F
R
E
E
Monday 15th October 2007 Volume 9 Issue 3 www.bathimpact.com
impact student
Local MP at Bath University: “Students Care About More than Just Tuition Fees” Laurence Cable Treasurer impact-treasurer@bath.ac.uk
BATH MP Don Foster underlined his belief that tuition fees could and should be abolished, as he helped the Liberal Democrat Society recruit at the Societies’ Fair. He spoke of how the Conservatives and Labour were ‘cosying up’ to each other, and that the Lib Dems offered something different, though not necessarily all in one place on the traditional ‘left-right’ spectrum. Mr Foster said: “On social policy we’re out to the left, we believe in taking out tax loopholes for the rich and distributing it to the poor, but on the monetary and fiscal side of things we’re very much on the right, we believe in a free economy.” He continued: “Then there’s the green agenda, and it seems crazy to me that green tax today as a percentage of overall tax is less now than in the past.” The green agenda forms what Mr Foster described as a package of policies needed to target students, who, he says, will be concerned about matters other than just tuition fees. “Students aren’t only interested in education – anyone trying to target students purely by saying they’ll abolish tuition fees is mad. “We do want to abolish tuition fees, and showed that it can be done, like in Scotland when we shared power, but students are interested in the environment, the economy,
whether they’ll be able to get a job, whether they’ll be able to afford a house. We need to offer a package that covers everything.” Mr Foster, who has held the Bath
parliamentary seat since the 1992 election, accurately predicted that there would not be a snap election, as had been rumoured at the time. He said: “The party buzz is 60%
yes, personally I’d say 75% no, but who knows at the moment!” Mr Foster’s appearance at the Fair highlights the importance of students to local and national politics.
Earlier this year, two University of Bath students ousted established Conservative councillors to take both Bathwick seats on Bath and North East Somerset Council.
Long-serving Bath MP Don Foster meets impact Treasurer Laurence Cable and Editor-in-Chief Jack Mitchell at the Societies Fair. In impact this week... Spitting Image: Will it ever end?
Everybody was kung-fu fighting...
Students beaten by landlords!
Comment, Page 6
Features, Page 7
Sport, Page 31
2
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
News
student impact is brought to you by... Editorial Team Editor Deputy Editor News Editor Deputy News Editor Comment Editor Deputy Comment Editor Features Editor Deputy Features Editor Science Editor Deputy Science Editor Ents Editors Deputy Ents Editor Sport Editor Deputy Sport Editor Online Editor Deputy Online Editor Photo Editor Deputy Photo Editor Treasurer Chief Sub-Editor
Jack Mitchell Adam Luqmani Josh Cheesman Position Vacant Charlotte King Position Vacant Josie Cox Position Vacant Matt Ash Position Vacant Phil Bloomfield & Sean Lightbown Position Vacant Adrian Dalmedo Position Vacant Kieron Macknight Position Vacant David Kennaway Position Vacant 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
Fancy a Degree in Good Sex?
KEEP ON TREKKIN’: Can Star Trek really teach us valuable lessons about life? Alex Hayward News Contributor WHILE BRITISH students pore over texts on the European Union Treaty Process, or second-order differential equations, some students in the US are scoring highly in degree modules by watching episodes of their favourite sci-fi shows, or chatting up locals in cafes. A selection of the top universities in America have jumped on the offbeat courses bandwagon by introducing degrees based on topics such as Star Trek, Bruce Springsteen and Monty Python, amongst others. While supporters of such courses claim they are a way of teaching students new concepts through a medium with which they are familiar, there is contention as to whether degrees in “The Art of Walking” and “The Politics of Basketball” are
really the way to ensure the success of future generations. For music lovers, “Walk Tall: Political Themes in the Lyrics of Bruce Springsteen” at the State University of New York offers a unique perspective on the workings of government. Professor Tom Massaro explains, “The text of the course is Springsteen’s lyrics. Students have a lyric sheet for every album. They listen to the album in class and take notes”. Advocates of these oddball courses insist there is more to them than meets the eye. “The Cafe and Public Life” is more of a deceptive title for a sociology course, claims course Professor Beau Weston. The students are required to visit every cafe in the middle of Kentucky, and observe and talk to strangers. By doing this, Weston argues they “conduct their own sociological study into the cafe as a key place to forge human relationship.”
Campus Study to Motivate Reform of University Matthew Hartfield News Contributor AN IMPROVED entranceway, more shops at competitive prices and more social spaces for the campus were some of the improvements put forward to the University of Bath, following a survey to find out how the area could be made more enjoyable for students and visitors The survey, conducted by the consultant group Pragma, questioned 1,000 students, university staff members and local residents earlier this year to gauge feedback, with the final report given to the University this July. At the time of going to press impact was unable to get an official quote of how much the consultation cost. One of the major suggestions to come out the survey is the planned overhaul of commercial services, with both staff and students wanting a wider variety of shops with better prices. Popular suggestions for new services include having a larger supermarket
and a pharmacy, and there are even considerations to sell DVDs and sports equipment on campus. A revamp of catering is also planned, with more students wanting more takeaway foods to be made available, and healthier options to be served. These issues have already been addressed by the Students’ Union, with the recently renovated Pitstop sandwich bar taking these issues into account. Other points raised by the survey included the desire for more social space, and a renovation of the highlyrated Sports Training Village to make better use of the available space. The planned changes were well received by students, such as secondyear Social Science student Gemma Bealing, who would welcome more spaces for students, saying that “we need somewhere to sit and eat.” The survey does not cover all needs, however: Mathematics postgraduate Yvonne Pauley told Impact that the University “Needs to bring back a 24-hour food place!”
Similarly, in the Springsteen course, Massaro asserts “We might start out talking about Springsteen and end up talking about why Congress doesn’t do much about poverty in the United States.” Whether this is sufficient basis for an entire degree is still up for debate. Other innovative course titles include “Basketball and Religion” and “The Role of Bicycles in Politics”, while one course at Alfred University in New York State looks at history from the perspective of the Monty Python comedy team. But again, it is claimed that criticism is often based on course title alone. So before rushing to sign up to Occidental College in California for a course entitled “Good Sex,” be aware – the course is apparently not an excuse for classroom fondling, but in fact a Religious Studies course looking at Christian sexual ethics.
What Makes Geometry Sacred?
Matthew Hartfield News Contributor THE UNIVERSITY of Bath is to hold a free public lecture discussing the “Art of Sacred Geometry” in the Diocese of Bath and Wells. The lecture, which is to be held on Wednesday 17th October, will be given by Tom Bree, a geometer and artist. The lecture will discuss what Sacred Geometry actually is, and what examples exist of it in the local area. Mr Bree has a keen interest in patterns and how they are used in history, saying that “Pattern-making has shown itself to be an essential part of what it is to be human.” To him, Sacred Geometry is especially important “because it expresses the mathematical proportions that govern the cosmos”. The lecture builds on Mr Bree’s background as a holder of an MA in “Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts”; he has previously completed marquetry work for both the Jordanian and Saudi Arabian royal families.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
Academic Boycott of Israel Abandoned
Josh Cheesman News Editor impact-news@bath.ac.uk THE UNIVERSITY and College Union of Britain recently announced that it would not be going ahead with a proposed boycott of Israel, due to such actions being illegal under UK law. The move would have involved stopping all funding, visits, conferences and joint publishing with Israeli institutions, as a response to accusations that Israeli scholars co-operated in the 40-year occupation of Palestine, effectively denying Palestinians education. Understandably, these claims have caused outrage in Jewish groups around the world, who consider the boycott anti-Semitic. Boycotting Israeli universities has been discussed in Britain ever since 2002, when it was suggested by academics in an open letter to the Guardian. A proposal was made in 2003 for UK universities to sever all links with Israel, but it was defeated. The current proposal was raised at the UCU annual conference in Bournemouth in May of this year. 158 delegates voted in favour of a boycott and 99 voted against.
OFF LIMITS?: Bar-Ilan University in Israel Opposition to the idea soon sprang Professor Drummond Bone, Vice up. A petition was started for academics Chancellor of Liverpool University to declare themselves Israeli for the and Chair of the Universities UK purposes of the boycott. By mid- higher education action group, was September it had 11,000 signatures, keen to stress that not one of the 140 including 33 Nobel laureates and 58 Vice Chancellors in Britain supported university heads. In August, an advert the move. Politicians who came out in was run in the New York Times with the names of 300 American university opposition to the boycott included and college presidents who said they Tony Blair and Conservative leader would not work with institutions David Cameron. At the Labour Party boycotting Israel. Their slogan was Conference, Higher Education and “Boycott Israeli Universities? Boycott Universities Minister Bill Rammel labelled the boycott “politically selfOurs, Too.” By the time the boycott was dropped, indulgent,” and maintained that peace the list of American universities against in the Middle East would be achieved it had risen to 450, and twenty Canadian through “the politics of engagement, universities had also joined the cause. not the politics of isolation.”
Other antagonists of the boycott included American Nobel laureate Steve Weinberg, who decided against travelling to Imperial College London to give a lecture; the Goldhirsh Foundation, a $150 million American research sponsor threatened never to fund British academics again; and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who announced that he would sue UK universities through various means. A statement released by the UCU said that “legal advice made it clear that making a call to boycott Israeli institutions would run a serious risk of infringing discrimination legislation.” It added that “while UCU is at liberty to debate the pros and cons and Israeli policies, it cannot spend members’ resources on seeking to test opinion on something which is in itself unlawful and cannot be implemented.” The planned boycott came as a surprise to Israeli academics, who thought that the issue had long since been dropped. However, Israel maintains that there is already a ‘silent boycott’ in effect against their higher education institutions. “It’s not the first boycott to be cancelled,” Israeli embassy spokesman Lior Ben Dor said. “We hope not to witness any more.”
3
News
Ceiling Collapses in Student Accommodation
FRESHERS’ WEEK took its toll on Solsbury Court when part of a ceiling fell through to the next level as a result of a resident’s actions. Sources say that the first year student had returned home from the Smurf Night at around 5am, drunk, and started to have a shower before passing out. Unfortunately, his body covered the drain, flooding his room as well as the two adjacent ones. The student failed to register what had happened until a resident from the floor below came up to complain that part of the ceiling had collapsed due to the weight of the water. A witness said that the student responsible “just laughed and seemed really proud.” As an end to the whole debacle, the student went downstairs to sort out the problem, only to lock himself out of his own flat. Wardens had to be called to open the door for him. It has also been reported that there is still a terrible smell in the waterlogged flats.
Politicians Turning to Celebrities, Bath University Research Shows Charlotte Towerton News Contributor CELEBRITY INFLUENCE and domination are forever moving into more and unexpected areas. Just as with Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the US, the lines between entertainment and politics are becoming blurred in the UK. According to new research conducted by Dr Ekant Veer from the University of Bath School of Management, celebrity endorsements for political parties are the new way to gain votes from those with little interest in politics. The research involved reviewing responses from the public in and
around Bath. Half of the research group were handed an advertisement with a celebrity stating “I vote Conservative, do you?” whilst the other half were given the same advertisement with an equally attractive person who was not a celebrity. The research found that 67% of those uninterested in politics that saw the celebrity flyer said they were now more inclined to vote Conservative, compared to 48% of those who had seen the non-celebrity flyer. Unsurprisingly, those people who had a strong interest in politics were not affected by the celebrity endorsement. Of these, 62% said they were more likely to vote Conservative after seeing the non-celebrity endorsement, while
STAR VOTE: Do celebrities influence our political affiliation?
only 47% said they were more likely to vote Conservative after seeing the celebrity. After impact’s meeting with Dr Ekant Veer, he made the following statements: “We found that among people who aren’t thinking about politics, a celebrity endorsement can persuade them to vote for a political party – but among those who do think about politics, celebrities are less effective. There is increasing concern among political academics and politicians themselves of the detachment and apathy politics has with the general public. Accompanied with the general ill-informed views held by the public, the influence of celebrities over voting behaviour could be potentially dangerous parties coming to power without people understanding their policies. Rather than political parties each using celebrities to try and get votes, it may be more constructive for all parties to join together to fund a celebrity-led campaign urging people who don’t usually vote to go to polling booths regularly.” With over 40% of the population not voting in the most recent general election, voter apathy is high, and
celebrities could be the solution. “The people who don’t vote tend to be those who don’t think about politics a lot, so they are precisely the people who would pay attention to celebrity messages, according to our research,” said Dr Veer. It’s worrying that, at the current rate of voter apathy and reduction in the percentage of voters, it could be a matter of only one or two decades before there is merely a 20-30% electorate and only extremist voters come to the polls. Dr Veer stresses this to be an alarming concern. He also suggests involving politics in the secondary school curriculum to improve overall interest. But with every breakthrough there are dangers. Parties should ensure that their core supporters are not offended by new celebs, and any celebrities forging alliances with parties risk their own credibility. Celebrities tell us what to wear, what to eat, how to socialise and how to perform, and people clearly follow their advice, so it’s not so implausible that they could strongly influence who forms the government. Indeed, it could be the case that celebrities become the new superpower – if they are not already, that is.
Bath Students Clean Up Act
STUDENTS FROM the University of Bath recently spent an afternoon helping the National Trust remove scrubs from Bathwick Hillside. The students were members of the One World society, which concerns itself with ethical and environmental issues, with plans to collaborate further with the National Trust, including tree planting projects in the near future. They were helping to clear the archaeologically important North Road site of brambles to allow grass to return. The day also included working with children from a local primary school. Councillor Nicholas Coombes, Architecture student at the University of Bath and volunteer for the National Trust, called the event “an excellent project, showing some of the positive contributions which students can bring to our community as well as helping the local environment.”
4
IMPACT
News
Bath Uni Students in Pole Position at Formula One Day Josh Cheesman News Editor impact-news@bath.ac.uk TWO STUDENTS from the University of Bath got the chance to take a rare look behind the scenes of Formula One racing recently Daniel Feld and Philip Hallen, both studying Aerospace Engineering, were invited along with two students from the University of Durham to visit the AT&T Williams Formula One factory and meet some of the top engineers at Williams. The event was arranged to mark the beginning of co-operation between Williams and AirAsia, with engineers from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand travelling to Britain to try and incorporate the technology of Formula One into their aircraft designs.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Smurfin’ UK
Josh Cheesman News Editor impact-news@bath.ac.uk
A FRESHERS’ Week event has put the University of Bath on the map after spawning a bizarre world record. As a result of ‘Smurf Night,’ where students were asked to come dressed as the famous blue imps, Bath University became host to the largest number of people dressed as smurfs in one place, breaking the world record previously held by Warwick University. ‘Smurf sacks’ were sold to provide students with all the necessary apparel, with all proceeds going to Rag, the University’s charity group. Officially, there were 488 smurfs in the Founders Hall (37 more than the old record) – however, this was only because the decision was made to stop counting so as to speed up the queues. Unofficial estimates put the number of smurf impersonators at 1,122. As well as being featured in Minty Fresh (Impact’s daily Freshers’ Week newsletter), the occasion also got a mention in the Bath Chronicle. Since then, the record has been covered on several national and international
SMURF’S UP: Freshers aren’t feeling blue any more, as their world record makes the news. news websites, including the BBC. Freshers’ Week Event Manager Scott Fischer has been quoted as saying that although the event did raise some money for charity, “it was more an event to help new freshers. By holding this event in freshers’ week, we were pleased to have brought all the new students together and have also left our mark as this year’s event managers.”
“It was great to have the opportunity to pass on some knowledge to these keen young minds.”
The occasion gave students and engineers alike the chance to learn about aerodynamics and lightweight materials, but it wasn’t all serious. The students were given the chance to experience being an F1 driver in the racing simulator, with Hallen achieving an impressive lap time of 1 minute and 21 seconds, the fastest of the day. There was also a pit stop challenge, with the students competing against the AirAsia engineers. The students won, with a time of just 6.6 seconds – only 3 seconds slower than the professionals. All in all, the students were delighted to have been given such an exciting opportunity. “The day really helped me understand the link between the automotive and aerospace world, and made it clearer for me to understand the practical side of making things work the way you want them to,” said Feld. “It was great to have the opportunity to pass on some knowledge to these keen young minds,” said Tom McCulloch, one of the Williams Track Engineers who led the event. “I hope that this has inspired them to work hard and make a career for themselves in the world of Formula 1.”
RACING AHEAD: Daniel Feld and Philip Hallen
A Few Things You Might Not Know About Smurfs •The first smurf comic ever published was ‘Les Schtroumpfs Noirs’ (The Black Smurfs). In the story, a fly stings a smurf and turns his skin black, making him savage and violent, which leads him to infect the other smurfs. It was never translated into English due to its racist connotations. •The smurf village was once divided
over whether the word ‘smurf’ should be used as a noun or a verb. For example, they argued over whether a bottle opener should be a ‘smurf opener’ or a ‘bottle smurfener’. •In 2005, the smurfs were used in a Belgian UNICEF advert. The commercial, which depicted warplanes bombing the smurf village and leaving Baby Smurf as the only survivor, was made to raise awareness of children in war zones.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
5
Comment
Brown Special: Boom or Bust?
In the first of two articles this week about Gordon Brown’s hazy ‘non-election’ troubles, Matthew Butler discusses the reasons and consequences of the fiasco
ON JUNE 27, the day he first became Prime Minister, Gordon Brown stood outside the door of Number 10 and solemnly intoned the pledge that, it was claimed, heralded the dawn of a new era of governance: “At all times I will be strong in purpose, steadfast in will, resolute in action.” A fair few gullible political commentators were taken in by it. Now, only the most sycophantic Labour toadies would claim it holds water any longer. The Prime Minister´s announcement that he will not now be calling an election has exposed his actions as being a vile cocktail of pusillanimity, incompetence and unscrupulousness. It was all going so well for Brown until the conference season. On September 24th, the polls showed
Labour was 11 points ahead of the Tories. Brown was on course for another swingeing landslide victory, whilst David Cameron would be hung, drawn and quartered after his party had been blown to kingdom come at the ballot box. An election could reliably have secured a mandate for Gordon Brown and guaranteed him four more years in the job he has coveted for so long. But things took an abrupt turn in the other direction after the Conservatives’ announcement that they were cutting inheritance tax and stamp duties, and David Cameron’s overrated but moderately impressive conference speech proved a massive hit with the voters. The gap narrowed until, incredibly, it looked like the Tory leader had managed to claw his way back from the mouth of the lion’s den with a three point lead. Suddenly, an election was somewhat less appealing for Mr Brown, carrying the risk of his going down in history as the shortest-serving British Prime Minister ever. A week, as they say, is a long time in politics. When make-your-mind-up time finally arrived, it was impossible for Gordon Brown to try to worm his way out of this tangle by claiming he had never been considering an election. Journalists had already discovered that Buckingham Palace had been placed on emergency
Charlotte Towerton asks whether Gordon Brown has bottled it or bottled up...
