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EXEPOSÉ THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987
Students hit by record rent rises
19 January 2015 • Issue 633 • Twitter: @Exepose • www.facebook.com/Exepose • Free
• Prices soar on campus and private accommodation • Holland Freshers set to pay £7,000 for a room with a view in 2015/16 • Rising student numbers blamed for increased prices Rachel Gelormini & Laura-Jane Tiley Online News Editors STUDENTS are facing increased rent payments as private and on campus accommodation prices soar ahead of the 2015/16 academic year. Prices of rented student housing in Exeter are rising steeply, with some properties increasing by up to £26 per week. Meanwhile, undergraduates opting to live in catered and non-catered halls on Streatham campus will see an increase in accommodation prices of up to three per cent. Apart from institutions in London, Exeter was ranked the third most expensive university in the UK to live and study at, according to a Huf�ington Post
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Fees, living wage & immigration: Green Party leader Natalie Bennett interviewed
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report last year. With rent continuing to rise, next year’s intake will spend almost £7,000 for a 32-week letting period in the most expensive rooms on campus: Holland Hall with a view, whose weekly rent has increased by £6.58 to £224.98. Private rental prices have risen more dramatically though, with letting agent Calum MacInnes estimating an increase of at least �ive per cent across Exeter, commenting that this was “a lot to do with supply and demand, con�idence and the economic cycle.” He described how Exeter Council’s decision to not give out “any more HMO licences to protect the local residents against ‘studenti�ication’” coupled with “the continued growth in...
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Photo: Joshua Creek
Music “Don’t hate, gyrate.” The EDL (no, not those ones), on disco-loving infamy
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Uni debt hits £200 million Harrison Jones Editor
UNIVERSITY debt increased by nearly 50 per cent in the last year, with the total now standing at £203.8 million. A Freedom of Information (FOI) Request about debt submitted by Exeposé was rejected because research would exceed the fee limit and “prejudice the commercial interests of the University or a third party” - two grounds for exemption under the FOI Act. However, the institution’s latest �inancial statement shows a 48.1 per cent increase in debt on last year’s £137.6 million total, whilst total income has increased by just 8.7 per cent. Total and net debt has risen steadily over the past few years, though “total cash and cash deposits,” which are subtracted from total debt to �ind net debt, have also risen substantially. Net debt currently stands at £96.9 million, up on £79 million last year and £72.3 million at the end of 2012. The statistics, released at the end of 2014, came amidst signi�icant growth at the University in recent years, with the institution accepting more students and handling larger budgets. The increase also coincides with low national interest rates, though these could change after May’s general election. Meanwhile, net assets at the University are up by nearly £40 million on last year, though capital...
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Arts Mock the Week’s Sara Pascoe talks wanking, stand up & socialism
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University news from beyond Exeter
Egyptian student jailed for atheism
Leeds students Student debt will cost the UK billions cover A&E for free
EGYPTIAN student Karim al-Banna has received a jail sentence of three years after announcing his atheism on Facebook and insulting Islam. The 21-year-old was arrested after visiting a police station to �ile a harassment complaint after his name appeared in a local newspaper within a list of known atheists. Police sentenced him with insulting Islam and a court found him guilty of the charges on 10 January. Lawyers con�irmed that Banna’s father testi�ied against him in court, concerned about ideas his son had which contradicted the laws of Islam. The case follows increased efforts by Egyptian authorities to counteract atheism. Banna’s sentence is due to be appealed on 9 March.
NEW statistics suggest student debt will cost the UK over a billion pounds a year in the coming three decades. The �igures were released by former Labour Minister for Universities, John Denham, who has expressed concerns about the impact of current student lending for future generations. By the 2040s, student debt could equal the UK’s entire budget for higher education. Estimates also suggest the cost of student loan repayment could add up to almost one per cent of the country’s GDP (£14 billion annually). Minister for Universities and Science Greg Clark has suggested a committee will be needed to discuss the current student loans system after the election.
Huddersfield VC defends Prince
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Jailed murderer writes to student
VICE-CHANCELLOR of the Univer- A CAMBRIDGE student has received a sity of Hudders�ield Bob Cryan has letter from a jailed murderer after he defended Prince Andrew, the Univer- saw her reading on Carols from Kings sity’s patron, in the face of the sexual on Christmas Eve. allegations against him. Johnnie Allan, 55, wrote from In an interview on The Today Long Lartin High Security Prison to Programme for BBC Radio 4, Profes- the anonymous student, having been sor Cryan came out in support of the touched by her reading on Christmas Prince. When asked whether the Pro- Eve. Mr Allan is currently serving fessor would like to see Prince An- time for a drug and murder charge for drew “speak out himself in his own which he was convicted in 1997. defence,” Professor Cryan replied The anonymous student recipient “What more can you say says that at the time she was when there’s an absolute “terri�ied,” as she “never emphatic denial of all expected to get anythese ridiculous allething like this.” She also gations?” expressed her shock Professor Cryan at the fact a prisoner addressed questions serving a life sentence about the Prince’s was able to send letters to choice of friends during random members of the pubthe interview too, as one Jeffrey lic. However, she says that she has Epstein, a former friend of the Prince, “just about got over it now and �inds was sentenced to 18 months in prison it funny. But I do worry for my safety.” in 2008 for soliciting a minor in pros- According to the Ministry of Justice, titution. Cryan said that “the Duke Mr. Allan broke no rules, but it has said actually acknowledged in 2011 that that if the student complains he will that friendship was a mistake and he be barred from writing to her again. apologised for it.” Stories contributed by: Matt Roderick and Ben Jordan, News Team
Graduate starting salaries increase
DESPERATE hospitals in Leeds have called on medical students to work unpaid weekend shifts and overtime as A&E departments across the country are near crisis point. In an email leaked from the Medical School Dean at Leeds University, students were asked to take on the extra workload on top of their usual placements. The students were asked to help where possible without pay, but will receive travel expenses and a ‘subsistence’ allowance. Many students have happily signed up to do the extra work. Yetthe revelation comes in the midst of growing concern about the strain on NHS hospital departments with thousands of operations being cancelled due to bed and staff shortages.
GRADUATES leaving university over the coming years can expect unprecedented starting salaries as they enter into the most buoyant job market in nearly a decade. Research carried out by the Graduate Market study reveals average graduate starting salaries have risen to £30,000 compared to £29,500 last year. Among the 100 largest employers, Aldi revealed that graduates can expect to earn up to £42,000 in their �irst year at the company. Researchers have suggested that the higher starting salaries are related to stronger competition between employers hoping to avoid a repetition of last year, when over 700 graduate jobs remained un�illed due to lack of strong applicants.
A PETITION has been set up to strip University of Warwick ViceChancellor Nigel Thrift of his knighthood. The petition, which has around 350 signatures, calls the knighthood “an insult to both the staff and students of the University who have been the victims of Thrift’s pro�it-centric, self-serving governance over the last eight years.” During his time at the University, the petition claimshis salary has risen by 27 per cent while staff remuneration has “decreased in real terms.” It goes on to claim that the Vice-Chancellor has neither the support of the student body nor the staff.
THE world’s �irst academic conference on the music of Kraftwerk is to be held at Aston University. Speakers from across the globe will gather to discuss their work and their substantial impact on the music industry. Kraftwerk helped in�luence 1980s acts such as Depeche Mode and the Human League. Dr Uwe Schütte, conference organiser, commented that contemporary music is “predominantly electronically produced on computers,” and that Kraftwerk “were the �irst to envision that the music of the future would be electronic.” The highlight of the conference is a talk by former member of reclusive group Wolfgang Flür.
Warwick VC to lose Conference on the knighthood? music of Kraftwerk
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Uni Chief among most influential LGBTs Vanessa Tracey Deputy Editor
GEOFF PRINGLE, Chief Operating Of�icer at the University, has been named as one of the most in�luential executive LGBT role models in the UK. Pringle ranked 43rd amongst the most in�luential Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) executives in the Out at Work Top 50 rankings published in The Telegraph on 16 January. The in�luential rankings recognise the contribution that prominent individuals have made to create and promote LGBT networks and initiatives within the workplace. The Top 50 LGBT executives in Business list was compiled via nominations before being considered by an advisory panel. Other Executives featured in the list were Christopher Bailey, CEO and Chief Creative of Burberry and Antonio Simoes, HSBC UK CEO. Pringle is also chair of the University’s Rainbow Group which coordinates the annual Pride event and offers advice and recommendations concerning the LGBT student and staff community. He said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been both nominated and selected to be a part of this list.” “It is a testament to the hard work and dedication shown by colleagues and students throughout the University which make Exeter a vibrant, inclusive and enjoyable experience for everyone.” The award comes as the University of Exeter was named as one of the top 200 best employers in Britain for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff. Kate Hawkins, VP Welfare and Diversity said: “The Students’ Guild has been proud to work alongside Geoff for many years in promoting an inclusive campus environment and in delivering the inspirational Pride campaign each year. My congratulations – and those of the entire Students’ Guild – go to Geoff on this very worthy recognition.”
Debt rises as Uni continues to grow NEWS
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... expenditure and capital grants both fell. Exeposé reported on the University’s £330 million budget in September, which forecast expenditure of over £183 million on “staff costs” and over £118 million on “other operating expenses.” A spokesperson for the University of Exeter commented: “The University is committed to providing world-class
Photo: The Guardian
facilities for our students and staff. This commitment has seen an unparalleled level of investment in recent years across all campuses, including both the Forum and Russell Seal Fitness Centre on the Streatham Campus, the RILD Building adjacent to St Luke’s, and the Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) at Penryn. “The University is continuing to invest, with the Living Systems Building, Medical School projects at the St
Students vote to show solidarity with Warwick Olly Walrond News Team
A STUDENT Idea to hold a solidarity protest in support of Warwick University students who clashed with police whilst protesting rising tuition fees and management wages has been submitted to the Guild Council for consideration. The incident in question occurred on 3 December last year when police were called to a sit-in at Warwick University’s Senate House after University staff had reported a ‘shocking and unprovoked act of violence’ by one of the demonstrators. The conduct of the responding of�icers has been called into question, with claims that excessive force had been used against the protesters. Amateur footage from the protest shows police of�icers using CS spray and tackling students to the ground. West Midlands Police later posted a
statement on their of�icial Twitter account admitting that a taser had also been drawn by one of their of�icers, but that it had not been deployed. The sit-in was part of a wider movement of demonstrations taking place across the country against the rising costs of education. The proposal, submitted through the Student Ideas section of the Guild’s website was met with a largely positive response, with 39 students ‘strongly agreeing’ with the idea, ten ‘agreeing’, three ‘disagreeing’ and eight ‘strongly disagreeing’. There were also four ‘neutral’ and two ‘confused’ votes cast. Matt Bate, VP Activities, said: “The Students’ Guild exists to represent the views of our members and, on this occasion, they have voted strongly for the Students’ Guild to take up a position of solidarity with students at the University of Warwick. This idea will now go to Guild Council for possible next steps to be considered.”
Luke’s campus and the Science and Engineering Research Facility at the Penryn Campus all underway. “Securing the right level of longterm, manageable borrowing is essential to fund continued investment, which not only ensures Exeter can attract and retain the very best students and staff, but also plays a signi�icant role in helping achieve our aim to be a global top 100 university.”
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Photo: Joshua Creek
Microplastics interfere with marine ecosystem Theodore Stone News Team RESEARCH carried out jointly between the University of Exeter and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) that has recently been published in the journal ‘Environmental Science and Technology’ has revealed that ‘microplastics’ - tiny bits of plastic that are too small for the naked eye to detect - are able to interfere with the feeding and breeding of an aquatic animal known as the Copepod. Copepods are one of the most common forms of zooplankton, tiny animals that are present in vast numbers throughout the global ocean. It is estimated that there are around 200 billion times more Copepods than there are humans. They are a vital source of food for many aquatic creatures and thus form an extremely important part of both the global marine ecology and the carbon cycle. Microplastics have been found in oceans all over the world. Some of them, such as exfoliates in cosmetics, are manufactured to be microscopic in size, whilst others derive from the breakdown of larger plastic waste.
The Copepods are forced into using up their long-term energy reserves because of their reduced consumption of food. These reserves are extremely important, as they provide energy for the creatures during winter months, when food is sparse, whilst also making them highly nutritional to animals higher on up the food chain. It is hoped that these �indings will aid policymakers in targeting marine areas of the greatest ecological concern for cleaning up the oceans.
Zooplankton are an incredibly important source of food for a vast range of marine animals Dr Matthew Cole, lead researcher
The lead researcher, Dr. Matthew Cole, stated that “Zooplankton, such as Copepods, play a vital role in our oceans. These microscopic animals are close to the base of the marine food web and are an incredibly important source of food for a vast range of marine animals, including �ish larvae and whales.”
Lecturer’s book on Disraeli wins critical acclaim Anna Lively News Team
Photo: University of Exeter
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER English lecturer Dr Daisy Hay’s new book has received critical acclaim and will be discussed on BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking Programme on Thursday 22 January. Mr and Mrs Disraeli: A Strange Romance, gives a new angle on the dynamic relationship between the 19th Century Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and his wife Mary Anne. The book focuses on an unusual marriage and the way in which it played out, often in dramatic fashion, in the public arena and the press. Hay describes how “Disraeli spun a public fantasy about his private life to win votes.” Disraeli allegedly declared to
Anne “Why, my dear, you are more like a mistress than a wife.” Most of Dr Hay’s �indings are based on private letters held at Oxford’s Bodleian library. By using the largely neglected collection, she brings new life to the story and makes wider comments about 19th century society.
I was constantly surprised by what I found Dr Daisy Hay, English Lecturer Dr Hay says the book “was a privilege to research and write. During the years I spent working on the Disraelis’ papers I was constantly surprised by what I found, and kept having to rethink my sense of both their marriage and the world in which they lived.”
Photo: BBC
Students decide against a library Facebook ban 4
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Susannah Keogh News Team A CONTROVERSIAL Student Idea to block Facebook on library computers suggested on the Guild website has failed, with over two thirds of participants disagreeing with the proposal. 82 people voted, meaning the idea had gathered suf�icient interest to generate action. However, it gained a positive approval rating of just 29.3 per cent. 34 students strongly disagreed with the idea compared to only 19 in favour, meaning Facebook will remain unblocked. In a report issued on 15 January, the Guild said “a Student Vote might capture a better range of opinion if Council feels it is necessary to explore
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this issue further, but otherwise ‘no action’ is suggested as the outcome.” The student who proposed the block, known only as Luke, wrote that the computers are meant to be used for work only, and those students who want to use social media should use their phone or laptop.
The discussion has identi�ied a key issue with the use of study spaces Matt Bate, VP Activities The idea prompted enthusiastic discussion, with some users praising the idea for reducing distractions to
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students. Others however questioned the feasibility and raised issues of whether all social media should be banned, not just Facebook, with one student describing it as “incredibly unworkable.” Currently the Forum library is home to 150 computers out of 550 across Streatham and St. Luke’s, but the student proposal made no mention of social media use on any other PCs. “The motion to ban Facebook from library PCs proved strongly divisive among students,” said Matt Bate, VP Actvities. “The discussion has identi�ied a key issue with the use of study spaces which the Students’ Guild will take on board as we work with the University to provide the best study facilities.”
Exeter plays crucial role in outreach programme Maria Gomez News Team THE UNIVERSITY will be one of the 200 institutions taking part in the new National Networks for Collaborative Outreach Programme’s initiative, funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The initiative will work with 4,300 schools overall across 35 local networks. As part of the collaboration, the University has designed and developed a new network that will not only
provide general advice about the progression into higher education but will also focus on improving access to ongoing outreach activities. University of Exeter Provost, Professor Janice Kay, welcomed the launch of the network, saying: “I am delighted that Exeter is playing such a crucial part in this new scheme. “It will allow us not only to build on the exceptional outreach already being carried out by the University not just in Cornwall but across the region, but also help young people to
�lourish and reach their full potential. “By providing the right information, the right help and the right encouragement, we can help make this not just an ambition, but a reality.” Greg Clark, Minister for Universities and Science, also welcomed the initiative. He declared: “‘Higher education is a transformational experience and the future of the UK economy depends on having highly-trained graduates so it is vital that young people have the right information about progressing into higher education.”
cial reconstructive surgery,” he then learned about the “amazing surgery” developed in WWI by surgeon Harold Gillies. Radical changes in post-war surgical procedures were in�luenced by artistic practices, such as mask-making, and posed the important question of reintegrating patients back into society. Marjorie Gehrhardt, an Associate Research Fellow at the University, described the show as giving “a unique insight into how [soldiers] coped with the wounds, their longterm treatment and the return to civilian life.” The exhibition is part of EU-funded project 1914FACES2014, led by Professor David Houston Jones, also from the University, and Professor Bernard Devauchelle from the Institute Faire Faces, who carried out the
world’s �irst partial face transplant in 2005. Other partners include UK charities Saving Faces and Changing Faces. The show will run from 17 January to 5 April. Entry is free of charge.
Faces of Conflict at RAMM Jessie Stanier News Team
THE College of Humanities’ Paddy Hartley is showing work at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum this term as part of its latest exhibition, “Faces of Con�lict.” The show, open since 17 January in partnership with the University, explores the impact of WWI facial injuries on artists and surgeons and how it reframed their understanding of the human face. A range of surgical instruments, artefacts and contemporary artworks, including that of Hartley, are used to tell the stories of facially injured soldiers in Devon. Hartley became involved in the project after observing “a number of facial surgeries [...] which sparked my curiosity as to the origins of fa-
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Online British Empire course launches today Sarah Gough Arts Editor THE UNIVERSITY has launched an online course on the study of the British Empire. Opening today, the free course gives its students the opportunity to explore the controversies and repercussions of imperialism. As well as its global perspective, the course will also study the South West’s role within the Empire, focusing in part on Devon-born Elizabethan explorer Sir Francis Drake. Participants will be guided by
experts from the University’s Centre for Imperial and Global History - one of the largest groups of imperial and global historians in the UK. Lead educator on the course, Professor Richard Toye, said: “The British Empire online course does not require any reading before you start or previous experience of studying the subject. Eminent historians from the University of Exeter will provide new perspectives of the British Empire, through exploring how the Empire happened, what were the forces that created it, that held it together and that ultimately led to its demise.”
£1.2m for antibiotic resistance research Lara Garrett News Team
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER Medical School, along with nine other establishments, has been awarded a £1.2 million grant in order to further our understanding of how pollution, agricultural practices and water are responsible for an increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria.
We’re hoping to understand how we can reduce levels of antibiotic resistant bacteria Dr William Gaze, University of Exeter Medical School Antibiotic resistant genes threaten humans’ ability to combat disease. Previous research has concentrated on antibiotic resistance in humans, but this new research will concentrate on environmental factors that
appear to be causing the increase in this resistant bacteria. The study will centre on the catchment area of the River Thames and will examine the use of antibiotics in agriculture and how this has led to an evolution of resistance in farm animals. Dr William Gaze, who is leading the research at the Medical School’s European Centre for Environment & Human Health, said: “We’re really hoping to understand how we can design strategies to reduce levels of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the environment.” This revolutionary approach will use next generation DNA sequencing to reveal which elements present in the chosen catchment area correlate with antibiotic resistant bacteria. It is research designed to investigate how we can keep our environment and water sources safe, avoiding such antibiotic resistance described by Chief Medical Of�icer Dame Sally Davies as posing as much of a risk to humanity as climate change or global terrorism.
‘Bin Days’ comes to iExeter Sarah Gough Arts Editor
BIN collection information can now be obtained via the iExeter app. The ‘Bin Days’ icon provides collection dates for both black and green bins, allowing the app user to input and save their address details. Community Liaison Of�icer, Rory Cunningham said: “I think this will have a really positive impact on university and community relations. “Confusion over collections, refuse pileups and the resulting mess remain one of the most persistent themes of complaint from local people. City Councillors also raise these
topics consistently. “Educating students about these issues can be time consuming for my team of ten Student Community Wardens. This accessible and simple new resource will greatly help the Wardens to get the message out.” The iExeter app is available for download on Apple and Android.
Private and University housing prices soar
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... the University” has contributed to rising rental prices.
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Self-catered ensuite halls Birks Grange will rise to £137.34 and Lafrowda to £139.02
Pennsylvania Court and standard Holland will rise to £214.55 The exception,
Rowencroft, will decrease to £94.01 Jon Carden, founder of Cardens Estate Agents, said: “the increased number of students entering the University of Exeter combined with Exeter City Council exerting tighter controls on new student housing […] has led to a more competitive market this year. “A landlord can no longer buy a family house and convert into a student property in the popular student areas, which has had a knock on effect
as the demand for houses in the popular areas continues to grow. “Rents have increased by an average of around £3 per person per week in most popular areas,” Carden estimated that rents will continue to increase “as long as the number of students remains stable or continues to rise.” Kate Hawkins VP Welfare and Diversity: “Househunting can be stressful but the Students’ Guild Advice Unit is available to support any student with this dif�icult process. I strongly recommend that students take advantage of the Advice Unit’s free contract checking service which is available to all Exeter students before signing up or paying a deposit. The Advice Unit monitors rent prices in Exeter and is always keen to hear students’ experiences of renting in the city. “We are also continuing to work closely with landlords in Exeter to encourage them to sign up to the AFS/Unipol accreditation scheme, endorsed by the Students’ Guild. The scheme carries out independent property checks and requires landlords to adhere to a strict code of good practice which students can feel con�ident will provide them with a good
renting experience.” On campus, Cook Mews, Llewellyn Mews and St David’s will remain the cheapest accommodation option available.
Slug slime vs. upmarket woes: students on Exeter housing Comment Page 7
In 2013-14, the Students’ Guild lobbied the University to freeze the year on year increases in the prices of residential accommodation, encouraging them to offer more affordable price brackets. Defending the rises, a University of Exeter spokesperson said “Although there have been small increases, these have been kept to a minimum, equating to 3 per cent or less, while some self-catered accommodation rents have actually been reduced. “The University will be encouraging students to look at the length of their contracts and total costs for their accommodation when considering their accommodation choices for 2015/16. By offering a choice of contract lengths, the University ensures greater �lexibility for our students.”
