2012/13 Week 12 Issue 602 by Exeposé

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Tuesday 11 December 2012 • Issue 602 • www.exepose.ex.ac.uk • Twitter: @Exepose • www.facebook.com/Exepose

Closing time for Hope and Lazenby

Free Photo: Joshua Irwandi

Harrison Jones OVER a thousand Exeter students were amongst hundreds of thousands across the country who received the first instalment of their student loan late this year. Data retrieved through the Freedom of Information act (FOI) revealed that of the 9,400 undergraduates at the University applying for ‘core support’ - including tuition fees, maintenance loans and maintenance grants - 1,180 were paid late. Nationally, the proportional figure was much higher, as 175,000 students were scheduled to face delayed payment. That equates to nearly 20 per cent of the 925,000 applicants for core support. Exeter students have been provided with an “expected date of payment” for each of their three instalments, the first of which was the 24 September, but this year 13 per cent of students were not paid by that date.

Popular campus residences to become office space for staff in 2013 Beccy Smyth News Editor THE UNIVERSITY has announced proposals to convert Hope Hall and Lazenby from student residences to office space from July 2013. If the plans go ahead, it is hoped that the new space will be available for use by staff in the 2013/14 academic year. Campus Services explained that the University has seen a decreased demand for catered, in comparison to self-catered, halls in recent years. This, along with the fact that Hope Hall and Lazenby are in a good location and are conveniently sized, has meant that the buildings have been selected as suitable sites for their conversion plans. The University, explaining the

Comment: Addressing homelessness in Exeter -

motivation for the plans, stated that increasing the number of academic staff is one of their main investment drives, as a means of strengthening infrastructure and growing research activity. Consequently, increased office space on campus is required in order to accommodate additional staff. The converted space will likely serve one of two possible purposes. It will either be managed as offices for academic and professional staff on a permanent basis, or it will be used as a flexible space that can be occupied while other older buildings on campus are refurbished. Geoff Pringle, Director of Campus Services, said: “The conversion of Hope Hall and Lazenby from halls of residences to office space marks the next phase of the buildings’ lives. It is common practice for universities to... CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

PAGE 7

Thousands receive loans late

13%

The percentage of Exeter students who recieved the first installment of their loans late

Cool Britannia: It’s the 2012 Lifestyle Fashion Shoot

Music: Interview with Willy Mason - PAGE 24

PAGES 19 - 22

Books: Literary gifts for the festive season - PAGES 30 - 31

The figure does not include the 1,657 international undergraduates, who have different financial arrangements, or the 779 home/EU undergraduates who did not apply for core support. With tuition fees soaring, alongside the substantial cost of living in the city, many students – particularly first years - are now greatly dependent on their loans. Having negotiated Freshers’ Week without any state funding, support... CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 FIND US ONLINE AT

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No Hope for Halls University confirms off-campus accommodation will replace historic halls Photo: Josh Irwandi

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ... adapt the way that university-owned buildings are used over time.” Pringle also emphasised that there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of the conversion plans, and suggested that it may actually open up more employment opportunities, as staff will be required to manage the new office space.

Decline in on-campus accommodation Editorial, page 7

However, following the closure of St Lukes catered halls last year, concerns have been expressed that the closure of Hope and Lazenby means a further reduction of student choice. Hope Hall and Lazenby are part of Exeter Halls, and are a popular choice for students applying for accommodation for their first year. Last year on average, there were three applications for every room available. The halls are much smaller than other catered halls on campus, such as Holland Hall and Pennsylvania Court, and one past resident reports that the buildings’ size allows for a comparatively more intimate atmosphere. Tom Bond, a third year student who lived in Lazenby in first year, said: “In my opinion Lazenby and Hope Hall are some of the best on campus. Unlike the identical rows of Lafrowda blocks, they have a bit of character to them and are in an ideal location on campus.” Jon Bagnall, VP Partipation and Campuses, said the news came as a “dissapointment” to the Students’ Guild: “These closures are not the first in recent years, but follow the increase

>> Lazenby will close with Hope in July 2013, and will be converted over the summer into office space for staff

of purpose built student accommodation both on campus and in the city from external providers.” “It is one of the Guild’s top priorities to halt year on year increases in student accommodation prices, and make rooms more affordable.” Jilly Court, Director of Operations for Campus Services, commented: “We know that many students have enjoyed living in the residences and have lots of happy memories from their time there. “We can assure everyone that both Lazenby and Hope Hall are heritage buildings which the University values very much and any conversion will be

done sensitively to ensure the character of the buildings remain.”

