Bournemouth Rock – Issue 8

Budapest or bust for Leggit winning team Tazz Gault

NEWS EDITOR Hundreds of students from Bournemouth University took part in a charity hitchhike over the weekend.

Leggit, which has been running since 2010, challenges students to try to get as far away as possible from Bournemouth within 36 hours, all in the aid of charity. The group crowned the champions are those that have travelled the furthest miles from the Bournemouth basecamp.

Each student was challenged to raise £50 each to beat last year’s total of just over £30,000. All money raised is going to Make A Wish Foundation.

This year’s winners made their way to Budapest, which is approximately 965 miles from The Old Firestation on Holdenhurst Road, where all the competitors began.

“We are all so amazed and excited that we have won,” said one member of the team, Sam Dunne, whilst still in Budapest.

“We didn’t have any wifi the whole of our last day, so we had no idea if we were winning.

When we saw another group had made Rome, we were convinced we had come second, but when RAG contacted us it was an amazing feeling to know we had won.

“Funnily enough, we had aimed to get to Rome because we wanted to get to somewhere hot.

When it came to it though, we would go up to people and when they asked where were going, we would reply anywhere.

Continued on page 10

Students blame letting agents for horrendous living conditions

Some students are devestated with the condition of their houses when they moved in at the start of term HAILEY HAMMER

Hailey Hammer

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR A survey on local student living conditions has revealed a catalogue of complaints including mould,

cracked windows, mice, slugs, and piles of rubbish in rented houses.

One student complained her flatmates were forced to check into a hotel.

Among the letting agents that were complained about were Enfields, Terra Firma and St Quintin and McConnell. Enfields

refused to comment, but the two others rose to the challenge of answering the allegations.

Katrine Loraas, 21, moved into a Terra Firma let house with her friends in September this year. “On the move-in day the house looked awful. It was not washed, there was broken glass on the floor, there

were mice and snails, mould in the washing machine, damp carpets, dirty floors and cracked windows.

We had a green fly infestation in the sink, and there was rubbish left from the previous owners.”

Continued on page 3

OPINION

FEATURES SPORT

Why you’re all wrong about the nationwide badger cull

Are we losing respect for our soldiers on Remembrance Day? p17

p12

The Rock speaks to Cherries youngster, Josh Carmichael p35

2 news

Thursday 8 November 2012

| The Rock

Talbot Campus no longer bike friendly Jonny Byrne

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2012

News

Diabetes cases on the rise in Dorset

5

Opinion

Myspace: Flogging a very dead horse

14

Features

Frank Turner on rising gig ticket prices

21

Sport

Paralympics inspires local children

27

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Bikes outside of designated sheds are being ticketed JONNY BYRNE

Bournemouth University’s Talbot Campus has become awash with bicycles chained to railings, trees and lampposts after the removal of several freestanding bikeparking area.

University staff have been ticketing bicycles that are not stored in one of three bike sheds, claiming that the vehicles have been “left in an inappropriate area”, which has angered many students.

Talbot Campus had a third parking shed introduced over the summer for students to park their bikes, but with the dramatic rise in the number of students at Bournemouth over the past few years, and the increased interest in cycling, it has meant that there is still not enough space to safely park bikes.

Martin Hanford, chair of the Bournemouth University Bike Users Group, has defended the removal of the bars, also called Sheffield Stands.

“It’s very simple. Whilst Sheffield Stands allow you to park your bike and secure it, the sole security relies on the lock, because they’re not in a covered gated lockup. A lot of our students are using cheap locks

instead of a high-quality D-lock, so bikes were being stolen, particularly outside of Christchurch House.

“The new sheltered lockup that replaced it sends out two messages: one, that you can’t get in to steal a bike even if they’ve got a poor lock on it, and two, it keeps the bike in better condition because it’s under cover.

“These lockups can cost £20,000 plua and in these times of tight budgets we don’t have huge funds to be able to buy new lockups, but we’re working on it. We’re hopeful we can do something next year.”

Martin also suggested that the red warning tickets that have been attached to the spokes of many people’s bike wheels should act as a safety warning.

“The reason these tickets are being put on is because their bike has been left in an insecure environment.

It’s also being done because of the quality of their lock, not just because it’s been parked next to a tree.

“Sometimes bikes have been parked in an area that is unsafe for people leaving the building, so the University has had to remove them by cutting the lock and putting them in a lockup for the owner to claim back.

“I understand that some people think they are being hard done by, but the last thing we want is to see a student’s bike stolen.”

Stand-off over Media School Charter Sam Thomson

A charter handed out to staff and students of Bournemouth University’s Media School has caused upset among members of the University and College Union (UCU). Leaders of the Bournemouth branch of UCU are now advising members to “not sign the charter, or otherwise endorse it in its current form”.

Bournemouth’s UCU Branch Secretary, John Brissenden explained to The Rock why the union currently object to the charter. He said: “In general terms, the charter as currently worded may encourage students to have specific expectations, for example The University and College Union are advising BU students not to sign the charter BOURNEMOUTH UNI in terms of communication with academic staff, which may be expect of staff. Both staff and students knew anything about the matter,” staff. The staff version features a difficult for those staff to meet, such were involved in the consultation says Mr Brissenden. space for a signature, whereas the as when they are teaching groups process for the charter, but the “Branch officers put forward student one does not. However, those of several hundred students.” He University’s branch of the UCU say their concerns, and made behind the charter insist that the added: “UCU’s position is that the they were not properly consulted. recommendations regarding the charter is not contractually or legally charter is something which must A meeting between the UCU and wording of the charter. Apart from binding. proceed in a way which commands the media school’s HR manager to one brief email acknowledging Senior lecturer in Marking and the support of all parties, and discuss union’s concerns did take receipt, the employer has failed to Communications, Richard Scullion, which does not put the rights of place, but only a day after the charter respond to UCU’s points since then.” who was closely involved with its UCU members at risk.” had been printed and distributed.

The Rock approached the University, creation, says the charter is in fact The charter, which was drawn “When branch officers arrived for the asking for an explanation, but “aspirational” and that “staff and up by Media School staff over the meeting, the HR manager was not received no response. students can sign the charter if they summer, lays out the expectations there and had been replaced by two There are two issues of the charter wish, but they are not under any of students, and what students can of her colleagues, neither of whom – with one for students and one for obligation to do so.”

news 3

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

Frustrations with dilapidated and infested student houses Hailey Hammer

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Continued from page 1

Katrine and her housemates were left to live with broken windows and floorboards HAILEY HAMMER

Iain McTaggart, director of Terra Firma, said that they reacted immediately to the women’s complaints, and the landlord paid for a cleaning agency to fix the house up.

“The girls were also offered a gift of wine or champagne. It is a matter of interest if they have not received it, but any promise of reimbursement must have been a misunderstanding,” Mr. McTaggart said.

Further problems were then found with the house. Katrine said: “The toilet was really noisy from the day we moved in, and it turned out there was a tampon stuck in the pipes. Seeing as we could not prove that was not our fault, they charged us £160 to get it fixed.”

“This is completely within our legal rights,” Mr. McTaggart said. He said an inventory form has to be filled out within 14 days of the tenants moving in.

“The form informs us of the state of the house, and has to be handed in within 14 days. Any problems after this time would legally not be the responsibility of the landlord, seeing as the damage would have occurred after the tenants moved in to the house.”

He said whilst some responsibilities will always be the landlords, such as the physical structure of the house, heating, gas and drainage, the tenants are responsible for all damages caused by them. “I personally feel most students need to educate themselves more on the process of letting a house,” he said.

Terra Firma’s response resembles the one of St. Quintin and McConnell.

Company Director, Andrea Carvallo, said that a continuous problem occuring is student tenants misunderstanding the definition of what constitutes a complaint and where the fault lies. “As a company, we are simply acting as an agent on behalf of the landlord and we cannot be held responsible for faults with a property, nor issues that are generated by the students themselves.”

She said students must understand that the firm is constricted by obligations to the landlords. “Our role is to mediate, negotiate, recommend and act on our clients’ instructions, not the tenants’ instructions or requests,” she said.

Another complaint from Katrine concerned her not always being treated politely by Terra Firma. She said that while talking with them on the phone, she was “interrupted and hung up on”. She added: “When there were bed bugs in two of the rooms, they blamed it on the fact that I was

an international student.”

Mr. McTaggart defends any xenophobic comments. He said: “A lot of misapprehensions happen, especially when talking over the phone, which is why we are working on recording all our phone calls with clients.”

He added: “We do have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to manners, so I expect my staff to be polite and courteous. Again, I expect the same thing back from both tenants and landlords.”

When Katrine and her friends came back to the house after the cleaning, they said the job was only half done.

“Slugs were still in the house, the oven was not working well, and there were cracks in some of the windows. We sent forms about all this, but Terra Firma said they lost them, and the process was taking a long time,” she said.

Mr. McTaggart said there was a difference of opinion. “I think most people would be happy with the work we had done. Although, I will look into the matter of slugs and cracks in windows, as this seems to have been neglected by us,” he said.

He also apologised that September is a very busy month, with a lot of people moving. “I have to put my hands up and say that we might not always handle all problems in time during the September month. Terra Firma is not perfect, but I think we do a good job, and we always want to improve ourselves.”

One of the reasons a major part of students are dissatisfied with Terra Firma, is related to deposits, said Iain.

“The problem that has revealed itself, especially in Bournemouth, is that the student populous is growing very fast. What makes our job difficult is that a lot of landlords, and a lot of agents won’t necessarily lease student lettings as they should be,” he said.

He said that instead of following every step of the law, some landlords will give a full deposit back even though they have every right to keep it, just to save time. “In Terra Firma we always follow every step of the law, but unfortunately, this might not always be in line with the tenants wishes,” he said.

On the other hand, St. Quintin and McConnell bring attention to the fact that being a big agency, the biggest in this survey, will obviously bring in more complaints. “We take complaints very seriously at St Quintin & McConnell and ensure that all reported complaints are dealt with on a prioritised basis. As one of the largest student letting agents in the Bournemouth area, we handle far more business than the majority of other agents. Therefore it stands to reason by the law of ratio, that we will have more complaints,” said Mrs. Carvallo.

After talking to The Rock, Terra Firma revisited Katrine’s house to cover up the slugs’ entrance holes.

4 news

Editorial Team Editor in Chief Julia Denni Editor’s Assistants Chris Fay & Alesia Robertson News Editor Tazz Gault Deputy NE Drew Sleep Assistant NE Hailey Hammer & Augustina Sukys Opinion Editor Oliver Hill Assistant OE Sinead Lambe Features Editor Vikki Hutton Deputy FE George Underwood Assistant FE Tom Beasley, Gabriella Vlahova & Giulia Rodilossi Sports Editor Jonny Byrne Deputy SE Tom Bennett Deputy SE Jasper Taylor Assistant SE Ash Hover Chief Sub Maisie Buchan Assistant Chief Sub Will Richards Head of Design N Briana Millett Head of Design O Shanae Staple Head of Design F Fran Tatman Head of Design S Rachel Currie Brand Designer Tom Allison Letters to the editor must be signed (including the course of Bournemouth University students, the working title and school for staff members, company name, or home address for individuals outside BU).

Prior to the publication, letters will be verified for authencity by the editor.

Anonymous letters will not be published. The editor reserves the right to edit all letters in regard to libel law, length, taste, grammar and punctuation.

Letters to the editor: jdennirocks@gmail.com Advertising: rocktheads@gmail.com

Thursday 22 November 2012| The Rock

Bournemouth psychology lecturer helps children with sleep disorders

Newly elected PCC attacked

by Twitter trolls

Anna Gillespie

Joe Nerssessian

A lecturer from Bournemouth University has been using his reasearch to help children in the resort with sleeping disorders.

Dr Andrew Mayers, a psychology lecturer, has been involved in researching sleep disruptions in both adults and children for over 20 years. Sleep deprivation affects children differently to adults, symptoms include temper tantrums and hyperactive behavior.

Dr Mayers added that poor sleep can lead to “decreased concentration, disruptive behaviour and even family problems.” As part of his research, Dr Mayers began workshops at Winton Primary school, in a specialised sleep room dedicated to promoting children getting a better night’s sleep.

The workshops, aimed at parents, allows them to discuss issues that they have with their children’s sleep, whilst also giving tips on how to encourage their children to settle.

“Sleep charts are used to praise and reinforce the children through conditioning,” said Dr Mayers, and the charts seem to have been a success with parents and children.

The sleep charts are a way of rewarding children for each day that they have had a night without disruptive sleep. Typically, at the end of the week, a reward is given for seven nights of non-disruptive sleep, such as watching their favourite TV show, or even a day out.

Sandra Coomber, mother of ten-year-old Rebecca who has been attending the workshops said: “She was really struggling with her schoolwork because she was so tired.” However, after the workshops and the introduction of the reward chart Rebecca got “her best school report ever’.

Louise Hubball, a BBC reporter, spent the day at Winton Primary School and later interviewed Dr

The newly elected PCC for Dorset, Martyn Underhill, has claimed he was compared to paedophile Jimmy Savile in the run up to the election.

Before he was announced as the new Police and Crime commissioner, Underhill admitted the campaign had taken its toll on him and his family due to the ‘torrid of abuse’ he received.

He claimed the abuse included insulting letters, phone calls and tweets.

One tweet compared the Independent PCC to the notorious Jimmy Savile.

“As an ex-police officer I didn’t expect it, I thought I could take most knocks, but it is fair to say that I have been bruised. My wife has been particularly upset by it,” he said.

The abuse is said to have come from activists from the other parties, but not the candidates themselves. “Some awful things have been said by activists from the other parties,” said Underhill.

Martyn also said that even if he had known he would receive such abuse prior to standing, it would not have deterred him.

“If I had known, I would have still stood because I am a man of principal, and I think the public should have a choice, but I didn’t expect it to be as bad as it’s been. It has made me more driven,” he said.

Underhill has also said that although the incidences have made him stronger, it has had a negative impact on his family due to them being subject to abusive phone calls.

“It has been very difficult, particularly for my family and for that I feel quite guilty.”

Speaking after his victory, Underhill said that now was a time ‘to heal and move forward’ after a ‘bloody’ campaign.

Turn to page six for more information on Martyn Underhill.

BBC 5 Live’s Louise Hubball with Dr Andrew Mayers ANNA GILLESPIE Mayers and some parents to discuss the importance of a good night’s sleep, as part of the ‘Drive-time’ segment on Radio 5 Live.

Louise said: “The parents who come here are really at their wits end on how to get their child to sleep. It is the last resort for them.” Louise spent the evening with 5-year-old Kian, who has a history of not being able to get to sleep, and his mum Erina. She also spent the day talking to tired under 12s in order to get an understanding of how the

workshops have helped families.

The workshops seem to be just the beginning, Dr Mayers reveals his hopes for the future are: “to develop a national, professional online resource, to roll out a national helpline for parents and to train other groups to run workshops across the country”.

Since the workshops introduction around schools in Bournemouth, there has been an increase in recognising the significance of ensuring children are sleeping well.

Bournemouth Uni to recieve a royal visit Tazz Gault

NEWS EDITOR

Bournemouth University will be expecting a regal visit from the Princess Royal, Princess Anne at the end of the academic term.

On Wednesday December 12, The Princess Royal will be attending the

University to meet members of staff and students. The visit has been arranged so that the Princess can learn more about the work that is done within the university.

Princess Anne is no stranger to Dorset - her children were educated at the Port Regis school in Shaftesbury and she has visited the county many times.

She came to Dorset for the opening of Poole’s Twin Sails Bridge and has

visited Cherry Tree Nursery as well as various clubs and centre’s around the area.

Princess Anne frequently visits the Jurassic coastline and has watched many of Dorset’s budding sailors in Weymouth and Portland.

This will be Princess Anne’s first visit to Bournemouth University, an institution that already recieved the Her Majesty the Queen’s animation prize earlier this year.

news 5

The Rock | Thursday 22 November 2012

Boscombe surf reef still receives mixed reception Ben Fisher Continued from page 1

The Boscombe surf reef was designed to bring in surfers however, it has met strong criticism ZDRAVKO DIMITROV

Surfer, Adam Boden, said: “I have used it for bodyboarding when it was in use a few years ago and it was great fun - it needs the right tides and conditions to work properly it is not there to ‘produce’ waves, instead it is there to boost the waves already produced.

“As I understand it at the moment, the council do not plan to remove the reef. Instead, they plan to open it up as a site for diving there is some great sea life around there and it is also really great for spear fishing”.

Craig McCain, 28, of Boscombe slammed the reef. “It doesn’t work.

It has done absolutely nothing to Bournemouth’s economy and is a waste of money. I create bigger waves than it does.”

Smith touched upon the future of the reef insisting that it’s return is on the agenda for the New Year, highlighting the on-going insurance claim for damage to the reef, caused by a boat propeller in March last year. Since then, the council and lifeguards have warned against people using the reef. In April 2011, part of the reef,

constructed from giant sandbags broke away from the reef. It was announced earlier this month that the company who built the reef, has now gone into liquidation.

The future of Boscombe is bright according to Smith, who is adamant that there is much more to come for the area.

“Plans are in place for a coastal activity park, which is a twoyear plan. It will involve a Dive Trail and loads of other activities and facilities so that on any day, anybody can get involved.