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£2m gift to aid scientific advancement at Exeter Charlie Dowden News Team THE UNIVERSITY has received a gift of £2 million from independent charity The Wolfson Foundation towards the Living Systems Institute currently under construction on Streatham campus. The gift represents their largest award granted in 2014 and marks the latest in a long history of contributions from the charity aimed at promoting the advancement of science at the university. Pioneering a new approach to treating the world’s most serious diseases, the £52.5 million project is the single largest investment in science in the University’s history. With an emphasis on fostering innovative interdisciplinary research, the institute will bring together 200 cell and molecular biologists, mathematicians, physicists, biomedical scientists and engineers to investigate the fundamental cellular processes underlying human and plant disease. Photo:Green Party
This will inform more effective treatment for some of the most severe diseases facing humanity, such as chronic neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzhemier’s. Chief Executive of The Wolfson Foundation, Paul Ramsbottom said: “The Wolfson Foundation supports excellence and so we are delighted to make this exceptional grant to the University of Exeter in support of establishing a new Living Systems Institute.” The charity has played a vital role in the development of science at Exeter, providing investment of £6.4 million since 1966 in both capital infrastructure and academic staff. University Vice-chancellor Sir Steve Smith added “the funding of scienti�ic research in universities is absolutely critical to the future of the UK so that we can continue to attract the brightest minds from around the world.” The Living Systems Institute, located between the Geoffrey Pope and Laver buildings, is expected to be operational in autumn 2016.
Training session figures suggest Green leader talk draws a competitive Sabb Election record student numbers Hannah Butler News Editor
AS nominations open today for the 2015 Sabbatical Election, “strong early attendance” by hopeful candidates at training workshops suggests this year’s election will be highly competitive. Aimed at students thinking of running to become Sabbatical Of�icers in next month’s election, the Sabb Candidate Training sessions offer advice on various aspects of campaigning – including team training, making campaigns fun and using social media. At the beginning of last week, the Guild had received 13 bookings for the optional workshops, alongside seven bookings for compulsory training on 30 January and four bookings for com-
pulsory one to one sessions. As of last Thursday, 19 students had attended training workshops, with six hopeful candidates having attended all three sessions so far. “This is very pleasing given that nominations haven’t yet opened,” commented a Guild spokesperson.
Strong early attendance at these sessions bodes well for a competitive election trail Matt Bate, VP Activities Nominations are now open, and close at 5pm on Thursday 29 January. The candidates’ manifestos will be released on Monday 2 February, with
Campaign Week launching on Monday 8 February. Next year’s Sabbatical Of�icers and Guild President will be announced on Friday 13 February. Matt Bate, VP Activities, commented: “The candidate training workshops are a great opportunity for students who are considering running in the sabbatical election to learn about the campaign process and to develop their ideas before committing to the election. “Strong early attendance at these sessions bodes well for a competitive election trail and I’m very much looking forward to voting week next month.” More Sabb Candidate Training sessions are being held this week. For more information, or to book onto a session, visit www.exeterguild.org/training.
Sabbatical Election 2015 - a timeline:
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Monday 19 January:
Nominations open for 2015/16 Sabbatical Officer roles - Guild President, VP Activities, VP Education ,VP Welfare & Diversity and AU President Thursday 29 January: Nominations close Monday 2 Febrary: Candidates’ manifestos are released Mon 8 - Fri13 February: Sabbatical Elections 2015 Campaigns Week and student voting on Guild website Friday 13 Febrary: 2015/16 Sabbatical Officers are elected
Emily Leahy News Editor NATALIE BENNETT, leader of the Green Party, attracted an audience of approximately 650 people when she spoke on campus last Wednesday. The leader told the packed Forum Auditorium: “You may have just beaten the record attendance for a Green Party event at a University.” In addition to the auditorium crowd XTV were broadcasting the event to a further 612 viewers, including the Forum Exploration Lab and other seminar rooms �illed with people unable to �it in the lecture space. Bennett spoke to the audience about her party’s policy before answering questions on a variety of subjects from nuclear armament to the price of alcohol. Joe Levy, Publicity Of�icer for The Green Party Society, said of the event: We could not possibly have anticipated how big the talk was going to be, but an estimated 650 people turned up and six over�low rooms were �illed.
Pictures of the queues went all over twitter and we trended thirdly nationally, which is just such an incredible and overwhelming achievement for us as a new society.”
We could not possibly have anticipated how big the talk was going to be Joe Levy, Green Party Society Publicity Of�icer It was reported that on the day 2,000 people became members of the Green Party in 24 hours. It also was announced on Thursday 15 January that Green Party membership had overtaken that of UKIP and the Liberal Democrats. Diana Moore, Green Parliamentary Candidate in Exeter, said: “The response of the young audience to Natalie’s message was instant - prompting debate, with the event trending on twitter and resulted in many joining the Green Party or the Green Society at the University on the spot.”
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Summer School and Short Programme Fair Wednesday 28 January 2015 2pm – 4.30pm
Spend part of your summer at some of the world’s leading universities. The International Office and Business School are promoting short term programmes from across the world for you to consider. Come to the Summer School and Short Programme Information Fair on Wednesday 28 January 2015 between 2pm and 4.30pm in the Xfi Conference Rooms. Scholarships are available for eligible students.
To find out more, visit
www.exeter.ac.uk/international/abroad/ summerschoolsandshortprogrammes Please sign up via My Career Zone: Event Title: “Summer School and Short Programme Information Fair”
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266 students accused of “Unbelievable” turnout at misconduct in last year Grayling humanism talk Hannah Butler News Editor
The University has worked with the Guild to ensure students are fully aware of the rules A University spokesperson
“Although the number of cases remains relatively small, the University has worked with the Students’ Guild over a number of years to ensure students are fully aware of the rules, and also the consequences of breaking them. We are con�ident that this approach will lead to continued improvement and further reductions in cases of this nature.”
Wild pollinators under threat from bee viruses Nicola Dash�ield News Team
A UNIVERSITY OF EXETER study has found that viruses carried by commercial bees could have devastating effects on wild pollinator populations. Fast evolving viruses carried by commercial species of honeybee and bumblebee can devastate wild pollinator species, including bees, hover�lies and butter�lies, threatening biodiversity and food security. Pollinators have suffered declines and extinction due to habitat destruction, with pesticide use and infectious diseases increasingly contributing. Dr Lena Wilfert from Biosciences at the University’s Penryn Campus said: “Our study highlights the importance of preventing the release of diseased commercial pollinators into the wild. The diseases carried by commercial species affect a wide range of wild pollinators but their spread can be avoided by improved monitoring and management practices.” The Varroa mite is chie�ly responsible for disease-related losses from
commercial honeybee colonies by spreading viral diseases and increasing their virulence. The Deformed Wing Virus has been identi�ied as an emerging disease in pollinators and its prevalence in commercial honeybees has been linked to its existence in wild bumblebees. The risk of disease transmission can be further increased through poor management of commercial species including international transportation of bees without appropriate checks, intensive breeding, poor pathogen screening, and the release of commercial bees into the environment to interact freely with wild pollinators. Dr Wilfert said “Commercial honey bee keepers have a responsibility to protect ecologically and economically important wild pollinator communities from disease.” Future work will investigate which commercial species is driving disease transmission. The researchers will also monitor the effectiveness of existing conservation schemes to determine their success in protecting wild pollinator populations.
Gemma Joyce Editor STUDENTS had to be turned away from a talk from well known British philosopher A.C. Grayling last Thursday because they physically couldn’t get through the door. The overwhelmingly popular lecture, organised by the Atheist, Humanist and Secularist Society, saw all seats in Queens LT1 �illed well in advance of the speech starting and many listeners were forced to sit on the �loor and steps of the tiered lecture theatre. Grayling, who is the Vice President of the British Humanist Association as well as the Master of the New College of Humanities, gave a lecture entitled ‘Atheism, Theism and Proof.’ One third year Philosophy student said: “I can’t believe the turnout - I was lucky to get a seat. The talk was great, really interesting and it was great that a comparatively small society could draw such a big name.” President of AHS Society Julian Webb said in advance of the talk: “We are honoured and very excited to be
hosting a talk by A.C. Grayling. “He’s one of the country’s most prominent public intellectuals and a real hero of Humanism. It was at last year’s London AHS Convention, at which Professor Grayling was the keynote speaker, that we managed to sneak out of the room and get a photo with him. “We asked him if he wanted to speak at Exeter, and now, a year later, I’m thrilled to be able to present such a fantastic speaker to our members and all of the other students who will be attending the talk this evening.” Photo: Wikipedia
266 ACADEMIC misconduct cases were made against Exeter students for the 2013/14 academic year, with guilty verdicts seeing 21 students expelled from the University since 2011/12. Of the 266 cases, just eight ended in an innocent verdict. 137 involved ‘poor academic practice’ - referring to inadequate referencing and minor copying due to misunderstanding. And in 135 cases the student was found guilty. 76 cases involved ‘academic misconduct’ – behaviour which, undetected, would have deceived assessors and bene�itted the student involved. This includes directly quoting without referencing sources, failing to reference unoriginal ideas and submitting work identical to another student’s submissions. 71 of these cases resulted in the student being found guilty. However, 47 cases saw students accused of ‘severe academic misconduct’ – either a second offence, extensive plagiarism or cheating, or behav-
iour designed to deceive assessors and bene�it the student. 46 guilty verdicts were reached in 2013/14. Of the 21 expulsions since 2011/12, 20 were due to ‘severe academic misconduct.’ A University of Exeter spokesperson said: “The University takes all forms of academic misconduct extremely seriously, and we are pleased that the number of cases has continued to fall.
THE GUILD will be hosting a #MyGuild “roadshow” around the University from Monday 19 January for two weeks. The aim of the event is to bring to student attention the role Students’ Guild has on their daily lives. The roadshow will emphasize how every student is automatically a member of the Guild, and how any student can get involved with the Guild in a variety of different roles. In addition the Students’ Guild Services will be introduced to students unaware of their availability. The event will be entirely staffed by students; to ensure a student per-
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Media Week 2015 Events: Starting January 19 Exeposé, alongside XpressionFM and XTV, will be running a series of free events for members and non-members including socials, talks from industry professionals and workshops. Check out what’s going on below and don’t forget to find the events on Facebook for updates Monday 19 January: 1pm - Tim Johns: Jeremy Vine Show Producer (Xpression FM), M&D Room 6:30pm - All Media Quiz (£1 entry fee), the Grove diner Tuesday 20 January: 1pm - ‘How to interview’ workshop (Exeposé), M&D Room Wednesday 21 January:
#MyGuild roadshow set to increase Guild’s profile at University Emily Leahy News Editor
NEWS
spective is available to all. The event will tour a variety of academic buildings on both campuses, beginning in Amory, aiming to reach as many students as possible. Matt Bate, VP Activities, said: “We are very excited to be taking the Students’ Guild on tour of our Exeter campuses with the #MyGuild road show. The Sabbs will be joining our student ambassadors around Streatham and St. Luke’s to showcase the amazing opportunities the Guild can offer and the work we do on behalf of all our students – not just those who spend time in our spaces. We represent every Exeter student and this is a wonderful chance to reach out to students who we would like to work with more closely.”
2pm - ‘Life after Exeposé’ talk from ex-editors, M&D Room 3.30pm - Cinematic composition workshop (XTV), M&D Room Thursday 22 January: 12pm - Live Green Screen in the Forum (XTV) Friday 23 January: 1pm - ‘Are broadsheets better than tabloids?’ talk from the Daily Mail’s John Stevens (Exeposé), M&D Room 3pm - ‘Working for a national newspaper: what is it like?’ talk from The Independent’s Max Benwell (Exeposé), M&D Room 6pm - Dominic Byrne: Newsreader and Producer (Xpression FM), M&D Room Find the Xmedia Week event on Facebook for updates and the individual events
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UK on twitter - student apathy indeed. You can �ind an interview with Bennett on page 12, where she shares her thoughts on a plethora of topics, notably the TV debates, combatting terrorism and ‘wasted votes.’ Other intriguing interviews include Arts’ chat with comedian Sara Pascoe (page 28) and Music’s insights from the EDL (but not the ones springing to mind) on page 23. You’re set to be bored out of your mind about Sabb elections for the foreseeable future, so before it all properly kicks off, have a peek at one anonymous, �labbergasted student’s musings on why the hell you’d ever run for a role. Ben Street, VP Education, gives a more measured response on the same page (10).
STARTING today, Media Week is a series of events put on by student media, ranging from socials, to talks from industry professionals and workshops. Aimed at current and potential Xmedia (Exeposé, Xpression FM & XTV) members, the week is an insight into the media in accessible surroundings. A journalist from the Independent is discussing working at a national newspaper; two former editors who went to the top journalism school and bossed the grad scheme and work experience hype are talking ‘Life after Exeposé’ and a Daily Mail journalist is giving a speech on tabloids versus broadsheets; and, yes, you can quiz all four speakers afterwards in the Ram. We’re also doing a charity quiz tonight (Monday) and a workshop on interviewing tomorrow. The whole week is an ideal opportunity to chat with
current committee members about getting more involved with student media; you’ll be shot of us and our editorial team in four issues time so if you fancy replacing us, now’s a great opportunity - elections will be held in early March. Barring the charity quiz tonight (£1 entry), all events are free and everyone is welcome to attend as many or as few events as you wish. Make sure to join the overall event via the QR code below to see the schedule, or take a look at the list on page 7.
Media Week begins
Thanks to those who helped proof this issue: Isobel Burston, Sabrina Aziz, Flora Carr, Kate Jones, Reuben Grace, Jack England, Giorgi Mamuzelos, Esther Doherty, Polly Bowden, Ben Pullan, Nick Porter, Luke Pilchowski, Olly Walrond, Ben Marvell, Evan Jones and members of the Exeposé editorial team.
19 JANUARY 2015 |
EXEPOSÉ
Harrison Jones & Gemma Joyce Callum McLean & Vanessa Tracey LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE Exeposé Comment
“We are students, we want affordable accommodation” SO, it’s that time of year when students in Exeter desperately try and nab a property for next year. The housing fair in the Great Hall was predictably chaotic, although it did feature an archway of orange and yellow balloons as we entered which made the whole experience more enjoyable.
Exeter was con�irmed as the third most expensive region for student housing in 2012 And surprise surprise, there’s been another price hike. Speaking from personal experience, our 6 bedroom property is rising from £97/ week (bills included) to a stonking £107/week (bills included). Having achieved a D grade in A Level
economics, I can tell that something doesn’t add up and that we students are being shafted. Delving a little deeper into the problem, I came across a Daily Mail article (bear with me) that con�irmed Exeter as the third most expensive region for student housing in 2012. Meanwhile, Exeter Daily and Express and Echo both report steep increases in property prices in the southwest region, with predictions of a 2 per cent rise in 2015. According to Estate Agents Knight Frank, “All core markets currently remain structurally undersupplied. With student numbers rising, the imbalance will not be corrected within the short term.” The core markets mentioned are Manchester, Cambridge, Oxford, Liverpool and, of course Exeter. Just to give a few examples of how the problem of expensive student housing is being ‘solved’ I direct your attention to Portland House (the �lats opposite the monstrosity which is the
John Lewis shopping centre). While these �lats are of good quality and in a prime location, they are on the market from a MINIMUM of £152/week (bills included).
Get rid of the features, don’t bother to paint it. Just charge me £90 a week and I’m happy as Larry I don’t care that each of the bedrooms comes with a �lat screen TV. I don’t care that the place comes with a gym. Literally get rid of those features, don’t bother to paint it and charge me £90 a week and I’m happy as Larry. Take a leaf out of Old Lafrowda’s moth eaten book. Make the place look like a disused car-park complete with communal showers and silver�ish crawling about. We are students, we want affordable accommodation and if we have to rough it, that’s �ine.
#PuppyGate - a dog ate someone’s manifesto...
Cartoon: Emily McIndoe
STUDENTS on the house hunt after recovering from exams would be right to feel further de�lated after reading our lead story. Yet again accommodation prices in Exeter have soared both on campus and throughout the city. For both of our houses rent is set to rise for upcoming tenants and it’s a topic that continues to concern all students. Speaking of students getting ripped off, Natalie Bennett, the Green Party leader, spoke lengthily on the subject at her talk last week which saw around 600 people pack into the Alumni Auditorium and various rooms surrounding it. The offer of abolishing tuition fees went down unsurprisingly well but in truth she rarely went �ive minutes without being interrupted by ravenous applause on one topical or another. #NatExe trended third in the
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Through the roof William Sandbach
Housing crisis hits home
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Bleak house: the Exeterrors of student accommodation James Pidduck Online Comment Editor LAST year my house wasn’t great. Yes, it was shelter, and I will forever be thankful for the various south-westerly storms it shielded me from, but it just wasn’t up to scratch - especially considering its Exeter price tag.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if Smaug arose from that deep abyss of darkness This cautionary tale begins in September 2013, as the major obstacle encountered became the electric meter – an invention I personally had no clue still existed. The trips to Saunders corner shop to top it up quickly started to drag, but the real struggle came whenever that meter hit zero, bleeping relentlessly and cloaking all in darkness. If lucky enough to happen at night, the only solution remained to wait for the return of natural sunlight
to use the human gift of eyesight again, and get down to Saunders swiftly when it opened come morn. In terms of interior, the kitchen came �itted with a beautiful carpet of slug slime, whilst the lounge was furnished with sofas lush only to retirement home standards, in a windowless room that could only really be likened to a cave. I don’t think I would’ve batted an eyelid if Smaug arose from that deep abyss of darkness. Once jokes started to spread, others began to come check out our pad for a good laugh - this is not even an exaggeration. “Oh, I’ve heard about your house” became a frequent conversation-�iller, whilst welcoming a newbie into our downstairs space was a great way to test the quality of their poker face, as they contorted a smile and assured us it wasn’t that bad. All this may have been bearable had we been gifted with a landlord vaguely concerned and keen to help. But, alas, this elusive �igure seemed to ignore all issues that arose, with the urgent point of conversation apparently being when we’d all go down the pub for a pint – a social event that I
Photo: Nik Rahmel
was passionate in avoiding. I was �illed with even more con�idence when the handyman revealed he had been using the downstairs room essentially as a sex dungeon for various hook-ups he’d been having over summer. A nice guy, with some not so nice stories. So why did we go for this particular house, I hear you cry. Location, location, location, as Kirsty and Phil say (ironically, they would’ve run a mile) but also from growing panic while the clock began ticking, as we feared we
were running out of time.
The handyman revealed he had been using the downstairs room as a sex dungeon for hook-ups The moral of the story is: don’t settle, and make sure the landlord is a vaguely functioning being. I’m still growing accustomed to seeing milk in
liquid form (since the fridge also didn’t work for the majority of the year, nor the replacement) and am still realising that an Exeter property can in fact provide a steady �low of hot water. Our old address still gets the odd nostalgic shout-out, prompting laughs and winces of pain, but we do look back on it fondly in a weird way... Plus, I’ve heard tale of dead rats in sink cupboards and poisonous mould consuming the walls, so maybe my abode was a pretty humble one after all…
“Holland Hall - not all it is cracked up to be” “Students are easy money” Hannah Weiss
EVERY time I mentioned to a new friend in Freshers’ Week that I lived in Holland Hall, I de�initely felt judged. But seriously, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. For one thing, I want to dispel the myth that everyone in Holland Hall is a Jack Wills clad toff from Kensington who travels to the Forum by taxi and gets drunk on Cristal. Sure, I’ve met a few who gave me the opposite kind of judgement during a cosy chat about prep schools, where I admitted I was state comprehensive and proud. But honestly, I chose Holland Hall purely because I can’t cook to save my life and the idea of sharing a room with a snoring stranger kinda put me off Mardon.
I want to dispel the myth that everyone in Holland is a Jack Wills clad toff Nobody ever told me that you have to get up before nine every day if you want breakfast. Even then you might �ind the catering guys scof�ing the last of the sausages if you’ve slept in until 9.15. So I’m trekking to town every week to stock up on microwavable food the same as anyone in selfcatered halls because, like most students, I’m a zombie in the mornings.
I’ve visited friends in Lafrowda and I’m seriously jealous. They can eat whatever they want, whenever they want. At Holland you have to eat dinner insanely early (it starts at 5.15 and ends at seven) but believe me, you’ve got to get in quick unless you want to be starving in the seemingly endless queue. If like me you have lectures that end at six, in which the overenthusiastic professor systematically overruns by at least �ifteen minutes every time, followed by the trek from the business school all the way up Forum Hill, then by the time you �inally get to the canteen, chances are the guy in front will have nabbed the last curly fries and you’ll be munching rabbit food from the salad section instead. But I can’t complain, right? There’s the ensuite and the nice big bedroom thrown into the deal as well. Not to mention, the hill means waking up to stunning views every day. Or maybe not. I saved a little cash by opting out of the view, so my window looks out on a very attractive bush littered with trash. The rooms are a good size, it’s true (bigger than my room at home for sure) but the showers leak everywhere. Every time I clean my teeth or take a piss, I gotta manoeuvre around the massive puddle on the �loor which just never seems to drain away. I know I’m lucky, with my lovely top-tier halls eating up my maintenance loan and savings from a gap year spent folding jeans in Debenhams. Believe me, when I arrive
for dinner at the right time and it’s all cooked for me, I’m totally grateful. I appreciate not having to queue for the shower in the morning and most people I’ve met are genuinely nice folk who, like me, just didn’t trust themselves with any cooking apparatus more complicated than a microwave.
It’s not necessarily Buckingham Palace compared to your place So next time you meet somebody from Holland Hall, don’t judge them. They could be your stereotypical rugby player from Mayfair who FaceTimes his polo ponies when he’s not making use of his extortionate gym membership, it’s true. But we’re not all bad. And it’s not necessarily Buckingham Palace in comparison to your place, either.
John Chilvers IT’S that time of year again: searching for a new house, and the awkward moment of feeling like an intruder swanning around a stranger’s bedroom is back! For extra fun, on returning home you �ind even more strangers looking in your cupboards and wardrobes laughing at your neatly hung batman costume. Once you �ind the ‘house of your dreams’ - or just the house with the least mould - you have to go through the inevitable process of being told the price has gone up once again. All this money for what are, a lot of the time, shabby houses with lazy and unhelpful landlords. As we all know, student housing in Exeter is expensive, but are we getting our money’s worth? I think not. Everyone has a dismal housing-related story, or knows someone who does. On my �irst week of moving into my new house I was excited - gone were the constraints of halls and those 9am �ire alarms. I could say goodbye to estate patrol coming round after seeing me play football in the hallway on CCTV. I felt like a real
adult. Then I wandered into my new lounge, �inding to my joy that the front window happened to not be connected to the wall securely. I rang the landlord and explained that I could put my hand through the gap and open the window from the outside of the house. His response was gold: “don’t worry son, it’s not a security threat. I’ve never heard of a robbery on Vic Street; you’ll be �ine” (ironically just before Christmas we were broken into). It took him four weeks in the end to eventually listen to my pleas for a window that didn’t have a gaping hole in it.