“We can assure everyone that both Lazenby and Hope Hall are heritage buildings which the University values, and any conversion will be done sensitively” Jilly Court, Director of Operations for Campus The closure of Hope Hall and Lazenby as residences will not result in a

shortage of accommodation places on campus, the University has confirmed. As a result of the significant investment in new accommodation blocks over the past years. James Owen Court, a self-catered residence in the town centre, will also be reopened next year, which will provide additional space. Feasibility studies on the buildings will get underway soon, to establish practically how the buildings can be renovated. The University wishes to reassure current residents of Hope Hall and Lazenby that these arrangements should not cause disruptions.

Rise in fees for Masters courses Phil Thomas News Editor THE AVERAGE price for a Masters (MA) course at the University of Exeter has risen by £1,700 for next year. In 2013, most courses will be charged at £6,500, compared to the £4,800 cost this year. Imogen Sanders, VP Academic Af-

fairs, said: “The climate for postgraduate students is difficult at the moment. As the undergraduate fees have risen there has been pressure to do the same for postgraduate courses. The University have also been faced with other institutions raising fees in order to remain competitive. “However, there is a debate over whether fees should be predicated by costs of delivery, reputation, employment prospects or entry into postdoc-

toral study. It is safe to say that the

“It is becoming increasingly important to have a year of extra study when applying for jobs, but I would struggle with these fees” Emily Nicholls, third year student whole sector is under question at the

moment and something that I will be keeping an eye on over the coming year.” Emily Nicholls, a third year history and classic student who is considering postgraduate study, said: “I think this is really bad news. It is expensive enough at the moment and it is becoming increasingly important to have a year of extra study when applying for jobs, but I would struggle with these fees.”

Exeposé

| Week Twelve

NEWS

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Uni recieves complaints over student vandalism and noise Photo: Joshua Irwandi

Tom Payne Editor THE UNIVERSITY received a high number of complaints from local residents over excessive noise and vandalism to cars at the start of term, Exeposé can reveal. A total number of 42 complaints relating to students were lodged by unhappy residents between Saturday 15 September and Wednesday 17 October, data retrieved by Exeposé under the Freedom of Information act (FOI) has found.

“This behaviour undermines the good work being done in the community” University e-mail to all students

>> A large number of complaints were lodged by residents on Varsity football night

The University claim that one third of the complaints, which mostly related to excessive noise and acts of vandalism to cars, occurred on the evening of the Varsity football match (October 3), and for several days afterwards as car damage was gradually discovered. Most of the incidents reportedly occurred on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, all popular club nights in Exeter, while most complaints occurred within the St James

area and along Pennsylvania Road. A “small spike” of complaints occurred in the Duryard Ward. A spokesperson for the University told Exeposé that approximately a quarter of the calls relating to vehicles related to ‘interference’ with cars (for example, pushing wing mirrors out of position, or pulling windscreen wipers upward), rather than actual damage. However, the University did admit that much of what they referred to as ‘prank’ behaviour may well have caused accidental damage. As a response to the incidents, all students received an e-mail on October 17 from the University reminding students of “the need to respect the local community and those who live in it”. The e-mail stated that the bad behavious “undermines the good work being done in the community” and could have a “long-standing and detrimental impact on career prospects”. The e-mail added: “The majority of students who live, work and socialise in Exeter behave in a responsible and respectful way and many give their time to volunteer and raise funds for the community. However, over recent weeks the University has recieved a number of complaints from local residents [...] The Police and University are working together and taregeting areas of the city most affected.”

