Brazilian Sunrise, go for one of these more exotic cocktails instead – they’re easy, ever so tasty and a brilliant way to lure your mates out of the library! Fisherman’s Friend 2 packets of Fisherman’s friends (50 g) 5 dl vodka Crush the Fisherman’s friends (imagination here - a certain fresher has been known to use his golf club for this purpose!). Pour some vodka into another container, leaving 5 dl in the original bottle, add the crushed sweets and seal. Shake the bottle every now and then and the sweets will dissolve. Serve in a shot glass.
this issue. The “Revive your Rubbish” campaign is already backed up by the One World society and the SU, but they now need your support to make recycling apriorityontheUniversity’sagenda. The
studentsarenextorganisinganexhibition stand on the parade on the 15th of April from 2-4pm and would encourage all studentstocomebytosigntheirpetition. Look out for the green footprints!
Granny’s Slipper 2 cl Bailey’s Original 2 cl Fisherman’s Friend (see above)
Pour the Bailey’s into a shot glass. Pour the Fisherman’s Friend on top but don’t let them mix. Piglet 2 cl vodka 2 cl raspberry liquor 6 cl milk
Fill a tall glass with ice, add the alcohol and top up with milk. Serve with a straw. Try Polish Zubrowka Bison Vodka for a fancier version! Enjoy your drinks responsibly!
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
IMPACT
Entertainments
Sweet Dreams and Crushing Reality MOMENTS IN life can be dreamshattering. Now for instance, I’ve always dreamed of being in a band, playing a guitar at breakneck speed while the crowd sings along to our latest top 20 single. The music stops, only for the silence to be greeted by rapturous applause from the many boys and girls, half of them wearing our band’s T-shirts. The noise dies down, almost to silence apart from the odd ‘woop!’ here and there and a quick thank you from me, mumbled over the microphone. I start playing the opening chord to one of our classic hits, and the place goes wild. Then I wake up. So, when researching ‘Operator Please’, it made a part of the wannabe rock star in me die inside to realise that I am older than all of the band’s members. One by four years. It was like a few years ago when I saw Theo Walcott play his first game for England, now recognised as the official day when the child in me, running about the pitch in his England shirt dreaming of scoring the 90th minute winner in the World Cup Final, died of disappointment. I’m only 20 for crying out loud, is it really too late already? Well to be honest, no. Though I might lack the ability to a) play a musical instrument and b) sing, that hasn’t stopped some bands. Indeed, since 1977, when punk fanzine Sniffin’
Single Soulja Boy Yahhh! Interscope Out Now Let’s have a quiz! What do you, kind readerofimpact,thinkthatthephrase ‘Yahhh!’ means? A nonsensical yell? A Braveheart-esque call to arms perhaps? Astutephraseologistswillquitepointedly pointoutthatitisnotdissimilartothe sound that emanates from a Wookie’s lungs. Unfortunately, as Soulja Boy informsus,notso. Sogatherroundbythe campfirekindlisteners,andletSouljaBoy teachusallalittlelessonastotheorigins ofthephrasethat has been on everyone’s lipssincethestartofthisarticle…Yahhh! What on earth could it mean? As Soulja Boy puts it, ‘Yahhh!’ can mean anything totheeffectof‘getofmyface’,or‘leave me alone’, or even a phrase as simple as just‘stop’. Butit’snotthatsimple,one also has to pick the right context to put forwardsuchaconfrontationalstatement as Yahhh! So, luckily for us, the entire chorusofthesong/lessonisriddledwith suchinstancesthatYahhh!canbeproperly used. For example, if you are asked for an autograph from a fan, what would one say? Well, after a quick listen, one now knows exactly what to say: “Yahhh!, bitch,Yahhh!’istheonlyproperresponse. But what if, say, someone who you didn’t likewantedtobeyour girlfriend? Well, only one response stands out: “Yahhh!, bitch,Yahhh!”. Gee, thanks Soulja Boy, you’re the best.
Glue published the defining image of three hand-drawn chords – finger positions for E, A and B7 – with the caption “Here’s three chords. Now form a band”, some music performers have taken this message to heart. Current punk-pop faves Art Brut have gone a step further, with singer Eddie Argos not bothering with any of that singing lark and instead speaking his lines on songs. (Probably not going to cut with music connoisseurs, but still ruddy good if you ask me, in its own little way). If nothing, it is proof that you don’t need actual, tangible talent
to be successful in the music biz, just a wry eye and a willing audience whatever your age. Then there’s the other end of the scale, professional musicians who were born with a guitar in there hands or a bass pedal welded to their feet, Jack White for instance. Multiinstrumentalist, playing in two huge bands at the same time (The White Stripes and The Raconteurs), and capable of more reinventions than I can care to mention. Clearly a talented boy, so why on earth did he deem it necessary on White Stripes album
‘White Blood Cells’ to solely bang a drum for fifty seconds, screaming over a top about being in a little room? To me, that would be like Pele in his heyday, scoring a first half hat-trick then turning around to his manager and saying ‘Can I play at centre half now, boss?’ It just doesn’t translate. But if he can put that on album and call it a track, why can’t I? More than likely it is jealousy of the clearly very talented people mentioned previously. They were once nobodies, normal people who went by without note. That is until they decided to spend years practising to get to where they are now, and deservedly so. The members of ‘Operator Please’ I imagine, spent as much time in the practice room as most of us did drinking cheap cider on weekends or dicking around doing such other wholesome activities. But the fact that I will probably need the kind of willpower they possess to become bona-fide superstars, this minor detail won’t stop me dreaming, or playing the air guitar when a favourite song comes on. When you think about it, if you don’t have the dream in the first place, there’s no chance of it coming real. Sean Lightbown Entertainments Co-Editor
WHOOPS!: Meg was unaware that Spiderman had messed up big time.
ents@bathimpact.com
Film Preview 21 Out 11/04/08
EVER FELT that being at university leaves you a bit strapped for cash? You might consider a number of options such as getting a part-time job, bleeding your overdraft dry, or maybe persuading mummy and daddy to part with their hard-earned savings. You could also join a band of friends, become an expert card-counter and con the casinos of Las Vegas for millions at blackjack. Amazingly this is based on a true story, with Jim Sturgess leading the way as the young whiz-kid with the backing of eccentric maths professor, Kevin Spacey.
Album Preview The Kooks Konk Out 14/04/08 BRIGHTON BOYS The Kooks have the world at their feet. Literally. Having sent the hearts of teenage girls soaring everywhere with ditties like ‘Naive’ and ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’ on debut LP ‘Inside In/Inside Out’, they return for yet more of the same. The achingly catchy do-do-dos on latest single ‘Always Where I Need To Be’ seem to point to more of the same. If this is the case, then expect them to fully cement their place as the teenybopper’s numner one choice, albeit wearing silly hats.
From Africa, With Love
Ben Cohen surveys the music scene from his lofty perch, and is happy to see a Sub-Saharan influence on proceedings. IF THERE is one thing in common between many of the hyped up bands so far this year, it is the influence that African music has had on them. This is most apparent in bands like Vampire Weekend and Yeasayer, but on closer inspection it can be seen that the influence is far more widespread. Foals’ first single from their upcoming debut LP, ‘Balloons’, has a riff with a very African feel to it, and even Coldplay are getting desperate enough to reportedly be looking at African music as inspiration for their next album. And it’s not just a Northern Hemisphere thing. Further abroad, New Zealand’s the Ruby Suns latest offering has an unashamedly African feel to it, while Architecture
in Helsinki’s single ‘Heart it Races’ even included faux tribal chanting and a mock anthropological video. Yet one can hardly say that appropriation is a new thing. And it isn’t exactly a one-way street either. Fela Kuti, for example, admits to being influenced by music he heard on a trip to America in the late 1960s. What is more interesting though is that while Fela Kuti and many others in the same vein have an overwhelming political message built into their music, this latest trend of Afro-indie tends to stay politically apathetic. This is what sets apart this trend from, say, Talking Heads in their “African” phase, and raises the question of whether we are just putting
PPPPP Ben Cohen Contributor
11
VAMPIREWEEKEND:Indie’s new kids on the block are highly African-influenced.