“It wasn’t my decision to build to reef, but looking at it again, I’d do it ten times over, without question.

When you analyse the inputs and outputs, it has been a huge success.

Nowhere else has improved an area, as it was, derelict and rundown, like Boscombe.

“Fortunately the council weren’t required to find any money and it was a self-catered exercise, one that made total sense. I find it quite amusing how the reef is viewed.”

“I would do the exact same thing again [build the reef] if I had the opportunity”said Smith.

Smith says that despite the reef’s shortcomings, it’s still something to be proud of and adds another reason to come to Boscombe.

“The reef is at the heart of the regeneration project and has reformed a down-and-out location, into a dynamic one. It works and there is no denying that,”said Smith.

Rangers to improve Bournemouth centre Hailey Hammer

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR A new team hoping to making Bournemouth town centre safer have filmed an ITV advert to attract shoppers to the resort.

The group behind the Bournemouth Business Improvement District (BID) aim to make the town centre a safer and more attractive area to spend time in. Since the start-up date on September 12, a huge number of antisocial incidences were reported. Within the first few weeks, an entire ring-binder file of incidents was compiled.

The scheme took five years to plan before being put to use, and now has over 500 businesses involved. Each business gives 1.5%

of their rateable value, which is then invested into various projects aimed to improve Bournemouths business environment.

The group behind the BID also hope the scheme will bring more shoppers to Bournemouth’s town centre’s after a fall of 9% since 2005.

The scheme uses ‘town rangers’ to analyse what is happening and how the campaign can improve the town’s struggling centre.

“A lot of people travel to Southampton and Castlepoint to do their shopping, but we want them to spend more time in the Bournemouth centre,” said Tom White, 23, one of the town rangers who hopes to make Bournemouth a more attractive place.

Tom said the rangers tasks consists in presenting a friendly face to tourists, notifying the council on graffiti and litter, and other problems they may encounter. Any report they

make goes directly into the system via an iphone App, and they also have contact with police and several businesses over a radio system should there be any issues.

Some of the rangers’ tasks are the same as the ones of the local police, such as being visible crime deterrents, but Tom says they do not conflict with each other. “The police mainly takes responsibility in the evenings, but they haven’t really got enough people to work the daytime as well. That is where we come in,” he said.

In addition to the rangers, various marketing campaigns will be done in the future to attract shoppers to the city centre, starting this winter with an outdoor ice rink.

Tom said he is proud to be part of helping the town.

“I’ve lived here for 20 years, so it feels good to do something useful for the town.”

Town rangers Tom White, Helen Taylor and Malcolm Darke

HAILEY HAMMER

6 news

Thursday 22 November 2012 | The Rock

Election a ‘complete shambles’

Rachel Currie

Just 13% of Bournemouth residents turned up to vote in the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections last Friday.

The average turnout for Dorset stood at 16.8%, with West Dorset topping the figures at 21%.

The lack of votes has been blamed on the government for not educating the public about the election, and knowledge of the new position still remained low by election day.

Dorset’s new PCC, Martyn Underhill, feels the government’s failure cannot be ignored. “It was the lowest turnout in modern history and people didn’t know what they were voting for.”

“We can’t move on from the mistakes that have been made by the government, there are lessons to be learnt,” Underhill said.

“Advertising was poor, there

was no mailshot for the candidates and it was, as many people would support, an undemocratic election.”

David Cameron has been forced to defend bringing in the new system of replacing the previous police authority with a single Police Commissioner.

The elections cost a reported £75million and have had two years preparation behind them, yet some polling stations across the country saw as little as 10% of residents turn up to vote.

Conor Burns, Conservative MP for Bournemouth West, took to Twitter to express his views on the election, saying: “I suspect we will live to regret creating these Police Commissioners. I regret voting for the Bill.”

Underhill said he understood Conor’s reasons, but stands by the new system. “I think having a PCC is a good idea because it will help the public have a voice in how they think we should be making Dorset safer. We want to make the voice of the public heard,” Underhill said.

The Electoral Commission (EC) originally slammed the lack

of advertising and organisation surrounding the election, projecting a national turnout of 18.5% - an optimistic estimation for many areas.

A polling station in Newport, Wales, did not see a single voter.

As an election regulator, the EC have launched an enquiry into what critics have called a “complete shambles” of an election. Chair of the EC, Jenny Watson, said that results were “a concern for everyone who cares about democracy”.

Thousands went as far as declaring their ‘no’ vote as a deliberate act, by signing a petition online set up by a Dorset man.

By the time of going to print, 5,266 people have signed the petition, protesting that they believe the PCC positions to be fundamentally flawed. The aim is to pursuade the government to bring back the Police Authorities system as a short term solution, saying that this was “far superior to the new PCC roles.”

Find out more about the PCCs at: homeoffice.gov.uk/police/police-crime-commissioners

The elections last Friday saw an “embarrassingly” low turnout ACME

The role Dorset’s Police Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill Despite the election having been and gone, many people are still unaware of the role of police and crime commissioner involves.

Prior to this new position, an independent board called a Police Authority was in charge of ensuring effective policing in each area across the country. Dorset’s Police Authority was made up of 17 local people, including councillors, magistrates and members of the public.

From November 22 the new police and crime commissioners across the country will take on the responsibilities of the previous police authorities.

Rachel Currie

The role includes: • Communicating with the public; particularly ensuring vulnerable people and victims of crime have their voice heard • Publishing an Annual Report explaining where targets have been met • Holding Dorset Police Force and the Chief Constable to account • Hiring and firing the Chief Constable • Setting the police budget and commissioning services within the area with police grants The main aim of the commissioners post is to improve the relationship and communication between the community and their police force through giving them an individual to speak with if they have any fears or questions about crime where they live.

Martyn Underhill has been elected as Dorset’s PCC UNDERHILL

Martyn Underhill beat three other candidates to the position of Dorset’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) when the count was finalised on Friday November 16.

Standing as Independent, Martyn won 51,930 total votes, beating Conservative candidate Nick King into second with 34,451.

Despite the low turnout of the election, Martyn is confident he has the backing of Dorset residents. “I can take comfort in the fact that I won a very good mandate in every area and won the election comfortably,” he said.

Martyn aims to be a present figure in Dorset, saying “The people of Dorset should expect to see me being their voice and holding the police to account. I want to change the way victims are dealt with, making their journey quicker and easier.”

As Detective Chief Inspector of Sussex Police, Martyn was second in command of the high-profile Sarah Payne murder investigation in 2000.

During his 30 years in the police service, Martyn became an expert on child abduction, advising on the Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman case, as well as recently working on the April Jones case in Wales.

2002 saw Martyn introduce the Child Rescue Alert into Sussex

Police, a system later embraced by every police force in England and Wales and first launched nationally during the April Jones investigation earlier this year.

After three decades in the force, Martyn retired in 2009 and moved to Dorset. He continued to campaign to make the community safer, bringing ‘Sarah’s Law’ into Dorset in 2010, which allows parents to ask the police if someone with regular and unsupervised access to their children has a record for child sex offences.

Martyn is involved in the community in many ways. Among these are being a Lay Member on the Bournemouth and Poole Local Safeguarding Children’s Board, a visiting lecturer at Bournemouth University for the Applied Sciences School and a trustee for two Dorset charities, Bourne Free and Turn Your Back UK. One of his biggest priorities is to make sure those who suffer acts of crime are given an ‘empathetic, understanding and professional journey’.

To ensure that this happens, Martyn plans to “set up a system that makes sure I’m representing the people of Dorset’s views. I will have forums across Dorset so that victims of crime can share their journey – that’s a very important priority for me.”

To find out more about Martyn, find him on: keeppoliticsoutofpolicing.co.uk facebook.com/Keeppoliticsoutofpolicing @tosh599

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The Rock | Thursday 22 November 2012

Oscar winner adds to his collection Tazz Gault

NEWS EDITOR

A Hollywood visual effects genius is more pleased with an honour from Bournemouth University than winning his Oscar.

Paul Franklin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts at the graduation for students this month, for his commitment to the University over the last 20 years.

Paul, who has won an Oscar and a BAFTA for his work on the blockbuster film Inception, said that the award from the University was ‘more special’ than his Oscar.

“This has been an absolutely amazing opportunity and such a great honour. Winning this award from the University is actually more special than the Oscar as it really is a once in a life time opportunity,” said Paul.

Paul is co-founder of visual effects company, Double Ngative, which is now the largest in Europe and employs many graduates from the university who have studied Computer Animation.

“Only 50% of our staff are from the UK, of which the majority are from Bournemouth University.

There is a very unique atmosphere at the university – it has become a magnet for people who want to get into the industry. If it had existed back in the 70’s, I would have chosen it,” said Paul.

“It is built around a team of quite unique educators who have a vision together of blending art

and science by using computers, making images to create worlds.

I genuinely don’t think there is another course like this in the UK who can marry those two worlds together as well as Bournemouth.”

Bournemouth is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary of university status, and Paul is one of the people who has seen its growth from the beginning.

“I came to visit the university 20 years ago when it first started. There were only about 20 students on the animation and visual effects courses then, but now, 150 to 200 graduates are produced a year. What an amazing development,” said Paul.

Paul has also been involved in other ground-breaking films such as Christopher Nolan’s Batman, where he worked on all three movies. He has also worked on three Harry Potter films, and his company is currently working on the remake of Superman, The Man of Steel.

“When you start working in this industry, you’re not doing it for anything other than that you love what you do. I enjoy creating new worlds for others to live in and experience,” said Paul.

“There have been stages in my career where things have gone wrong, but generally you get a feeling of how to steer things from a very early stage.”

A love for creating new worlds has always existed for Paul, who, from an early age, showed passion for this field of work.

“I have always been fascinated by certain TV shows and sci-fi stuff, but the thing that always interested me the most was comic books. I know now that they are not what kids go for – I have three children and they

Paul Franklin at the graduation ceremony after receiving his award from the University TAZZ GAULT much prefer video games and the interactive things. But, back in the 70’s, comic books were the place to get your fix of fantasy, and, unlike a TV show, you could see the drawings and imagine doing that yourself.

“Compared to when I was a teenager, everything is now much

more accessible. You can make a movie on your iPhone rather than spending millions of dollars – in fact, my iPhone has 20 times the storage than the first visual effects system I used 20 years ago had,” said Paul.

Tim Lee, Deputy Chair at

Bournemouth University also said how impressed he was with Paul’s work, and dedication.

“The Work Paul has done is absolutely fantastic. We can’t thank him more for the wonderful things he has said about the university,” said Tim.

Belgium brew hits Dorset like an ‘alestorm Tazz Gault

NEWS EDITOR

Sunny Republic is the first in the UK to brew this ale SUNNY REPUB-

A Dorset brewery is the first in the UK to brew ale using a Trappiste yeast strain.

Sunny Republic, based in Winterbourne Kingston, and imported the strain from Belgium to create Dorset’s own take on fruity Belgium beer.

The new brew is called St White’s Ale. The brewery imports the yeast from Rochforte Abbey in Belgum to create a new beer which has a reputation as a winter warmer.

“The Belgium yeast creates that funkifier factor,” said Brent Smith from Sunny Republic.

“I had a brain wave to try something new. We are Bournemouth and Poole’s nearest local brewery, and we want people to know that.

Belgium beer has a very different taste to what people regularly drink, but it is perfect for this season with the Christmassy fruits and rich berry tastes,” said Brent.

The first batch of St Wite’s Ale is already being shipped across the world, with around £5,000 worth of beer being sent to Sweden, Australia and soon Canada.

Sunny Republic have been running for around six months after spending half a million pounds on creating a state of the art brewery.

The company wanted to ensure that they were not in an industrial estate to maintain their brand image.

“We converted a grain farm that was 108 years old. It took us a long time to get planning permission to do what we wanted, but we definitely think it was worth the wait.

“We want people to realise that beer is connected to the ground, which is why we picked the location we did. If we brew beer that has different dimensions to it in like taste

and origin, then maybe people will think more,” said Brent.

The company are currently considering brewing a second batch of the ale, despite it taking an extra six weeks to brew and costing £1,000 more than other beers to produce.

“If you look at the world of food, people are now interested in what they are eating and why they are eating it, not just what it tastes like.

We aren’t now just shadowing the French. The same thing is happening with beer, and we want to get people to think about what goes into their drink,” said Brent.

The four main ingredients in beer are water, malt (which is traditionally malted barley) yeast and hops, which gives the final product its distinctive aroma.

When shipping abroad, the brewery uses recyclable one-way containers to be good to the planet and keep in mind environmental issues. “It is not about making fancy beer but getting down to grass roots,” said Brent.

news 9

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

Government blasted for lack of election awareness

Rachel Currie

Candidates for Dorset Police and Crime commissioner have blamed the government over lack of public awareness about the election, which could see the lowest turnout in modern history.

Labour candidate Rachel Rogers and Independent candidate Martyn Underhill have both slated the government’s TV advertising campaign, saying it doesn’t explain the new position and leaves people more scared of crime.

Speaking at a talk at Wallisdown, Rachel said: “The advertising campaign is nonsense and there has been no education campaign to go alongside it.

The TV advert only deals with criminals and the police, and makes it look like you’re electing a supercop.”

The aim of the new position is to bring communities closer to the police and improve accountability.

The change is arguably the biggest reform to policing in the last 100 years, which is why the government have come under such scrutiny for not educating the public well enough.

The election has also come under criticism for being held

in November, as winter months are notorious for gaining a low turnout. Mr. Underhill said: “People say that they know when the election is taking place but they don’t understand what the role is.

The government have chosen the wrong time of year and they haven’t advertised it.”

Rachel particularly criticised the slogan of the advertising campaign.

“It says ‘on the 15th of November criminals will hope you do nothing’ – but you’ll still get a police and crime commissioner whether you do nothing or not.

“Public elections in the UK do not have a minimum turnout. However many valid votes are cast, those are the people that will decide who the police and crime commissioner is.”

A political pressure group recently predicted that the election could see a turnout as low as 18.5%. The Electoral Reform Society pinpoints the absence of party political broadcasts as one of the reasons for lack of public knowledge. They also criticize the Home Office for refusing to pay for mail-outs, giving a disadvantage to candidates that lack funding.

While there is plenty of information online about the election, Mr. Rogers said that the public needs to be made aware that the information is there in the first place, and that this excludes “the 7.5 million adults in the UK that don’t have access to the Internet”.

The government has been blamed for a lack of knowledge surrounding the PCC election SCOTT CRAIG

Dorset charity launches new student engagement programme Tazz Gault

NEWS EDITOR Dorset LINks, an organisation that aims to inspire positive change to local health, has launched ‘LINking’, a brand new eNewsletter for students to help engage them in the charity’s work.

‘LINking’ offers regular updates for students on the charity’s projects. It will also provide them with opportunities to get involved in a variety of activities, which in some cases could allow students to be paid for their work.

Students have taken part in LINks work before in surveys and polls and organised their own projects that affect the overall student population. Last year, one project focused on a Youth Stress survey, which then highlighted the pressures that are linked to life as a modern young person.

“Young people at colleges and

universities around our region are absolutely vital to our overall objections. We want to inspire real change and some of the ideas we get from students are among the best,” said Martyn Webster who is part of Dorset LINks. “LINking is going to be a great way for us to stay in touch with our student community. We need to continue to grow and maintain our relationships with the student body,” said Webster. The charity attended this year’s Fresher’s Fair to try to attract more students and to inform them of their work.

“We did our best to hit all Students across Bournemouth – we ended up registering around 600 people.

There’s so much going on that it’s important we stood out to grab people’s attention,” said Louise Bate, Developing Officer for Poole LINKs. “We realised we didn’t have enough young people on our database, so we didn’t have the right demographic or the mixture we needed. It tends to be older people who are happy to register, so that made us realise we

needed to be more proactive.

“We want people to live well, to understand wellbeing and to improve health and social care, but without being patronising. Everyone needs to be able to know where to go to get the right information and to know how to look after themselves.

“People tend to go to A&E which isn’t always the right place to go, but we believe it is down to people not knowing what else to do. This is something we aim to change with LINks, which will the help to save people time and money.”

Dorset LINks has had many success stories in the past.

Bournemouth LINk worked with students and the local NHS after a sexual health outreach clinic at Bournemouth University closed.

LINks worked alongside students to listen to their views, resulting in the health clinic reopening.

To get involved with the charity, you can call LINks on 0300 111 0102 or visit their website at www.makesachange.org.uk

The charity have created a new newsletter to engage students LINKS

10 news

Thursday 8 November

| The Rock

Hungary to win the Leggit hitchhiking charity challenge

Tazz Gault

NEWS EDITOR Continued from page 1 The victorious student team have spoken of their 1,600 mile hitch hike across Europe. “When we got there the guys who gave us a lift showed us around Budapest – it’s such a beautiful place. We have had an amazing time. When we checked in, none of us could contain our excitement,” said Sam. Browning’s Boys travelled through seven countries on their way to Hungary, including France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Slovakia as well as crossing through four capitals, and overall have travelled over 1,600 miles.

The three members of the winning team, Sam Dunne, Lee Giles and Peter Nobel have never visited Hungary before.

“It is actually quite warm out here, around 18 degrees. We have a balcony but no view, but a balcony none the less. We packed pretty warm but we haven’t really needed to use it,” said Sam from the hotel.

