Exeposé Freshers Issue 2012

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Exeposé grills Nick Clegg on his politics, policies and plans

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Lifestyle: Guides to clubbing and dining in Exeter - PAGES 13-14

Screen: Get your film fix in Exeter’s cinemas - PAGE 20

Sport: Meet the AU club captains - PAGE 32

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Beds on campus increase 40% in three years Simon Dewhurst Senior Reporter A THREE YEAR building programme to dramatically increase the number of beds on Streatham campus has been completed.

There are now over 5,500 rooms available for new and returning students, representing an increase of almost 40 per cent since 2009.

The £130m development has been part of the University’s commitment to reduce pressure on the city’s housing by accommodating more students on campus.

The project aimed to cater for a range of accommodation styles and budgets with all students now able to apply for a room.

Streatham Campus has been the focal point of the investment with Lafrowda, Duryard and Birks Grange experiencing the largest developments during the period. The enhanced en-suite and studio rooms offer accommodation with an emphasis on the latest sustainable living technology.

The University’s accommodation policy has had a mixed record in recent years. After residences were overcrowded in 2009, there was further

Photo: Zoe Bulaitis

controversy in early 2011 when many students moved out of Lafrowda as a result of noise issues caused by the building works.

In February 2012, students claimed that accommodation was “outrageously overpriced” after the announcement that some rooms in Holland Hall would cost over £200 a week for this academic year.

5,500

The number of rooms now available for new and returning students A third year Drama student said: “My living arrangements in first year were awful. I ended up living almost an hour’s walk away from campus in privately rented accommodation because I couldn’t afford the only option the University was able to offer me. I can only hope that the new rooms on campus will prevent this happening again for other students.”

Nicola Baker, Accommodation Contracts Manager, commented: “The University recognises that the provision of quality accommodation is an important part of student life and is key to the overall student experience.” >> The University now has over 5,500 rooms available for new and returning students

Fringe triumph for University Theatre Co. Photo: EUTCo

Helen Carrington Senior Reporter EXETER UNIVERSITY THEATRE COMPANY (EUTCo) has returned to campus after a successful summer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it was awarded second place for Best Show by U-Review with its sell-out production, Breathing Corpses.

EUTCo now has a history of success at the Fringe, which is the world’s largest arts festival. The company’s achievement follows last year’s success with Motortown, and the previous year’s with Bluebird, both of which received fivestar reviews.

The Public Reviews described

Breathing Corpses, directed by Daisy Rodger and Flora Marston as “simply and effectively staged and well-acted throughout”.

The website EdFringeReview described the acting as “impeccable”, while U-Review praised the production as “deep, powerful and poignant”.

Deriving its title from a quotation from Sophocles, “When a man has lost all happiness, he’s not alive. Call him a breathing corpse”, Laura Wade’s contemporary drama follows the talkative Amy, a hotel cleaner, after she discovers a body in a hotel room.

The drama is constructed from the overlapping of three plotlines, which examine the effects of death on the lives and relationships of the seven characters,

played by students Emma Killip, Sam Rix, Chloe Young, Alex Appleby, Rosa Brooks, Tom Chapman and Dan Hartley.

Emma Killip, who played Amy, commented: “Breathing Corpses was hard work and one of the most demanding things I have had to do during my time at Exeter, but it’s easily been the most rewarding.

“Being in Edinburgh as well, you are just surrounded by theatre so it’s been enriching with regards to my degree too.”

Daisy Rodger, a co-director, added: “Neither Flora nor I have directed anything before, so for a first experience Breathing Corpses was a pretty great thing to have as a first attempt.

“I am so proud of what we achieved in Edinburgh.”

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• Great Hall re-opens after over two years of closure

• Major international artists to play city venues in the next term...

Revival for Great Hall Phil Thomas News Editor

>> Newton Faulkner is playing the Great Hall on 20 October

THE coming term promises to be exciting for music lovers as many internationally acclaimed acts will be performing in Exeter.

This in part is due to the re-opening of the 1,435 capacity Great Hall, which sits at the top of Streatham Campus.

The Great Hall is run by EventExeter, and had been closed for over two years as part of the £48 million Forum Project renovation works.

With a varied selection of major international artists set to grace the stage in the Great Hall there is something to please nearly every musical taste.

Folk-rock fans can look forward to Newton Faulkner performing in the Great Hall on 20 October for £19.

Metalheads will be thrilled that Shinedown are due to play in the Great Hall on 25 October with tickets at £17.

The old-school rock band Thin Liz-

Great Hall history

Before it closed in late 2009 as part of the Forum Project development, the Great Hall played host to a number of internationally-renowned artists - a sure selling-point for all prospective students.

Since then, only a spattering of artists have played in the Lemon Grove, while Streatham’s biggest venue, which is run by EventExeter, remained empty for years.

zy will also be performing on the 16 December, with tickets at £26.

Electronic music enthusiasts can watch the award winning DJ Fresh will a live set at the Lemon Grove on No, with tickets at £15.

During Freshers Week on 20 September, Brookes Brothers will perform along with Fred V & Grafix, who are both alumni of the University, at the Cellar Door with tickets priced at a reasonable £5.

The most inclusive electronic night of this term will be held at the Exeter Phoenix on 3 November, as Drum and Bass promoters Rinseout will hold their last act of the year with DJs including Danny Byrd, Dilinja, S.P.Y, Hazard and many more.

Jon Bagnall, VP Participation and Campuses, said: “I hope we will be the start of more big acts coming to Exeter.”

Students’ Guild undergoes rebrand Beccy Smyth News Editor THE Students’ Guild has rebranded, as part of a strategy to standardise and strengthen its visual identity campuswide.

The revamps include an updated logo, a reinvigorated website design, and a new ‘Students’ Guild’ painting outside the Ram. The changes were implemented before the current Sabbatical Officers came into office. However, the new team have expressed enthusiasm about what they consider to be positive and necessary re-branding.

Nick Davies, Guild President, said he was a “massive fan” of the new standardised Guild image, which can be seen consistently throughout all Guild outlets.

Davies commented: “I remember sitting in Coffee and Cake and being able to see three or four different brand

logos. Now we have one standard design, strengthening the Guild identity to both students and the wider community.”

In keeping with its new visual identity, the Guild’s website has now been updated. After Freshers Week, the ‘Have Your Say’ section, instigated by last year’s sabbatical officers, will feature as the front page of the website.

“We now have one standard design, strengthening the Guild identity to both students and the wider community” Nick Davies, Guild President Imogen Sanders, VP Academic Affairs, commented on the new design: “The website’s accessible format and bright, inviting, cosmetic look make getting involved and reaching us even easier.”

Davies agreed: “The new front page will encourage students to put forward

motions and ideas and take part in the decision-making process. After all, this is the Students’ Guild, so the students should have the biggest say.”

As an additional change this year, Guild staff will now wear either Guild lanyards or a uniform, which will enable students to recognise staff more easily around campus. Sanders said: “We hope students feel they can approach us and catch us for a chat whenever they like!”

Jon Bagnall, VP Participation and Campuses, suggested that the recent relocation of the activities and volunteering offices to Devonshire House will further increase engagement between students and the Guild. “I personally think we can now say that the Guild finally has a home. Devonshire House is full of Guild outlets and services which are directed at and run by students. This will enable students to engage more easily with the Guild and take full advantage of what the Guild has to offer.”

>> The new Students’ Guild logo and website, which have been rolled out for the new term

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University launches iExeter app Photo: Zoe Bulaitis

National student protest planned Lucy Gibson THE NATIONAL UNION OF STUDENTS (NUS) is rousing students to take action against the government’s “systematic attack” on education by marching through London on Wednesday 27 November. The march will be the first national protest since the tuition fee protests in 2010.

In a provoking speech via video link, Liam Burns, NUS President stated: “[Students] have a lot to be angry about”.

News of the planned protest follows national anger towards the coalition’s hike in university fees, with some claiming the rise correlates to the 8.7 per cent drop in university applications this year.

Hannah Paine, a second year student, concedes that despite not being happy about the rise in costs “we get one of the best university educations in the world second to the USA and only pay a fifth for it”.

Omid Miri, a second year politics student, stated: “The point of university education is that it’s an investment: you study for three years in order to get a good degree which propels you into a job with a good wage so you can repay your loan or earn back what you paid. There is nothing objectionable about the tuition fees rise”.

Exeter joins NUS-led Children In Need campaign Callum McLean Music Editor EXETER is taking part in an NUS-led campaign to fundraise for Children In Need.

The incentive, tagged 'Pounds for Pudsey', sees the National Union of Students partner with the National Student Fundraising Association to raise money for the BBC charity.

"When some students’ unions regularly raise over £1,000,000 a year we’d like to think that together, we can make a real difference to the thousands of local charities supported by BBC Children in Need in your local area.”

Jon Bagnall, VP Participation & Campuses has embraced the campaign: "We want students to help us raise as much money as possible and contribute to an overall ‘University of Exeter’ grand total which we will send to Children in Need on the 16th November".

"If you have any new, exciting and wacky ideas on how to raise money, contact me via guildparticipation@ exeter.ac.uk."

Tom Payne Editor RETURNING students can now benefit from the launch of ‘iExeter, the “new app for everyday campus life”.

The free app for smart phones provides students with up-to-date personalised information and services, including PC availability and timetables.

The launch follows in the wake of numerous strategies to improve the vis-

ibility of the Students’ Guild on campus.

It includes full listings of Freshers Week events, as well as information about campus accommodation, the student health centre, libraries and key contacts. The app also features a ‘to do list’ for new students.

Students have reacted positively to the launch of the new app. Lewis Ireland, a third year Physics student, said: “Having iExeter on my iPhone means I have an up-to-date personalised timetable in my pocket; no

more missing rescheduled lectures!

“The maps feature will come in handy when trying to find new lecture rooms. A push into the smart phone age by the University!” iExeter also allows students to access their library accounts and search the library catalogue.

Nick Davies, Guild President, said: “The app mobilises the ability for students to effectively study across campus, without the need to

carry a laptop, or needlessly heading to a PC cluster only to find it is full.”

“The Freshers events guide is extensive. If used alongside the ‘Map’ function, it is a quick way to find out where the event is and how to get there.” iExeter can be downloaded from most app stores and is available for iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices. There is also a web version of the app that can be accessed on any Internet enabled device, for phones which use alternative platforms.

Exeter awarded for tackling unemployment Rebecca Lodder EXETER UNIVERSITY has been credited with a prestigious award for its employability programmes, which aim to combat growing post-graduation unemployment.

The University’s recognition was announced ahead of the release of an NUS survey, which suggests that

almost three quarters of new students joining university this year fear being unemployed after leaving higher education. These results reflect worries held by some that a degree may no longer guarantee employment.

The University was also given an award for its Graduate and Development programmes, which aim to offer Exeter students the best chance possible of entering employment once they graduate.

The ‘3-2-1’ workshops, sessions

given to help provide students with skills in independent career planning, and the eXfactor programme, a two-day intensive workshop for first year students, were highlighted aspects of Exeter’s success.

Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive of AGR, said: “Our judges were impressed by the bold, ambitious and innovative thinking behind their development scheme, which provides detailed support to individual students,

finding the right role for them and preparing them for that specific job.”

Mark Gibbs, the English SSLC representative, has already taken advantage of a further employability scheme the University offers, the Exeter Award. He commented: “[The Exeter Award] is an excellent opportunity to gain recognition for some of the extra-curricular activities I had already begun doing in order to improve my employability skills.

Since you’ve been gone... everything you need to know about the news in Exeter this summer Exeter University clearing places made available UNLIKE previous years, the University of Exeter website stated this year that they had “some limited clearing vacancies for well-qualified applicants.”

The website listed clearing vacancies for Home and EU fee-assessed applicants on programmes from departments such as: Arab and Islamic Studies, Archaeology, Classics, Engineering, English, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Physics, Politics, Psychology and Theology.

Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS chief executive, said: “The combination of fewer applicants and the lifting of number controls for higher-achieving candidates means there are many more courses with vacancies in clearing this year.”

On the afternoon of results day, 17 out of the 24 Russell Group members were still advertising places on the UCAS clearing website, with a significant proportion of them being offered at traditionally sought-after institutions such as Exeter, Warwick and Nottingham.

Olympic success for Welsh Wizard

PhD student wins major prize

FORMER Exeter University student Sarah Thomas represented Team GB superbly this summer as she was a part of the women’s hockey team that won a bronze medal.

On the day the squad was announced, she tweeted: “So proud to be part of Team GB and to play at a home Olympics!”

Thomas, 31, played a vital role in the team and scored the final goal that facilitated a 3-1 victory over New Zealand, earning the team their medal.

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER English PhD student, Ginny Baily, has won a major UK literary prize for her debut novel Africa Junction.

Baily was awarded ‘The McKitterick Prize’ which is presented annually to a writer over the age of 40 for a first novel.

Alongside the £4,000 prize money Baily commented: “it means that established and successful writers have chosen my book.

I feel really honoured by that.”

EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS t EXPERIENCE NEW CULTURES t ENHANCE YOUR EMPLOYABILITY t FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE

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“From the basement of the Old Library to the top of the Physics building we want to represent you” We appear every fortnight across campus bringing the news, reviews and debates that matter to Exeter’s student body. We hope that you will regard Exeposé as a companion, standing by your side through whatever comes to pass.

This year promises to be a challenge for Exeposé. There has arguably never been a greater need for independent student journalism in Exeter.

With a new batch of students singing to the tune of £9,000 fees, it’s important for student papers up and down the country to continue their work exposing the good, the bad, and the downright shameful.

Will we be fair? Absolutely. Will we be honest? Always. Will we be objective? Never. All good independent publications stand for a set of beliefs and values that they believe are important. From the basement of the Old Library to the top of the Physics building, we want to represent you the students.

Over the next year, we want Exeposé to become known as an interactive publication recognised for its commitment to high quality journalism and intelligent topical content that matters to the student body.

But Exeposé wouldn’t be the student newspaper it is today without your input, and now has never been a more important time for you to try and get your voice heard.

You can sign up to our mailing lists at the Freshers Squash, join our section groups on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and ‘Like’ us on Facebook.

Anyone can write for our Comment pages, and we’re always on the look out for eager reporters, features writers and reviewers. Dive right in – speaking from experience, you really won’t regret being involved in one of the most important and sociable societies on campus.

Freshers Week, Welcome Week, the first day of uni,whatever you want to call it – no matter what happens, this will be an unforgettable week.

Forget the clichés, Freshers is what you make of it.

The next issue of Exeposé will be out on October 1.

Turn over for some of our favourite front pages from last year Thanks to those who helped proof this issue: William O’ Rourke, Elli Christie, Callum Mclean, James Crouch, Richard Graham and Tom Bond.

The next proofing will be on September 28th.

Disclaimer: This issue was sent to press on Friday 31 August. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of its content, please be aware that any changes in circumstance between this week and Freshers Week cannot be reflected in this paper.

Zoe Bulaitis & Tom Payne Ben Murphie & Ellie Steafel comment@exepose.com

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A note from your Editors

Welcome to Exeter

PINCH yourself. After two years of UCAS applications, open days and exams you have made it to Exeter congratulations!

The University received 25,000 student applications to study this year and the odds were stacked against you.

With 1 in 7 applicants being successful you are one of the lucky 3,500 to secure a place.

The editorial team at Exeposé feels proud to welcome you to this individual city, and hope that the coming weeks and years are filled with much more than reading lists and revision timetables. The time that you have at university is unique and offers countless opportunities that should be relished!

If you are reading this you have obviously discovered Exeposé, your student newspaper. This is your first opportunity waiting to happen.

Reading, writing or proofing your university newspaper is a great way to be involved in something bigger than yourself or your chosen academic course.

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As Exeposé goes online, we look ahead to the coming year and what you can expect from your student newspaper...

HERE at Exeposé, we go to great lengths to ensure that we represent the student body as well as we can.

Every fortnight, our editors will e-mail ‘content calls’ to our members, offering ideas for articles and inviting our writers to pitch suggestions. At the start of the year, before exams and essay deadlines kick in, we get an incredibly large amount of content sent by our writers and have a comparatively small amount of space to print all of them in the newspaper.

Often, as much as it pains us, articles that we don’t have space for, but are worthy of print, cannot fit into the newspaper.