NOW THE party conference season is over and it is clear there is to be no autumn election , we must now ponder if Gordon Brown bottled it or not. Let’s look at the reasons why such debate has been sparked. Firstly, no fixed terms between elections means that one can be called at any time during the 5-year period. Secondly, it’s one of the Prime Minister’s honours to be able to choose when this will be. Boos from the left and right claim Brown has bottled out on the election. Opposition parties have been calling for a general election because there has been a change in Prime Minister, one who is imposing his “own vision”, and it is only constitutional for that to be voted upon. However, as Brown’s argument goes, we have a parliamentary and not a presidential system. Therefore we vote for the Labour manifesto through our local Labour MP, not for Blair or Brown. The fact of the matter is that all previous Prime Ministers have wavered over when to call an election. If the England football team had won Euro ‘96 at home, John Major would have called a ‘96 autumn election, hoping to benefit from the uplifted atmosphere around the nation. As they didn’t, he served out the full 5 year term and called the election in May 1997. So should PMs have the ability to call an election when they choose - as it is always at
a favourable time to the party already in leadership? The Lib Dems have launched a bid for legislation to strip Prime Ministers of the right to pick election dates by imposing four-year fixed-term parliaments. This would remove the problems that have caused this fiasco of second guessing: Brown calling an election; not calling an election; bottling an election due to unset parliament term-times, and the PM’s right to choose when the general election is called. Regardless of whether Brown bottled the election or not, the real issue is the fact that he implied a golden carrot general election, then just as quickly snatched it and munched away. Gordon Brown says he takes “full responsibility” for the snap election speculation and denied that poor opinion polls led him to decide against one. Cameron slams the Prime Minister for “treating the British people as fools”, but Brown has played a clever game. As the Lib Dems and Conservatives assumed a possible election they showed all their cards, possibly their best hand, at their party conferences. Now Brown is likely to spend six months in rebuttal and knocking down their proposals, whilst producing his own policies to make up the Labour manifesto. Brown hasn’t bottled the election; he’s simply bottling up his ground-breaking brew, for it all to emerge when it will be most damaging.
alert for an election; civil servants had been told to finish outstanding jobs and important ministerial announcements, such as withdrawing troops from Iraq, had been compressed into a few days. He had come right to the very brink – and, at the eleventh hour, faltered. When confronted by the chummy figure of Andrew Marr in a cosy, exclusive interview, the Prime Minister was therefore forced into an explanation that, even by New Labour standards, took the biscuit for its non-sequiturs, obfuscation and total lack of logic. Mr Brown claimed he needed a chance to “show people the vision” he had for the future of the country and to “develop and show people the policies that will make a huge change in the country itself.” Since when, one wonders, have elections not been called because a government needs to show the
people what it is going to do? The historic convention of British politics is that governments make promises to the people in their manifestos, which the people then vote upon. Brown’s inextricable statement turns this principle on its head, by implying that the people will only be allowed a retrospective say after his reforms have already been made. Such incoherence betrays the obvious truth; he saw the polls, and bolted. Of course, there is no constitutional
need or precedent for such a poll. John Major became Prime Minister in 1990 with no election, as did Callaghan in 1976 and no less a figure than Churchill in 1940. If Brown had stuck to this line in the first place, few would be objecting. But the fact that he has been forced to admit that he considered one, and the palpably mendacious hogwash that his justification for chickening out so transparently is, combine to lay bare the extent to which he has tried so disgracefully to manipulate the situation to his own advantage. It is perhaps natural justice that Brown’s maladroit handling of this affair has seriously damaged his popularity still further. Perhaps now we might see through the foolish delusion that Brown was any different from Blair, and realise that the oleaginous, deceitful ways of spin and deception that have always been at the heart of the New Labour project are still very much alive.
Don’t Vote for the Floppy-haired Fraud! Matthew Hartfield gives his opinion on a different, but no less annoying, politician - Boris Johnson BEING STUDENTS, it cannot have escaped your attention that the famous face of politics, Boris Johnson, has been successful in being selected as the Conservative nominee for the Mayor of London. In a move which surprised absolutely no one, Boris beat off competition from three other candidates to set up a contest which many people predict will be exhilarating. Considering this hype, the posters of him at the Freshers’ Fair, and the pile of “I heart Boris” badges present, it seems that everyone and their dog is ecstatic at this news. Everyone except me, that is. Personally, I think Boris encompasses all the worst traits of a politician and I fear for my home city of London, where I was born, raised and where I studied previously, if he is elected. You may think I’m being a joyless buffoon by writing this, considering his messianic status as the funny face of politics. All his posturing however is just a front, which explains why the Conservative party uses his face on promotion material to give to students. My suspicions that he was not quite what he appeared to be were first raised when investigating the teaching of creationism in schools. Whilst he was the shadow education secretary, he was sent to advertise material advocating
the teaching of Intelligent Design. Instead of dismissing it, he sent a glowing reply, praising the work as “identifying the controversy” regarding the origin of humans (a controversy completely non-existent in biological theory), and expressed a belief that the presence of evolution in the curriculum was part of a “wider agenda” to force “politically correct” secularism into teaching. Anyone with a knowledge of science can see the flaws here and I was unsettled by the dodgy politicising in his reply. This iffy attitude was confirmed further when his appalling attitude towards race relations was revealed; his use of such phrases as “piccaninny” to describe black children who had “watermelon smiles” in his journalism has been widely documented. When questioned on this on the BBC London news he stated that such words had to be considered ‘in context’. If anyone can use such phrases in a normal context and not come across as grossly offensive they deserve a Nobel Prize for Literature. It’s no surprise that the mother of Stephen Lawrence, the black teenager murdered in a racially motivated attack, has already spoken out against him. This is not the only minority group he has problems with. He is grossly dismissive towards civil partnerships between same-sex couples, saying that if this was OK then “I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men… or indeed three men and a dog”. It also seems that the former
Bullingdon Club member has a flippant attitude towards the poorer sections of society – remember his remarks against Liverpool, which required him to give a grovelling apology? Considering London’s problems with providing affordable housing and alleviating poverty, this doesn’t bode well if he becomes the top man. London is a vast city which is full of life and ideas, however it is also full of problems; for example, the lack of affordable housing, the enormous financial strains that lowpaid key workers in the city (such as nurses) come under, the terrible air pollution. If someone is to be elected mayor of London next spring I would like it to be a leader who recognizes its myriad problems and takes direct action to alleviate them. From his background, Boris Johnson looks like he’ll send the city backwards, allowing his snobbish attitude to prevent him from solving key issues and risk damaging the city I am proud to call my home. If you’re a fellow Londoner, take my advice; use your vote wisely and don’t vote for this floppy-haired fraud!
6
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Comment
THE EU IS LETTING THE EXTREMISTS WIN
Impact treasurer Laurence Cable presents his view on post 9/11 airport ‘security’. CAN ANYONE else remember when flying used to be something they looked forward to? I can. It used to be exciting, looking around all those shops, eating outrageously overpriced ice cream and giggling at the businessmen buying a stash of dodgy DVDs to keep them company on their trip. Now though, ever since 9/11, it’s become more and more of a chore. Like travelling on the 418 in the morning peak, only it lasts far longer. First there are the ridiculously long check-in queues, as you are told to get there two hours in advance. Given the length of queues these days, you need to. Whatever happened to the vision of cheap airlines being like turn-up-and-fly services? Anyway, once you have negotiated the long queues comes my real gripe - the security check. And those stupid little plastic bags the EU forces us to use. Which idiot came up with such a ridiculous idea? Does the European Commission really think they are keeping us safe by putting all our liquids in little shampoo bottles and sealing them up in clear plastic? Perhaps when my toothpaste tube leaks and it comes into explosive contact with my moisturiser, the plastic bag will safely
contain the explosion (which explains why they have to be re-sealable), and all will be well. Maybe these bureaucrats in Brussels do know something we mere idiots do not. Seriously, though, my problem with this is that scientists came out en masse after the alleged liquid-explosive bomb plot, to say that to be able to cause a major explosion, you would need significant quantities of explosive, and that the substances needed would be far too volatile to carry in a shampoo bottle. Let us also consider for a moment what the terrorists are trying to do. Their problem appears to be with the way the non-believing Western world lives its life, and they have already shown that they will do anything at all in their power to disrupt it. So what does the EU do? It slides in cosily alongside this vision, by stopping us from doing what we have safely done for years. Its actions may have been pre-empted by the terrorist groups, but the EU’s reaction has been totally ludicrous and is simply playing into the hands of the terrorists, for whom any disruption of the Western world represents a victory for their cause. On the safety side as well, it is ineffective. Several times I have (without
realising it at the time) carried liquids through security without being noticed. Similarly, once you are through security, you can buy any liquid you want. So if you were really intent on getting that tube of explosive toothpaste onto a plane, all you would have to do is bribe the shelf-packer in the pharmacy and get them to put your tube on the shelf for you to come along and buy. So come on Brussels, stop giving the extremists what they want, and show them that you will not react to each of their attempts to change the way we live by doing just that. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might even suggest that some deal had been struck with the EU and a plastic bag factory in one of the new accession states. But then that would be a stupid idea, wouldn’t it?
A SNAPSHOT OF THE PROHIBITED LIQUIDS: The thought of using Herbodent scares me more than flying, though.
You’ve Gotta be Spittin’ Me Charlotte King Comment Editor impact-comment@bath.ac.uk
I DON’T know about any other citizen who is a lover of basic manners, but for me, spitting is the height of rudeness, as well as being downright disgusting. Every time I see someone blatantly spitting onto the pavement in a High Street I could quite happily walk over to them and tweak their nose or, more on topic, make them step in their bodily fluid or at the very least clean it up. I have to say I have never done any of these things because, putting aside the fact that I’d probably be facing
a lawsuit for actual bodily harm for the former reaction, if you have no shame that you’re spitting in public, the response you are likely to give to a small blonde woman telling you off for it is unlikely to be one of remorse. Now comes the obvious question; why do people do it? It would never cross my mind to walk down the street and spit out what I have in my mouth onto the pavement, whether it be simply my saliva or a blob of chewing gum. I believe a very big reason for the saliva-littered streets is the behaviour on the football pitch from highly-paid, although not all highly well-mannered, football stars.
GRAFFITI ON A RANDOM WALL: They could at least colour-coordinate.
These people are in the public eye and for 90 minutes their behaviour is scrutinised by millions. If a young boy sees his favourite football player spitting out a mouthful as he’s going in for a tackle, he’s probably going to do the same, thinking there’s nothing wrong with this. Are they trying to portray themselves as being macho men, trying to mimic the caveman knawing at his fireroasted antelope leg and spitting out the gristle? I’m not saying that only the males of our species are capable of spitting but to this date I’ve only ever personally witnessed men doing it. (Please email impact-comment@bath.ac.uk if you have evidence against this.) According to a 2006 survey, 75 per cent of football fans have voted Bolton Wanderers striker El-Hadji Diouf’s spit at defender Arjan de Zeeuw in a Premiership match in 2006 as “the grossest thing they’ve ever seen on a football pitch.” So, not all fans are going to start a spitting war, but the other 25 per cent may be the culprits of the spitting; either that or they’ve been to some very dirty football games. It also must be that some people are simply disgusting of their own accord and they have no sense of respect for their surroundings and no desire for their environment to be pleasant. This is not just true of spitting but also the just-as-annoying tendency of bored youths to decorate random walls, alleyways and the place that
always amazes me, as it seems a ladder would be necessary (or very long legs), along train tracks. It’s always on the sides of bridges and high walls along the track and as you whizz past you see the occasional blur of colour which was probably someone’s ‘tag’ - the personal logo that the person sprays; looks to me like a large scribble. But, spitting is not just disgusting and graffiti is not just annoying. Both have a financial cost in terms of their clean-up, and spitting also poses a public health risk. Tuberculosis and other diseasecausing agents are carried in water droplets, i.e. saliva, so it is potentially dangerous to others. If one walks down the High Street and steps on someone’s saliva, then walks into their house without taking their shoes off, they are potentially spreading a disease around their house,
into their carpet, ready for their child to crawl on. You might as well grab the next passer-by by their arm, take them into your lounge and say “spit there. Yes, right there.” In some countries, such as China, spitting in public has been made illegal. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 in the UK makes it easier to fine those who spit out gum. It states “a person is guilty of an offence if he throws down, drops or otherwise deposits any litter in any place to which this section applies and leaves it.” But, in my opinion, this is not enough. We need to crack down on this revolting habit and make it illegal too. We’re far too soft here in the UK.
7
IMPACT
Features
SOONER OR later, the time would have to come. I’d have to tear myself away from the creperies of Cours Mirabeau, finish basking in the summer sun and instead make the short journey to the Universite de Provence with a hop, skip and an enthusiastic little jump. After all, I’m not in France to enjoy the culinary delicacies or Mediterranean climate. I’m here to study; it’s as simple as that. Now, three weeks after first venturing into the Faculte de Lettres – the department of the University in which I am based – I have learnt that studying in France is anything but simple. My energy slowly sapped away as day after day I found myself traipsing the corridors of the sizeable university building, trying desperately to locate someone or something that could help me fill the gaps in my completely blank timetable.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Scant’s Regard: French Student Life
Every issue Laura Scantlebury reports on the perils of spending a year abroad in France. This week she is confronted with the French norms of organisation. It’s as though the university administration is setting a challenge. “You may be two years into a degree,” they seem to mock, “but let’s just test you. Let’s just see how competent you really are. Can you, an English Erasmus student with a decidedly dodgy grasp of the French language, manage to successfully enrol yourself onto a number of courses in order to obtain the necessary 24 credits?” After being presented with a list of options from the Erasmus office, I was let loose on the languages departments to knock, almost at random on office doors and attempt to weasel information on modules from grim-faced staff. All of whom seemed even less inclined to share their knowledge than I am a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. However, contrary to appearances, the office staff was not being deliberately obstructive. In fact, there was a very simple reason why they could provide neither a time nor room number for a class supposedly beginning the following week; they had absolutely no idea themselves.
Internet
Perhaps this was the explanation for office doors being routinely shut in the faces of exasperated students. French and International students alike would then huddle together in the corridors,
muttering irritably, to ponder the mystery of why the secretariat should have closed when its opening time, just half an hour earlier, was displayed clearly on the door.
Intermission
Unfortunately, the corridor camaraderie does not last long. When lectures begin, student is pitted against student in a fearsome battle. The coveted prize: an extremely uncomfortable wooden chair at the back of a stuffy classroom. 90 students make a bid to pile into a room designed to accommodate just 40. Mayhem ensues; students eye each other stonily, as the lecturer is forced to accept only the seated few onto the course. No, they can’t change the classroom for a bigger one. Rooms have to be booked at least three months in advance. And even when you are lucky enough to be allocated one, at half past the hour and on the hour, the door will open wide enough for a handful of students to peer in, confused. They too have a seminar scheduled for Room A302. Our teacher doesn’t care, though. As she says, a hint of schadenfreude evident in her voice, we are already in the classroom. Module One: An Introduction to French Dis-Organisation (0 Credits), completed.
Featuring: The Fabulous Features
Deputy Editor Adam Luqmani’s regular look at the weird and the wonderful on the World Wide Web. This week: the astonishing cyber-world of Ninjas
http://www.askaninja.com http://www.realultimatepower. net/
Facts: 1. Ninjas are mammals. 2. Ninjas fight ALL the time. 3. The purpose of the ninja is to flip out and kill people. (taken from http://www. realultimatepower.net/)
Just like Chuck Norris, Jack Bauer (and to a lesser extent, Jason Bourne) ninjas are cult internet icons. They are revered by dweeb culture as symbols of stealth, speed and deadly weapon skills. Even a real-life ninja is actually pretty mundane when compared to this idealised “Super Ninja”. The website, http://www. realultimatepower.net, is a hilarious, “informative” site telling readers all about ninjas. Although it may appear to be written seriously, nearly all the information on the site is self-serving nonsense which is there purely for entertainment of those who buy in to the “Super Ninja” joke. It’s actually a really funny site. My favourite part is their “hate mail” section, where people who clearly do not understand the joke have actually written emails
into the site creators hurling abuse along the lines of “…I just visited your f*cked up little piece of sh*t ninja site, and you don’t know jack sh*t about them, do you?...” Anyway, one good example of how the popular ‘Ninja’ character has manifested itself is in the form of the website askaninja.com. Askaninja is a collection of short videos featuring a character we know only as “the Ninja”. He answers viewers’ email questions in his own inimitable style; which mostly involves not actually tackling the question at all, and instead going off on a tangent. Some of the funniest moments on the “show” are when the ninja moves away from the main topic and describes, in intricate detail, something completely random. For example, in response to the question “Do Ninjas celebrate Christmas?”, the Ninja goes off explaining that Santa is a ninja, and that his clothes are made red by the blood of naughty children who have seen him delivering their presents. The Ninja is consistently ridiculous and over-the-top with his replies, and some of the funniest quotes from the series, are when he gets very excited and “flips out” (see above). “Have I stolen the hearts of a few lovely ladies? Guilty. Unfortunately I
was not able to give them back to them before they BLED TO DEATH! So who is the Ninja? According to Wikipedia, the identity of the Ninja is played by improvisational comedian Douglas Sarine, who created the site along with Kent Nichols. The free series has been running since about this time in 2005, and there have been approximately 60 episodes made since then. Each can be watched on the website, www.askaninja.com, and many of them are also posted on YouTube.
NINJA WAITRESS: She could ambush me any day.
This week, the Features section is a pot pourri of all the regulars as well as a unique expanded food section, thanks to some new contributors. Scant’s Regard moves away from accounts of her habitation, and more towards university, the real reason why she has dared to plunge into French society. Amira’s recipe recommendations are the perfect step-by-step guide to stunning your housemates, or convincing your new girlfriend of your culinary flair. Yes boys, the way to a real girl’s heart is inevitably through her taste buds. Once again, Adam takes us on a journey into cyberspace, to explore the ridiculousness of Ninjas: creatures that can neither be seen, described or killed (sounds like a description of the way one could feel on a semi-decent pub crawl). Unfailingly, Rosanna gives us an exclusive view into the mind-boggling thought of a genuine psychology student. Are humans really merely Darwinian creatures who are nothing but selfish? Rosanna’s response consists of “get hugging”. Plunge into my imaginary world of hypothetical situations or become spellbound by the oracle-like horoscopes from the supreme Madame Souffle. Enjoy this issue’s Features and do not hesitate to contact me with rages, rants or ideas.
8
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Features
Feeling Good About Being Good
In her third fabulous article, our Psychology columnist Rosanna Pajak explores the great perks of altruistic behaviour… which may not even be altruistic, as it turns out. YOU HAND over your pound coin and shove the copy of Big Issue into your bag, smiling at the seller, and then at the world. As you continue walking to the bus stop you feel a little glow inside at the good deed you’ve done. But what made you do it? Handing over money you could have put towards a yummy Pitstop for a magazine you’re probably not going to read… it doesn’t really make sense. Yet we can hopefully all think of little (or big) things we’ve done for others, at no benefit for ourselves. Altruism is defined by psychologists as the clearest example of prosocial behaviour. It is basically any behaviour humans have, that benefits someone else at a cost to that individual. Psychologists have even been able to link the posterior superior temporal sulcus, a particular area in the brain, with this desire to do good for others. German researchers found infants as young as eighteen months helped strangers to complete tasks, picking up things they dropped, for example. Amazingly, young chimps did the same, so altruism is perhaps not as uniquely human as we once thought. So… we have an inborn tendency to perform random acts of kindness, but why exactly? It makes sense that our desire to help others is dependent on the complex emotion of empathy. If we were unable to understand or imagine how someone else feels, we would ultimately lack the motivation to help them. So, you essentially
bought the Big Issue because you can imagine how you would feel if you had to stand on the street and sell it, and how you would feel if you sold a copy. Hmmm… but what about that lovely warm glow? If we’re brutally honest, most of us have other motivations as well as empathy. We may fear social disapproval, or want to avoid pangs of guilt as we tuck into our Pitstop. We all know the uncomfortable feeling of walking around Bath centre on a Saturday, dodging the people shaking their collecting cans or trying to make you set up direct debits – we feel like bad people. We might give money to Comic Relief because the films of malnourished children make us feel so sad, but then aren’t we really acting to get rid of our own feelings of sadness? We may simply seek out that warm fuzzy glow, deciding to help a friend with their shopping as we feel pretty good afterwards. Even more cynically, do we only treat our mates to round of drinks to be better liked by people, or to get something in return? Depressingly, perhaps this means there is no such thing as a truly unselfish act. You may remember Phoebe and Joey having this very argument in one episode of ‘Friends’. The theory of psychological egoism argues just this: whilst people can exhibit altruistic behaviour, we can never really have altruistic intentions as we always further our own interests in the end.