“We each brought a rucksack with us, with a couple of jumpers and a coat and shower gel of course. The feet do smell at the minute, it has to be said.

“We spoke to some guys who said they were going to Budapest, but none of us knew exactly where it was. We got out our map that we had with us and realised how far Hungary was from here and knew we just had to say yes.

“Thankfully, they picked us up just outside the port and have taken us all the way from Dunkirk.

We all realise how lucky we have been, but we are the most happy that we have managed to raise money for charity.”

The University provided a live feed for those participating to update what they were doing, and track how far they had travelled.

When arriving in Hungary, team Browning’s Boys posted on the official Leggit website: “We have made appalling attempts to speak Hungarian. Sliding automatic doors to the toilets, classical music above the urinals, automatic taps and soap dispensers and Dyson hand driers – what other marvels do you hold in your bosom Hungary?”

Leggit has run since 2010, where winners made their way to Sham el Sheik, Egypt, and last year the victorious team travelled all the way to Tenerife, securing a return flight from Thomson.

“We have had a great turn

Almost 300 students took part in RAG’s Leggit with over 90 teams in total. Some got as far as Hungary, Italy and France SCOTT MCGREAL out this year with 95 teams taking part. Although that is less than last year, less people has been more effective and we have still had 275 people involved which is a fantastic number,” said Callum Thorne, Hitch Co-ordinator for RAG, Bournemouth University’s Student’s Union fundraising society.

“We booked a bulk of tickets to leave from Dover through a lovely lady called Debbie, who’s daughter had the chance to go to Florida through Make A Wish Foundation.

“Rather than spending £5,000 for 100 tickets, we managed to get them for £1,800. This meant that the first 100 people to get to Dover would get straight to Calais and then work their way from there,” said Callum.

AJ’s Fish and Chips came second place, making their way to Rome in Italy, Bulls**t Boys came third by hitch-hiking their way to Majorca in the Balearic Islands, Spain and The Springers came fourth, ending up in Prague in the Czech Republic.

The fundraising total is expected to rise over the coming weeks as all involved hope that this year will beat last year’s effort of over £30,000.

The winning team ‘Browning Boys’ in Budapest with their Hungarian travel buddies BROWNING’S BOYS

10 news

Thursday 6 December 2012

| The Rock

Daredevil great grandmother skydives Jack Yates

An Dorset woman has taken part in a charity skydive, jumping from an aircraft at 3,000 feet.

The feat was undertaken by Helen Woolf, of Balcombe Road in Poole, who during her jump, reached speeds in excess of 175 feet per second, which equates to about 120 miles per hour. Despite the height, the free fall lasted approximately 34 seconds.

Helen chose to do the skydive to raise money for ‘About Face,’ a head

88 year-old Helen Woolf jumped from a plane at 3000 feet to help raise money for the skin cancer charity, ‘About Face’ HELEN WOOLF

and neck cancer support charity.

Helen described seeing “absolutely marvellous views” from Brighton to the Isle of Wight, and also managed a few somersaults during her descent to earth. Helen said: “I have never done anything like this, it was just one big new experience for me. I am not afraid of heights.”

Helen raised over £2,500 pounds with her jump. She said: “I originally set out to earn £1000 but now I have reached over £2,500, I don’t see why it should stop there.”

The skydive was a means of showing appreciation for the charity whose co founder, Dr Velupillao Ilankovan, saved her life. Helen has been a long time sufferer of skin cancer and had surgery a few months ago.

Helen said: “I did all my studying outdoors, never thinking anything would happen. Of course you didn’t know what the consequences would be in those days.”

Not a stranger to adrenaline, Helen used to organise skiing trips when she was a teacher. She said: “I would take a class of sixth formers skiing to Austria every year. I used to love flying down the slopes, however I am afraid it doesn’t compare much to a skydive.”

She is not the oldest skydiver in the world, her skyfall is still a huge achievement. The world record for the oldest skydiver is held by Estrid Geertsen of Roskilde, Denmark, but Helen has not ruled out the possibility of another skydive later on in her life, and may even chose to do one from a greater height.

Rowing team didn’t cox-it up Tazz Gault

NEWS EDITOR

A British record attempt has been achieved by Bournemouth University’s rowing club for the number of metres rowed continuously in 48 hours.

The team managed to row 652,396 metres on a Concept 2 indoor rower and so have been crowned the British record for the furthest distance continuously rowed.

“The event took off from the word go. We set up an online stream which got us coverage worldwide, and the reception from students and friends helped to spur us on to set a new British Record,” said Ben Johnson, Secretary of the boat club, BUBC. “It feels so good to get the club in the history books for not only challenging ourselves, but for working towards an end goal.

This is where the club needs to be

in the future and we aim to keep challenging new records as soon as we can.”

The club wanted to raise money to fund them in future races and training, and managed to reach their £2000 target.

They also raised over £100 towards Macmillan Cancer Support from cash donations left to the rowers over the two days.

Rowers were seen dressed up and taking the challenge in their stride, wearing mankinis and dressed up as Mini Mouse and Where’s Wally.

The team have seen a huge intake of first years and is thought to be associated with the success at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The season has started well for BUBC after two wins at the University of Bristol’s boat club Head, as the team continue to train hard for further races.

“We would like to thank everyone who supported us in completing this challenge and we hope that we will receive the same support for our next challenge,” said Ben.

The members of the rowing club took shifts over two days to row so they would not get too tired JACOB LEE

12 opinion

OPINION

Thursday 8 November 2012 | The Rock

Editorial The dangers of the witch-hunt

Julia Denni

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF These are bad times for two of this country’s greatest institutions – the British Broadcasting Corporation and the nation taking part in a good old-fashioned witch-hunt.

First, let’s take the BBC. It’s a world-class institution that

embraces all that is magnificent in British culture. But it is easy to forget that is the case at the moment.

The BBC has become synonymous with one thing – the evil and depraved mind of one individual, Sir Jimmy Saville OBE. A man who was apparently able to use BBC premises to abuse vulnerable kids.

This is where the witch-hunt begins. Up until a few weeks ago the BBC was seen as something the country could have enormous pride in, something like the NHS. It is now seen as an insular nest of serpents that protected a manipulative and heinous snake-in-chief.

What we are now witnessing is something of a frenzied attack, which threatens to rip apart the BBC, one

of the most prized jewels in Britain’s crown.

Saville is dead and will escape all justice – other than the divine retribution that as a Roman Catholic, with a Papal Knighthood under his belt, he must had dreaded. So people want a scapegoat.

We should all be shaking our heads and wondering how a man like Saville could operate. The reason is simple – manipulative people have a genius for exploiting the good will and vulnerability of others. This is how individuals operate to carry out abuse in families, in care homes, and in institutions like the BBC. Saville was a complex character. He devoted his life to raising millions for charity – as a cover for

something more dark and sinister.

In the aftermath of the Saville affair, many public figures are being exposed for their failings – the late Leonard Rossiter and DJ Dave Lee Travis are among those that have been dragged into the witch-hunt.

Saville had no conscience, or empathy with his victims. What appals me is that people who support the witch-hunt are doing the same. But instead of manipulating kids they manipulate facts. Instead of caring about the BBC they see it as something they can toy with for their own ends. People love to give institutions a good kicking. The whole BBC is not a rotten place. Let’s apply some uncommon sense and not get carried away with the hysteria.

Cull badgers, save lives Oliver Hill

OPINIONS EDITOR

The Republican Womanizer

13

Orgasm

The G-spot enhancing drug

15

Email

ohillrocks@gmail.com

Many argue that the wild badgers are not really as cute and cuddly as they seem to be SAM MATTACOTT regardless of the potential for it to be carrying malaria or not. Like it or not, the same probably applies here.

It’s a case of do nothing and watch tens of thousands of cattle and badgers die at the hands of TB, or do something to save over 30,000 four legged lives.

Whilst on work experience over the summer I met Queen guitarist Brian May who’s leading the charge opposing the cull and I have to say I found him to be very anti-farming.

He wants to vaccinate badgers and cattle and I agree this is an ideal solution in an ideal world.

Unfortunately, today we have neither of them with a cattle vaccine many years away from completion and whilst the badger equivalent for this is available right now, it requires volunteers to catch millions of black and white fur balls making it wildly impractical to administer. Mr May

continued to ramble on about how farmers, like my Dad, should not keep livestock in a known TB hotspot and instead move to Scotland where

“

a suffering, spluttering vehicle of disease

“

Romney

If there’s one thing I dislike profusely it’s people talking about things that they simply don’t know anything about. Take the badger cull for instance. You see a rather quaint Wind in the Willows character. I see a suffering, spluttering vehicle of disease. As you probably know already I come from Somerset, the home of cider, Glastonbury Festival and farmers.

Sadly my beautiful home county is blighted by a Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) pandemic and is set to be one of the two trial areas for a cull of badgers.

I don’t like the word ‘cull’, it just oozes an air of cruelty. That’s what is happening right now though across the country, there’s a cull of cattle going on constantly because a farm has tested positive for the disease. My Dad is just about to get the results of his herd’s latest TB test so put yourself in his wellies for a second.

Imagine watching animals that you feed, raise and work with every single day of the year being shot and burned because the vet has found evidence of Bovine TB. As a farmer operating in a teeming hotbed of badgers carrying the disease this is an all too regular occurrence.

When you hear about badgers carrying TB that’s not strictly true.

Badgers aren’t just a vehicle, they are enduring serious pain and are eventually killed by the inability to eat, respiratory troubles and weakness that the infection brings.

Now it is true that if and when a badger cull gets the green light, healthy badgers will get caught up in the war. If a mosquito is buzzing around your head and then lands on your arm you probably swat it

cases of the disease are very low. This statement made me want to get up and shout at the legendary guitarist, because he is the epitome of what I was saying earlier about people

talking about things they know nothing about.

Firstly, I don’t like Scotland.

Secondly, my family has been farming in Somerset for over a century and we’re not leaving that sort of legacy behind. Thirdly, if all the farmers in Somerset packed up and moved their livestock to Scotland then I’d bet my student loan that TB cases would rocket there too.

Finally, I don’t like Scotland.

Now that the cull has been postponed until next summer I fear that that plans might not ever come to fruition. That’s because the government has shown the first sign of buckling on the issue, and Mr May and his cronies have another six months to formulate a rebellion.

Whatever happens, I don’t think it’ll make a blind bit of difference.

Farmers will more than likely take the matter into their own hands.

opinion 13

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

Romney: epitome of a ladies’ man Aaron Golightly COLUMNIST

Mitt Romney is like most men in that he has binders full of women. Only most men have virtual binders called ‘folders’ and these women are usually stored in the one marked Internet history. However, the comment made during the second debate when equality for women in the workplace was broached, was a telling insight to the mind of the right wing when it comes to matters of equal rights.

Romney did not seem to understand that women would be patronised by being told that their next president had to go through binders full of women just to get one damn token female in his administration. They would also not be impressed that Romney has endorsed the Republican candidate for Congress, Richard Mourdock, who caused unprecedented offence by suggesting that pregnancy resulting from rape is “something that God intended”.

It should be no surprise to anyone that the party promotes those with such views. The Republican Party is, by and large, pro-life. Yet it is obvious that the position can be described more accurately as anti-women. To be ‘pro-life’ means that you surely have to have some consideration for that life after once it arrives.

Being born to a woman as a result of a rape ordeal is not likely to be conducive to a normal and happy upbringing. Yet the Republicans do not care about that - as women to them are just figures in the kitchen, complimentary to the

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is stuck in the past in an old-fashioned mind set which holds ancient views of women GAGE SKIDMORE man of the house. Another face in a binder, plain and simple.

During the campaign, and at other times, Hillary Clinton was subject of all kinds of abuse due to her gender.

People distrust the motives and character of successful women. It’s symptomatic of a society that still views women as mothers and wives first, and human beings second.

Behind the moderate façade, if you

pressed Romney on his position on birth control, abortion, workplace discrimination and equal pay, you’d find that both he and his party hold views that would make any forward thinking individual’s toes curl. Yet it’s very possible that for the next four years this man could be the next President of the United States.* While the men in the expensive suits decide what is best for women

and set policy determining what they can do with their bodies, what rights they’re entitled to at work, whether they’ll get protection from sexist discrimination, what sort of education their children receive and which sort of medical care she can provide for her family – the female role in this election will be embodied by both the candidates’ wives.

Despite several differences between

Mrs Romney and Mrs Obama, come election night they will both zrespectively smile, wear ‘mighty purdy’ dresses and provide their man with a big fat kiss of victory or consolation.

Then the only question to ask is this, “What’s for dinner darling?” *At the time of print the election has not been decided.

Beyond the point of political barbarity Sinead Lambe

ASS’T OPINIONS EDITOR

Make sure you euphemise to avoid offending everybody

JOVIKE

Political Correctness - The avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult certain groups of people.

By definition it seems perfectly reasonable and up until a few years ago it appeared to work. Now political correctness has become not only a tool for mocking those it intended to protect but an example of extreme profanity. We have become a nation obsessed with taking offence to, well in my humble opinion, nothing.

I understand that some female PC ambassadors may deem it patronising and degrading to be

referred to as “man.” For example, “policeman,” “chairman,” “fireman” and “spokesman” all of which have been rightfully corrected to integrate both genders such as “fire fighter” or “spokesperson.”

It is when I can no longer say bald but encouraged to say “folically challenged” that I start to doubt the intelligence of us as a country.

It seems to me like we are being taught not to state the obvious.

No longer is it appropriate to call it a blackboard but instead a “chalkboard” is deemed politicaly correct. The heights my eyes reached to the heavens when my young cousin corrected me to “rainbow sheep” in the nursery rhyme, well, it is just ridiculous, sheer stupidity.

Black sheep is not racist in any way when in context of the song.

I reached an all time low, when in a toy retailer, browsing the catalogue

to see a baby marketed as “ethnic baby” whilst a white baby was just referenced to as its name.

This is taking PC to another level when it is thought appropriate to then distinguish between two dolls in such a way, to me that is more racist then singing Baa Baa Black Sheep, a harmless children’s nursery rhyme. In 2005, a survey by the National Society for Epilepsy, found that the word “brainstorming” (now referred to as mind mapping) was not found offensive by the vast majority of people who suffered with the disorder, yet that is another PC term children are now being taught to use.

Whatever happened to saying it like it is and not offending anyone?

In my humble opinion society is afraid of itself and if by flowering up what could be perceived as an insult is supposed to help, then I’m baffled.

14 opinion

Thursday 8 November 2012 | The Rock

Rebels, teens and tattoos Josie Pymm

The most recent discussion we’ve had in my house was based on teenage rebellion and its influence on tattoos. It came about after

a Facebook status about dancing like nobody’s watching and loving deeply, or something equally reminiscent of a 14-year-old girl’s Tumblr page.

The general consensus was that the disobedient stereotype of teenagers was to blame for the majority of actual rebellion. Basically, if parents assume that teenagers are

troublesome, their teenagers will probably be troublesome.

Which makes sense to an extent; it’s like reading bad reviews before seeing a film. You’ll be pre-empting a poor result.

I feel that teenagers are dramatic and troublesome because it’s the first hint of adult life whereby, not everything goes your way.

When it comes to tattoos my opinions change based on whether they’re visible or hidden. A visible tattoo strikes me as a body-mod for the sake of body-mods. I have a few friends who are among a minority in the tattooed community who have their tattoos hidden because they’re personal. I have no issues with having a hidden tattoo; it’s a

For some tattoos are a form of sentimental body art, to others a lasting reminder of your regretful teenage years

CHRISTIAN SPINELLI

nice surprise when the conversation pops up. However visible tattoos tend to lead to entirely tattoo based discussions, which strike me as somewhat dull.

Judging from my own recent experiences, people rarely stop at one tattoo. Apparently, in the world of tattooing, it appears that the more tattoos you have, the cooler you are and if you’re good looking with visible tattoos, you’re placed on some kind of “alternative” pedestal.

But people like me that have no tattoos are judged for appearing “normal”, as if by not having a tattoo I’m not allowed to be a member of this somewhat cliquey, non-conformist social group and therefore instantly stamped as “so not cool.”

I can’t help but maintain a smug attitude towards people with this odd judgemental personality for employability reasons. Let’s be honest, is your future employer likely to choose the professional looking closet rock lover - or the Metallica fan who wears their love on their forearm?

While on the topic of band tattoos, I’ve lost count of how many tales have been regaled to me from my Dad’s generation of regretful lyrics

by The Troggs in awkward places.

But, it’s not just tattoos of lyrics that have been forgotten that you’ll regret one day.

At the moment, getting a tattoo of the face of your true love may seem like a good idea but in 20 years’ time when you’re in a compromising position with someone else, I promise you it just won’t.

You may think you’re cooler than me now, but this won’t be the case in 50 years’ time, when that tattoo of a growling tiger looks like a disappointed tabby cat because your bicep has sagged over your elbow.

No space today for MySpace Michaella Williams

When I heard the monotonous news that MySpace was returning once again, I couldn’t help but sigh and ask myself - why? Just why?

There is no need to reboot a site that should be left way in our pasts, along with other twelveyear-old crazes. One of the new co-owners, Justin Timberlake, has made it his mission to revamp the site and make it a platform for upcoming musicians.