Rent goes up each year in almost all student accommodation with little to show for the £s My case is not an isolated one: student landlords feel that students are easy money who will live in anything as long as it has a roof. Rent goes up each year in almost all student accommodation with very little to show for the extra £s. We as students need to be more demanding and forceful in our expectations of landlords. If anyone brought a pair of jeans from a shop and they had a hole in they would demand their money back, and it should be the same with housing. Landlords have had it easy for too long: it’s time students got real value for ever increasing rents.
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19 JANUARY 2015 |
EXEPOSÉ
Campaigning season looms, but why be a Sabb? 34-36
“Go for Sabb” “Why does anyone bother running in the �irst place?” Ben Street VP Education
Anonymous Student
I AM surprised year on year that more people don’t run for a sabbatical role in the Guild elections. With so many students worrying about their graduate prospects you would think that the notion of another year in Exeter (�lip �lops and all) running the Students’ Guild or AU would be rather attractive. What surprises me even more is that many students don’t even consider running, despite Exeter being one of the most democratically active unions in the country. In essence, a Sabb’s role is a lot like what many students already do anyway – as a society president, student rep, member of a sports team, or even working in the Ram – with the added responsibility of running the place rather than just being part of it. Six months into my role as VP Education, I can’t recommend running to be a Sabb strongly enough. Besides the rewarding (but gruelling) experience of leading an election campaign, there are some easily summarised reasons. Firstly, as a Sabb you work as a company director of a £5.2m charity that represents 18,000 students at a top ten UK university (tell me that doesn’t look good on your CV). Secondly, as a Sabb you get to campaign on literally anything, from increasing society space, reducing student-staff ratios, to even improving the queueing system at the Lemmy – the power is in your hands. But �inally, and by far the most important factor for me when I ran: as a Sabb you are given the opportunity to improve the lives of others and make changes that really matter. Whether you’re securing huge funding from the University or simply cheering up a student on a rainy day, this is quite simply one of the best jobs out there. If you are interested in running for the role, come and talk to one of the sabbatical of�icers in the Sabb of�ice in DH1.
AS term two starts and Sabbatical ambitious begin to rear their ugly heads, the upstairs of Devonshire House is abuzz with gossip as to who will run and, more interestingly for most, why whoever is planning to run would be awful for the job. What I can’t get my head around, though, is why anyone would bother to run in the �irst place.
Your desk is in a glass box so you best look busy Let’s start with campaign week. Donning a raincoat and a sickly smile, you gather a group of your ‘closest’ second year chums, none of whom are only interested in the golden status of being your friend following your victory of course, and head to Forum Hill. Five days of torrential rain, pneumonia and being told to fuck off might have put off a lesser candidate, but not you. No, you’ll do whatever it takes. You’ll lay out the red carpet for any prospec-
tive voter, so long as they just remember your tragic tagline and don’t listen to those horrible others who’ll surely bring doom to our campus. You get to the debates and �ind that the handful of members of your campaign group who haven’t given up yet are scattered across the alumni auditorium alongside a few members of Guild staff and someone with an inexplicable hair style who’ll de�initely ask you about something you’ve never heard of. Tough crowd. Nevertheless, your ability to gracefully evade the ambiguous questions and charm the audience with prospects of puppies and hair cuts stands you in good stead, and your nod to “the great work that the Guild does” wins you ravenous applause from the A&V staff, awakening the rest of the audience who fell asleep when your opponent started questioning the �inancial viability of your ‘free trips to New York for any committee who doesn’t try to evade tax’ idea. After a humiliating ceremony at the Lemmy, for everyone else that is, you’ve �inally won. You rule the roost now. Congratulations.
Suddenly your life becomes a whirlwind of photo shoots, small talk and clipboard carrying. Your desk is in a glass box, so you best look busy and, more importantly, cheery. You are the face of the Guild now after all.
The disappointment of becoming a Guild PR puppet Sitting back, you observe a group sniggering at you from a table in DH1 and realise that despite your newfound power you are resented by the students, who surpassed your acumen for leadership when they jumped the queue at the Ram but didn’t fancy the arse-licking required to win the farcical popularity contest you so cheerfully dragged yourself through two years of Welcome Team and ten committee roles for. But screw them, you earned this. Now you’re living it up with real money and real responsibility, but don’t think about getting carried away. Those smart clothes you bought with your �irst pay check will only last as
long as the ‘Guild Approved’ stamp remains clearly on the label, and you better get going on those manifesto points because the year’ll just �ly by when you’re having this much fun. At Christmas time, just when you thought you thought you could �inally have a hangover day, it’s photo time again. Yes, they even print greetings cards with your face on them. But, despite the expensive glossy �inish, your smiley Christmas portrait will gather dust and yellow with the memories of the glorious year when you made all those revolutionary changes that were scrapped the minute you left. Why wouldn’t I run for Sabb? Because I’d have to get a smile surgically �ixed on my face to cover the inner disappointment that I’d become a Guild PR puppet. Because I don’t want the details of my obligatory Lemmy visits to be bandied around by staff and students as the gossip of the week. And, most of all, because there are more important things I’d like to do with my life than weighing up the pro’s and con’s of an extra salad bar in Devonshire House and attending the inevitably shitty Freshers’ Ball. Photo: Exeter Students’ Guild
“The University needs to rethink their timetabling - it’s only week two but I’m already craving another break” Charlie Evans
DECEMBER 12 came around and I could not wait to go home after an obscenely busy term. I’d juggled a degree with responsibilities on multiple committees and led an ill-fated NUS campaign. Christmas dinners were eaten, tequila slammers were slammed. And I went back to Wales’ �inest bowling alley to put in a few shifts in the kitchen reacquainting myself with the most politically incorrect environment in the Western
world. So how do I feel now? Refreshed? Buzzing for TiPiFri? No, sadly not. We had revision to do. I feel burned out. Sorry Exeter - I love you to bits, but I don’t really want to see you again just yet. This is a sentiment shared by most students here. The majority had to be back in Exeter on 3 January, still nursing a hangover from two nights earlier, trying to muster up enough energy to prepare for a week of exams. If you were like me, you didn’t do nearly enough studying over Christmas. You take the �irst week off, that’s a given. Second week is dominated by
Christmas and then you’re left with the third week. If you have a seasonal part-time job to fund your studies then you are pretty much stuffed. 2:2 here we come. The University’s timetable is �lawed. We are now faced with the daunting task of pushing through another 11 weeks. We are rewarded with a juicy four-week holiday in April and are given generous revision time during term three, so for the May examinations we’re laughing. But the winter and summer exams are usually equally weighted towards our degree, which is fundamentally unfair
given the disproportionate amount of time given to study for May. The Uni needs to look at different options and identify ways in which the academic calendar can be used more ef�iciently. Term three is wasted - a six-week term with only three weeks of exams. It tries to pad out these remaining three weeks with revision time and the pointless Grand Challenges scheme. Thanks for your concern Steve Smith, but I just spent four weeks revising. Term three has the potential to be used for teaching Term two content. Ditch the Grand Challenges, push exams back
by a week or two. The consequences of this move would be an extra week available at the start of term two, which could be used for an extra week holiday at Christmas, or maybe the exams could be distributed over a two-week period. Another bene�it is that we would be much more rejuvenated for the term ahead, leading to better results and greater wellbeing. Steve Smith, Janice Kay, if you are reading this, give the students what they want. My 21-year-old body is tired and craving another break. And we are only in Week two.
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A very unhappy holiday for the non-privileged “The timetable changes will impact music societies most” Rachel Brown “TWAS the night before Christmas, when all through the house, / Nothing was stirring, not even a mouse.” So goes the classic seasonable prose that might cast you back to a cherished Christmas. But if your holiday was anything like mine this year, chestnuts roasting on an open-�ire were exiled in the name of studies.
Chestnuts roasting on an open �ire was exiled in the name of studies The average university Christmas break is four weeks. Oxford students even enjoy seven weeks of yuletide merriment! At Exeter, we have seen our holiday shaved down over the years to just three weeks. The student stereotype has us lounging around all day in our dressing gowns gossiping about the latest episode of Made in Chelsea. If that were true, when inevitably asked by friends come January, “So how was your holiday?”, so many of us wouldn’t have rolled our eyes and held the mockingly termed ‘holiday’ in quotation marks. For many students at Exeter our
Christmas holiday has been punctuated (indeed, punctured) by looming essays and exams. The problem is that as our holiday is increasingly reduced, we actually lose all R&R time - and, woe betide us, our grades - if we impertinently take Christmas day off. Most of my friends said they managed to take three full days off. The academic year started over two months before Christmas and our next ‘holiday’ (alias ‘exam season’) starts in three months. Taking three days’ holiday across �ive months is actually a worse deal than full-time employment conditions! But as I face graduation this year, the short holiday has also given me an unexpected battering by the ‘privilege’ stick. I fall into the ‘desperately seeking masters funding’ category. Scholarship applications can take days to write and deadlines are, you guessed it, just after Christmas! When money’s too tight to mention, you must have a plan B. Mine amounts to the equally time-sucking graduate scheme applications, with deadlines that are, correct again, just after Christmas! Compound all this with separate postgraduate applications and exam expectations, and you start to see your mulled wine dreams going down the drain. Jokes aside, you then return to university with a New Year trajectory
COMMENT ON CAMPUS
that sees you overstretched and exhausted, unlike your more advantaged, refreshed peers. The holiday experience is not the same if you can afford a masters or the prospect of postgraduate unemployment is not terrifying because your parents can cover you for a few months. It’s also been said that a shorter summer steals away money-making opportunities for cash-strapped students.
The holiday experience is not the same if post graduate employment doesn’t terrify you “Poor little rich girl. You’re at Exe-tah!” might go the reply. It’s true, there are far worse cases of the (un) privileged, and I don’t advocate for the work-shy or feel the world owes me something. But the University cannot ignore the nuanced, polar experiences between its student groups of varying privilege. In their duty to help students achieve their goals, they have decisive power. Here, they can make improvements by simply realising the dramatic consequences of term date setting, saving future students like me from a very merry unholiday.
Imogen Procter Clarinet Choir Pres THE breadth and diversity of music at Exeter was one of the main selling points for me when applying to universities, as it was for many other people I have met. Being a part of the music community has given me some of the most rewarding and memorable experiences during my time at university.
Music offers the chance to make friends, de-stress and be creative outside of our academic pursuits One example of music’s contribution to the University is War Song, Extunes’ collaborative event that marked the centenary of World War One. Changes to the teaching hours were never going to appeal to everyone. No one likes having to get up half an hour earlier and leaving campus after dark. However, to
The University should be proud of its students’ efforts to re-establish a music presence For a university with wellbeing supposedly at the top of their agenda, it is essential that they realise what contributes towards it. Music offers the chance to make friends, de-stress and be creative outside of our academic pursuits. Our University has the largest non-academic music department in the country, re�lected in Extunes’ 1400-strong membership. Bearing in mind that our music department was shut down ten years ago, the University should be proud of its students’ efforts to reestablish a music presence, rather than directly interfering with their progress. The late teaching hours will do exactly that.
How did the student body react to the Charlie Hebdo shooting?
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Photo: Harry Williams
I’m not going to say I’m for #JeSuisCharlie or not because I think that causes generalization to split it into sides. The killings in Paris were a disaster but I don’t believe that the cartoons Charlie Hebdo were publishing were right either. It’s amazing how quickly people were to jump up in favour freedom of speech and against Islam on social media.
Third year Maths & Economics
We must stand firmly against killing based upon offence, but equally I worry that this will be the month in which, perhaps in a state of shock and willingness to jump on the hashtag-able bandwagon, the Western media will take Islamaphobic reporting to its peak.
Second year Politics & IR People have got caught up in what Charlie Hebdo printed before the attacks took place but #JeSuisCharlie stands for something beyond the publication. People were potentially missing the point. I think the hashtag was more of a unifying defense for freedom of speech rather than support for the satirical cartoons.
First year Law
The attack was utterly horrific. But after thinking about it, I’m now not sure #JeSuisCharlie was the right response. I would definitely not be saying #JeSuisKatieHopkins or #JeSuisDailyMail if the tragedy had involved either of them. Equally, I don’t think David Cameron would be screaming ‘free speech’ if some nutter killed publishers who put a burning poppy on their front page. Cartoon: Emily Kerr
jeopardise music is a mistake. Several societies will be affected by the change, forcing them to push their rehearsals back or have members turning up late each week, both of which will have a detrimental impact.
Third year History & Politics
I worry that the attacks in France will provide more support for the Front Nacional - the equivalent of the BNP and already the third most popular political party in the country.
Second year Geography
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Kayley Gilbert, Online Features Editor, and Flora Carr, Copy Editor, talk to Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party, about the need for political change IT’S not every day that you get to interview a party leader. So as we arrive at The Real Food Store 40 minutes early for our scheduled meeting with Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party, suf�ice to say we’re a bit nervous. Calming our nerves with a warm cup of tea, we get a call. It’s from Joseph Levy, publicity of�icer of the Exeter University Green Party Society, who has orchestrated our meeting. “There’s been a slight problem,” he says, explaining that the 48-year-old has had to go straight to her interview with BBC Radio Devon. Would we be alright to meet her there? A quick search on Google Maps shows it’s at the other end of town. Downing our drinks, we begin our ten minute dash. We arrive at the station panting but excited Bennett �inally emerges, smiley and apologetic, and ushers us to take a seat. As Joseph later says, today is turning out to be “hectic for all the right reasons.” Her journey to becoming leader of the Green Party was far from conventional, to say the least. In her talk on Wednesday she jokes about how she only joined the party in 2006 as part of a New Year’s resolution, telling students to “take care,” as you never know where a January resolution can lead. With degrees in Agricultural Science, Asian Studies and Mass Communication, her eclectic CV is as different from the stereotypical party leader’s - honours in PPE at Oxford before immediately jumping on the political ladder - as it is possible to get.
Do something you’re interested in and enjoy We ask her for any advice she could give to students here at Exeter who are still unsure of what career
lies ahead of them. Bennett’s answer is simple and refreshing: “Do something you’re interested in and enjoy.” She believes �irmly in following one’s interests, advising students not to listen to those who say “this is a good area for jobs, go into it.” “If something excites you,” she tells us, “if you really think it’s really worth doing, go for that and try and make it work.” Before her ascent within the Green Party, Bennett had a career in journalism, writing for publications like The Times and becom-
ing editor of The Guardian Weekly from 2007 until 2012. As budding journalists ourselves, we ask her for the scoop on how to break into such a notoriously closed i n d u s t r y. “Do as much journalism as you can in as many different ways as you can,” she says. “Make sure that you’re writing a blog, doing a vlog, doing whatever it is – nothing
beats the experience of actually doing journalism.”
It’s your world or future world that you are going to have to live in
Bennett comes across as focused and personable, an obvious leader, whether that be of a newspaper or even a political party. But up until now the Greens have often been passed off as, well, a bit of a
joke. Perhaps even worse, they’re regarded as a wasted vote. And following the disastrous outcome of the last general election for students in particular - the increase in tuition fees politically engaged students are reluctant to throw away their vote. The fact that the Exeter University Green Party Society is still only in its �irst year suggests that perhaps students still see the Greens as a worthy but unpractical choice. We pushed the former journalist for her views of this perception. “Young people [are] being burdened with huge weights of tuition debt,” she tells us. “They are going into a world where there is low pay, zero hours contracts, great dif�iculty in getting a job that you can build a life on. The Green Party says that is not economically or generally sustainable - we are offering you zero tuition fees, a minimum wage that is a
living wage, and a ban on zero hours contracts.” She goes into further detail on the Greens environmental policies, concluding that really they’re all for young peoples’ bene�it: “It’s your world or future world that you are going to have to live in.” We ask Bennett again for her thoughts on ‘wasted’ votes for Green. She explains that, for decades, people have been voting tactically, the �irst past the post electoral system training us to vote for the party we hate the least. “That has given us the kind of politics we have now, the failed kind of politics,” she says, “and it’s within voters’ hands.” If people keep voting in the same way, Bennett explains, they’ll just keep getting the same results and policies. Her gaze frank and direct, it’s hard to argue with her logic. “Natalie is very focused and very sensible, but also has a brilliant sense of humour,” Joe tells us, following his behind-closed-doors access to the party leader as Publicity Secretary for the University Green Party. “Perhaps this is why the talk went down so well. A lot of people were genuinely surprised by her, and I think ... [that] last night is the moment that I would say the University of Exeter’s Green Surge truly began.” Her talk on Wednesday was proclaimed by most as a resounding success; the associated hashtag #NatExe was trending third on Twitter in the UK by the end of the talk. Perhaps Natalie’s excellent public speaking and persona can help transform the Green’s image. However, it’s not just the ‘wasted’ element of a vote for Green which is an issue for the party. Many have serious issues with some of the Green’s policies. Following the recent Pariterror attacks, notably at the
EXEPOSÉ of�ices of Charlie Hebdo, the Green’s Minimum Military Preparation security policy - which states simply that “military preparation are a drain on our resources” - could now prove far less popular with voters who fear the occurrence of similar attacks in Britain. When asked for her views on the policy, Bennett skirts admirably around the question. “In terms of things like security measures involving the internet and electronic communications, we don’t want to try to protect freedom by destroying it,” she says. “We respect freedom privacy and we need to get a balance.” Making sure that communities are protected is, she explains, far more important than “taking a security crackdown type response.” A recent study has shown that women tend to lean towards parties that specify how policies will directly impact upon people. With this in mind, we ask whether the party leader feels she approaches voters in a different way to her male counterparts. In cleverly avoiding the question directly, it’s clear Bennett does not want to say anything too controversial. Instead, the self-declared feminist discusses the effect of current policies upon women, claiming that two thirds of cuts under the coalition government have “impacted upon women” and that it is single mothers who have “suffered hugely �inancially.” Due to the strain cuts have placed upon women in particular, Bennett believes there is a “huge failure” today to gain a parliament that re�lects the “lives of a large number of people in Britain.”
We are offering you zero tuition fees, a minium wage that is a living wage, and a ban on zero hours contracts Re�lecting on David Cameron’s recent refusal to take part in the election debates unless the Green Party is included, Natalie is cool and collected as she jumps straight to the point: the Prime Minister is “obviously operating in his own political interests.” However, with a warm smile, she goes on to explain that “the only reason he can do that is because his argument is right.” She jokes that if Mr. Cameron claimed he wouldn’t take part unless the “Monster Raving Loony Party was there,” that would obviously be “ridiculous.” As we discuss the impact of the Greens possibly being excluded from these debates, it is clear that the party value the important role of the student population. Indeed, survey results published last week indicate that 22 per cent of under 25s say they are going to vote Green, a tally equal to
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that of the Conservatives. With this in mind, Bennett believes that excluding the Green Party would have an unfair impact upon young people: “excluding young people’s views” and “not giving young people the chance to hear those views discussed.” Bennett believes that excluding her party from the debates has a wider impact upon the landscape of British politics: “If you have UKIP there and not the Greens, you’re really dragging British politics in a very right-wing … direction.” Not only would this mark a substantial shift from past debates: Bennett also says that this is very “unre�lective of the general population.” And to some extent, it seems as though the Prime Ministers’ claim is already having an impact upon the position of the Green Party. Emerging from the depths of Radio Devon’s recording rooms and �itting in our brief meeting before again being whisked away for another interview, Bennett’s done more work with the media than she’s “ever done before.” However, the Green Party leader believes that this has more to do with the changing reality of politics than David Cameron’s claim. In December 2014, the Green Party received their �irst ten per cent general election poll after their ‘Green Surge,’ when membership went up by 120 per cent over the year. Impressively, that means that over 1,000 people a week joined the Green Party in 2014. This success was further heightened on Thursday when, after a record-breaking surge, Green Party membership overtook that of UKIP and the Liberal Democrats. Maybe now it’s time to acknowledge the true place of the Green Party on the British political scene. Aiming to break the monopoly of the televised debates, The Telegraph, The Guardian and YouTube launched a proposal for a party leaders’ debate to be staged on the internet. Enthusiastic about the prospect of an online election debate, the Australian-born politician sees this proposed move online as a re�lection that 2015 will be very different to the election campaigns in 2010. She acknowledges that “the
three mainstream debates aren’t going to be as big a part of the whole campaign this time.” After encouraging her to decide whether this change will be a positive one, she concludes that it will be. Believing the current campaign structure to be “basically imported straight from America,” she claimed that a move away from this could only improve understanding of the system. She believes that the current style of election campaigning means that many get “swept up in a load of hype” which confuses and disorientates rather than clari�ies the system.
If Mr. Cameron claimed he wouldn’t take part unless the Monster Raving Loony Party was there, that would obviously be ridiculous Natalie is, herself, a challenge to the system. Her talk on Wednesday was full of controversial and pithy quotes: “low wages, housing and crowded schools are not caused by immigration; they’re caused by poor government policy.” As Joe tells us, from the social media buzz her talk caused, Bennett certainly seems to have increased student interest in her party. This online popularity of the talk was de�initely aided by the coverage of the student television station. “XTV were instrumental in their advice on the aesthetics of the talk,” Joe tells us, “and how this related to the technical side, an aspect which clearly paid off based on the response.” If the polls are anything to go by, the Green Party is certainly on the rise in the run up to the general election. Having caused such a stir, both online and on campus, it certainly seems that their success is due at least in part to a surge in student votes for the Greens. Bennett’s talk on Wednesday will no doubt only increase this further.
Empty promises? FEATURES
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Tom Cadwallader questions whether Bennett’s party can live up to their numerous promises WHILST the event gained very positive feedback online, I felt that it was hard to leave the Alumni Auditorium feeling ful�illed after hearing what the leader of the Green Party had to say about certain policies. The most pressing issue I had with Bennett’s speech was her stance on university fees, saying that “under a Green government there would be no tuition fees” and no student loan. Firstly, where is such a signi�icant amount of funding going to come from? No mention - neither in the talk nor in their manifesto. In theory, this should increase the demand for university places but this assumes that tuition fees are putting off potential students. In reality, Exeter has seen a 52 per cent increase in applications over the last two years. If the government is not paying £9,000 per year per student there is an incentive for universities across the country to increase their accommodation prices so as to recoup some of their losses. That means that students would be expected to pay more upfront for their university experience. Without a government loan to cover accommodation costs there is only one option for many: a bank loan with a high interest rate.
That is far scarier than a government loan that you may not have to entirely pay back.