This can lead to a negative perception from some that Exeposé is produced by a small band of students not entirely representative of the student body. In the few cases where this is

true, this is not our intention. Exeposé can only be as good as we want it to be if we have a large number of contributors, and it’s often difficult to sustain our large amount of writers across the year with the print edition alone.

“The website provides you with even more ways to get your voice heard” So this summer we’ve been working alongside a whole new team of online editors to get Exeposé’s website up and running. Replacing the nowdefunct X-Media Online, the website provides you with even more ways to get your voice heard. Full credit must be given to Craig Browne and Ellie Swingewood, Exeposé’s new Site

Managers, and Luke Appleton the web designer, who have worked tirelessly on the website over the Summer and will run the online operation for the next year. You can contact them at sitemanagers@exepose.com.

While we’re eager to have our website reflect the content of Exeposé’s print edition, we hope the website will become a different beast entirely.

Head over to the website for rolling news coverage, surveys, polls and extra interactive content. Over the next year, Exeposé’s online arm will expand and develop, offering our readers and writers more opportunities to contribute and interact with the paper.

It’s certainly a very exciting time for student media in Exeter.

A big welcome to our new online editors, and here’s to the year ahead!

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Exeposé

You’re only as fresh as you feel Don’t believe the Freshers Week myths. Students offer advice from the other side...

Sorrel Cookson WELCOME budding Freshers to - let’s face it – one of the best universities around! So you’ve just about recovered from the anxiety of the long-awaited Alevel results day and now you’ve completed the big move to university. What was in store for you after 16 August

“Freshers Week is both one of the weirdest and greatest weeks you’ll have at Exeter ... you’ll meet a ton of new people, some of whom will become your closest friends” was even more nail-biting anxiety about becoming a Fresher. Will I fit in? What will my new flatmates be like? What is it even like to be a student at Exeter?

We’ll cover all that soon enough but first things first... congratulations!

After all the stress and all the hard work you’ve put in over the past few years you can finally relax a little - you’ve made it! So what’s in store for you in your first week?

Well apart from the obvious adjustment for most of us - leaving home for

Ben Murphie Deputy Editor SO your room door has swung shut and your parents’ car has trundled away from your accommodation. What now?

The overwhelming sensation might be one of apprehension and uncertainty, no close friends, a new course to start, a new life to organise.

The most important thing to remember is that, in Freshers Week,

the first time - you’re also going to be meeting a myriad of new people and getting the chance to be involved in loads of new societies, from politics to pole dancing, you name it, Exeter’s probably got it. And if that’s not enough for you, you’re also one of the few people on earth who is lucky enough to experience Arena in all its glory, including its rather distinctive smell and all that it has to offer on a Cheesy Tuesday.

What more could you want from your first week of university life?

In all seriousness, Freshers Week is both one of the weirdest and greatest weeks you’ll have at Exeter. It becomes such a blur after your first term, which is meant in the best possible way. The new experience of university life mixed with meeting a ton of new people, many of whom you’ll probably never see or speak to again and some of whom will become some of your closest friends, creates what is a very unique and at times strange experience. Despite its strangeness, being a Fresher is undoubtedly one of the most nerve-wracking but above all exciting experiences.

Good luck for the beginning of an exciting new chapter! everyone around you is in exactly the same situation. Whilst some are good at pretending that all of their experiences are an extension of an episode of Geordie Shore, everybody is just as nervous as you and hoping against hope that they will fit in. Whilst there will be many stories floating around about how Freshers Week is a debauched tidal wave of booze and mayhem, its also a great opportunity to meet people that you would never nor-

Imogen Sanders VP Academic Affairs

place here and proved you’ve got the ability to achieve amazing things. That said, adapting to a more independent style of learning isn’t easy, and you are expected to take charge of your work in ways you may not have been at school. You may have less contact hours, for example, but that also means more freedom to pick and choose and explore what you enjoy studying. This certainly needn’t be an isolated experience either; you are part of a much larger research community, and surrounded by networks of people

who are all interested in pursuing and furthering their education. So see this as an opportunity, and remember that if you ever feel overwhelmed, there is plenty of support available to you, not least from myself. Exeter sees students as active participants in all aspects of their academic lives, and at the Students’ Guild we work closely with the university to gather feedback and make changes. If any aspect of your learning could be improved, or just isn’t what you want, let myself and subject reps know. Best of luck - you’ll be great!

ALL freshers are bombarded with student-crafted advertising, designed solely for the surrender of our student loans. No wonder we are so quick to part with our pennies, when posters displaying such wit as “do you like to get inside tight, wet holes?” (or words to that effect, used last year for the Caving Society) are there to tempt us.

The trick is to know what you want, and why you want it. Sounds easy, right? You may think “I want to join the Cocktail Society because, great, there’s a society dedicated to a

student staple”. Upon second thoughts, if you are more of a Jägerbomb connoisseur, the joining fee could cover two of your favourite tipple on a night out. At least this way you are guaranteed a short term mind-altering thrill, as opposed to spending but never attending.

Be society savvy and seize the opportunity to go the taster sessions available. Last year, I went along to Ultimate Frisbee and got hit in the head, but hey, at least I gave it a go and found that it wasn’t actually my thing before signing up. You may go along to Chess and realise you can’t tell a king from a

prawn (or something like that…) but at least you didn’t pay before you play.

I urge you not to be like a fresher let loose in Arena and crave everything that just “looks good”. Be sure you will actually attend what you pay for, unless of course you are content with simply being a member of Skydiving or Pole Dancing, without experiencing any action. Otherwise, you may kick yourself, having realised at the end of the year that you could have spent more on those student essentials, like tequila and face paint.

So, be wise with what you join, but make sure you join something!

mally get the chance to. Whilst some will be instantly likeable and others not so much, every new person you meet is an opportunity to learn something new about yourself.

Your ears will be sore with advice on what societies you should join, but the most important thing is to actually join some. Try something that you have never done before, it will be a new experience at best and a good story for the pub at worst.

It can’t be denied that alcohol is a social lubricant and can be useful to grease the wheels of creaky and awkward conversation moments in pre-lash doorways. However, everybody knows that after enough vodka and Red Bulls, you are about as interesting as an inert slab of meat covered in vomit.

People will also be looking for company to ease the late night loneliness of their new rooms and whilst its important for you to make your own

decisions, its also important to know that you don’t have to rush them.

The confidence to be yourself is impossible to maintain at all times, but it makes for the most rewarding experiences in the end. Spending too much time trying to be what others expect of you leaves little time for your own enjoyment and wellbeing.

AS VP Academic Affairs, I’d like to welcome all our new students and offer my congratulations to you on attaining your places. Exeter boasts some of the UK’s most competitive and highly regarded courses, and I’d urge you to always remember the success you’ve already had by getting here today. Embarking on this next level of study may present a few challenges, but never forget you’ve earned your

Jessica Randall

Some of our favourite issues from last year...

March 2011: Exeter University becomes one of the June 2011: Exeposé finds that the AU failed to acfirst to raise its fees to £9,000 per annum count for financial irregularities leading to the resignation of former AU President Josh Belsher.

Read back issues online: issuu.com/exepose

March 2012: Exeter University joins the Russell Group

May 2012: The Queen returns to Exeter University, for the first time in 17 years, to open the £48m Forum Project

Exeposé

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Photo: Zoe Bulaitis

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Bored in Freshers Week?

Get creative with Exeposé The Exeposé team explores Ten different things to do with your student paper.

Whether you need a boat, a peep-hole or a make-shift bra, we’ve got it covered...

1. Cut holes to view

prospective friends/ lovers

The gauntlet of constant introductions to new people/ prospective conquests during Freshers Week is exhausting at best. Two slyly cut holes in a copy of Exeposé can provide ample opportunity to covertly assess potential chums and partners whilst maintaining aloofnes. Use in public places for maximum effect.

2. Use as toilet paper

Should you find yourself lacking in a loo in halls, Exeposé could come in handy if you’ve had a cheeky curry.

3. Make an Admiral’s hat:

The neat folding of a leftover Exeposé can easily transform you into a king of the high seas. Useful for practising a confident and commanding presence for seminars. Be ready to raise mast and set sail for study.

4. Make a boat

The South West is notorious for its inclement weather during the autumn months. A copy of Exeposé, niftily folded, can make a buoyant vehicle with which you can be conveyed to lectures. Water-tightness cannot be guaranteed.

5. Use as

emergency clothing

With the huge socialising opportunities available throughout Freshers week, you may end up suddenly finding yourself in a conjugal situation.

Should the necessity to beat a hasty morning retreat occur without time to collect your clothing, some swiftly acquired scissors and tape will transform a copy of Exeposé into a fine undergarment with which you can cover your modesty and march confidently back to student accommodation. Do not tumble dry or machine wash. Colours may run. Dry Clean only. Etc...

6. Use as a vomit receptacle 8. Build a fort

The youthful abandon of Freshers may lead to excessive consumption of alcohol. Fear not however, as with a few simple origami twists, your copy of Exeposé can be folded into a handy bowl to catch any gastric pollutions and save your carpet.

7. Use as taxidermy stuffing

To lesson the nostalgic pull of home, why not use a chopped up Exeposé as a means to preserve sentiment by stuffing a deceased family pet to take up loyal residence in your room?

You can awaken your inner child by using Exeposé to create a homely fort.

Ideal for use during thunderstorms.

9. Make a cricket bat

For those inevitably hard to fill hours of down time, a smartly folded Exeposé can be used as a hearty bat in raucous games of hallway cricket.

10. Mummify a friend

Proving a versatile material for costume events. Use a copy of Exeposé to encase a friend and bring a dead Pharaoh to life.

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Interview: Nick Clegg answers our questions James Crouch, Features Editor, grills the Deputy Prime Minister on his politics, policies and plans

The Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP NICK CLEGG, 45, has been Deputy Prime Minister since 11 May 2010 and leader of the Liberal Democrats for five years.

He is one of the first Liberals to attend Cabinet since the Second World War. Although young, he has had substantial experience in politics. He was an MEP before he stood down to become Sheffield Hallam’s MP at the 2005 general election. His star continued to rise as he was soon promoted to the frontbench and then finally won the 2007 leadership election by the slimmest of margins. His leadership has seen some of the best and worst polling figures in the Liberal Democrats’ history.

Photo: libdemvoice.org

NOW in office for over 850 days, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, has witnessed perhaps some of the giddiest highs and lows of any political career.

From Cleggmania to despair, he is now one the most mistrusted men in Britain, and Exeposé got an exclusive chance to interview him and hear his side.

In his defence, Clegg is no shrinking violet. After months of constant criticism, it’s surprising how resolute he is in defending himself and his policies. Although not blind to the opposing opinion, he appears strong in his convictions.

The only time Clegg expresses any remorse is over tuition fees. “If you haven’t won an election you can’t deliver everything you want” - the often heard defence of both parties in the Coalition - “totally understandably, people feel ‘well hang on you, said you were going to do this in opposition but you did something else in government’”.

“The kind of shrill vitriol which has been generated over tuition fees has been really quite misleading” But then, perhaps paradoxically, Clegg argues that the changes that have been made were positive: “the kind of shrill vitriol which has been generated by this issue has really been quite misleading... I very much hope after people see how the system works they will see that the gap between what people al-

lege will happen and what actually will happen is actually quite big.” That is of course up to this year’s Freshers to determine, but the true effects of it won’t be discernable for years to come.

Throughout, Nick Clegg is stuck in the undesirable position of being for and against this government - he can’t say he disagrees with what the Coalition is doing, but also wants voters to know that he would do most of it completely differently. What has he actually been prevented from doing?

It’s a question he found difficult to answer, with much ah-ing and er-ing.

Interestingly, his focus for difference is purely economic policy: “we’d probably have been a lot tougher on the bankers, for a start!” followed by “I think fairer taxes would have been delivered more quickly.” But perhaps the lack of an answer led him to stray quickly into the usual line “... but there’s a whole lot of other things we’ve done...” and proceeded to rattle of the list of achievements. “More apprenticeships, pupil premium in schools” and so on. Still, we can’t blame him too much, it’s a tough question to ask without forcing him to break ranks.

But truthfully Mr Clegg is not completely devoid of principle. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as a Liberal Democrat, he passionately believes in the prominent position the government has given foreign aid. “I just don’t agree with this idea that foreign aid just goes somewhere else, and then it just somehow disappears” he proclaims, “I have a gen-

uine view that if you want to stop conflict you’ve got to put up the money to help.” And why should we? “It’s in our interests, and I think it’s a good thing to do morally anyway, ‘cause I think we should always be a compassionate country, with an open heart.” It can sometimes be a hard line to take when faced with agree voters asking awkward questions about aid to India.

“It’s a pretty old fashioned idea, it’s called democracy and I just think we should try a bit of it for once” On House of Lords Reform However, the real difficulties which were hitting the coalition around the time of the interview and have come to a head since is the car crash involving the political reform programme of both coalition parties: House of Lords reform and redrawing the constituency boundaries.

In support of his reform package, Clegg was adamant: “We’ve been talking about this House of Lords stuff for a 100 years for goodness sake, it’s a pretty old fashioned idea, it’s called democracy and I just think we should try a bit of it for once.” His simplistic reasoning sounded even weaker than it reads, but he does have serious criticisms to make of the Lords.

“Apart from the fact that it’s not democratic, the House of Lords is far too big, about 800 people, it’s soon going to

be over a thousand, only the people’s congress in China is bigger!” Continuing his criticism, he concludes “70% of the people are there for no other reason than people like me tell them they can go there, its become a highly politicised place... the biggest single previous job in the Lords is having been an MP.” When pushed at the time on what would happen if the plans were shelved he simply retorted “Well I’m not going to get into what if.” But since then his arguments have fallen on deaf ears and his plans have been scuppered at the hands of Conservative backbenchers. The Lib Dems have since retaliated, claiming tit-for-tat. But this is what he warned at the time shouldn’t happen “If you start picking and mixing, saying ‘I don’t like that bit, I won’t do that, but will do that’ then it doesn’t work, does it? Then everyone starts doing what they like, then the deal falls apart.”

In one he appears to have prophesised how his party reacted to the scrapping of the plans, but also, did he let slip what the eventual fate of this coalition will be? He said that thinking of the Tories, but in truth, it now applies more to them. The backbench rebellion wasn’t planned, but now the Liberal Democrats were the first party to organise destabilisation of the coalition. And as Nick Clegg said, “That’s quite a big thing, it hasn’t happened before”, and yes we are in “slightly unchartered territory,” but it looks like Clegg hay have let slip the logical conclusion of that tit-for-tat row, the end of the Coalition.

Opinion Polls Over his time as leader, the Lib Dem poll ratings have drastically fallen, especially after his decision to join the Conservatives in government. Many have speculated over whether the decline is reversible or terminal.

LibDem support during Clegg’s tenure:

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2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Foreign Aid Liberal Democrats have consistently supported the policy of providing aid to other countries. They are in full agreement with the commitment to spend 0.7% of GDP in foreign aid. In 2011 the government spent £7.8bn in aid, and this is forecasted to go up to £11bn by 2015.

House of Lords Reform The proposals included: - Halving the number of members to 450 - Peers to be elected by region in thirds for 15-year terms - 90 peers (including 12 Church of England Bishops) would remain appointed - All hereditary peers to be abolished

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To infinity and beyond (or just Mars)

Meg Drewett, Features Editor, looks at the recent landmark events in our exploration of the universe Photo: kaspernymand.com

THIS summer, the world as we know it both got a little larger before it sadly became smaller again. For the first time ever, David Bowie’s song came true and there really was life on Mars. Or at least, life in the form of NASA’s Curiosity Rover, which touched down on the red planet after a journey of over 300 million miles, the first machine of its kind with the capacity to beam a human voice back to Earth. However, just weeks after our world grew with the ability to further investigate our neighbouring planet, it became a fraction smaller again with the death of the first man to ever walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong.

“The Mars mission is the most exciting thing to happen in space since Pluto was told that it is no longer a planet” Both are landmark events in the history of our exploration of the galaxy. With the death of Armstrong, we no longer live in a world with the first man to walk on the moon. Armstrong’s achievement on the lunar mission, Apollo 11, was a giant one for the world, carried out by a man who since his death has been remembered as a humble, “reluctant hero” by his family.