Having fondly liked the talented ‘trousersnake’ since he brushed off his boy band image, I can’t help but feel an incline of disappointment in him for backing such a mundane and unimaginative idea.

With Facebook and Twitter, there is no room left for Myspace to be a top social media network that everyone feels the need to devotedly upkeep. The only chance MySpace has in regaining a crowd is through the upcoming musician’s route. A predicament that they themselves are pushing as a unique selling point - but it is merely an embarrassment.

The sheer fact that the site had to move from being solely focused

on socialisation, and dominating social media, to an exclusively music based site highlights its incapability to move forward and keep up with other social media standards.

To add to this humiliation the new MySpace just looks like a mash up between Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook. The speed is still terrible and not enough has been changed to cause a dramatic turnaround in interest. Even the music-based marketing platform is cramped with no gaps and little room for repetition.

The likes of Youtube, Pandora, Bandcamp, Spotify and Reverbnation are all also dominating the podium

for musicians seeking an industry break. So what makes Timberlake think the new MySpace can be any more successful then the list of other sites promoting the same message to aspiring musicians?

Similarly, it seems many are taking the easier option and participating in shows like the X Factor and The Voice, where there is a direct crowd of devoted audience members who watch the show.

From a musician’s point of view isn’t it just a waste of time setting up a page and documenting your musical journey to ‘fans’ that are more than likely not paying attention to a washed up, cobwebbed and

dead site? Some would say it’s much easier to gain popularity through a TV show, then get a Twitter and have it verified to keep in sync with fans.

I think MySpace should have saved itself the hassle and inevitable embarrassment, as I believe it’s unlikely to come anywhere near to the amazing success it managed in the naughties.

The legacy is over. As soon as they wake up and smell the coffee, the closer they will come to avoiding embarrassment. Myspace may see itself as the prodigal son returned but Facebook and Twitter rule the social media roost and they will not be shaken by this old adversary.

opinion 15

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

Homework is for losers Julie Cornu

In a move that will have children across Europe begging to move to France, the next French revolution will try to dethrone homework.

President François Hollande has brought forth several proposals designed to reform France’s educational system, including the ban of homework and a drastic increase in teaching jobs. The former has understandably caused a lot of international attention, notably on Twitter where users expressed their disbelief, calling out Hollande’s proposal as an appeal for youth votes— but is this actually as ‘stoopid’ and hapless as everyone is making it out to be?

I was raised in Paris and attended a French school until I turned about thirteen. My primary school days lasted from around eight in the morning until five in the evening, meaning I’d only just have finished with my homework around seven, just before dinner and bed. Repeat this every day, and you will quickly begin to feel like a slave to the education system. Your 11 year old brain, which should be concerned with which Pokémon starter to go for and eating all your vegetables, is literally annihilated by multiplication tables and auxiliary verbs.

I moved to the United States, where I finished school at 2:30 every day because afternoons were meant for extracurricular activities. Whilst my friends back home were leaving school at seven in the evening with

A new education reform in French is calling for a ban on homework the aim that late night sessions will be a thing of the past EX.LIBRIS an hour of homework for each subject they took, I was coming home from volleyball practice or going to the mall.

Is any of this significant? Yes, because France’s educational system is so obsolete and deeplyrooted in tradition that it is smothering its students to the extent that when they’re finally finished, they don’t even want to work anymore. “An education programme is, by definition, a societal program. Work should

be done at school, rather than at home,” Hollande explained in a speech at Sorbonne University in Paris. Combined with his proposal to create 60,000 teaching jobs, the French president’s idea to ban homework would instigate a more work-intensive, shorter school day — which, considering the overbearing French curriculum and current average of eight hours of school a day (minus the ‘recommended’ hour of additional study per subject), is fair enough.

Supported by evidence from several international studies, which have explicitly shown that homework does not come hand in hand with increased academic performance, Hollande’s proposed education reforms actually make a lot of sense.

However, the French president is choosing to ‘sell’ his idea by making it about class inequality.

His justification is that students more financially well-off will receive more help and support from parents whilst doing homework,

leaving those with limited parental support behind. This reasoning has understandably left two thirds of French parents sceptic, bringing them to say non to the President’s proposals; although the increase in teaching jobs is desperately needed following Sarkozy’s innumerable cuts in school funds.

As a French citizen, I just want to shake him and say: “allez François, tu peux faire mieux!” The English translation being: “come on François, you can do better!”

Orgasm overload: new cosmetic craze Robyn Montague COLUMNIST

Just a simple injection could enhance your sex life

SARAH.G

Los Angeles is a trendsetter for insane surgeries. We already have backsides that need their own postal address and lips that put Dory to shame, but this latest craze is the cherry on top.

For just £800, and half an hour of your time, you could stimulate your senses by having a G-spot injection to improve your orgasms.

So what would normally take men a lifetime to find, a doctor can locate and increase to the size of a 10p coin over lunch. The idea sounds quite appetising and over 2,000 women have had the jab for joy, but I’m still not convinced.

Did we not learn from the breast implant epidemic last year that surgery is unpredictable? Much like penis enlargements I don’t see the desire to renovate downstairs when building sites are dangerous territories. The collagen prick is done under local aesthetic and is only temporary, but chances are you’ll be coming back for another fix as soon as the sessions turn sour again.

The procedure is known by a variety of names such as ‘G-delight’, sounds like a whipped cream dessert, ‘O-Shot’, what you should be saying when test driving it, and ‘Libido lift’, enough said. The revelation came from the Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute of America and their goal was to educate and empower women to be in tune with themselves. But relying on an operation every time I wanted a sex

symphony is not music to my ears.

Being a new treatment in plastic surgery the lifetime effects of the filling is indeterminate. An orgasm overload could mean permanent system shutdown so don’t fiddle with the hard drive and let nature run its course.

No, as you’d expect, us Brits have sheepishly followed the herd and are now offering the treatment here with a promise of comfort. Unless I’m getting a foot massage and a cup of tea during the operation, I doubt I’ll be on cloud nine.

I believe the quest for gold should be left for your partner in crime as a good work ethic is just as important in the bedroom.

If that doesn’t hit the spot then take a stroll to your nearest Ann Summers instead.

It’s less risky to get frisky.

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The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

FEATURES

Fading memories November is a time to look back at those who died for their country.

But as time goes on are people losing respect for Remembrance Day? Chloe Oliver Rebecca White

Barred rights

Should prisoners be allowed to vote?

19 Palma Violets

An interview with the rising stars

23

Email

vhuttonrocks@gmail.com

Remembrance Day and poppies go hand in hand, so it’s hard not to notice when the day of respect is approaching, with almost everyone sporting a red show of support pinned onto their front. But, in this fast-paced media climate, do we really take the time out to appreciate the importance of Remembrance Day? Betty Oliver, is 85-years-old and Remembrance Day is a subject close to her heart, especially as her husband fought in the latter stages of World War II. She said: “I think Remembrance Day has become more widely known because of events such as Help For Heroes, that has helped Remembrance Day stay in the forefront of people’s minds.

“I think people of our era definitely respect the day. Nowadays with media and the television it’s advertised more so people don’t have to move to watch the remembrance church services.”

Betty goes on to talk about her personal experiences with the war and the effect it had on her family, “I used to idolise my father but when he came home from the war he was six stone, he had lost a lot of teeth and he looked absolutely horrible. I couldn’t bear to get near him, which is a dreadful thing to say because I was only about 16 or 17, but he was so ill when he came back.”

When asked about how much she feels younger people respect Remembrance Day she admits that with the passing of time, the respect for the dead has not been as strongly shown as it used to be.

“I’m not really in touch in a lot of youngsters but I’d say that they aren’t generally knowledgeable about it. They live in such a fast world now and so much has advanced, I don’t think people make as much time for the day as they used to.”

19-year-old Yaz Cooper has a brother who is currently fighting in Afghanistan and understands the amount of pressure and danger the soldiers put themselves in for the sake of other people. She agreed that, in general, people seem to have forgotten the importance of the minute’s silence and explained how it annoyed her that the constant media coverage made the deaths “an ordinary occurrence”.

She said: “People need to have pride in their country and remember we wouldn’t be where we are today

Red poppies have long been the symbol of Remembrance Day FL3MS

without the troops. Remembrance Day is so important. People need to stop with their lives for one day and remember all the troops who have protected our country and made it what it is.”

However, despite some people’s concerns over public awareness of the campaign, it seems that not everyone shares this view.

Michael Caulfield, 46, is a Major in the King’s Royal Hussars. After running the London marathon three times for Armed Forces charity SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association), he is enthusiastic about the work that such charities, including the Royal British Legion, do for the Armed Forces Community, and especially the awareness raised by Remembrance

Day. Of the Royal British Legion itself, he said: “It’s fantastic. There’s a lot of new charities forming up but the British Legion have been there for years. They do the long-term support; a lot of stuff that, to be honest, the public don’t really see.

“It’s hugely important to support the Poppy Appeal, because the British Legion will be here long, long after we’ve gone.”

After 26 years of service, Major Caulfield thinks that the commemoration itself has always been big. However, he also believes that: “Where it’s slightly changed is technology: the way the media is. Whether it’s the Falklands, or Afghanistan or Iraq, they’re almost beamed live into people’s sitting rooms – that’s where things have

changed. People are more aware of the work that the Armed Forces are doing. There’s more awareness nowadays, and the support, I would say, is now better than it’s ever been.”

When asked if he feels that there is less respect nowadays for the Poppy Appeal, despite the climbing fundraising, Major Caulfield said: “No, I don’t think there is less respect for the Poppy Appeal. The money coming in probably shows that there’s more respect – I mean, that’s your metric. If the funding or the contributions went considerably lower and dropped off year by year, that would possibly alert you to the fact that people aren’t paying as much attention to it, or aren’t as concerned by the work that the British Legion do, but no, I disagree.

I don’t think the whole day is overly commercialised – I think the balance is spot-on. Twenty six years is a long time, you see lots of change, I honestly can’t say that there’s anything more negative now with regard to the Poppy Appeal – I think it’s all just increased.”

There are many military charities in existence today. Would it be easier if perhaps they were all encompassed into one, as essentially they’re all striving for the same thing, the support of our Armed Forces? “No, I think they should stay as they are. A lot of the different military charities focus on different things – for example, you’ll have a military charity that focuses on those that have lost limbs, there’s another that will focus on psychological damage.

Help for Heroes was initially started as a way to raise £8million for the Headley Court swimming pool, but because it became so popular, it’s built other buildings, it’s built more rehabilitation centres. I think keeping them individual actually tailors to individual needs, and they’re able to specialise in that.”

So why is it that the Poppy Appeal is raising record amounts of money year after year? “I think the British Legion’s advertising campaigns are better and better and better – they improve as an organisation as much as the public want to support them.”

The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal makes more money each year, with just under £35million being raised in 2009, and a recordbreaking £40million in 2011. This year, the Royal British Legion is aiming to raise £42million to help the Armed Forces community. If the trend in recent years continues and they keep receiving public support, then they may well be on course to hit this amazing target. www.britishlegion.org.uk.

18 features

Thursday 8 Novermber 2012 | The Rock

A woman’s worth The gender pay gap still very much exists, but things could be looking up, especially for female graduates Robyn Montague Since the Equal Pay Act came into force 40 years ago, statistics provide confusing evidence as to how effective it has been. This means that many still question whether the issue of equal salaries for men and women is even being addressed.

This October the Supreme Court ruled to uphold a plea of discrimination made by 174 women working in the public sector against Birmingham City Council. The landmark ruling clears the way for compensation claims to be taken to court for a fair trial.

Mimi Phengsavanh, spokeswoman for the equalities desk at the department for Culture, Media and Sport, said: “We take strong action where employers are shown to have breached the law and we have strong legislation in place to tackle discrimination against women.”

There are now more opportunities to report the issue when faced with discrimination

against gender. Last year the ‘Think, Act, Report’ initiative was launched by the Home Office to promote equality in the workplace.

“Since the initiative we’ve made great progress, thanks to the enthusiasm and support of over 50 leading organisations that have signed up and helped to promote it,” said Ms Phengsavanh.

The difference between men’s and women’s average earnings still stands at 20.2% according to Home Office statistics. However, the ways in which these figures are gathered might not always offer a clear picture of what the pay gap actually represents. When collecting data certain elements are sometimes not taken into account. The confusion can reflect women working part-time as a result of supporting a family, or not counting overtime.

The Office for National Statistics collects data on earnings to calculate gender pay differences. Their results show a variety of different factors that contribute to the pay gap.

Different industries and occupations account for almost a quarter of the gap, how many years spent at a company is 21% and taking time out or working part-time is 16%.

Bournemouth Equity and

Diversity advisor Dr James Palfreman-Kay believes there is still more to be done on the matter of gender inequality and discrimination in the workplace.

“Looking at the data that’s out there, particularly in the higher education sector, it seems to suggest there is still a gender pay gap, and that’s based on research produced annually by the equality challenge unit.

I think it’s closing, but there’s still work needing to be done on the issue.”

The pay gap argument has centred on the premise that women earn less than men who are doing the same job. A press release from the Chartered Management Institute indicates it will be 2067 until male and female managers share the same salary.

“If a man and a woman are doing the same job they need to be getting the same amount of money for it,”

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says Dr Palfreman-Kay. Public sector worker Beverley Grimwood worked part-time for ten years before taking a permanent position.

“I wasn’t able to work five days a week for many years as I was a single mum with a family to support. I also had restrictions on my health which made it difficult to do long hour shifts.

“I understand that some women are in a similar position to me which can affect their salary, but that’s no excuse to underpay the women who commit themselves to jobs full-time.”

The Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) says women aged between 22 and 29 earn on average over £10 per hour. This is compared to men their age who bring home just under this amount although the lead in the pay stakes is only slight it has improved over the last decade.

In 1997 the figures showed the opposite of this, which means these findings could result in a dramatic change between the gender pay-gap for those just graduating from higher education. UCAS Chief Executive, Mary Curnock Cook issued a statement claiming it could be a result of the time it had taken for women leaving school and university

It will be 2067 until male and female managers share the same salary

CHRIS FAY

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with better qualifications than men to filter their way into the workforce.

The difference in pay among 18 to 21 year olds and 30 to 39 year olds is also narrowing. It is only among older workers aged between 40 and 49 that there is still a significant pay gap, with men earning more than £14 per hour while women earn just £12.

“I know of people that have had to deal with discrimination to the point of losing their jobs. Fortunately I never had to face the problem head on but hearing your friends or co-workers are struggling was bad enough,” adds Grimwood.

“It’s nice to know that in the future women will have a better chance for equality than my generation.”

Dr Palfreman-Kay believes there are factors that contribute to the shrinking salary gap.

“It’s good news that the country is coming out of recession, and clearly unemployment is coming down.

What that means for the gender gap is there are more jobs being filled, which could mean more women returning to work after family commitments.“ The next generation of workers may see a positive change in discrimination in the workplace. As society changes the market does too, which means new opportunities for both men and women.

The rising levels of female graduates, more stay-at-home fathers and a generation of more career-minded females will have a significant effect on the system.

Britain’s workforce is now 46% women which is a 9% increase in the last 40 years of campaigning.

“You do see a great deal of dads taking responsibility in looking after their kids, and there’s the increase in paternity leave too,” said Dr Palfreman- Kay. “It’s a tricky one but I think organisations need to find ways to ask the question ‘what is the paygap?’ and then maybe see what can be done to address the issue in a constructive and supportive way.”

Although it is improving for the younger generation, the issue is still affecting women across the country. After the Supreme Court ruling on October 24, thousands of compensation claims could be unearthed, finally giving women the chance to challenge the issue personally.

features 19

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

Rights behind bars

David Cameron has taken a firm stance against prisoner voting, despite Europe’s insistence that it is a basic human right. But as Giulia Rodilossi discovers, the decision could have consequences for society as a whole

Campaigners say the prisoner votes ban is unfair by giving all crimes the same punishment LUIGI CATERINO Cameron refuses to bow the European Court of Human Rights In October David Cameron made it clear that prisoners wouldn’t be getting the vote under his government. The reactions have been quick and strong from every shade of opinion. Most members of Parliament agree with the Prime Minister. The Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, however, has said that there will be consequences for the UK if MPs challenge the judgment once again.

The UK has been on bad terms with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) since the latter pronounced that to deny the vote to prisoners was a breach of human rights. In May this year, the Strasbourg court gave the UK until November 22 to announce how it intended to change the law on prisoners’ votes. Nevertheless, David Cameron still maintains his position and many senior conservatives have frequently criticized the ECHR, which they claim should be radically reformed.

British national, Sir Nicolas Bratza is the president of the ECHR and depict his “profound regret” that his own country is always disparaging the court. Sir Nicolas and insists that a “workable and politically acceptable solution” to the is possible. The ECHR in fact, doesn’t force Britain to let every prisoner vote. The Strasbourg judges recognize that UK politicians have wide discretion on the decisions; they can either be made by considering the type of prisoner or determine the right to vote considering each case individually with the ruling of a judge.

In the meantime, many human rights associations and groups in the UK strongly disagree with Cameron’s position, affirming that it is imperative to defend prisoners’ rights to vote.

The ‘Barred from Voting’ campaign is made up of some of the most important associations and charities in the field (the Aire Centre, Criminal Justice Alliance, JUSTICE, Liberty, Penal Reform International, Prison Reform Trust and UNLOCK).