YEASAYER: African Voodoo powers enabling them to levitate Campbell’s soup. an acceptable white face on black music, just as Elvis so successfully did with rock’n’roll. While there are people that hold this view of cultural theft without vindication,itisespeciallysimplistic. To say that bands like Vampire Weekend are merely stealing sounds emanating from Africa is rather harsh. I think that assimilating would be a better word. While they may describe their music as “Upper West Side Soweto” and have songs with names like ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’, their sound is more of a hybrid of multiple influences, and they really are just four preppy Columbia University graduates who are as much influenced by Weezer as they are by Zimbabwean drumbeats. Likewise Yeasayer, who are also the
first to admit to being influenced by African sounds, are a band that revel in creating atmosphere rather than catchy choruses, and where better to look than influences ranging from West African rhythm to Brian Eno and TV On The Radio? So while indie-rock’s latest interest in African music fails to have any linkages with African politics, should it reallymatterifthemusicisallthebetter forit? Itismorelikelyaresultofbands looking outside mainstream influences due to the rather restraining nature of the music scene, and this is something that should be congratulated rather than admonished.
Ben Cohen Contributor
12
IMPACT
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
Entertainments
Kid in Mask Scares Grown Man
While Kerry-Anne Young is happily stirred by ‘The Orphanage’, Adam Luqmani is left shaken for life... The Orphanage Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona Out Now
WITH A Rotten Tomatoes rating of 85%; a genre described as ghost/ suspense/foreign film (brilliant, that’ll definitely putting the shitters up deputy editor Adam ‘Luqolas’ Luqmani); and the Mexican film director Guillermo Del Toro (of Blade 2, Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth fame) in the producer’s chair, I decided that The Orphanage sounded like an excellent cinematic option. The fact that it was on at Bath’s Little Theatre made it a sure thing – the perfect atmosphere for a little midweek scare! A quick synopsis goes thus: nice lady is adopted from an orphanage where she is adored by the other orphans and staff. When she’s grown up, she returns to buy the disused orphanage with her husband and their own adoptive son, to turn it into a home for disabled children (awww, what nice people). Her son, a gorgeous but strange little lad, comes to the house with ‘invisible’ friends and quickly starts to amass more. He then goes missing and his mum must uncover the nightmare secrets about the house by playing its dark games to find the whereabouts of her son. The acting is superb, and although most reviews I read focused on the leading lady (Belen Rueda) who
PROBLEM CHILD: Down to bad parenting or the kid being a bloody pyscho? dominates the show, I think the boy steals it. He is bouncy and sinister at the same time. I am still asking myself how much of the film’s violence and eeriness was because of the ghosts, and how much was because of that sweet but fated child? Upon reflection I have found myself wondering why the kid got away with so much crap – maybe if his mother had given the little toe-rag some severe discipline things wouldn’t have got so creepy to begin with! Obviously a woman is not the only procurer of serene family life, however I guess she has to be when Daddy seems utterly pointless and committed to letting the ghosts get them. Get yourself a better husband, fool. The film left me with a melancholy feeling. This was a product of its
ending, certainly – but also of a lot of its themes. The mother is adopted and therefore has to leave her happy home and friends to the forces of darkness until she returns and is forced to sort the mess out. Her husband and child seem peripheral to the story and therefore to her life. There is a sense of density in the haunting. For Adam, the only part of the story that stuck out seems to have been the ghosts. Seriously. He had nightmares. A good film I think – but I like Pan’s Labyrinth slightly better. And folks, I guess that’s what Jonathan Woss would say.
Asleep At Heaven’s Gate Rogue Wave Universal Out Now WITHOUT KNOWING it, you will probably have already heard Rogue Wave’smusic. TheCalifornianquartethas contributedtheirworktoplentyofpopular films and television series, including Napoleon Dynamite, Scrubs and Heroes as well as in the Microsoft Zune advert. So, they’re clearly onto a good thing with the Stateside big cheeses, but what should us lowly Bath students make of it? Well, having greedily kept hold of Asleep At Heaven’s Gate for aaaaages without nothingyettoshowforit,Ihavetosaynow, inatypicallysubduedBritishfashion,that it is, “ahem, rather good, actually.” Opening track ‘Harmonium’ steamrolls in with a thumping beat and a melodic piano which aptly sets the tone for what is yet to come. We are eased in gently, then led up to a thundering crescendo, displaying the breadth of Zach ‘Rogue’ and Co.’s musical vision – alternating between soul-stirring, powerful choruses and breezy, gentle refrains. ‘LikeINeeded’takesaslightlydifferent stance with slightly strange drum samples atthebeginning,thenmeltsintoyetanother
HHHHP
HHHHP Kerry-Anne Young Contributor
New Theatre, Oxford 23/03/08 FOR ME, a perfect Easter Sunday was had by spending my evening with the Eels. They are one of my lifelong favourite bands, and they had finally come to the UK foranintimatenon-festivalperformance. The venue was Oxford’s delightful New Theatre, a musty and timeless venue; warm, cosy and complete with red velvet tiered seats and ornate ceilings. The show opened with a one-hour documentary (previously aired by the BBC) about the famous physicist father of Mr E, the band’s “front man” (the Eels don’t haveafixedlineup,butratheracontinually rotating backing band behind the ever present founder and centrepiece, Mr E). Hugh Everett III, Mr E’s brilliant but troubled father, was the man who invented the many worlds theory; otherwise known as the idea of parallel universes. That might not sound like much, but when you consider that this theory has been (and still is) the backbone of roughly 54% of mainstreamsciencefictioneversince(see Doctor Who, Quantum Leap, His Dark Materials), it is obvious how influential this man has been on the world of quantum physics and beyond. Mind boggling stuff. Following the film, there was a short break, after which we were presented with astageloadedwithinstruments.Onwalked
Mr E, with his trademark understated look –thickglasses,abeard,abaseballcapand amechanic’soveralls.Theloneartisttook thecentrestagetorapturousapplauseand cheers, and opened the proceedings with some tentative solo versions including a touching piano act of ‘It’s a Mother F*cker’. This was followed by a typically modest introduction – “Hi, it’s me, the son of the world famous physicist Hugh Everett [laughter]…happy Easter, by the way. Sorry about the, er, lyrics on the last number.” Mr E (or, simply, E) then welcomed some help on stage in the form of current fellow band member, The Chet. TheChetwasclearlyskilledinanumberof musicaldisciplines,andexercisedasmany as possible during the next few numbers, playing the drums, bass, rhythm and lead guitars, as well as some more weird and kooky instruments – a saw played with a bow, a Theremin, a sampler featuring some
backwards-sounding sting loops, and a toy piano. With this arsenal of music-making capability, the duo were able to extract technicallyexcellentperformanceswithout hiding behind grunged-up guitars; every note could be picked out and evaluated by the listener, and yet the sounds never sounded “spare” or lacking in richness and depth. During the performance, there were two interludes where Mr E got The Chet to read fromE’srecentlyreleasedautobiography. Asnarcissisticasitsounds,particularly afterforegoingasupportingactinfavourof a documentary about him and his dad, the readingsstilldidn’tcomeoffbadly–itwas actuallyaprettygoodidea,andthereadings were kept short and light-hearted, with plenty of interruptions from E; they also led well into the following numbers. Of the many highlights, I particularly enjoyed the roof-raising version of
ECCENTRIC: Mr E being protected from the rest of his band by his bodyguard.