During his 21 hours on the moon’s surface, along with fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Armstrong rose from a simple astronaut who came from an aeronautical background, flying 78 combat missions in the Korean War, to the po-

>> NASA’s Curiosity Rover has landed on Mars in one of the most interesting space developments since man landed on the moon.

sition of worldwide icon and the greatest figure of the 20th century. Known for being a reserved man who took his profession seriously, Armstrong epitomised everything that our exploration in space should be: brave, noble and, most importantly, inspiring.

Indeed, it was certainly Apollo 11’s success on the moon that has inspired NASA’s other missions, including Curiosity’s mission to Mars. Now that

the Rover has landed, it begins a two year mission. Its first communications have been a series of photos from the Rover’s position in the Gale Crater on Mars’ surface, taken with one of the 17 telephoto cameras onboard. These were closely followed by the beaming of the pre-recorded message of congratulations by NASA chief Charles Bolden, who said that it was “humankind’s curiosity [that] had led us to constantly

seek new life, new possibilities just beyond the horizon”. This is, it would seem, exactly Curiosity’s mission as the $2.5 billion piece of technology now will attempt to gather further data, reaching far beyond the capabilities of previous Mars’ probes, and search for the possibility of chemical life on the planet.

The Curiosity’s mission on Mars could lead to a much better understand-

ing of the way life might work on other planets, in another step since the moon landing’s to a Star Wars-esque future in space. Indeed, despite having only been on Mars in a mechanical form for a number of months, NASA have already begun to talk about a manned mission to the planet, with NASA chiefs claiming it could occur in the “not too distant future”. What the “not too distant future” could mean in the timeline for a manned mission is highly debatable, but if there is one certainty surrounding the Mars’ mission, it is that America have once again thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to space travel.

Indeed, although other nations, namely China, Russia and India, have all been planning trips to Mars, the United States’ success looks to push other nations even further. The Chinese have already hinted that they are now looking to take their space plans in a different direction. After all, with the Americans having broken the Mars frontier, no other nation wants to play second best. In this way, who knows what the Curiosity Rover’s mission may still inspire within the world’s Space Administrations. For the more common man, however, the Mars mission is the most exciting thing to happen in space since Pluto was harshly told that it is no longer a proper planet. Perhaps, just as Neil Armstrong proved to the world that man could walk amongst the stars, one day we will look back to not just that iconic man, but also the Curiosity’s mission, as the events that inspired us to go and explore even more of our galaxy.

Thoughtless comments are not a laughing matter Imogen Watson asks why politicians don’t seem to be thinking before they speak out about rape WE all know that politicians mess up and the public likes to cringe at them for it. But the majority of us agree that rape isn’t a laughing matter. So why is it that in this day and age, politicians appear to be finding it so easy to let slip inappropriate statements about it?

As many of you will be aware this summer, the American Congressman from Missouri, Todd Akin, who hopes to beat the incumbent Democratic Senator in elections this November, took it upon himself to inform the public on his views on rape. According to Congressman Akin, in cases of “legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down”, by which he meant their reproductive system can prevent pregnancy. His comments have been heavily lambasted and since then, the Congressman has stepped back from his words and admitted that he was “medically wrong”. It is a shame that he has not had the courage or perhaps does

Photo: lucinda-notebook

not feel the need to admit he was also morally so.

Of course, there has been a lot of condemnation of Representative Akin since he made his original comments, and thankfully the President of the United States is one of his opponents stating that “rape is rape”, so all hope for

humanity has not been lost. Yet the very fact that he did not foresee the problem with his statement before he spoke is a massive cause for concern: he clearly thought it would endear him to some voters (and perhaps it might, which is a different, sad story) or it was such a strong opinion of his that it didn’t matter to him what the voters would think. Or it’s a mixture of the two.

Akin is unfortunately not the only one out there in the political sphere with such inappropriate, unjust views. Recently, Respect MP George Galloway referred to the allegations of rape against the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, as a case of “bad sexual etiquette” and “not rape as anyone with any sense can possibly recognise it”. It seems that for some, rape is not widely understood as anything beyond having sex with a woman who said no. But it’s one thing for members of the general public to think this, if indeed they do, but for

someone who leads, or aspires to lead, a group of people to think in such an oldfashioned way is absolutely unacceptable. Having to backtrack after publicly sharing an opinion is never the way to go about spreading accurate knowledge and changing attitudes on a grand scale, or indeed any scale.

“How is it that the views of Akin and others like him exist, let alone are still aired?”

With precise regards to American politics, in a country which gave to its female population the nationwide right to have an abortion almost forty years ago, how is it that the views of Akin and others like him exist, let alone are still aired? Unfortunately such views seem to be a particular wing of the Republi-

can Party, which does them no favours at all. Mitt Romney’s campaign team stated that the Republican nominee for president was not to be asked any questions about the “legitimate rape” scandal. Let us hope that President Obama is re-elected.

Something suggests to me that if public opinion is so strongly to the contrary of these comments, as the outcry suggests – then it’s time that, however few they are in number, any elected representatives of the people thinking anything like this wherever in the world were removed from politics for good because we need some positive, forward thinking. Fortunately, that is down to “we the people”; unfortunately, so many of us are so disengaged that I fear it might take a while. But, please, next time you have a vote, do not waste it on anyone who can hold such misogynistic, inaccurate opinions. They do more harm than good.

FRESHERS WEEK 2012 |

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Exeter Clubbing: Your Guide Clara Warman offers some key advice to those new to Exeter’s clubbing scene

Photo: Wallpaper-palace.com

SCHOOLGIRL outfit assembled? if you’re lucky - and of course, second Neon face paint purchased? Estate and third years will be out reliving their glory days, so get there Patrol’s number in your phone? early to avoid disappointYou’re ready for Freshers. ment.

Exeter can seem small Read more All of the clubs, bar at first but rest assured, about Exeter the Lemmy and Cellar when it comes to nightclubbing on Door, are just off the high life – there´s something Exeposé street, which for some for everyone, from a school online! will involve an entertaindisco in the Lemmy to the ining walk down Sidwell Street die Cavern.

The one piece of advice I would – a showcase of Exeter’s most bizarre give to you is: do everything you nor- characters.

Arena is the biggest nightclub in mally would, but two hours earlier.

It may sound excessive but the latest town and once you get past the smell clubs stay open is two thirty or three - (overwhelming at first, but now I

hardly notice it), its themed nights and Cheesy Tuesdays are not to be missed.

Rococo’s is fun if you’re a fresher with its ‘Battle of the Halls’ and ‘Money Drop’ nights but be warned - you will have to fight for your spot on the dance floor! On Monday nights Mosaic is the place to be, but only the very top floor is worth visiting, which can become very cosy.

When I finally got into the Lemmy, Exeter’s campus club, I was shocked to feel a sense of anticipation when the Baywatch theme tune came on. This was swiftly followed by all of the boys taking their tops off and a few over-

excited girls too, confirming I’d made the right choice in choosing Exeter.

However, if you do tire of Buck Rogers and Teenage Dirtbag, then the Cavern and Cellar Door offer something other than pop chart music.

I am somewhat embarrassed to divulge that the first time I went to what I thought was Timepiece, I in fact only entered the underwhelming Hole in the Wall. After discovering upstairs in Timepiece it proved to be a popular night – especially with the sports crowd on a Wednesday, which tends to get messy. Once you’ve finished dodging the middle-aged men in Time-

piece, the only place to end your night is a visit to the burger van outside, offering the notorious Timepiece burger.

My parting advice: you’re unlikely to see the majority of the people you meet during Freshers again, so don’t worry about trying to impress, just remember you’re only a Fresher once!

Clubbing not for you? Freshers Week is about more than the clubs, and there’s no pressure to go out every night of the week. Head over to our Comment pages (7-9) for advice from students on alternative ways to get fresh...

Thomas Ling, Lifestyle Editor, gives a preview of the big changes to Exeter’s nightlife...

Mosaic

Probably one of the most exciting changes in Exeter’s clubbing scene is Mosaic’s ongoing £100,000 refurbishment, with club manager Dominic Borg pledging that “by October Mosaic will be the best looking club in town.”

Mosaic’s promised improvements (including a new laser system, Ibiza DJs and custom wallpaper) come hand in hand with brand new themed nights.

Dominic explains that “rather than simply asking students to all wear the same fancy dress, we’re bringing the entertainment to them”, citing Tuesday’s ‘Jet Set’ night, in which each week two students can win the chance to be whisked off to that week’s special holiday destination. Their Wednesday ‘Global’ night, geared at international students (and DJs), as well as regular

themed nights, seem to offer a unique night out for Exeter. However, Mosaic will, as always, face fierce queues for the upper level and its small 545 capacity (compared to Arena’s 750) means it won’t be Exeter’s biggest night out, but nonetheless, these new themed nights look very exciting for students both new and old.

Timepiece

This looks like a huge year for Timepiece. Most excitingly on the horizon, the management behind Timepiece has revealed an intention to open another venue (currently unnamed) around Exeter within the next few months, which will hold the same capacity as the current club. This momentous change comes alongside the new themed ‘Monday Mashup’ night,

being introduced to students with a UV Rave and in following weeks with appearances from TOWIE and Made in Chelsea stars. George Sloan, one of Timepiece’s management team, says that “it’s our biggest start to the new academic year that I can remember” and with many special nights planned, such as a Bollywood theme, he claims “there has never been as much variety available at Timepiece.” .

Arena

Arena will be directly competing with Timepiece’s ‘Monday Mashup’ in true style with the introduction of ‘Dirty Sexy People’, with its opening night promising “a whole lot of flesh”. Nick Jackson, manager of Original Sin, the company behind the new night, says that “Mondays used to be a huge night

out for Exeter a few years ago, but last year mellowed that out. We’re bringing back Mondays”. Although Arena say they are keeping plans for subsequent Monday nights “close to our chest”, they have confirmed that big themed nights will appear occasionally on Wednesdays and that the classic pop ‘Cheesy Tuesdays’ nights are unchanged and here to stay- “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

Older students will also be pleased to learn that the rapper Onyeka, Arena’s poundland version of 50 cent (that is to say he’s twice as good) will still be working as the male toilet attendant for the foreseeable future. So it’s really up to you whether all of that is worth whiffing that particular Arena aroma all night.

The Lemon Grove

It’s pretty much written in stone that Saturday night is Lemmy night. The official nightclub of the Students’ Guild will, as ever, continue to bring those special weekend nights in addition to being the host to countless society and musical events, such as ‘DJ fresh LIVE’ this November

Club Rococo

The Fresher and sharking wilderness of Rococos will continue with the past five years past 5 years of themed F*** ME I’M FRESH nights, with Original Sin’s Nick Jackson claiming the coming ‘Battle of the Halls’ is still “one of the biggest nights of the year for Freshers”.

However, if you are superbly claustrophobic, it looks like you might have to avoid Rococos yet again.

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FRESHERS WEEK 2012 |

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Top 5 places to eat in Exeter Kitty Howie picks out those must visit spots for famished Freshers The Old Firehouse 50 New North Rd THE atmosphere of the Firehouse and its legendary evening pizzas are fused into the hearts (and arteries) of most Exeter students. Turn up early if you want a table, or be prepared to turn on the charm and make friends with those

who’ve already staked their claim. Each pizza is between £6-10 and will comfortably feed three – a real bargain!

Wash everything down with an extensive choice of local ales and ciders, with affordable wines too, and whet your appetite for many inevitable future Firehouse visits.

Waikiki 39 Sidwell Street THE wraps of Waikiki have revolutionized lunch time in Exeter, and are reason enough to brave Sidwell Street. Dodge Dominoes for something much tastier, healthier and cheaper (They offer 10% for students every Tuesday!). Throw in fruit smoothies, Venison and Boar burgers, baguettes and 100% fat free yogurt into the mix and this little bit of Sidwell sunshine is a whole lot brighter.

Tea on the Green 2 Cathedral Close BRUNCH is not just for the bourgeoisie of Exeter. Take your lover, friend, flat mate or even your Mum for scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and pay

a measly £4.95. With a great selection of loose teas and views of the Cathedral, being quaint has never been so fun. It’s perfect for scones and cream tea for those warm sunny afternoons. It has a quiet upstairs room that can also provide that perfect relaxation space.

Harry’s 86 Longbrook Street AT just a stone’s throw away from campus and with main courses averaging out at £10, this bistro-ish family run restaurant is the perfect place to celebrate any special occasion conveniently. The menu often changes; the current diverse mix of grills, pastas and pizzas alongside the Mexican food provides something for everyone without breaking the bank.

Boston Tea Party 84 Queen Street YOU know those times where you don’t

want to study in a sterile bubble of silence? Head to student friendly Boston, where all day breakfast reigns alongside delicious lunch choices.

Alternate catching up with your reading with catching up with your friends. You can bank on Boston always carrying a high price tag (£6.50 for a club sandwich), but you can always bank on spending many hours happily.

Photo: Boston Tea Party

Exeposé

The eternal pessimist.

The worst thing about... Freshers Week

Lifestyle’s columnist, Helen Carrington, takes an uncharacteristically optimistic view of the first week of university THIS column might be a slight departure from tradition, as it isn’t my intention to complain so much that I persuade you freshers back onto the trains you’ve just left. So instead of ranting for five minutes about the things that irritate me, I’ll take another look at that half-empty glass, and try to imagine it half-full of delicious lemonade, beer, vodka, or whatever takes your fancy.

For example, I thought that meeting thousands of new people and partaking in exactly the same conversation over, and over, and over… and over again would begin to grate on my nerves. I assumed I would want to scream violently at the next person to ask me the same series of five questions and nod politely at the answer, only to erase it from their memories almost immediately. Just to give you all plenty of time to work on an imaginative and creative answer to separate you from the masses, those questions are as follows: 1) What’s your name?

2) Did you take a gap year? 3) What halls are you in? 4) What subject are you doing? 5) Where are you originally from?

“The length that some guys will go to never ceases to amaze me.”

But actually, it turns out to be surprisingly fun answering those questions, particularly to a drunk inquisitor in a club, if you decide to be somewhat flexible with your answers. During Fresher’s Week two years ago, I was approached by a male student, clearly plastered, and hoping to tempt me

back to his halls with his scintillating conversation. I replied fairly honestly to the above series of questions, and to my surprise, he was also a fresher from near Birmingham, lived in a Lafrowda block close by and was studying English. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, I made my excuses and left to find my housemate.

Within five minutes, the same boy reappeared by my side, clearly having no memory of the wonderful few minutes of quality time we had just spent together, and asked my name. Starting to feel mildly irritated, I replied with a fake name, and proceeded to endure a remarkably similar, but surprisingly different conversation. It soon transpired that he too was a second year from near London, was studying History, living in Birks Grange and had taken a gap year in South Africa. The length that some guys will go to never ceases to amaze me.

And of course the music that you hear non-stop in Freshers Week is usually quite painful, an infuriating mixture of insipid club classics, random songs with the word ‘Devon’ in them, early 90s teen pop, Tina Turner and of course the Baywatch theme tune (always accompanied by the same stripping off and wringing out of sweaty t-shirts). But at least those songs now hold memories that actually mean I quite enjoy it when they come on the radio. Each housemate comes attached to a particular song - as will the incident with a smurf in Timepiece, the first night in Rococos, the flour fight that got somewhat out of hand, and a hundred other memories from my Freshers year.

And of course, those first few hours of the first day are quite stressful; the pressure to seem interesting, outgoing and relatively normal in the eyes of your new flatmates is overwhelming. But those first impressions are not actually as important as we’re led to believe, and quickly become entertaining reminisces once the flat become friends. For example, ‘I remember you as the girl dressed like a ladybird’, ‘I thought your name was Tony for a week’, ‘you wore a blazer’ or ‘you had an amusing walk’ quickly become mildly amusing memories, and not the sole impressions of your future inmates.

“Those first impressions are not actually as important as we’re led to believe” The worst part of Freshers week is decidedly the impossibility of walking anywhere without having a piece of paper advertising everything from societies, to restaurant discounts, to clearly irrelevant graduate programme schemes forced into your hands, under your front doors, or even scattered around your flat by a cheery third year who you walk straight into as you leave the shower wearing only a towel.

I promise you that if I ever have a sudden and inexplicable desire to don a red ballgown and take up salsa classes, I will not let an inability to find room B156 in the Amory building without an enormous colourful map dissuade me.