They have joined forces to produce ‘Barred from voting: The right to vote for sentenced prisoners’ in which they urge the Government and Parliament to “now put aside delaying tactics, respect the judgment of the Court and overturn the outdated ban on prisoners voting”.

Janet Crowe, the Deputy Director of The Prisoner Reform Trust (PRT), believes that taking away the voting right could also affect the rehabilitation back into society of some prisoners. She said: “The ban on voting perpetuates social exclusion and the notion of civic death. Social exclusion is a major cause of crime and re-offending and removing the right to vote increases social exclusion by signalling to serving prisoners that, at least for the duration of their sentence, they are civically dead to society.”

PRT, is an independent UK charity that have done much in the matter of informing prisoners, staff and the wider public, and points at influencing the Parliament and Government towards reforms that would create a just, humane and

effective penal system. Their main purpose remains that of promoting equality and human rights in the justice system.

Crowe points out that “Some prisoners may take the matter of voting very seriously, others do not.

Like sections of our not-imprisoned population, they might not exercise their right to vote even if they were permitted to, and others may be totally unaware of the issue.”

Some prisoners do take the matter very seriously; they are about to start legal actions for compensation after the Prime Minister reinforced his promise that inmates won’t get the vote while his government is in power.

John Hirst was the first inmate to bring attention to the matter back in 2005, when he sued Britain after claiming his human rights were breached, and he believes that there is “a systemic failure in the UK, a structural fault, which needs to be fixed.”

Many support his words underlining the fact that UK law doesn’t recognize the differences between the prisoners and the crimes. “A mass-murderer serving life and a first-time shoplifter are treated the same,” said Ian Loveland, Professor of Public Law at

“

City University London.

But why is Britain failing to comply the original ruling of the European Court of Human Rights?

Janet Crowe responds: “No doubt, many reasons; maybe the fact that we in the UK still have an ambiguous relationship with Europe and possible resentment in some quarters that Europe’s institutions can tell us what to do. It’s possible that this issue has got caught up in that.”

When asked why PRT believes that it is important to give prisoners the right to vote, Crowe replied that its “a matter of principle,” and, she insisted, “People sentenced to prison lose their liberty, they should not lose their citizenship and identity. The UK’s ban on prisoners voting is based on the 19th century concept of civic death, therefore has no place in our 21st century society. Voting is a right, and I would argue, a responsibility too in a democracy, not a privilege. It is also a matter of law – the UK should not fail to comply with the original 2004 European Court of Human Rights ruling.”

The European Court of Human Rights, situated in Strasbourg, is one of the most well known bodies of the Council of Europe, not to be

People sentenced to prison lose their liberty, they should not lose their citizenship and identity

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DFID

mistaken with the European Union (EU). The Council of Europe is an international organization, which promotes co-operation between European countries (currently with 47 member states).

However, until 2000 the ECHR was not part of the UK’s domestic law.

The European Convention on Human Rights guarantees “free elections at reasonable intervals by secret ballot, under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature”.

This guarantee is contained in the Human Rights Act, which became part of the law throughout the UK on October 2000.

In ‘Barred from voting: The right to vote for sentenced prisoners’, PRT describes the ban as an unjust additional punishment that achieves nothing: “It does not protect public safety. It is not an effective deterrent. It is not a means to correct offending behaviour or to assist in the rehabilitation of offenders. It is an unjust additional punishment imposed, but not articulated, at the point of sentence and bears no relation to the causes of crime.”

However, the UK’s blanket ban remains in place despite the European Court of Human Rights ruling it unlawful in March 2004.

So, even though MPs’ reactions are born from a belief that nobody can impose a solution on Parliament, as many people believe that Britain’s reputation could suffer from ignoring the ruling as those who believe that it could suffer if it didn’t.

20 features

Thursday 8 November 2012 | The Rock

Hollywood’s magic formula

Sequels, extended cuts, remakes, 3D: Tom Beasley investigates Hollywood’s tactics for squeezing all the money they can out of the audience This year has been huge for the big ‘event movies’, but not such a good one for audiences. Recent years have seen a steady decline in the amount of risks studios are prepared to take as they cast the proverbial net as wide as possible in the hope of scooping up cinemagoers as if they were mackerel – the five highest grossing films of the year have been franchise movies catering to a wide family audience.

A prime example of this tactic occurred with the release of Taken 2 in October. The long-awaited sequel to Liam Neeson’s surprise 2008 hit had a significant amount of its violent content cut down to receive the lucrative 12A certificate from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

Its predecessor received a 15 certificate for its strong violence and scenes of torture, which was later bumped up to an 18 rating for the ‘Extended Harder Cut’ on DVD and Blu-Ray. Taken made around $230million worldwide during its theatrical run – a record that Taken 2 has already beaten. The sequel made over $100million in its opening weekend and has since added another $200million to that total, despite scathing critical reviews such as from veteran Observer critic Philip French, who called it “about as bad as sequels get.”

Predictably, the DVD release has been certified at 15.

With numbers like that, studios are not going to stop neutering their releases to hit a wider rating Given that The Woman In Black and The Hunger Games both had similar success this year with the same strategy, desire to hit the sweet spot on the milder side of the 12A/15 borderline is going to continue.

The bottom line in this case is that studios can keep cutting corners like this, as long as audiences

keep flocking to the multiplexes.

There is a growing acceptance amongst moviegoers that cinema needs to make money to survive and, as such, audiences can deal with some of Hollywood’s more cynical tactics. On this issue, Irish film critic David Neary said: “I am no fan of censorship, but understand people need to make their money back some times.”

In the case of The Hunger Games, it was heavily publicised that the film had been originally classified at 15 by the BBFC. Realising that the teen literature adaptation would lose half of its target audience with this rating, the distributors asked what they could do to receive a milder certificate.

They ultimately removed “sight of blood splashes and sight of blood on wounds and weapons” totalling seven seconds of cuts. It then raked in millions at the box office, which in the eyes of the studio would completely vindicate the cuts.

One of the benefits of releasing a softer cinema release to studios is the ability to release an extended cut on DVD, as Taken did. Playing on fans’ desire to see films in cinemas, regardless of cuts, studios can inevitably force them to pay for the film twice – for the original cinema cut and for the extended home release. Studios must feel that they have discovered a magic

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formula, whereby they can sucker fans in to paying as many times as possible.

In fact, Hollywood has discovered yet another way of encouraging cinemagoers to pay for the same film again – the remake. Every year, a tonne of “new” releases come out that are merely rehashes of popular films from the past. This year alone, there has been Total Recall, Pusher, Contraband and Silent House, amongst others. Often, these remakes are merely an imitation of the original and serve only to generate revenue whilst ensuring that fans of the original movies get thoroughly annoyed.

The trend for remakes is set to continue into the future, with the last few weeks heralding trailers for major Hollywood remakes of classic 80s horror films Carrie and The Evil Dead.

Even films that are from original ideas and have all of their violence intact are not safe from the Hollywood focus on business. There is another strand to the Hollywood monetary juggernaut – the looming spectre of 3D. It’s not a new technology, having been used as a gimmick since House Of Wax in the 50s and indeed even earlier. But since Avatar became the most successful film of all time in 2009, largely due to the extra charge

Hollywood is a business. Like in all businesses only so many gambles pay off, so Hollywood relies on certain hits

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on 3D tickets, the format has surged in popularity amongst studios and now is almost the default for major ‘event movies’ and franchise sequels.

Its ubiquity amongst major releases is a problem for those who dislike the format. It is criticised for causing headaches amongst some viewers and causing 30% light loss. Matt Bourne, of movie blog Screen One, said that “using it on everything dilutes its power. It’s a tool not a toy.”

Of all of Hollywood’s moneymaking tactics, 3D is the one that is showing the most cracks. Audiences are moving away from 3D and are choosing to see 2D screenings of films more than the 3D equivalents.

According to a July 2012 survey by research group Mintel, 22% of tickets sold in 2011 were for 3D screenings, which was a drop from 28% in 2010 when Avatar was at the peak of its powers. Increasingly, cinemagoers want the choice. They want to be able to decide whether they want two dimensions or three.

In recent months, comic book adaptation Dredd has suffered at the box office, apparently due to it being almost impossible to track down 2D screenings. Its meagre box office receipts have dented the chances of a sequel and this is predominantly down to audiences rallying against being forced to see the movie in three dimensions.

Whilst 3D is declining, the other cash cow workhorse of cinema – the franchise – is doing better than ever

before. This year has been strong for franchise films as Marvel’s Avengers Assemble and The Dark Knight Rises both recently showed that there is an appetite for huge movies that are entries in a wider franchise.

In time for this Halloween was the release of Paranormal Activity 4, the latest entry in the latest vogue horror franchise. Already, the film has made enough money for them to commission the fifth entry for next Halloween. Horror movies are especially vulnerable to franchising given that they often have a simple central conceit that can be fleshed out over multiple sequels. Ever since the Universal monsters of the 30s, horror films have been turned into franchises, from Frankenstein, to A Nightmare On Elm Street, to Saw. Hollywood movie-making is, primarily, a business and as such, studios will always make the decision that makes the most financial sense. In the words of Neary: “Hollywood is a business.

Like in all businesses only so many gambles pay off, so Hollywood relies on certain hits when it can.”

That’s not to say that Hollywood is all about the money, though.

In a year that has brought such interesting fare as The Cabin In The Woods and Killing Them Softly, it’s difficult to complain all the time - but if these trends continue films like these could become even rarer.

VLASTA JURICEK

features 21

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

Tickets and the price of fame Going to the biggest concerts today could set you back well over £300. But, asks Helen Winter, is this out of greed or necessity?

Frank Turner sees prices as crucial for audiences ROYA JAMALALDINI

Bon Jovi are bucking the trend and offering cheap concert tickets as a ‘thank you’ to their fans ROSANA PRADA

Legendary band The Rolling Stones were recently labelled by fans as the ‘greediest band in the world’ on Twitter, after sparking outrage over the price of their tickets for their two UK arena shows. The cheapest priced tickets stood at a whopping £95, not forgetting the £11 booking fee, and if you wanted to have more than a stick figure to look at, you would be facing a cost of £375, following a £31 fee, the same price as a week’s holiday in Zante. In response to this, Bon Jovi struck back by announcing that the tickets for their UK tour next year will be sold at a Primark price of £12.50. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, the band explained that the reason for the low price is a ‘Thank You’ to the fans. So what is the deal with the price of tickets? How can one band justify a city break price for a show, whilst another group of a similar status practically throws their tickets away? Is it just because they can?

Or, is there more to it?

It’s easy to imagine that the cost of the venue would make up a huge percentage of these ticket prices. But Adam Scholey, BH Live Ticketing Supervisor, explains that a concert ticket contributes “absolute nothing” to the venue in the majority of cases “Many people place a lot of blame on the venue for a high admission price, but unfortunately this is not the case. Each hire contract is negotiated on an individual basis by both our Entertainments

Valentine currently price their gigs at £18.50. For an evening with Justin Beiber, though, the bar is set at a mighty £60, and £330 for a meet and greet. So why do tickets vary so vastly according to who is going to be on the stage. Scholey indicates that it is a matter of ‘simply because we can’. “This is decided entirely by the promoter, the greater a value they place on their artists, or the more popular or iconic they are, the more they will usually charge per ticket.” And these days, you can’t really get more iconic than Justin Beiber, explaining the huge bump in his ticket prices compared to less fan obsessed artists.

Folk punk artist, Frank Turner, whose UK tour kicks off next month, gives insight to the issue, explaining where the money from most ticket purchases goes: “For almost all bands these days, touring is a profitable enterprise. This didn’t use to be the case, bands lost money and labels would pay tour support, because the main source of income was album sales. That is very much not the case any more. There are a lot of costs to consider in a show, aside from VAT and the cuts that go to the ticket vendor, the promoter and the venue.

Programming Department and the artist’s concert promoter, and will depend on the infrastructure or the size of the venue. Generally speaking, the venue will be hired for a flat rental.” This is unless a band chooses an alternative payment such as a percentage deal, which means that out of the tickets sold, a small percentage is paid back to cover the cost of the venue, instead of a hire fee. However, Scholey said: “If the venue is hired on a percentage deal, the venue receives its agreed split based on ticket sales, but a flat fee rental is paid outright and so here ticket sales have no bearing.”

However, the money gathered does contribute to the night of the show.

“The hire fees, or agreed split on tickets contributes to the many expenses incurred as a direct result of the show, security, cleaning, stage crew, technical, marketing,” said Adam.

It is fair enough to say that hire fees can vary from academy to arena, but how much can they really alternate? To see Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall in London next March, you’re looking at a price of £85, but if you want to enjoy Clapton in Manchester, it will only set you back £67.50. Similarly, the ticket price to see Gary Barlow ranges from a fairly reasonable £35 - £55, but again, at the Royal Albert hall it could cost you an additional £40, being sold for £95.

When it comes to the ‘average’ ticket price, you are generally looking at a cost of £15 - £30. For example cult band Bullet For My

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You have to pay your crew, and in my case the musicians in my band as well - a minimum of 8 people, and I try to pay good wages. There are transport and accommodation costs, and in bigger venues you usually have to hire in the stage, the lights and the PA.” When playing his sell out Wembley Arena show last year, Frank explains that everything had to be hired because it is completely empty. He also emphasises that the better the show, the bigger the hole in your pocket is going to be. “If a band wants to go further and have full production - lightshow, fireworks and so on - that stuff is expensive, you also, of course, have to pay the other bands playing. So while bands do generally clear a net profit, it’s often not as vast as some people tend to think it is.”

However, Frank Turner remains an artist who considers his fans when deciding the price of tickets with his promoters.

He raises the morals behind multimillionaire musicians, such as The Rolling Stones, hauling on that extra few quid for their profits.

“There are some bands who have been charging crazy ticket prices in recent years. At the end of the day it’s up to them, and you can successfully argue that if the show

You’re effectively saying to your audience that you are more interested in their cash than their appreciation

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sells out, who cares? The answer to that non-rhetorical question is, in my opinion, that the band should care.

By charging such high prices you are necessarily selecting your audience to be almost entirely older or richer people. And, you’re effectively making a statement to your audience that you’re more interested in their cash than their appreciation. Some bands are comfortable making that statement. Personally, I’m not. I keep an eye on my ticket prices and strive to always make them fair.” Turner explains that for his Wembley show, tickets were sold at a bargain price of £20. “My manager thought I’d gone nuts but I think it was an important gesture.”

When it comes to 9am releases of ticket sales, some bands do appear to play on the vulnerability of their dedicated fans, using their status as a means of profit.

As the past weeks have shown, artists most likely do put up their prices on a ‘because we can’ notion.

And really, they can. As much as people mumbled and grumbled about the disgrace of ticket pricing, the Rolling Stones will still be playing to a sell out arena this November.

In realistic terms, any future boycott of overpriced tickets are an unlikely circumstance, and until then, unless the musicians’ conscience comes in to play, we should be asking for some extra cash this Christmas, because a cap on ticket prices is not a likely option to be considered by George Osbourne any time soon.

FASHION MUSIC CULTURE LIFESTYLE

ISSUE 1 IS OUT NOW www.pebblezine.com

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The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

No shrinking Violets Touted by NME as “the best new band in Britain,” Palma Violets are in the midst of a meteoric rise. Nick Reilly speaks to the people behind the hype

It’s a cold Tuesday night in the St Mary’s area of Southampton and I’ve just been approached by a toothless yokel, offering me the opportunity to buy some “stolen masks, reduced from 50 quid to 20”. Mayfair this ain’t, but it’s an area home to the Joiners Arms, an 150 capacity venue that’s legendary on the ‘toilet circuit’, a phrase that pays affectionate tribute to small venues that bands will play en route to the big time.

Having played host to the likes of Oasis and Arctic Monkeys, it’s safe to say that the Joiners is steeped in British music history.

Tonight, it plays host to Palma Violets, a band that recently appeared on the cover of NME, being touted as “the best new band in Britain”, all before the release of their upcoming debut album. The onstage love-in between frontmen Sam Fryer and Chilli Jesson has drawn comparisons to the likely lads of Pete Doherty and Carl Barât of The Libertines, whilst the self-proclaimed “brooding intensity” of their sound has been likened to the darkened tunes of Echo And The Bunnymen.

The band was formed in Lambeth, South East London, recording their early demos at the area’s ‘Studio 180’. If the Albion Rooms were where all began for Pete and Carl the Libertines, then

“

Studio 180 is certainly where it first happened for Palma Violets. It was here that record executives came to experience the refreshingly raw intensity of the band before sparking a bidding war for them. Speaking to keyboardist Pete and drummer Will before the gig, they admit that they “dined out for the whole of January”, such was the fervor to sign the band.

What about the name though, is the band paying tribute to a penchant for 70’s confectionary? No, as Pete explains, it’s very much a name that the band are using to reflect their own career. “I guess you could say palm me a violet, it’s not a real phrase, but everything is in our palm, it’s ours.”

Recent breakout single ‘Best of Friends’ has proved that everything is indeed in their palms.

It’s one of the most refreshingly electric indie records of the last decade, and proves to be a real display of the band’s anthemic tendencies at their best, coming from a classic lineage of popular songwriting. “We’ve got the intensity of Echo and the Bunnymen, but Best of Friends is just a classic pop song about a girl,” insists Will.