Hannah Raymont Contributor
WANTED: Witty drum comment.
...but impact’s Deputy Editor is left positively Eelectrified by the Eels. Eels
deliverance of slick undulating guitar rock, taking you out of dreary England and straight onto sun-soaked West Coast beaches (incidentally Rogue Wave also appeared on the soundtrack for The OC). However, the two essential tracks (whichstillremainonrepeatonmystereo) from this album have to be ‘Chicago x 12’ and single ‘Lake Michigan’. I actually heard‘Chicagox12’quiteawhileagonow, butitsappealstillsticks. Withrollingand clashing drums and yet more harmonic guitars, the song aches with yearning and regretbutstillremainsuplifting. Thelatter, ‘Lake Michigan’, has become popular in the US through advertising and it’s easy to see why, with its infectious upbeat harmonies and lyrics that seem to cater more to the rules of rhythm than to reason (listen to them, do they actually make any sense?). Afterthispoint(thefourthtrack),the album does seem to falter a little and tempo is knocked down a notch or two. At times it begins to sound a little too much like its label companion: the ever laid back (read: so laid back that he’s nearly dead) Jack Johnson. Luckily, the pace is picked up again in ‘Own Your Own Home’ and ‘Phonytown’, with folksy, ethereal contrasts from aptly named track ‘Fantasies’(don’tbeputoffbytheintro). Allin all,to concludemy description of what constitutes ‘rather good’ in the eyes of a Brit, ‘Asleep At Heaven’s Gate’ is a rich offering of sweet (though never sickly) alt-American rock, and heartily recommended to Jack Johnson fans who pine for something a little heavier and a lot more heartfelt.
Single The Kooks Always Where I Need To Be Out Now Virgin Records
‘Flyswatter’, during which E and Chet actually swapped instruments – E smoothly took over the drums from Chet without dropping a single high-hat-tap; and then they swapped back equally seamlessly – just for kicks! Also excellent was longtime favourite, ‘Novocaine for the Soul’, which the duo melded neatly into a wholly unexpected cover of Led Zep’s ‘Good Times, Bad Times’ – a little nod to their British audience. After a plethora of songs ranging from theiroldesttonewestalbums,thepairsaid theirgoodbyesandleftthestage–achance totakeintheexcellencewithwhichwehad beenpresented.Soonafter,weweregifted withtwoencores. Thesecondencore,‘P.S. You Rock my World’, was possibly one ofthebestliveversionsIhaveeverheard –ofanysong,byanyband.Thesongitself is typical Eels material; mellow, faintly biographical, and always looking up: “I wasatafuneralthedayIrealisedIwanted tospendmylifewithyou”.Weallknew,as weshuffledquietlyoutofthetheatre,that we had witnessed something special. If you haven’t heard of Eels, or if you know of them but don’t know much of their stuff, I can whole-heartedly recommend theirgreatesthitsalbum(MeettheEels)as a starting point.
THE KOOKS’ massive success came as a bit of a surprise for many. This was demonstrated most aptly I feel by theirlivesetatthe2006LeedsFestival. The crowd were as far back as ten rows outside the tent, and when their set ended, at least half disappeared with exhaustion, leaving The Rakes to play in a half empty venue. So now we know the extent of the buzz that The Kooks will cause over the summer, we can prepare for it better. The band have even does us a favour by keeping their brand of radio-friendly indie same for the second time around. Jangly guitar hook? Check. Pritchard’s testes-in-vice whine? Check. Appropriate amount of ‘do-do-dos’ in order to have the song entrenched in listener’s head, whether wanted or not? Triple check. So congratulations, boys – you’re well on the way to having a nation of 15year-olds falling at your feet. But do the rest of us a favour and come back with some originality next time around, then we’ll talk.
HHHHH
HHPPP Adam Luqmani Deputy Editor
Sean Lightbown ents@bathimpact.com
13
IMPACT
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
Entertainments
You Cross My Path The Charlatans Cooking Vinyl Out Now
THE CHANCES are that at some point in your life, you’ve watched ‘One Man and His Dog.’ For those of you who haven’t, thebasicpremiseisthatit’satelevision programme that shows sheepdog trials. It’sgainedabitofacultfollowinginthis countryandhasbeenrunningforoverthirty years.Thepointhereisthatifyou’reafan of the show, you’re always going to be and if you’re not, the show sticks to the same basicblueprint,soyouprobablyneverwill be a regular viewer. All of which neatly leads us on to the new album by The Charlatans. Since the late80s,they’vebeenpartofthealternative landscape,neverchangingtheirtried-andtestedformula.Forthis,theirtenthstudio album,they’vedecidedtoreleaseitasafree download via the XFM website, which is borderingoninteresting,untilyourealise you can probably get ‘One Man and His
CHARLATANS:Don’t cross their path.
Dog’ via BBC iPlayer these days anyway. ‘You Cross My Path’ sounds exactly as you’d expect a Charlatans album to sound.TheCharlatans’callingcardsareall present;multi-layeredguitars,robustbass, thumping drums, swirling keyboards and thenasalwhineofleadsingerTimBurgess. Itlimpsintolifewithcurrentsingle,‘Oh! Vanity’, which never threatens to get out ofsecondgear.Thedullnessofthesongis complimented perfectly by Burgess’ awful lyrics (“Now I’m all grown up to be/A paranoid schizophrenique”), thus setting the tone for the rest of the album. The album remains at the same volume throughout,withnohintofachangeofpace ordirection,meaningthatthesubtletiesof some of the more listenable moments are lost. The only genuinely exciting song is thetitletrack,whichispropelledbyaspiky guitarriff,butBurgessdoeshisbesttoruin itwiththeworstlyricaldisplayofthelot (“I am the sound of Iraq/I am the sound of the Red Sea”). It’s best to make sure ‘You Cross My Path’ doesn’t cross your path. However, if you’re a fan of the band, this album is undeniablyCharlatan-esque(orshouldthat be ‘Charlatonian?’) and you’ll probably enjoyitregardless.Sinceyou’vethensaved a few quid on downloading it for free, why notgoandtreatyourself?Ifyoulikedthis album, you could always buy ‘Thirty Years of One Man and His Dog’ on DVD; you’d probably like that too.