Yet it’s nice to know, that in today’s world, where sometimes it really does seem to be every man for himself, there is still altruism out there in some shape or form. In the last few years a number of ‘cults’ have sprung up around the world, promoting altruistic behaviour. In 2002, a London man put an advert in Loot magazine simply stating ‘Join me’ and an address, just for a laugh. Within months he had 12,000 members, and no cause! Shocked at the response, he decided to go for ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ – Fridays became Good Fridays and the group became the Karma Army, dedicated to committing totally random acts of
Salmon Story: an Easy Feast It may cost more than two quid, but who can resist Amira Fathalla’s recipe for scrumptious salmon and easy-peasy ailoi? Certainly not me... yum yum! WHEN IT comes to whipping up a quick yet fancy-looking meal, not many recipes can beat this fishy dishy. The end result is impressive and downright delicious. Unless you don’t like salmon, that is! Exhausted with coursework and needing to use up the soon-to-be expired salmon fillets in my fridge, I offered to rustle up some respectable grub for myself and my housemate last night. I really recommend cooking for housemates – it guilt-trips them into doing the washing-up! Whilst my housemate, unaware of what was to come, chatted idly on her mobile, I sneaked into the kitchen and worked some dead-easy magic. And this is how it went: Sprinkle some seasoning (any mix of spices like pepper, dried garlic, chilli, paprika etc) on top of the salmon fillets. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan, and if the skin’s still on the salmon, put the fillets skinside on the pan to begin with. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto the top, and enjoy that sizzle!
Lower the heat to let it cook through, and in the meantime, prepare the aioli. Aioli is a sort of garlic-y mayonnaise topping, but is infinitely more sophisticated than its kebab shop counterparts. Crush half a garlic clove and mix with 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise in a small bowl. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, a teeny dollop of mustard (say a half a teaspoon of Dijon or American mustard) and roughly chopped fresh basil (about 4 or 5 leaves to taste) and stir it all up. This takes literally about 2 minutes, so just leave it aside or in the fridge while the salmon cooks. Give the fillets about 7 minutes on low heat on one side, or until they go that pinky-orange colour most of the way through, then flip them over and leave to cook for another 5 minutes or so. This should be enough time, depending on thickness, but you may want to make sure they are done through. No point cooking your housemates into doing the washing-up then ending up making them ill. Then who would wash up those dishes? Overall, it should take 12-15 minutes to cook, and should have all changed
colour and hopefully be a little golden on either side. When you serve them up, put generous dollops of the aioli on top and just savour that flavour! I served this with pasta, just boiled and pesto-ed with a little bit of finely chopped garlic – it’s another quick and easy thing to do. You could also opt for a more potatoey side with some pretty green beans too, or a frisee lettuce and rocket salad with cherry tomatoes. Or you could have just the fish and leave more room for dessert. “Incredible,” my housemate says, “this is so good!” And it’s dead easy too… Fry, stir, fry, and serve!
kindness towards complete strangers; paying for the car behind them at a tollbooth, for example. Still going strong now, the Karma Army now work on other weekdays and hold occasional Karmageddons, where they roam the streets handing out gifts to strangers. In Sydney in 2004, another phenomenon was just beginning. Videoed and publicised on YouTube, one man stood in Pitt Street Mall with a simple sign…. FREE HUGS. At first people were wary, but gradually people were hugging and the whole thing took off, with the video even winning ‘Most Inspirational’ on the website. After a nasty run-in with
the police, who actually forced him to stop hugging, he managed to get a petition signed by 10,000 people and was eventually allowed to hug away. Free Hugs has now spread all around the world, reaching our shores this April this year, when a waitress gave out free hugs all over Newcastle. As Phoebe found out the hard way, it’s pretty hard to commit a truly unselfish act and then not feel good about it afterwards – but what’s wrong with that? Whatever our reasons, and however good we feel afterwards, at the end of the day we would be committing unselfish acts of kindness, and that can only be a good thing. So… get hugging!
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. Are you nervous or anxious about the week ahead? Fear not; for Madame Souffle will guide you through the darkest patches, with her prophetic words making you a more resilient and wiser person. Capricorn (22 December - 20 January), You will a have a big decision to make and you’re going to make the wrong choice. Aquarius (21 January - 19 February), This fortnight you will find yourself in the library at some point although chances are you will not be doing any studying. Pisces (20 February - 20 March) Don’t let a small child get the better of you, remember you can always kick them and lie about it afterwards. Aries (21 March - 20 April) You may fall out of a plane without a parachute this fortnight. Don’t let it put you off flying. Taurus (21 April - 21 May) This fortnight you are desperate for a shag. You can contact me through the Editor. Gemini (22 May - 22 June) Your trousers will rip and everyone will see your bum. Ensure you’re wearing good underwear.
Cancer (23 June - 23 July) You are going to drink a really dodgy pint that will repeat on you for hours. Leo (24 July - 23 August), This fortnight you will morph into a giant rhino and go on a killing spree. Virgo (24 August - 23 September) You will be driven completely mad by a Steps song that will be stuck in your head for days. Libra (24 September - 23 October) Your artistic skills will reach a peak this fortnight and your genius will be recognised when you win a game of Pictionary. Scorpio (24 October - 22 November) You are going to discover a love for cooking and a lack of talent. Make sure your fire alarms are in working order. Sagittarius (23 November - 21 December) If you catch fire in the next week, remember to stop, drop and roll and don’t say I didn’t warn you.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Imagine...
Josie Cox pictures student life without our easyJet-orange friend: 8:15s without the Bright Orange Bus WAITING FOR the Bright Orange bus, on an idle Sunday afternoon, I was overcome with a flash of inspiration for the second of my editorials in the column “Imagine…”: a tribute to this carroty chariot of fire. Enjoying the glorious view of Bath’s skyline from the top of Wessex house or the top floors of a Westwood residence, it’s not hard to realise how high above the city the campus actually sits. A more masochistic way of becoming conscious of this infrastructural detail is by enduring the hike up Bathwick Hill. Whether you call it journalistic research or downright lunacy, I too have trekked the hill and realised first-hand that the favours which the Bright Orange bus does us really are taken for granted. Especially when you’ve missed the bus at 7.45 on a Monday morning in the pouring rain. Actually, I did not only subject myself to this experimental mission one time, but twice: once via the route of Widcombe Hill, and once following in the mighty tracks of our orange friend, up Bathwick Hill. Though you may doubt it, I can claim in all honesty that Widcombe Hill, in the company of my faithful iPod, was less of a haul than you would imagine. Lost in the captivating bars of my music, and with the autumn sun pounding down on me, I reached the crossroads, with the promising sign spelling out “Oakley”, sooner than expected. Admittedly, my legs felt a touch shaky when I sat down to eat my well-deserved Pitstop sandwich, but overall I can describe it as a gratifyingly manageable bit of morning exercise. Putting myself in other hypothetical situations, however, my confidence in the walk always being sheer pleasure seems to falter, especially with regard to those Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, on which the city centre becomes the playground and the BOB, ever so aptly, our favourite toy to round off the night. If, for some unimaginable reason, our treasured bus ceased to ex-
IMPACT
9
Features
Food for Thought
Feature for the Foodies: This week has seen a few people expressing particular enthusiasm for an expanded food section. May the fruits of their creativity pleasure your palete and, hopefully, your wallet.
ist, what would that mean? In my ponderings, I have come up with a handful of inevitable consequences. Firstly, as cynical as I may sound, I am slightly dubious as to whether we students would even consider attending morning lectures. From experience I can say that once you
Famously, a lack of zeds makes us antisocial, more prone to accidents, less able to absorb information and less capable of controlling our appetite. have developed a habit of missing certain regular seminars, meetings or lectures, it becomes virtually impossible to break out of it. Also speaking from experience: if you really, really, really wish something didn’t exist, a cerebral mechanism seems to lead us to: a) forget its existence, or b) actually believe it doesn’t exist. No lectures. No learning. No brain stimulation. No intelligence. Suma samarium: it would cause stupidity. Additionally, assuming a fraction of us actually obeyed our determination to get to university, we would have to factor so much extra time into our morning rituals that a serious risk of sleep deprivation would prevail. Famously, a lack of zeds makes us antisocial, more prone to accidents, less able to absorb information and less capable of controlling our appetite. So what is the lesson learned from this week’s column? Be nice to the bus drivers; especially the ones with the late night shifts. After all, if it weren’t for them, we would probably be stupid, accident-prone loners, overweight and unable to learn anything. And anyone who hits me with the WHO’s babble about the benefits of walking, has clearly never experienced the bottom of Bathwick Hill, on that Monday morning at 7.45 in the pouring rain.
ALMOST AS NICE AS A SKI-TRIP TO AUSTRIA: Sian’s apple strudel will surely make your mouth water.
APPLE STRUDEL Sian Lewis encourages us to embrace winter with this delicious strudel recipe. (If it’s not too cold out why not try it with a little vanilla ice cream on the side?) I have come to the very sad conclusion that the weather is now truly cold and rainy, as I discovered this morning upon attempting to walk up a wet Widcombe Hill in my flipflops. However, I have decided to ignore the lack of sun and instead be excited about snow, woolly jumpers, the Bath Christmas Market and strudel. Strudel sounds quite scary to make but this recipe is cheap and simple, your friends will think you are Gordon Ramsay and it makes dingy student kitchens smell nice! Serves 6 3 large cooking apples (Bramleys are good), peeled, cored and sliced 1 cup raisins The juice of 1 lemon 1/4 cup brown sugar 4 tablespoons of melted butter or margarine All-purpose flour 1 sheet defrosted puff pastry Cinnamon Position an oven rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 180° In a medium bowl, toss the sliced apples with the raisins, lemon juice, sugar and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Toss well, until the apples are thoroughly coated. Dust the counter and a rolling pin (tins work as well) with flour. Lay the puff pastry on top and dust the rolling pin with additional flour. Roll the puff pastry to a 1/4cm thickness.
Spread the apple and raisin mixture over the bottom half of the puff pastry square leaving about 2cm of space along the side edges. Fold the top half of the puff pastry over and pinch the edges together. Cut off any excess pastry. Brush the strudel with the remaining melted butter and then sprinkle with cinnamon. Make three diagonal cuts across the top. If you are feeling arty you can use any extra pastry to make leaves or shapes for the top of the strudel. Place the strudel on a large piece of tinfoil rubbed with butter and place on an oven tray, bake for 40ish minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown. Serve warm to all your cold housemates.
SEASON OF MISTS AND MELLOW FRUITFULNESS (AND SQUASH) Daisy Meyland-Smith explores the season’s offerings with this exceptional delicacy. Autumn is the season when many of nature’s gifts seem to require a leap of faith. Chestnut mushrooms spring to mind: lovely pan-fried with butter and garlic and served on toast; not so pretty. Squashes and pumpkins can seem equally daunting, partly due to their size and partly because (unless you are American) the nearest most people get to pumpkin pie is the odd stuffed marrow, which is not the same at all. I am a great fan of butternut squash, which is a nightmare to cut up (I nearly killed one of my housemates in my first year when a knife detached from its handle and flew across my Norwood kitchen) but rewarding in the
end. This soup is dead easy and fantastic on a cold day. It can be frozen in batches or kept for a while in the fridge. Butternut squash soup
1 butternut squash 1 onion 1 tbsp olive oil/butter 1 chicken/vegetable stock cube (according to preference and whether you are a vegetarian!) Boiling water
Put oil/butter in a deep pan over a low heat Chop onion very fine and add to the pan, stirring and allowing to soften very slowly. This means that the natural sugars in the onion caramelise, rather than charring and tasting mingin’ (technical term). Peel and chop the squash, removing seeds and surrounding stringy bits. Cut the squash into cubes of 1-2 cm squared. Add the squash to the pan and stir until softened. Pummel the stock cube and stir it into the squash before adding boiling water (about a litre to start with). Raise the heat to medium-high and simmer until the squash starts to disintegrate. Now either blend with a hand blender or mash the squash with a potato masher. If you have neither of these a rustic soup might be nice! Serving suggestion: French soupstyle with a cheesy crouton floating on top. Other ideas squash:
for
your
butternut
-chop bacon and onion and squash, cook to soften, add risotto rice and slowly add stock. -chop into very small cubes and add to soups and stews to give bulk.
10
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
15-Oct
Mon.
9:30pm-2am 6pm-10pm
Global group @
Tues.16-Oct 8pm-2am
Comedy
Wed. 17-Oct 9:30pm-2am Thurs.
18-Oct
Fri.
19-Oct
SCORE
8pm-until late
20-Oct
8pm
Mon.
15-Oct
9:30pm-2am
and see him.” - 9/10
“999” Party
- Stephen Mathew, Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Rugby World Cup Final
Kevin Coleman
9pm-2am 411 Afsoc night @ Weds. 24-Oct 21:30pm-2am Thurs. 25-Oct 8pm-12pm Fri.
26-Oct
9:30pm-3am
27-Oct
Sat.
9pm-2am
Sun. 28-Oct 4pm-11pm
Dandelion Killers
RTRT OXJAM
Thurs. 1-Nov 8pm-until late
OPEN MIC
Sat. Sun.
3-Nov 4-Nov
TBC 8pm-10pm
Grainne Maguire Mon.
5-Nov 9:30pm-2am
Weds. 7-Nov 21:30pm-2am Thurs.
HALLOWEN SCORE
8-Nov
SCORE
8pm-12pm
ULYSSES & SUPPORT
Fri. 9-Nov 9:30pm-3am
‘ Clubbers & Ravers’
Sun. 11-Nov 8pm-10pm Mon. 12-Nov 9:30pm-2am
‘Cowboys & Cowgirls’ FIRE WORKS
MC Mike Belgrave King Gong winner Jan 2003
‘70’s Porn Stars’
31-Oct 9:30pm-2am
Fri. 2-Nov 9:30pm-3am
Kevin has been performing comedy for many years and is widely regarded as one of the best on the South Wales circuit..
SCORE
Mon. 29-Oct 9:30pm-2am Weds.
Nik Coppin “A rapid-fire non-stop act full of energy. His hour went so quick, his charming smile and easy manner had the audience eating out of his hand and wanting more. Go
Salsa
9:30pm-3am
Sat.
Tues.16-Oct
9pm-2am 411 Afsoc night @ Tues.
14-Nov
Weds.
13-Nov
8pm-2am 9:30pm-2am
Comedy SCORE
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
Science and Technology
Get Into Bath Research
The University of Bath discovery that could help Motor Neurone Disease patients. Catherine Luckin Science Contributor SCIENTISTS AT Bath have discovered a link between the gene for a protein involved in blood vessel formation, and the development of some forms of Motor Neurone Disease. It is hoped that the research could provide an insight into the possibilities for new treatments that could halt the progression of the disease. Motor Neurone Disease is a progressive disorder, characterised by the gradual degeneration of the nerves that control muscle movement and therefore voluntary muscle activities, such as speaking and walking. This results in symptoms that include gradual muscle weakening, wasting away and uncontrollable twitching. There are four main types of Motor Neurone Disease, and this research could help those with the most common form: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, which affects 1 to 5 in every 100,000 people. There are an estimated 5000 patients in the UK. Eminent physicist Stephen Hawking and the American baseball player, Lou Gehrig, are two well-known sufferers.
Previous research in 2006 found that some patients have a mutated form of the gene that codes for a small protein called angiogenin, which is involved in the formation of new blood vessels, particularly in tumour growth. The scientists, from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry, have
“W hen we figur e out exactly what goes wrong, we can s t a r t t o d eve l o p ways of preventing progression of this neurodegenerative d i s e a s e . ” Dr. Vasanta Subramanian now shown that angiogenin is also involved in the maintenance of motor neurones; playing a role in both their growth and protection. Furthermore, mutant versions of angiogenin are actually toxic to motor neurones and can inhibit their development. Through blocking activity of the angiogenin gene in the neurones of mice, the team found that an absence
of this protein made these mice less able to form new nerve projections, a process known as pathfinding. They then studied a mutated version of the protein and found that as well as affecting this pathfinding ability, it was in fact toxic to motor neurones when they were subjected to certain kinds of stress. Dr Vasanta Subramanian, who led the Bath team, is optimistic that this discovery could make the way for a new treatment. “This clearer picture of how the altered angiogenin works at the cellular and molecular level enables us to think about ways of preventing the disease from progressing.” Patients
will start to see symptoms as their motor neurones begin to degenerate. “If we can block the function of the faulty angiogenin in patients in which it is present, this may help to maintain healthy neurones and prevent further progression of the disease.” While Dr Subramanian is hopeful, there is still much to be understood about the precise role that altered forms of angiogenin play in development of the disease, so a therapeutic application is still some way away. “When we figure out exactly what goes wrong, we can start to develop ways of preventing progression of this neurodegenerative disease.”