This might be the case, but the lyrics of the song are refreshingly steered away from the overtly sentimental, with the central refrain of ‘I wanna be your best friend, I don’t want you to be my girl’ acting as a guitar driven ode to the awkward ‘just friends’ scenario that

MBC PR

Those regional dates tend to have a raw intensity where everyone is singing along

”

just about everyone who’s ever had their heart broken will empathise with.

It’s already set to be a staple of indie discos everywhere and the reaction that it gets at the Joiners confirms this. It’s been a lively gig up to this point, but it’s here that the crowd really come into their own, starting a frenzied mosh pit that continues right until the final song, at which point a stage invasion is sparked.

It’s frenzied, passionate and something that Will believes that regional venues always react to.

“We played in Lambeth last week and it was crazy, but a London kind of crazy, a bit restrained. It’s when we go to places like Sheffield and Middlesbrough that people really let it go, those dates tend to have a raw intensity where everyone is singing along.”

Other songs in the set include ‘Tom The Drum’ and ‘Last Of The Summer Wine’, both of which are likely inclusions for their debut, which Sam touts as due for release on February 23. “Have you seen LA Confidential?” asks Sam. “We’re maybe looking into having album artwork like that, our faces split up, just like Russell Crowe’s.” It’s musings like this that really show what the band are about, they’ve got the world at their feet, but they’re fantastically grounded.

This time next year, you’ll want Palma Violets to become best of friends with you, as they inevitably play venues with a capacity far exceeding that of the 150 Joiners.

It’s hard to say believe the hype, because the hype machine is one that brutally picks up bands and spits them out, but in the case of Palma Violets, the cliché rings true. Believe the hype.

Palma Violets rock the stage at Southampton’s Joiners Arms NATT DAY

24 features

Thursday 8 November 2012 | The Rock

Photographer of the Fortnight Phoebe Cheong

My favourite photograph

Having lived in five different countries in the course of my life, I have considered myself a global citizen ever since I was born.

Everywhere I went, I would collect images of my favorite memories

from each unique place and carry them along with me at all times.

I discovered the power of photography in capturing the memories that I hang on to with my friends and family when I

was 16. As a Malaysian born photographer, currently living in China and studying in England, this has allowed me to experience and explore the paradoxes of both the East and the West.

Therefore, through my photography, I love to play with the beauty and richness of both cultures, one of which includes photographing mixed race models, as I find them particularly exotic.

This is currently my personal favourite of all my pictures, mainly because of the story behind its photographing.

I have always loved the idea that creativity can come from making spontaneous decisions, and I think that this photograph

exemplifies that. A fashion designer approached me on short notice to photograph her collection during the cold windy winter at the beach.

The model and I were just about able to bare the cold, especially when she and I had to dip our feet into the freezing water. I decided

to take advantage of the freezing weather and my eight years of dance experience to encourage the model to move according to the waves. And through a spontaneous thought, that moment led me to capture this beautiful, yet very striking pose.

As someone who constantly deals with different needs and thoughts in my line of work, I have alway found that taking risks and being spontaneous like this greatly enhances my creativity as a fashion photographer.

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The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

One that inspires me I am inspired by the romantic analogue style of photographer Paulo Roversi.

Intrigued, I began experimenting digitally, photographing through props to identify and look for ‘my inner voice’ - a unique style for myself. This has begun to have

An early photo This self-portrait represents the stage where my curiosity about fashion photography began. I was 17 when I took this photograph, and started to experiment with different

a huge influence on my work.

Collaborating with a headwear designer, I wanted to capture the unique personality of the Western 1920’s flapper inspired headpiece.

Therefore, accompanying the headpiece on an Eastern model, the other pieces of headwear and the feather shapes echo her Asian eyelids, capturing the distinctive beauty of the East.

lighting techniques using table lamps, home made reflectors and editing with the simplest software.

Although with minimal photography knowledge at that time, this photograph always gives me the motivation to discover who I am and what I am today.

One that I treasure Out of the countless shoots I have done, the ‘Water Circus’ is by far the biggest production I have ever undertaken. This photograph is my favourite from the set. The

shoot took place at Sandbanks beach in Dorset, and I was very lucky to have a team of 15 people from diverse creative backgrounds, experiences and cultures on set accompanying me to create this wonderful series about taking the circus to the sea.

Working with a strong, diverse team in this way is always very exciting for me, as together we are able to discuss and synthesize our creative thoughts, which never fails to produce the most interesting breakthroughs in the photographs for us.

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SPORT

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

If you dish it out you have to expect it given back

Jonny Byrne

SPORTS EDITOR The hardest job in the country isn’t the Prime Minister’s, nor is it being a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist, it’s not even Lisa Riley’s colonic irrigationist; the hardest job in the country is that of a Premier League referee.

For over 90 minutes a week referees face a tirade of abuse from fans and players for making split-

Ultimate game?

second decisions that are always going to frustrate one side of the stadium. It really is a thankless job.

So when an aggrieved player screams and shouts at match officials, swearing directly at them, can we really blame referees for occasionally swearing back and losing their temper a little too.

I don’t for one second condone the use of discriminative language between anybody on the football pitch, but a few rude words discretely turning the air blue isn’t something we should be getting riled up about. There is far more disgusting terms being exchanged between footballers and fans at the moment that really need our attention.

I understand that referees there to control tempers, but let’s not chastise them for being human.

Referees are there to ensure that matches are controlled

Ash Hover

ASSISTANT SPORTS ED. What did Mum always used to tell you as you were growing up? Just because someone gives you some abuse, doesn’t make it right to react and give it back. Well done Mum, I agree with you.

Reacting back and dishing out your own abuse only lowers you to their level. When, in any form of life, is it acceptable to react to abuse?

Paralympic legacy in full effect

Heat needs cash

31

Vettel closes in

Title in sight

34

TRIVIA Which THREE players have scored for FIVE (or more) DIFFERENT teams in the Champions League?

See if you’re right in the next issue

Email

jonnybyrnerocks@gmail.com

Look, I can see from the other point of view. I’ve been abused in football matches before and used to react. But as I’ve got older I’ve learned to channel this anger into my performance. Obviously, it’s not quite the same for referees, but you see my point.

Referees are officials. They are figureheads who take complete charge of games. Without them there would be no football match. So yes, I suppose if you look at it like that then they do have the right to say what they want. But does that make it right? No. Refs come under fire for almost everything in today’s football, but in general, they deal with abusive fans and players very well. It’s all part of the job. Hence why you wouldn’t expect one to flip the page and reverse the rolls.

The VEC has benefitted from this summer’s games NERSSESSIAN

Joe Nerssessian

The success of the 2012 Paralympic games has had a large impact on local disabled children and motivated them to take sport more seriously.

Disabled children at the local Victoria Education Centre (VEC) in Westbourne, which is also a certified sports college, are taking up more sport and have been ‘inspired’ by the Paralympics, according to Head of PE Val Ford.

Ford took some of the children to

watch the games after the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games donated some tickets. She said of the event: “ It has absolutely inspired them - not across the board because not everyone enjoys sport- but a lot of the children are much more motivated.”

The VEC, although already a fantastic base for disabled sport, has a lot of potential to become a local centre of sporting excellence that could lead to more and more future Paralympians being developed there. A motivation in sport has always been something the school has encouraged and this helped them achieve sports college status in

2007. This led to extra funding from the Specialist Schools trust and an opportunity to build better facilities and purchase better equipment.

This includes a new swimming pool and several professional racing wheelchairs.

The key and pivotal change of the last year however, is not in the children’s motivation and opportunities, but in the realisation of the public of how competitive and serious disabled sport is.

“The Paralympics has done more for able-bodied people to understand and has led to a change of opinion from them. It has also heightened knowledge of what disabled people can do,” said Val Ford.

AFC Bournemouth are also a part of this community effort to get disabled children active as earlier this year they started a partnership with The Rainbows Down’s Syndrome support group to start a monthly disabilities sports club. Club founder Clare Williams, believes that it helps the children to enjoy sport more. “On the back of the Paralympics we might be able to find some local funding for it,” She said.

While that is mainly for participation and enjoyment, Ford has a slightly different approach as she comments on how spirited her lessons and activities are.

“It’s always competitive, like in a lot of mainstream schools.

The children, although disabled, are as competitive, if not more competitive, than mainstream children and they don’t like losing.”

This competitiveness that has been bred from Victoria School is proving to be a real success for many children as one ex-student, Maxine Moore competed in the club throw event at the Paralympics and Dan Cook, a current part time student, is aiming for 2016.

The school has won seven of the last eight national table cricket competitions and have had players represent nationally in Boccia, a sport very similar to bowls.

One sought-after change is more links between community sports clubs and schools to ensure disabled children are given the chance to learn technical skills and compete at a high level.

Hopefully the awe-inspiring moments given to us by this years Paralympians have gone some way to improving the attention we give to the next generation of Britain’s disabled athletes.

28 sport Ash Hover takes a look at this month’s sporting champ and chump It’s an all F1 affair for this week’s sporting winner and loser, and it all boils down to one case of good luck, and one of bad. Sebastian Vettel cruised through the field after not only starting from the back of the pack, but starting from the pit lane.

Vettel was disqualified from qualifying and demoted to last place, but a stunning drive under the Abu Dhabi lights means the German made the best of a very bad position. He remains ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Drivers’ Championship after finishing third in Dubai, just one place behind the Spaniard, who started 6th on the grid, a whole 18 places ahead of his title rival. Vettel now has two races remaining and all he has to is finish ahead of Alonso.

The teams head to Austin, Texas next week, where mathematically, Vettel could wrap up the drivers title. Auf wiedersehen, indeed.

WINNER

Thursday 8 November 2012 | The Rock

War of the British Welterweights

Kell Brook (The Special One)

Amir Khan (King Khan)

Ricky Hatton (The Hitman)

Won 29 (KO 19) + lost 0 (KO 0) + drawn 0

Won 26 (KO 18) + lost 3 (KO 2) + drawn 0

Won 45 (KO 32) + lost 2 (KO 2) + drawn 0

In the Nottsman’s last fight he easily dispatched top ten ranked Hector Saldivia to earn himself a shot at the IBF world title belt.

He may have to overcome Devon Alexander who has been on pretty shaky form recently, so I believe this is a fight he can do well in and win.

Khan has been one of the biggest names in not only boxing but in sport for the UK in the last eight years. Since winning Silver at the Athens Olympics he has been hotly touted as one of the best young talents. His career had been going perfectly until an unlikely stoppage loss to Lamont Peterson late last year.

Out of the ring since a 2007 loss to Floyd Mayweather and a 2009 crushing 2 round KO defeat to Manny Pacquiao. They were his only two blemishes in a 47 fight career and many have said he has nothing more to prove, but with a recent interview on BBC 5 live he claimed that he feels he has disgraced himself with bouts of depression, alcohol and drugs.

Brook is a well rounded fighter, good speed and decent power, showing he can win fights with vicious knockouts or grind out a hard bloody slog. He has a slippery style with lots of head movement and can fight on the back foot.

His hand speed rivals that of that of Manny Pacquiao and the ‘Filipino Flash’ Nonito Donaire. He has incredible fitness and has recently employed David Hayes long time nutritionist Ruben Tabares to help him get into fantastic shape.

Pro’s:

He has been in danger before, and although he has never lost there have been times where he has looked to grab and hold. In the Jones fight his nose was broken early on and Brook had to fight hard to get a victory, although he showed a good chin he never got out of 2nd gear, and maybe this is his problem.

Khan has maybe the most famous undoing of any fighter in modern times, and he does little to hide it. To say he has a glass chin is an insult to glass. His first loss was to big puncher Bredis Prescott. Since that vicious first round loss he moved to the USA where his opponents were picked very carefully.

Pro’s:

LOSER Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 demise continued this week, with yet another farcical engineering failure.

Hamilton was forced out of another Abu Dhabi lead after having to park his car off the circuit when he received a radio call from Martin Whitmarsh saying ‘We’ve lost all power.’

Hamilton would’ve been mistaken for believing he was behind the wheels of an unreliable 03 reg Renault Clio, not his 18,000 RPM McLaren MP4-27. But why would he expect any different.

Yet another mechanical failure has cost Hamilton an illustrious F1 victory, and in Dubai, one of the most prestigious races on the calendar. I agree with my colleague’s column this week.

Hamilton leaving McLaren for Mercedes may have been a bold move, but it was the right one.

The Brit needs to save himself from further embarrassment.

With two races remaining before packing his bags, I definitely wouldn’t put a bet on him going out with a race win.

Chin up, Lewis.

With the return of Ricky Hatton, the British 147lbs division looks to really have some depth to it. Kell Brook and Amir Khan unleashed some verbal sparring on Sky Sports Ringside adding to fuel to the fire of a big domestic fight. Hatton may look to avenge his brother’s loss to Brook in March and a mega fight with Khan would probably break every sales record going!

Con’s:

Pro’s:

Con’s:

Hatton has found ways to win in the past where defeat looked immanent, walking head down into wars and pouncing on injured prey. His time outside of the ring teaching others has given him time to reflect on his own technique, and where he went wrong in his losses.

Con’s:

Maybe it is too late, maybe he will follow the long list of previous champions who fool heartedly walked back into the ring only to end up on the scrapheap. Only time spent in the ring will tell.

AFCB ladies set league alight Ash Hover

After reforming in the Summer of 2011, AFC Bournemouth Ladies have hit the ground running.

The former side won the Dorset Cup the same year as the Men’s side won the Division 3 Play-Off final against Lincoln, all the way back in 2002. From there, they never looked back, racking up numerous promotions and even bringing home the League Cup in 2006. But unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, AFC Bournemouth had to drop their Ladies side.

However, last year, under new management, the team was reformed, albeit with a large number of new faces.

Darren Clarke and Vince Taylor have taken the reigns of the newly AFCB Ladies, who have made a blistering start to their Division 3 Hampshire County League campaign. The girls have booted the opposition away with a staggering +28 goal difference after just 6 games, leaving them top of the table with 14 points from a possible 18.

Assistant Manager, Vince Taylor, spoke to The Rock about his job and the reformation.

“We were invited by the club to start an AFC Bournemouth team again. We looked at the possibility of having a Branksome and a

Bournemouth team, but we couldn’t get enough girls to do that so we just decided to come with Bournemouth and we’re very glad we did so.

“I love my job. I love to see what we do in training come out on the pitch, it’s a great feeling. When the girls are keeping the ball on the deck and playing proper football, it really makes us proud to see it.

“They’re great friends, and that’s really what it’s all about. They really do enjoy themselves and the main thing is that they’re having fun.

“They’re loving it at the moment, but we’ve got to keep their heads on the ground now because we’ve got some hard games yet to play, so we need to stay focused. Yes it’s nice to be scoring goals, but keeping the clean sheets is good as well.“

Taylor also believes there is no limit to what the girls can achieve.

“Hopefully we’ll win the league this year and get promoted. Then we can work to improve the squad and try to keep the other girls together and win next year as well.”

When asked what their chances of winning the league were, current players Chey Clarke and Nicola Taylor answered with an emphatic reply.

“10/10” the women said.

With Eddie Howe’s regeneration of the Men’s side too, there’s certainly a buzz around AFC Bournemouth this winter.

The women are next in action against Team Solent on Sunday at Kings Park, just opposite the Goldsands stadium.

sport 29

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

Devil's Advocate

Sergio Aguero Age: 24 Club: Manchester City Goals last season: 30 Season in words: Since arriving from

Wayne Rooney Age: 27 Club: Manchester United Goals last season: 34

Athletico Madrid last summer, Sergio Aguero has set the Premiership on fire with some exceptional performances and an impressive goal scoring record.

The highlight of an eye-catching opening campaign for City came when Aguero’s last-minute winner against QPR secured the title for Roberto Mancini’s side.

Season in words: The only English player in the list, Rooney was back to his best form last season, racking up an imperious goal scoring tally. Rooney became only the fourth player in Premiership history to score consecutive hat-tricks when he netted trebles against Arsenal and Bolton. He also surpassed teammate Paul Scholes as the top scoring Englishman in the Champions League when he scored twice against Otelul Galati.

Mario Balotelli Age: 22 Club:: Manchester City Goals last season: 17 Season in words: Balotelli

Ballon d’Or

was an integral part of City’s title-winning side with a number of important strikes for the Sky Blues.

Balotelli’s season really burst into life over the summer though, when he pioneered a resurgent Italian side to the final at Euro 2012. The 22-year-old scored three times in Poland and Ukraine, including two strikes against Germany in the semi-finals.

Last Monday saw the announcement of the Ballon d’Or nominees, with six of the candidates coming from the Premier League. Despite the award being dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in recent years, Craig Rodhouse runs through the Premiership contingent and assessing their chances of potential success.

Didier Drogba Age: 34 Club last seasion: Chelsea Goals last season: 13 Seasons in words: Despite entering

Robin Van Persie

the twilight of his career Drogba certainly proved a lot of critics wrong last season with some phenomenal individual displays. The Ivorian scored in Chelsea’s 5-1 FA Cup final victory against Tottenham and also scored the equaliser and winning penalty in the club’s historic Champions League final success against Bayern Munich.