Rampant Sporting shuts down in home town Simon Dewhurst Senior Reporter THE Exeter branch of clothing chain Rampant Sporting is closing down. The shop on Gandy Street is shutting its doors on Christmas Eve as the company’s focus moves to its online and wholesale divisions. Rampant Sporting was founded in 2007 by University of Exeter alumnus Richard Hurtley with the aim of selling premium sportswear inspired by

“Rampant Sporting’s clothes are particularly popular with Sports Science students who I am sure will continue to buy their products online ” Alistair Leaman, third year Sports Science student the spirit of students at Exeter. Hurtley had an initial £2,000 cash injection to establish the business, gathered from returned 21st birthday presents and used his parents’ spare attic space. The business has grown over the past

five years with a new investment allowing it to sell to large department stores such as John Lewis and House of Fraser. The brand has also developed a strong online presence and will con-

tinue to appear as a pop-up shop around the country with plans to visit Streatham Campus next year. Alistair Leaman, third year Sports Science student, commented: “It’s a shame to see the Rampant Sporting

shop closing down. Their clothes are particularly popular with Sports Science students who I am sure will continue to buy their products online.” Photo: Josh Irwandi Photo: Josh Irwandi

Student Loans Co. lets down 1 in 6 Exeter students CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ...from the government is then expected to help cover first term investments on necessities such as accommodation, books and food. But without the scheduled payment – a minimum of £1,018.47 – students can become overwhelmed by the financial burden of living away from home. The Student Loans Company (SLC) has not disclosed the average waiting time for core support, but a first year International Relations student had her payment delayed by nearly six weeks.

“I had to go into my overdraft, delay joining societies and buying the books I needed” Alice Lynch, undergraduate student Alice Lynch explained: “It was really inconvenient. Some money came through two weeks late but that was the wrong amount. “Thankfully Exeter were sympathetic over accommodation, but it was still frustrating because I’d done all the paperwork correctly, yet the SLC’s excuses just kept coming. I had to go into my overdraft, delay joining societies and buying the books I needed.” Officials from the government-funded institution have pointed to a number of factors contributing to late payment of Exeter students, including overdue confirmation of attendance from the University and delays in bank processing. As the SLC prepares to commence secondary loan payments early next January, it has published figures showing that even by 14 October, around 100,000 UK applicants had still not received their full entitlement. The unprecedented statistics are the latest in a long line of controversies surrounding the company, whose chief executive Ed Lester said in May that he would stand down following scrutiny of his £182,000 salary, in connection with a tax avoidance inquiry. Student loan payments have often been perceived as unreliable, especially after the SLC’s then deputy chief executive, Derek Ross, compared mislaying student documents to “losing your car keys,” during an inquiry in 2009 when around 115,000 UK students were paid late. Fresh questions about competency and bureaucracy levels at the company now look likely to resurface, particularly after Scotland’s Education secretary, Michael Russell, ordered a review into why numerous Scottish students had not been paid by November. With the deadline for the second phase of instalments looming, students in Exeter and around the country will be hoping for more timely funding when next term begins.

NEWS

National Student News Student suicides rise

www.exepose.ex.ac.uk

University sobers up in Drinking League Photo: Josh Irwandi

Salonee Kakodkar

Phil Thomas News Editor

FIGURES released by the Office of National Statistics have shown an increase in student suicides. Between 2007 and 2011, suicides by male students in full-time higher education grew by 36 per cent from 57 to 78, while for female the rate doubled from 18 to 34. The National Union of Students believes that a combination of increasing financial and academic pressures, worsening job prospects, moving away from home and family coupled with reduction in staff numbers and lessening student contact time have caused the the surge. Grace Hopper, VP Welfare and Community at the University of Exeter, said: “The University and Guild services have seen increases in demand for support services in general. For this reason the University have increased investment into the Wellbeing Services department, to ensure that students are seen as quickly and as appropriately as possible. “In addition to the University’s services, the Guild Advice Unit and Voice are also readily available to students. If anyone is struggling with any aspect of University life, I’d encourage them to speak to someone in one of the University or Guild services, who can help them in receiving the support they need.”

Man behind ‘Sex for Tuition Fees’ website found Naomi Pacific THE man behind the ‘Sex for tuition anyone?’ website which offered up to £ 15,000 a year to women between 17 and 24 years of age to cover their university studies in exchange for having sex with a stranger has been exposed by an undercover reporter.

“It’s disheartening to see how men take advantage of other people’s predicaments” Second year student During the auditions the girls were told that the ‘practical assessment’ was to see how far they were willing to go before getting sponsored, meaning some sex happened prior the guarantee of money. A second year student at the University of Exeter said: “It’s disheartening to see how men take advantage of other people’s predicaments. “And it’s even sadder to see how desperate a measure students are willing to go through just to receive education. Something should be done.”