LISTINGS: Science in and around Bath FRIDAY 19TH OCTOBER ASTROBIOLOGY LECTURE, Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe, Cardiff University Place & Time: Bristol Grammar School, University Road, Bristol @ 7.15PM One of the primary figureheads in Astrobiology gives a talk as part of the Bristol Astronomical Society. MONDAY 22ND OCTOBER COUCH POTATO CHILDREN: destined for obesity and chronic disease, Prof. Russ Pate, University of South Carolina Place & Time: University Hall @ 6.00PM To reserve a place, email c.j.riddoch@bath.ac.uk. WEDNESDAY 24TH OCTOBER THE SECRET CHEMISTRY OF ALMOST EVERYTHING, Professor Neil Allan Dear Richard,
Q. Dear Professor Science, Why do Cheerios (other cereals are available) stick together and to the sides of my cereal bowl? Yours Faithfully, Richard, 23, from Burnley
THE ‘CHEERIO-EFFECT’ you describe has long been considered, alongside consciousness and string theory, as one of the great scientific unknowns. However, by applying some simple physics, my powerful pea-sized brain has not only solved the mystery but formulated a fun experiment for you to try at home! The phenomenon can be explained using some basic concepts from physics, primarily surface tension. Surface tension, widely known as the magical force that allows the pond skater to do its Jesus impression, relies on the mild attraction that water molecules experience towards one another relative to the surrounding medium. This attraction causes a water surface to act like a flexible membrane, meaning that when you pop a Cheerio into a bowl of milk (which
11
Place & Time: Broadmead Baptist Church, Union Street, Bristol @ 1.00PM Name it, chemistry is part of it. It underpins the advanced technologies that pervade our everyday lives. But the image of the chemist is still one of the geek in the white coat mixing brightly coloured test tubes, producing noxious fumes and horrible smells. FRIDAY 26TH OCTOBER THE SCIENCE OF BLOOD FLOW - from Harvey to the present day, Prof. John Woodcock OBE, Cardiff University Place & Time: 8 West 1.1 @ 7.00PM The Bath Institute of Medical Engineering 39th Annual Lecture SATURDAY 27TH OCTOBER HILLIER ON ASTRONOMY NO. 1, Dr. Rodney Hillier, Bristol University Place & Time: Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution @ TBA www.brlsi.org is primarily water) an indentation is formed in the surrounding surface which drags neighbouring cereal particles towards one another in much the same way as a people on a bouncy castle. In addition to being attracted to one another, water molecules are also attracted to the sides of the cereal bowl. The combined attractive forces they experience towards one another, and towards the bowl result in the milk’s surface taking on a slightly concave or U-shaped aspect. Thus the Cheerios are dragged up the water gradient by the net affects of the surface tension, to the edges of the bowl. The most interesting aspect of these combined forces is that they can be reversed in a simple ‘try-at-home’ experiment, so that a Cheerio dropped near the edge of the bowl floats, as if by magic to the centre. To achieve this
effect, fill a cereal bowl absolutely to the brim with water so that it starts to overflow. Because at the edge of the water surface the molecules are dragged down by their attraction to the bowl, the surface takes on a slightly convex or hill shaped aspect. As a result of this geometry, the forces are reversed and the Cheerios make a bid for the centre, finally released from their fatal attraction to the bowl! Yours Faithfully
PROFESSOR SCIENCE
Got any questions for Professor Science? E-mail them to: impact-science@bath.ac.uk
Sabah’s Secrets SABAH, MALAYSIA, is one of the few places in the world where the great Orangutan can be found. It is also home of the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, which I was lucky enough to visit over the summer. With an estimated population of only 50,000 on the island of Borneo, Bornean Orangutans are a highly endangered species. The route I took to the rehabilitation centre made it pretty clear as to why this is. Hundreds and hundreds of kilometres of palm oil plantations on logged land have replaced virgin rainforest, home of the orangutan. The Sepilok rehabilitation centre was founded in 1964 for the rescuing of orphaned orangutans whose parents had been victims of logging and illegal hunting. However, the majority of the sanctuary’s animals are taken from people keeping them illegally as household pets. The orangutans are then brought up in the safety of the 43 sq km sanctuary and are slowly reintroduced into the wild where they can lead a normal life. Visitors are invited to view orangutans in the final stages of gaining independence during their feeding time. Recent trends towards promoting eco-tourism in Sabah have clearly led to positive effects on its fragile environment. More and more people visiting places like Sepilok have led to the foundation of many educational programmes not only to educate locals on the importance of Sabah’s irreplaceable orangutan, but also to get them involved by volunteering to help with conservation projects. One such project is the MESCOT Initiative. The aim of MESCOT is to combine eco-tourism with restoration of forests and lakes in the Lower Kinabatangan Floodplain. Money brought in by tourists is spent primarily on the restoration of the forests that in the past have been destroyed by forest fires and uncontrolled logging. What was cleared forest has now become home to a vast array of animals, from the bizarre proboscis monkey to the gargantuan rhinoceros hornbill, thanks to the hard work of the (mainly local) MESCOT volunteers. Many of the animals are observable on a daily basis due to them being pushed into the small regenerated (secondary) forest area by surrounding palm oil plantations, making it a highly desirable place to visit for the typical eco-tourist. More information on visiting and making donations to Sepilok and MESCOT can be found at the following websites: www.orangutan-appeal.org.uk www.mescot.org.
12
IMPACT
Science and Technology
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Latest Science News: In Brief work, saying: “Its impact on the understanding of gene function and its benefits to mankind will continue to increase over many years to come.”
Jame Dacey Science Contributor FIFTY YEARS In Space OCTOBER 4TH 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik – the first manmade satellite to be sent into orbit. It also marked the beginning of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Bloc. Shocked by the success of Sputnik and the political defeat this represented, President Eisenhower announced the formation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958. The ‘Sputnik Crisis’ left a threatened US Congress determined to land a man on the moon before the Russians, regardless of cost. Sputnik was just a small, shiny ball, but with its launch the Russians had extended the Cold War to Space initiating a heated drama of cosmic proportions between the prevailing superpowers that had the whole world gripped. NOBEL PRIZE for British scientist SIR MARTIN Evans of Cardiff
University has been awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine along with his two collaborators for their work on gene manipulation in mice. In the late 1980s they developed a technique known as ‘Gene Targeting’ which has been used in the study of cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease. Gene targeting has enabled scientists to ‘silence’ chosen genes whose
function may not be known, a process known as ‘Gene Knockout’. They can then observe differences between regular and ‘silenced’ mice samples gaining insight into the development of disease. Findings can then be applied to the human body. The technique has also been used to study the ageing process and how embryos develop in the womb. The Nobel Committee praised the
BRITAIN TO be control centre for world’s largest telescope JODRELL BANK, Manchester’s famous space observatory, will become the HQ for a new 1 billion Euro project to construct the world’s largest radio telescope antenna array at a location in either South Africa or Australia. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be formed over an area that is more than 30 times greater than the largest existing telescope. With a sensitivity of more than 50 times that of the current most powerful radio telescopes and speeds 10,000 times faster, it is hoped SKA will enable astronomers to peer into the outer reaches of the universe to investigate its origins. The project is truly global, involving astronomers and engineers in 17 countries from 6 continents. SKA is due for completion in 2020.
Scientist of the Week: Andreas Vesalius
ANOREXIA ‘LIKE ecstasy’ A TEAM of scientists at the French National Academy of Sciences claim they have found chemical similarities between anorexia and drug addiction. After reported appetite loss among ecstasy users, the research team decided to focus on the nucleus accumbens – a part of the brain which acts as a ‘reward centre’ when taking ecstasy. Using mice, the team stimulated the nucleus accumbens receptors by injecting them with ecstasy and noticed severe loss of appetite across the sample. The research team reinforced their position by observing increased appetites in CART, a chemical released by the body when using psychostimulant drugs like ecstasy, enhanced samples and reduced appetites in CART reduced samples. The implication is that hunger can be addictive and could be due to neurological defects. Following the study, it has been suggested that future anorexia research should focus on this reward centre in the brain.
Science Shorts:
James Wilson reveals the truth behind the great physician... Cryptomnesia James Wilson Science Contributor LITTLE IS known about Andreas Vesalius compared to other great scientists and for this reason, legends and half-truths have sprung up about him. However, we do know that coming from a family of physicians to the Holy Roman Emperors, his interest in becoming a physician was clear from a young age. In later life he did follow the family tradition, serving Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
“While out walking, looking for bones in the place where on the countr y highways eventually, to the great convenience of students, all those have been executed are customarily placed, I ha ppened upon a dried cadaver.” Andreas Vesalius If like Vesalius, you are a professor at 23 then you are clearly destined for great things. His knowledge did not come, as we have seen, in the usual way and his enthusiasm is shown by his visits to the Cemetery of the Innocents, in Paris, where he would give the name of the bone he
ANDREAS VESALIUS: What a great guy. was handed blindfolded. He said of these experiences: “We were forced to these lengths because, though eager to learn, we had no teachers to assist us in this aspect of medicine.” Vesalius got hold of his first articulated skeleton when, as he wrote, “While out walking, looking for bones in the place where on the country highways eventually, to the great convenience of students, all those have been executed are
customarily placed, I happened upon a dried cadaver.” Thank goodness this does not happen on Bathwick Hill, as modern day students would not be so pleased! So why was Vesalius great? Simple, he was the first to doubt the theories of the Greek physician Galen, something that was actually banned for those who were showing him dissections of the human body. In Italy, he gave discussions during his
own dissections, correcting Galen’s mistakes and winning over those who steadfastly believed Galen was accurate. His drawings, though not exclusively his own, were difficult to copy, and his masterpiece, “Fabrica”, was important to the world of art. The drawings went on to be copied by the printing press to share his knowledge of anatomy with students – the first time this had been done as it was not considered the done thing. The most mysterious episode of his life is his death. Many stories have sprung up concerning the matter, from him fleeing the Spanish Inquisition to begging for his body to be buried on land instead of being flung into the sea. The truth is, in 1564 Vesalius went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and never made it back due to impossible seas wrecking his ship. He got his wish and was not flung into the sea; instead he was buried on the island of Corfu. So this guy has made a difference to the world, but what was he actually like as a person? Many people have created stories of his persona saying he was a hot-headed man who manipulated those around him. In reality, it seems he was a decent man who disliked argument, had great passion for his work and wanted truth. We can see this from the hideously gushy dedications he gave with his work, not to people from whom he could glean money, but to those who could give him a job that he felt was worthwhile. A good man to have as the first scientist of the week then!
Liam Mason Science Contributor
PLAGIARISM, WHETHER in literature, academia or music, is an important issue in modern day information sharing. Dan Brown, author of the popular “The Da Vinci Code”, has been suspect of plagiarism with two cases filed against him – both court cases, however, were dismissed. Another well-known case was of former Beatle George Harrison’s plagiarism of a song by the Chiffons which was recorded around seven years earlier. Interestingly, a 1976 U.S federal court ruled that Harrison had “unintentionally” plagiarised the material; a condition known as cryptomnesia. Cryptomnesia is not well researched and consequently is a poorly understood condition. There has, however, been a variety of high profile cases highlighting this so-called unintentional plagiarism. Critics argue that there’s little scientific basis for cryptomnesia, but experimental research conducted by Richard L. Marsh and Gordon H. suggests that “unconscious plagiarism” occurs more than people realise. It goes without saying, however, that plagiarism of large chunks of text is unlikely to be attributed to cryptomnesia. Currently, due to the inherent uncertainties, UK copyright law has the same penal code for cryptomnesia as it does for regular plagiarism.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
13
14
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Elections Special
It’s Your Union, So Get Voting!
On these pages you will find the manifestos for Union Council, Council/Senate/Students’ Unions posts and NUS Delegate candidates. They are all students standing to represent you so please take some time to read their manifestos and vote on www.BathStudent.com between 12pm on Monday 15th October and 4pm on Friday 19th. Dave Austin Students’ Union President supresident@bath.ac.uk
I AM lucky enough to have the mammoth job of explaining all the elections that are taking place this week. There are a number of positions up for election for Union Council, the Council/ Senate/Students’ Union, and NUS Conference delegates. Of these, there are record numbers of candidates, which, I hope, represents the growing desire of your average student to help run the Students’ Union and to represent their peers. Let’s start with the Union Council. First of all, what is Union Council? Students’ Union Council is the high level decisionmaking body in the Students’ Union responsible for giving the Students’ Union direction (through deciding policy), and approving the aims of the Students’ Union Executive (by approving strategy). It is a forum for raising issues and discussing items (through questions to officers) and holds the SU Executive to account through regular reporting and planning. Students’ Union Council meets monthly on Mondays between 12.15pm and 2.15pm and last for two hours. So what positions are up for election? There are ten Open Place positions up for grabs with nineteen candidates standing. Open Place Reps have no portfolio as such, and sit on Union Council to represent students in their generality, rather than as members of a specific part of the Union.
put themselves forward for two positions. Finally, we have eight delegates for the NUS Conferences which we need to elect. These delegates represent our Union at regional and national conferences. If you have any questions about the elections feel free to contact myself or Ian Robinson, General Manger and Returning Officer for these elections.
JOE BLOGGS 2 JOSEPHINE PUBLIC 3 SAMANTHA STUDENT 1 RE-OPEN NOMINATIONS Mark your Ballot Paper in Order of Preference 1,2,3 and so on. You may use as few or many preferences as you wish.
Along with Open Place representatives there are a number of reps who represent particular sections of the Union. There is one position called ‘On-Campus Rep’. This post is on Union Council to represent the views of those students who live on campus, including, but not limited to, their thoughts about their accommodation and the facilities provided for them. There is a position for Placement Representative and there are four people who have put their names forward for this. The Placement Representative represents all of those students at the University of Bath who are on thin or thick sandwich year placements as part of their degrees. Next up there is a Gender Equality Rep. The Gender Equality Rep represents the interests of gender equality across the Union, ensuring that policies passed at Union Council are not gender-biased in any way. The position also entails becoming the gender equality contact point for the whole Union, so is a larger role than simply a position on Union Council. This person will also sit on the Equal Opportunities Working Group, and would have a lot of contact with those in the AWARE centre. There is also a Race Equality Representative. In a similar way
to the Gender Equality Rep, the Race Equality Rep sits on Union Council to ensure that all policies and issues that Union Council deals with are not racially biased in any way. The Race Equality Rep also sits on the Equal Opportunities Working Group and also works closely with the AWARE centre. There are a number of other positions including Race Equality Rep, Off-Campus Rep, Parttime Student Representatives and Learning Partnerships Organisation Rep. No candidates have put themselves forward for these positions, so we will be reopening nominations for these positions in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on BathStudent.com if you are interested in running for these positions and, of course, you can come and speak to me if you want to know more about the roles. Right, what’s next? Council/ Senate/Students’ Union Committee. The Council/Senate/ Students’ Union Committee is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor and reports to Council and Senate. Its purpose is to discuss and make recommendations to Council and Senate on any matters affecting the welfare of students and on any other issues referred to it by Council, Senate or the Students’ Union. Six candidates have
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Anni Wood, Sociology & Social Policy, Year 3 Proposed by: Paul Jaggers, French & Politics, Year 4 Seconded by: Philippa Madeley, Chemistry, Year 3
I AM standing as an Open Place Representative for Union Council because I feel have the experience and motivation to effectively represent student views. I am now in the final year of my degree having just finished a year representing student views to the Union and University in my Sabbatical position as VicePresident Education. During my time
as a Sabbatical Officer I helped to influence University decisions based on student consultation including the introduction of a new framework for Assessment Regulations, to ensure more commonality across departments, and the reintroduction of the Inter-Semester Break. I have a good knowledge of the workings of the Students’ Union and will ensure the Student Voice
is heard!
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Chiok-Sing Li, Mech Eng, Year 5 Proposed by: Sudesh Jeganathan, Mech Eng, Year 5 Seconded by: Alex NicholsonEvans, Social Sciences, Year 3
HI, I’M Chiok and I want to represent your views at Union Council as an Open Place Representative. As an Open Place Rep, I would be responsible for voicing the students like you in a wide range of areas from entertainment in the bars, recycling and price of a newspaper right up to larger issues such as the NUS Extra scheme and Placement accreditation. My experience in the Union has
shown me that students are very diverse and so their representatives also have to be. I’ve seen decisions made and motions passed because students’ views were represented equally and fairly for what they wanted. Without students, there is no Union and without Representatives, there is no voice. If you want an approachable and open-minded individual to stand for
your opinions when decisions are made then vote for me, Chiok-Sing Li as your Open Place Rep.
How to vote ALL UNION elections use the method of Single Transferable Vote (STV- confusingly the same initials as the Sports Training Village!). STV allows voters to express their choice in order of preference. Thus if your first choice candidate gets defeated you can still have a say in who gets elected. Here is an example of a ballot:
As you can see from the ballot I have ordered the candidates 1-3. After reading all the candidates’ manifestos carefully I decided to cast my first preference to Samantha Student, then Joe Bloggs and as my third choice, Josephine Public. I could have added a fourth preference for Re-open Nominations, but I choose not to as I was happy with the policies and personalities of Student, Bloggs and Public. All the ballots are then added up and the result announced. I hope this helps.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
15
Elections Special
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Chris McCorquodale, Pharmacy, Year 4 Proposed by: Matthew Hayes, Elec & Elec Eng, Year 3 Seconded by: Alan Sutherland, Aerospace Eng, Year 2
HELLO, MY name’s Chris. I’ve been involved in various parts of the Student’s Union since my first year, and I want the chance to represent YOU at Union Council. One of the areas that I have been involved with is Societies and Sports Clubs. I have been on committees and I know how enjoyable and challenging running a club can be. As last year’s Societies’ Officer I spent a lot of time
assisting societies, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue supporting Societies and Sports Clubs. I’ve also been involved in various SU groups and committees: Societies Exec, Combined Activities Exec, Union Council and Elections Committee. This experience has allowed me to become familiar with Union policy, and so I will be able to start working for you straight away.
YOU are the SU, let your voice be heard, let me represent you
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Florian Bay, MChem Chemistry, Year 3 Proposed by: Xiaohang Zhang, MChem Chemistry, Year 3 Seconded by: Darien Jay, Politics with Economics, Year 2
HELLO ALL! After being an academic representative last year, I was able to learn more about the way the Student’s Union works and I now want to use this experience by representing YOU in the Union Council. The current issues on campus involve the lack of social space, and excessive queues in the catering outlets run by the SU among others. Also, being the
secretary of a society, I am sure that a lot of fellow committee members will share my view that the way membership is managed by the SU during the Societies’ fair, could be improved for the next years, in order to make membership easier for everybody. As a Union Council Rep, I will make sure that your views on these subjects are listened to and that
a solution will be found to these problems, by working closely with the Students Union and the University. Vote Florian!
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Grace Lloyd, Politics with Economics, Year 2 Proposed by: Tim Rees, Economics with Politics, Year 2 Seconded by: Rebecca Vines, Psychology, Year 2
HEY EVERYBODY! My name is Grace Lloyd. I’m running for election as an open place representative and would endeavour to raise a wide range of concerns and student values. As an approachable, friendly person, I would be happy to listen to your qualms and argue your case within the monthly council meetings. I will also raise issues such as bus prices and suggest improvements to
SU social events. I think it’s important that us normal students have the opportunity to directly influence policy and hold the Sabbs accountable to their election promises. At present, I don’t think the SU is particularly accessible for the normal student and I would strive to change that. I’m hardworking and would embrace the chance to work closely with the
SU, trying to improve everyone’s university experience. Ultimately, I am committed to listening to what the students want and representing you as best I can!
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Heather England, Sociology with HRM, Year 2 Proposed by: Hannah Hughes, Psychology, Year 2 Seconded by: Emma Harries, Sociology, Year 2
MY NAME is Heather England and I’m a second year student studying Sociology with Human Resource Management. I LOVE BEING A STUDENT! Last year I spent my time making new friends, partying and drinking like a fish. Now that I’m a second year its time to start doing something more productive with my time ;) I would like to be an open place
representative on Union Council because I want to address the problems faced by the whole student body and tackle the annoyances in my everyday life… Why should we have to pay more for a bus ticket than we did last year? Why does the cash machine outside Waterstones never have money in it? Why does Pitstop close at 3pm?
Maybe I want to get a baked potato for dinner... --- VOTE FOR ME! ---
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: James Huelin, Civil Eng, Year 4 Proposed by: Daisy MeylandSmith, Politics with Economics, Year 4 Seconded by: Rhian Stacey, Pharmacy, Year 4
HI! I’M James! I’m a fourth year student. I’ve been working behind the SU bar since my freshers year. This was my biggest inspiration to run for council: serving you guys, the end-user of everything the union does. My work has meant that I’ve been in a good place to chat (and moan!) about all kinds of student related issues. It also meant that over the years I’ve
worked and socialised closely with others who work in the union, so I have built up a good understanding of how the union works. I believe I’ve become a good judge of what the general student feels they want from their union. This year I think I am in a good position to use this to your advantage and represent you in the council, being a voice of reason and common
sense in the decision making of the union.
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Jonathan Stubbs, Psychology, Year 2 Proposed by: Kristy Shayler, Management PG, Year 1 Seconded by: Martin Phillips, Computer Science, Year 2
HELLO, I’M Jonathan Stubbs and I would like to represent your views through the Union Council. I am a second year Psychology student who passionately believes that an active Students’ Union can improve University life for everyone. This summer I worked at the University as a social and welfare assistant with a broad range of students. Listening to student’s views and gaining
a deeper understanding of some of the issues affecting students has given me an insight into the important role the University can play when it comes to student welfare. I am also a proud member of some of the great clubs and societies the Students’ Union supports. I believe that the Union’s contribution to our social lives is invaluable. Given the chance I would love to put my know-how to use; raising and
tackling the issues that matter to you.