Age: 29 Club (last season): Arsenal Goals last season: 37 Season in words: It’s fair to say that Robin Van

Persie ended his eight year spell in North London with a bit of a bang. The Dutch striker netted an incredible 37 times for Arsenal in all competitions, including 30 in the league which saw him run away with the top scorer award last season. Van Persie’s incredible displays helped to reverse the form of Arsene Wenger’s struggling Gunners which saw them eventually finish third in the table.

Yaya Toure Age: 29 Club: Manchester City Goals last season: 9 Season in words: The only non-

forward to make the list from the Premiership, Yaya Toure enjoyed an impressive second season at Eastlands.

The Ivorian was an ever-present in City’s title winning side and his energetic displays in the centre of midfield attracted plenty of praise. Toure’s brace during the 2-0 win over Newcastle in the penultimate game of the season all but confirmed the title for City.

Lew’s been Merc-ed Jasper Taylor

DEPUTY SPORTS ED. Lewis Hamilton has cruised into poll position on the list of people I’m most jealous of.

Picture the scene. It’s 8am; Hamilton has been gently woken by the warm Monaco sunrise. A smile creeps across his face as he realises he has a day of driving exceedingly quickly around a track ahead of him. His smile broadens upon the further realisation that the money he makes will be taxfree. He sits up and turns his head and, if his mood wasn’t already good enough, he is greeted by a grinning, half-naked Nicole Scherzinger. Bastard.

He’s come under much scrutiny recently for making the decision to move from McLaren to Mercedes in 2013. Many people think Hamilton’s motivations aren’t coming from the right place – why would he leave a better team who he has been with since 2007. But I see many advantages for him.

It would be fair to say that since the turn of the millennium McLaren haven’t been the force they once were. Their one win came through, guess who, Hamilton, in an era that Ferrari and more recently Red Bull have dominated. He isn’t the first top driver to move from McLaren recently either - Alonso and Raikkonen left the team too.

Raikkonen claimed his first and only Championship win the season after he left and who’s to say that Hamilton can’t follow suit and add a second title to his trophy cabinet?

This is a chance for the Brit to prove just how good a driver he is, which I expect is a very exciting prospect for him. We all know the feeling of wanting to take on a challenge in sport. You know, the one you get when you begin your optimistic expedition with Bury to reach the imperial heights of the Premier League on Football Manager.

As well as that, it’s going to make next year that little bit more exciting with the additional storyline. We all love it when a footballer faces a former employer, and inevitably scores, and the McLaren-Mercedes rivalry will be riveting to watch.

This is good for Hamilton as a person too. A fresh start with an increased celebrity profile and a public recognition that he is a strong individual who can make risky decisions.

He’s not in it for the money though, in fact he’s actually predicted to take a pay cut. I wouldn’t feel too sorry for him though - just remember what he wakes up to every morning…

30 sport

Thursday 8 November 2012 | The Rock

Judd draws a Trump card Andrea Avellano

Judd Trump is now snooker’s hottest property EIGENE AUFNAHNE

Judd Trump’s brand of ‘Naughty Snooker’ has returned to its winning ways after he won his second ranking event title, the International Championship. The first staging of the Championship is the highest paying tournament China has ever held.

Trump received a not too shabby cheque of £125,000 for beating ‘The Thunder from Down under’, 2009 World Champion Neil Robertson in a thriller which ended 10-8 to the Bristol-born hot shot. Trump scored heavily with breaks of 96 and 115.

Having shown good form in recent weeks with his epic encounter with John Higgins in the final of the Shanghai Masters, which finished 10-9 to Higgins, after the Scot made a dramatic come back from 7-2 down.

It is no surprise therefore that Trump is the new world number one and is starting to prove his critics wrong. He is capable in the major tournaments and has the bottle to

close out victories.

The loss to Higgins would have most definitely been a huge blow to Trump but he has shown resilience and has come back fighting like a true champion does.

Is he capable of maintaining his world number one accolade?

He’s matured as a player and has learnt a great deal from his practice partner; former world number one and in my opinion the greatest player to have ever played the game, the ‘Rocket’ Ronnie O’Sullivan.

So the answer is simple, it is all there for Trump. If he carries on practicing each day and commits himself to the sport it will certainly be tough to take the ranking off him.

His victory in China will also bring confidence to the Chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, Barry Hearn.

Many doubt the sport will be able to survive with its 50 week schedule and the threat of losing the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, whose years at the top level of snooker are surely limited.

Can snooker survive without the Rocket? Judd Trump’s Naughty Snooker says it can, and right now it looks like it will.

Woods out McIllory in says Nike Tom Bennett

Rory McIlroy is set to become the second-highest paid British sportsman behind David Beckham.

He also knocks Tiger Woods off his perch as the spearhead of Nike’s golf market as he is set to sign a $250million deal over ten years with the sports brand.

The deal will see him take over from Woods in January as the future of Nike’s no-money-spared marketing machine.

His 10-year contract will rival David Beckham’s with Adidas, who earns $46million annually.

Nike needed a fresh and reliable sportsman to improve their image following Lance Armstrong’s unmasking as a drugs cheat last month and the infidelity of Tiger Woods in previous years.

Sir Nick Faldo, the most successful British golfer of all time, has warned against the move and said: “I call it dangerous. I’ve changed clubs and every manufacturer will say, ‘We can copy your clubs, we can tweak the golf ball so that it fits you’. But there’s a feel and sound and there’s confidence [in your equipment]. You can’t put a real value on that, it’s priceless.”

McIlroy’s first advertisement for Nike should air in the new year.

The commercial also features two other big-hitters who have switched to Nike - Americans Nick Watney and Kyle Stanley.

Scandals cycle in Joe Nerssessian

The reputation of competitive cycling has taken another blow after more accusations of cheating.

Olympic gold medallist, Alexandre Vinokourov, allegedly paid Russian cyclist, Alexandr Kolobnev, to let him win a race in 2010 according to an Italian newspaper.

The allegations come just weeks after it was revealed that the sport’s most famous competitor, Lance Armstrong, used performanceenhancing drugs for almost the entirety of his career.

The Corriere della Serra claim Vinokourov paid €150,000 (£120,000) to win the LiegeBastogne-Liege one-day race.

The newspaper published emails sent days after the race between the two cyclists that show Kolobnev asking for his “transfer information” to be taken and Vinokourov reassuring the Russian by replying: “As far as the agreement goes don’t worry I will take care of everything.”

With help from the Swiss authorities, the Italians then proved account transfers between the two took place. Vinokourov transferred €100,000 to Kolobnev on the July 10, 2010 – two months after the race - and another €50,000 on the December 28 of that year.

Vinokourov has already had a controversial career after being banned for doping in 2007, but restored some of his reputation when he won Gold in the men’s road race at the London Olympics earlier this year.

The Liege race was his first title after he returned to the sport in 2009 when he beat Kolobnev in a sprint finish by six seconds.

On fire Austin

Rory McIllory is set to putt away more than TIger Woods GRANT

Burnley striker Charlie Austin netted his 19th goal of the season last weekend, a scoring record which is unsurprisingly the best in the country. The 23-year old striker was brought to the Clarets from Swindon Town 18 months ago by now Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe.

His goal-scoring record dwarfs the likes of Robin Van Persie and Demba Ba who have scored under half the amount of goals as the redhot Championship striker, albeit having played four fewer games.

A former brick-layer, Austin is now on target to break George Beel’s Burnley club record 35 goals, which he managed back in 1935.

sport 31

VARSITY

VARSITY

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

The ‘Ultimate’ sport needs drastic funding Joanne Ball

Tremendous athletic ability is needed for Ultimate BOTCHNIAQUE

Bournemouth Heat, BU’s Ultimate Frisbee team have gone from strength to strength in the last five years.

The side played at both outdoor and indoor regionals last year, after competing at nationals in 2010. At last month’s indoor regionals the squad took seventh position, the highest they’ve ever achieved.

The club trains twice a week at Slades Farm, on pitches gratefully donated free of charge. Whilst in the past they were formerly being supported by local town club the Bournemouth Ultimatum, they are now having to be more self sufficient, and the club is in desperate need of more money.

Nathan Barnett is President of the club and is concerned about its future. “I’m leaving this year, and I’m scared that I’m going to leave a club in financial turmoil. I don’t want there to not be a club at Bournemouth. Ultimate [as it is known to players and fans] is going to become big, and if the

club dies, when it happens we will be so far behind. If the club keeps going we’ll become a big name, like Southampton, or Warwick,” he said.

Second year student and fellow player Oli has his own fears: “We’re treading water at the moment, and while none of us will let the club go without a fight, its obvious that we wont survive much longer.”

The club are currently in talks with the Student Union to gain Varsity status. Currently the team is mostly self-funded and have to miss out on a lot of training time, despite having a real shot at nationals and performing far better then many current Varsity sides. Naturally, the players find this very frustrating.

“It’s got to be because we are not a world recognised sport, and that’s not fair. We are as much a sports team as them, and we do better in competitions than a lot of them. When was the last time football or rugby made nationals?

We want to feel included, we want our team photo in SportBU, we are representing our university, it would be nice if they supported us,” said Nathan.

The aim of Ultimate is to pass the disc to a player in the opposing team’s endzone, much like American football, however you are not

allowed to run whilst holding the disc, similar to netball.

Ultimate is one of few competitive sports that allows for men and women to play in mixed teams. The game is also unusual in that it is selfrefereed by the players themselves.

Great Britain are number two in the world, after America where the sport gains a lot more recognition.

One of the sport’s biggest stars is Brody Smith, who is currently making a big splash on YouTube.

Barnett has mixed views on Smith, “I don’t necessarily like the guy, he’s arrogant and not as good a player as he thinks he is, but he has done amazing things promoting the sport,” he said.

Ultimate Frisbee has both indoor and outdoor seasons. The former runs from September to February, when outdoor takes over until the following September.

Currently, due to in part a lack of funding, BU’s team practice solely outdoors, which can put them at a disadvantage against competitors.

The nature of the sport means wind is a strong contributing factor, and so when moved indoors the game changes. “Were an outdoor team, but this is not just an outdoor sport,” Nathan said.

32 sport

VARSITY

Thursday 8 November 2012 | The Rock

BU destroy Bath in cup victory Jess Long

The Bournemouth University Netball Club had a lot to celebrate on Halloween after both their teams cruised into the next round of the Western Conference Cup with more than convincing victories.

The first team faced Bath Spa’s firsts, and from the whistle the result was never in doubt.

Bournemouth controlled play right down the court, picking off interceptions and breaking the majority of Spa’s centre passes taking the first quarter 25-0.

Bournemouth made no changes to the team in the second quarter and kept up the scoring streak with the shooting duo of Sarah Riddoch and Elizabeth Ferguson putting goals away for fun.

The penultimate quarter saw Abigail Gilbert take the court for the first time this season at Wing Defence, with Clair Priest taking the shooter bid.

The girls took a little while to settle, allowing Spa to score a couple of goals but soon normality resumed and Bournemouth took an unattainable lead into the last quarter.

Bournemouth was aiming to reach 100 goals but they narrowly missed out with the final score finishing 87-5.

Player of the match went to captain, Louise Cole.

The second team were up next playing against the second Bath Spa team, who were determined

SPORTBU

VARSITY FIXTURES

WEDNESDAY

14

NOVEMBER

2012

not to finish in the same manner their first team had.

However, the match told a similar story with Bournemouth dominating from start to finish.

The shooting partnership of Chantal Hamilton and Courtney Dobson could not be touched by the Spa defence for the entire match and this continued when Katrina Holland entered the goal circle.

The defence were tight and hardly

let Spa in for most of the match with Kayley Doyle at Goal Defence taking a number of inspired interceptions.

Rachel Ackerman and Gabby Grant controlled the game through the mid court and ensured a deflated Bath side were unable to connect two passes together.

The final score finished 91-7 to Bournemouth, with player of the match going to Courtney Dobson for her flawless display at Goal Shooter.

BASKETBALL

BU Men’s 1st VS Exeter Men’s 1st Bristol Men’s 2nd VS BU Men’s 2nd So’ton Women’s 1st VS BU Women’s 1st

FOOTBALL

BU Men’s 1st VS Bath Men’s 2nd BU Men’s 2nd VS Winchester Men’s 2nd Glamorgan Men’s 2nd VS BU Men’s 3rd Bath Spa Women’s 1st VS BU Women’s 1st So’ton Women’s 1st VS BU Women’s 2nd

GOLF

Exeter Mixed 1st VS BU Mixed 1st Exeter Mixed 2nd VS BU Mixed 2nd Swansea Mixed 1st VS BU Mixed 3rd

HOCKEY

BU Men’s 2nd VS Bristol Men’s 3rd BU Women’s 1st VS Exeter Women’s 4th So’ton Women’s 4th VS BU Women’s 2nd

A determined Bournemouth outfit are on course to storm the cup LONG

NETBALL

BU Women’s 1st VS UWE Women’s 2nd BU Women’s 2nd VS UWE Women’s 4th

RUGBY UNION

BU Men’s 1st VS Bath Men’s 4nd BU Men’s 2nd VS Exeter Men’s 5th

SQUASH

Bristol Men’s 2nd VS BU Men’s 1st Bristol Women’s 2nd VS BU Women’s 1st

TENNIS

BU Men’s 2nd VS Exter Men’s 2nd BU Women’s 1st VS Cambridge Women’s 1st So’ton Women’s 1st VS BU Women’s 2nd

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

BU’s women fall to Bristol Ash Hover Tom Bennett

An inspired third-quarter performance could not prevent a defeat for BU Women’s basketball 1sts as they lost 42-70 against Bristol.

It all began so well for the hosts, who made an energetic start to jump four points ahead of the noisy Bristol girls, but BU couldn’t keep the visitors at bay.

The BU women fought tirelessly throughout the game, but could only stand and admire at the skill of their opponents. Despite the outstanding efforts of Katie Saville, a generally smaller BU side were out-jumped and outmuscled as every rebound seemed to end up in Bristol hands, who entered the break with a twenty-point lead.

Coach, Michaela TuckerBlackford did her best to rally the home side, who responded well, bringing the deficit down to just 12 points at one stage, but Bristol turned up the heat and quickly put the game beyond Bournemouth.

There were a number of positives for BU though. Laura Sedda looked calm and collected on the ball, and was instrumental in a number of plays. Amy O’Connor netted an impressive 22

points, and a number of the team, who had minimal basketball practice before this season, also impressed.

After the game, Michaela TuckerBlackford shared her thoughts with The Rock.

“Obviously they’ve [Bristol] got some really good outside shooters and they out-rebounded us offensively and defensively. Our big girls at the back have got to get a little more pro-active. We have one girl that brings our ball up the field which means we have a weakness as a team, we don’t have a lot of strong fore-handers whereas they had one consistent fore-hander,” she said.

“We’re getting there. We’ve got a lot of work to do. This is only the third or fourth game.

“Fundamentally we’re not very good at dribbling and shooting so we’ve got to start to put the ball in the net.

“But saying that, we’ve put the ball in the net today. That was the highest score we’ve had but we must stop the opposition scoring. We allowed them to dominate really.”

Despite the defeat, TuckerBlackford was quick to heap praise onto two of her players.

“Amy [O’Connor] has great positioning. Laura [Sedda] is a very confident ball handler. Amy stood up to the challenge today, she was outstanding.”

The girls are next in action on November 14 away to Southampton 1st, to whom they lost 35-62 on the opening day of the season.

Painful defeat for basketball seconds Rachel Currie

BU’s basketball Men’s 2nd team lost out to Bath in their season opener last Wednesday to a score of 32-48.

With nine out of the 14-man squad playing as inexperienced freshers, the team cracked under the pressure of their first competitive match.

BU played as a strong defensive unit, seizing every opportunity to gain possession where they could, but Bath’s side proved too strong, keeping the home team trailing behind each quarter.

Most Valuable Player of the

match, Micheal Hooper, was an asset to the team, netting the majority of the team’s points.

Power Foward Joe Rutter said of the match: “We’ve been training hard and looking good, but it just all seemed to fall apart under pressure.

“On the day we just weren’t as prepared as we thought we were.

We just need to cut out our mistakes and play the basketball I know we can play.”

Joe said the team missed the presence of small foward Laurence Wright, who is out this season due to injury.

Putting the loss behind them, the men are still feeling positive about their ability this season.