Lifestyle asks: What are you best Fresher Memories? Do you have any advice? elation I thought it would be a good idea to bang my fist on the bonnet of a nearby car, announcing our presence in town.

Unfortunately my chosen vehicle was in fact a police car, containing a policeman.

MARCUS BEARD The church on Whilst the rest of my friends sprinted campus provides free lunches every away I nervously babbled apology as day in freshers’ week. Go there and he got out and told me to “stop being maybe have a little chat about Jesus. a prick.” I continued on my journey by inciting a friend that shares my name KITTY HOWIE Look out for the cats to jump on my back whilst I skipped that hang around Birks, Holland and down the street. This ended up with me Rowancroft. Great for when you unexpectedly riding the pavement with my face, resulting in a cut and need a hug and your new flatmates bloodied eyebrow and nose. are passed out/ drunk/ listening Upon reaching the Arena to Ed Sheeran/ a combinaJoin door I was promptly tion of all three! our Facebook stopped by the bouncgroup to take er. Suddenly put on the BEN MURHPIE After conpart in the spot, I informed him suming a heroic amount of discussion that I had attended my alcohol one fateful Fresher first Rugby training session evening, I joined the rest of earlier that day and had taken a my floor on an Arena exhibition into town. In the midst of my drunken boot to the face in a scrum. Somehow KATE GRAY Tying people to a wheelie chair and sending them down the corridor with the lights off. Advice to freshers: don’t do that to people.

ignoring my curiously un-athletic physique, he informed me that he was also a rugby player and after a brief male bonding session about the perils of contact sports, I was permitted into Arena to dance the night away…covered in blood.

JON JENNER Having a bouncer forcing a lighter into my hand in Arena.

When I told him I didn’t smoke he told me to burn things. I was very happy.

JAMES CROUCH On returning to my halls one night, I discovered that my flatmates had smashed headfirst through our front door. The ambulance finally arrived at 3.

THOMAS LING I got really angry when I thought somebody had stolen my hummus #thuglife

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Fortnightly Picks Sun 16 Sep Andy McKee, Preston Reed & Jon Gomm Phoenix Sun 16 Sep ExTunes Live Welcome Party The Old Firehouse Tues 18 Sep Thick As Thieves w/ Shadow Child & Jubei Cellar Door Tues 18 Sep We Are The Ocean Cellar Door Wed 19 Sep The Official Cabaret Voltaire Freshers Electro Swing Party Cavern Thu 20 Sep GetMe w/ Brookes Brothers & Inspector Dubplate Cellar Door

FRESHERS WEEK 2012 |

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MUSIC EDITORS

Callum McLean & Anthony Prodromou music@exepose.com JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP Exeposé Music

The sound of the underground

Exeter’s never seen a stronger-looking year for dance music culture, so Exeposé Music takes you below street level to Cavern and The Cellar Door to talk to the DJs and promoters involved...

Loud and house-proud

Anthony Prodromou, Music Editor, gets accommodated with new big-fish-little-fishers in town Our House

ONE of the newest nights on the Exeter underground circuit, Our House burst onto the Exeter scene at the end of last term. Reflecting the recent revival of house as the dominant genre within dance, Our House agrees: “A few years ago dubstep was huge in Exeter.. people started to look back to house for something different. House is all about the feel-good factor and it’s good to have that variety alongside other types of bass music”.

If their parties held at the end of the summer term at Exeter’s legendary Cavern Club are anything to go by, then we can expect a right knees up.

Their music policy is quite obviously focused around house and its myriad

forms, but the Our House group insists that they don’t limit or exclude any type of music: “expect to hear some classics from disco-funk, garage and maybe electro-swing thrown in. There will always be a big finish.”

A focus on the feel-good factor and a light hearted ethos make gives Our House a less pretentious feel than some other bass nights that populate Exeter’s underground scene.

Having booked one of the most reputable voices on the dance blogosphere, Eton Messy, for the end of September, and with names such as Disclosure in their sights, it’s time to give space to the youngest night on the block.

Sat 22 Sep Ben UFO Phoenix Mon 24 Sep Leigh Coleman EP Launch Mama Stones

Fri 28 Sep Radio 1 Rock Show Freshers Party Phoenix Wed 03 Oct SBTRKT o2 Academy Bristol Thu 04 Oct Gallows Cavern Sat 06 Oct Benjamin Francis Leftwich o2 Academy Bristol

Cavern, (last Friday of the month). Re-launch, 28 September Weapon of choice: Julio Bashmore - Jack Got Macked

Anthony Prodromou, Music Editor, gets carried away by Thick As Thieves’ close-knit claustrophobia

Sat 22 Sep RINSE:IT w/ TC & Cyantific Cellar Door

Fri 28 Sep Our House w/ Tony Rayna Cavern

Our House: “It’s all about the feel-good factor”

Keep your friends close...

Fri 21 Sep Cheeba Cellar Door

Wed 26 Sep Beats & Bass w/ Dusky Cavern

Exeposé

Thick As Thieves: “Keeping the vibe fresh” Cellar Door, every other Tuesday. Re-launch, 18 September Weapons of choice: Bondax - All Inside / Octane, DLR & Break - Murmer

The Thick as Thieves crew are clearly ambitious. “We were determined to create a student night that felt as if it was straight out of, say, London or Bristol”, they claim boldly. From their flyers, artwork and promotional videos it is clear that ‘The Thieves’ , as they like to be known, take themselves seriously.

Since the refurbishment of the Cellar Door down in Exeter Quayside ( a “venue that is near perfect for a night that leans towards underground music.

The location and atmosphere cannot be beaten in the city”) every other Tuesday has seen huge queues snake their way around the cobbles of Exeter’s most atmospheric of streets, full of

students looking for their fix of bassheavy chaos.

The Thieves’ key to dependably crazy parties is their “unbiased” approach to the music that they play, telling us to “expect our residents and special guests to be spinning everything from hip hop and garage to drum & bass, house and techno”. This eclectic mix is supported by an intimate atmosphere (you have to arrive seriously early people) and a solid soundsystem.

Be sure to check their Fresher’s relaunch party on the 24th, where floor shakers will be provided by the likes of Shadow Child and Jubei. That is if you can get within fifty feet of it.

Back to Bass-ics

Callum McLean, Music Editor, talks Beats, and also Bass

Amongst the new wave of student-led lovers and bring them together, providdance music nights, and arguably re- ing a platform for new DJs and producsponsible for such an upsurge in bass- ers.

The resultant night itself boasts “a head culture, Beats & Bass society have variety of styles from hip-hop all the been doing this for a while now. way through to techno and d’n’b” – “Dedicated to bringing Exeter arguably without the exclusivstudents the best in bass-driven ity of promo-heavy cousin music”, the society brought Find more Thick As Thieves. Which promotion to a new level, interviews right at the heart of the stu- with promoters isn’t to say gun-hands and baseball caps aren’t the dent body. “Beats & Bass and hear norm, but where would be is much more than just exclusive the fun in that otherwise? a night, it really is a comminimixes As a bonus, London techmunity”. Running DJ workonline no/house producers Dusky are shops (and soon music producthe first of what they promise will be tion) and field trips to big nights out in Bristol, the collective attract bass music a monthly stream of exciting headliners.

Beats & Bass “is more than just a night, it’s a community” Cavern, every other Wednesday. Re-launch, 26 September Weapons of choice: Dusky - Flo Jam

Exeposé

| FRESHERS WEEK 2012

The Magic Hatstand & QUIRK

FOR the promoters of Magic Hatstand it’s all about the party: “We were lucky enough to attend early raves and free parties in the late eighties and early nineties when there was an overwhelming sense of optimism in the scene and the atmospheres were electric”. The end result is an attempt to transfer this, together with a strong visual environment, to the Cavern. The first Friday of every month, it has become a staple night out in Exeter, setting itself apart from the rest by having the eponymous hatstand at the centre of attention. A multitude of headpieces, moustaches and glitter are provided for swapping with others – that’s what the night’s all about. All this together with an eclectic mix of genres with a heart in the underground are what makes the night very different and very, very fun.

Whilst house is the predominant genre and what you’ll hear most of, each of

Music

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Strum and coke

Cavern/Cellar Door, first Friday / Third Saturday of the month Weapon of choice: Fergus - Talk of the Underground

Bass isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so here are a few of our recommendations for after dark entertainment elsewhere if wanting to avoid the Rococo’s/Cheesy Tuesdays contingent

Mama Stones

the six resident DJs has their very own style. From disco to techno through swing house, absolutely anything is possible as long as it keeps the toes tapping and the party going! With its diverse range of music, and just the right amount of craziness, it’s almost

impossible to have a bad night at the Magic Hatstand!

Quirk, the sister night at Cellar Door, promises similar vibes with “a more adventurous musical policy”.

JACK FRANKLIN

EXIT

Cellar Door, every other Thursday. Freshers Garden Party, 22 September Weapon of choice: Jamie XX - Far Nearer (Foamo Remix)

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ONE of the lower key student bass nights, Exit posits itself as “the middle ground between the normal student nights and the more underground nights” Conceptually serving as “an opportunity for students to...escape to something a little bit different”, their DJs spin a heady blend of “various house styles and drum’n’bass” without being afraid to slip in more popular tracks. UB40’s ‘Red Red Wine’ has been used to rescue a dancefloor in the past.

Their Freshers party at Double Locks looks to be an exciting way to test the waters - literally, as there will be kayaks for hire to paddle down from the quay.

CALLUM MCLEAN, MUSIC EDITOR

A Mexican restaurant, music venue and late bar, Joss Stone’s mum runs a charmingly ramshackle affair here.

Every day promises live music of some sort, accompanied by cocktail deals on weekdays and a late license and funky DJs on weekends - often the only place around left open gone three a.m.

Original Sin (proud promoters of Rococo’s Thursdays) run a student night on Tuesdays, but look out for a new monthly live showcase starting on Wednesday of Freshers Week.

The Revelry

A new face in town, Cellar Door has bought a pub space on the quayside centered around musical variety.

Entertainment varies from world beats on Tuesdays, catered to precede Cellar Door’s biggest student nights, through open mic Thursdays until weekends, where late licenses bring hip-hop, funk and soul DJs and live folk, reggae, jazz and gypsy bands. Surely a grower.

The Old Firehouse

Everyone’s favourite pub gets suitably busy and opens late every night. What differentiates it from any other lazy wander to the local is frequent live music on weekends, where acts range from the beige singer-songwriter through country and wacky folk, always making for a stifling hubbub: no sleepy pub jaunts here.

ExTunes put on an especially good run of student musicians on a Sunday evening, which makes for an ideal round-off to the week.

Indie Club, Cavern

As if Cavern wasn’t satisfied with dominating the emerging bass scene, and being voted yout favourite Music nightlife hotspot, they run an indie night on Saturdays.

Free and open late, eclectic DJs are preceded every week by live bands, in the past ranging from La Roux to Air Traffic.

This term promises Micachu, Rae Morris and more.

Exeposé Music is plugging in...

We’re working with our Online partners and Xpression FM Music now more than ever. This means you can find extended Q&As and exclusive minimixes from all the promoters and DJs mentioned here online, as well as an extended interview with Three Trapped Tigers and reams of exclusive articles. However, we’re even more excited to introduce to you the focal hub of our cooperation, the new Xmedia Music Show, broadcast fortnightly on Xpression FM. It will be packed full of features, exclusive interviews and the best of the fortnight’s music.

Tune into our very first show at 6pm, Monday 24th Sep.

You make it look so easy, Tigers

Callum McLean, Music Editor, rattles the cage of Three Trapped Tigers to find they are very much human Behind the Far Out stage at Green work they’ve left behind: “In the early Man Festival, Three Trapped Tigers - days – and we can say this now – it was actually three ordinary looking men - all very pastiche in a way. I could probmull over their progress as a band while ably cut together a little montage of all changing a wheel on one of their tour the tracks we’ve blatantly ripped”. This vans. “I saw Battles here five years ago would be heavy with ‘drill’n’bass’-type and I was kind of inspired by them”, Warp Records producers from the nineties – “still some of the music that says keyboardist and founder memI think is the most progressive ber Tom Rogerson, whose franof our time”, Tom adds – tic keys make up a much more Read but it wouldn’t sound like gushing, fast-paced brand of all our full Three Trapped Tigers. “In (largely) instrumental noise interviews a way that was always the rock than their American trade off – if you’re going peers, “but I also thought ‘I online to try and rip Aphex [Twin], could do this better’”. Since you’re never going to get clarthen they have released three EPs and an album, Route One Or Die, ity of sound design in the same way…or each to universal critical acclaim, and metronomic accuracy-” (“-Woah, speak picked up a nomination for AIM’s for yourself!” chips in drummer Adam).

Best Live Act, alongside Jack White, “If you had to call us anything, we’re a Grimes and The Prodigy. “It’s nice”, rock band, not an electronica band”.

Therein lies the exciting disparity says Tom, “to come back here and remember having that thought, and now within the band’s music, but also the challenge it poses when it comes to rehere we are”.

You would think this qualifies as an cording – essentially all the intricacy of achievement. “Well obviously none of glitchy production with all the legwork us are going to be happy with it”, Tom of playing the damn thing. Guitarist insists. “We’ll always be like ‘oh well, Matt enlightens: “Our writing process we’d better try and do something bet- is quite long and drawn out, it’s not like ter now’ – that’s a healthy attitude”. one of those joyous things where someIn fact they are quite dismissive of the one writes a song in the same time it

takes to play it”. Tom elaborates, “it’s the arbitrary thing – this is what freaks me out – I tangle myself in existential knots like ‘why commit to using this melody or this rhythm?’…because it’s instrumental as well, it’s just form!

There’s nothing to anchor it, it can go anywhere we want – so how do you even start?”

If it is excruciating to produce, such

a complex slog is reflected in the live show, where the freedoms of such a process are just as apparent. Their maniacal arpeggios and (as Tom puts it) “mental density of rhythm” are awesomely complex, but – crucially – live: “In a band, the fact that it’s not metronomic is what subconsciously makes you feel excited”. At one point Matt suffers a technical issue (“like when you turn

The Edge’s effects pedals off”) that they all chuckle about afterwards. But what happens in that moment is only a reveal on the furious hands beneath the maelstrom of noise. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain; the great Three Trapped Tigers have spoken.

CALLUM MCLEAN MUSIC EDITOR

presents

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Exeposé

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Screen FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ExeposeScreen

Newsreel Tony Scott commits suicide Acclaimed film director Tony Scott leapt to his death from the Vincent Thomas bridge in Los Angeles, dying at the age of 68. Director of cult classic Top Gun and brother of film visionary Sir Ridley, Tony was known and admired for his punchy, exciting brand of filmmaking. His films although sometimes panned by critics, were undoubtedly thrilling, and cherished by audiences across the world. He will be missed.

Spielberg to make Bin Laden film?

The New York Post have claimed that Steven Spielberg is in talks to develop a film based on the memoirs of Navy SEAL Matt Bissonette which focus on the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. The memoirs themselves are at the centre of a national security controversy, and it is possible that Bissonette may still face charges due to the explosive secrets revealed in his publication.

Tom Hardy, Leonardo Di Caprio and Tobey Maguire are all signed up to produce an antipoaching drama for Warner Bros. No script has been finalised, but the trio’s plan for the film focuses around ex-special ops personel who then proceed to chase down poachers.

Exciting doesn’t quite cover it.

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SCREEN EDITORS

Louis Doré & Owen Keating screen@exepose.com JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP Exeposé Screen

Sunscreen: The definitive Summer catch-up Ted Director: Seth MacFarlane Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane (15) 106mins SETH MCFARLANE’S stoner bromance comedy is cynical, offensive, and heartwarming. Mark Wahlberg is John, a weed-smoking car-hire salesman stuck between a career-centred girlfriend, Lori (Mila Kunis), and Ted, the teddy bear who he wished into life as a friendless preteen. Obviously.

No longer childhood friends, and now dysfunctionally symbiotic adult twins, John and Ted get drunk in the evenings and higher in the mornings.

Lori, regular, functioning adult that she is, struggles with this, and eventually makes John choose: either Ted goes, or she does.

The film’s first hour is excellent; John and Ted are riotous, Lori is disbelieving, and carrots are put in places where carrots should never be put. After a chaotic party with Flash Gordon, things finally turn for the worse.