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Joshua Greene, Maths & Physics, Year 2 Proposed by: Phil Bloomfield, Economics & Politics, Year 2 Seconded by: Todd King, Economics & Int Dev, Year 2
I AM a second year mathematics and physics student and I am running for the position of open rep on the Union Council.
issues to inform and influence Union Council and where necessary, a national platform.
make difficult decisions in an easier manner as students truly understand the reasoning for all decisions.
Greater student involvement is really important. Transparency within the student union sits at top of my priorities, allowing students to really understand what goes on not only gives students confidence in the union but also allows the union to
Voting for me will also help to make sure that on-campus entertainment starts meeting the needs of a broader scale of students.
My involvement with Union societies, both running an arts society in the form of Music Soc and a committee member of the Jewish Soc, puts me in a great position to appreciate a wide spectrum of student
16
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Elections Special Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Katie Mabery, Physics, Year 2 Proposed by: Andy Readman, Sports Engineering, Year 4 Seconded by: James Claverley, Physics, Year 4
HI, I’M Katie, a final year Physics student. I first found my way into the Students’ Union corridor when I joined Rag in my first year. Since then, I’ve been involved in many areas, including three years on the Rag committee, two years on SSLC and Academic Council, and two years as a Freshers’ Week Rep. My involvement in these activities has taught me how the SU works, how to
represent people’s views and how to make tough decisions. I believe that the SU should be a key part of any student’s time at University. There are so many different aspects to it, from support and representation to sports, societies and social activities. Because of this, the SU means something different to everyone, but I feel that I can represent the wide ranging views that a diverse SU such has ours has.
So vote Katie Mabery for Open Place Rep.
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Kristy Shayler, Management PG, Year 1 Proposed by: Jade Little, BBA, Year 4 Seconded by: Alex Townsend, Chem Eng, Year 5
HI MY name is Kristy Shayler and I am currently in my fifth year at Bath studying for an MSc in Management. Throughout my years here I feel I have gained the knowledge and experience to be able to make the Students’ Union a better place for you. From joining a range of clubs and societies, doing a placement year and generally getting involved; I think
this puts me in a good position to understand what our Students’ Union really needs. I sat on Union Council last year and hope to continue to raise the issues that matter to you; but most importantly represent the views and opinions of all students to help make our Students’ Union the best it can be. I have the confidence to tackle the
important issues that matter and the determination to make sure something actually gets done about them. Vote for me!
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Manjit Singh Dhillon, Politics with Economics, Year 2 Proposed by: Daniel Culling, Civil Engineering, Year 2 Seconded by: Sally Arnold, BBA, Year 2
MY NAME is Manjit Singh Dhillon and I am running for the position of Open Place Representative. I am a second year Politics with Economics student and I play hockey for the University. I feel I have immersed myself in university life and am able to voice my opinions on a wide range of issues. I want to be part of the Student Council because I am interested in how the Union is run and
how it conducts its student activities. I have a desire to make a difference and feel my views and concerns will be helpful and will hopefully be of benefit to all students. I will be open to receiving any opinions and ideas from other students and will help where I can.
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Mantej Benka, Computer Information Systems, Year 2 Proposed by: Pejman Faghiki, Computer Science, Year 2 Seconded by: David Whiting, Mathematics, Year 2
HAVING AN amazing time during university is something that everyone wants. Not just in obvious ways like going out, but also in normal day-today ways like being with friends up at campus between lectures.
elected, I will make sure that that feeling will change. I will strive to improve campus, like better social areas, or encouraging more diverse events. But most importantly, I will make sure that the issues you raise will be heard by the council.
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Pete Walker, Computer science, Year 3 Proposed by: Olli Billenness, Chemistry, Year 3 Seconded by: James Claverley, Physics, Year 4
HEY, I’M Pete and I’m standing for an open position on the Union Council. Over the past 2 years, I’ve been a major supporter of the Union’s activities, and have participated in many events through my position as CTV chair. I have also had a large input into the current iteration of BathStudent.com, as a Student Staff position as web
developer. As such, I have a great knowledge of how the union operates, and this advantage would allow me to make decisions and changes to the union that I believe would be in student’s best interests. I’m not the kind of person who will idly stand by as an issue arises, I believe in taking action early on. I feel I am an approachable guy, and
will happily raise any issue brought forward to me by another member of the union.
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Phillippa Madeley, Chemistry, Year 3 Proposed by: James Wackett, Economics, Year 4 Seconded by: Anni Wood, Sociology& Social Policy, Year 3
AFTER BEING a student here for 4 years, (3 of them studying, 1 as a Sabbatical Officer) now in my final year, it’s my last chance to make a difference for our educational experience and those to follow. Throughout my University Career I have been involved in the Students’ Union, from volunteering for AWARE and Impact, running a society, and even working in The Plug Bar. In
2004/2005 I was also elected VP (Academic and Welfare). I hope that by being elected Open Place Rep on Union Council this year, I will be able to bring some of my experience to the council which will help in representing YOU, the student body. Whether it be lecture space, Plug opening times or access to facilities, I will voice your opinions. So, to get your views heard and
represented, VOTE PHILLY for Open Place Representative.
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Rhian Stacey, Pharmacy, Year 4 Proposed by: Daniel O’Toole, Chemistry, Year 2 Seconded by: Mark Atterbury, Mathematics, Year 4
HI I’M Rhian Stacey a Fourth year pharmacist.
society and RAG social secretary and involved in union working groups. In my 2nd year I was the RAG week chair co-ordinating over 12 events, raising £5000. My experiences improved my communication skills, made me a team player and helped me gain an understanding of the running of the Students Union. I think my experiences and skills would help me represent YOUR VIEWS on union
council.
It seems that the general feeling of the students about the Student Union here is a sense that the Union could be doing more for the students. If
I would represent YOUR VIEWS be it bus prices, beer prices or the state of the toilets! Throughout University I have been involved in a variety of different areas. I’m currently the PSA treasurer, previously I’ve been the Welsh
I’m here to represent YOU.
I’d like to describe myself as a chatty, friendly person who is approachable and always ready to listen. I think these qualities along with my experiences would really help me represent YOU.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
17
Elections Special
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Shoaib Malik, Chem Eng, Year 1 Proposed by: Dean Semmens, Biology, Year 1 Seconded by: Wesley Shillingford, Chem Eng, Year 1
DO YOU want to be heard ? Do you want to have a say ? Tired of waiting for days for results ? Vote for me and I promise I will get you results. No more waiting ... no more playing games.
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Tacho Ugarte, Architecture, Year 2 Proposed by: Samuel Isaacs, Civil Eng, Year 4 Seconded by: Andrew Street, Politics with Economics, Year 4
HELLO!! My name is Tacho and I am a Spanish architecture student. I believe the Students’ Union exists as much for the academic side as for the non-academic – the training, the socs, the sports and the social space – and that’s before we talk about the socials and the fiesta! I would like to sit on the Union Council because I believe university should be enjoyed
to the fullest and to do this there are many things we can change and do. We all have our issues – whether it’s the prices in the SU shop, the quality of the buses or the need of academic or personal support etc. As an international student and student mentor I am also fully aware of issues concerning international students and if I were elected, I would be an outspoken source of student opinion
and do my very best to hold the executive to account.
Post: Union Council – Open Place Representative Candidate: Thomas Trevelyan, Politics with Economics, Year 2 Proposed by: Andrew Houckham, Chemistry, Year 2 Seconded by: Jake Lumb, Natural Sciences, Year 1
HI, MY name is Tom Trevelyan, I’m a second year taking Politics with economics. Within just a year at university I have been involved in a range of societies and sports; I am currently on a sports club and a societies’ committees.
have been part of councils throughout school and was in charge of my colleges Student Union. In this role I made many changes; from changing the company running our canteens, to creating set smoking areas and increasing dialogue between the heads of the college and the students.
actively involved in improving areas such as transport to and from the University and improving interaction between sports, clubs and societies.
Vote for me and your voice will be heard !
I feel that I have not only the drive, but also the understanding and experience to make a difference. I
I will look to not only monitor the actions of the union, but I will get
Post: Union Council – Placement Representative Candidate: Ben Cole, Computer Science, Year 3 Proposed by: John Barrett, Mathematics, Year 3 Seconded by: Pete Walker, Computer Science, Year 3
I HAVE been involved in the Student Union since the beginning of my first year here at Bath. I have sat on the committee of both a sports club and a society and have a broad knowledge of union activity. I have also been involved in key Union events such as SABB Elections and Freshers Week through CTV and helped in the involvement required. I believe I would be a good addition to the
council as I am not afraid to speak voice my opinions and concerns (and those of the students I would be representing) but am able and willing to listen to those of others. I am currently on placement in Bath so as well as being affected by the factors that affect other placement students, I am local enough to be able to attend meetings and enforce a presence. I am continuing my work
Post: Union Council – Placement Representative Candidate: Katy Larkin, MLES, Year 4 Proposed by: Elinor Brown, MLES, Year 4 Seconded by: Andrew Streit, Politics with Economics, Year 4
AS A final year MLES student I feel that I am perfectly placed to represent the views of students on placement. Not only am I ‘on-campus’ for the academic year, but I have also completed a placement myself. The experiences and knowledge that I gained during my placement will only help me to better represent the views of Bath students whilst they are absent. Want more pastoral support during
your placement? Surprised that bus prices have risen upon your return? It’s time to improve communication between the University and placement students.
Post: Union Council – Placement Representative Candidate: Paul Rochester, IMML, Year 3 Proposed by: Alex Nicholson Evans, Social Sciences, Year 3 Seconded by: Tom Newman, Social Policy & Admin, Year 3
I’M PAUL, a third year GIMML student on placement in Hamburg . I have been a member of Union Council for the last two years, as well as being heavily involved with most areas of the SU, from Arts Officer to Rag Committee to last year’s Elections Chair. This year, I’m keen to stay involved while on placement. Although a placement undoubtedly is a fantastic experience for students,
it can also be hard to leave behind friends and activities that you love. For this reason, I am running for Union Council. By being the voice of placement students, I want to continue to develop the support offered to placement students and ensure that all placement students are aware of the full range of support available. I think that my wide range of knowledge and experience within the SU will allow
me to do this effectively.
Post: Union Council – Placement Representative Candidate: Rupert Stock, Aerospace Eng with French, Year 4 Proposed by: Eddy Atkins, Aerospace Eng with French Seconded by: Victoria Slee, Biology & Biochemistry PG, Year 1
HI I’M Roop, I’m fourth year Mech Eng currently on placement in Belgium with Safran Group designing rockets to go to space in. I’m into Sailing, Photography and Cooking.
the sailing club committee...
- VOTE BECAUSE: I’LL LISTEN to your gripes, moans and suggestions, I’LL UNDERSTAND because I’m open and am going through it too, I’LL REACT with experience.
- BATH EXPERIENCE: Open place rep on Union Council for two years, Chair of UC for the first half of last year, attended an NUS regional conferece and two years with
- AWAY EXPERIENCE: Erasmus exchange in Austria (awesome!) and being away this year have shown me what it’s like to be away from the Support, Familiarity and Friends of Bath -I know what we’re gaining and what we’re missing.
with CTV this year and hope this will allow me to keep in touch with what is happening on campus and increase my understanding of what the student body needs.
- QUESTIONS? Get in touch! rgs20@bath.ac.uk. I look forward to hearing from you and all the best for the year ahead!
18
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Elections Special Post: Union Council – Gender Equality Representative Candidate: James Claverley, Physics with placement, Year 4 Proposed by: Pete Walker, Computer Science, Year 3 Seconded by: Katy Larkin, MLES with placement, Year 4
SOME PEOPLE run for Union Council to have something good on their CV.
When I last sat on UC, before my placement, I debated and wrote many policies that helped shape the future of the Union.
Like in my second year, I have decided to run for Gender Equality Rep. This is an area I have already had great experience representing to UC, and I intend to put this experience to good use as soon as Council first sits.
Post: Council, Senate, Students’ Union (CSSU) Candidate: Alex Vakil, Politics with Economics, Year 3 Proposed by: Christopher Hatley, Politics with Economics, Year 3 Seconded by: Joanna Binch, Biology, Year 3
HI! MY name is Alex Vakil and I am a final year Politics with Economics student. Having spent two action-packed years at Bath and been involved with numerous sports clubs and societies, I feel I am extremely well qualified to sit on the CSSU committee so as to provide a full and representative view of student views at Bath. There are numerous issues facing
the student body that have not been resolved by the University, such as a lack of social space, inadequate bus services, car parking and the gradual withdrawal of green space. Such problems, unless sorted, will continue to get worse unless someone stands up for the student voice that is all too often ignored. I believe I am the right candidate for the job and if elected, I will ensure
a loud voice for students at the highest level of representation with the aim of helping current and future students.
Post: Council, Senate, Students’ Union (CSSU) Candidate: Jonathan Stubbs, Psychology, Year 2 Proposed by: Kristy Shayler, Management PG, Year 1 Seconded by: Martin Phillips, Computer Science, Year 2
HELLO, I’M Jonathan Stubbs and I would like to represent your views through the Council/Senate/Students’ Union Committee. I am a second year Psychology student who passionately believes that an active Students’ Union can improve University life for everyone.
social lives is invaluable.
This summer I worked at the University as a social and welfare
assistant with a broad range of students. Listening to student’s views and gaining a deeper understanding of some of the issues affecting students has given me an insight into the important role the University can play when it comes to student welfare. I am also a proud member of some of the great clubs and societies the Students’ Union supports. I believe that the Union’s contribution to our
Post: Council, Senate, Students’ Union (CSSU) Candidate: Kristy Shayler, Management PG, Year 1 Proposed by: Jade Little, BBA, Year 4 Seconded by: Alex Townsend, Chem Eng, Year 5
HI MY name is Kristy Shayler and I am currently in my fifth year at Bath studying for an MSc in Management. Throughout my years here I feel I have gained the knowledge and experience to fully understand the issues that students face on a daily basis at University. I have participated in a wealth of clubs and societies, done a placement year, worked as
a Social and Welfare Assistant for international students and previously sat on last years Union Council. I am eager to put this experience to use by representing your views on Council, Senate, Students’ Union (C/S/SU) committee. I have the confidence to tackle the issues that matter and the determination to make sure something actually gets done about them. Vote
Post: Council, Senate, Students’ Union (CSSU) Candidate: Conrad Oakley, Politics with Economics, Year 2 Proposed by: Robert Halsall, Mech Eng, Year 2 Seconded by: Charlotte Towerton, Politics with Economics, Year 2
HI EVERYONE, I’m Conrad and I look forward to hopefully representing everyone’s welfare, suggestions and grievances whilst at university.
making body, whilst possessing the oomph to see things through to the end.
Post: Council, Senate, Students’ Union (CSSU) Candidate: James Gilmore, Spanish & Politics, Year 4 Proposed by: Alexander Lipitch, MLES (Spanish & Italian), Year 4 Seconded by: Adam Meredith, MLES (French & Italian), Year 4
Post: Council, Senate, Students’ Union (CSSU) Candidate: Mark Atterbury, Mathematics, Year 3 Proposed by: Toby Wells, Mathematics, Year 3 Seconded by: Tim Taylor, Natural Sciences, Year 3
This is not a good reason to run.
I have bags of energy, enthusiasm and I’m really keen to get your voice heard. For those of you that don’t know me, I have the confidence to stand up for the things that count, right up to the highest level decision
I enjoyed debating these policies and I knew that my opinion mattered.
I currently study Politics with Economics and so therefore understand the various administrative processes. I will push for what students want changed and will also hold the senior executive body accountable for their actions.
I AM standing for a place in the senate because I believe there are certain issues that need to be adressed with the council and student’s union. Some of the following issues come to mind: -bus frequency and prices (I am in favour of a more regular service at week-ends) -increased availability of course books in the library
-necessary amount of support for post-graduate research in departments -an easier coordination between the council and students I am open to any other suggestions Yours Faithfully,
I WISH to stand as a CSSU student representative simply because I believe I can provide a voice for Bath students, through past involvement within the union and my belief in the importance of student ideas. Now in my final year, I have been involved heavily in university life. Experiences chairing an arts society, as secretary for Bath Rag, contributions to student media, and
in the SSLC for Mathematics have all given me an in-depth insight into the Union, subject and student opinions, as well as multiple contacts. I have stood on the Union Council twice, as chair (including chairing the AGM) and placement representative, and hence have a good knowledge of reoccurring issues, how to effectively represent students, and the confidence to carry views forward. Finally, after
This is a position I am not running for to enhance my CV. This is a position I am running for because I want to give the best representation of gender equality to this Union.
I look forward to representing the interests of all the students in this Union to Council.
Given the chance I would love to put my know-how to use; raising and tackling the issues that matter to you.
for me!
Representing all students from all viewpoints will be high on my list of priorities; whether it is sport, study or socially related. I will be able to listen and act on these issues.
WANT ENERGY, WANT ACTION, VOTE CONRAD
James Gilmore
having spent a year on placement I feel I can effectively represent pressing concerns, having experienced so many of them myself.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
19
Elections Special
Post: NUS Conference Delegate Candidate: Andy Burton, Sabbatical Officer Proposed by: Rupert Stock, Mech Eng, Year 4 Seconded by: Myrna MacGregor, European Studies, Year 4
HAVING BEEN involved with the SU throughout my time here at the University of Bath I am now the Vice President Communications. A large part of my job is representing students to the University and also the NUS, which is why I am standing in this election. I would like to be an NUS Delegate so that I can attend the conferences and represent your views on a regional and national scale.
Post: NUS Conference Delegate Candidate: Anni Wood, Sociology & Social Policy, Year 4 Proposed by: Rhian Stacey, Pharmacy & Pharmacology, Year 4 Seconded by: Philippa Madeley, Chemistry, Year 4
HAVING WORKED for the Students’ Union as a sabbatical officer last year I have good experience representing students’ views which is what NUS conference is all about! I attended National Conference in 2006 and know how important it is to have delegates who are passionate and dedicated to expressing the views of their student body. I feel I would be a valuable member of the NUS
conference delegation and would make sure that the NUS listens to what Bath students want
Post: NUS Conference Delegate Candidate: Eddie Bell, Sabbatical Officer Proposed by: Peter Hancock, Aerospace Engineering, Year 3 Seconded by: Emma Sutherland, Biochemistry, Year 3
AS VP Welfare and Campaigns I’ve had the opportunity to find out a lot about the way the NUS works and I’m committed to making sure that we get the most out of the NUS for all the students here at Bath. The NUS conference is where the direction of the NUS is decided and I want to be there to make sure our collective voice is heard. This year it is my job to find out what Bath students want,
so I will be in a great position to represent us to the NUS. I’m here all year to represent you so vote for me for NUS conference delegate and let me represent you there as well.
Post: NUS Conference Delegate Candidate: Joshua Greene, Maths &Physics, Year 2 Proposed by: Phil Bloomfield, Economics & Politics, Year 2 Seconded by: Todd King, Economics & Int Dev, Year 2
I AM a second year mathematics and physics student and I am running for the position of open rep on the Union Council.
issues to inform and influence Union Council and where necessary, a national platform.
make difficult decisions in an easier manner as students truly understand the reasoning for all decisions.
Greater student involvement is really important. Transparency within the student union sits at top of my priorities, allowing students to really understand what goes on not only gives students confidence in the union but also allows the union to
Voting for me will also help to make sure that on-campus entertainment starts meeting the needs of a broader scale of students.
Post: NUS Conference Delegate Candidate: Richard Howell, Sabbatical Officer Proposed by: Paul Jaggers, French & Politics, Year 4 Seconded by: William Tucker, Elec Eng, Year 2
AS A sixth year Bath student and second year sabbatical officer, I have experience of being a student and representing students. I attended the NUS Conference last year.
with the items and gained a thorough understanding of the conference operation, which will be valuable this year.
housing and student fees. I already engage with the NUS in my role as a sabbatical officer, and attending the Conference is vital for me to ensure I can represent students at the NUS’ highest level.