Joe said: “We’ve just got to look at it as a building block, draw a line under it, train hard and look ahead to the next game.”

sport 33

VARSITY

Varsity Results - 31st October 2012 BASKETBALL Western 1A

HOCKEY

Cardiff Men’s 1st

BU Men’s 1st

57

67

Western Con. Cup

BU Men’s 1st

Bath Uni Men’s 2nd

1

3

P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

3

Plymouth 1st

2

1

0

1

0

3

1

BU 1st

3

3

-

0

32

9

4

BU 1st

2

1

0

1

0

3

2

So’ton Solent

3

2

-

1

22

6

5

Exeter 5th

2

1

0

1

-8

3

3

UCP Marjons

2

2

-

0

12

6

BU Women’s 1st

Western 1A

Bristol Women’s 1st

42

72

P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

Western Con. Cup

Bath Spa Men’s1st P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

2

2

0

0

8

6

2

Bath 4th

2

2

0

0

2

6

3

BU 2nd

2

1

0

1

3

3

3

1

-

3

-18

3

5

Swansea 1st

3

0

-

3

-18

0

LACROSSE

6

BU 1st

3

0

-

3

-84

0

Western 2A

Exeter Men’s 1st

1

BU Men’s 1st

4

P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

P

W

Bristol Uni Men’s 2nd D L GD

12

BU Men’s 1st

5 Pts

1

BU 1st

3

3

0

0

19

9

2

UAberyswyth 1st

2

2

0

0

30

6

3

Exeter 2nd

2

1

0

1

2

3

Bath Spa Women’s 1st

5

4

UWE (Hart’) 2nd

3

1

0

2

0

3

NETBALL

5

Bath 2nd

4

0

1

3

-3

1

6

BU 1st

3

0

0

3

-7

0

Western Con. Cup

BU Women’s 1st

87 P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

0

1

Plymouth 1st

2

2

0

0

30

6

2

BU 1st

2

2

0

0

24

6

BU Men’s 3rd

2

3

Bath 3rd

3

1

0

2

-7

3

W

D

L

GD

Pts

Bath Uni Women’s 2nd

7

Western Conference Cup

BU Men’s 2nd

0

Swansea Men’s 2nd

Western 2A

Cardiff Met Uni Men’s 2nd

1

P 4

BU 3rd

1

0

0

1

-1

0

5

BU 2nd

2

0

0

2

-2

0

6

Southampton 1st

1

0

0

1

-3

0

BU Women’s 2nd

Western Con. Cup

91 P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

4

So’ton 3rd

2

1

0

1

-38

3

5

BU 2nd

2

0

0

2

-4

0

6

So’ton 2nd

2

0

0

2

-24

0

RUGBY UNION

GOLF Premier South

Buck. New Mixed 1st

5

BU Mixed 1st

1

P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

1

BU 1st

2

2

0

0

8

6

2

UUW Newp’ 1st

2

2

0

0

5

6

3

Exeter 1st

2

1

1

0

4

4

TENNIS Premier South

3

So’ton Solent 1st

Bristol 1st

Western 1A

BU Men’s 2nd

1

4

FOOTBALL

2

Western 2A

Plymouth Men’s 1st

7

38

P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

6

UCP Marjons 1st

4

2

0

2

-36

6

7

BU 1st

4

0

0

4

-70

0

8

UWE 2nd

4

0

0

4

-121

0

SQUASH Western 3A

Cardiff Met Men’s 1st

BU Men’s 1st

4

BU Women’s 1st

0

P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

Swansea women’s 1st

4

BU Men’s 1st

8

P

W

D

L

GD

Pts

6

Swansea 1st

3

1

-

2

4

3

1

Bath 1st

3

3

0

0

28

9

7

Cardiff 1st

3

0

-

3

-10

0

2

UExeter 1st

2

1

0

1

8

3

8

BU 1st

3

0

-

3

-12

-1

3

BU 1st

2

1

0

1

-8

3

Western 1A

BU Women’s 2nd P

Glouc.

Women’s 1st

12 W

D

L

GD

0

BUSC POINTS 20

Cambridge

League

Cup

Indiv.

Total

647

0

16

663

Pts

21

Sheffield

620

6

29

655

Bournemouth

593

45

12

650

1

Bath 2nd

3

3

0

0

28

9

22

2

Cardiff 1st

3

2

0

1

12

6

23

Sheffield Hal’

634

6

0

640

3

BU 2nd

3

2

0

1

4

6

24

Liverpool

629

0

0

629

34 sport

Thursday 8 November 2012| The Rock

A world of sport Moto GP This weekend sees the conclusion of the Moto GP season. Even though Jorge Lorenzo has already been crowned World Champion, there’s still a lot to race for in Valencia.

Lorenzo has not finished below second place all year, and he’ll want to end the season with a bang, well, not literally.

The Spaniard has not won since Misano however, and it’s his last chance to beat retiring Casey Stoner, before the No. 27 rides away from the sport. And the pundits are correct, the spotlight isn’t going to stay on Lorenzo for long. Will Rossi’s return to Yamaha and Marquez’ move to Repsol Honda overshadow Lorenzo’s title claiming season?

Ash Hover examines what’s happening this week across the globe including action in football’s Europa League and the start of a southern hemisphere clash in cricket

Europa League Back in Europa League action at White Hart Lane, Spurs face a mustwin game against the Slovenian League’s Maribor, who held Andre Villas-Boas’s men 1-1 just two weeks ago. Another slip up like Saturday’s home loss to Wigan could see the Lilywhites drop out of Europe altogether.

Liverpool face a tough trip to Anzhi Mackhachkala, where a win would reinforce the reds’ lead at the top of the table. Brendan Rogers must be wary of the threat of Lacina Traore - The Ivorian measures in at a Peter Crouch topping 6”8! Thankfully for Liverpool fans and staff, Anzhi play their European games in Moscow’s Lokomotiv Stadium, as UEFA forbid the Russian Side from playing their home games in the Russia’s Republic of Dagestan due to security concerns.

Newcastle, who are in action against Belgian side, Club Brugge, tonight, could move a massive five points clear at the top of Group D with a win at the Jan Breydel Stadium.

Cricket Australia Today sees the start of the first test series between Australia and South Africa from the Brisbane Cricket Ground. The last test series between the two sides ended with a share of the spoils and both teams will be hoping to move up the test rankings.

The Protea’s are currently top of the rankings, with the Aussies sitting just below England in 3rd position.

Senna-esque Vettel stuns Abu Dhabi Ash Hover

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is, according to numerous racing pundits, the race of the year, and I have to say I agree. Whoever doubted it? The script was already written, and this was the perfect chance for Sebastian Vettel to prove his critics wrong; that he can provide an overtaking masterclass worthy of Aryton Senna.

The German mathematician was DQ’d from the whole of qualifying and downgraded to the back of the pack on Saturday afternoon. A show of expertise from Christian Horner resulted in the Red Bull team principal pulling Vettel’s car out of Parc Ferme, meaning the Championship leader had to start Sunday’s race from the pit lane. If you didn’t follow F1, you’d be let off the hook for thinking this was a bad thing, but in fact, this was a brilliant tactic from the Red Bull team.

Withdrawing Vettel from Parc Ferme brought with it a number of positives. The crew could alter anything on his RB8, for instance, they could change his gearbox, his gear ratio, his wing, anything on

the car set-up to help him recover from the back of the pack, and without these set-up changes, who knows whether Vettel would be able to finish the race twenty-one places ahead of where he started.

Although it’s fair to say he had his fair share of luck, no-one can take his podium finish away from him.

“He must be the luckiest man in F1” said Lewis Hamilton after the race, presumably ruing his rivals good fortune. Not only was Hamilton forced to retire from the lead after losing power in his MP4-27, Webber was also spun out after a collision late in the race, and add this to the safety car deployment too, what more could have gone Vettel’s way? Well, he was also fortunate to keep his car on the road, after losing an end-plate off his front wing from pushing so hard.

As any great of sportsman would say though, you’ve got to take any luck you can get.

F1 heads to the new $400million Austin track on the November 16 for the penultimate race of the season, where Vettel could make it a hattrick and become only the third man in history to take home the Drivers Championship three times in a row.

At only twenty-five years of age, the world is his oyster.

Name

POSITION

Sebastian Vettel is on course to win his third consectutive Fourmula 1 Championship title with Red Bull RONNO

sport 35

The Rock | Thursday 8 November 2012

Breaking through

Josh Carmichael Carmichael has earned his place in Bournemouth’s first team AFCB

Road trip for Bournemouth The AFC Bournemouth squad will have to endure a few more miles on the motorway after the Cherries were handed an away tie against Carlisle in the second round of the FA Cup. Eddie Howe’s side will be travelling north to Brunton Park for the second time this season after they enjoyed a 4-2 success there in October.

The Cherries secured a comfortable 4-0 home win against Dagenham and Redbridge last Saturday in the first round with goals from Josh McQuoid, Marc Pugh and Wes Fogden.

Meanwhile, Greg Abbott’s Cumbrians also enjoyed a relatively stress-free route into round two with a 4-2 victory against non-league Ebbsfleet United.

The game is scheduled to take place on Saturday, December 1 and means that the club will now have three successive away journeys up north, with the Carlisle game sandwiched between visits to Bury and Scunthorpe United.

Craig Rodhouse

A club that prides itself on the development of young players, AFC Bournemouth are showing no signs of letting up any time soon.

Josh Carmichael is the latest youngster to progress through the Cherries’ youth pipeline with the 18-year-old already boosting five first team starts and a Scotland under 16 cap to his name.

Despite making his professional debut for the club in September 2011, Carmichael has seen his Cherries career come on leaps and bounds in the current campaign. The ballplaying centre midfielder has made first team appearances against Walsall, Coventry and Crawley this season and was delighted with the progress he has made.

“I’ve only been back since September after a long injury and so to be in the first team and doing what I’m doing so far is really good for me. I think I’ve surpassed the expectations of myself really, so I’m very happy.”

But Carmichael hasn’t let his involvement with the first team get to his head and is instead helping to transfer his experience to other members of the youth squad.

“It’s a brilliant experience. You see the players in the first team, you learn so much from them and then you feel like you’ve got to be the bigger player and teach the others what you’ve learnt.”

The Cherries’ youth squad is currently controlled by Ross Embleton and former first team boss Paul Groves. Carmichael was quick

to acknowledge the hard work that the pair undertake at Dean Court.

“They put in so much effort and they do so much for us and help to improve us and get us where we want to be.

“Their main aim is to get us where we want to be and they want to see us push through and get into that first team.

“I think if you’re good enough then you’re old enough and you should be in that first team and doing your thing.”

Embleton, who only joined the Cherries in the summer as the club’s new youth team manager, has already seen enough from Carmichael to believe that the youngster can realise his true potential in the coming years.

“ I think if you’re good

enough then you’re old enough and you should be in that first team and doing your thing

”

“Josh has really kicked on and managed to get himself into the first team,” said Embleton.

“Now you want him to keep being the good character he is. He’s a very talented player, but a big part of success now for young players is the individual characters that they are.

“He’s got a long way to go before he’s the finished article by any stretch, but having got to know him since I’ve been here I think he’s got a very good chance to progress.”

Junior Cherries enjoy a special half-term treat Craig Rodhouse Young AFC Bournemouth supporters were in for a half-term treat in October when the club hosted an open training session at the Goldsands Stadium.

Members of the Junior Cherries club were invited along to Dean Court last Monday to watch Eddie Howe’s side train and were then given the opportunity to meet with some of their favourite Cherries’ stars.

Forward Matt Tubbs, a Bournemouth supporter himself, was better placed than most to pass judgement on the success of events such as these.

“It’s good. It allows the kids to come along to see what we do on a day-to-day basis and to see what we do as a job,” he said.

“Obviously we’re on a good run at the moment and so hopefully we can encourage these youngsters to keep coming back.”

Defender Charlie Daniels shared Tubbs’ sentiments about the importance of giving younger Cherries’ fans a better outlook on what goes on behind the scenes at the club.

“It’s very important. It’s nice when they’ve got a break to come and see us train and I think it can improve them as kids if they want to be a professional footballer,” said Daniels.

Like Tubbs, Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe was also once a Junior Cherries fan himself.

Howe was therefore delighted to give the current supporters an experience that he would have loved when he was sitting in the stands.

“It’s great for young Cherries’ fans to see the team train and that’s something as a young kid and a Cherries’ fan myself that I would

have absolutely loved, so hopefully they take something from that,” said Howe.

“Seeing the team train means you almost get to see behind the scenes at a professional football club, which is quite rare and something that I’m sure all supporters would like to see.

Howe believes that days like these aren’t just for the supporters, revealing that they also have a positive effect on the playing squad.

“I think it was good from the players’ perspective too to train in front of a crowd.

“It keeps the lads on their toes knowing there are people watching them and probably assessing them, seeing how they do in training and seeing what their attitude is like.

“It was great to see so many Cherries’ fans here and hopefully they’ve enjoyed it as well.”

And who knows, there may have been a future AFC Bournemouth star amongst them.

A word from

Richard Hughes

The Rock’s newest columnist gives an insight into what makes a good manager What makes a good manager? A master tactician who can change a game with a timely substitution or a leader capable of inspiring a team to victory against all the odds? For me, the clue is in the title – a good manager can manage individuals, groups and situations.

During my career I have played under a few different managers, all with different approaches and styles, but two who stand out are Sean O’Driscoll and Harry Redknapp.

Sean took over at Dean Court when I was a young player, and I really enjoyed working with him. He was always thinking about the game and looking to find an edge over the opposition. He was also a teacher and someone who helped me develop and improve.

When you watch his teams, you can see what he wants from them. I think that’s the mark of a good manager when his side has a clear identity and you can see what they’ve been working on in training from Monday to Friday.

Harry is an excellent man-manager.

He knows how to make people tick and how to get the best out of them. There are plenty of examples from his time at Portsmouth, with the best probably being Paul Merson. Most people thought his best days were behind him, but he played some of the finest football of his career at Fratton Park.

What Harry probably doesn’t get enough credit for is his reading of the game. He knows the strengths and weaknesses of his players, and more often than not he picks the right team to get a result. I haven’t played since Eddie Howe came back to Bournemouth because of injury, but he’s clearly a very talented manager. I’ve known him for a long time and he was a deeper thinker even in his early twenties, and some of those traits are the ones that have made him so successful.

Management is something I have considered and I would love to manage my own team, but you can never predict what is going to happen in football.

For some young managers things fall into place very quickly and they go on to enjoy long and successful careers, while some never manage again after they lose their first jobs.

However, if an exciting opportunity presented itself and the circumstances were right and, it is something I would find very difficult to turn down.

36 sport

Thursday 8 November 2012 | The Rock

Is Eddie about to sign ex-Cherry trio?

I don’t believe it!

Jackpot cards Tennis players can rake in almost $2million for winning Wimbledon, golfers go home with $1.45million from the Open Championship and the winner of the Tour de France pockets a a tidy $583,000.

The World Series of Poker is making these sports look silly as latest champion Greg Merson has won a staggering $8.5million. That’s double all those championships combined.

He survived a marathon of nearly 12 hours before finally clinching the extortionate prize money. Along the way he wiped 6,598 players from the field to become the sole victor.

Turn to page 30 to see who else is making big money

Positive finish to Pirates’ season Alex Smith

Brett Pitman is just one ex-Cherry who may be on his way back to the south-coast side. But will Howe be making the move for him soon? AFCB

Craig Rodhouse AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe could be set to swoop for three former Cherries stars as he aims to build a new-look side at the Goldsands Stadium.

Howe is believed to be interested in bringing former stars Anton Robinson, Brett Pitman and Marvin Bartley back to their spiritual home in the current loan window as he looks to continue the side’s surge up the table.

All three played under Howe during his first managerial spell at the club, when the Cherries secured promotion from League Two in 2010 and then reached the League One play-offs in the following season.

The trio enjoyed extremely successful spells on the south coast during their time at Dean Court but have never been able to recapture their form since moving on to pastures new.

Robinson has struggled to make an impact since moving to Huddersfield and is yet to make a first-team appearance this season, whilst Bartley and Pitman have also failed to hold down first team places at Burnley and Bristol City respectively.

It now looks as though Howe may be ready to give them the opportunity to resurrect their careers back at Dean Court, as he looks to reassemble the side that he initially inherited during his first spell at the club.

Cherries striker Josh McQuoid was another member of Howe’s former squad that decided to rejoin the club this season after leaving for Millwall

in 2011. The 22-year-old has reaped the rewards of his decision to come back home.

The forward only managed one goal during his spell at The Den, but already has three strikes to his name this season despite being played out wide for the majority of the campaign.

Howe will be hoping that Robinson, Pitman and Bartley will enjoy similar success, should he decide to re-sign the ex-Cherries trio.

Turn to page 35 to read Richard Hughes’ latest football column

AFCB face Rovers Eddie Howe’s reinvigorated Cherries side head to in-form Doncaster on Saturday hoping to climb the table even further.

Just like AFC Bournemouth, The Rovers have been in scintillating form, so when two of the league’s most in-form clubs meet at the Keepmoat Stadium this weekend a dog fight is expected. Dean Saunder’s side will be hoping to push into the automatic promotion places, whereas Howe’s team are still trying to clean up the mess left by the former management staff.

Both sides progressed in the cup last week and are due to face League One opposition in the second round, but for now, thoughts turn back to league action, and the chase for illustrious Championship football next season.

Poole Pirates may have missed out on play-off final glory, but they rounded off an eventful campaign by winning Elite League Knockout Cup for the third year in a row.

Poole were without key riders in the shape of Chris Holder and Darcy Ward, who were unavailable due to injury, but secured a comfortable victory over Coventry Bees at Wimborne Road.

It has also been a season to remember for team captain Holder who became world champion last month in the Polish city of Torun, after topping the Speedway Grand Prix rostrum.

Meanwhile, promoter Matt Ford has wasted little time making plans for the next campaign and is reportedly close to making his first signing of the close season.

Ford, who has helped the Pirates to ten major trophies since 2001, is also hopeful of keeping Ward.

The talented young rider has been handed a wild card entry into the 2013 Grand Prix series.

The Poole-based businessman is also believed to be keen to secure the services of 17-year-old Pole Piotr Pawlicki as his side look to wrestle the Elite League title away from Swindon next term. The new season will start in March.