EXETER UNIVERSITY has dropped 50 places in the 2012 University Drinking League Tables. The League, produced by Student Beans, ranked Exeter in 62nd place, with students consuming on average 15.5 units per week. The previous year, Exeter were ranked 12th and drank 20.8 units per week. The winner of this year’s University Drinking League was Queen’s University Belfast, whose students devour 27.3 units per week. Robert Gordon University came in lowest, whose students consume on 11 units per week. Grace Hopper. VP Welfare and Community, said: “The Guild always promotes healthy and responsible drinking.

“It is good to see that Exeter has dropped significantly in these standings” Grace Hopper, VP Welfare and Community “It is good to see that Exeter has dropped significantly in these standings”. Ellie Steafel, fourth year French and Spanish student, said: “I think this shows that students have no money as Exeter is a really expensive city to go out in comparison to other Universities. Clubs need to lower their prices so students can go out more.”

IGNITE supports bright student ideas Zoe Bulaitis Editor THE Student Guild’s new Entrepreneur Support Unit IGNITE is establishing support for students who are looking to develop entrepreneurial schemes. The new initiative is from Unltd company which funds and supports thousands of individuals each year in their aim to develop social ventures and have a real impact upon their community. Unltd is the largest network of this kind in the world. The University of Exeter Students’ Guild and Unltd have partnered up to offer students the chance to use a fresh ideas, their own ambition, alongside Unltd’s knowhow and some well placed funding to enact community focused development. IGNITE are looking for several

committed students, with enthusiasm and drive, and especially great ideas. The University of Exeter is preparing to find, fund and support the selected young entrepreneurs to achieve social change in the UK.

“IGNITE are looking for several committed students, with enthusiasm and drive and most of all a great idea” This scheme has three programmes; Try It, Do It and Build It. These programmes represent the level of funding and support coupled with the viability of the project. The Try It package offers grants of up to £500 to research feasibility by constructing a smaller model and researching growth potential and costs. The Do It offers grants of up to £5,000

(average of £2,500) to start running your project, this is for those with the basic skills needed and the real energy to complete the task. The Build It Award offers students of a grant of up to £15,000, which can include 12 months living expenses for the applicant. This tier is for those who already have established their social venture and have run this for more than one year. Details of this scheme are yet to be finalised but those interested on finding out more can contact Louise Rose on c.l.rose@ex.ac.uk.

11 december 2012 |

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Council agree to consult Guild on streetlights Will Binks THE UNIVERSITY of Exeter’s Students’ Guild’s campaign, Save Our Streetlights (SOS), is still going strong in its fight against the switch-off of streetlights. Devon County Council have now agreed to consult the Guild in the future talks.

“So far these has not been enough done” Grace Hopper, VP Welfare and Community Outraged residents of Exeter have grouped together to campaign against the council’s proposals, over fears that it will endanger students and local residents, both of whom will be forced to travel though unlit paths and roads. A recent petition achieved over 2,500 signatures from students, staff and local residents’ associations. Grace Hopper, VP for Welfare and Community, said: ‘So far there has not been enough done. The Student’s Guild represents all students at the University of Exeter and, as such, we will not be side-lined’. The campaign has received support from a variety of backers, including local bars, nightclubs, landlords, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, who campaign for personal safety, as well as local MP for Exeter, Ben Bradshaw. The campaign aims to continue to pressure the council to overturn its ‘concerning’ decision, as well as hoping for more interaction from the council over future proposals that effect the wider community.

Forum doors to be replaced Beccy Smyth News Editor THE revolving Forum doors, which have been out of use for the past number of weeks, are due to be repaired over the Christmas break. The University hopes that all work will be completed by 7 January, when term starts. The original design of the doors, which were demountable as part of the building’s necessary fire exit strategy, has meant that they were not robust enough to withstand the high level of traffic the Forum has seen since it opened earlier this year. The new doors will be more robust, as they will be fixed rather than demountable. A new set of double doors to be built on the façade wall in the Forum will instead fulfil the necessary fire exit strategy. The University estimates that the combined cost of the two sets of revolving doors was between £20,000 and £30,000. The contractor responsible for the building project is replacing the doors at their cost.