Post: NUS Conference Delegate Candidate: Tom Milburn, Sabbatical Officer Proposed by: Anni Wood, Sociology & Social Policy, Year 4 Seconded by: Paul Jaggers, French & Politics, Year 4
I BELIEVE I should be a NUS Conference Delegate because the main role of being a Sabbatical Officer is representing students. This means that at NUS Conference I can represent nnot only the views of myself but also those of students at the University of Bath
Post: NUS Conference Delegate Candidate: Tom Trevelyan, Politics with Economics, Year 2 Proposed by: Laurence Burrows, Politics with Economics, Year 2 Seconded by: John Bassingthwaighte, IMML with Spanish, Year 2
HI, MY name is Tom Trevelyan, I’m a second year taking Politics with economics. Within just a year at university I have been involved in a range of societies and sports; I am currently on a sports club and a societies’ committees.
My involvement with Union societies, both running an arts society in the form of Music Soc and a committee member of the Jewish Soc, puts me in a great position to appreciate a wide spectrum of student
The NUS Conference is complex and intense, and as a first year delegate many are overwhelmed by the size and pace of the proceedings. I worked hard last year to keep up
In my last college I had the privilege to go to an NUS annual meeting in Blackpool. From this experience,
If elected I will work with the NUS throughout their current reform. I believe the NUS should primarily be dealing with issues that affect students ‘as students’. These include welfare and equality issues, student
I already know how the event and system works. I am a very confident public speaker and am more than willing to stand up and speak for the students of Bath University. I believe strongly that the NUS has an important role to play in society, it is there to make sure that students across the country get the most from both college and university. It is a
place for students to come together and progress, a place where our views are taken to the national level.
20
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
MEET HOFESH, THE NEW LORD OF THE DANCE
Arts
Hofesh Shechter Saturday 27 October, 7.30pm ICIA Arts Theatre Tickets: £5 BUSU, available from the ICIA Box Office (1 East 2.1)
HOFESH SHECHTER, one of the UK’s most hotly tipped young choreographers, delivers supremely physical dance – urgent and intense, with an urban feel. His latest new work is the result of a unique co-production uniting London’s principal dance venues – The Place, Southbank Centre and Sadler’s Wells – to promote this outstanding Israeli talent. ‘In Your Rooms’ brims with playful, gritty physicality. Provocative, political and deeply personal, it presents a society which is scarily alienating and yet shockingly familiar. Shechter has assembled a formidable cast of nine performers from the UK’s leading contemporary dance companies, who reveal their vulnerabilities and lack of control through intricate, touching encounters. The evening also includes Uprising, an audience favourite, described as “pure pleasure” by The Herald. Seven men emerge from the shadows to bombard the stage with edgy energy, bonding and sparring, making up and falling out. A highly charged piece with a propulsive, percussive score, it leaves audiences buzzing. “A performance of truly extraordinary beauty and profundity – it’s probably the most important new dance-work to be created in Britain since the millennium.” The Observer Co-presented with Swindon Dance, a national dance agency.
Raku Raku Saturday 27 October & Sunday 3 November, 10am-4pm Studio 2, ICIA Arts Complex Tickets: £28 BUSU, book in advance from the ICIA Box Office (1 East 2.1)
Hats Off to PhotoSoc ALTHOUGH IT was before my time here at the University, I understand that there used to be some photo labs over by the Arts Barn; these were torn down to make way for the STV. This must have been quite a blow to PhotoSoc – who made extensive use of the labs – and indeed they seemed to disappear for a while. They came back in style last year, though, and this year they are staging a joint photography competition with the ICIA. You can check out more
21
details on the ICIA website. I’m sure there are some of you out there who fancy flexing your camera skills, so make sure you get your entries in to the ICIA before November 9th! Selected photos will feature in an exhibition on December 6th. It’s great to see that PhotoSoc have recovered from the initial setback of losing the labs and are riding high again. PhotoSoc also offer their services
to other societies; if you’ve got an event or activity that you’d like them to cover, you can book them through their website, http://photosoc. craigloftus.net/. The quality of their work is superb; see for yourself on their Flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/groups/ photosoc-uob/. Tom Newman
Arts Officer
EXPERIENCE THE satisfaction of making ceramic pots and forms over two days, and then return to glaze and raku fire after the bisque firing. Raku is a traditional Japanese rapid firing process where pots are removed red-hot from the kiln. Its spontaneity results in a unique finish, making it an exciting method to inspire beginners and experienced alike. Participants must take part on both days.
Lunchtime Concert Wednesday 24 October, 1.15pm Little Theatre Cinema, Bath Free admission to University students
BRIGHTEN UP your lunch hour at this solo and chamber ensemble performance. If you would like to perform in any of the Lunchtime Concerts please contact the ICIA Box Office by emailing ICIAinfo@bath.ac.uk
22
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Comment in Cantonese? Features in French? Sport in Spanish? Want to write for impact in your own language? Now you can, with...
impact international To find out more, come along to one of our regular contributors’ meetings, every Monday at 6:30pm in elements.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
23
24
IMPACT
Entertainment - Welcome to Rocktober Single: Prinzhorn Dance School You Are The Space Invader IF YOU’RE a fan of other DFA Records’ bands, such as LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip, then you’ll be sorely disappointed with the sleep-inducing minimalistic riffs and what is loosely described as drumming of Prinzhorn Dance School’s ‘You are the Space Invader’. Rocking they most certainly aren’t, and despite the band’s name you’d be hard pressed to pull shapes to this track. However, with the slow child-like simplicity accompanied by lyrics such as ‘CCTV’s stolen our souls’, there’s no denying they’re certainly very different from, err… music. This isn’t unexpected, however, from a band which has no Myspace and only pictures of their feet and a teapot on their website! If you thought The White Stripes used too many different words and too many different instruments then this may be for you, otherwise it’s a boring and repetitive whine that, if left on repeat, could be used as some kind of torture! Rowan Parkhouse Contributor
Single: The Concretes Keep Yours Out Now Record Label: Licking Fingers PLODDING ON since their formation in 1995, The Concretes have steadily been gaining the acclaim that twelve years in the music business should get you. The synth-driven new single Keep Yours, at first, doesn’t sound like it will do much to further that, with the hail of electronic beeping making it sound more like a video game soundtrack than a song. Repeated listens do this record wonders however, and the sultry voice of drummer Lisa Millberg draws you under before the guitar chimes in towards the end, finishing with the refrain ‘You can keep yours tonight/Hold on tonight’ , charming the listener into surrender. The Concretes certainly won’t set the world alight with this release, but it is definitely a very pleasant way to pass 152 seconds. Sean Lightbown impact-ents@bath.ac.uk Entertainments Co-Editor
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Pumpin’ on Impact’s stereo?
Let’s Kill Music? I HAVE a problem with other people getting things for free. Y’see, this Entertainments Editor gives away his time, his words and his very existence to get the privilege of ‘free’. And Radiohead have just gone and given everyone ‘free’. For nothing. Because, for those of you who haven’t already heard, Thom Yorke et al have just released their latest opus, enlighteningly titled ‘In Rainbows’ on the internet last week, with the price decided upon by you. But impact can’t help but ponder the ramifications of what is a marvellously bold statement. There are the obvious pros - your record won’t be leaked or downloaded illegally if you offer it for free, but nor will you be able to make any guarantees on how much your art is going to make you, which stifles ‘new’ music. I don’t how much ‘In Rainbows’ would’ve cost to record, although I’m certain that it was probably under 1.3million. The second problem this music fan has is that you don’t get a physical hard copy to have and to hold, which is fairly damaging to a music market which already has started cutting out valued independent record shops. The boys will be releasing a double CD/double vinyl/pretty book boxset for the eyebrow-raising sum of £40, but it’s not like you can wander into your local music store and pick up a copy at
a whim, is it? So I figured out a better way for Radiohead, and other bands, to release their albums and still maintain a user defined cost. Take note, big companies, cause I’m patenting this one right after I finish writing. You pick up a CD from the shop at retail price defined by the label/band/guru/badger, and get a receipt. You then get 2 weeks to listen to said record, before going back to the shop to claim a partial refund if it’s not as good as you thought. Problem solved. Anyway, far away from all this pondering, we’ve got a great issue this week. We take a look at reading over the summer, with three editors picking out their favourite reads, so if you need a break from that textbook on the behaviour of thermoelectric mammals in a perfect society, take a peek. In terms of new music: Sean sinks his teeth into the latest big thing from Iceland, Jakobinarina, and new contributor Ben Cohen gives us the heads up on Australian phenomenon The Shout Out Louds, whilst I get down and very dirty at Foals. We’ve also got a review of the fantastic Tim Supple production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and we tackle BUSMS’ production of Ruthless. And of course there’s everything important in previews, singles albums, and gigs, including the very first RTRT!
POUNDING THE walls and heads of the Ents team this week:
CLIMBING UP THE WALLS: Radiohead’s album giveaway makes Ents Co-Editor Phil very angry indeed.
RTRT!, which went down a storm…. And yeah, I’m listening to Radiohead right now. For free. Damn them. Rhymin’ and stealin’ in a drunken state, Philip Bloomfield impact-ents@bath.ac.uk Entertainments Co-Editor Visit www.inrainbows.com to get your mitts on the new Radiohead album.
ALBUMS: Jakobinarina - The First Crusade Radiohead - In Rainbows Battles - Mirrored Minor Threat - Complete Discography Pelican - Australasia Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill Peter, Bjorn & John Writer’s Block Interpol- Our Love To Admire Mogwai - Government Commissions Parts & Labor - Mapmaker Super Furry AnimalsOutspaced SINGLES: Los Campesinos! - The International Tweecore Underground Bloc Party - Flux Hot Chip - Shake A Fist Metronomy - Radio Ladio Foals - Hummer |Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem (STILL)
Go Forth and Rtrt!
Sick DJs, a packed Elements and Biffy Clyro covering Rihanna - David Wilby gives a blow-by-blow account of the University’s newest alternative night. THIS ESTEEMED University has been begging for Elements’ ample space to be stuffed with an alternative to the Baywatch theme for as long as I can remember (which isn’t very long; but that’s beside the point). On the 6th of October the wait was over thanks to this section’s editors and dj Nico, who proficiently assembled an evening of lovely music to cater for the indie and alternative minority, which, in reality, was enormous! Opening the long-awaited event were DJs Jon Fisher and James Ainsworth in a slightly “hang on; my mate’s a DJ!” fashion. But my expectations of a dubious guy with a CD were soon quashed by an excellent selection of danceworthy tunes and remixes that sparked some serious contortion in members of the musicsoc committee and rtrt team. The 500-strong crowd prepped both hips and livers for Fabric-frequenter Dekker who fortunately stepped in to replace Adventures Close To Home. Unreliable DJs aside; Dekker’s set was teeming with excellent indie dance tracks that were excellent to start with but an hour of the same rhythm became grating and the
second half for me was more tolerable than exciting. Fortunately the small hours were amply and ecstatically filled with classics dropped by house jockeys dj Nico, Phil and Sean that united survivors in bouts of mildly drunken rocking out. Favourites such as Bloc Party, CSS and Red Hot Chili Peppers were topped off with Biffy Clyro’s simultaneously sobering and amusing cover of Rihanna’s hit single Umbrella to which mixed reactions were visible but soon faded. And so the unpronouncably titled alt-fest drew to a satisfying end. As far as I’m concerned Rtrt Rtrt was an unfounded success, hopefully to become as much of a Bath institution as Guppy and Score. Rtrt returns on Saturday the 27th with ‘I Love Live’ with one of the most exciting bills I’ve seen at this University. Brighton’s Telegraphs lie somewhere in the region occupied by Biffy and Idlewild and I for one can’t wait to catch their brand of indie rock again. It seems lazy to compare NME and artrocker hyped glaswegians Q without U to Maximo Park but similarities continue to crop
NO RETREAT: Students show their appreciation of the rtrt DJs. (Photo: Jon Fisher) up; regardless, song titles like ‘Our Luck is a Prostitute’ leave me in toetapping anticipation. In support, the boys have bagged some of Bristol Thekla’s residents to tantalise our ear bones. All in all a jolly well amazing evening is sure to ensue. David Wilby Contributor
ON THE DEKKS: DJ Dekker flashes a cheeky smile. (Photo: Jon Fisher)
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
Entertainment
impact Reads... ...lots of things, generally. But for the sake of this article, here are a few quick reviews of what had our editors turning pages over the summer.
OVER THE summer, I read two books. One was so-so. One has stuck in my mind since I started reading it, and has really made me think about relationships and my own attitudes. That’s the sign of a good book. The title is High Fidelity. It was made into a (decent) film starring John Cusack; but the book is something else. It was written 12 years ago, but the topics it so perfectly sums up are still damn relevant today. I suppose you would class it as a romantic comedy – but it’s all written from the male perspective. The novel follows the story of 30-something Rob Fleming, the record shop owner who is stuck on regretting what he has done with his life and bitter about what could have been. Through the course of the book he starts to turn around his life and, more importantly, his attitude. There are some really choice moments in the book which made me chuckle, and some lines really stuck in my head. I felt like the writing was incredibly accurate – Hornby captures Fleming’s irritation with his own life and fear of commitment masterfully – It’s a pleasure to read. I’ve started to compile my own “top 5” lists for loads of stuff. The film was made into a book, and I
was lucky to be in the situation where I had neither read the book nor seen the film, and then got to do both within a few weeks. I was still really hot on the book while I watched the film, and I promise you it made all the difference to have read the book first. The film inevitably differs from the book slightly in places, (the book is set in England, the film in America) but is bob-on accurate in other areas (John Cusack is perfect as the drywitted Rob). It’s a very good and faithful distillation of a really, really great book. Adam Luqmani
Deputy Editor
PRIME NUMBERS, timetables and red. The three things which the The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night time’s protagonist is fond of most is hardly the most inspiring list of past times. The child-like narrative is oversimplified, staggered and at times a chore to read. This book should not work. But it does, in fact it is one of the bravest, poignant and most original novels of the 21st century. Our hero is 15-year-old Christopher Boone, a mathematical savant with Aspergers Syndrome, leaving him
with a lack of understanding of human behaviour, gestures and relationships. The story begins with Christopher discovering the ‘curious incident’, finding a neighbour’s dog still on the ground with a pitchfork sticking through it. Instilled with a passion for Sherlock Holmes (as well as mathematics), Christopher vows to find out who killed the dog. However, the events and truths he uncovers are set to turn his family inside out. Stunning does not even come close. In Christopher, Haddon has created a character that does not use poetic lyricism to capture the reader – instead, it is the over-simplicity of the verse, the aloofness that Christopher displays to the magnitude of a given situation which will make you weep with laughter or sadness. The twists and turns as they come in this novel only further plunge you into this boy’s world, as you struggle to cope with them through his eyes – unmoved by emotion, afraid of physical contact, constantly isolated as you try to make sense of the world through hazy eyes. Simply a must. Sean Lightbown Entertainments Co-Editor
EVELYN WAUGH’S Scoop is not a novel which I expected could boast significant entertainment value. Primarily, I drew this conclusion from the fact that it was recommended to me by my father; a lover of historical autobiographies and epic tales of wartime tragedies. Not really my cup of tea. I tend to opt for the fictitious novels with unpredictable plots, cunning symbolism and vivid descriptions. The obedient daughter that I
Utterly Ruthless!
Is the BUSMS adaptation of this OffBroadway comedy a worthy one? Daisy Meyland-Smith says not quite... THE LAST 10 minutes of this play were great; I laughed until I cried. Alas, I can’t say the previous 2 hours and 50 minutes lived up to this. The five minutes of silence after curtain up were apparently caused by a “wig issue”. The audience began to get restless while the band looked mildly scared and tried to improvise. Finally we started to laugh (one of only about four occasions in the first half). The first scene capitalised upon a delightfully kitsch approach which I wish they had continued throughout. Voiceovers and manic smiles with bright lipstick all added to the fun, but
25
neither actors nor director seemed to have the confidence to continue the motif. Whenever the surreal forties touch reappeared it seemed more the product of nerves and lazy acting than conscious effort. It would have helped if the actresses had learned to stand still, and not constantly move their feet - it made me feel uneasy, as if they really needed the loo. Undoubtedly the star of the show was actress Lizz Clancy, who played a manic grade 3 teacher and a lesbian reporter. Her voice and acting stood out from first appearance in Act One, while the other women seemed too nervous to
get to grips with a taxing vocal score. Ejay Harris also deserves a mention for her committed turns as theatre critic and bizarre PA. Her song ‘I hate musicals’ was perhaps the most apt of the show. Despite the entire interval in which to change the set, a chandelier was lowered into the first scene well after the curtains opened and continued to swing gaily for some time. The plot twist in Act Two mainly brought relief that the end might be near, followed by extreme satisfaction as the three leading ladies brought about their own plot twist: finally relaxing into their own voices and making clear why they had been given the roles.
am, however, I hesitantly turned my back on my stubbornness, and listlessly opened the first page. No matter how hard I tried, the first few pages of Waugh’s satirical masterpiece, did not provide me with ample evidence to prove my father wrong. He had promoted the book to me as “hilarious”…and, admittedly, “hilarious” is a rather apt description. Scoop tells the story of Lord Copper, the arrogant proprietor of the eminent newspaper, the Daily Beast. Due to an unfortunate case of mistaken identity, he sends the inexperienced nature reporter, William Boot, and not the renowned journalist John Boot, to cover the civil war which is supposedly raging in the fictional country of Ishmaelia. The comical story that unravels as a result of this blunder, is peppered with tongue-in-cheek sarcasm and a tastes of traditional British comedy. It provides the reader with an amusing insight into the world of competitive journalism, and portrays the measures that are taken to succeed in the feral hunt for the next striking headline. Not too long and not too wordy, this novel, in my opinion, represents the creme de la creme of British humour. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who’s trying to kill time on an idle boring weekend, or find a way to procrastinate during revision week…and unquestionably, any budding journalist. Josephine Cox Features Editor
Although an ambitious musical to tackle, BUSMS’ production of Ruthless lacked the conviction which would have made it truly funny. However, it has whet my appetite for later in the year when perhaps both actresses and production team will have gained more confidence and oomph.
FIlm Preview: Black Sheep OUT NOW
WE’VE all seen the adverts in the plug, we’ve all wondered if it was a joke, and we all know it looks plain silly (to be honest, it doesn’t get much sillier than flesh eating zombie sheep). However this New Zealander flick about the above IS real and out now, and is a strong contender for surprise hit of the year. This is crying out to be lumped into the ‘so shit it’s good’ category a la Snakes On A Plane, and be honest, you really want to go and see it, don’t you?
Live Preview: Peter Bjorn & John Anson Rooms, Bristol 3/11/07 YOU’VE probably had that ridiculously catchy whistle from Radio 1 favourite ‘Young Folks’ reverberating in your head for, ooh say, the past two months now. Well you can blame these guys for making it – three Swedes who are far more than a one-trick pony, crafting dreamy guitar pop seemingly at will. See them in Bristol for the creme de la creme of their three LPs.