Where is such a signi�icant amount of funding going to come from? After being asked what her solution was to the crisis in Ukraine, Bennett said that she did not agree with ‘slowly grinding’ Russia down. Instead, her belief was that Crimea could be negotiated for. According to Bennett, in negotiation the other person “needs to feel as though they’ve walked away with something” - they’ve gotten a win. How could you possibly negotiate for an entire region of a country, let alone a region that Russia truly believes to be theirs? Now that relations with Russia have become so sour, there is nothing that we could offer Putin that would be good enough. For him, the only win he desires is to keep Crimea as his own, making him look strong to his people. Natalie Bennett may sound very nice when she’s talking with her Australian lilt but, sadly, that is also the theme of some of her policies. They sound very nice but have little behind them.
For comment and coverage on Bennett’s talk search #NatExe on Twitter
Best reactions to the Exeter talk
We collected the best reactions to the talk from various social media platforms Natalie is a very popular leader. I want to believe in them. But there is still something a little bit worldly, cookey about them. - Charlie Evans Interesting talk from @natalieben. Would be another thing to see if she would say same things if Greens had larger numbers of MP’s. - Nick Sutton
NatExe Well, I decided to take the plunge. I bought a swimming pool and joined the Greens! Only joking about the swimming pool! ;) - Michael Busby Soaked through after the journey home from Exeter but was so worth it to hear Natalie Bennett speaking passionately about change #NatExe - Jessica Rose Horner Sorry Labour, but the Greens just won my vote. - Theo Stone
I liked almost all of what Bennett said on Wednesday. Still, they’d probably fuck up most things if they got into power, just within the shite parameters of our political systems. - Juliette Wizz I don’t even care if the Green Party aren’t the answer, at least we’re dragging British politics back to the left by showing the right that a hefty amount of the population won’t stand back and take their bullshit. - Jasmine Franck
Brilliant, inspiring talk + Q&A by @ natalieben @uniofexeter So packed we had to watch live stream from overflow room #NatExe - Gabrielle Hoad Good to hear the #NatExe talk has been well attended - seems Exeter is not as apathetic towards politics as some make out... - Simon Dewhurst
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#JeSuisCharlie: choosing sides? FEATURES
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Zeena Starbuck asks if the #JeSuisCharlie campaign is exacerbating an already tense situation IN the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks there have been numerous outcries. Some have defended what the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine stood for, the ‘idea’: freedom of speech and freedom to offend. Comedian Stephen Fry asked that everyone ‘publish a Charlie Hebdo cartoon,’ while the New Yorker proclaimed that ‘we must all try to be Charlie.’ Some have searched for reasons for the attacks, looking for the perpetrator. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch tweeted that all Muslims should be held responsible.
obliged to apologise for the Jihadists and defend their religion. This implies that the religion as a whole must bear the brunt for the actions of a few, making Islam guilty by association. Yet when atrocities are perpetrated by a Western individual, there is no need for anyone to defend themselves. Anders Breivik killed 77 people, citing nationalism and Islamophobia, yet there was no outcry that Norway’s nationalist Progress Party should apologise for him or
of #jesuischarlie and #jesuisahmed, the Muslim policeman killed by the perpetrators. While these show solidarity with the victims, the language evokes a discourse that we must all choose a side. Do we side with the satirists? If so, we support their work unquestionably and thus support the belittling of Islam, and everything else that they satirise. Or, do we side with innocent Ahmed and law enforcements? If neither, we must side with the terrorists, since there are only binaries and we must
the USA �ly into a nationalistic frenzy, which has since become embedded in its domestic political atmosphere. Race and ethnicity have dictated how people are viewed not just by law enforcements but by the public; random checks by the TSA are not truly random, and there is around the clock coverage by Fox news reinforcing the distinction between Americans and everyone else. Polarisation is a breeding ground for extremism. With the rising popularity of the National Front, France
The notion of picking sides cuts pluralism out of the picture However, amidst these issues lies a problematic notion that is omnipresent in coverage of terrorist attacks – we all must take a side, either with the terrorists or those who have been terrorised. While the killings were an act of extremism, attempting to polarise populations through creating fear and evoking anger, Western media coverage supports the discourse that there is an all-pervading ‘they’ who is to blame, and that if you are not publically with Charlie and the victims, then you must condone the attacks. The general reaction tying religion to the attacks is a problematic one. While extreme anti-Islam responses such as Murdoch’s were highly criticised, they show a larger problem with how we view these attacks. News outlets like the Daily Mail standardise the representation of Islam, and thus Muslims are
attacks, but also by our perception of them. Our desire to blame and adhere to self-proclamations in support of one side or another, to prove our individual innocence, is the �irst stage in the provocation of extremism on both sides. As Aurelien Mondon suggests, this is not a clash of civilization - Christianity versus Islam, us versus them, humanity versus barbarism - but a clash of extremisms that aids the causes of both Al Qaeda and Le Pen.
Polarization is a breeding ground for extremism
defend their beliefs. Rather, because he was from inside Western society, it was portrayed as a tragic but random incident caused by a crazed individual. So why should all Muslims have to pick a side to prove their innocence? This behaviour, if anything, reinforces the idea that Islam and Western society are not compatible. The notion of picking sides cuts pluralism out of the picture. Social media was �looded with declarations
belong to one or the other. By saying ‘I am,’ by supporting the notion that we have to declare our allegiance, it reinforces the idea that cartoonists differ from Muslims, religion matters, and pluralism cannot exist. While there may be a speci�ic agenda behind the attacks that so far is unknown, one thing is clear – extremist attacks are designed to breed extremism on all sides. Terrorist attacks divide nations – 9/11 saw
is incredibly susceptible to polarization. Leader Marine Le Pen can use the attacks to fuel a nationalistic, anti-Islamic sentiment within France: a common enemy at which to direct anger and confusion. Sides will be taken, people homogenised and subsequently discriminated against. Suddenly, anti-Western sentiments will seem justi�ied, and extremism becomes a valid option. It is a vicious cycle that is fuelled not solely by the
Western media coverage encourages us to take sides. Social media does the same. If you are not Charlie or Ahmed, you are the terrorists. However, in reality this black and white perception is fabricated and reinforced by trendy social media activism. Sides are dangerous. They enforce the concept that the West and the rest are fundamentally different, that this act of terrorism is part of a clash of civilizations. While we should show solidarity with the victims, it is more important that we show unity. Following the hostage situation in Sydney in December, the online trend, #illridewithyou, showed unity and a refusal to submit to the notion that all Muslims could potentially be extremists. It showed unity, not sides. #JeSuis should become #NousSommes. I am not Charlie. I am not Ahmed. I am part of a strong, diverse, pluralistic ‘we’ that will not give into polarisation and extremism.
However, Benjamin Shepherd, a second year Maths student, was more scathing about the Guild’s policy: “Those dogs weren’t puppies, they were ancient. They probably have pensions. One of them was using a walking stick. The other had a bus pass.”
depression amongst Cruft competitors last year. I caught up with Spot, a Dalmatian, who competed last year. He said: “Last year I was in a dark place, wondering why I jump through all the existential hoops in a world that is so hopeless and barren, so painful and devoid of meaning, a world in which evil triumphs over good. Ooooo is that a bone? It’s a BONE.” Archie, a Yorkshire terrier, welcomed the innovation: “Aye, t’ma mind it’s a good idea. Still tho, I’d prefer a stiff pint’a Tetleys before rather than t’pet a childer in his face.” Boatswain, a Corgi, expressed his
doubts: “A baby room? That’s a preposterously poor idea. Babies have terrible manners. Their toilet habits are appalling and they always hold their cutlery incorrectly.” He went on to say: “I don’t want wee on my �inest pair of wellingtons.” The RSPCA has had its own concerns – its
spokesperson said: “A baby is not just for Christmas. We deplore the use of babies as a way of calming the nerves of Crufts examiners. Babies should be at home in their kennels.” Of course, this is a complex matter of man and dog. And I think D o g s to eve s k y put it best when he said: “Woof woof woof? Ruff ruff.” I couldn’t put it better myself.
Let’s get satirical: Crufts to trial baby room Ciaran Willis Screen Editor
IT has been revealed that Crufts, one of the world’s largest dog examinations, is set to install a ‘baby room’ to help relieve dogs’ stress. The innovation comes after Exeter’s Students’ Guild pioneering ‘puppy room’ idea. Reactions to the University of Exeter’s own innovation were mixed. I spoke to William Cru – President of the Law Society and prospective trainee with Magic Circle �irm Linklaters – before his exam. He said: “Puppies! They’re JUST SO FLUFFY I’M GONNA DIE.”
This is a complex matter of man and dog Crufts is set to trial its own ‘baby room’ this coming March and has said it’s excited about the innovation. This comes after an increase in anxiety and
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Tweets of the week The best of the Lifestyle Twitterati’s musings and wit this week Tweet us @ExeposeLStyle Harry Spackman @harryspack Srsly subway, why don’t you deliver?? Laura Betts @laurasuzanne_ gonna sit in the shower for an hour to try wash away the alcohol Ryan Hopkins @RyanHopkins_ Ottie got stuck in a dress with dodgy zip. Freed her with lube and metal skewer. On my way to surgeon qualification Gemma Joyce @GLJoyce Not sure if any one else has experienced the taste of eyedrops a few minutes after application but I can confirm that it’s horrific Rory @MrRozzaB My bosses baby cries every time it sees my face which is heart breaking and pretty funny at the same time Sarah Gough @sarahgoughy I love you memory foam mattress. Don’t forget me memory foam mattress. Of course you won’t, you’re a memory foam mattress. #backtouni Caroline Lang @carolinelanggg Put a life proof case on my phone last night just incase, and I some how still managed to crack my screen Heather Robbins @McInHeather So I was having a lovely conversation with a guy, was going amazing until he said: ‘I DON’T LIKE DOGS’. Conversation OVER you heartless boy Becca Hoare @beccahoare Now is probs a good time to finally read the dissertation handbook trololololol #neverok Hanz Butler @Hannah_Butler94 Mum talks about dinner while I’m typing up work, I end up typing “with such sauce” instead of “with such force”.. #foodonthebrain
New Year, new(ish) you Emily Kerr aims high as she suggests some New Year’s Resolutions that are actually achieveable to get the new year off to a vaguely positive start IT’S that time of year again when everyone pledges to be a whole new person as the date changes by one number. Many of us vow to go on an intensive diet, to lock ourselves away in the library, even abstain from alcohol. We all strive to have that Elsa moment, to slam the door (in the sassiest way possible) on last year’s mistakes. As the New Year rolls in it’s impossible not to feel like you have the power to do anything: take up skydiving, run a marathon, learn a new language. As we drag our feet through January however, the resolutions made in that one moment of alcohol induced invincibility seem all the more impossible to achieve. After the �irst month, the Portuguese dictionary is under the bed, alongside an empty dominos pizza box – strategically placed in order to cover up a new pair of trainers. The large goals set on that one blurry night
only lead to a feeling of incapability as February hits. Why not tackle this problem at its root? Just make your resolutions a bit simpler for yourself in the �irst place.
1. Go on a diet, or at least actually share your ‘share packs.’ One of the most popular resolutions is to slim down as we enter a new year. Diets are challenging to maintain, why not make your target more realistic? Nobody is under any illusions, we all know ‘share packs’ might as well be called ‘all-to-myself packs’. Although selecting a ‘funsized’ chocolate bar is about as thrilling as watching a contestant win The Chase, at least there are boundaries. Now’s the time to start splitting sharing bags with your housemates (every so often). You can do it! Apparently chocolate tastes sweeter when shared.
2. Be more organised (get out of your pyjamas by mid-afternoon). This is by far the toughest challenge, but lazing around in your pyjamas all day is a habit which needs to be put to bed. You can’t follow your dreams (or at least make lunch) if you remain trapped under the duvet. It’s time to seize the day and get up and go…downstairs.
3. Work harder, or spend less time procrastinating It’s understandable, everyone needs to know whether they’re Beyoncé’s soul sister or if they would have been a Viking in their past life, but there are limits. Resist the urge. Fight the need for Buzzfeed. After the third time of taking that online quiz and still getting the undesired answer, can’t the internet be blamed for not knowing you and Taylor Swift were separated at birth?
4. Spend more time with your family by throwing away your Monopoly set. Let’s face it, a family game of Monopoly never ends well from the moment you begin to argue over who gets to be the dog, it all goes downhill. Nobody wants to know that their brother has a secret ruthless side, or that their sister is prepared to bankrupt them. Just say no. Without this game in your house, your family life will be the epitome of happiness. Whatever it is, from �inally unpacking your suitcase, to going for a run every other week, make your goals possible to complete by starting small. They may not spark a revolution, but at least you stand a chance of succeeding and when you do you’ll feel great. I’ve already started: New Year, new brand of tea.
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January sales: a shopper’s friend or faux?
Sophie Prescott gives her top tips on surviving the post Xmas sales
JANUARY sales: you either love them or hate them. On one hand, there’s no better time of year to get your favourite brands at a fraction of the retail price – but that’s if you’re prepared to endure the elbowing from crowds of fellow shoppers and, of course, the endless queues. With four long years of working in fashion retail, here’s how I would suggest you get the most out of what the high street has to offer.
Those multi-coloured sequin leggings might have seemed a great idea at the time... Firstly, go in with a plan. It’s incredibly easy to scavenge through the “£10 and under” rail at Topshop in a frenzy, grabbing the �irst bargain in sight – except you’ll most likely walk away with something you don’t even need. Yes, those multi-coloured sequin leggings might have seemed a great idea at the time, but realistically, how much wear are you going to get out of the item? Think to yourself about what you actually need, considering upcoming events, socials or even holidays booked in the next few months, then shop accordingly.
When it gets to rummaging through for a potential bargain, try to picture where you will wear the piece, and more importantly, what with. A lot of sale stock is from previous seasons or includes passing trends that simply aren’t selling well. This can be great for disposable fashion and trying out trends without the hefty price tag, but remember there is usually a reason for the reduction of certain items. With spring approaching, winter coats and woolly jumpers may not be the best pieces to invest in, and unless it’s a classic, staple wardrobe piece, you might not even like it next year – so be wise with your choices and don’t be tempted by trends which are probably on their way out. This can also be said for a lot of other sale stock. Quite often sales are made up of the stuff that shops just can’t shift, with some retailers even getting older stock delivered in especially in order to bulk
up the rails. This, along with an array of returns, oddments and even faulty items, means that there is a lot of rubbish to search through before you �ind anything really worth buying. Once you have spotted the perfect piece, be strategic. If there are plenty left, wait a week or two as further reductions may be made on large volumes of stock to shift it before the end of sale, but if not – grab it before somebody else does. Don’t give up if the item has gone, or is no longer available in your size, as in most cases it will be available online somewhere, or failing this,
many stores will be able to tell you where else in the country to �ind it – so if Exeter is all out of the top you desperately wanted, ask someone at home to check your local branch. Take note though, that this is usually only available in shops that take particular pride in their customer service – and is probably a bit of a waste of time at Primark. Finally, don’t be fooled into buying something just because it is in the sale. Quite often there are “reduced” items with an oh-so-generous £3 off of the original £20 retail price, wh i c h
aren’t so much of a bargain as you may have thought. Likewise, a £150 pair of boots down to £60 is a great discount – but you’re still paying £60 that you may come to regret when you can’t afford to eat that week.
If you’re willing to compete with hundreds of other steadfast shoppers on the same mission, you’re likely to �ind a few bargains! There are bargains to be had in the January sales, and if you’re willing to compete with hundreds of other steadfast shoppers on the same mission, you’re likely to �ind a fair few. If, however, after reading this article you can think of nothing worse than pushing past callous customers in order to rummage through a pile of junk that has failed to sell at any other point in the year, then I would wholeheartedly join you. Thankfully, online shopping has all the same prices, much of the same choice and, best of all, none of the hassle.
Beating the January blues the Lifestyle way
Two Exeposé Lifestyle writers tell us why January isn’t as bad as you think Alex Armytage
JANUARY’S great, because it’s rubbish. Call me a pessimist, but January is the best month of the year. For a start, waking up to a sharp, freezing frosty winter’s morning is one of life’s great pleasures, along with curling up in bed or on a sofa with a cup of tea and a book. But these are clichés. These reasons for liking winter are the stuff of forced conversation on the way to a 9am lecture. There is another reason for January being the best month: it’s not the summer. Most would agree that the worst time of the year is the moment you realise your summer is over; that moment you have to pack your bags and �ly home from whichever corner of the world you’ve whisked yourself away to and come face to face with a new academic year and more depressingly, winter.
By January, we are at the bottom of a trough on a continuous graph. Yes, the year’s as rubbish as it gets, but that’s exactly the point - it’s only up from here. Besides, as I write this, the days have been getting longer and lighter for about a month already, and we have everything to look forward to. In the same way that the anticipation and build up to a good party, or a good meal, or a good holiday is often more enjoyable than the event itself, so it is with summer. From now until June we look forward to it, and from June to September we enjoy it, until we start looking forward to January again. So the next time you complain about us being in the deepest, darkest depths of winter, just remember how you would feel if winter was just beginning, and instead think of what’s to come - that’s the real time to feel miserable.
Elizabeth Menshikova
EVERYONE loves the buzz every new year gives us with its promises, plans and resolutions. You are excited about meeting new people, looking forward to the trips you have planned for the Easter holidays and watching new movies (Fifty Shades of Grey or The Theory of Everything – you decide). And then, all of a sudden, it’s the �irst of January. Here we go. Freezing? Check. Rainy? Check. Dark 20 hours a day? Check again. And there is no Christmas market and no one is serving mulled wine anymore. I am sure we are all in the same boat here so I would like to share some mood-boosting strategies with you.
1. Get to the gym! As a total sport addict, I have to start with this point. Sport is a cure for all. Endorphins and all that. Not a gym
bunny? Good news! You do not have to spend countless hours on a treadmill to feel better! You can go climbing with you friends, cycling at the Quay or just have a long walk with your loved one, watching the sunset (ew). 2. Invest in your “happiness fund” I, just like every other girl out there, do believe in retail therapy. Who would not like a Dior lipstick that Victoria Beckham has or that new Pandora charm? However, although you get a fab feeling when you buy something, that feeling vanishes pretty fast. So spend money on experiences instead, and you can double your happiness! Go see your favorite singer, take up a music lesson, or just have that huge pizza with your besties at the Waterfront!
3. Buddy moments Try not to hibernate like a bear, as so-
cializing is a very powerful way to �ight those January blues! Set at least half an hour each day for a “get together” session – you can go to Starbucks with your course mate or dig out those warm woolen mittens and go ice-skating with that person you have been texting for the whole festive period (wink).
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Poppin’ bottles in the ice...
Natalie Bartrum recounts her eventful New Years NEW YEAR’S EVE was fast approaching and my �lat mates and I were frantically trying to decide what we wanted to do, all of course at the last minute. The options: tragically get drunk at home with each other and end up in an alcoholic stupor on the sofa, head to the local club, or dare I say it the “L” word was uttered: London. In a moment of excitement and naivety we decided to venture into the capital since none of us had ever had an NYE with the London Eye’s infamous �ireworks booming in the background or the sweaty call of intoxicated clubbers in big, swanky, sophisticated (so we dreamed) clubs. However the reality was somewhat different to our expectations. Giddy with anticipation we headed out and after 45 minutes on the underground we were in the heart of London arriving at Tower Hill, Wagamamas was our next destination. Remember kids - always carb up before a big boozy night. A tangy
noodle dish was slightly soured by the waiter demanding to see our IDs, as apparently we “only looked 16” (Jesus, I must have had a make-up mishap for that to be the case). Numerous cocktails later, we were soon in the queue for the club at 10pm on the dot. Of course they strategically delayed us entering the club in order for onlookers to be jealous and murmur to themselves, “that’s the place to be on this sacred party night.” With a bladder about to burst after a shamefully small amount of booze (where had the tolerance gone?), I was about to bulldoze my way through the line. Thankfully, party-goers were starting to stream into the hallowed entrance. Two of us stumbled in, yet to my dismay the other two were left outside, barred from entry. It turned out it was an over 21 club, and with my older (and wiser) friend I had only managed to get in due to a bouncer’s low IQ and inability to count. What to do? Disaster had struck: did we waste the £22 spent on entry and
party as a duo or leave loyally in tow with the others? Plan decided: we would stay until the countdown and meet up with the other girls who prayed that they could cram into an overpopulated bar a few stops away in Covent Garden. So we soldiered on, booty-popping to some hardcore hip-hop and old school R&B. And no, I sadly did not get a New Year’s kiss considering the males in the club were almost my Dad’s age. 1am struck and it was time to leave the club and �ind the others. We did, only after a painfully intoxicated ride on the underground with swaying members of the public (not caused by the motion of the carriage) and random tuneless outbreaks of ‘Auld Lang Syne.’ We reunited outside Leicester Square with what felt like the rest of the world, and wished each other a slightly awkward ‘Happy New Year’. Due to the closing of bars and the police’s frantic attempts to herd people away from the unconscious man lying in a pool of (hopefully just his own) vomit, we ended up in that classy establishment known as Subway - reminiscent of good old Exeter nights. London on NYE is certainly an experience. We had highs and lows, but I wouldn’t rush back, on account of the astronomical prices and mediocre setting. The sofa it is next year!
‘Ave a go at eating avocado Sophia Imerson makes avocado pudding... willingly Looking to lose your Christmas pouch? Well I have good news for you! You can have the thick, rich, chocolate, creamy dream dessert you always wanted, and now almost guilt free! (I say “almost” because it depends how much you gorge on). The problem is, you’re going to have to get your head around the idea of the main ingredient of this recipe before you embark on this sweet and squidgy journey.... yep, it’s avocado. Although high in fat, it’s not the kind of fat you �ind in a chunky cheeseburger. It’s the kind of fat that’s good for your skin, your heart, your hair and the slow release energy that helps to reduce appetite. Trust me. It works really well and tastes great!
Preparation time: 3 minutes. Cooking time: 3 minutes. Serves: 3 people or one really greedy, hungry individual (on second thoughts, don’t eat it all alone, you’ll
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be sick).