Clinic Are Clinical Do It! Clinic Domino Out 8/4/08
USUALLY, REVIEWING an album for impactis quite a routine process: give it a spin, and you can immediately tellwhatitsstrengthsandweaknessesare straight away. Make a few notes, write it up afterwards (whilst keeping a thesaurus handysoyoudon’twrite‘song’everyother word) and send it in. Sometimes though an album arrives that completely destroys this process. Clinic’slatestoffer,‘DoIt!’hasgiven menoendofgriefbutit’sbeenwellworth thebother,asIshallexplaininduecourse. I should have seen it coming when writing about people who perform live shows dressed in surgeon’s scrubs, and who have been inspired by a group with the charming name ‘Suicide’. Apparently they’re
wonderful people in the flesh, mind. ‘DoIt!’isacontinuationoftheirgeneral work,increatingaseriesofsongssteepedin psychedelicabutwithaheftydoseofgaragerockthrownin. Theriffsareminimalistbut loud,andthechordsdiscordanttocreatean atmospheric, dream-like mood. Eeriness isthekey,with‘CorpusChristi’urgingthe listenerto‘skinyourself’oversoftmoans. Afterthefirstlisten –the onethat is by and large sufficient to write a review with – I was not too impressed for the firsthalf. Whilstcertainlydistinctiveand intriguing, the rhythms were too plodding andrepetitivetoinvokeanyrealexcitement. The lyrics, sung in soft tones by Brian Campbell, felt too obtuse to arouse fear. Towards the end I noticed more of the album’squirksastheyrevealedthemselves. Thereisnosuchthingasastandardintroon thiscollection:‘Emotions’startsoffwith noises emanating from a wave machine oscillatingbeforedescendingintoaswing-
HHHHP
HPPPP Joe Rivers Contributor
Smooth Operators
BILLED AS rivals to CSS for the best band to have at a party, I was quite happy when‘YesYesVindictive’, the debut LP of Aussiefive-piece‘OperatorPlease’,came through the impact mailbox. So that was that - armed with this pitiful amount ofinformation,Istucksaidrecordintothe CDdrive,pluggedin the earphones andsat back,expectingtobe aurally charmedby a wave of sexy grooves and dirty beats. Yet it was clear by the initial wail of drums and hums in opening track ‘Zero Zero’ that the tale of how a band from the other side of the world can come to dominate theseshores is far from the same astheBrazlians’. Instead,thereareawhole hostofinfluenceson‘YesYesVindictive’ – ‘Zero Zero’ setting out like a Klaxons/ Arctic Monkeys hybrid – which come togethertocreatearecordwhichisatits best a 300mph, blast of teen energy. After a fairly tight opening two songs, leaving the slightly Billy Talent-esque scream of singer Amandah Wilkinson to do the majority of the work, the album explodes on ‘Just A Song About Ping Pong’. A two-minute foot stomping mosh pit’s dream, with drummer Tim Commandeur smashing his kit like his life is depending on it. These kids may still have the luxury of the affix ‘teen’ at the end of their age, but they certainly mean business when it comes to hitting things really hard and making loud noises.
WHAT IS the obsession that bands and artistshavewithreleasingtheworsttrackon an album as the first single? Does anyone else find that, or is it just me? ‘Alice’, Moby’s latest offering to the godsofradio,isthelatestinalonglineof tracksthatrecordlabels,orwhoeverdecides thesethings,haveinexplicablydecidedthe general public want to hear and are most likely to pay good money for, despite the factthatthey’recrapandtherearethirteen better songs to choose from. Bizarre. ‘LastNight’isapartialreturntoMoby’s New York dancefloor roots. He claims it’s a concept album, condensing every stage of a big night out into one record. This, however, appears to be a euphemism for tryingtopleaseeveryonewithavarietyof styles wider than he’s ever tried to cram ontoonediscbefore. Thealbum,asaresult, is a mixed bag in more ways than one. My least favourite tracks are the aforementioned ‘Alice’ and ‘I Love To Move In Here’, both of which represent something new for Moby – trying to be down with the kids by getting some ridiculousrappersinto‘sing’somehip-hop and making those silly mix noises you hear young people listening to nowadays. At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, ‘Everyday It’s Like 1989’ and ‘TheStars’are,asthetitleoftheformer suggests,acarefreereturntotheglorydays of old-school rave, when dance music was content to be good without having to worry about being cool as well. These euphoric tracks, with their sped-up breakbeats and pumping diva vocals, are the first new
Whichiswhyitissodisappointingthat, after the euphoric opening, the middle sectionisaratherdownbeataffair. Imagine scoringathirtyyardoverheadkick,getting uptocelebrateandthenseeingithasbeen disallowed. Itallratherspoilstheairof excitement. ‘Two For My Seconds’, is a particularoffender,withapianojauntthat wouldn’t sound out of place as a theme tune for some daytime TV soap. Even ‘TerminalDisease’,whiledottedwithbits of ‘Yeah Yeah Yeahs’-inspired genius, is ruinedbysomeridiculoushomagetohorror film soundtracks. Just no. But you can’t make mistakes when you’re young when can you? Thankfully, the latter part of the album drags us back up from this murky pit of despair to a farhappier,messierandfun-filledplace. ‘Ghost’beginswithanorgantakenstraight from ‘Let’s Push Things Forward’ by ‘The Streets’,yetdevelopsintoacrackingbitof punk-pop. ‘Chest’makesfulluseofTaylor Henderson’s luscious violin playing, and can be considered an album highlight. The most promising aspect for me, however, is album closer ‘Pantomime’,
Matthew Hartfield Deputy News Editor
CLINIC-AL: Though I doubt Sir Paul would appreciate the take on Sgt. Pepper...
Last Night Moby Mute Out Now
Yes Yes Vindictive Operator Please Brille Records Out Now
beat and an off-key guitar solo, making it sound like a pop song composed by a madman. ‘High Coin’ kicks off with a military drum beat which permeates throughout. Thewiderangeofinstruments and noises emerge, which reach a zenith as ‘Mary and Eddie’ features – and I cannot believeIamwritingthis–aship’sfoghorn in the song mix. I felt confused, which is probably how oneismeanttofeelafterlisteningtoone ofClinic’salbumsIsuspect. Soinsteadof writing up immediately, I gave it twentyfour hours and a second listen before penning this review, damn their weird ways. It was well worth the wait - on the second listen I got carried away in the ramshackle bop of the opener ‘Memories’; psyched up through the awesome riffs whichcharacterisetheirlatestsingle,‘The Witch’; and appreciated the novel Alt. Rockof‘FreeNotFree’,thelatterfeaturing an original display of instruments. As you might have guessed long ago, ‘DoIt!’isanalbumthatrequiresafairbitof patiencebeforereallybecomingengrossed init. Giveittime,however,andyou’llbe rewarded with a collection of music which is steeped in an eclectic ambience and a truly original approach to modern music composition.
which shows that despite the middle section, ‘Operator Please’ can operate at a less frenetic pace than most. A delightful four and a half minute tug at the heartstrings, with a sweet acoustic guitarandsoaringviolin,buildingintoan epic crescendo, leaving Amandah only to say ‘Hey Ma, face right, so I can be a pantomime.’ So, would I want this band at my party? Well, where as CSS may have you scoping the floor and shaking your bootay like the sexiest person alive, Operator Please, at theirbest,willbeintheinthelivingroom ripping up the couch, throwing the TV on the window and screaming without a care in theuniverse. Theonlyquestionremaining is, can they take their teenage energy and holdontoittoproducegreaterrecordsas theygrowolder? It’sabigworldoutthere, and on the evidence of parts of ‘Yes Yes Vindictive’, it’s theirs if they want it. HHHPP Sean Lightbown ents@bathimpact.com
HELLO OPERATOR: Little known fact: Taylor (centre) is actually a puppet.