Single Review: Richard Hawley Serious Out:15/10/07 Mute BESPECTLED Sheffield crooner Richard Hawley couldn’t have more mass appeal if he tried. ‘Call 999, Richard Hawley’s been robbed’ was the cry from Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner, when ‘Whatever You Say I Am That’s What I’m Not’ beat the former Pulp man’s ‘Coles Corner’ to the 2006 Mercury Music Prize, a quote that exposed Hawley to a new age of fans outside the realms of ageing reminiscing northern club frequenters. Serious, taken from the album ‘Lady’s Bridge’, is a sweet, swooning song describing the highs and lows of being in love. With a double bass intro and ooh-ing and aah-ing backing girls, Serious takes you back to a time where romance was well and truly alive, and a drunken snog on a Saturday night never existed. The jingly jangly instrumentation is a perfectly simple accompaniment to a rich and deep voice, containing a lifetime of experience and emotion. From a working-class background, through rock and roll excess, to family man, his voice says it all. Even limited edition relish jars for merchandising can’t deny this 40 year old man his cool, and delicate ditties like this are exactly why. Hawley’s style is his own (give or take a few Elvis similarities, see the B side cover of the King’s ‘poor boy’), offering a welcome break from recent seemingly samey indie ‘The <blank>’ bands. The ‘youf’ of today owe thanks to Turner, as gems like Richard Hawley are few and far between of late.
RUTHLESS!: Ironically lacking conviction...
Lorna Greenwood
Contributor
26
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Theatre Preview: Whipping It Up Theatre Royal, Bath 15/10/07 until 20/10/07 FRESH FROM lapping up the plaudits on the West End, One Foot In The Grave star Richard Wilson swaps pensioners for parliament in this delicious Westminster satire. Set in 2008, the Tory government face a crisis in trying to pass an unpopular bill, and it is up to Chief-whip Wilson to sort it out. This sounds so good it is fair to say that I do not believe it.
Film Preview: Saw IV 26/10/07
HERE’S A lovely little gore-fest for you gruesome kids to get you in the mood for Halloween. Expect blood, guts, bodily fluids and hands-overeyes moments as another poor sap falls victim to a host of sick-minded ‘puzzles’.
Gig Preview: Jakobinarina Academy, Bristol 16/10/07
THE ICELANDIC pop-punk sextet take a break from supporting the Cribs with their own headline show at the Bristol Academy. These boys are also supporting The Kaiser Chiefs later this year, and are almost primed to bring their brand of infectious guitars and strained vocal chords thundering into the mainstream.
Gig Preview: Ash Academy, Bristol 21/10/07
AFTER HEADLINING the NME tent at this summer’s Carling festival, Ireland’s favourite sons Ash come to Bristol, touring with what they’ve touted as their final album, Twilight Of The Innocents. The message then is: catch them while you can!
Gig Preview: The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster Moles, Bath 02/11/07
THE CELEBRATEDLY gnarly pysch punk Brightnonians bring their trademark rock and roll misogynism to Bath. With songs like ‘Celebrate Your Mother’ (yes, it is about what you think it’s about) and ‘Drunk On The Blood’ expect plenty of bang for your buck.
Gig Preview: Super Furry Animals Academy, Bristol 02/11/07
THE WELSH psych oddities bring their chaotic and fun live show to Bristol. Look out for Power Ranger helmets, dog costumes and of course, some of the best pop ever made with guitars. Just pray they play ‘The Man Don’t Give A Fuck’, and it will easily be worth the steep Academy price.
Foals, Cut Off Your Hands
10/9/07 Bristol Thekla
“HEY! C’MON! HEY! C’MON!” Like they need an excuse. They’re the crowd from ‘Skins’ brought vividly to life: day glo yet awkward, drunk yet ecstatic, apathetic yet belligerent. Tight cotton rippling over scrawny thrashing bodies. Movement becomes elbows and knees. Conversation becomes call and response guitars. Vision becomes blurred washes of colour. We shouldn’t drink on the job. This a review, not a frat party. Only problem is, no one’s there to tell us that. And these kids are scaring us. UN! PEU! DE L’AIR SUR LA TERRE! they sing, as adrenaline and dopamine burst through our veins. The stage looks like a massacre; flesh, sweat, hair and sinew meshed and twitching as one. Foals just do something to impact that we can’t explain. They’re five awkward post-teens making awkward music. For awkward people to dance to. Awkwardly. They’re freaks. They’re just like us. They don’t do choreography. They don’t do pyrotechnics. They cut loose, they go with the flow. They break out into impossible, joyful, jerky dancing. And that’s why we absolutely love them. Singer Yannis is a man possessed, guitar holstered to his armpit as he leans into the mike, body trying to break free from skeleton. We get a brief relief Album: White Chalk PJ Harvey Out Now Island WHY SO sad, Miss Harvey? Then I’ll leave you. Leave you to the piano. In the time we have known of Polly Jean Harvey, since her critically acclaimed debut “Dry” in ’91, we have seen many incarnations of the Somerset-born songstress. This though, even by Harvey’s standards, is a radical self-correction. White Chalk is written upon a clean slate, as it were. The most obvious beneficiary from PJH’s new direction is the everpresent piano. There is evidence on the album though that the two should have never been apart. No more so than within title track “White Chalk” and “The Piano”. The former a beautiful soundscape featuring sedating highs and lows, beautifully arranged. The later is the flag-bearer of the pain, rigour and honesty present throughout White Chalk. “Daddy’s in the corner/rattling his keys/Mummy’s in the doorway/trying to leave/nobody’s listening/oh God, I miss you.” White Chalk is full of such examples; one must look no further than the album’s provocative first single “When Under Ether”. The song details the thoughts of a drugged girl during abortion. “Something’s inside me/unborn and
IMPACT
from the pounding polyrhythms - “This is a love song”. And it is. An awkward, twitchy and shy love song written by an awkward, twitchy and shy Yannis, mumbling barely audible thank yous and brushing his fringe away from his face between songs. Then it all gets hectic. ‘Mathletics’ surges on delay ridden guitar strings like a block party with Q And Not U where everyone is invited, before the signature track from THAT Channel Four television drama, ‘Hummer’, bursts out of the blocks with a clattering drumbeat and cryptic guitar work. Bleeps and twitters litter the air around 700 dipping and baying heads. We’d feel drunk even if we weren’t, as we stagger off the boat and into a dark Bristol night. dripping with sweat and whatever else is covering us. The next morning, impact wonders what the hell happened. Our body is broken, our head is spinning and pounding, and we reek of testosterone and youth. Then we remember: Foals happened. Philip Bloomfield impact-ents@bath.ac.uk Photos by Anni Kasari
unblessed/disappears in the ether/ this world to the next/human kindness.” Every track here is tender and patient, honest and beautiful. PJH’s experience in song-craft is here for all to see, but despite such triumphs the truth is PJH is far less creative with a piano than she is with a guitar. There is no doubt over her competence but more than competence should be expected. White Chalk tends to suffer from homogeneity with songs being too easily forgotten, disappearing in the ether. A real shame, too. They’re really quite nice. Jimi Travers Contributor
Album: Our Ill Wills Shout Out Louds 22nd October Longest Mile EVEN IF the Shout Out Louds don’t instantly ring a bell, you may very well have already seen their work. Friends of pseudo-Swedish royalty Peter Bjorn and John, Shout Out Louds bassist Ted Malmros directed the animated clip for the formers annoyingly catchy hit ‘Young Folks’. Now returning the favour, Bjorn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John fame has taken over production duties for ‘Our Ill Wills’.
Blood Red Shoes,
27
Entertainment
An Emergency, Kerterver Cartzo
Pulp Promotions 27/9/07 Bath Moles GET A moderately lively act to play at Moles club and you’re in for a bit of a melee. But what happens when Pulp put on a show from Brighton’s electrifying grunge disco double pack Blood Red Shoes? I willingly went to find out. The evening’s entertainment was off to a wobbly start with collars-up, hair-back rocky rollers Kerterver Cartzo but as soon as they pissed off the gig was back on course courtesy of jerky alt-rock merchants An Emergency. The three-piece snuck onto the stage almost unnoticed but swiftly smashed any illusions of understatement with a blast of rapid obtuse guitar and quadruple timed drums sending Steve of Blood Red Shoes and I into a ‘thank Christ for that’ body-thrashing frenzy. This witty bunch manage to successfully merge raw energy with excellent technical ability which makes for some exceptional seizure surprise punk. At this point the crowd were pumped towards bursting and I was anxious to see what the tiny explosive duo could do with songs readied for their 55 date European tour including dates with Maximo Park and Biffy Clyro. Opening with the echoing tones
While Yttling was involved in the production for the Shout Out Louds’ first album, ‘Howl Howl Gaff Gaff’, his undivided attention this time round reaps far greater dividends. Yttling’s proven pop mentality is displayed with aplomb as he successfully intertwines lead singer Adam Olenius’ Robert Smith-stained vocals with the effervescent tunes emanating from the band as a whole. The first track on the album, ‘Tonight I Have to Leave It’, is a stunning first single marked with purposeful acoustic guitar and soaring synth stuffed full with the fermenting energy that gravitates from multiinstrumentalist Bebban Stenborg. And this all occurs before the trademarcowbell, graces the song with it’s presence. Don’t get me wrong though, it is not all as whimsical as it sounds. The endlessly catchy hooks and joyous percussion is marked with Olenius’ anguish-ridden lyrics as he runs away from a lost love, calling out as he leaves ‘Why don’t you give love…’ and failing to finish his sentence. After all, the Shout Out Louds are hopeless romantics, as catchy as they may sound. This idea of escapism is a clear theme of the album, and can be seen on the boppy ‘Normandie’, as Olenius is constantly reminded of what he has run away from as he broods ‘your neck smells just like hers did.’ Although ‘Normandie’ is in no way a mere album filler, the other clear album stand out is ‘Impossible’; which one might say is impossibly long clocking in at just under seven minutes. This song collects pace over time, justifying its length with varied percussion and rising tension which is subtly calmed by the sultry backing vocals of Stenborg. We
and danceable rhythm of ‘It’s Getting Boring by the Sea’ the pair engaged the crowd from the outset. Assaulting their way through an array of ear pounding tunes including ‘You Bring Me Down’ and upcoming single ‘I Wish I Was Someone Better’ the room of unsuspecting observers was steadily drawn into the tension. As the set drew to a familiar close with crowd favourite ‘ADHD’ the entire club was drawn into a joyous mosh come grinning fracas. The flabbergasted crowd were left yelping for more with ambiguous three-syllable chants answered with a splendid encore. And at that, the disconcertingly cute duet leave another town in their frighteningly unavoidable wake. Beware tight-panted frappuccino sippers; Blood Red Shoes are not run-of-the-mill indie and never think otherwise or you’ll wind up with a skinny Brightoner standing on your neck.
David Wilby Contributor
find the Shout Out Louds going for deft changes in instrumentation and pacing, a la the Arcade Fire. It is a step away from ‘Howl Howl Gaff Gaff’ and raw energy of songs like ‘Please Please Please’, but in this instance it works. Lyrically, we find Olenius at his lowest point during the album, as he struggles to remember the love he once had. Ironically, he even gives out advice telling anyone who cares to listen to ‘stay out of love until you’re ready, stay out of it ‘cause it scares you.’ Somehow you think that he is not taking much heed to his own advice. All this makes for music that is compared on a regular basis to the more poppy songs produced by The Cure. While this is a fair comparison, it shouldn’t be a detriment to a band which even on tracks like ‘Time Left for Love’, about friends being involved in a tragic car accident, is still full of distinctly Swedish pop mentality. The Cure comparisons or not, Stockholm’s Shout Out Louds sophomore release could still easily be chalked off as just another generic indie pop gem originating from the land of The Concretes, The Hives and aforementioned Peter Bjorn and John. But to leave it at that would be missing the true charm that this latest release oozes. To sum up with a stolen line from Pitchfork, this album contains the kind of music that “Kanye West might decide to slaughter on his next mixtape.” What more can be said? Ben Cohen Contributor
28
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Entertainment
Iceland: Not Just for Mums
Entertainments Co-Editor Sean Lightbown raves about the best thing from Iceland since the two-forone Cornetto offer. Album: The First Crusade Jakobinarina Out Now Regal THE DEBUT offering from Jakobinarina, ‘The First Crusade’, can certainly not be accused of wandering off the beaten track. From the opening gravel-torn scream of ‘It’s Monday and I’m in vain/ Stuck in the mundane’, the songs making up this album smack of the escapism, energy and anger which proved the driving force behind punk greats such as ‘The Clash’ and ‘The Sex Pistols’. It seems wherever you‘re from; be it Iceland or Islington, seventies or noughties, the disgruntled youth turn to the beat of a drum and the strum of a guitar in order to vent their frustrations. And frustrated they are. The only thing keeping the snarls of singer Gunnar Bergmann in check are the piercing guitar hooks rattled out by Heimir Gestur Valdimarsson and Hallberg Dali Hallbergsson (phew). Many times when pressing the ‘play’ button, you feel as if you have unwound a tightly sprung coil
now exploding in all directions. This isparticularly true on debut single ‘This Is An Advertisement’, where the band denounce the commerciality of music as a ‘Brainwash attempt’ via a hail of noise and destruction. As seems the norm these days, the band are keen to experiment when they can. This is markedly clear on ‘Call For Advice’, where in four minutes we go from a full on rock out to a Kaiser Chiefs-esque ‘ba-da’ba-dah!’ sing along. Yet the spine of this record, elevating it from a respectable debut to a brilliant one, is the paralysing fear of staying stuck in the rut they are rebelling against. This refreshing honesty is displayed most viscerally on stand out track ‘Sleeping In Seattle’, where Gunnar tells us how ‘Everyone is having fun/everyone getting drunk/everyone is having sex/except me’. The inclusion of dream-like strings and insistent keyboard lines drifting in and out of songs often seem to be maintaining order in the chaotic sound which engulfs them, particularly heard at the end of ‘This Is An Advertisement’. With this, Jako-
binarina have created something which shatters the cocksure, loud norm of the conventional punk record with the realisation that sometimes, shit does indeed happen. ‘The First Crusade’ is truly a strange beast to approach. Teenagers in bands (if left untouched by the like of Simon Cowell) should be squawking about last Friday night, the bird they got off with or their own invincibility, as bestowed upon them as ‘the yoof’. Yet Jakobinarina, despite being earshreddingly gifted at the latter, are mature enough to realise that this isn’t always the case. It is the kind of album that would spit at you like a cobra before retracting and recoiling in knowing defence. It is also rather bloody good. Sean Lightbown impact-ents@bath.ac.uk Entertainments co-editor
A (Midsummer’s) Night at the Theatre Royal In the luscious surroundings of Bath’s Theatre Royal, Anni Kasari and Donna Jenkins take in a bit of Shakespeare... TIM SUPPLE’S masterful production of what is arguably Shakespeare’s finest comedic work ‘ A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ has already had critics and punters in a flush of excitement throughout the country. When the play finally touched down at the Royal Theatre in Bath we were more than keen to go and see it with our own eyes. Like many who direct Shakespeare currently, Supple has added a modern twist to a classic comedy, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The fusion of Shakespearian dialogue with music, dance and lighting lent an old classic a decidedly experimental and dramatic air. But Supple’s key twist is the use of no less than seven different languages within the play, an original element which is at times highly confusing, but certainly maintains audience attention. For those unfamiliar with the story it is a comical tale of love in which two worlds, fairy and mortal, are entwined on one ‘midsummer night’. At times farcical and witty, and at others sad and reflective, it concludes with the dramatic parting of the two worlds, and the triumph of love over adversity. The highlight of the night for these reviewers was the energetic, colourful explosion of the dancers, acrobats
SUMMER LOVIN’: Chandan Roy Sanyal & Yuki Elias. and martial arts experts through the backdrop of the enchanted forest. The speed and excitement of the acting varied through the play, creating a wave of moods and emotions in the audience. Climaxing with an emotionally moving choreography which brought both worlds together, the play was never anything less then visually compelling. The interesting use of music and a full rainbow of colourful lights; with fairies coming from here, there and everywhere ensured that our attention was grasped until the very end. Despite the exquisite directing of the play, the jumble of languages combined with a complex story line does make this particular production challenging to follow, yet this
in no way detracts from what is a visceral, beautiful and highly visual production. It did not at all compromise our enjoyment of the performance and we would encourage anyone who has the chance to go and experience it for themselves. The play certainly gives more to those with previous knowledge of the story, but those of you new to the story should not be put off. Truly a unique ‘modern’ version which kept all in the audience spellbound from start to finish. Anni Kasari & Donna Jenkins Contributors
Album: Quick The Word, Sharp The Action Hundred Reasons 15th October V2 FAVOURITES OF the university circuit are back with their triumphant fourth album entitled ‘Quick The Word, Sharp The Action’. They’ve taken a step back from their Post Hardcore roots to deliver some truly great indie songs. The band have been through some dark times during the creation of this album with lead singer Colin Doran being told he may never sing again and the death of a close friend of the band, this is reflected in the emotional and thought-provoking lyrics. Long-time guitarist Paul Townsend has left the band and been replaced by Ben Doyle, but this in no way affects the final sound. The new single ‘No Way Back’ will be available on iTunes for free as their Single Of The Week from the 16th of October. I strongly recommend that those unfamiliar with the band grab themselves a copy as it’s classic Hundred Reasons and will provide a great introduction to the album. This album also produces my track of the year in the form of ‘Sick Little Masquerade’. Whilst Album:
Strawberry Jam Animal Collective Out Now Domino Records ANIMAL COLLECTIVE hail from Baltimore, Maryland and consist of Panda Bear, Avey Tare, Geologist and Deakin. They have unveiled their latest effort, the bland Strawberry Jam, bringing their toll to a prolific eight full-length albums. Jam meanders along a more easily trod and accessible path paved by the previous release Feels. The album awakes, tired with ‘Peacebone’ an annoying synth affair with no direction and an unambitious, orthodox structure. Similar words describe ‘Unsolved Mysteries’, which passes in alarmingly uninteresting manner. Both songs lack diversity and musical colour. The energetic ‘Chores’ gives promise but in places stagnates and loses its attraction. Propitiously the next two tracks offer a large alleviation of disappointment with both songs reeking of the idiosyncratic Collective of previous releases. ‘Reverend Green’ pushed by marching drums is a glorious harmony of rhythm and layered sounds, with intriguing lyrics sung with brilliant discord. This song drops into the next without breath. ‘Fireworks’ is a cauldron of childish dreams and sad realisations. A skipping beat and rhythmic symbols capture the ears and keep their attention. Sadly though, a sober state of melancholy resurfaces with the beginning and entire length of the synth driven ‘#1’ a disheartening tune which sleepwalks along and closes routinely. ‘Winter Wonderland’ and ‘Cuckoo Cuckoo’ although different in style
not what I expected of HR it is indie rock at its best - think ‘The Postal Service’ with a much-needed rock chorus. But, old school HR fans, you need not fear, there are some great metal songs to be found. ‘The Shredder’ is slipped into the middle of the album and provides a stark contrast with some of the earlier tracks. The album as a whole though is very reminiscent of Feeder’s earlier work, and if it wasn’t for Colin’s distinctive vocals there are a couple of songs where I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. This album takes the band in a slightly new direction but it’s done with skill that only nearly eight years of touring can produce. As a HR fan I always expected to enjoy this album but it delivers an unexpected mass appeal. It’s due to be released on the 15th, buy it. Chris Daniels Contributor
continue in the same vein with safe structure and few highlights, both songs flicker with potential but feel repetitive and depthless. The album closes with a good effort from Panda Bear. Resembling his recent solo release Person Pitch, ‘Derek’ is a soft, touching song, which allows us to marvel at an obviously mature musical mind. The fun, unusual sounds and carefully moulded vocals entertain and cajole, reminding us of the pleasing genius that the Animal Collective possess. A pleasant finish. With this approachable and structured output the collective seem to be pushing towards a more conventional style with distinct vocals being the key adjustment. Unfortunately, however, this seems to have suffocated the creativity present in the unique, textual landscape of Sung Tongs and brilliant, critical acclaimed Feels with songs such as ‘Leaf House’ and ‘Did You See The Words’ sadly not reached. However, even with these derogatory words spoken, Strawberry jam is still interesting with innovative ideas and a charming pulse... it just lacks flavour.