Ingredients: – 3 very ripe avocados (you can �ind cheap avocados at the greengrocers on Sidwell Street in Exeter). – Half a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder OR (if you want to spend a few pounds more) half a cup of organic Choc Chick raw cacao powder (or any other raw cacao brand) found in any health food shop or Holland and Barrett. – Half a cup of semi skimmed milk (or a dairy free milk). For a thicker consistency you can use natural probiotic yoghurt instead. – Either runny honey, maple syrup or agave syrup. I put in about 3 or 4 tbsp or more depending on how sweet you like it. Taste with a teaspoon to get the right �lavour. Method: -In a large bowl, mash the three avo-
cados with a potato masher, having removed the skin and stones. -Add the cocoa powder -Add a little bit of the milk -Whizz together with a handheld blender. – Add the honey/maple syrup/agave along with the rest of the milk -Blend it all together until smooth and lump free -Add more sweet stuff if you need it… Dollop the creamy mixture in to little ramekin and top with strawberries!
Written in the stars
19
Lucien Fulcher, our resident astrologist, rubs his crystal ball(s) to predict what’s in store for Lifestyle readers this week...
Aquarius (Jan 20 – Feb 18) This year is positively vomiting with opportunities to impress your future spouse. Here’s hoping you’ll have met them before March, otherwise all is doomed.
Pisces (Feb 19 – Mar 20) Professional success and happiness in your personal life seem destined to be absent from your 2015. All is not despair and gloom though – you will learn a new skill! Aries (Mar 21 – Apr 19) Just when you thought that an old friend had completely abandoned you they will burst back into your life in a blaze of glitter, babycham and AC/DC. Taurus (Apr 20 – May 20) For maximum satisfaction and contentedness, stop thinking about anything at all, and just let yourself bob like a freshlypopped cork on the bubbling current of life. Gemini (May 21 – Jun 20) Although as Gemini you are more inclined to pensive introspection, try thinking about other people for a dose of empathetic perspective. Cancer (Jun 21 – Jul 22) Exams probably didn’t go as well as you had hoped, but don’t worry, you’ll have ample opportunity to fail the ones in May in equally spectacular fashion. Leo (Jul 23 – Aug 22) Now is the time to start looking for employment over the summer. Your lecturers, coursemates, parents and teachers from your old school will all be delighted to help you in this search.
Virgo (Aug 23 – Sep 22) As you consider the disappointing number of conquests in 2014, note that it was probably you that was the problem, not them. Change everything if you want to have a more successful year! Libra (Sep 23 – Oct 22) This year promises to be one of your best yet (even though it may not scale those heady, frothy and sparkling altitudes of 2012). Lucky STD: chlamydia. Scorpio (Oct 23 – Nov 21) Be wary of people who seem to always be on your left, particularly this weekend when one of them will reveal their true, drab, colours in a mysterious turn of events. Sagittarius (Nov 22 – Dec 21) Although you may feel your life is a placid pool of calm tranquillity, prepare yourself for an almighty fish-frighteningly humongous splash in the coming weeks.
Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 19) Praise Be, For All Shall Be Well and Happiness Shall Abound! Make sure you stay focused on whatever pointless goals you’ve set yourself, and don’t get distracted by squirrels.
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Interview
Thursday 22 January Moose Blood and Guests Cavern Friday 23 January Peace and Yak The Fleece, Bristol Friday 23 January Solstafir The Exchange, Bristol Sunday 25 January Jim Causley and Lukas Drinkwater Phoenix Tuesday 27 January Mahatma presents: Twin Wild Cavern Tuesday 27 January Jessie Ware Colston Hall, Bristol Tuesday 27 January White Fence and Special Guests The Fleece, Bristol Wednesday 28 January Menace Beach Lousiana, Bristol Wednesday 28 January English Disco Lovers; DCFA benefit party Cavern Saturday 31 January King Creosote Marble Factory, Bristol Saturday 31 January Alvvays Thekla, Bristol
Spotlight
Bean here before
James Atherton talks Big Jeff, drugs and the new year with the beautifully bearded comic musician, Beans on Toast, before he returned to Exeter to end Phoenix’s 2014 calendar BEANS on Toast! Welcome back to Exeter! Thank you very much! It’s great to be back in this city. How’s the tour going so far? I’m getting really sad already ‘cause it’s gonna end. It’s been phenomenal. I don’t really know what to say, each city has had its amazing, special point about it, there’ve been no low points at all, we’ve just been �lying through.
You played Bristol last night, did Big Jeff go? He did! He’s been to every gig since I wrote that song [about him]. Never underestimate the power of a song. He came up on stage last night as well. We’ve actually become pretty good friends. He really is a legend; I’ve never met anyone like him. He’s straight from the heart and really knows what it’s about and how to enjoy himself. What’s your most and least favourite thing about touring? I really like every aspect of touring to
be honest. When you’re just visiting a city, it’s hard to �ind a reason to move around so much and you have to �ind your own way around because you’re a tourist. When you do a gig, people wanna show you around, it’s like you’ve instantly got friends in every city that you go to. But then there are three guys in a hotel room every night, and that can get a little… It can stink. And there were a couple of times when we got really cheap hotel rooms, the ones with no windows and no natural light. Especially after a big night on the piss… They’re dark times… How do you go about the writing process? I just... I smoke weed [laughs]. That’s the short answer. The longer answer would be that I �ind writing easy, it comes naturally and I think that stems from the fact that I’m not a great guitar player and I don’t know any songs on the guitar. If I pick up a guitar I’m not gonna play songs that I’ve already written, so naturally I will write another tune. And then I just write whatever
I’m thinking about.
As someone who epitomises the lack of a barrier between artist and audience, what is your opinion on bands who offer VIP ‘meet and greets’ packages for cash? I don’t think you can knock [the bands] for it, if anything knock the person who’s paying up for it. It’s such an awful, stupid idea, but if people are willing to pay then I think the problem’s with them. So yeah, it’s foolish but then who ever expected pop stars to act anything but foolish?
I just... I smoke weed... And then I just write whatever I’m thinking about Frank Turner’s old song ‘I Knew Prufrock before He Got Famous’ mentioned three musicians: Frank, Justin Young (The Vaccines) and
you, and you’ve all been hugely successful. Did you ever imagine that one of you, let alone all three of you would have the success that you have had? I’m not sure I’d consider myself hugely successful [laughs]. I know what you mean, though. When he wrote that song it was just all three of us singing songs down the pub, but it doesn’t feel a hell of a lot different to that now even with Frank. As big as he’s got he’s still 100 per cent grounded. It doesn’t feel like much has changed. It’s just how it is. What’s coming next for Beans on Toast in 2015? Loads, it’s looking like an even busier year than this one. I’m going out to the States in March. I’ve also just con�irmed that I’m going to Africa Burn which is South Africa’s Burning Man festival, that sounds epic. Doing a UK tour in May playing non-major UK cities, and then new album I guess. More of the same.
Hijacked 2015: Official Launch Party Tom Reed ventures into underground wilderness as Thick as Thieves return to Exe
Alvvays @ Thekla Saturday 31 January “Whether you’re looking to fall in love this summer or pine away unrequited, you won’t find a better soundtrack than this.”
SATURDAY night saw the return of Exeter’s beloved Thick as Thieves, in the form of their 2015 Hijacked launch party. Featuring an eagerly anticipated line up of Exeter’s �inest underground residents and headliner Jonas Rathsman the night, as expected, did not disappoint. Gothenburg based producer and DJ Jonas Rathsman was an incredible booking from the Thick as Thieves crew and if this booking is an inclication of what we can expect from the festival itself, we’re in for a treat. Playing besides the likes of Duke Dumont and Kidnap Kid during 2014 he’s
paved his way towards an incredibly exciting 2015. As ever with a night at The Phoenix, many party goers like to split their night between exploring the upstairs room at the start of the night and �inishing off with the headline set in the main room. Trips up the stairs to ‘The Jungle’ and ‘The Aquarium’ offered a great opportunity to catch some of the top underground nights resident dj’s showing us what they’re made of. The sounds in these two rooms were particularly impressive, so much so that we found
ourselves glued to the dance�loor until just before 1am when we ran down to catch the start of Rathsman’s explosive set. The event sold out well before the night, with demand for tickets through the roof yet the Phoenix didn’t feel overly busy which was a bonus and certainly made �inding your friends amongst the maze of hallways and stairs a lot easier. More importantly, it also allowed us to sneak our way through the rows of
shuf�ling party goers to the barrier, allowing for full appreciation of the sound and energy of the main room which Rathsman commanded from start to �inish. His set was an hour full of his own genre- de�ining sound that he is best known for and was the perfect soundtrack to the launch party for not only Exeter’s biggest dance festival, but also the launch of a term of amazing bookings and seriously exciting times for the Exeter scene. We can all only hope now for Hjacked lineup details sooner rather than later from the Thick as Thieves crew.
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Reviewed: electronica revisited Derek Dashiell weighs up the �ifth solo effort from Baltimore experimentalist Panda Bear Panda Bear Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper 13 January 2015
THERE are two songs from Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper that I want to bring up �irst: ‘Shadow Of The Colossus’ and ‘Lonely Wanderer.’ Shadow Of The Colossus was a PlayStation 2 game following Wander in his quest to save a girl. For most of the game, the only characters are Wander’s horse Agro and the 16 Colossi he must �ight. It’s now as ubiquitous in gaming as in art - there are few games so important, awe-inspiring, or heart wrenching. It’s a treatise on loss and, without giving anything away, a question about the worth of sacri�ice. And Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper is nowhere near as good. Yet, the comparison still applies. There’s something touching in the fact that Panda Bear identi�ies with Wander. Both Animal Collective and its co-founder Panda Bear are lauded for their music, but not often entirely understood. How could they be? Their discography is a bad acid trip: you’re on your own, trying to tussle with these big ideas. It’s stunningly solitary. This album’s big idea is death. Panda Bear said he wanted to make talking about death palatable, in his warped, psycho-pop way. The title uses the word “meets”; however, the album art spells out, with distress-
Fall Out Boy American Beauty/American Psycho 16 January 2015
“WE’RE the last rock band that doesn’t think that pop is a four-letter word.” Patrick Stump’s words whilst promoting Fall Out Boy’s latest album American Beauty/American Psycho seem to have codi�ied the mission statement of the Illinois quartet. This mission statement is simple: to keep in touch with the mainstream. It’s been an entire decade since Fall Out Boy were the polar opposite of the band they are today. In 2005 they de�ined the mainstream with songs like ‘Dance, Dance’ and ‘Sugar We’re Going Down.’ The band led the emo pop-punk revolution of the early 2000s. But with the three year hiatus and a triumphant return to the charts with 2013’s Save Rock and Roll,, questions were asked about which direction this new album would take. Fall Out
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ingly neon bars, ‘Panda Bear VS the Grim Reaper’. ‘Versus’, not ‘meets’. This is a challenge. But what is being challenged?
If this is Panda Bear’s bid for immortality, he’s going to need another attempt If this is Panda Bear’s bid for immortality, he’s going to need another attempt. The album moves away from some of the directness (which is NOT to say coherency) of prior solo work, but is debatably more poppy. Truth be told, I don’t know what to say here. This is an Animal Collective member, so you’re going to get melodies written by the Beach Boys Boy have now truly committed to the mainstream. Long gone are the angsty ballads readymade for teenage bedrooms. New songs like ‘Uma Thurman’, ‘Irresistible’ and ‘Centuries’ mark a trend towards clubfriendly dance songs, which, whilst played by a ‘rock’ quartet, would not sound out of place remixed and pumped out of Arena’s speakers. Indeed, this new record looks set to dominate radio airwaves for the next year, which is not altogether terrible, as these songs are certainly catchy and easy listening. But they lack any of the originality and lyrical complexity Fall Out Boy fans are used to. As they alienate their old fan base in a bid for airtime, it seems that American Beauty/American Psycho is the band’s most important album to date, a gambit on which the fate of their musical identity is at stake.
JOSHUA McGREAL
on shrooms. You’re going to get organic terror mixed with mechanised horror to create something ethereal and gorgeous. With anything Animal Collective-related, if you �ind value in their work beyond ‘My Girls,’ everything’s worth a listen, and this is no exception - Panda Bear’s solo work is distinctive in its open, cyclical nature. Album opener ‘Sequential Circuits’ describes well the sound of the whole album. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend any track on here as a starting point for a new listener, but as limited an Animal Collective fan as I am, I’m glad I took this trip. And I imagine I’ll be coming back to ‘Lonely Wanderer’ again before the day’s out. I don’t think Panda Bear is exactly challenging death to a game of chess with these songs though. I think the challenge is more of a debate - more philosophical, as Panda Bear is wont
King Crimson Live at the Orpheum 13 January 2015
AFTER an absence of seven years, King Crimson has �inally returned to the stage, bringing with them a new live album. Once again led by Robert Fripp on guitar and mellotron, the new line-up also features Jakko Jaksyzk on vocals and rhythm guitar, bass guitarist and chapman stick a�icionado Tony Levin, Mel Collins on saxophone, and not one, but three drummers: Gavin Harrison, Bill Rie�lin and Pat Mastelotto. The album chie�ly consists of some of King Crimson’s most popular material from various incarnations, including ‘One More Red Nightmare’ and ‘The ConstruKtion of Light’, the former of which allows Collins to show off his highly impressive improvisational ability, while the latter exhibits Tony Levin’s virtuosity, also allowing him to exhibit great interplay between himself and Fripp. The closing track ‘Starless’ from 1974’s
to be. On ‘Shadow Of The Colossus,’ you get the spectre of something slightly off that pervades the game, in 18 seconds. On ‘Lonely Wanderer,’ he dissects questions: “What have you done/ Have you done/ Have you, he said,” the question changing meaning with each subtracted word. At the end, he asks, “Was it worthwhile?” which, aside from perfectly summarizing the central theme of the video game, makes you realize that this isn’t asking the Grim Reaper. We are our own Grim Reaper. At the end, what have you done? Have you done it? Was it worthwhile? Then some sickly psycho-pop frolic begins, because we may be dealing with death here, but Panda Bear’s got something to say �irst.
Red acts as the standout moment on the album, with some truly enchanting guitar and vocal work. However, this album only properly gets going halfway through the �ifth track, ‘The Letters.’ Until then, the band simply feel too composed, too rigid, a feat that previous line-ups have always avoided. Indeed, for the most part of the album, the participants in the three-drum lineup were often too similar or too formulaic for a band as musically unpredictable as this. This is most evident on the only new composition, ‘Banshee Legs Bell Hassle,’ which was actually rather disappointing. Nevertheless, the album still upholds a clear change from what dominates today’s charts. After a decent album, here’s hoping they’re here to stay this time. THEODORE STONE
21
Old New Borrowed Blue New year, new you, eh? Hello TheI’m Well, notagain. in my case. back with my same last time you old column - why change heard from me you a winning formula? I’ve were confronted continued to search by far and wide, attempting disguise a hoard of sinisterlytoimmy considerable musical ego as posed cutouts of my face. a philanthropic journey of selfI less amdiscovery. neitherAnd responsible if that sentence didn’t sound pretentious enough, for, nor party to, the mass wait until you get a load of the rest distribution of my face. I of what I have to say:
am led to believe that it is integral to the artistic vision Old: Planet Caravan – Sabbath ofBlack Exposé muI’m not a fan of Ozzy sic, and student Osbourne. It may or media as be a whole. may not because of the whole ‘bitingTherefore, I have t h e - choice h e a d - o but ff-a-bat’ little to thing. Decapitating chiroptera consent. You havewrote my one or aside, he admittedly two good songs. ‘Planet Caravan’ sincerest apologies. Noneteis defi nitely the best, and the less, we must press on. Ileast ‘Black Sabbath’ song Black Sabhave plenty of festive cheer bath have written - coincidence? to shove down your ears New: It Comes in Waves – and limited column inches Trophy Wifeto do it. in which Boasting the kind of name only inoffensive when you’re Old a female punk duo, Trophy Wife released thisCame impressive A Spaceman track as part of their album All Chris de the Travelling Sides later last–year. It doesn’t Burgh really kick off until four minutes in, at which in point it proceeds Apparently, an interto grab you by the testicles and view, de Burgh swing Chris you round above itssaid head, hewhich wrote this song is something I’mafter really into.
wondering what it would Borrowed: Beni Protect have been like if–the star remix) of(FVLCRVM Bethlehem had been a FVLCRVM probably means somespacecraft. feel you, thing, but to We an untrained eye, of which IScrew have two, it could literally Chris. the festivities; be anything. This remix is really it’s time someone tackled good though, and that’s the imthe burning portant thing. issues. Blue: Blue - Fly By II ¬New Never ones to shy away Clark – Winter Linn from all things introspecIntive, the‘Flyabsence By II’ sees of theany boys remix their own song, decent new Christ-originally titled ‘Fly By’, from the mas songs, figured All Rise album.I That’s whyI’d they’ve settle for something put a ‘II’ after the title youwintersee, because it’s the second one… cheers themed. This track lifted fellas. It opens with a sample of from Clark’s B.I.G. eponymous The Notorious ’s ‘Hypnotise,’ album isn’t the best on in a collaboration aboutone as misguidedbut as Russell pairthere, it’s theBrand one au that’s ing for the Dalai Lama. Though most Apparthat’s about anotherwinter. thing that actually ently a “linn” is ayou waterfall happened. So there go. or precipice. Bet you didn’t
know that? Borrowed
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The EDL invade Exeter armed with flares EXEPOSÉ
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Exeposé Music interviews Alex Jones, the man behind EDL, about their upcoming charity gig at Exeter’s Cavern
THE image of bigoted English Defence League supporters bedecked in St.George �lags descending on Cavern is both intriguing and hilarious. Your EDL stands for something else though (and something more appropriate for the venue). Can you tell us a bit about what EDL stands for, and how it came about ? In this instance EDL stands for English Disco Lovers, our message is simple, “Don't Hate! Gyrate!” We're a political movement looking to make 'EDL more synonymous with 'disco' than 'defence.' The whole thing began as a joke. I was camping with friends and had the idea of pinching the EDL acronym, most commonly associated with the English Defence League, and giving it a positive spin. I wanted people to hear 'EDL' and think of love, equality and dancing instead of hate crimes and racism.
Why disco music? Is there something in it that speci�ically speaks to the ideas you are promoting? Aside from it's positive sound, it's the history and etymology of disco that are most signi�icant. In the 1970s discotheques were havens for minorities, they brought together people of every colour and sexuality to listen to music that celebrated unity and self-expression. In 1979 there was an anti-disco rally called Disco Demolition Night, which involved
the destruction of disco records. It has been said that the event had racist and homophobic undertones and that it played a signi�icant role in the decline of disco's popularity. It's also signi�icant that the word discotheque comes from Nazi occupied France, where jazz music was banned, as it was seen as a potential music of revolution. As live performances were deemed to be too obvious, citizens began to opt for underground bars where they could listen to recordings. These places became known as record libraries, which translates into French as 'discotheque'. I wanted to redeploy this history in opposition to contemporary intolerance and the recent rise of rightwing extremism in the UK. What's your favourite disco tune for getting in the pro-equality groove? Is there a particular one that the English Defence League really hate to on your counterdemonstrations? It's got to be Sylvester's Mighty Real! It's an absolute classic and I've loved it ever since hearing it on the soundtrack of Milk, a �ilm about gay rights campaigner Harvey Milk – the �irst openly gay person to be elected to public of�ice in the United States. Well, we often play ‘I Will Survive’ by Gloria Gaynor, the lyrics are perfect for telling the Defence
League to “Go! Walk our the door! Turn around now, 'cus you're not welcome anymore!” It's hard to tell if they hate it though... I'm sure I've seen some singing along. You did a TEDx talk in Hackney back in 2013, and you spoke about the abuse you've received since EDL's conception... Do you think �ighting such ignorance and hate with wit and parody is the best way to combat xenophobia? Probably not, education would have to be the best. I see English Disco Lovers as less of a combative form and more of an expression of an alternative way of being in the world. It's an expression of 'English-ness' (if such a thing exists) that I think is more accurate than the one the English Defence League put forth.
of student activism? Is there room for it to channel a bit more of the spirited activism of the disco-era? Of course. In many ways today's students have been rendered passive by the prevailing structures of our times, namely capitalism. We are consumers, entrenched in apathy, slowly being crushed by systems that we are indebted to. How can you be an activist when you're up to your neck in debt before the age of 21? That sounds incredibly pessimistic, but one often has to overstate an opinion to make a point. There are students out there who are actively engaging in politics, be that through activism or other forms, but for every one there are 1000 who are not (this is a made up statistic, but in essence it's true). Those ratios need to change dramatically if we want to have an impact on issues that matter to us, whether
those issues be student fees, �ighting fascism or keeping UKIP out of government (which is essentially �ighting fascism). We have the power to live more ful�illing lives. We just have to reach out, collectively, and take it.
So, what can we expect in Cavern when you come down? Who's playing? Is there a dress code? We've got sets from North/South, Tom Deuchars, Show & Tell DJs and Oli H, who've all leant their time in the name of a good cause – massive thank you to all of them. Expect disco classics and a few surprises! Flares encouraged, wigs and silly shades provided! You can catch English Disco Lovers at Cavern, 28 January. Entrance is £3 before 10pm and £5 after. All proceeds go to The Devon County Food Association.
Best new music: 2015’s ones to watch What do you think about the state
Callum Burroughs, Online Editor, tells us what’s what for the upcoming year with the top 5 bands to look out for Raury
Kwabs
Menace Beach
Hinds (formally Deers)
Lapsley
ATLANTA born and bred, Raury Tullis has already made musical waves with his appearance with the track ‘Higher’ on SBTRKT’s critically acclaimed LP last year and has big hopes for the year ahead. His fast talking, sun-hat wearing ways have put him on the BBC’s sound of 2015 shortlist. He’s noted his calling to musical stardom through his debut track ‘God’s Whisper,’ as well as the aforementioned ‘Higher,’ a brash and meaningful indication of what’s to come from this talented rapper. He plans to drop an album this year following 2014’s ‘Indigo Child,’ the title a hint at con�idence exhibited by a young musician full of promise.
ANOTHER perennial lurker in blogs across the country, South Londoner Kwabs has already received massive praise following his performance on Jools Holland last year. His soulful sound extends to massive hooks, and demonstrates a variety that won’t see him pigeonholed as a mainstream singer. Although admittedly the brilliant track ‘Walk’ is featured on the FIFA 15 soundtrack). Potentially part of the ‘Synth&b’ movement, which has earmarked fellow artists Sampha and Azekel, much is expected from the Bermondsey baritone. Check out ‘Saved’ and his awesome cover of James Blake’s ‘The Wilhelm Scream.’