MOBY: ‘Howard from Halifax’ years.
examples of proper piano house I’ve heard in many a year. In between, there’s a little bit of something for everyone – some Moby trademarkdance/chilloutcrossovers;afew slightlymoreEuro-discoefforts;acouple of downbeat, moody and miserable tracks; and, tucked away towards the arse-end of the record, a trilogy of those mellow, wordless melodies that sneak onto every Moby album and whose names you can never remember. In sum, ‘Last Night’ is a good album butnotagreatone. Intryingtoappealto a wider audience, Moby spreads himself a little too thinly and comes across as a Jackofalltradesbutmasterofnone. And anybody whose press releases include words like “demimonde”, “motorvational”, “chimescape” and “beautific” (three of which have got red squiggly lines under them on my screen) certainly doesn’t deserve more than three stars. HHHPP Jack Mitchell editor@bathimpact.com
14
IMPACT
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
IMPACT
15
Arts
Watch This Space! The SYMPOSIUM: so far... Arts, Spatialisation and Memory Saturday 19 April, 10am-5pm University of Bath Tickets: £15 BUSU (includes coffee and lunch)
SPACE IS a central concern for a broad range of contemporary arts practitioners, and spans many other disciplines, including Geography, Urban Studies, Sociology, Architecture andLiteraryStudies. Spatialisationisa useful term at a point when time/space compression and globalisation, brought
about by new technologies and high speed travel, affect life – including its cultural output – more than ever. It implies a ‘doing’, a process of enquiry, orientations in time/space. It carries intimations of temporality, implying a relationship to memory – pasts and presents. The Symposium draws upon Doreen Massey’s third definition of space: “…we recognise space as always under construction. Precisely because space on this reading is a product of relations-between, relations which
are necessarily embedded material practices which have to be carried out, it is always in the process of being made. It is never finished; never closed. Perhaps we could imagine space as a simultaneity of stories-so-far.” (2005) This event is of interest to practitioners, academics and students from visual arts, music, theatre, dance, cultural studies, architecture, cultural geography and literature. Devised in partnership with Dr Jane Calow, artist, writer and Teaching Fellow.
Chair: Dr Daniel Hinchcliffe. Speakers include: Dr Anna Fenemore, Pigeon Theatre & University of Leeds; Tim Brennan, Artist & University of Sunderland; Dr Peg Rawes, The Bartlett, UCL. Associated Symposium Events on Saturday 19 April: Tim Brennan’s Exhibition Preview (5-6.30pm), Polly Gould’s Exhibition Preview (5-6.30pm) and Polly Gould’s performance: Libraries and Landscape: Or what is it thatIhavelost?(7.30pm,ticketincluded in Symposium fee).
Rummaging for Reminiscences
Best of the Rest BODYSOC: SALIGIA: Seven Sins Wednesday 9 - Saturday 12 April, 7.30pm ICIA Arts Theatre Tickets: £7, £5 concessions
Performance: Polly Gould Libraries and Landscapes: Or what is that I have lost? Saturday 19 April, 7.30pm ICIA Arts Theatre Tickets: £9, £7 concessions, £7 University staff, £3 BUSU
POLLY GOULD’S engaging, intimate piece considers the im/possibility of finding a lost loved person through the reading of their inherited library. It is about searching for someone in the things that they leave behind. The audience is invited to sort through her father’s books, boxes of old photos, oldletters,fragmentsoftype-writtentext, clippings from newspapers, binoculars, scissors and tape cassettes, as she takes on the task of mapping the past. Her recollections of walking and talking with her father in the fens show how orientingourselvesinthepastcanbelike finding ourselves in a landscape. Time and memory play tricks: what seems present is absent, what seems close is distant, sound becomes image and vice versa, in the never ending process of looking at the past. Polly’s performance reveals her fascinationwiththerelationshipbetween performer, audience and setting, and our desire for stories, both to tell and be told. Associated Event: Polly Gould Exhibition: Peninsular, 1 March-20 June, ICIA Art Space 1.
THIS ORIGINAL and inventive show uses a range of choreographic styles to explore the infamous seven deadly sins (SALIGIA is an old mnemonic based on the first letters in Latin of the seven deadly sins). Produced by students from the University of Bath’s effervescent dance society, it features a variety of performances from guest societies, including the Breakdancers, the Cheerleaders, Latin and Ballroom and the Salsa Society.
Throwing on the Wheel Saturday 12, Sunday 13 & Saturday 19 April, 10am-4pm Studio 2, ICIA Arts Complex £80, £60 concessions, £60 University staff, £35 BUSU
Double BUST at the Little Bath University Student Theatre: A double bill of One Act Plays The Collection, by Harold Pinter; and Sexual Perversity in Chicago, by David Mamet Thursday 17 - Saturday 19 April, 7.30pm Little Theatre Cinema, Bath Tickets: £7, £5 concessions and members THE COLLECTION is a trim, witty but unsettling vignette portraying a household wobbling with a tremor of
adultery. As two couples fall victim to suspicions and jealousy, what happened one night in a Leeds hotel room becomes irrelevant,exceptthatittriggersasearch for the truth. Meanwhile, Sexual Perversity in Chicago is a controversial, provocative and bitingly funny comedy centring around four young people looking for love. Chicago is a hotbed of opportunity for two red-blooded males playing the mating and dating game, prepared to go anywhere where there are women. Contains strong language.
Exhibition: Tim Brennan Great Northern Coalfield Saturday 19 April - Friday 1 August ICIA Art Space 2 Tickets: £9, £7 concessions, £7 University staff, £3 BUSU IN RESPONSE to ICIA’s ‘so far…’ theme, this atmospheric series of photographs explores how geography, personal memory and social history intersect. In the tradition of the seascape, the images depict the North Sea, where most of the North’s un-mined coal still resides. The photographs have been created using image-making equipment available to all of us in everyday life; the lowresolution mobile phone camera. Enlarged beyond clear definition, the images become hazy, impressionistic, glowing with colour. Printed on a
surface that appears to be watercolour paper, they seem to suggest the more abstract works of Turner. Tim Brennan is viewed as one of the most important practitioners to contribute to the social and political role of contemporary art and has been cited as developing and applying the concerns of minimalism, performance, land art and conceptualism within the social fabric. He is Programme Leader, MA Curating at the University of Sunderland. Associated Event: Tim Brennan makes a presentation at ICIA’s Symposium: so far..., Saturday 19 April. Exhibition Preview, Saturday 19 April, 5pm-6.30pm, ICIA Art Space 2, All welcome. Admission free, Open MondaySaturday, 10am-5pm, ICIA Art Space 1 (opposite library).
THIS INTENSIVE small group workshop enables participants to focus on throwing pots, with close tutoring as required. On day one, beginners learn how to throw, whilst those with experience can develop their skills. On day two, ‘turn’ your newly made work. More ambitious students can try combining forms to make composite pieces. Return the next week to glaze the fired pieces. Participants must take part in all three days. Tutor: Sue Ford.
Choral Society and Orchestra Concerto Concert Wednesday 16 April, 7.30pm Oldfield Baptist Church, Bath Tickets: £5, £3 concessions
THE FLOURISHING University Orchestra accompany the ever popular choral society in a series of well known pieces. The Orchestra also makes its annual presentation supporting talented soloists in this year’s concerto performance.