To find out more you are warmly invited to an informal event on Thursday13th December 2012 6.30pm

“Peace begins from the heart” Students Peace Initiative is a series of 10 weekly discussion groups consisting of DVDs and written material based on the talks of Prem Rawat, Ambassador for Peace. Prem Rawat has travelled the world for 40 years, inspiring people to find peace within. As well as providing the chance to hear this simple and profound message, these discussion groups can help students to discover their own inner resources such as: • Inner strength • Choice • Hope • Personal Peace

Prem Rawat’s Nordic Peace Conference Address On August 18, 2012 more than 200 students and faculty members of the United World Red Cross College (UWC) gathered for the Nordic Peace Conference in Oslo, Norway. VENUE:The A&V Hub, Students Guild, Devonshire House Admission Free and Snacks provided

The Students Peace Initiative will be held in the Students Guild A&V Hub from 7th March 2013.

Email: studentspeaceinitiative@gmail.com

Funded by volunteers, entry to discussion groups is free with refreshments provided.

“The peace you are looking for is already inside of you”

For more info please text or call Julie on 0740 341 2733

Prem Rawat

Email: studentspeaceinitiative@gmail.com

Crikey

@ Exeter Uni

20 stalls of Vintage and Handmade sellers with a range of Vintage Clothing, Home-wares, Jewellery, Accessories and Gifts

17th January - 21st february 28th march - 3rd may - 7th june Find us in the Devonshire House Foyer

11am - 4pm VINTAGEvixenevents@hotmail.co.uk WWW.CRIKEYITSVINTAGE.CO.UK

CHRISTMAS 2012 POSTING DATES 1st Class Letter, Large Letter & Packet 20th December 2nd Class Letter, Large Letter & Packet 18th December Recorded Delivery 19th December Special Next Day Delivery 22nd December Europe 12th December World Wide 5th December

Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Guild Information Point Level 1, The Forum

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“Hope and Lazenby are fondly recognised as being among the oldest, most beautiful halls on campus [...] from July 2013, only staff will use them” It’s reassuring to see that the University do at least recognise the value of Hope and Lazenby as heritage buildings with a great deal of history and sentimental value, but there seems to be some confusion over the nature of the building’s intended purpose – many of our sources claim that Hope and Lazenby will replace space lost from the renovation of the Queens and Amory buildings, but the University

are undergoing ‘feasibility studies’ to determine the use of the space. Hope and Lazenby have been closed because of a slight decline in the demand for catered accommodation – this, together with a vast increase in the provision of student accommodation, suggests that the University are unsure of how to use the sudden provision of empty rooms productively. Some students may feel angry that the University seem to be prioritising on-campus buildings for use by staff, rather than students. What is most important, however, is that the space is used in the best way possible – it truly would be a shame if these buildings stayed empty throughout all of next year if feasibility studies fail to materialise. Exeposé understands that the Guild are prioritising student accommodation prices. This is an admirable aim, but the extent of the Guild’s influence over accommodation matters is questionable. Both the Guild and the University should ultimately focus on making sure that students get the best value for their money. Living off-campus can be off-putting for prospective students - the Guild and the University should prove that this is not the case.

Merry Christmas THE Christmas break is fast approaching. After a 12-week term that seems to have lasted for a long, long time it is time to have a few weeks rest. Students will be returning library books, undercooking turkey in 30-year-old ovens and packing the belongings they really need to return to their friends and family across the globe. This is a time of celebration but also of reflecting on the previous terms efforts and achievements. Personally, we have enjoyed turning 25 in style, reporting (and Exeposé-ing!) all the news that matters to you and managing to bring you six entertaining issues to fill those awkward moments

between lectures, or those frequent rainy afternoons with housemates.

“We have enjoyed turning 25 in style and reporting all the news that matters to you” Exeposé hopes that you enjoy the holiday season and looks forward to bringing you up to speed on everything that happens in between in the new year. Good luck in your journeys home, and for those of you staying in Exeter over the holidays, enjoy some peace and quiet!