INCLUDED mostly for having the best name of the year, don’t be fooled, Leed’s based Menace Beach have an album ‘Ratworld’ out later this month, that could potentially be a very cool record. Airtime on 6 music this year and last, as well as a session with veteran DJ and former the Fall member Marc Riley, hints at bigger things. Creative control seems vested with Hookworm’s MJ, and despite the current lack of an album, they have been touted by NME and the Guardian as ones to watch. Seemingly notable for having a rotating door of established musicians, the most impressive thing is actually their sound, with the excellent ‘Tastes Like Medicine’ and the hazey near 90s revivalist track ‘Drop Outs’ particularly notable.
MANIC garage pop chicas, Hinds hail from Madrid and have an infectious sound that is at once raucous and planned, like a rickety cross between a Strokes track and a Velvet Underground session recording. Taking this year’s blogspot for cool all girl band, there is more to Hinds than just hype, tracks like ‘Castigadas en el Granero’ and ‘Bamboo’ express real energy and �ill cold January evenings with a sense of youthful electricity. With EPs ‘Demo’ and ‘Barn’ already out, more is expected from them, so keep your ears peeled.
AT only 18, Lapsley’s potential is undeniable, the Southport born electronic artist has already released an EP in 2015, the beautiful ‘Understudy,’ which at once entrances and beguiles. Passed on by appreciative listeners, her voice is nigh on angelic and merges perfectly into the cleverly constructed synths which envelop her already excellent sound. Her electro-pop tunes have already earned glowing reviews and it appears that further opportunities will inevitably come for this talented Merseysider.
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Newsreel
Di Caprio drops out of Jobs biopic Golden Globe awards Danny Boyle’s latest project on the life ofOn the11Apple January, founder the has winners beenofdealt the a Golden Globesannounces awards were anbIIlow Di Caprio his resignounced. Therole. event showcases nation from the The actor says he theaway world of acting TV andinistalent taking from a period from film. Big winners included Richard Linklater’s which took the defi nitely. DiBoyhood Caprio drops out best drama motion picture award, well asbiopic earning the accolade for ofasJobs Best Supporting Danny Boyle’s latestActress project with on thePalife Arquette’s performance. Wes a oftricia the Apple founder has been dealt Anderson’s Grand his Budapest blow Di CaprioThe announces resignaHotel also tion from thetook role.an Theaward actor for saysBest he is Comedy Motion Picture, theintaking a period away from with acting awards defi nitely.for Best Actor in a Comedy and Best Actor in a Drama Motion Picture being given to Michael Keaton (Birdman) and Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything ) respectively.
BAFTA nominations announced Last week also saw the announcement for the British Academy’s own award ceremony which will take place in February. The Grand Budapest Hotel leads the nomination count with a total of 11 including Ralph Fiennes for Best Actor, however The Theory of Everything and Birdman are also tipped for a good haul as well.
Anita Ekberg dies aged 83 The Swedish actor Anita Ekberg, star of Federico Fellini’s legendary 1960 film La Dolce Vita has died. Ekberg cemented her name in the hall of fame in Fellini’s film when her character Silvia waded into the Trevi fountain in Rome, creating one of Hollywood’s most iconic moments.
Taken 3 shoots to top of Box Office Despite Taken 3’s lack of award nominations, it’s the thriller starring Liam Neeson that has won the box office brawl in it’s first weekend. The film grossed $40 million at the US box office, beating off all of its competition comfortably.
MUSIC 20-23
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Fasten your seatbelts for 2015 Exeposé Screen writers take a look at what’s set to be a great year for �ilm and give their picks of the movies you simply can’t afford to miss
Best Sci-Fi Star Wars: The Force Awakens Director: J J Abrams
STAR WARS is ingrained into modern culture in a deep, irreplaceable way; it’s one of the de�ining monoliths of blockbuster cinema. Even the detritus that is the prequels couldn’t wash away its monumental importance. Once that shot of the Millennium Falcon, combined with that music, came on-screen, it exploded right back to the forefront of public con-
sciousness. Suddenly, we all saw a glimmer of hope that Star Wars could be great again. It’s in the hands of a talented director, with a new and promising cast – I’m looking forward to seeing the direction they take it in. Nicholas Porter
Best Factual Jurassic World Director: Colin Trevorrow
THE world has waited and waited, and so have I. Jurassic World has �inally been announced, and aren’t I the excited one. This summer will bring back all the best bits of childhood minus Dr Alan grant. Since Spielberg �irst presented us with the perils of humans creating dinosaurs and then getting eaten by them, cinema has never been the same. Needless to say, these roarsome creatures are what I am most eager to
experience this year. Let’s hope the producers have spared no expense. Emma Sudderick, Screen Editor
Best Action Avengers Assemble : Age of Ultron Director: Joss Whedon
AFTER the huge success of summer blockbusters Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and X-Men: Days of Future Past, it seems Marv e l can do little wrong at the moment. And judging by the �irst trailer for the follow up to 2012’s Avengers Assemble, I can see little reason to think otherwise. A moody atmosphere, almighty brawls and one of Marvel’s deadliest villains, Ultron, (menacingly voiced
by James Spader), there’s a lot for diehard fans and casual �ilm goers alike to look forward to. A giant Iron Man taking on the Hulk in particular looks to be a potential highlight of the movie, amongst other scenes that I’m sure will whet the appetite of any movie fan. Don’t expect anything that diverts particulary far from the superhero formula, but de�initely one to look out for come summer. Josh Mines, Screen Editor
Best Remake Mad Max: Fury Road Director: George Miller
I KNOW you really shouldn’t judge the potential quality of a movie based on a trailer, as it creates this unfair cycle of expectation/disappointment – but my God, that trailer. It was a work of art in and of itself. It’s operatic and beautiful and intense and brutal; if the �ilm is even slightly like it, I’ll be totally satis�ied. I’ve never been the biggest Mad Max fan, but after seeing that trailer, I want to buy the box-set and put it on permanent repeat. Also, I might have the tiniest crush on Tom Hardy. What? Don’t act like you don’t too. Nicholas Porter
What I’ve been watching over Christmas Susannah Keogh tells us about the legal drama she’s been revising over the break
I AM well versed in the art of procrastination- and what better way to spend your holidays than ignoring that unpacked suitcase of library books in favour of endless hours perfecting the study of Net�lix? Sorry Aristotle, you just can’t compare. There are a million reasons why you should stop what you’re doing, open Net�lix and watch the �irst episode of The Good Wife. Then another episode. And another. Yep, that basically sums up my Christmas break. For months, I resisted friends’ recommendations, a show about a middle-aged lawyer; god, so boring. How wrong I was. Alicia Florrick, the good
wife of the title, is, to put it simply, badass. Her imbecile of a husband, the ex State’s attorney of Chicago, is jailed in a public scandal that involves him cheating on her with prostitutes. While his career collapses, Alicia returns to work at a high�lying law �irm- where her old �lame from college is a partner. Oh, and did I mention Mr Big from Sex and the City plays
her husband? Since 2010 the show has won �ive Emmys (and been nominated for a crazy 30), featuring every single year in basically every awards category possible. It goes without saying that the performances of the cast are amazing, and season �ive episode 15 will break you for at least a week,
Alicia Forrick, the good wife of the title, is to put it simply, badass but it’s the writing that really thrills. Each episode resolves around a legal case of the week, -but unlike in other procedural type shows, the cases are always current- from an Anonymous
type hacker group exposing the identity of a rapist or the hiring practises of a Google-esque company. There is a political sub-plot that also plays a prominent part in each episode, exposing issues other network shows tend to avoid, like corruption and racism in public of�ice. Basically it’s law and (at a push) politics revision in one. Plus you can learn about deep legal/ethical issues alongside Alicia’s complicated love life and wishing you could be a fearless investigator Kalinda. With the sixth season currently airing in America, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do- but I reckon hard-core Net�lixers can get up to date in no time (speaking from experience).
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s...
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Jack Smith takes a look at the hotly tipped dark comedy Birdman, and decides it’s not winging it
Birdman Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu Cast: Michael Keaton, Emma Stone Zach Gali�ianakis 2015, 119 minutes
IF you see one �ilm this month, this whole term even, make it Birdman. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) has been eagerly awaited over here since its US release back in October, so when I sat down in a packed out Curzon cinema in Soho just after Christmas, I was expecting great things. And it delivered.
The �ilm is shot as if it’s all in one take, a technique that pays off very well
tells the story of Riggan Thomson, an actor who used to be famous for playing the superhero “Birdman” in Hollywood blockbusters (played by a magni�icent Michael Keaton). Now struggling with his ego, Riggan attempts to make a comeback by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Keaton’s performance is one of the best I have seen in a long time, if not ever, and he will surely be in with a strong chance of winning the Academy Award - having been nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role last week. He has also just been nominated for a BAFTA, as have Edward Norton and Emma Stone, who both put in fantastic performances as a troublesome supporting actor and Riggan’s daughter respectively. Zach Gali�ianakis is great as Riggan’s manager as well, adding spark and humour to the cast. The
writing is excellent too and has plenty to say about many subjects, from independent movies and plays versus blockbusters, to artists and critics.
Keaton’s performance is one of the best I have seen in a long time, if not ever Although everyone’s talking about Keaton, the other star of Birdman is Iñárritu as director. The �ilm is shot to seem as if it’s all in one take, a technique that pays off very well. It never feels like it gets in the way and really adds to the �ilm’s style. People will be talking about this movie throughout awards season and I’m sure it will be remembered for years to come. Do yourself a favour and go and see Birdman.
“Where there’s life, there’s hope” Alejandro González Iñárritu’s �ilm
James Marsh’s biopic of Stephen Hawking has rightly gained awards attention, says Theodore Stone The Theory of Everything Director: James Marsh Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones 2015, 123 minutes
PORTRAYING the British genius appears to be becoming a new standard of cinema. And rightly so - when one considers the roster of names available, whose life would be better suited for the screen than that of Stephen Hawking? The �ilm in question is a cinematic portrayal of the life of Hawking from his meeting with future bride Jane Hawking to the publication of bestseller A Brief History of Time, thus place the majority of the �ilm’s narrative and emotional bulk upon the struggles of the couple as they try to cope with Hawking’s disability. Alongside this,
there is an ongoing theme concerning the apparent battle between God and physics that is present throughout the �ilm, but this I found to simply be excessive padding, rather than an actual intellectual discussion. Similarly, the scienti�ic theories authored by Hawking are crudely cast aside, something that I found to be a disappointment.
Eddie Redmayne is �lawless as Stephen Hawking On a more positive note, however, Eddie Redmayne is �lawless as Stephen Hawking. Indeed, there were times when the man and the actor became inseparable. Felicity Jones is a marvel as Jane Hawking, always equal and on many occasions bettering Redmayne.
Harry Lloyd is a scene-stealing wonder as Brian, Hawking’s �ictional roommate, whose sheer energy and wit is the source of much of the �ilm’s humour. Whilst the portrayal of Elaine Mason, Hawking’s second wife, is an intriguing one, with Maxine Peake’s performance hiding a layer of coldness underneath a friendly exterior. Although there were points in the �ilm where you began to question the running time, overall it delivered a satisfying and emotionally triumphant spectacle. The script delivers on all accounts and the way that it deals with the effects of Motor Neuron Disease is certainly well executed. In the end though, it does feel like a �luff �ilm, something to make you feel good about the marvels of the human intellect. But a bit of �luff never hurt anyone.
What’s hot and what’s not in this week’s news? Taken 3 - I feel sorry for Bryan Mills’s (Liam Neeson’s) family; here Neeson reprises his role as a human bulldozer bashing his way through various localities to �ind his daughter.
Boyz in da hood
Interstellar - Metacritic users have voted Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster as the ‘most overrated �ilm of 2014.’ But they also voted it as their second best; so basically good �ilms are overrated because they’re good. Right?
White - the big colour at this year’s Golden Globes was white (and off-white), we’ve been informed. It was ‘traditional, even bridal, on some,’ said The Guardian but ‘elsewhere it was sexy.’ Also, Bill Murray wore a hat.
Eddie Redmayne - the 33-yearold Brit has won a Best Actor Golden Globe for his portryal of Stephen Hawking, and has been nominated for a BAFTA. Plus look at that charming, puppyish face don’t you just wanna hug him?
Boyhood - Richard Linklater’s coming of age drama just picked up a Golden Globe for best drama and best director, whilst Empire voted it their best �ilm of 2015. That’s one hell of a childhood.
Boyhood
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Catrin Southgate takes us through �ive of her most anticipated new releases of the year The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins
Guantanamo Diary - Mohamedou Ould Slahi
A Spool of Blue Thread - Anne Tyler
The Witch of Painted Sorrows M. J. Rose
The Buried Giant - Kazo Ishiguro
If you enjoyed Gone Girl you’ll love this new psychological thriller. Due to be released in midJanuary, this novel tells the story of Rachel, an unemployed alcoholic, who becomes embroiled in a missing persons investigation. Fast paced, tense and compelling, this book will have you gripped until its final, dramatic conclusion.
Ould Slahi was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay in 2002. He is still imprisoned today. This harrowing memoir is the first diary to be published by a still-imprisoned Guantanamo Bay detainee. In it, Slahi reveals instances of threats, sexual humiliation and torture. He shatters the secrecy of the prison and calls the American justice system into question.
Anne Tyler has created a captivating narrative focusing on four generations of one family. This book captures the recognisable milestones of family life and is a celebration of genuine family connections. Dramas unfold and secrets are revealed as the plot moves backwards and forwards through time. It looks set to be a dramatic read.
M. J. Rose has created a spellbinding, gothic narrative set in the magnificent city of Paris. The novel centres on Sandrine Salome who has fled America, escaping an abusive husband. Whilst in France, she encounters romance, passion and witchcraft. Heralded as the authors “most provocative and magical spellbinder yet,” this is a book not to be missed.
The release of this book must be considered the literary event of the year. After a decade, this critically acclaimed, Booker Prize-winning author is back with an intensely moving story of a couple, Beatrice and Axl, who are searching for their son. A compelling read. Featuring love, war and revenge, this book is a 2015 must-read.
Release Date: 15 January
Release Date: 20 January
Release Date: 10 February
Release Date: 17 March
Release Date: 3 March
Undiscovered author: Alix Ohlin
Esther Docherty recommends the Canadian author of short story collections I DISCOVERED the author Alix Ohlin about six months ago, when I was looking into short story collections in preparation for my second year Creative Writing journal. I confess. I found her book, Signs and Wonders, after searching “short story collections” on the Book Depository website, hoping for the best. After reading the synopses of top books in the search results, I ordered this one, and packed it with everything else (as yet unread) when I came back to Exeter in September. Ohlin is a Canadian writer and teacher with Signs and Wonders being her fourth publication. It follows her debut novel The Missing Person, another short story
collection, Babylon and Other Stories, and her latest novel Inside, which was published on the same day as Signs and Wonders (2012). Her writing is touching and people-focused. Her plots are unpredictable, her characters are complex, and whilst some stories leave you questioning, they never feel un�inished.
It’s about characters who struggle to make connections, complicated people and complicated relationships My favourite story in the collection is Forks, which tells the heart-breaking story of Tom, a young doctor, who is drawn into the life of his new
girlfriend’s brother, Alan, a veteran of Afghanistan who lost his left foot when an IED exploded. Little attention is given to Alan’s life in the military, but through Tom’s removed observations Ohlin details Alan’s struggles to return to normal life and his sister’s efforts to save him from self-destruction. In spite of the gritty subject matter, Ohlin’s prose is somehow still romantic, and the power of her writing is that, as the reader, you don’t understand how heart-breaking the story is until you have �inished it and a full realisation of what happened hits you. Signs and Wonders is accessible to any reader - the stories have layers of symbolism and emotion, but they are also simply well-crafted, interesting stories to enthuse those who regret that since coming to Exeter they have had little time to read for pleasure.
There are 16 stories in this 261-page book, so they are short enough to read in those little snippets of time.
In spite of the gritty subject matter, Ohlin’s prose is still romantic Signs and Wonders is about characters who struggle to make connections, complicated people and complicated relationships, and the crazy things that people are driven to do by, and for, those they care about. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something as yet undiscovered to read this year, and Ohlin’s novel Inside is de�initely the next item on my reading wish-list.
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Carmen Paddock sets some reading ambitions for the year ahead WHILE I don’t much like New Year’s Resolutions, it’s hard not to set a couple of goals each time the calendars �lip over into January. With few (if any) exceptions, ‘read more’ has always been an aim of mine. The books on my reading list are usually classics for my own education, rereads of favourite series, or binges of new favourite authors. Every year, there are certain books on a list which I expect to have read by the time I ‘grow up.’ This year, it hit me: I am graduating in July, and the list is over�lowing. My resolution to read more is unchanged, but now there’s a new urgency as I realise time is running out. ‘Growing up’ is scarily close… 1. Classics: Bleak House, The Count of M o n t e Cristo, Chekhov’s a n d Ibsen’s plays
These are ones that have been on my list for years and years. Timeless works of literature that I feel I must read for the good of my
Rebecca Watson Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
THE issue of race is as prevalent as ever in the Western world. Unarmed black teenagers are killed by police and scaremongering politicians place all of Britain’s problems on the shoulders of immigrants. It is as important as ever to discuss the notion of racism and there is no better way to be inspired to do so than by reading Americanah. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche’s 2013 novel is super�icially a romance. It follows Nigerian teenagers Ifemelu and her sweetheart Obinze as they leave home for a new life in the post-9/11 West. Ifemelu continues to study in America, encountering depression and the still present segregation of races. Meanwhile, denied an American visa, Obinze moves to England as an illegal immigrant, without a social security number and, therefore, without an
mind, body and soul. I have always greatly enjoyed classic literature, so the reading itself will be pleasurable; �inding time to tackle the oftenarchaic language and structure may be another issue. At best, it’ll be a foray into a favourite genre, perhaps a discovery of new favourites. At worst, it’ll be a reminder of the years I failed to read these books by being yet another failure.
2. Old favourites: The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, War and Peace, Les Miserables These have not been approached for at least four years. I last ventured into Tolkien in 2011 and Rowling slightly before that, but it seems appropriate to read these childhood fantasy favourites another time before embarking on my own adventure in the adult world. I read War and Peace at 13, the same age as Natasha Rostova when the epic novel begins; now at 20, I want to read it again to see the story from Natasha’s �inishing age. I read Hugo’s masterpiece at 12 but not
identity. Yes, Adiche’s novel is, on one hand, a romantic story. But, more importantly, it is a study of race and class in the modern Western world. Adiche eloquently and emotively covers everything, from mixed race relationships and the fetishisation of other races to Barack Obama and the politics of immigration, legal or otherwise. You may recognise some of your own thoughts and behaviours in the vast cast of Adiche’s characters and this may make you uncomfortable. Good - keep reading. Race is not always a comfortable topic to discuss or read about, but then it is not ‘comfortable’ to be on the receiving end of racism. Having said that, Adiche’s book is brilliantly written and a thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating read. The cliche of a ‘page turner’ is shockingly overused in book reviews, but, believe me, it is entirely applicable here.
since seeing the musical and �ilm (several times each), so I �igured it’s time to plunge back into 19th Century France. At best, this will be a beautiful foray into the litera-
ture I love best, those stories which have stolen my heart for years and years. At worst, there’s no way in hell I’m completing 7,000+ pages in a year, let alone six months. 3. 20th century philosophical works: A Room of One’s Own, The Feminine Mystique, and Ayn Rand After two and a half years of heated classroom discussions of feminism and cultural materialism (humanities degrees are strange beasts) and countless nights in the Ram mulling over everyday sexism and the collapsing capitalist system, I think it’s time that I educate myself
Daniel Wood
The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner
THE SOUND AND THE FURY, perhaps Faulkner’s greatest work, details the collapse of a self-proud Southern family, whose sins counteract to the values and virtues of white, well-todo Mississippi in the early decades of the 20th Century. Perhaps the most interesting aspect to note about one of the strongest contentions for the ‘Great American Novel’ is the dif�iculty with which it can take to �irmly grasp it narratively. When asked by those who said they could not understand his writing, even after two or three attempts, Faulkner’s response was ‘read it four times,’ and it is true that The Sound and the Fury borders upon the unintelligible if taken only on a cursory reading. The novel is divided into four parts, each following a different ‘member’ of the family, and takes the form of a stream of consciousness so
more on the matters at hand, beyond the required Judith Butler and Raymond Williams course readings. At best, it’ll be a way to further educate myself on the issues about which I’ve argued so passionately. At worst, it’ll improve my bullshitting on the topics. 4. Non�iction: Lean In, biographies, history books, maybe the newspaper every now and again… This is another one for self improvement. At best, they will be excellent preparations for the real world and will make me a more informed, responsible citizen. At worst, it’ll look damn impressive to anyone who catches me perusing the biography of Catherine the Great or a copy of The Economist. 5. Binges: comic books Yes, you read that correctly. I’m mooching off my sister’s Marvel Unlimited account and plan to take full advantage of (read: abuse) the privilege. Over 10,000 comics in a vastly extended universe? Challenge accepted! Up next are Kieron Gillen’s Journey Into Mystery and Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Captain Marvel. I can only see the best side of this resolution Happy reading for 2015!
that the reader must experience the inner most thoughts of the Compson clan. The novel’s opening, for example, is told from the perspective of Benjy, the mentally handicapped son who can speak to his family only in whimpers, sobs and ursine like roars but to the reader illuminates the start of his family’s decline and fall. Benjy marks the Compson’s �irst shame in that they must be burdened with a disabled child, as well as the family’s greatest tragedy. The Sound and the Fury deals then primarily with the clash of old world values and the realities of the new. Of course, there is nothing new about bastard children and fraud. However, it is Faulkner’s use of the Compson children Benjy, Quentin and Jason the bitter racist, as well as Dilsey the black servant, the outsider within, that displays how this family strays from society’s values.