Unchangeable John is dumped by Lori, and, suitably heartbroken, tries

Magic Mike Director: Steven Soderbergh Cast: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Olivia Munn (15) 110mins

Hardy, Di Caprio and Maguire to produce poaching drama

Screen

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BASED on Channing Tatum’s own pre-fame experiences, Magic Mike follows the eponymous womaniser (Tatum) as he takes struggling youth Adam (Alex Pettyfer) under his wing and into the world of male stripping.

While Mike attempts to win the heart of Adam’s sister (Cody Horn) and start his own business, his protégé begins to lose himself in a world of drugs and excess.

It was with some trepidation that a good friend and I bought our tickets to see a film about male strippers.

However, any embarrassment was quickly abandoned as we were confronted by the film’s riotous sense

to win her back. Here, things start to go awry. Where there could have been a strong buildup to a compelling character-based conclusion, there is instead a weird subplot where Ted gets stolen, and John has to rescue him. In twenty minutes, Ted goes from clever bromance comedy to trashy adventure ripoff. This bizarre twist weakens what was a clever idea, and spoils a film that is frustratingly close to being seminal in the careers of both Wahlberg and McFarlane.

OWEN KEATING SCREEN EDITOR

of fun. Soderbergh presents the stripping sequences with a sensational honesty that captures their absurdity and spectacle with humour and energy, while offering a refreshing change from the standard female objectification inherent in most Hollywood films.

But this is not a hollow spectacle.

Tatum delivers a surprisingly heartfelt and accomplished performance, holding his own against a scenestealing Matthew McConaughey. The weak link is Horn, who often lacks the conviction needed to sympathise with her character.

Magic Mike was a delight throughout, and deserves to be appreciated by audiences – regardless of gender or sexual persuasion – for the exuberant piece of filmmaking it is!

CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

The Dark Knight Rises Director: Christopher Nolan Cast: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway (12A) 165mins HAVING hung up his cape and cowl after the death of Harvey Dent, Bruce Wayne (Bale) has become a recluse. But when the terrorist Bane (Hardy) threatens Gotham, Batman returns to the streets one last time.

Although Rises never quite reaches the heights of The Dark Knight’s nihilistic audacity, it is nevertheless a fitting climax to a sensational trilogy.

Despite a lengthy running time and episodic plotting, emotive characterisations and Hans Zimmer’s pounding score ensure the film never bores. The cast deliver strong

The Bourne Legacy Director: Tony Gilroy Cast: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton (12A) 135mins UNDERSTANDABLY, the Bourne Legacy has been one of the most hotly anticipated movies of this summer, ranking alongside a spate of comicbook inspired hits, ranging from The Avengers to The Dark Knight Rises.

Unfortunately, despite a talented cast featuring Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton and other characters returning from the original trilogy, the film fails to live up to its expectations. A vastly drawn-out opening half, mostly devoid of any action, results in disjointed

performances, with franchise newbloods Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy particularly impressing. However, it’s Bale’s chemistry with Michael Caine that gives Rises its most moving sequences and emotional core.

That’s not to say the film doesn’t deliver on spectacle. Nolan orchestrates the action with confidence, including epic scenes of urban carnage and hundreds of battling extras. The stand out sequence is the much anticipated first encounter between Bane and Batman. While Hardy was never going to outshine Heath Ledger’s Joker, what he lacks in psychotic menace he compensates for with sheer physical presence.

What truly impressed, though, was how the film grounds its fantastical story in a real-world environment through the employment of contemporary themes: sabotage on the stock-market, renewable energy sources, the divide between rich and poor – this is a product of its time.

Intelligent, exciting, emotive and visually stunning, The Dark Knight Rises is a staggering achievement in blockbuster filmmaking. When the credits roll, you have my permission to cheer.

CHRISTOPHER DAVIES storytelling overall, something that will be a cardinal sin to devout fans of the Bourne movies. This in turn could also potentially put off casual viewers simply seeking their latest dose of car explosions and improbable chases across rooftops. When these do occur, they seem rushed, as if to make up for lost time. Following the film’s end, which arrives rather abruptly, one is left feeling this is simply a stop-gap; that this is just a taste of the juicy bits to look forward to in a rumoured sequel trilogy, featuring (spoiler: Aaron Cross survives!) both Renner and Damon’s characters, each a victim of a different botched government programme. We can only hope.

ELLIOT LANG

As Hot As... what’s hot and not in this week’s film news BAZ LURHMANN - With The Great Gatsby being pushed back to a summer 2013 release, the decision to use 3D on Fitzgerald’s classic novel is looking increasingly risky.

Lance Armstrong

GERARD DEPARDIEU The controversial French actor has been accused of attacking a fellow road user after an altercation in Paris. Punchy.

THE INBETWEENERS - Co-creator Damon Beesley has confirmed a sequel to the 2011 summer smash that was The Inbetweeners Movie. The boys are back!

COLIN FARRELL - The former whiskyinhaling junkie is now once again a respected actor, as Total Recall has reinvigorated Colin’s career. Hope he doesn’t have a drink to celebrate.

THE BIBLE - Christianity is back in Hollywood’s good books. Russell Crowe is set to play Noah, Will Smith’s directorial debut centres on Cain and Abel, a Pontius Pilate film has been greenlit, and Paul Verhoeven has a Jesus movie in the works.

Neil Armstrong

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Screen

We program a huge range of films at Exeter Phoenix, generally consisting of world cinema, independent productions and films that you wouldn’t normally see in a multiplex, such as documentary film or films by new British directors.

We try to select films which inspire our audiences, giving them a chance to think as well as to be entertained! We also show short films from filmmakers based both locally and further afield.

Short film is something we are really passionate about!

Are there any special filmorientated events that students can come and watch, e.g. festivals?

One of the biggest events of the film calendar is the Two Short Nights film festival (www.twoshortnights.co.uk), which showcases new and emerging talent from the UK and around the world. We also support a lot of local film makers by offering bursaries each year, which allows Devon based filmmakers to turn their ideas into actual short films. The festival premieres all the short films we commission. You can see this year’s films on our website: http://www.exeterphoenixdigital.org. uk/twoshortnights2012/ We are also midway through our

outdoor film festival, Kitsons Big Screen in the Park (bigscreeninthepark. org.uk), another really exciting cinema experience. We show a mix of new releases and cult classics, with the added excitement of watching a film in a fun, casual environment under the stars.

Throughout the year we also have touring festivals. One highlight is the Adventure Film Festival (http:// adventurefest.co.uk/) at the Phoenix in October. A collection of extreme sports films, covering everything from rock climbing, surfing, downhill biking and base jumping, it’s a really exhilarating experience watching what some crazy people will do for thrills and the quality of last year festival was outstanding.

Are there any opportunities for students to actually get involved in filmmaking at the Phoenix?

One of the best events of the year is the Cineon Production 48 Hour Film Challenge, which is part of Two Short Nights film festival. Teams are set the tasks to write, shoot and edit a film in just 48 hours. They are given a prop, a theme and a piece of script and set free to create something amazing. The final films are screened at the festival with the best film being awarded a prize. Last year, thirty teams took part, creating some excellent films. This

year’s challenge takes place from 9 -11 November, and teams can register from 12 October.

What makes the Phoenix different from other cinema venues in Exeter?

We are the only independent cinema in the city, which means we can program whatever we want and we can have real fun choosing films in the process.

Audience members can take beers into the screenings and we also have special meal deal screenings, where audiences have a specially prepared meal themed around the film choice. It’s a great experience; watching films at Exeter Phoenix, each screening is all about the actual film, meaning you don’t get bombarded with adverts, trailers or concessions. It’s just pure cinema and we love it.

FREE FILM TICKETS Exeposé Screen has a limited number of free tickets for Exeter Phoenix.

For more info and schedules visit exeterphoenix.org.uk.

First come, first served; book by calling 01392 667080 and quoting ‘Exeposé offer’.

(Offer subject to availability).

Freshers Guide: Campus Cinema SITUATED in Devonshire House’s M&D Room, Campus Cinema is Exeter’s cheapest cinema! We show a mix of mainstream hits, independent and foreign films, and classics! Run by students, we screen two different films on the big screen each week, on Tuesdays and Sundays. With membership (£18), entry is only £1.80, although anyone else can come along for £3.60. During Freshers Week

we’ll be showing Ted (18 Tuesday, 6.30 & 9pm), Avengers Assemble

“Campus Cinema is Exeter’s cheapest cinema!”

(21 Friday, 6 & 9pm), and Moonrise Kingdom (23 Sunday, 6.30 & 9pm).

Plus, for Freshers Week, entry is only

£1.80 for non-members and members alike! Plus, we have a film quiz in Devonshire House’s Long Lounge (19 Wednesday, 7pm, entry £1), and a social on Thursday 20th starting in The Ram at 7.30pm. For anyone wanting a great evening’s entertainment, Campus Cinema is for you!

CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

Are today’s films too violent?

Owen Keating, Screen Editor, ponders our society’s acceptance of violence in the movies...

ON July 20, twelve people were shot dead by medical student James Holmes while watching a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado. A despicable crime in itself, the massacre once again raised questions about the pernicious effects of violent films on our society. Holmes was allegedly dressed in a costume that made him look like Batman, and in the aftermath of the attack, critics, including Harvey Weinstein, have been quick to lay at least some of the blame at the door of Christopher Nolan and other film directors who make ultraviolent films for mass consumption.

These critics have a point.

Hollywood is undoubtably saturated with violence and brutality in its movies. Films like the Batman series have protagonists who are excessively, sometimes monstrously violent, all misleadingly juxtaposed with the pursuit of justice. We’re so drawn in by the honourable motives of our heroes

that we blankly accept the increasingly creative ways in which they dispatch their enemies. Indeed, some actors are iconic purely through kicking seven bells out of people. Question the society that embraces The Expendables as legends, not the film director who exploits it to earn a living.

If reality TV has taught us anything, it’s that our society is inherently competitive. We love conflict, we love winners, we hate losers. Arguably, films like TDKR do nothing more than represent one of our most basic desires, our want for conflict, in an imaginative context. Therefore, these films, and the violence they include, are as much a consequence of our violent society as they are a cause.

We are culturally desensitised to film violence. To continue to attract big crowds in an increasingly competitive leisure sector, films have had to become more bullet-ridden, more bloodstained, and more spectacular. Violent films do

Exeposé

Freshers Guide: XTV

Screen Meets: Exeter Phoenix What kind of films do you show at the Phoenix?

FRESHERS WEEK 2012 |

www.exepose.ex.ac.uk

nothing more than plug an instinctive, escapism-riddled urge that many of us feel. If there wasn’t such a clamour for Batman punching Bane off a building, then it wouldn’t happen.

Given the breadth of their audiences, it’s indisputable that gratuitously violent films do have an effect on society as a whole. However, I would still say that it’s far too simple to only blame films for isolated events like the Aurora shooting. James Holmes was friendless, lonely and vulnerable, and while speculation about a motive would be unhelpful, notoriety may well have seemed a better option than dismal solitude. Those who only blame films ignore the social causes of Holmes’ isolation: his social ineptitude, his mental instability, and his sexual frustration, amongst others. To solely blame violent films without finding solutions to those other problems is to find an overly convenient answer to a vitally complex question.

HELLO Screen reader. I know what you’re thinking: enough of this ‘reading’ malarkey in an admittedly very high quality student paper, I want to go out and make movies!

Even if you weren’t thinking that before, you are now. So, during Freshers Week do please come and see all the incredible stuff XTV have to offer you, whether you’re a budding presenter, performer, cameraperson, editor, writer, director, anything!

Our output includes dramas, comedies, factual shows, music videos and paid commissions, a lot of which have won awards and look incredible on the CVs of all involved. The clincher is: every single moment is about as much fun as you can have at Uni, and looks pretty darn cool to boot (“wow, are they filming something?!”).

And it’s so easy to get involved! Just come and find us, during the week, at the Activities Fair, in the middle of the term, and say you’d like to join in the madness. Honestly, no skill, no talent, just any interest in film and you’re there. Then you learn along the way, get some new skills, have a laugh, and bada-bing, you’re Mr. or Ms. TV. We’re a multi award-winning student TV station. You’re a student, and if you’re reading this you probably like film & TV. We’re hosting this year’s National Student Television Association Awards, involving many members of the professional televisual glitterati and other such exciting things. You could be part of that. And everything else we do. Just sayin’.

CALUM BAKER XTV STATION MANAGER

Freshers Guide: Exeter Cinemas IF the latest multiplex seatfiller doesn’t quite float your boat then the Exeter Picturehouse (on Bartholomew St West) is the cinema for you. With your student card you can pick up a half price ticket for £3 on Mondays, nestle into one of their reclining seats and enjoy a real cinema experience off the beaten track. The Picturehouse offers alternative films, such as blasts from the past (think Alfred Hitchcock) or award-winning documentaries alongside European as well as English independent film. Foreign film is most definitely underrated; don’t be put off if it’s in Icelandic with subtitles! Surprise yourself with something altogether more thought-provoking.

MAILEE OSTEN-TAN

IF multiplexes are more your thing, Odeon and Vue are the places to go in Exeter. Both are close to the centre of town, and come stocked with the usual array of blockbusters and expensive snacks. Odeon is slightly better when it comes to student deals, as well as being generally cheaper. Also Odeon’s bigger screens and altogether more pleasant concourse aids a generally nicer viewing experience. Both, however, are just your bog-standard multiplex - vast and expensive, with pails of popcorn bigger than a small child.

OWEN KEATING SCREEN EDITOR

Promote your society here. Email editors@exepose.com

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Books Playlist Thousands of new freshers arrive in Exeter on Saturday 15th September but it is also the anniversary of Devon-born Dame Agatha Christie’s birth.

In her honour we want to know what is your favourite crime novel?

FRESHERS WEEK 2012 |

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Tom Bond & Emily Lunn books@exepose.com JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP Exeposé Books

Welcome to the wild South West

Explore Exeter with Emily Lunn and Tom Bond, Books Editors: your guide to the city

1. As much as I’d love to say something philosophical or life-changing, I actually really enjoyed the Young James Bond series written by Charlie Higson.

Following James through school is quite funny when imagining it’s a teenage Pierce or Sean and Charlie Higson is surprisingly talented at re-creating such a well know character.

They’re a pretty easy read but can be somewhat of a guilty pleasure at any age!

REBECCA LODDER

Visit Exeposé Online for non-stop news, reviews and features. Our new website gives you more ways than ever before to read and write for us.

Picture: Emily Lunn

2. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch - a fairly recent easy read in which a young police officer becomes part of a secret branch of the Met, dealing primarily with magic. Really fun and well paced.

JON JENNER

3. I’d say Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. An excellent plot with some time-travel thrown in for good measure. It’s got the usual Pratchett wit, and the inclusion of everyone’s favourite copper Sir Samuel Vimes, Blackboard Monitor. It’s the most emotional of his books as well.

TOM BOND

4. Knots and Crosses, by Ian Rankin ranks pretty highly for me. World-weary whisky-toting DI John Rebus chases a sex offender, all described with Ian Rankin’s characteristic verve. In my experience, no-one knows their character like Rankin knows Rebus.

OWEN KEATING

Exeposé

DURING the chaos and fun of Freshers’ Week books will probably be the last thing on your mind, but once term begins you’ll want to know the best places to read, write and find books. Our guide begins at the heart of campus with the stunning new Forum (3). It has a

variety of places to read, like the plaza steps by its entrance and it’s also your gateway to the library (2). As much as you might try and avoid it, the library will be a vital part of your degree. Campus has a variety of smaller libraries, including the Amory Law Library, Old Library and the Research Commons, all containing shelf upon shelf of invaluable texts. Take your pick!

Tackle your weekly reading while

enjoying some glorious Devon sunshine in one of the green spots on campus, such as by the Lafrowda pond (1).

Familiar to humanities students, Queen’s building (5) is also home to the Royal Literary Fund Fellows, Riptide, and the Undergraduate Writing Centre. The RLFF and the UWC are on hand to provide insightful essay writing guidance to students if you ever struggle with work and Riptide is a local short story anthology edited

by Exeter alumna Ginny Bailey and lecturer Sally Flint. For those of you who love to write then try out your very own student newspaper Exeposé (4)! We’re now based in our new home in Devonshire House and provide a great opportunity for any student to flex their writing muscles or take their first steps in a journalistic career.