16
IMPACT
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
IMPACT
17
18
IMPACT
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
Sport
Bees Taste Defeat for First Time Badminton Champions
ENTERING INTO only their second ever appearance in the second round of the play-offs it had already been a record breakingseasonforthisyear’sBees,going the regular season undefeated and beating the reigning national champions, the UWE Bullets home and away. Thus it was with confidence that Bath travelled to Southampton on the weekend of March 9th to face the equally unbeaten Southampton Stags in the second round of the play-offs, mindful that Southampton hadbrokenthepointsscoringrecordinthe regularseason,amassing462pointsineight games, whilst conceding only 20. However, as Robert Burns and John Steinbeck famously wrote, the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry. Bath cameawaytastingdefeat,asinincreasingly frustrating fashion during the game they came so close to scoring on so many occasions whilst Southampton were able totaketheirchancesconvertingtheirlong drives into scores. Southampton won the toss and elected to kick off, meaning Bath would have the firstattackingpossession. Againstateamof Southampton’sabilityitwasimperativethat Bathimposedthemselvesearly. Afterafew runs had been stopped for minimal gains
quarterback Matt Brookes connected with hisreceiverSteveLeonardandLeonarddid therest,outpacingtwoonrushingdefenders to score from 66 yards. Kicker Dalmedo madetheextrapoint,puttinghisnightmare kicks of the previous week to rest. BuoyedbytheearlyscoreBath’sdefence stepped up and they forced Southampton to punt the ball away on their first possession. Wereitnotforaninterception by Southampton’s Nicky Cole (Joe Cole’s younger brother) near the end zone they wouldirrefutablyhavedoubledtheirlead. The scores were tied, however, as Ben Webb fortuitously caught a pass from the Southampton quarterback. As the pass came into the end zone, three Bath defenders rose in competition with another Southampton receiver before the ball deflected over to the waiting Webb. The final scoring act of the half was from Southampton as receiver Dominic Olney narrowlybeattheoutstretchedarmsofLuke Haslett to complete the catch. Following theextrapoint,thehalftimescorewas14-7 against Bath. As the game wore on and injuries took theirtollSouthamptonstretchedtheirlead in the second half. Some more than solid defensive play from Bath helped turn
the ball over through interceptions from Marcus Da Costa, a very strong candidate for season MVP, and rookie Richard Shuttleworth, who took a brutal hit as he sought to advance the ball. Bath did manage another score and it came on the ground from the head-down powerfulrunningofanotherrookieplayer, Anders Bengtson, as he muscled his way infromfouryards. Itcappedagreatdrive from Bath’s point of view, as they started deep in their own half after a kick return was fumbled. It’saclichetocallplayers‘difference makers’, although in running back Tam Amachree Southampton had one. Pace, change of direction and strength, the lad had it all in abundance and gave Bath a torrid time all game. Bath’s core linebackersofDewar,Bell,Shuttleworth, Goodfriend and Johnstone were made to work for their tackles, and they were assisted by rookie safety, Chris Gammond. Amachree ultimately ended up with two touchdowns, the second from 49 yards out to seal the game near fulltime, as he ghosted past defenders, assisted by the blocking of his offensive line. ItwasafeatureofBath’splaythroughout thegamethat,ratherthanrelyonbigplays to make yards, they methodically moved theballthroughwellplannedandexecuted plays. Before leaving the game injured, quarterback Brookes completed 14 of 25 passes for 205 yards with 1 Touchdown, whilst receiver Steve Leonard had hauled in7receptionsforatotalof139yardsand 1 Touchdown, career performances for both players. Although Bath lost the game there were plentyofpositivestotakefromtheseason and indeed this game, as Bath restricted the eventual champions to their lowest home score of the season before they demolishedStaffordshireStallionsinthe final by a sore of 54-20. The game was playedingreatspiritonafantasticfacility, clearly displayed by the unprecedented joint warm down the teams undertook after the game.
Tim Goode IT WAS an amazing team event with the men’s and women’s 1st teams both playing the semi-finals on the Saturday, andnotlettingtheveryhothallgettothem, achieving comfortable victories over Birmingham and Cambridge respectively to progress to the championship final the following day. (Most of) the players were well awake for a 7am start on the Sunday given the potential excitement of the day ahead. News came in that the team was set in stone as Ben Caldwell came down with a very bad bout of food poisoning overnight leaving the men with no subs. An early match saw the Men’s 2nd team meet Birmingham 2nds in the Trophy Final. Danny Capon and Andy Kindred in the singles both performed fantastically giving Bath a 2-0 lead. Martin ‘Pirate’ Crossley and Steve ‘Sailor’ Price didn’t take long to demolish their opponents to put the team up, and David Dodson and Tim Goode managed to pick themselves up after losing a tight second end to take thethirdagainsttheBirminghamfirstpair to give Bath a perfect score at halfway. Needing just one game from the remainingfourtoensurevictoryitdidn’t take long for Danny to take his singles and put the defending title holders 5-0 up and Andy Kindred soon followed suit. David and Tim took their final game in two ends and although Martin and Steve could not take a very close fought third endversusthe1stpairthewinwasalready well in the bag. The afternoon’s matches pitted both first teams against bitter rivals Loughborough. Rivalry was high with plenty of banter coming from the Loughborough bench but Men’s singles Richard Vaughan and Harry Wright both gave Bath something to shout about with straightwinsovertheirsinglesopponents to put the men 2-0 up. A very close women’s singles between
Helen Ward and her respective opponent wasfinishedinstyleinfavourofBathbut a strong Loughborough 1st singles beat Kirbytolevelthescoreat1-1. Themen’s doubles was tight with lots of disputed linecallsandfrustrationfrombothsides; Loughborough eventually taking both to draw 2-2. The Women’s doubles was routine for Hayley Connor and Laura Cousins who beat the Loughborough 2nd pair 21-7, 21-5; Alison Marr and Sarah Boyce fought hard against the 1st pair but the Loughborough pair’s hard smashes won through making the women’s score 2-2 also. Unsurprisingly World No. 39 Richard Vaughan and BUSA individuals champion Harry Wright picked up both their second singles with ease, however, Wardy and Kirby could not win their tough games. The final two men’s doubles were again very close; Ben Witham and Adam Francis losing in two to the second pair and after losing a long-fought 1st end George Bevan and Jack Molyneux were unable to convert a 20-18 lead in the 2nd. With the men’s score tied at 4 games and8setsall,itwentdowntopoints,the strength of the singles giving the men’s team the title victory. The final women’s games were tense with Bath needing two wins out of two without losing more than one end. Hayley and Laura dismissed the 1stpairandthesupportoftheentirehall was on the end court. An emotion-packed game was finally ended with Boyce and Scotland the victors and a clean sweep to Bath. Congratulations to everyone who played this year and a special thanks to Pete Bush who has put so many hours into the team and to Wardy who has not only organised much of the trip but has also taken time to coach the men’s and women’s 2nd teams. Special credit to Ben Caldwell who helpedgettheteamtothefinalsbutcould not the final play due to illness.
TeamBath FC Lose Seven Goal Thriller Bashley TeamBath
4 3
Greg Mitchell
ON A balmy spring evening in the New Forest play-off contenders Bashley and title hopefuls TeamBath collided in a crucial game, with each hoping that it would act as a springboard for a good run in the remaining league fixtures. Thematchstartedtentatively,butreally sprung into life in the 12th minute, as a defensive mix-up allowed the home side to takethelead. Alongballsawcentreback OllieBarneslookforthebackpasstowards his own keeper Jake Meredith, unaware thatMeredithhadrushedtotheedgeofthe areatoclaimtheballhimself. Astheball rolledhelplesslytowardsthegoal,Bashley strikerRichardGillespieamusinglytapped home for his first of the evening. The lead was short lived as right back Adi Adams, who had previously spent time on loan at Bashley, waltzed in from therightsideunchallenged,andwasgiven thetimeandspacetounleashaleftfooted strike into the bottom corner of the net.