Thanks to those who helped proof this issue: Megan Furborough, Elli Christie, Will O’Rourke, Niklas Ramel, Charlotte Earland, George Graham, Dom Ford, Emma Holifield, Dale James, Ronald Liong,Kate Gray, Harrison Jones, Dominic Madar, Vanessa Tracey, Lauren Swift, Jessica Gay and members of the Exeposé editorial team

Zoe Bulaitis & Tom Payne Ben Murphie & Ellie Steafel

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Local government failing Exeter’s young homeless

Hall closures: a sign of the times? THE closure of Hope and Lazenby Halls is disappointing. Both have a long and exciting history, and have been halls of residence for decades. Fondly recognised as among the oldest, most beautiful halls on campus, Hope and Lazenby are frequently referred to as the most sought-after halls on campus – it truly is a shame that, from July 2013, only staff will use them.

Laurence Ivil THERE’S a tragic inevitability to Ben Bradshaw’s indication that homeless support has been reduced by 12 per cent since the last survey was completed. It is reasonable to suggest that the priorities of governmental bodies will, as many would hope, continue to focus on policies which directly affect those who have the capacity to vote. This is the very nature of our democratic system and there is, of course, a strong argument to suggest that this should be the case. And of course, with widespread government cuts sweeping

across the country; if you want to keep certain services running, others must lose out. Unfortunately, in this case, those who lose out are the minority that have very little in comparison to everyone else. Many of the homeless on the streets of Exeter will have endured significant hardship, perhaps suffering from mental illness, alcoholism or have a history of mental or physical abuse. If that 12 per cent is being redistributed into services that preempt homelessness and help tackle these difficult social ills, then Bradshaw’s statistic should be placed in context. Yet, these are the people who don’t have personal support networks, a friend to turn to when they’re run down, or a loving parent to ring up when they’re slightly behind on rent. They most certainly deserve our attention. In light of this, I’d imagine that

the death of 21-year-old rough sleeper Michelle Conroy has the potential to bring some perspective to Exeter students of all ages in the coming festive period. Any student who has their eyes open when they walk down Exeter High Street will be aware that Exeter has a problem when it comes to homelessness. What most I would imagine do not know is exactly how many young people there are out there sleeping at night in the sheltered doorways of High Street convenience stores that we frequent by day when we need that little bit extra for our SSB outfits. Truly, there’s very little that many can do to combat such a sad occurrence, but as many of us lament our fortunes in this busy essay-filled run up to Christmas, perhaps we can all spare a thought for those who, for whatever reason, have neither a family or a home to return to this Christmas.

Diagnosing homeopathy - debating the decision of the Scottish NHS Primary Care Trust

Liam Ward-Proud THE decision by a Scottish NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT) to initiate a consultation into NHS homeopathy funding seems fairly straightforward on the face of it. PCTs, the regional bodies responsible for allocating NHS funds, are under immense financial pressures and looking for areas to cut. A closer look at the numbers, however, reveals that this debate may not be a primarily financial one. NHS Lothian, the PCT instigating the consultation, spent 0.017 per cent of its annual budget on homeopathic treatments and services last year. Nationally, a report by Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee into Homeopathy calculated that homeopathic remedies account for £152,000 per year from a drugs budget of £11 billion, approximately 0.001 per cent. Homeopathy accounts for very little NHS spending, meaning that the decision to initiate a consultation into its funding can be seen as a matter of scientific principle rather than just financial constraint. Indeed, the rhetoric around the debate seems to support this reading. In favour of ending the NHS Lothian’s provision of homeopathic treatments are the Edinburgh Skeptics. Keir Liddle, the group’s President, claims that homeopathy is against “all the laws of physics and chemistry”. Further, the British Medical Association has stated

that homeopathy has “no scientific evidence base to support its use”. Such vitriol is characteristic of the argument between the opponents and supporters of homeopathy. It seems fair to say that certain sections of the medical profession feel affronted and outraged by a system of treatment that doesn’t square with the orthodox conception of healthcare. But what has all this got to do with philosophy? Surely the debate begins and ends with a careful clinical trial assessing the merits of homeopathic treatment beyond the ‘placebo effect’? Philosophy comes into this when we recognise that mainstream medicine and homeopathy have different ideas as to what would count as evidence in either direction. The ‘gold standard’ of experimental rigour in the clinical medical paradigm is the Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), whereby patients are allocated into two groups and given either a placebo treatment or the actual medication under study. Neither the participant nor the experimenter knows which of the two treatments an individual is being administered in the ideal ‘double-blinded’ variation of the RCT. The effects of the treatment are thus compared to the placebo effect under identical conditions. Interestingly, however, the proposed logic of homeopathic treatment does not suit testing by RCT so well. The process is a much more interactive one treatments are often prescribed and then follow-up sessions scheduled in which the efficacy of the treatment is assessed on an individual basis. The website ‘homeopathyforhealthyliving.co.uk’ describes these follow-up consulta-