BOOKS
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Condensed Classics 1984 George Orwell (1949) “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters inside your skull.“
1984 charts the developing disillusionment of Winston Smith with the world in which he lives – a world characterized by incessant war, governmental surveillance and the suppression of individualism. Assigned the task of rewriting public records, Winston is a study in docile passivity. That is, however, until he meets Julia. Their ensuing love affair awakens Winston from the opiate of party lies, yet at a cost – a ruinous encounter with Room 101. Timelessly relevant, Orwell’s masterpiece is a must-read for all, not least fans of dystopia. CHRIS JAMES
Book giveaway! Exeposé teams up with local publisher Impress Books to bring you a FREE copy of The Campus Trilogy. Scandalous and funny, but with a serious side, The Campus Trilogy attacks an education system who puts money before students.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for details on how to get your copy. @ExeposeBooks @ImpressBooks1
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ARTS
ARTS
NEWS 1-7
COMMENT FEATURES LIFESTYLE 12-15 16-19 8-11
Art Faces of Conflict @ RAMM 17 January - 5 April
Comedy Sara Pascoe @ Phoenix 28 January Josie Long @ Phoenix 4 February
Laugh Out Loud Festival @ Phoenix + BikeShed 6-8 February
Radio Xpression Presents: Union Road 21 January, 5:30pm
Theatre RENT @ Phoenix 19 - 22 January Evita @ Northcott 28 -31 January Head in the Clouds @ BikeShed 2-5 February
SCREEN 24-25
BOOKS 26-27
ARTS 28-31
GAMES & TECH
34-36
SPORT 46-48
19 JANUARY 2014 |
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Sara Pascoe vs. life
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Sarah Gough, Arts Editor, talks to the stand-up comic about box sets, Derrida and geriatric sperm ahead of her gig at Exeter Phoenix this month DESCRIBED as having a “magpie curiosity,” Sara Pascoe is a rising star on the UK’s comedy circuit. With numerous appearances on Mock the Week and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, she is quickly winning over the masses with her intelligent and somewhat relentless wit. Having won me over back in 2012 with Sara Pascoe the Musical, her Edinburgh show this year Sara Pascoe vs. History was a conscious move from silliness to sperm. Exploring some of the greatest love stories ever known not the Will and Kates or the Posh and Becks but Joséphine and Napoleon, Adam ‘n’ Eve and, of course, Eva & Adolf - her show talks of sexuality and human biology. It’s feminism at its funniest. Garnering her �irst nomination for the big Edinburgh Comedy Award with this year’s Fringe, her upcoming tour, which includes a gig at Exeter Phoenix, is an extension of this seemingly magic material. I chatted to her about her present fascinations: both sperm-related and not. Keen to learn what inspires her on a daily basis, I asked the stand-up comic what her standout comedy moment was this Christmas. “Well, I’d never played Articulate before and it was very indicative of what goes on in my family’s heads. You don’t really know someone until you know how they describe certain things. Like the country Pakistan, for instance. So whilst I don’t know how I can get that into my show, it was the best thing that happened. I also got inspired to write something about how box sets have killed socialism.”
half but I was a pathological liar when I was at school – you have to �ictionalise life a bit to make it more interesting.”
If men don’t masturbate their sperm gets geriatric It seems Sara’s unbridled ingenuity is something that comes naturally,
go: ‘YOU HAD YOUR WHOLE LIFE TO PHONE PAUL , YOU DON’T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THE ENLIGHTENMENT NOW BECAUSE YOU PHONED PAUL’.” But I did work quite hard. I remember sitting in lectures on Derrida and Foucault and thinking ‘please no one ask me a question, this is too hard.’ But what’s great is ten years later someone brings them up and you know what country they came from
Ryan and Cacilda Jethá, I wondered what else inspired the writing of her newfound pathological punditry. “What I’m lucky with in my job is that it’s basically just what I’d tell someone in a pub. Like ‘Oh I just read this amazing book and it’s all about sperm.’ That’s essentially what I’m able to do with the show. I just read another book called Sperm Wars, it says that if men don’t masturbate, their sperm gets
and how to pronounce it, and actually that’s enough.”
geriatric so when they have sex with somebody they can’t fertilise an egg, all they can do is block, they get very sleepy. It’s really interesting but what I’ve found is that when you run into your kitchen to tell your boyfriend, he does NOT want to hear about it. This is why I have to do it on stage.” Sara’s style is discursive rather than autocratic, she is not telling people how to think about something,
I want to write about how box sets have killed socialism With her spontaneous erraticism spiralling our discussion into the Brechtian nature of Eastenders and the brilliance of Homeland, we came to the conclusion that she was exactly like someone from Made In Chelsea. She repeats an authored narrative and passes it off as truth: “There’s truth in �iction, there’s �iction in truth. I don’t go on stage and lie for an hour and a
yet her style of delivery screams exhumanities student. Having studied English Literature at Sussex University, I quizzed her about her student experience. “Well I had the classic regret of not working hard enough. It took me ages to learn that if you bunk off a lecture you’re the only one that loses. I was like ‘AH I didn’t go to my lecture, I had to phone Paul and now it’s two in the afternoon. And I look back and
If someone shouts ‘you’re shit,’ that is your gift Yet this time, Sara really knows her stuff. Sara Pascoe vs. History is undeniably well researched. Drawing upon the book Sex at Dawn by Christopher
EXEPOSÉ merely to think about it. “I was constantly asking myself ‘how would I make this not too heavy?’ How would I make this not feel like a lecture? It’s never ‘Hey guys I’ve worked it out and this is what everyone has to think now.’ I don’t like that in some other comics. You have to have �lexible ideas, next year I might do a show that completely contradicts this because that’s just what happens as a person, you read something else and suddenly go ‘I’m right-wing now everyone.’
You read something else and suddenly go ‘I’m right-wing now everyone’ Despite the temptation for crude jokes to dominate her show, Sara’s made a conscious decision to avoid stupidity. “If I’d have said fanny or wanker then the whole thing would become infantile. There’s one minge joke, that’s it. With new comics in particular, willy jokes will always get a response
so they’re often the �irst port of call. It is baf�ling though. You’re thinking: ‘another guy talking about masturbation: really?!’ MEN ARE RUNNING THE WORLD AND THIS IS WHAT’S GOING THROUGH THEIR HEAD.’ Yes Sara, down with that patriarchy! Analysing the division between male and female comedians is somewhat inevitable, what with the on-going controversy over male-dominated
2015 Comedy Watch ARTS
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panel shows and the general success of male comics over women. I asked Sara if she still found the industry to be sexist. “There’s a real change in tide, there are people that fought for a long time to make an industry realise it was sexist and it de�initely realised. I’ve found the most successful comics to be the most supportive of new comedians, they know what it means to say well done to you, or “keep up with it” or “good to see something different on a Saturday night”. Sarah Millican is hugely helpful to a lot of upcoming men and women. Before I did Mock the Week she sent me emails and emails of advice. You do have to feel safe to be funny, you need to feel like you can improvise or say something that’s in your head without de�initely knowing it’s a joke. The older guys all come and knock on your door and offer advice. What I’m trying to call myself up on all the time is that any kind of generalisation about gender is wrong. Anybody can do anything and thinking otherwise is only restrictive.” Misogynistic or not, however, comedy is a profession notorious for its knockbacks. I was curious as to how Sara has dealt with the haters before hitting the big time. “I’ve taken my strategy from comics like Stewart Lee or Josie Long who don’t snap back aggressively. If someone shouts: ‘you’re shit’, that is your gift, if you can make that into a funny thing then you can win everyone back. You have to talk about it in a relaxed way. But on the other hand if it’s going really well and someone shouts out ‘fuck off’ then it’s great because life’s a democracy and they’re in the minority. The beauty of comedy rather than theatre is that it’s so un-bourgeoisie. You don’t have to stay if you’re not enjoying it, people can voice disapproval and I love that in comedy. You’re never going to please everyone and that’s �ine. I try to talk about ideas that are interesting before they’re funny, people really respond to that, it doesn’t matter if you’re not getting the loudest laugh in the room, there are different levels of enjoyment and people might go home thinking ‘wasn’t that fascinating what that person talked about’ rather than ‘that person had 10 jokes…all about a willy.” So apart from not writing willy jokes and visiting Exeter, I asked Sara about her other goals for 2015, both realistic and unrealistic. As well as touring Sara Pascoe vs. History, she is writing a book on sexuality and the human body: “more about sperm basically”. As for the failed New Year’s Resolution, she has made a bleak attempt at Dry January: “I got to January 2nd – I did dry January 1st, that’s not a thing.” Sara Pascoe is at Exeter Phoenix on 28 January. A night that guarantees to be hilariously spermy. A sentence I never thought I’d write.
29
Jeremy Brown separates the divas from the drivel and gives us his predictions for this year’s stand-up scene
Josh Widdicombe
- BEST JOKE “I’ve been single for so long now, when somebody says to me, ‘Who are you with?’, I automatically say: ‘Vodafone.’”
Local talent gone far
- BEST JOKE “People say it is better to have loved and lost than never loved at all. But that is not how losing things works. When you lose your phone your first reaction isn’t “at least I had a phone, it’s better to have had a phone and lost a phone than never to have phoned at all.” Although Widdicombe has already been on hundreds of TV panel shows in the past few years, I think his best is still to come, and with a new sitcom Josh being released this year, 2015 could be his time to shine. He’s a Devon-born comedian whose critical, high-pitched tone is instantly recognisable. His audience interaction is particularly impressive and he does a hilarious ‘jam’ sketch.
Aisling Bea Top craic
Irish hometown, Bea offers a refreshing outlook on modern culture – above all the importance of well-selected club music (so she’s presumably a fan of Cheesies). She clearly has the gift of the gab, and is �inally being noticed by panel shows this year.
Marcel Lucont
A certain je ne sais quoi - BEST JOKE I never understand how you treat royalty in this country. We decapitated ours. You make yours stand out in the rain for several hours and make them watch Cheryl Cole. That’s more cruel than anything.
Miranda Hart
Going downhill? Lucont is an excellent French stand-up, offering a new look on our crazy British customs, in a characteristically arrogant way (and often with a glass of wine in hand). He’s quick and hilarious, proven by his great response to one heckler: “A good audience is like good cuisine. It only takes one dick in it to ruin it.”
Michael McIntyre Magic Mike
Having disappeared from the UK comedy circuit recently, McIntyre is back with a vengeance this year. And I think that’s a shame. Yes, he’s funny, but I somehow think it’s too easy for him now – just pick a household object and point out how stupid it is. His Americanstyle c h a t show has also divided opinion, but with a new series for 2015 it’s time to see whether he’ll sink or swim.
After the conclusion of her longrunning show Miranda on New Year’s Day this year, surely the BBC’s love affair with Miranda Hart will �inally end in 2015? Perhaps it was just me, but I thought the jokes and tropes in her sitcom were repeated far too many times – so much so I struggled to cope with even �ive minutes of the Christmas, “what I call,” special. Sorry, Miranda, but I don’t think you’ve got what it takes.
Dapper Laughs Awful banter
Ugh. I thought he’d gone. Although I generally believe controversial performers should still be allowed to entertain, rape jokes in particular are unforgivable, and I wish our society didn’t �ind this idiot so funny. His recent video suggests a comeback, but hopefully his novelty will have worn off.
- BEST JOKE Not Applicable (for reasons of blatant misogyny and general douchebagness) Whatever your tastes, I wish you the best of luck in your search for top quality stand-up this year. Although 2015 will probably be dominated by the likes of David Cameron and Ed Miliband, �ingers crossed you can �ind the time for David Mitchell and Ed Byrne too. Seeing any comedians on tour in 2015? Write us a review and send it to arts@exepose.com!
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31
Artistic Licence In the spirit of #NewYearNewYou, this issue we asked: WHAT IS YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION? Callum McLean Deputy Editor
Squiffy Cabaret No Filter BikeShed Theatre
IN their new performance No Filter, recent Exeter graduates Squiffy Cabaret set to deconstruct contemporary young-womanhood with songs about blowjobs, ‘girl code’ and pooing. Winners of the coveted 2014/15 Bike Shed Theatre Graduate Company Residency, Anya Williams and Magda Cassidy have already carved out a unique blend of musical comedy and multi-role theatre that falls somewhere between Bananarama and your leery cousin’s list of Tinder matches. Equal parts in-your-face smut and precision irony, their scattered cabaret performances at Firehouse and the Bike Shed have already showcased a side-splitting catalogue of
�ilthy comedy numbers. Taken at face value, they paint a parodic portrait of the Instagram-gen young woman: self(ie)-conscious, Arena-savvy and prepared to exchange sex for emotional (and �inancial) security. But together with their sketch-work and stage rapport, the pair have an eerie knack for making you question the irony of it all. Their character-comedy �lits from caricature to genuinely thought-provoking moments of confusion surrounding female sexuality. One minute they’ll have you cackling at the vacant clichés of expertly-played, pofaced wags. The next, wondering in genuinely dicey terms whether or not they should be using their bodies to get what they want. The cheap laughs get mixed up with the philosophising and you’re not really sure what’s funny any more. The best part though, is that you don’t have to get the irony to enjoy the �inished product. Anya and Mag-
da perform every step with so much warmth and genuine talent (they’re both outrageously good singers), that this is neither a total farce nor an intellectual exercise. At the end of the day, whether or not the tragicomic nuance of ‘I’ll Still Let You Jizz On My Face’ immediately gets you thinking about the merits of sex-positivist feminism, it’ll still be ringing in your ears two days later because it’s got a bloody good tune. And also you will most likely get the jizz-- I mean jist.
‘I’ll Still Let You Jizz On My Face’ immediately gets you thinking about the merits of sex-positivist feminism In that unsettlingly performative way, you get the feeling that the desperate, sad women they so vividly portray - singing into their hair-
brushes and examining their bikini lines - are not so different from you, because they’re not all that different from Anya and Magda. Overall, Squiffy Cabaret toe a delicate line between sympathy and parody that mines the comic potential of the sel�ie-matic new woman without condemning her for her insecurities. Their output so far has demonstrated a super-accessible, intelligent mixture of the beyond-the-pale musical comedy of Tim Minchin, the grotesqueglam humour of Ab Fab and a darkly canny social media sensibility. So if ‘No Filter’ is even half as good as its forerunners, then you can expect not only a thoughtful exercise on modern sexuality, but a comic, melodic romp for all the family - except, don’t bring your nan because she might not like the one about dildos. No Filter plays on 21, 23 and 29 January, 7pm at the BikeShed Theatre, together with ‘Open Couple’.
EXEHIBITION Every issue we feature the best of student art on campus. This time Graham Eveleigh and Sophie Knight give Exeposé Arts the low down on the grand re-launch of Xpression THE NEW year is here and as everyone strives to achieve resolutions bigger and better than before, Xpression Presents is no different! We are being more ambitious this year, presenting new dramas, new writers and new actors to liven up your Wednesday evening. Most weeks there are not one but two dramas… and here is a sneaky preview! Launching this year, The Platform is a new story-of-the-week series, with each story set in a train station. A variety of different writers will bring you euphoric hellos, sad goodbyes, loves and losses. The �irst episode, starring Olly Roy, Aidan Cheng and Ryan O’Grady, is available on Mixcloud. This term will be a big one for comedy. A highlight will be sitcom Mayor – it will be both a live event for a studio audience and then broadcast
Arts in the news
later. Ben Kaye’s wonderfully witty story follows a small-town mayor with big-town thinking. And this year we’re bringing you even more variety! In contrast to the comedy, new writer James Cunningham has penned a three-part series, My Land, My Home, set in war-torn 1930s Czechoslovakia. Then there will be an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s humorous society play, An Ideal Husband, and to round off the year: jury drama Eleven Angry Men. And �inally, there is soap opera Union Road – hurtling towards a massive climax! This year is a jumping on-point for new listeners, with the Lazenby family and the Miller family declaring war on each other! But the question on everyone’s lips is: who is Mr Mountjoy? There’s broad comedy, like a very unusual date, and there are
Labour accused of pledging £83 million of arts funding cuts
“My New Year’s Resolution is to laugh in the face of the new calorie counts on Guild menus.” CARMEN PADDOCK
BEYONCÉ GOUGH
“I’m going to stop living every day like I’m Beyoncé. It annoys people.” SARAH GOUGH
“Call everything “bae” - apparently it’s the new “fetch.” SOPHIE HARRISON
“To keep a better eye on my porridge when it’s in the microwave. We had too many explosions last term.” HANNAH BUTLER
“To improve my speling..” AIMEE KNIGHT EMILY SWIFT
“To shake off the players and the haters.” EMILY LEAHY
“To swim with dolphins.” RORY MORGAN dramatic set-pieces, like a wedding that goes awry… Any type of story can be a Union Road story!
sion FM: 87.7FM, www.xpression.fm. You can also check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! As ever you can catch up with previous gems on our Mixcloud pages: search for Union Road Of�icial and Xpression Presents.
Arts called on by John Ashon to boost the nation’s health as NHS struggles
Introvert artist Chris Shaw finds fame on Facebook after photo goes viral
Remember, Xpression Presents airs every Wednesday, 5-6pm, on Xpres-
“To acquire a selfie stick without buying it myself.” GEMMA JOYCE
Asterix creator Albert Uduzo joins ‘Je Suis Charlie’ campaign with cartoon
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34
NEWS 1-7
GAMES & TECH
COMMENT FEATURES LIFESTYLE 12-15 16-19 8-11
MUSIC 20-23
SCREEN 24-25
BOOKS 26-27
ARTS 28-31
GAMES & TECH
34-36
GAMES & TECH
19 JANUARY 2015 |
SPORT 46-48
EXEPOSÉ
GAMES & TECH EDITORS
Josh Creek & Adam Smith games@exepose.com
DDOS: Distributed Denial of Santa FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ExeposeGames
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After the Christmas DDOS attacks, is a Mega solution even enough? Alex Davies
IN 2014 we learnt the true fragility of online information. The internet was once again put in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons: the iCloud hacks that saw revealing pictures of certain actresses, singers and public �igures released to the web and North Korea’s attempted suppression of The Interview via cyber-attacks on Sony. So it was almost �itting that the year closed out with another hacking scandal. Almost.
Lizard Squad claimed the attack was to promote Internet security
the PSN and Xbox Live services over the Christmas period were performed by a group calling themselves Lizard Squad, who rather pompously and erroneously claimed that the attack was to promote internet security. However, a DDOS attack does not test security, but instead blocks access to a server. A good analogy would be testing the security of your house’s plumbing by clogging your toilet. The toilet now does not work, but that has nothing to do with the plumbing system. Lizard Squad chose to attack on Christmas because Sony and Microsoft’s servers were already strained because of the increase of new users,
which exacerbated the issue.
There’s no risk of data transfer or password access from DDOS attacks
Worse still, the attacks were only stopped when a private individual, Mr Kim Dotcom (right), the owner of Mega and founder of Megaupload, offered them gift vouchers for his network in exchange for a cease�ire. As a result, gamers were �inally able to play the
online portions of their brand new video games, and the people rejoiced... Or not. Because what happened was that a private individual was forced to buy off a group of criminals in order to stop
an unjusti�ied attack. Moreover, the idea that this attack was some kind of consumer justice is delusional at best, and dangerous at worst. Lizard Squad fuels their ego by hundreds of crying children . The problem only ended when someone paid them off, which hardly discourages this behaviour from continuing, or indeed, getting to the point where people’s data is at risk. Mr. Dotcom’s intentions were probably noble, but he may have just funded cyber terrorism. This could see a rise in malware (which is how unassuming consumers have their computers contribute to DDOS attacks) and more assaults on vital services. By negotiating with terroists, consumers could be the ones burned.
All Hudled up in the January cold The DDOS attacks on servers for
Josh Creek, G&T Editor, reviews what could be the perfect student tablet Hudl 2 Tesco - £129 www.tesco.com
At only £129 the Hudl 2 is cheaper than most laptops and netbooks, with a fast quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. It features 16GB of storage and a microSD card slot to add up to another 32GB of space meaning you’ve got plenty of space for storing music, videos and photos - and maybe even some files for your degree.
This low-cost tablet sports an astonishingly sharp Full HD 8.3in screen with excellent definition and deep contrast. At 273ppi it is more ‘retina’ than the iPad Air 2 - not bad for a device available for around a third of the price. It’s great for watching films on, reading long scanned documents or pairing with a bluetooth keyboard and writing essays on.
While a little heavier than some similarly sized tablets at 410g, the Hudl 2 is very portable and at only 9mm thick fits well in the hand. It comes with Android 4.4.2 KitKat installed (hopefully with Lollipop coming soon) and features a largely unmodified user experience. Tesco has installed the usual bloatware and a custom launcher but it’s incredibly easy to disable the Tesco-specific apps and replace their launcher with another from the Google Play Store (my personal recommendation is Nova Launcher - fast and simple).
The Hudl 2 features Dolby speakers on the back, which are remarkably powerful, although obviously they are going to be facing away from you if you’re watching something on the screen. Unlike most tablets it comes with an HDMI-out port so you can hook it up to a big TV or monitor. It has a 5-megapixel camera and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera that is rather poor.
For simple note-taking the Hudl 2 can usually manage a full day on a single charge although obviously it won’t last as long when playing videos or games. This tablet is fantastic value for money in terms of specs, and due to its form factor and the apps available for Android it could even be used as your only computing device at university (although if you’re going to be taking notes in lectures or writing essays on it then you’ll want a bluetooth keyboard).
We’re so Raven about Cory Baxter
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35
Chris Filsell gets to the Core-y of Metacritic’s best DS game of all time Cory In The House Disney Interactive Studios Nintendo DS Out now
REVIEWING Cory in the House was a daunting task. The game currently has a 9.4 on Metacritic, making it the best DS game of all time. I felt inadequately prepared to explore its deep riches without familiarising myself with the TV show it was based upon, so for one solid week, I lived Cory in the House. I watched and rewatched all 34 episodes until I felt as if Cory and I were the same. I laughed when Cory taught the president how to cope with a blocked nose. I felt uplifted when Sophie learnt how to ride a bike, the removal of her training wheels symbolising one small step towards total independence. When Cory �inally got the girl, I cried, not just for Cory, but for myself; I �inally saw what the series
had been building towards, and loved every moment of it. At the end of the week, it was time to put my newly purchased box set aside and �inally pick up my Nintendo DS. I pressed my stylus upon the loveable face of Cory Baxter. But before me, stood a blocky and anonymous child, his hand pressed against his rib-cage in an awkward fashion. “Surely, this can’t be Cory,” I thought. Sadly, it was. I decided to press onto the game’s story mode, the hope being that this early setback would be a single kink in the otherwise perfectly constructed Cory chain. Again, I was wrong.
One puzzle challenged me to correctly identify the colour green After wading through almost 10 minutes worth of dialogue, my headphones were �illed with the horrendous sound of an 8-Bit hip-hop remix of a John Philip Sousa march. I turned the sound off and attempted to move.
Cory �lailed his legs randomly as he appeared to �loat across the map. This was the beginning of a four hour ordeal consisting of wonky camera angles, numerous glitches and a sadistic undertone as I was forced to walk in and out of the same sparsely decorated rooms, my sense of self-worth de�lating like a porter at the Overlook Hotel. As the game progressed, things got worse. Enemies forgot about me the moment I walked off screen, an easy task as I was faster than all of the game’s characters. An early challenge set by my father asked me to ‘�ind’ an item of food that had gone missing in the fridge. To solve this puzzle, I walked two paces forward, tapped a fridge in front of me and the door
opened. Puzzle solved. One puzzle challenged me to correctly identify the colour green. The puzzles suffer from a distinct lack of imagination. The Cory drumming game, for example, is just a broken clone of iNiS’ Elite Beat Agents. As if this wasn’t enough, certain characters openly told me how to cheat, allowing me to j u s t bypass the challenges if they proved too dif�icult.