Bashleylookedthebrightersideearlyin thesecondhalf,andhadastonewallpenalty claimturneddownaftertheballdefinitely struckadefender’shandwithjustaminute gone. No more than a minute later, a perfectly weighted ball from substitute Justin Keeler released Gillespie to score hissecondofthegamewithaclinicalstrike into the far corner. After TeamBath pushed on looking for an equaliser, it was actually Bashley who scored next, with the influential Keeler again finding Gillespie, who provided a slide-rulepassacrossthesixyardboxfor strike partner Ryan Moss to tap home. Bath continued pushing forward in search of a way back into the game, and had a Marc Canham free kick well saved by Elm in the Bashley goal. From the resulting corner, a flick on in the area managed to find Joe Arnold at the back post,whoputtheballinthenetfromclose range. Withbothteamsinsearchofmoregoals, the game became very open and stretched, withopportunitiesarisingforbothteams. AfteracornerwasinitiallyclearedbyBath, ChrisFerrettwasgiventhetimetofloatin a left footed cross to find Gillespie, who
glancedtheballbeyondthedespairingdive of Meredith to complete his hat-trick. Bath refused to lie down, and their persistence was rewarded just two minutes laterasapoorclearancefromElmgavethe ball to Arnold, who released a stunning strikefromfully30yards,givingthekeeper no chance. Substitute Takumi Ake saw his close range effort somehow kept out by the resolute home defence, and at the other end both Moss and Gillespie spurned good chances to bury the game. Deep into injury time Bath were awarded a free kick in the Bashley half, which was taken short to Arnold, who proceeded to hit a rasping drive which clipped the crossbar and bounced out of play, thus ending Bath’s chances of salvaging a point. Bashley will no doubt be very pleased with the result, which, on another day, could so easily have gone the other way. The result leaves Bashley cemented in the final playoff birth, while TeamBath remain second. This weekend’s fixture forBathisacrucialone,withanawaytrip tofellowtitlecontendersKingsLynn,who lieamereonepointbehindBathintherace for the crown.
WINNERS!: Ladies’ Team.
Intramural Festival ‘08 WEDNESDAY APRIL 23rd sees the first annualIntramuralsFestival,hostedinthe facilities of the STV. Competitions ranging from indoor eventssuchasfutsal(fiveasidefootball) and badminton will run alongside outdoor events including track and field events, with personal glory as well as House Points at stake.
Following on from the afternoon’s competitions is a House-themed Score to celebrate ‘famous’ victories/commiserate just how bad you were* (*delete as applicable). More information including how to sign up will be posted on the Sports Association’s website, located at www. bathstudent.com/sports.
MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2008
Two Trophies for BUSA Clay Pigeon Shooting Bath Cheerleaders Lisa Thomas
Ruth Farmer
THE BATH University Shooting Club recently packed over 2000 cartridges and nineshotgunsintoaminibusandtravelled to windy Hodnet in the West Midlands to finally compete in the BUSA Clay Pigeon Shooting Nationals. They withstood cold, wind,atinybitofrainandashadylooking Travelodge to achieve some very worthy results. In the Men’s Team Championship category, our first team, consisting of Captain Sean Russell, Eddy Hirst, Tom Baker and Daniel Stephens, managed an impressive 6th place out of 22 teams, with ascoreof181tobeatlocalrivalsBristolby a comfortable margin of 23 points. EricGriffiths,PeterElliot,JamesMerrick and Olly Griffin formed our Men’s Trophy entryandtogethertheyshotagainstahuge 29teamstogetacombinedscoreof149and come 20th. Great shooting from the boys. The girls did not let Bath down either - brilliant performances from Sarah Bell and Katrina Packer bagged Bath some more BUSA points in the Ladies’ Trophy individual category after they came joint third. Lisa Thomas showed the boys how it was done,gainingascoreof45outof50points to come first in the Ladies’ Championship individuals, thus winning the shiny gold medal that accompanies a first place. The club hopes to continue practising and improve upon their competitive form atanumberoffriendlycompetitionsafter Easter.
THE UNIVERSITY of Bath Cheerleading Society celebrated success this Easter Weekend, bringing home two trophies fromtheBritishCheerleadingAssociation University Championships. HeldatTelfordInternationalCentreon the 22nd March, this year was the biggest universitycompetitioneverheld. Spectator ticketsweresoldoutandthe2600capacity venue was full to the brim with girls and guys sporting uniforms from 46 different universities. With the competition split intovariousdivisions,atotalof98teams performed throughout the day, showcasing routinesconsistingofjumps,tumbles,dance and some very impressive pyramids.
Jurassic Challenge TIM HOLSGROVE, a researcher from the University of Bath, has completed three gruelling marathons along the Dorset coastline in 24 hours to win the Jurassic Coast Challenge title for the second time, despite severe weather. The favourite for this year’s Jurassic Coast Challenge, a training event for ultra runners, Holsgrove was tasked with running 78.6 miles from Lyme Regis to Studland Bay in less than 24 hours. Last year, Tim, nicknamed ‘The Machine’, navigated the arduous South West coast path and arrived at the finish with a winning time of 16 hours and 12 minutes. This year, a Met Office severe weather warning forced the organisers
to delay the race at the first checkpoint, deeming the cliffs too dangerous. The runners waited until 5.30am the following morning, when it was clear enough for them to continue on the shorter 80km course which Tim completed in 8 hours and 57 minutes. “I won by about 45 minutes but my legs were absolutely wrecked from the major hills in the middle of the course. I actually felt worse than at the end last year, even though it was shorter,” said Tim, a graduate teaching fellow who works in the Centre for Orthopaedic Biomechanics, part of University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. “But a win’s a win, so I’m very happy with the result.”
IMPACT
19
Sport
Bath entered two teams, one of 21 girls into novice cheer, and another of 12 into medium dance, with every member of both teams giving it their absolute all. Despiteitbeingmostofthegirls’firstever competition, they were unfazed by the crazy atmosphere and massive amounts of hairspray and showed great team spirit and enthusiasm. For the first time this year, the cheerleading society has begun stunting; the squad had been training hard since Februarytoputtogethertheirroutine. As theyareasociety,andthereforeineligible for training space on campus, the squad of 21 gave up their Monday nights out in the 2nd Bridge to trek to the Percy Community Centre in town and practice. After weeks of training, an intensive three days in the Easter holidays and a quick stop in Sainsbury’s to clear the shelves of white socksanddeepheat,thegirlswereontheir
way to Telford. Goinginasrookiesintheirdivision,they wereupagainststiffcompetitionfromfar more experienced teams. In spite of this, theyovercametheirnervesandpulledoffa fantasticperformance,inwhichnotasingle stunt fell down, and some awesome cheer facialswerepulled. Outof11teams,they finishedin2ndplace,anamazingresultfor their first competition. Having trained equally hard since February, with scheduled practises two or threetimesaweek,thedanceteamalsodid the university proud. Up against 11 other dance squads in a high standard division, theoriginalityoftheirfuturisticroutine impressed the judges and landed them a trophy for 8th place. Allinall,itwasanincrediblysuccessful day, and the overall outcome was two big shinytrophies,andagroupof33verytired, achy, but ecstatic cheerleaders!
Bath 2nd XI Win TeamBath Judo Excel at BUSA BUSA Trophy Championships BATH RECORDED an outstanding 5-0 victory over fellow West Country side Plymouth to win the final of football’s BUSA Trophy in Sheffield. Bath had thebetterofatightfirsthalfbutfailed to put away their chances until Paul Simmons scored with just minutes to go until half time. Bath deserved the lead and soon after the restart Simmons got his and Bath’s second of the match. Bath were well in control of the game and continued to create chances, resulting in Ian Parkes making absolutely sure the game was out of Plymouth’s reach with Bath’s third goal. Substitute Will Tetteh grabbed a brace after coming on as a sub, combining well with Lyson Zulu to ensure that Bath gained revenge for the defeat Plymouth inflicted on them earlier in the season. The emphatic final score, and the manner in which every Bath player performed for the entire ninety minutes, meant that this was a victory they deserve to cherish.