Once you venture into the town centre by day you’ll discover a wealth of literary locations to keep you busy. Exeter has a number of great cafés if you need to escape the library, and Boston Tea Party (6) is a good place to start if you fancy reading with a cup of coffee and a comfy sofa. We’d also recommend a large slice of cake.

There are some great bookshops in Exeter including two Waterstones (10), a second-hand book market on Sidwell Street and plenty of charity shops. Book Cycle (12) is a bookshop like no other.

You decide the price, and your money helps to provide books and resources for developing countries. Pick up some new reads, or donate some well-loved

old ones. The nearby quay is a beautiful location to kick back with a book and if you’re looking for a green space, the cathedral green (11) is a nice spot to read and relax. If you want to look further afield, Topsham is a short train ride away, for quaint shops and cafés.

If you want to escape the campus libraries, head to the Central Library (9) for space to work, including its specialist Performing Arts Library. This is a must for any drama or music aficionados, with an impressive selection of plays, monologues, songbooks, scores and scripts. If you’re in need of some creative inspiration then you’d be surprised at how much is on offer here.

“Once you venture into the city centre by day you’ll discover a wealth of literary locations to keep you busy” Exeter is infamous for the number of local landmarks that apparently inspired J.K. Rowling when she wrote the Harry Potter books. Fans should visit Gandy Street (7) to admire the inspiration behind Diagon Alley with its narrow cobbled street. You could also visit The Old Firehouse (8) to pretend you’re a real wizard or witch. It shouldn’t take you long to work out which location was based on this student hotspot. Every student loves to get a pint of local cider and eat trays of the legendary pizza whilst listening to the regular live music. A particular favourite is the Sunday Extunes extravaganza showcasing the best in student music.

Exeposé

| FRESHERS WEEK 2012

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Egan leads digital modernism with new Black Box Pulitzer Prize winner publishes on Twitter in a bold new move for books. Tom Bond, Books Editor, explores Black Box’s impact

THE digital book has received its strongest endorsement yet in the form of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jennifer Egan’s new book Black Box. Released in a digital-only format on 6 September, it was originally tweeted over the course of a week by The New Yorker. Egan has experimented before, for example in A

Lionel Asbo: The State of England Martin Amis MARTIN AMIS’S newest novel was always going to be highly divisive. Set in a fictional borough where mothers of eighteen have seven children, incest is relatively common, and adults regard school as an utterly pointless place, Amis creates a scathing portrait of working class Britain. Despite this, there are some merits to his work. Although I remain sceptical of Amis’ claim that he understands the class he focuses upon so heavily, he does prove that he knows how to produce an intense, at times hilarious, and consistently satirical pantomime revolving around a criminal-class antihero.

Amis’ characterisation of Lionel is so overdone that it only just manages to escape being utterly ridiculous. Constantly drinking, fighting, and going in and out of prison, Lionel relies on the companionship of two pit bulls whom

Visit from the Goon Squad, where she wrote a whole chapter in the form of Powerpoint slides, but this is another level of literary invention.

So what is Black Box exactly?

Structured like a poem with the concrete narrative of a short story, but built, tweet upon tweet, and broadcast online, each Photo: The New York Times

he plies with alcohol and tabasco sauce until they become as brutish and disgusting as he is. The victim of his lifestyle is the surprisingly diligent and gentle Desmond, Lionel’s nephew, who is haunted by his one great wrong: sleeping with his Grandmother at the age of fifteen, and fears that Lionel will discover his secret and kill him.

“Amis produces an intense, at times hilarious, and consistently satirical pantomime” This simple plot manages to create a tense climax towards the end of the novel, and sympathy towards Desmond, but it is Lionel’s financial advancement which provides the most interest. Even after his £139 million lottery win he remains remarkably ungenerous towards his family, and spends his money in the most wasteful and aggravating way possible. His newfound partner, referred

sentence a mere fragment in the chaos that is the Twitter timeline. One thing is certain: it is big, brave, and thrillingly new.

Inevitably the accusation of novelty lingers around Black Box. The crass triviality of a Twitter novel seems a foregone conclusion to some and an unfair presumption to others. Yes, Twitter has its fair share of ignorance, illiteracy and idiocy but that’s down to its users, not the form itself. Size matters, but in literature it’s the smaller the better. George Bernard Shaw famously wrote, “I’m sorry this letter is so long, I didn’t have time to make it shorter”, proving that the skill of concise writing should be at the top of every writer’s checklist.

Egan’s chosen form does have weaknesses and lends itself to a certain style. She is hampered by vague, simple statements like “The goal is to be both irresistible and invisible” which have to as “Threnody” - meaning a poem of mourning - is perhaps where Amis reaches his satirical peak. Supposedly based on Katie Price, the ‘poet’ “Threnody” is unrelentingly ambitious and obsessed with her media image.

The story falters when Lionel finds out about Desmond’s great mistake and the plot fizzles out in an unimpressive way. Although three quarters of this novel can be praised for being entertaining, readers should be aware that this is not an analysis of ‘Broken Britain’. Amis praises Dryden’s view that literature is for ‘instruction and delight’, but although at times this novel offers delight, there is very little instruction, and I am still not quite sure what the point was.

CLARA PLACKETT ARTS EDITOR

Football promoted to a classic Owen Keating, Screen Editor, supports Fever Pitch’s release as a Modern Classic DESCRIBING a book as a ‘classic’ can be a dangerous gambit. What even makes a classic? Literary value? Cultural importance? Universal, timeless appeal? Any of those things? Nick Hornby’s critically acclaimed Fever Pitch details one man’s obsession with his football team, and it is, to my mind, THE book about football fandom.

“To be a football fan is to be passionate, to believe, to have your heart broken, to be human. What’s not classic about that?”

Fever Pitch is a bestseller for a reason. Football is our national sport, enjoyed and agonised over by millions every week. Yet, at the same time, the inclusion of Hornby’s work into the hal-

lowed halls of the Penguin Modern Classic has caused outrage in some literary circles. The main question is, why?

John Sutherland, English professor at UCL, dismisses the novel’s capacity to be a classic on the basis that its appeal isn’t, to his mind, universal: ‘are they reading it in Paris, Berlin, Moscow?’ he queries. Hornby may not have cracked Russia, granted, but that doesn’t mean that his novel, with its definitive examination of the relationship between men, masculinity and the occasionally less than beautiful game, isn’t universal.

Football is the most popular sport in the world, and I’d say with a high degree of confidence that more men spend their Saturdays worrying about dozy centre forwards and offside traps than they do contemplating the futility of their existence, or worrying about excessive governmental control on their freedom, as the rest of the classics list might have you believe that we do.

I would argue that the real reason that Fever Pitch’s classification as a classic has ruffled so many feathers is down to the cultural perception of football. Despite its peerless popularity, football is still, in some circles, a dirty word.

Many top independent schools don’t play it, because it is, to quote my old headmaster, “a chav’s game”. Players are castigated almost daily by the media, and the thousands who fill the stands every week are only there because they don’t know any better. Right?

Wrong. Football is indubitably universal. In deepest Africa, more people know the face of David Beckham than they do Barack Obama. Even in Britain, from Manchester to Maidenhead, people like Nick Hornby live and breathe through their team. To be a football fan is to be loyal, to be passionate, to laugh, to believe, to have your heart broken. To be human. All in 90 short minutes every week. What’s not classic about that?

a disconcerting air of the office motivational slogan about them. Impressively, Egan manages to turn this into a strength.

“Ignore Black Box at your peril. It might just be the future of books” She validates the declarative language through her use of narrator, the words forming a kind of mission log of advice, found in the eponymous black box. This black box is stored in the mind of the unamed female narrator and tracks her progress as a futuristic spy.

Don’t expect jetpacks and lasers though, this dystopian espionage is a domestic, medieval kind of female subjugation.

Egan sculpts a world where countless ordinary women do their duty by temporarily surrendering their settled lives,

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Rachel Joyce “I AM on my way. All you have to do is wait. Because I am going to save you, you see.

I will keep walking and you must keep living.”

Retired, bored and slowly giving up on his relationship with his wife Maureen, Harold sits at h o m e getting old. But when a letter addressed to him in shaky handwriting arrives, Harold’s world changes: Queenie Hennessy, a woman he hasn’t heard from in over twenty years, is dying of cancer. And Harold must save her.

How? He goes on a very unlikely pilgrimage. Initially intending to post

often leaving behind a partner and kids, to seduce powerful men and obtain vital information from them.

As with any sci-fi the author’s targets are contemporary: the objectification of women, the spread of technology, social responsibility. Egan tackles all of these themes with an inspiring gusto, each simple tweet building on the last to create an unexpectedly vivid and intricate story. The digital revolution has been hailed as many things, most notably the death knell of the book as we know it. With Black Box Jennifer Egan proves that it should be grasped as a golden opportunity to reconstruct everything we thought we knew about books. Egan’s experimentation puts her at the front of a new kind of modernism, revolutionising not just the words and language but the way they are used.

Ignore Black Box at your peril. It might just be the future of books. his reply in the mailbox around the corner, Harold ends up walking from his small town Kingsbridge all the way to Queenie’s hospice in Berwick-uponTweed. Passing through towns across England (including Exeter), Harold covers over six hundred miles wearing nothing on his feet but a pair of old yachting shoes. As his silent world is filled with the voices of people he meets along the way, Harold embarks on a quest to save not just Queenie’s life, but his own.

Rachel Joyce’s debut novel is

“Rachel Joyce’s debut novel is beautifully simple, funny and moving” beautifully simple, funny and moving. Using the English countryside as a backdrop, she provides insight into the emotional lives of people all over England. However, it is without a doubt the loveable Harold who wins the reader’s heart. Through him, Joyce shows what making a difference means, and how even the most ordinary of people can do extraordinary things.

GEORGINA BANFIELD

Any Last Words?

This issue we asked what book best describes Freshers Week and why?

Well, as a returning Postgrad this year I suppose I’ll have to say Lolita. I’ll see you Freshers in Rococos!

CALUM BAKER Freshers week is best described

by Kerouac’s On the Road, a blurry stumble through partying, excess and ear-shattering beat before a sobering look at the meaning of your spiritual core.

BEN MURPHIE

I’m going to say Paradise Lost, because you have the time of your life for 7 days and then wake up to your first 9am lecture and the mother of all hangovers.

TOM BOND Fight Club because during Freshers Week you feel like two different people. On the one hand a diligent slave to organised society and on the other, an anarchic bastard.

AUBREY MACDOWELL

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Have a great day & don’t forget to book your Taxi with the

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Exeposé

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Arts

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Arts Diary Our regular Arts Diary column shows you all the important events going on in Exeter...

ARTS

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ARTS EDITORS

Clara Plackett & Emily Tanner arts@exepose.com JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP Exeposé Arts

Mud, monsoons and modern art Exeposé Arts took a trip to Nova Festival for theatre in a tent, art in the woods and late nights by the campfire

Art Exeter Contemporary Open @ Phoenix 13 September - 1 November John Court @Spacex Gallery 29th September – 24th November

A Symphony of Curves @ RAMM 18 August - 11 November

Comedy Tim Key @ Northcott: 1 October RAW Comedy Night @ Barnfield 22 September Stephen K. Amos @ Exeter Corn Exchange 17 October

Drama Gap Year: A Muscial Comedy @ M&D Rooms, Devonshire House 5 October

Dance God’s Garden @ Northcott: 20 September

Nova Festival Bignor Park, West Sussex 5-8 July 2012 Nestled in the beautiful West Sussex grounds of Bignor Park estate, the inaugural Nova Festival of Arts and Music launched this July. It is rare for a festival to bill itself foremost as an arts event and even more surprising that the early bird tickets sold out before a full music line up had been announced yet it seems what many wanted was something just a little bit different.

Nova is definitely not your standard summer festival. Yes, there was mud, yes, there were the much loved festival portaloos; and yes we all slept under the stars, however there was an alternative edge to Nova. To criticise Nova for only having one music stage is unfair; it was promoted as an Arts festival, and though the absence of some acts has been focused upon by some critics, the music provided by Sofar Sounds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday was greatly appreciated by all of those who bothered to turn up.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy the music on offer was around the ever present campfire, which showed that relaxation and a coming together of different people was what Nova really

wanted to be about.

Around the site was a variety of visual art; artists Wheater and Lucas loaned Nova two pieces of 12 MONTHS OF NEON LOVE whilst Reynolds’ Dynamic Junk was given a home in the festival’s Zen Garden. This piece was executed well, projecting a lively visual display onto household items when the sun went down. Its postmodern vibe did attract a small audience, but it was generally overlooked. Along with the failure of the neon to stay alight throughout the festival, the lack of direction towards some art works such as Rankin and Damien Hirst’s film Myths, Monsters and Legends meant many festival goers, including ourselves, missed out on some of the art on display.

Nova gets full marks for quirkiness however, and its politically provocative golf course curated by Doug Fishbone, including a falling statue of Saddam Hussein and ‘BE NICE’ signs, may well have been the most accessible Art there.

Away from the visual works the main arena held the biggest artistic endeavor, the ‘Fearless Theatre.’ Sadly cancellations did hinder proceedings here, leaving virtually nothing to see on Friday, but with Saturday’s ‘Pick of the Pleasance’ Nova was at its best,

Art Attack This week’s Art Attack is 12 Months of Neon Love by Victoria Lucas and Richard William Wheater. Inspired by their own relationship, the statements are supposed to celebrate heartbreak as well as romance, but do you warm to them as a way of expressing such strong emotions?

as the crowds quickly became more effervescent. The talented Bear Trap Theatre Company, who were sadly drowned out by the music stage, presented ‘Bound’ before top comedy names including Abandoman and Doc Brown – for whom the arena was energised and filled with laughter – took to the stage. With Doc Brown pulling in the crowds to this surprisingly undiscovered arena, many festival-goers drifted back into the rainy night once his set was over which was a shame as Saturday night held gems such as musical sketch troupe Delete the Banjax and witty duo Ginger and Black. The arena closed earlier than planned but overall Saturday’s impressive line up was a festival highlight.

In the literary tent, a truly inspiring talk was given by Katy Darby on her new novel The Whore’s Asylum and the challenges of being a novelist. Writer Michael Smith’s films also ensured that an engaged and artistic feel was present in the literature tent throughout the festival.

Sunday saw a lot of festival-goers trail off the muddy site, leaving a slightly lulled atmosphere by the early evening.

Comic poet John Hegley provided some real laughs on another rainy day

whilst Battersea Arts Centre presented possibly the most bizarre, unforgettable, though nonetheless entertaining, hour and a half of performance art ever. This culminated in a cocktail, of what seemed to be ginger beer and whisky, being made on stage and passed around the audience as the group sung songs about mistaken identity and one containing the memorable line “Judith, I am a man.”

Making its debut in a year when many festivals have been cancelled and attendance is generally down, Nova was bold. No doubt there will be criticism of the various cancellations and the lack of attendees on the last day, but the organisers worked diligently to create a certain ambience. At many festivals this summer you may have seen famous music acts and possibly even comedy but have you had the opportunity to gather around a blazing campfire each night, see some challenging art installations in a field or see a group of suited gentlemen drag a piano through boggy mud singing and dancing as they go? Hopefully in years to come Nova will become increasingly vibrant without selling out to the big festival organisers or compromising its artistic roots. If it does there is no reason why it cannot stand as a reputable Arts festival.

CALUM BAKER: I think it’s a little

REBECCA LODDER: I love bright,

pointless, given that certainly with this lyric it was written ironically anyway (it’s R.E.M.)

TOM BOND: This reflects beautifully

the timeless but fleeting nature of lyrics.

No matter how stunning or powerful the words are, so much of their power comes from the song they inhabit. Representing them in another form can only echo that power temporarily before it fades, just like the neon in the installation.

colourful art but I can’t help but think this is just a waste of electricity as people are more likely to think it’s the name of a strange Las Vegas hotel room than an art installation.

EMILY TANNER: It is quite pretty, but

lyrics themselves are sometimes pretty much poetry so to take them, chop them up and display them in neon almost removes the poetry and beauty, however powerful the sentiment

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ARTS

FRESHERS WEEK 2012 |

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Exeposé

Getting to the art of the matter

Exeposé Arts takes to the streets to highlight the top locations for theatre, dance, art and comedy in your new home...