I feel as if I’ve been stabbed in the heart, spat on and mugged The game also makes the mistake of placing all its funniest one liners in its �irst act – “I’m not heavy enough to step on it… But maybe you are!” being a particular highlight. As a dedicated fan, I feel as if I’ve been stabbed in the heart, spat on and mugged all at the same time. Yet, my infatuation with Cory and his antics lasted but a week. Pity to those who spent their lives admiring his sweet, pixie-ish face, only to be let down by this abysmal, morally bankrupt excuse for a Nintendo DS game. In Danté’s Inferno, it is said that the �inal circle of hell �inds Brutus, Cassius and Judas – three of history’s most despicable traitors – eternally ripped apart by Satan’s fangs. Were Dante alive today, he’d probably reserve such a treatment for the developers of Cory in the House.
The ISS has a spanner in the works
3D printing doesn’t screw around - Jack England hammers out some potential prints
RECENTLY, NASA sent a spanner to the International Space Station, but no rockets or spaceships were involved. A digital blueprint of the spanner was e-mailed to the station, and then they simply printed it off! You can buy a 3D printer for about £300, so if you had one, what would you make with it?
10
Pens I hardly ever use pens, because my laptop is just as good for writing essays or taking notes, but as soon as exam season comes around it’s a mad dash to try and �ind a pen that works. Then as soon as exam season is over, they just disappear into the Aether. This wouldn’t be a problem with a 3D printer though! Just set it to build you a couple of pens overnight before the exam, and you’re all prepared to ace that test!
9
Cups So you’re having a cheeky party m i d - we e k and more a n d m o r e people are turn-
ing up at your door. You can’t leave you’re a good host - but you’re running low on wine glasses. A 3D printer can build 100 cups and soon enough everyone will have a ‘wine glass’ of their own – they could even take it home! Who cares, you can just make more!
8
Furniture Maybe you’re a fresher who wants to start �itting out their accommodation, or you’re a third year who just wants a change from the usual living room look – the 3D printer has got your back, just download the blueprint for any style of chair, table, cupboard, wardrobe, bed and it’ll be yours! You could change the style for each month of the year if you wanted!
7
Instruments It’s possible to print your own instruments in your own home. A basic keyboard will set you back £100, which may seem like a cheaper option, but once you’ve printed �ive of them (for your all-keyboard band of course), you’ve actually saved money! You don’t even have to go outside and carry it home either!
6
Prosthetics In the US, a prosthetic hand can cost up to $20,000 and then, if you’re still growing, that’s $20,000 each time it needs replacing. However, one man from Massachusetts found a way round this. He bought himself a 3D printer and prints his son’s prosthetics himself. The cost of the plastic is minimal and it means his son can have the childhood he deserves. If that doesn’t make you want a 3D printer, I don’t know what will.
5
Phone cases We all have that one friend who has a different phone case every single time you see them. We’ve also all seen those shady looking guys in their vans selling phone cases. Why not print your own phone cases and sell them to your
friends yourself? Before you know it, you’ll have made back the money you spent on the 3D printer and you’ll have a booming business for your CV.
4
LEGO I still love playing with LEGO once in a while and as a child at heart like me, know how expensive it is. However, with a 3D printer, I can print my own LEGO and build whatever my heart desires.
3
Shoes Designer high heels, the pinnacle of womanly class. But unfortunately, high heels break. A lot. Instead of heading out into town to search for a new pair of shoes, you
can just look online, �ind the perfect pair, and print them off for less than a �iver.
2
A Castle It sounds a bit strange right? But one man from Minnesota has built one (using a 3D printer that prints concrete not plastic). Soon enough, the whole construction industry will be using 3D printers to build houses, but why not get in there before the crowd? Find a small plot of land and print your own house. I’m not saying that it’ll survive the night, but with £30,000+ in university debts on your shoulders, why not add to it?
1
Another 3D Printer If you found a genie in a bottle, what would be your �irst wish? More wishes, right? Well, a 3D printer is as close to a genie as possible, so why not make more? I don’t know what you would do with multiple 3D printers, but I’m sure you can �ind something to do. Build nine and you can have everything on this list. The potential is limitless.
Net(flix) to catch proxy pirates
36
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EXEPOSÉ
Sur�ing the briny internet with nets unfurled to prevent bypassing restrictions However, Net�lix has apparently begun implementing stricter restrictions on users attempting to bypass region restrictions and many users of VPNs can no longer use the service through their VPN. The idea behind this is that only people in the UK will be able to watch shows that are supposed to be exclusive to the UK. The reasons behind this usually aren’t very complicated: when a TV show is made, it’s often only licensed to be aired in a certain country, which is why we don’t get Finnish TV, for example. Wider-reaching licenses cost more money, and shows in Finnish don’t tend to be too popular outside of Finland, so TV producers generally don’t bother with multi-national licenses unless the show is something big, for example The Big Bang Theory. As such, this seems like a commonsense move from Net�lix. But there’s a wrinkle. The other thing about VPNs is that they have a habit of making their users anonymous and an internet user
who is anonymous is an internet user who can easily pirate TV shows, if so disposed. This begs the question: if paying Net�lix users suddenly have a service denied to them and have no legal way to get it, are they just going to say ‘Oh well, can’t win ‘em all?’ Or are they going to put that £60+ they spend on a VPN to use and ‘acquire’ these TV shows by illegal means and, furthermore, save money by cancelling their now more-or-less useless Net�lix subscription? We’re not going to need Sherlock for this one – the folks at Net�lix, despite fairly innocent intentions, appear to have shot themselves in the foot. Editor’s Note: Net�lix have since said that there have been “no changes to [their] VPN policies,” but it is rumoured that Net�lix may be testing these new IP blocking methods temporarily in certain markets, according to TorGuard’s Ben Van der Pelt.
Puzzle Corner
Answers:
Across: 1 Pot, 3 Queen, 6 Cos, 8 Wonga, 9 Concept, 10 Bishop, 11 Poker, 13 Castle, 15 Knight, 18 Chess, 20 Ask for, 23 Episode, 24 Ninja, 25 Mat, 26 Truss, 27 Pie.
VIDEO streaming service Net�lix has reportedly stepped up its measures preventing users from using VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) to access its service. VPNs were a popular way to access Net�lix for users, giving viewers access to content not usually available in their own country. For example, a British user could watch programmes only available in the United States by using a VPN based in the
US. Net�lix would then think “Lo! An American has sent a request for an American TV show!” and send the video of that show to the VPN, who would then send it to the British user. A VPN is a service that acts as an intermediary between your computer and the Internet and is usually based somewhere else in the world. This extra layer of encryption is useful when using public WiFi, which often offers no encryption, or using search engines without having your information tracked.
Down: 1 Pawn, 2 Tonsils, 3 Quash, 4 Escape, 5 Ninepin, 6 Check, 7 Saturate, 12 Ice cream, 14 Lash out, 16 Grownup, 17 Gateau, 19 Evict, 21 Kings, 22 Mate.
Joshua Rotchelle
Sudoku #7 and Crossword #70 by Alfred
Request is sent to VPN
Request sent through another country
Across:
Down:
1) Container for kitchen utensils (3) 3) Female monarch (5) 6) Type of lettuce (3) 8) Money (slang) (5) 9) Idea (7) 10) Senior priest (6) 11) Card game (that stokes �ire?) (5) 13)Forti�ied house (6) 15) Cavalry soldier - sir? (6) 18) Board game featuring 3s, 10s and 21 (5) 20) Demand (3,3) 23) Part of a TV series (7) 24) Japanese martial artist (5) 25) Floor covering (3) 26) Bandage for a hernia - support for a roof (5) 27) Pastry dish (3)
1) Puppet (in 18?) (4) 2) Glands in your mouth - on lists (anagram) (7) 3) Crush - annul (5) 4) Get away (6) 5) Skittle (7) 6) Examine - restraint (5) 7) Soak - rut at sea (anagram) (8) 12) Cold dairy product eaten in the summer (3,5) 14) Attack wildly (4,3) 16) Adult (7) 17) Rich cream cake (6) 19) Throw out (of a house) (5) 21) Cambridge college - male monarchs (5) 22) Friend - with 6 Down, the last word in 18? (4)
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Ched Evans: Exeposé speaks 46
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Following Oldham Athletic’s decision to pull out of signing convicted rapist Ched Evans, Exeposé Sport and friends discuss whether the former Shef�ield United striker deserves a second chance and a return to professional football
James Beeson Sport Editor
THE way I understand the events that transpired which led to Ched Evans being sentenced to �ive years in prison for the rape of a 19 year-old woman is thus: Evans freely admits to having watched his friend have sex with a woman in a hotel room, and then having sex with her himself, despite being fully aware of her intoxicated state at the time. Evans then ‘escaped’ the hotel via a �ire escape the following morning.
He has failed to show an ounce of remorse for what he has done To me, and to the law as well, this makes Evans guilty of rape. However, in the eyes of Evans, and his supporters, it does not. Fine, but until Evans �inishes his full sentence (and no, two and a half years of a �ive year sentence is not a sentence completed), or has his conviction overturned, he remains a convicted rapist, and cannot be allowed to return to the game. My major problem with Ched Evans returning to football is simple: he has failed to show an ounce of remorse for what he has done. Regardless of whether Evans thinks he is
Will Brookes Head of Sport, XpressionFM
CRIME, punishment and rehabilitation. Legally, Ched Evans has been through the �irst two stages and is entitled to the third. Whether a club should offer him that chance, however, is morally questionable. Football is to some extent amoral. Evans will �ind another club should he choose to continue his footballing career. At some level a club will think it worth the backlash for the potential bene�it of having him score goals. Footballers returning to the game following a jail sentence is not new. Plymouth goalkeeper Luke McCormick spent four years in prison for causing death by dangerous driving in 2008 and successfully found a club upon release. This rehabilitation does come at a cost. In last year’s Devon Derby I stood with 4,000 fans who chanted ‘murderer’
guilty or not, before he is allowed to be rehabilitated and resume a normal life, he must apologise for his actions. And I’m talking about an sincere and genuine apology to his victim, not the embarrassment of an apology to his girlfriend that appeared on The Daily Mail, or the ambiguous expression of regret “for the effects that night in Rhyl has had on many people” in The Guardian. Evans must say sorry, �irstly for his actions, and secondly for the actions of his supporters, who made the life of his victim so unbearable that she had to relocate and change her identity �ive times. He must stop protesting innocence and accept what he has done. Only then can he be reintegrated into society. As things stand, the former Shef�ield United striker has shown no grasp of the meaning of the term ‘consent’, or the severity of his actions, and hence is a long way from any kind of rehabilitation, and even further from deserving a second chance in the game.
Sophy Coombes-Roberts Sport Editor
IT is an understatement to say I was appalled when Oldham announced their signing of convicted rapist Ched Evans was 80 per cent con�irmed. Despite the 160,000 person strong campaign against his hiring, realistically it was only after a surge of death threats that the club �inally put the matter to bed. Although Evans still remains jobless, the problem lies in the fact that both Oldham and Shef�ield seemed initially happy to sign him before their sponsors and the public pressured them out of it. Ched Evans is a convicted rapist; he sexually assaulted an almost unconscious woman and ruined her life. Admittedly, the law states that after serving jail time he is allowed to return to whatever job he wishes. However, if he was a lawyer, physio, medic, academic or businessman,
Freddie Turner Online Sport Editor
at the keeper everytime he touched the ball. A chilling moment.
If Evans is to return then he will have to be mentally strong, with not a game going by where he is not reminded of the horrendous act which he committed. I do think both pro and anti Evans groups have taken mob rule too far. Death threats to Oldham staff are appalling but so is the victim-blaming for his crime that his supporters have undertaken. Would I want Evans at my club? No, and I support any fan’s right to protest against his potentially signing for their team. If a club does choose to
take him on, then -should he show contrition and remorse for his crime- he should be given the chance to rehabilitate and will hopefully help others avoid making his mistakes in the future.
THE crime that Ched Evans has been found guilty of committing cannot be defended. It was a deplorable act and he was given a �itting punishment. However, having served the custodial part of his sentence the parole board has seen �it that he sees out the remaining two and a half years under licence in the community, albeit being a registered sex offender inde�initely. The major premise of the argument against his return, is that his job as a footballer propels him into the limelight and he may be considered a role model. However, I see no reason why all or any footballers have to be considered role models, away from their on �ield exploits. I personally do not consider footballers to be role models. Indeed, if they are now considered our moral compass then it does not bode well for the future of our society. Aside from this, there is no other reason why it is dangerous for Evans to return
there is no chance he would be reinstated back into his old job – so why does football think it is above everyone else?
Evans gave up his right to work as a carefree footballer on £20,000 a week when he raped a 19 year-old woman The average convicted rapist �inds work in manual labour, retail or administration often on minimum wage. Were Evans to return to football, it is not unreasonable to assume he would earn over £10,000 per week and pick up life where he left off. His return to football would send out the message to young football fans that rape and crime is permissible, as you will get a second chance. I am not saying he should never be allowed to do anything again. Of course he should integrate back into society and contribute, but he gave up his right to work as a carefree footballer on £20,000 a week, when he raped a 19 year-old woman.
to football, a male dominated sport with limited direct access to the public. Yes, a convicted thief cannot be a bank clerk, nor a paedophile a teacher, but this is not the case here.
If footballers are now considered our moral compass then it does not bode well for the future of our society Some have said he ought to stack shelves or undertake low paid factory work but why should his criminal record affect his pay level? If we support the rehabilitation and reintegration of criminals, then is it not hypocritical to reduce them to only the lowest paid jobs? What is for certain is that the longer the argument persists, the more attention this case will garner. This cannot be positive, with people rushing to Ched Evans’s defence and belittling his crime. His return to the third/fourth tier of English football will not thrust him to the forefront of sporting news and all the negative publicity will hopefully subside.
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47
Captain’s Corner We caught up with EULC Men’s 1s Co-Captain Mike Barcley before the second half of the season begins HAVE the EULC Men’s 1s had a successful �irst half of the season? We got off to a really strong start to the season, winning our �irst seven games and moving to the top of the table. Unfortunately, we were unable to come away with three points in the return �ixture at Oxford, and that loss combined with an administrative penalty of one point has left us sitting in second place.
What has been the highlight of the season so far? The highlight of the season, for me, has to be beating Oxford at home in
a top of the table clash. We knew that they were our main title rivals having picked up some high quality players out of London clubs and the States. To take three points away from an incredibly close home �ixture whilst being cheered on by our supporters was an amazing feeling.
whenever needed. From an offensive point of view, Ciaran ‘Riggins’ Brown is a guy who can really turn it on and come up with big individual goals to get the team �iring.
Who are the players to look out for in your upcoming games? Californian defenseman Christopher Adams (a.k.a ‘Crow’) is a big part of what has given us such a tight defense this season and can always be relied upon to put in some big hits
What are you training for at the moment? Well we have two league games left, �inishing with Bristol away which is a �ixture I look forward to every season with the rivalry making sure it’s always a �iery contest, and there’s nothing sweeter than beating your �iercest rivals in their own back yard! Then we will focus on the play-offs
be more than apt for this challenge. In such conditions, the set-piece was also going to be a key battleground. Exeter gave an early hint that they were ready in this department as well, forcing the Cardiff eight to concede a penalty in the �irst scrum. Wicks found the corner, but a wayward line-out meant that this came to nothing. Nevertheless, the scrummaging power and technique of Exeter’s pack became apparent, as they turned over Cardiff’s subsequent scrum. This led to another penalty being awarded to the home side, which was this time converted, with full-back Ted Landray slotting over the three points. Up until now in the game, Exeter had dominated their opponents, but Cardiff began to edge their way into the game. A good move from the visitors led to a break for their winger, who was only brought down just short of Exeter’s line. Sadly, the good
work done by Exeter was undone by a schoolboy error; an off-side at the 22-metre drop-out, giving away a penalty in front of the posts, which was duly taken, levelling the scores. Nevertheless, the ball-handling of �ly-half Wicks was continuing to prove dif�icult for Cardiff. His clever of�loads, dummies and switches led to Cardiff conceding another penalty deep in their 22, which gave the home team the lead again. This was built upon further, as some good phases of Exeter play allowed captain Matt Blandford to crash his way through to the tryline. The score was subsequently converted, giving Exeter a suddenly convincing 13-3 lead going into half-time. The second half was all about which team could handle the increasingly worsening weather conditions better. Thankfully, Exeter put in an even stronger performance than their �irst-half efforts. They began with
and against some of the lacrosse powerhouse universities from the North.
What is your favourite part of the sport and EULC? I love the chemistry we have within the team, we all get along both on and off the �ield so team socials are always a good laugh. The club itself has such a great mix of people, there’s genuinely something for everyone, and I think that really makes Wednesday night the best night of the week!
until a few hours before the game, when I tend to stick on some Rise Against and get myself pumped up for face-off. Immediately before we head out to the pitches, I tend to sit down in the changing rooms and focus on what I need to do to help get the win. What are your aspirations for after university? My dream of male modelling seems to be falling a bit �lat, so right now I am just hoping that I can somehow stumble into a grad job before I’m forced to take out more loans and do another masters!
Rugby Fresh 1s conquer Cardiff M��’� R����
Ben Pullan Sports Team
EURFC 3s Cardiff
30 8
EURFC 3s battled hard in dire weather conditions to consolidate their lead at the top of the Western 1A BUCS table with a superb 30-8 victory over Cardiff 2s at ‘Fortress Topsham’ last Wednesday. The kick-off began with Exeter receiving in bitterly cold conditions. The drop-kick was taken well by blindside Tom Lawday, who hinted at the dominant performance to come by breaking through several tackles on a bulldozing run. With a gale-force wind blowing, �ly-half Charlie Wicks was going to have a crucial role in dictating play. The early moments of the game showed his decision-making skills to
Do you have any pre-game rituals? I like to have a relaxing morning up
aplomb, with the backs again showing �lair and creativity to break the Cardiff line consistently. It was from one of these breaks that a clever switch out wide gave outside-centre Ned Warne a neat �inish on the left. Despite the conversion being missed, Exeter had extended their lead to 18-3 and were looking formidable.
Exeter should be immensely proud of their ruthless second half display Skipper Blandford was continuing to provide a threat to Cardiff in the loose, his work at the base of the scrum allowing the Exeter backs to put together another lovely move, which Photo: Jay Stone was only ended by a rare mistake from
Wicks. The captain also created the home team’s next try. His barnstorming run leading to the back-play that induced an Exeter scrum on their opponents’ �ive-metre line. The scrum was driven over the try-line by the Exeter pack, allowing Blandford the easiest of touch-downs from the base. At 23-3, with only 15 minutes left on the clock, this was effectively game over. Exeter were not �inished yet, however, as a brilliant �inish from full-back Landray capped off a good game for him. Though they did concede a lastminute consolation try from the rapid Cardiff winger, Exeter should be immensely proud of their ruthless second-half display. The performance was notable for Exeter’s dominance in all facets of the game. Cardiff were a dangerous team, but they were absolutely outclassed by this brilliant Exeter out�it.
48
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COMMENT FEATURES LIFESTYLE 16-19 12-15 8-11
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34-36
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19 JANUARY 2015 |
EXEPOSÉ
SPORT EDITORS
James Beeson & Sophy Coombes-Roberts sport@exepose.com
EURFC 2s penalty pips Pontypridd FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ExeposeSport
M��’� R���� Emmott Leigh Sports Team EURFC 2s USW Pontypridd 1s
23 22
THE Exeter Rugby 2s survived an early barrage from the University of South Wales 1s, rallying to a wet 23-22 thriller as full-back Gavin Parker amassed 18 points. The Green Machine set out to pressure Pontypridd right from the starting whistle, but their attempts were extinguished with �ireman-like ef�iciency when their winger crossed over after some EURFC early slip-ups. Although the try was not converted, Pontypridd’s attack followed up their try by securing a successful penalty. This early lead of 0-8 put the mockers on Exeter’s plans to take the game by storm. However, Exeter gradually eased their way back into the match, helped by the strong breaks created by inside centre George Kimmins and loosehead prop Guy Sullivan. A yellow card was dished out early, but Exeter managed to get themselves on the scoresheet via the boot of full-back Gavin Parker. This was the start of an excellent display of rugby by Parker who shortly after brought the scores level with a ferocious break through the Welsh side’s defensive line. A couple of phases later, the ball was nestling on the grass beyond the try line. The successful conversion put Exeter ahead for the �irst time. Between the penalty and the try, the competition for possession was �ierce, with both teams frequently turning over at the breakdown or tossing loose passes which were promptly snapped up. Exeter nearly succumbed towards the end of the half after one of these errors, as the ball was thrown wildly off the back of the ruck and Pon-
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typridd crashed towards the Greens’ line. Nevertheless, it was the home side that came closest to increasing their lead after they were awarded a penalty in the last kick of the half, but Parker �lailed momentarily as he failed to increase their lead. Early in the second half, the Green Army secured a second try after a superb series of phases. Parker charged down free before of�loading to Dave Scupham from the �loor, who touched down directly next to the �lag. The conversion fell inches short, but the seven point gap spurred Exeter into dominating much of the next 25 minutes.
Parker held his nerve, converting a last minute penalty to give Exeter a single point victory Events took a startling turn in the �inal 10 minutes when Pontypridd levelled the scores. The complacent Exeter side were caught off guard when the Welsh winger capitalised on scrum-half James Bath’s errant pass and stormed almost the length of the pitch before of�loading to set up the try. As the ball was grounded in front of the posts, Pontypridd were able to easily convert the try and bring the scores even once again. Once again it was Parker who was quick to respond and secure a safe try, but even this was not enough to keep the opposition back; they managed to slip through again for a 20-22 lead as the Greens found themselves behind with just minutes to spare. A couple of late attacks fuelled by the screaming support put Exeter in a strong position to score, and this time Parker held his nerve, converting a last minute penalty to give them a single-point victory. A nail-biting �inish.
>> EURFC 2s Elliott Moss wins the ball off the lineout. Photo: Daniiil Orlov
Ched Evans: Should he play again? Page 46
EURFC Fresh 1s defeat Cardiff 30-8 For the latest BUCS Page 47 content go online