TEAMBATH PRODUCED an outstanding performance at the BUSAs in Sheffield, winning a record haul of medals. The entire 33-person team had a win/loss ratio of 178-34, and managed to win ten of the fourteen individual black belt categories. Intheteamevents,theywerevictorious in the team competitions for men and women, each of whom won their sixth title at the BUSAs. Players from the University of Bath contributed the entire squad of players for the South West Universities teams in the Regional competition. They were not disappointed, with the men’s and women’s sides earning great victories to bring both trophies home to Bath. Overall, this was a superb and record breaking performance from the entire squad, and it could have been even better; first-year Sports Performance student Emil Edmar finished third in the U90k black belt category after beating the eventual winner in his first fight of the day.
Continued from back cover... What are you hoping for in the 2010 Commonwealth Games? Definitely going for gold, as we always do. We’ve got a new coach, but I haven’t actually met her yet ! We’re just waiting to see what she’s like; she’s not even in the country yet but we meet up just before the Malawi Test Series. What has been your motivation throughout your sporting career? Just the drive to succeed and be the best in everything I do. I want to give it 100% and I enjoy netball so much so as long as I’m having fun it makes me want to get up every morning and go training at 7am! Who’s the best player you have ever played with or against? Um, Mo’onia Gerrard, the Australian Goal Defence. I think she’s amazing. Oh and the Malawi Goal attack! She’s about 40 and has two kids and her vision and game play is amazing. In terms of interviews, fan attention and media coverage, how do you handle the limelight? In terms of media coverage… it’s quite fun at the moment! I don’t have paparazzi following me round everywhere all the time or anything! But it’s good coverage for netball. What do you do to relax? Well, at the moment I’m doing my degree as well, so time is a bit limited! I just like to watch films, hang out with my friends and go shopping. It’s the year 2020 and you’ve won every trophy on the planet and they’re making Pamela Cookey: The Movie. Who would you like to play you? Um, it’s a toss up between Halle Berry and Beyonce!! Would you ever consider appearing on Strictly Come Dancing? We were chatting about this the other day! Love to! That should be my next target. (Laughs) Who would you most like to be stuck in a lift with? Probably Mohammed Ali, to find out how he overcame everything and managed to succeed; and Denise Lewis, she’s been my idol since I was about five! What would you say is your best attribute? I smile a lot! It kind of keeps me going! (impact has been smiling throughout this interview, so it must be catching!) Would you rather be a pirate or a cowboy? I’m not sure, because pirates have to be at sea all the time and I’m not sure how good I’d be on a boat! But horse riding… hmm. Probably a cowboy, they’re the good guys. Since this interview, TeamBath slippeddowntoanarrowlosstofinalists Mavericks, being on the wrong end of a 50-37 scoreline, despite Cookey’s contribution of 25 out of 29 shots. In some respects it was a great performance, as the side were reduced to only 10 of their 15 squad because of injury, and head coach Jan Crabtree revealed her disappointment after the game. “I still thought we could win it. We had one injury too many today. If we could have got through today’s game we would have had some more players back from injury for the next game”.
sport impact
Covering the issues that matter to students
BUSA Badminton: 18
TeamBath and England Netball Star in Interview Upneet Thandi & Sian Hogan
PHOTOS: Oke Ogali (www.kchuk.co.uk) Pictured above are Chris Mundell (top) and John Wardle, competing for the University of Bath in the 14th BUSA Mountain Biking Championships last month. 500 competitors swarmed on Cwmcarn in South Wales for the event.
American Football: 18
THE THIRD National Netball Super League Season is underway and nearing its peak, with the Loughborough Lightning and Mavericks having done battle in the Grand Final since impact last went to print. It was a nerve-racking season with alleightteamsintenselybattlingtosecure themselves a place in the play-offs. The reigning champions TeamBath defeated Celtic Dragons (60-35) in late FebruarytoensureBathaplaceintheplayoffs. Thebuild-upforthenextfewcrucial weeksisnoticeableduringtrainingsessions as the girls keep it steady on court. Thisweekintheleaduptotheplay-offs we caught up with captain Pamela Cookey, an accomplished England and TeamBath Netball player. Pamela is a final year Business Administration student at the UniversityofBathandherpositiononcourt is Goal Attack and Goal Shooter. Wellknown for her outstanding shooting record and laudable game skills, Pamela is also chatty, smiley and incredibly likeable. Could you tell us a bit about when and how you first got into netball? I first started playing when I was in Year Six or Seven, so quite young really, butIdidn’tgetreallyinterestedinituntil I got to secondary school. I was always doingarangeofdifferentsports,butreally specialised in netball as I got older. I was lucky because one of my teachers usedtobeanEnglandnetballplayer,soat one of our school competitions she got a scout to come and watch our games and from there I got trials for England under 17s and 18s. What do you like best about netball? The fact that it’s a team game, I get to meet loads of different people and you’re working for each other. What are your thoughts on the team’s performance in this Super League season so far? Really good, I think. In terms of the disruptionswe’vehadandtheinjuriesand peopleretiring,it’sbeenreallygood–we’re up there and ready to win it. What skills do you need to be a good shooter? (Laughs.) Youkindofpractise,practise, practise,really! Ithinkdeepdowneveryone wantstobeashooter. Youjusthavetokeep
TeamBath FC: 18
practising. Going back to February, we saw TeamBath experience defeat in the two crucial clashes against Northumbria and the Loughborough Lightning. How did you and the other players deal with that? We were really disappointed on the Monday game, we felt we didn’t play as well as we should have done and to lose by twopoints... Imeanwehaditinustowin. On Friday we stepped up and our game definitelyimproved. Butagain,ontheday we just couldn’t hold on to it. Everyone was really disappointed, but you kind of take the loss and it makes you stronger. How has the fans’ support been? Oh, amazing. They’re so good! Week in, week out, there’s just loads of people and you can hear them; you just play for them. With fellow team-mates Tamsin Greenway and Geva Mentor now having joined the ANZ Championships in Australia, what impact has this had on the team and the season this year? Obviously now our average age is like 19orsomethingridiculouslikethat!Sothat impacts in terms of experience - we don’t have that many international caps on our team. We’vegotlotsoftalent,butobviously we’re lacking in that experience. But they (Greenway and Mentor) should be back for the next season. Continued on page 19...
Judo: 19
Bath Leads the Way in BUSA Championships EASTER SAW the inaugural British University Championships, which took place in the steel city of Sheffield over the weekend of the 13th to the 16th of March. Lord Coe was in attendance and quicktopraisethestandardofuniversity sport, commenting that “our universities have a rich tradition for producing some of the country’s finest athletes.” Bath displayed exactly why it is regarded as one of the country’s premiere sporting institutions, performing magnificently over the weekend. Indoor athletics was dominated by the Bath team as Dan Cossins won the 200 metres in record-breaking Championship time in addition to his 4X200m gold. Ryan Scott was equally successful, combining relay gold with victory in the 60 metres sprint. The men’s hockey 1sts faced an unbelievably strong Loughborough side packed full of internationals and were defeated 7-1, whilst in Karate the Bath side triumphed in the Kumite team event. It was a fantastic night for Bath’s netball team as they taught Loughborough a lesson in the 1sts final, winning 66-46. Clinical finishing and crisp passing in attack meant that Loughborough were never in with a shout. In a category dominated this year by Birmingham, the only medal for a Bath side was awarded to the women’s 2nds, who lost the final to Birmingham 3-1. Swimming brought the team unbelievable success, as they dominated most of the events with a practical clean sweep of the medals, only two medals in the women’s freestyle events going to other universities.
Cheerleading: 19