Northcott Theatre Streatham Campus LOOKING back, it’s a wonder the Northcott Theatre is still here. In recent years the 460-seat jewel in Streatham’s crown has been faced with brutal funding cuts and financial woes, but the generosity of its benefactors and the support of students and staff at the University have (so far) saved the Northcott from an untimely ‘exit stage left’.

The Northcott may be a small regional theatre, but what it lacks in size and grandeur it makes up for in excited and varied programmes, season after season. Serving an extensive catch-

ment area of 551,000 households at the heart of Devon, the Northcott is the only theatre capable of holding fullscale opera, drama and dance between Plymouth and Taunton.

“The Northcott hosts a wide variety of mainstream and more unusual productions” One of the great things about the Northcott is that it hosts a wide variety of mainstream and more unusual productions – everything from contemporary dance to national tours of musicals

Royal Albert Memorial Museum Queen Street THIS time last year, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) on Queen Street was shrouded away under ugly renovation boarding. It only took six months after the December 2011 completion of its massive £24million rebuild for this remarkable little museum to be honoured ‘Museum of the Year’, winner of the £100,000 Art Fund Prize. But why?

In my experience, the RAMM is a museum like no other. Even with its lurid salmon walls, visitors happily return time after time. This is probably down to the traditional ethos, which still manages to remain current and inclusive by ditching the stigma of academic stuffiness.

Technology lovers beware – there aren’t massive screens, movie clips and repetitive sound-bites to assault your scenes after every bend and twist.

Frankly they aren’t needed. Walking around the RAMM is like taking a trip back in time for all the right reasons – visitors young and old slow down and

Exeter Contemporary Open Phoenix Centre LOOKING for a creative escape during the chaos of Freshers Week? A haven of imagination is not as far from the city as you might think. In fact the Exeter Phoenix lies hidden right in the middle of Exeter. Take a turn by Urban Outfitters on the High Street and you’ll find the cobbled pedestrianised Gandy Street (famed for being J.K Rowling’s inspiration for Diagon Alley). At the end of this small street you’ll find the stairs up to the Phoenix.

If you consider yourself a creative person, there is bound to be something that you will be interested in inside.

For me, the art galleries are a great (free) chance to catch up on some culture. This autumn sees the return of a contemporary art competition called the Contemporary Open now in its seventh year. The selected works that are on display are the shortlisted pieces chosen from submissions from across the globe.

It offers viewers the chance to encounter some of the best new talent in the world of contemporary art.

The exhibition is free to visit, however there’s a big cash prize for the winner.

This year’s selected artists are; Chloe Brooks, Anita Delaney, Nisha Duggal, Aly Helyer, Brendan Lancaster, Olivier Lariviere, Ruth Piper, Siobhan Raw and David Theobald. So if you are looking for a free fun and artistic way

and plays straight from London’s West End. The Northcott is often overlooked by students, but it’s important we remember that we are incredibly lucky to have such a fantastic and unique facility on campus.

I strongly recommend that you look at the Northcott’s website after reading this article – why not take a trip to see a show this term, or ‘become a friend’ of the theatre? Both will help support and preserve the theatre that is at the heart of our Streatham Campus in what is continuing to prove a very uncertain time for the arts.

TOM PAYNE EDITOR actually take the time to read strategically-placed snippets of carefully considered information.

Unlike the great museums in far more important places, there is a strong sense that RAMM is curated by people who care about their collection as much as they care about outreach and drawing in people from our local community, and that includes students!

Free admission certainly encouraged me through the doors of the imposing Victorian-gothic building for the first time. Now I keep going back.

“The RAMM is a museum like no other ... ditching the stigma of academic stiffness” Let the scale of the taxidermy simultaneously impress and shock you.

Let yourself travel the world via artefacts from far flung corners of our Earth. Let the RAMM, and its implied representation of Britain’s absolute Imperial power and vision, take your heart as it has done mine.

KITTY HOWIE

to spend an afternoon in Exeter, then look no further than the Contemporary Open at the Exeter Phoenix.

“The best new talent in the world of contemporary art” The show opens on 13 September and runs until 1 November. Exeposé are always keen to hear feedback from its readership, and we love publishing new writers’ reviews. Sign up to Exeposé at the squash and you could be reading your own review of the show published in the next issue!

ZOE BULAITIS EDITOR

The BikeShed Theatre Fore Street STONE steps leading down to a dingy low-lit cellar with animal heads grinning from the walls…a scene from one of Angela Carter’s macabre fairytales maybe? On your bike. Admittedly, the setting can only be described as unconventional, but the warm hub-bub of gossip and chit chat, the clink of cocktail glasses and the friendly reception of local drama enthusiasts ensures that the quirky and eccentric setting of The BikeShed is friendly and welcoming.

The small basement where the eye-level stage area is located creates a sense of intimacy often lost in larger theatres and when the main actor is only a metre from you, bursting forth a torrent of hyperbolic prose, it is hard notto forget the falsities of the play and be immersed in the atmosphere of the theatre. The productions themselves are often refreshingly original, being sourced from small but popular touring drama companies, exhibiting a range of comic, classic, tragic and in-

die theatre at ticket prices that won’t break the bank.

Even if the diversity of plays does not appeal The BikeShed’s cozy ambiance, comfy sofas and wide selection of beverages and homely pub grub should entice anyone looking for an evening that will provide an invigorating diversion from the usual experience of characterless chain restaurants, clubs and bars that can dominate Exeter’s nightlife.

“High on any Exeter student’s to-do list” The BikeShed is high on any Exeter student’s to-do list, whether you are looking for an alternate pre-lash destination with a difference, an evening of culture or somewhere romantic to impress a date. And, if you are on that uncomfortable first date and the conversation is wilting, don’t worry, the margharitas allied with the host of board games scattered amongst the tables and will stimulate and revitalise even the most awkward of social situations!

MEGAN REVELL

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GAMES EDITORS

Marcus Beard & Jonathan Jenner games@exepose.com JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP Exeposé Games

Talking the Mickey

Will Hayman meets Warren Spector - the visionary games designer behind Epic Mickey THE Disney offices in London are pretty swanky - all soft chairs and squidgy carpet. Walls are hung with film art and promotional materials, there are big TVs playing Brave trailers, bowls of snacks adorning the tables, and even the exact Iron Man suit worn by Robert Downey Jr. standing menacingly in a corner (Freshers – do you really need any other reason to write for Exeposé Games?) It gets better once we – the assorted games journalists, bloggers and games developers – head to the ‘screening room’. It’s a cinema. And it’s doubling up as a presentation room for Warren Spector, the veteran games designer behind System Shock, Thief, Deus Ex and Epic Mickey.

“Disney only gave me a direct ‘No’ once... I suggested showing Mickey’s teeth” Spector’s here to talk enthusiastically about Mickey’s return to the cartoon Wasteland in Epic Mickey 2. A colourful 3D puzzle-platformer, the sequel sees Mickey and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Mickey Mouse’s unfortunate predecessor) teaming up to dispatch the Wasteland’s new and ominous threat.

Keith Stuart, games journalist for The Guardian, asks Spector if he feels that throwing a cartoon world into jeopardy is too sinister for a Mickey Mouse game. He doesn’t: this is a “return to roots” for Mickey: “he is an adventurer, a hero…for the world to be saved, it must be in jeopardy”. I ask how much they had to re-design the character of Mickey Mouse for the game; was it a complete reinvention, or could they just cut and paste him in? “Oh no, you

can’t!” Spector explains that he and his team faced the dual challenges of creating a Mickey that meets the technical and stylistic requirements of the game, and one that is “grounded in reality” – meaning it has to be faithful to the established Disney world.

He tells of how his artists would come to him with concept art – a barrel is his example. He’d ask where they’d got it from.

If the unfortunate artist replied with “I just made it up”, it was proclaimed not good enough, and they would be sent off to find source material in the Disney archives.

“Disney have been drawing and voicing Mickey for decades these guys know what they’re doing” Spector is overwhelmingly positive about his experience with Disney.

He and his team were given extensive access to the Disney archives. He was

left surprisingly free to go in his own creative direction with the game. He was only ever given a direct “No” by superiors on one occasion: when he

ference. Asked if he found it hard to convince his teams to produce content that only a fraction of players will see, he says no. If you want to make a highly-directed experience, “go work for somebody else. Certainly don’t work for me”. His second motto is “worlds must persist”. If play style makes a difference in the game, mak-

“Games have the potential to be different from the highly directed experience offered by films and books”

suggested showing Mickey’s teeth.

But he didn’t mind that: “I don’t want to reinvent the wheel.”

After all, Disney have been drawing, animating and voicing their character for several decades; in Spector’s own words, “these guys know what they’re doing”.

Spector talks about the philosophy that has gone into all of his games over the years. His first motto is “play style matters”. He believes that games have the potential to be different from the highly directed experience offered by films or books, by offering a unique experience to each player. The way a player plays through a game must make a dif-

ing that difference permanent reinforces the player’s role. It makes the player integral to the game, not just a casual bystander, observing the action.

We retire to the ‘Iron Man Room’ to play a pre-release version of the game and drink free beer. Spector joins us to offer some advice to an 11 year-old boy who wants to work in video games. “You have to decide what you want to do”, is his advice.

Also ensure you “get a broad education…I’ve needed to know everything from math to how a castle is built”.

The subject turns to Spector’s critical acclaim, but he doesn’t put much stake in it: “I don’t read reviews”.

But he does read letters. He tells of how he received a tear-jerking report from a father whose autistic daughter had connected with Epic Mickey in a way she normally found impossible. I always thought that Warren Spector’s games were something special. It was good to have my belief confirmed.

Epic Mickey 2 is out for all platforms on 23 November.

Exeposé

| FRESHERS WEEK 2012

Raise a glass to Games

Exeposé Games kicks off your Freshers Week action with some novel ways to game Can you still crack a joke without the punchline being an unplanned stomach evacuation? You haven’t accidentally hit on an inanimate object yet and your liver isn’t quite at the point of declaring surrender? That means you’re not quite drunk enough to enter Arena without being strangled by body odour so BRING ON THE DRINKING GAMES.

Sure, you’ll play a lot of Ring of Fire this week, some Save the Queen, a bit of Never Have I Ever... maybe even some Drinking Jenga if you have a particularly well equipped flatmate.

But if your inspiration runs dry (and your alcohol hasn’t) then turning to videogames could provide the answer.

Multiplayer games may bring out

the angry, swearing, controller-hurling madman in all of us (we don’t mention last Christmas to Grandma anymore, but dude, she sucks at Rock Band) and to some, the introduction of alcohol may seem like tempting fate. But trust me when I say that your frustration at your friend’s inability to shoot in a straight line is best taken out on shots

of the questionably-cheap-vodka kind.

So get smashed over Smash Bros Brawl. Wake up with a hangover like a Blue Shell to the head. Enjoy videogames at their best – through a drunken haze, surrounded by inebriated amigos.

Kate Gray

Don’t Drink and Drive!

The Racing Drinking Game

Kick it in the Goal.

The FIFA Drinking Game

THINK! One of the most important aspects of road safety can be used to get you drunk alarmingly fast, with the help of Mario Kart, Crash Team Racing or any other racing game.

A RELAXING start to your evening of drinks. You’ll be playing FIFA all week anyway.

THE RULES: Playing with either a pint or half-pint (coward) of your chosen drink, each player must finish their drink before they finish the race. The catch is they can’t do both at the same time – players must drop the controller to pick up their drink, and vice versa.

Easy to play, choosing your moment can be extremely tactical, with most players choosing between laps and when being hit by a bastard Blue Shell.

THE VERDICT: A swift race to intoxication but frequent downing can result in feeling horribly bloated. A tactical vomit may be on the cards before going out if you play for too long.

JAMIE GORE

THE RULES: As many or as few as you like. A standard three fingers for conceding a goal, with plenty of additional rules such as a finger for conceding a throw-in, two fingers for getting booked, two for conceding a penalty, downing for getting a straight red card... the possibilities are endless.

THE VERDICT: Almost solely dependent on how many rules you want to play with / make up as you go along. Generally pretty chilled, but a word of warning: the more drunk you get, the more likely you are to have to issue the dreaded FIFA apology on Facebook the next morning.

Jon Jenner games editor

Free Will The Sims 3 Drinking Game

FORE! The Tiger Woods Drinking Game

YOU will need red drinks (Cherry Sourz, cranberry juice, red wine) Green drinks (Apple Sourz, Absinthe, green tea).

Create a Sim for each player, place them all in a house with plenty of fire hazards and turn Free Will on. Sit back and watch hilarity unfold!

THE most brutal drinking game I have ever played. It starts off gentle, but before you know what’s happened, Ian Poulter has shanked one into the water because you’re seeing five of the ball and you’re required to down your seventh drink.

THE RULES: Drink to the following guidelines: Marriage - Everyone takes one green drink and toasts to the happy couple.

Baby - High five your babydaddy and take two green drinks each – you’re drinking for two now. You now become responsible for all the baby’s misdeeds.

Wetting yourself - Take one red drink.

Try to keep it in this time.

Aging up - Take one green drink and one red drink and choose one of the following actions to mess up someone’s life: Adopt a baby / Start a fire / Wall a random Sim in Death - Take two red drinks. You are now a ghost and can possess other sims.

Cancel them going to the toilet, cook something on the dodgy stove, go crazy.

THE VERDICT: can take some time but easy to leave on in the background and drink depending on events.

Kate Gray

GAMES

www.exepose.ex.ac.uk

THE RULES: play any Tiger Woods golf game for a round of 18 holes with mates and if there’s more than four of you, make teams and alternate shots.

Hazards such as a bunker or water = four fingers. Rough grass = two fingers. Out of bounds shots means that you finish your drink. A Bogey equates to one finger (double = two, etc). If you birdie or eagle, you get the honour of nominating a friend to have a beverage. You can challenge a friend to make any putt on the green.

If they fail they do four fingers, but if they succeed you down your drink.

THE VERDICT: Not for the fainthearted. A round of nine holes is not too taxing, but a round of 18 is horrendous. Oh and don’t use vodka. I didn’t even make it out. louis doré SCREEN EDITOR Exeposé wants you to have lots of fun but hopes that you will drink responsibly.

29

Sandbox What games will you be playing in Freshers’ Week?

Kate Gray: Getting the most out of Skyward Sword now because in my room at uni there will be no room to swing a cat, let alone my sword. Not even skyward. Also Viva Pinata but I can’t explain that one.

Exeposé Screen: FIFA. Because we’re still breathing.

Jon Jenner: Rock Band 3. I’ll buy something new, play it for two days, then go back to pretending I’m a musician.

Tom Bond: Russian Roulette because if I do Freshers Week properly, every day will be potentially life threatening.

Add your accounts to the Exeposé Games Community: bit. ly/Pk25UG

Play This

Ra Ra (not to be confused with conversations overheard outside Holland Hall) WHAT? Two player extreme star-boxing in your browser. Furiously competitive and easy to pick up, this colourful physics-based brawler allows for intense games with devilish strategies.

With two people able to play on the same keyboard, this is great for settling those ‘who’s buying the first round’ disputes.

WHERE? Grab a friend and send your browser to bit.ly/ixvndr

“

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SPORT

FRESHERS WEEK 2012 |

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Exeposé

London 2012: Mike’s top five moments Mike Stanton Sports Editor “IF you cheer loud enough, she will hear you”, was for me the most powerful statement of the 2012 Olympics as Jess Ennis secured her gold medal. And cheer we did, looking back on the London 2012 games it is hard to pick just five top moments out of what I feel was the best Olympics I have seen. There are some obvious choices, such as the feats of Mo Farah, Jess Ennis, Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. However, these are not in my top five. Yes the Olympics is a celebration of sporting excellence, but for me it is the ethos and what it stands for that makes the Olympics so magical and I have tried to represent this in my choices.

The first of my five is not an athlete, not a coach, not a pundit but a red-faced South African by the name of Bert Le Clos, Chad Le Clos’ father, and his reaction to his son becoming the 200m butterfly Olympic champion.

His uncontrollable excitement and love for his son: “look at my beautiful boy”, perfectly demonstrated all that is amazing with the Olympic movement.