Daniel B. Nightingale Contributor
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
29
30
IMPACT
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
Sport
SA Memberships... Value for Money or Rip-Off? THE INTRODUCTION of SA memberships this year has prompted some students to request an explanation as to the increased club joining costs. Postgraduate student Tim Holsgrove got in contact with VP Sport Rich Howell to voice his concerns… Dear Richard, Upon logging on to join some sports clubs this year, I found that there was a new £10 charge to join the SA. I paid it, but wondered why all of a sudden the cost for someone joining one club has effectively doubled. People may well choose to only join one sports club rather than two or more, and all because of this SA membership cost which has appeared from nowhere with little or no justification. If the cost was for something noticeable then it might be acceptable, but I then received an email telling me that I can collect my membership card, t-shirt and handbook from the sports fair. Would it not make far more sense to integrate the SA membership cards with library cards? It seems unnecessary to have to have yet another membership card for something that is part of the university. Given that the separate SA membership is required this year, it would at least be nice if the massive increase in cost for people joining a club had seemed to have had some thought put
into it. Information for individuals’ access to buildings, photocopying accounts and STV membership are all on the library card, it seems obvious that SA membership should be added to that list. Presumably the handbook would easily be available online, if it isn’t already. This would save on printing costs and the energy used to print. One of the University Sustainability and Low Carbon Advisory Group terms of reference is, “To ensure that the low carbon vision is reflected in the University’s brand and marketing messages and in internal communications where appropriate.” The SA would do well to do the same. Finally, if people wanted a t-shirt, they would buy one. Given that no sizes were requested when joining the SA, it’s likely that it won’t fit anyway. That’s before I even consider whether I really want to wear a University of Bath SA t-shirt. Again, it’s likely a great deal of time, money and energy has been wasted. As I don’t want a handbook or t-shirt, nor do I wish to use any of the other socalled benefits, other than to join a sports club, would it be possible to have a refund for some of my membership fee? Yes it’s only £10 but that is the equivalent of another sports club membership, it’s 7 medium lattes from the new Costa, it’s the cost of a decent t-shirt that fits and which I might wear. Tim Holsgrove.
Hi Tim, I realise the cost may not be for something noticeable, and this is an issue we’ll always face when increasing fees. In real terms fees have increased less than it appears, having remained static against inflation for a number of years. What you get for your club membership costs us more to provide each year, even without adding anything ‘tangible’, so inevitably we have to put prices up intermittently, almost always in the face of complaints. The point that an extra card is not necessarily what people want is completely fair, but unfortunately there was no way to integrate with the library card this year. We needed operationally to have a card which could be exchanged for equipment when borrowed - we can’t keep people’s library cards while they borrow a wetsuit for the weekend. However, this is something we’ll be looking into in the future - there are definitely potential ways to use the library card to serve this purpose with some changes to our operations. Also though, these cards gave us a very valuable space to sell, and in fact even this first year the cards were actually cost-neutral due to the sponsorship on the reverse of the card, and could generate an income in future, so it may be something we decide to continue. The reasoning behind the SA Members’ Handbook was to ensure all members had details of all the programmes available, especially this first year of the new system.
It is not necessarily something that we will continue to produce. However, again, the handbook provides an opportunity to generate revenue which we may wish to exploit further in future. The T-shirts. These again were not far from being cost-neutral with the sponsorship, and in future I would expect to be able to make them costless or even profitable to the SA using a sponsor. With a new Intramurals programme launching this year which we will be growing over the next year and beyond, we felt that the issuing of T-shirts to all sports members would be a good way to promote the new structure. So far the uptake has been promising; I urge you to keep an eye on what’s on throughout the year and see if anything interests you! Finally, as explained above, the change was specifically to increase the funding going in to clubs, and therefore it won’t be possible to refund part of your membership - the majority of it is directed at club operations anyway! It’s relatively inexpensive to run an Intramural event or hire out equipment, and clubs still attract
most of our funding! In your sports handbook you will find a double page explaining costs and expenditures and I’m sure you’ll be pleased to see that clubs still spend substantially more than the income from SA Memberships and Club Memberships combined! The SU injects a huge amount of money into sport each year, everything we do is heavily subsidised and in fact our club membership prices are still some of the lowest at any UK institution, including the new membership. I hope that answers your concerns, and you understand that this change has put the SA and all its clubs in a much more financially secure position for now and the future. Hopefully you will see the benefits of the membership, either in your club being able to increase coaching availability or renew equipment when necessary, and maybe even one day make use of a piece of SA equipment or attend an internal competition! Kind regards, Rich
GUILTY: The offending T-shirts.
Rugby 1sts Suffer Bath Cling On for the Win Bath Rugby 21 a Narrow Defeat Sale Sharks 19 University of Bath 22 St Mary’s College 29 Tim Leigh Sports Reporter BATH STARTED off promisingly, passing the ball well and making inroads in midfield; the pressure had to tell, Bath going over in the corner and their fly half getting an excellent conversion from five metres inside the touchline. After the restart, Bath were penalised for offside by the referee, but the St. Mary’s inside centre missed the very kickable penalty. St. Mary’s were showing some signs of coming to life after seemingly being shell-shocked by Bath’s aggression in the first ten minutes, and when Bath were penalised for holding on, the St. Mary’s inside centre made amends to make the score 7-3. Bath built up more good pressure, and two quick penalties were their reward, making it 13-3 to Bath. St. Mary’s again came back into it, a pushover try their reward for good pressure. The St. Mary’s kicker slotted the conversion, and they were then gifted a second try barely a minute late; a lack of concentration from Bath’s defence allowing St. Mary’s to break through and offload well to make the score 13-15. The conversion was missed and Bath started strongly off the restart, a penalty kicked for touch and
pushed over for an easy try in the left hand corner, only just missing the conversion and making the score 18-15. Bath started well in the second half, but again good defence from the visitors denied them. After a lengthy injury break, St. Mary’s again pushed over for a try and conversion, only for Bath to respond accordingly five minutes later, another hard conversion just missing, edging Bath into the lead at 23-22. The killer blow for Bath came when their promising attack ended and St. Mary’s counterattacked well and tackles were missed as St. Mary’s finished off their move under the posts, the easy kick putting the visitors 29-22 up. Bath responded well but could never quite finish off their moves, and the match played out scrappily without any more points being scored. Overall, Bath will be extremely disappointed, for without dubious refereeing and better execution, it is a match they would have cruised through.
Adrian Dalmedo Sports Editor impact-sport@bath.ac.uk IN A game that had threatened to be ruined by the torrential rain that only rescinded minutes before kick off, Bath clung on to win a hard-fought, and often scrappy encounter to take the points and leave Sale winless for the season. The tone of the match was set before the opening kick off, which Shane Berne sent straight into touch, as the pre-match cheerleaders had to be cancelled. If Bath had taken advantage of their obvious superiority - the game - as coach Steve Meehan mused at the after game press conference, “we could’ve put it to bed before half time.” After only four minutes hooker Pieter Dixon found himself at the bottom of a rolling maul celebrating his first try of the season. Grewcock, who was impeccable in the lineouts, caught on the 5 and the pack did the rest. Berne added the extras. Bath extended their lead after pinching a Sale line out and spreading the ball out to their backs in a free flowing move that England would do well to learn from. The move ebbed from right to left with forwards also getting involved, almost making it over in the corner. Bath quickly recycled and changed direction to allow Berne to send a high, looping mispass out to Banahan on the wing who finished the move off. Unfortunately for the poor lad he had to be replaced soon after as he injured himself in the process. The sides then traded penalties; or
rather they would have had Berne not hit the post, when it was easier to score. Bath piled on the pressure, but were completely stonewalled by an impressive Sale defence, and when it did look like a score was imminent mistakes ruined the move. Fully 25 minutes into the clash Sale finally decided to mount a serious attack. Strong tackling from the Bath pack restricted Sale to a Charlie Hodgson drop-goal after the forwards were unable to drive over. A penalty from Berne put Bath 13-12 up at the half but it was Sale who looked the more dangerous at the break, after Oriol Ripol had briefly given them the lead following a move down the left wing, which Hodgson expertly converted from out on the touchline. The second half started in an extremely scrappy fashion as the sides knocked on like the ball was a bar of soap, missed jumpers at line outs and repeatedly turned over. Berne’s positional kicking was awry and Sale looked the slightly more composed of the two sides and regained
the lead with a brace of Hodgson penalties, before Berne - who had a torrid game trying to fill the boots of Chris Malone, departed for Harlequins - added one of his own. As the game approached its conclusion, and the crowd became restless, it became evident that the victor would be the side that made the least mistakes. Hodgson tried gamely to lift his side and Bath countered, with Grewcock reticent yet highly effective. The ground went deathly quiet as Berne composed himself for a penalty to give Bath the lead with less than five minutes to go, and he duly obliged. With one final charge Sale tried gamely to give Hodgson a chance to win it with a drop-goal. His first attempt was comically miscued and was more of a daisy cutter than a drop-goal, but there was still time for one final stab. With the last kick of the game from just outside the 22 Hodgson pushed his second drop goal wide and into the stand and Bath celebrated their twelfth successive home victory in the Guinness Premiership. Just.
MONDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2007
IMPACT
31
Sport
TeamBath lose to Landlords, Win in F.A. Cup Bath City Team Bath
3 0
Marcus Haydon Sports Reporter TEAMBATH SUFFERED defeat at the hands of local rivals Bath City in the Somerset Cup in the driving rain at Twerton Park last week, as City’s higher league status shone through. Goals from Martin Paul, Lewis Hogg and Phil Walsh gave City a comfortable progression into the next round. The game sprung into life after ten minutes when ex-Bristol Rovers winger Mark McKeever worked himself some space on the left to supply Martin Paul with a pinpoint cross. The veteran striker rose and connected well with the header, only to see his effort rebound off the face of the crossbar and booted to safety. The University team responded well though, with Ben Thomson firing a ferocious shot from the left-hand edge of the box just wide of the far post. With a quarter of an hour gone, the Students gave City’s South African ‘keeper Paul Evans another scare. Good work again from Thomson down the left supplied Joe Arnold with an excellent cross which he headed powerfully towards the corner of the net. Evans however flung himself to his left to produce a wonderful fingertip save and keep the game all square, much to the delight of the
dozen City fans congregated behind his goal. Despite TeamBath’s pressure, it was the landlords that took the lead a few moments later. McKeever’s corner was glanced across goal by Steve Jones and namesake Gethin returned the ball low and hard into the six-yard box where Martin Paul was waiting to apply a delicate finish to put City in front. Just eight minutes later City full-back Sekani Simpson was released down the right wing and his blocked cross fell to Steve Jones. His lobbed pass expertly found Phil Walsh in the penalty area, only for his rifled volley to be blocked by the flailing arm of defender Gary Warren. The linesman’s waving flag alerted the referee to the infringement and City were awarded the spot-kick. The TeamBath players were clearly incensed at the award of such a soft penalty and skipper Warren was booked for his protestations. Lewis Hogg kept his nerve to double City’s lead, firing the penalty in off the inside of the post. City didn’t have to wait long after half time to wrap the game up. Another sub, Jim Rollo, beat Gerard Alonso to Steve Jones’ ball down the right wing and then wrong-footed the full-back before drilling a ball into Phil Walsh on the penalty spot. Walsh took a touch to control before confidently slotting the ball into the bottom corner to add some gloss to the scoreline. There was almost time for City to add a fourth. Hogg’s overhit cross caught out Cooper and he had to scramble backwards
to palm the ball away. However, he only succeeded in directing it to the feet of the Phil Walsh, lurking in the six-yard box. The young ‘keeper did fantastically well however, as he bravely threw himself at Walsh’s feet to block the shot, and recovered again to push away McKeever’s driven follow up. It was tough on TeamBath who had certainly matched their opponents on work rate however City’s higher league status was evident.
Moneyfields Team Bath
1 8
TEAMBATH TRAVELLED to the South coast and came away with a resoundingly emphatic 8-1 victory over a lacklustre Moneyfields side to progress to the third qualifying round of this year’s F.A. Cup, setting up a home tie against WestonSuper-Mare. TeamBath had the better of an entertaining first half, going into the dressing room 2-1 up. Ben Thomson, who was returning from a spell collecting splinters on the
And They’re Off! Formula Student
THIS YEAR, Team Bath Racing enter their eighth year of competition in the World Wide Formula Student Event. Last year’s team took sixth place overall at Silverstone, and were the highest placed UK team. Formula Student is a global competition, featuring teams from Europe, Australia, North & South America and Asia. The competition originated in the USA in the 1980s, when university teams were challenged to design, manufacture and compete with a small formula styled racing car as part of their degree programme. The competition became increasingly popular, and spread to the UK ten years ago. There are now nine events a year in seven different countries across the globe. The design and manufacture of the car is a daunting task! It all starts in the third year, before the design is reevaluated redesigned in the final year. All work is extra-curricular, so it must be squeezed around normal studies. Once the team are happy with the design, manufacture will commence in the depths of the Mechanical Engineering department. Towards the end of the year there are usually many sleepless nights trying to finish final year reports, whist franticly trying to put the finishing touches on the car before it is launched in May. The car is run at Colerne RAF airbase
for fine-tuning before the competition at Silverstone in July. You can see why Formula Student has been renamed by some as Formula No-Life! So what would possess a student to become involved in Formula No-Life? More and more companies are using the event as an opportunity to headhunt graduates, with students demonstrating their creativity, teamwork skills and ability to take on high workloads. There’s
also the chance to mingle with some of Formula One’s top brains at the competition. For most students though, it is the chance to build, drive and race a car that would gas almost any road car off the lights. It’s certainly an exhilarating drive! With around 90bhp at the wheels and a weight of approximately 250kg including driver, the current car has ability the to reach 60mph in
3.4 seconds and pull up to 1.7g through the twisty bits. If given enough room, a brave driver could take the car to a top speed of over 150mph! Mechanical Engineering students can get involved in all years as the team are always needing help in some way or another, whether for manufacture of the car, or for going testing, just pop down to the build room in 4East and have a chat.
sidelines injured, opened the scoring with a thunderbolt from the edge of the area. As the second half kicked up, the game became a peripheral figure as it turned into the Matt Townley show. The midfielder scored a hat-trick in six minutes, finding the net on 50, 54 and 56 minutes to end the game as a contest. His second goal was the pick of the bunch, a free kick from fully 30 yards which curled round the wall and nestled nicely in the bottom corner of the goal. Sean Canham made it a brace for himself on the hour with the sixth and Matt Williams scored from underneath the crossbar to make it seven. The scoring was rounded off by sub Joe Arnold after 69 minutes. So impressive was Matt Townley’s performance that he has been voted ‘Player of the Round’ on the F.A. website. By doing so he won himself a pair of VIP tickets for him and a mate to this year’s final, on Saturday 17th May at Wembley Stadium and £500 worth of football equipment for a school in the Bath area. Townley was obviously most delighted to scoop the award. “I’m absolutely chuffed to have won it,” he said. “I’ve scored one goal a season for the last four years, so to get three in the F.A. Cup was brilliant.” This year is five years since the epic run to the first round proper and Sky Sports cameras on campus, so the lads are going into the next round cautiously optimistic. “We know quite a few of the WestonSuper-Mare players and it’s a good local derby for us, so we know it’s going to be a tough game,” commented Townley. “We’re taking some good results into the game, so we’re looking forward to it.”
Take Me To The Beach
WORK STARTED last week on the construction of an artificial beach on campus within the STV. Sadly for the average cider drinking student this doesn’t mean the chance of having a BBQ and game of Frisbee, as it is actually a new national beach volleyball training centre. Two full-size courts will be constructed and filled from sand from South Wales in an area near the existing hockey Astroturf pitches. The new courts will be ready in just under two months, and will instantly benefit the twenty plus members of the University community who are a part of the British Volleyball setup. The timing is perfect for athletes training for the Beijing Olympics, taking place next year. Simone Lewis, a former English volleyball international and current University official commented how “the new courts will give all the players a huge lift.” Next step for Simone is the provision of indoor facilities. This is Bath, not Barcelona, after all. The local community will also benefit from the new facility. Plans are being made to use the courts for rugby and beach football: made popular by Eric Cantona among others, who started playing the game in 1997 on the pitches - or is that beaches? - of Monte Carlo. Beach football can be a highly entertaining game, for on sand you can never be sure of anything; an ordinary shot can take a wicked deflection at the last moment.
sport impact
Covering the issues that matter to students
Rugby: 30 S.A. Memberships: 30 Beach Volleyball: 31 Formula Student: 31
New Fleet for Sailing Club THE SAILING Club have just launched their brand new fleet of sailing dinghies with a introductory day’s sailing for all their members. The Club was able to buy them thanks to support from the Sports Association and the Alumni Fund. impact caught up with former Chair Ed Atkins to find out what they had planned this year. impact: You must be excited about unpacking and sailing the new Boats? Ed: Yeah getting the boats set up felt like Christmas, and it was even better to get them sailing for the first time. We had to make sure we kept well away from each other though, as we didn’t want to do any damage on our first outing! I: Why have you gone for a different Class of dinghy with your new boats? E: The new boats are Fireflies, which are ideal for the style of racing we do, where the boats need to be really manoeuvrable; if you get it right they can almost spin round on themselves. They will also be much safer and more accessible for beginners as they are designed so they can be safely enjoyed by sailors of all abilities. I: What sort of improvements do you hope to see for the club from having the new boats? E: We will be able to run more recreational sailing days for our members because there will be minimal ongoing maintenance compared to the old boats. The Team will now be training in the boats that are used at BUSA competitions, where the team hopes to build on the success of last year, as they qualified for the BUSA finals, and finish the year with two teams at the BUSA finals, with one of the teams finishing in the top 8. Overall the new boats should allow us to be sailing every Wednesday and weekend this year, allowing every member of the club plenty of sailing time. I: How do I get involved sailing with the club?
E: The first thing to do is to join on Bathstudent.com to be on our mailing list. If you’ve never sailed before we run beginners’ training weekends accredited by the Royal Yachting Association. For members who can already sail we run recreational sailing sessions around twice a month, these sessions also informally coached for those who want to learn a little bit more. I: What opportunities do you have for sailors that are already competent? E: We run a Team racing squad of about 24 within the club, who train every Wednesday. Members who have their own boats can race at the BUSA fleet racing Nationals. We also attend the BUSA match racing and yachting Nationals. The team racing is the main focus - the club attends at least two competitions a semester plus the BUSA regional qualifiers and hopefully then the finals at Easter. The team racing
is not just for the most talented sailors in the club, as long as you’re committed and enjoy sailing there is space on the team for you. So there really is something for everyone! I: The plans for the sailing club sound pretty serious, do you guys have any fun? E: Sailing is very often a close team sport and good friendships are built up quickly. We have plenty of social time in the bar after every sailing session, allowing the friendships made on the water to develop and everyone to unwind any stress. The club also has plans for some bigger socials planned, such as the Snow Ball. I: How would you sum up your club? E: I enjoy sailing with the sailing club because everyone is happy to help everyone out what ever standard they are. The club encourages everyone to be active and have fun whilst being able to develop sailing in safe and enjoyable environment.
Sports Fair 2007