His joy for his son and how proud he felt was so beautifully clear, made more so by his realisation that he was on international TV and sucking in his

“His uncontrallable excitement demonstrated all that is amazing with the Olympic movement”

stomach! This was similar with GB gold medal shooter Peter Wilson who left an interview mid-way through to hug his dad, his voice cracking with emotion and excitement.

My second top moment may come as a surprise. The badminton scandal. This is in my top five not only because of the public outcry but also the IOC’s response in banning the offending players. At first I feared they would suffer from the classic British syndrome of being too soft in these sorts of matters, not wanting to step on anyone’s toes or upset anyone. I was relieved and proud that they stood up for the Olympic morals and banned the players.

Of course a GB gold rush would not be complete without a haul from the rowers. It is the likes of Katherine Grainger, Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter that make up my third choice.

For Katherine Grainger it was a fairytale, proving that dreams do come true. After three Olympic silver medals, at 36 this was her last roll of the dice and a chance to finally make her dream a reality and she did so, in magnificent form. This sheer ecstasy was a huge juxtaposition to the huge devastation felt by Purchase and Hunter, pushing themselves to collapse only to miss out on defending their Olympic title by less than half a second. The range of emotions and determination to push themselves over their limits in the pursuit of a dream make the rowing on Dorney Lake one of my top Olympic moments.

My penultimate highlight of the Olympics was a simple one, and that was being British. For some reason

Photos: BBC, Guardian and MSN

people in our beautiful isles associate a certain stigma around being British.

For me the reaction of the British public was something for all of us to be proud of. We showed our small lands still have the plucky courage and still upper lip of Britain of old, our small countries came together and not only hosted the world, but outperformed it too. For me the whole occasion made you proud to be British, and I hope that we maintain this; although it has been announced we are in over one trillion pounds of debt I can only pray that we

“I can only pray that we continue to be quintessentially British and punch well above our weight” continue to be quintessentially British in the face of adversity and pressure and continue to punch well above our weight on a global stage.

And finally my top moment of the 2012 games was the athletes themselves.

On the whole they performed and conducted themselves in such a way that means they will be heroes and role models for generations to come.

Not afraid to push themselves further than most of us dare, to lay themselves exposed in front of the world, to share their most private emotions with all of us. If they had but one goal, regardless of medal counts and PBs, it was to live up to the 2012 slogan and they did so without a shadow of a doubt. They have created a legacy, they had taught us to follow our dreams. They have inspired not only one generation, but many to come.

Chiefs prepare for new season

Photo: Will Kelleher

Mike Stanton Sports Editor WHEN talking to head coach Rob Baxter ahead of this coming season, honesty seems to be a big part of the Chiefs for this campaign.

“We don’t get too carried away with looking too far ahead, we go flat out into every game.” A point repeated by his captain Tom Hayes and as their new England star Tom Johnson declared; “We give everything and take what we are given.” Despite this lack of predetermined targets and revealed plans for silverware, there is a defiant sense of excitement around Sandy Park.

At the start of last season most were doubtful if they would stay in the Aviva Premiership yet after a strong season they just missed out in the play-offs and secured themselves a well-earned Heineken Cup place, bringing the best of Europe to the West Country.

However, such a strong season has had its drawbacks. Baxter admits it’s going to be a tougher season due to their “higher profile”.

Considered Premiership contenders and with both Clermont Auvergne and Leinster in their Heineken Cup group it seems all eyes will be on the boys from Devon. As Johnson put it they have a “hell of a group”, but they seem excited to be playing at the highest standard

club rugby has to offer.

“Yes they are tough places to visit but they also have to come here” Johnson commented, suggesting a confident undertone to the team that are taking it “step by step”.

As Hayes admitted; “we have no set objectives, we will see what we can get, but we are an ambitious side.” This ambition was reiterated by Baxter and Johnson and there seems to be a buzz and positivity around the Chiefs for the coming season, the sense of Sandy Park becoming a fortress in the West Country.

From personal experience it is one of the best match day atmospheres around. A sense of barbarism and the true West Country attitude makes for a cauldron-like atmosphere with a wall of noise thanks to the Chiefs’ famous ‘Tomahawk Chop’ war chant and drumming for the players to run out to.

It’s enough to make any opposition a bit fearful of what is to come.

Tom Johnson spoke of how the crowd are “fantastic” and become part of the game psyching out the opposition. Sandy Park, due to this atmosphere, accessibility and cheap student tickets is also becoming a key part of Exeter student life. So get down and support your Chiefs, even better, become a correspondent for Exeposé and get your hands on free tickets!

Exeposé

| FRESHERS WEEK 2012

SPORT

www.exepose.ex.ac.uk

31

Photo: Exeter City

Crossword No. 35 by Raucous

Exeter City: Your new local team Exeter City FC Jon Jenner Games Editor

THE University year is starting and a lot of you will be leaving beloved local sides behind when you come to Exeter.

Whether you followed Manchester United or Morecambe FC, Arsenal or Accrington Stanley, there is a team right here to lend your loyalties to – the mighty Exeter City.

The Grecians, as they are affectionately known, are a small but established professional side that have been playing under the name Exeter City FC since 1904. Having been relegated from League One last season after finishing 23rd, they find themselves in League Two with long-term local rivals Plymouth Argyle.

The club has fought through a tough twenty years, going into administration in the 90s and being forced to sell their stadium. They were also relegated to the conference in 2003, returning to league football in 2008 with a win against Cambridge United. The club’s financial difficulties were helped by a dream away tie against Manchester United

in the 2005 FA Cup, and they are now owned entirely by the fans in the form of the Exeter City Supporters Trust.

Though City have only ever won a single major trophy – the Fourth Division Championship in 1990 – the club has its fair share of achievements. On a 1914 tour of South America, Exeter City reportedly became the first ever team to play against Brazil’s national side.

The result remains disputed to this day, with some claiming a 2-0 win for the Brazilians and others believing it ended in a 3-3 draw. King of Pop Michael Jackson was made honorary director of the club in 2002, and attended a game with fellow director Uri Geller, yes that’s right the spoon-bender. Somewhat less glamorously, Exeter City hold the record for the most seasons in the third flight of English football without ever attaining promotion to the top two leagues.

Despite the disappointment of relegation, the Grecians remain optimistic for the 2012/13 season.

Keeping faith with manager Paul Tisdale, at the club since 2006, they will be hoping he can return them to League One in prompt fashion. In 2008, Tisdale earned the club promotion

from the Conference and the following season took the team straight up into League One, making him the club’s most successful ever manager. Despite a number of departures, the core playing staff has remained largely intact, with a host of new arrivals. Tisdale has opted for mostly experienced players, with the 37 year old Jamie Cureton in particular standing out.

Exeter have taken six points from their first three games. Bouncing back from an opening day 3-0 defeat against Morecambe FC, they have gone on to back-to-back wins and will be hoping for a good run of form. They play York at home at St James Park on Saturday 15 September, and will play again at home on Tuesday 18 September against Wycombe. Tickets are available both from the stadium’s ticket office and the Guild Information Point inside the Forum building on campus. Thanks to a partnership established last year, the club offer students tickets at hugely discounted prices, and greatly appreciate support from students. With a welcoming atmosphere in the stadium and the prospect of a good few wins this season, hopefully you won’t be left missing your old local side too much.

required to put it together as you see it on the projects pages.

2. The project creators, along with the Out The Blocks team, publicise their project to the crowd.

3. The crowd pledge their support with the “Back This Project” button on each project page. Their pledge is held

by Out The Blocks until the project reaches its end date.

4. If the project is successful, the athlete or sports club is transferred the funds and the backers receive their rewards. If the project is unsuccessful, the backers receive a full refund of their pledge.

Ben Tyson, co-founder, hopes that Out the Blocks can make a real difference; “Although sporting superstars like Beckham, Woods and Federer are earning millions, a number of up and coming athletes in less commercial sports often cannot even afford to train full-time. At the same

time, sponsorship for local sports teams normally relies on a players’ business or a committee member having to spend a lot of time approaching local people.

“We hope that Out The Blocks is going to help in the funding of grassroots and elite sport.”

Athletes and teams can offer ‘rewards’ to backers as an incentive for funding so that they gain something from their support. The pledged money is not passed to the athletes until the project is completed.

Currently Out The Blocks has a few running projects incuding Exeter Men’s Hockey Club and Robin Williams, British Paralympic footballer and Exeter PhD Student.

Get out the blocks...

Will Kelleher Sports Editor ONCE again Exeter alumni are leading the way when it comes to sport. Exeter graduates Ben Tyson, Tom Carrington Smith and Colin Dart have set up an innovative new project to “help grassroots sports and athletes overcome the challenges of underfunding.”

The project is called Out The Blocks and its aim is to raise money for sports teams and athletes via a crowdfunding platform. The project hopes to capitalise on the Olympics in order to create a fairer field for upcoming sportsmen and women.

Here is how it works in four simple steps, according to their website outtheblocks.com : 1. An athlete or sports club create their project. They send all the information, videos and photos

Go to outtheblocks.com or follow @ getouttheblocks on Twitter or ‘Like’ Out The Blocks on Facebook.

Across 1. Devices used to empty abdominal organ (7,5) 7. Piece (8) 8. Scandinavian capital (4) 9. See 3. Down.

11. Ecclesiastical chess piece (6) 13. Where you would see 7. Down (6) 15. Primary university week (8) 18. Always (4) 19. Insane and tyrannical Roman Emperor (8) 20. Sitcom created by 3. Down.

(3,5,2,2)

Down 2. Resident of Middle Eastern country (5) 3. & 9. Across. Co-creator of Alan Partridge (7,8) 4. Follower of the third largest religion (5) 5. Indigenous Antipodeans (5) 6. Brazilian beach (10) 7. Hunger and Shame actor (10) 10. Caused ozone depletion (3) 12. United States writer (3) 14. Utilised to kill Trotsky (7) 15. Comedy (5) 16. Teacher of 4. Down (5) 17. Scrape (5)

Promote your society here. Email editors@exepose.com

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Will Kelleher & Mike Stanton sport@exepose.com JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP Exeposé Sport

Meet your sports captains...

The AU Joe Batten Athletic Union President HI, I’m Joe Batten, this year’s Athletic Union (AU) President. We are here to provide you with the best sporting experience possible during your time at Exeter.

Exeter has a renowned sporting reputation, finishing 7th in last year’s BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) league. We have a real ambition to build on this success and consistently be a top ten finishing institution. We are very proud to have one of the highest sports participation rates of any UK university, with 5,450 joining our clubs last year and around 2,500 joining Intramural Sport.

We’ve got something for everyone at Exeter! Here are six ways to get involved:

Playing sport this year? The club captains tell Exeposé why their sport is for you THIS is what we asked: 1.What’s the best thing about your club?

2. What are your Varsity details?

Bertie Haskins - Men’s Rugby 1. We field 10 teams a week. They range in abilities and commitments, from those who aspire to play professionally, to those who enjoy a Wednesday night social and an occasional Saturday appearance. Current Exeter Chiefs players coach EURFC members at every level providing a valuable experience.

2. Bath University. The best teams in the South-West collide and with close to 4000 people in attendance at Exeter Chiefs’ stadium Sandy Park, it is an occasion not to be missed.

Amber Reed - Women’s Rugby 1. A mixture of abilities from beginner to internationals come together to create a great atmosphere on and off the pitch.

2. Bath University. It started in the 2011-2012 season on a Varsity day with the rugby union and league men’s sides and also the netball 1st team.

Bradley Miles - Men’s Football 1. The club consists of 6 teams giving plenty of opportunity to Freshers looking to slot in somewhere and work their way up through the club. You will definitely leave the club at the end of your time in Exeter a better player than when you started.

2. Exeter City at St James’ Park. With an annual attendance of over 3,000 it really is the first social event of the year

and a must-go for all freshers to soak up the buzzing atmosphere and support our 1st team in action. The boys suffered a narrow defeat 3-2 last year after going 2-1 up.

Frankie Dean - Women’s Football 1. The fantastic balance we have created between high level competitive football and a thriving social life. We offer high quality training sessions along with fitness and three different teams. We are one of the cheapest sports clubs here at Exeter and can offer something for everyone!

2. Bath University. Varsity is a great day out and a good opportunity for the whole club to get involved, whether it be participating or supporting.

Andrew Miller - Men’s Hockey 1. The ability to mix top level club hockey with student competition.

Our 1st XI compete in the National League against past, present and future Olympians, and having a current member of EUMHC travel to London 2012 in the form of South Africa’s Ian Haley is a huge boost for the club. As for BUCS, our trophy cabinet speaks for itself.

2. There is no Varsity this year due to the building works at the Sports Park, keep your eyes peeled for Sunday league games however! Every home game is televised live on UniSportOnline.co.uk, so there really is no excuse for missing out on the action!

Olivia Rogers - Netball 1. EUNC is the largest Women’s AU Club at Exeter. We welcome all

standards, providing an environment where high performance players can excel and players of all standards can improve. Every year we commit to creating as many teams as there are members; we have 6 BUCS team and a growing non-BUCS league.

2.Bath, which as all keen netballers will be aware, is a tough match... however we are keen to rise to the challenge!

Emily Zaborski - Lacrosse 1.We all get on so well and have loads of social events as well as playing a high level of lacrosse. We are very well rounded as we hold charity events and run volunteering programs in schools.

We provide something for everyone and have so much fun throughout the year. Work hard, play hard!

is a fantastic social event on the quay during the summer months.

Richard Croney - Men’s Cricket 1. It would probably have to be the facilities. Our Cricket Centre is a professional standard training facility, whilst our home ground at Topsham boasts multiple grass nets, excellent changing rooms and most importantly a fantastic wicket in the summer. We also get to use the Exeter Cricket Club Pavilion for our socials, which is hugely convenient and they go out of their way to ensure we have a brilliant time.

2. Instead of a Varsity match we hold an annual Charity Match. The event is always loads of fun, and last year we managed to raise around £700 for the Darlington Foundation.

2. Our 1st XI always play one of the MCCU sides from their top tier division at Exeter Cricket Club across from Rowe House. In past years opponents have included Cardiff and Cambridge, and as such we’ve been fortunate to play against opponents playing first class cricket. It’s always a great day in third term, and a chance to relax in the summer sun after exams and watch some quality sport.

Duncan Head - Rowing 1. The club is performance driven, without sacrificing an inclusive and friendly atmosphere. We have high aspirations, and are eager to welcome new faces to the club without question.

One of the largest mixed clubs in the AU, you develop a great network of friends from all corners of the University.

Yvanna Kurlak & Brendan Gilson Tennis 1. As the University’s biggest Athletic Union club, we cater for every playing standard, from complete beginners to high performance athletes. Whether members want to play with friends once a week, develop their game, or compete in the national BUCS league squads, there is something for everyone!

2. Last year we ran two varsities, one against the University of Plymouth (which we won 4-0) and another against Exeter City Rowing Club along the picturesque Exeter Quay. Varsity

2. Make sure you come along to the EUTC Open Day from 12-4pm on the Saturday 22 September at the Tennis Centre to sample everything that we offer, and win some free Nandos!

1. Join a club! There are 49 AU clubs so there’s plenty to choose from. All our clubs are student led so if you have any questions you can find the club captains’ details in the AU handbook.

2. Sign up to the Intramural program. It’s a chance for you to play fun, competitive sport once a week with your friends from halls, society, club or academic group.

3. The Sports Volunteering Scheme (SVS) is a great way of getting involved in the local community and delivering sports coaching in schools.

4. Keep an eye out for great one-off events such as the AU Olympics, Dodgeball and Football tournaments 5. If you’re a first year make sure you get involved in and the Interhalls Games events.

6. Come along to the Varsities! The first is the Football Varsity which the 1st XI play Exeter city at St James Park on 3 October. Make sure you join the thousands who come along to support the Green Machine!

For more information on the AU clubs, Intramural or SVS, check the AU Handbook or have a look at the website: www.Exeter.ac.uk/au and ‘Like’ our Facebook page for regular updates on all our events: University of Exeter Student Sport.

Make sure you get to as many tasters sessions as you can, details can be found on our website, on our Facebook (University of Exeter Student Sport) or in your AU handbooks. The Freshers squash is on 23 September 10am - 4pm.

Take cash or cheque as we don’t use the electronic system.

Any questions, just pop up to the AU office (at the Sports Park) and meet the team, or email me at au@ex.ac.uk. I look forward to meeting you over the coming year.