tions as “essential” due to the different reactions to remedies from person to person. It seems impossible to capture this extended fine-tuning process in the format of a RCT. Without taking a side on the issue, we can observe that it is difficult to find some common ground on which to compare the two systems of treatment. Adopting the approach of the philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn, we may say that the two belong to different “paradigms of thought” and there is no objective yardstick against which we can say that one is scientific and the other not. This debate points to a general difficulty of communication when scientific opinions become so entrenched as those of the Edinburgh Skeptics above. When two systems of thought have different ideas about quite fundamental issues such as the general causes of illness, they can often fail to communicate properly. Kuhn referred to this as a state “incommensurability” between paradigms. This observation seems to be borne out by the comments of the British Medical Association outlined above. Saying that homeopathy has “no scientific evidence” is really to say that ‘homeopathy is not something I can make sense of in my system of thought’. But this isn’t necessarily a criticism of homeopathy in ‘objective’ terms; it is an expression of the impossibility of describing homeopathic mechanisms within the theoretical nexus of mainstream medicine. In this way, incommensurability abounds. By adopting a philosophical perspective, we are thus able to diagnose the source of much of the venom surrounding the homeopathy debate.

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11 december 2012 |

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Cartoon: Charlotte Micklewright

Keeping students safely housed

Grace Hopper VP Welfare and Community THE Students’ Guild has been working alongside the University, Exeter City Council and local landlords to establish an accreditation scheme for private sector housing in the City. We want to ensure all properties available to students meet a certain criteria; ensuring that our members’ rights and safety are protected, within a scheme that is both realistic and affordable for landlords. Accreditation is the best way to ensure that accommodation meets a certain standard and can act as a reassurance for students when they are house hunt-

ing for next year. The scheme that the University and Guild endorse at present is the Unipol AFS Code of Standards and we want the help of all students to help it become the standard that all landlords in Exeter adhere to. Students living in privately owned accommodation can help us by pushing for your landlords to become accredited and students who are looking for accommodation for next year can ensure that you ask landlords or agents whether the property is accredited when you are viewing houses or flats. There will be a Housing Fair in the Great Hall on January 15 from 11-3pm. Here you will be able to meet Exeter’s estate agents, private landlords and see what houses are on the market. Key info concerning utilities will also be available, along with plenty of freebies. You never know what might happen: you may find your dream house!

“Women should be seen and not heard” at Bristol CU

Beccy Smyth News Editor

RECENTLY, Bristol University Christian Union came under fire in the press, as a result of an email that the president, Matt Oliver, sent out to CU members which stated that women “would not teach on their own at our CU:Equip meetings [its main weekly meeting], as the main speaker on our Bristol CU weekend away or as our main speaker for mission weeks.” The media has failed to accurately convey the true crux of the situation, by littering their reports with subjective language that makes it impossible for

me to take their journalism seriously. The hostility of the language in some of the supposedly objective news reports is especially troubling. For example, the Bristol edition of The Tab reported that the CU’s “ban reflects the recent decision by the Church of England Synod to reject the introduction of female bishops, consequently ignoring the last century of the equal rights movement”, which is an insultingly uniformed and incredibly biased example of reporting. The language in the Guardian and other national papers’ reports is also highly subjective. These papers use the words “ban”, “forbidding” and “ruled” in their reports. The purpose of these reports, through their dangerous use of language, is to lead the readers to the assumption that Bristol’s CU committee is sexist, backward, discriminating and intolerant. Is wrenching the reader through the issue in this way really the role of the journalist?

Letters to the Editors [RE: Issue 601, SSB controversy coverage] Dear Editors,

Issue 601’s Comment section— specifically the “tribal” theme of the SSB—was nothing short of frightfully offensive, particularly for us as students who live in an international community. The ball has always been a great idea, but themes like these actively do away with any ideas of intersectionality or tackling prejudices. Much as Exeposé has tried to be objective about it, articles in the later pages such as Rebecca Longhurst’s sickening piece on “affordable tribal fashions” clearly demonstrate a leaning towards endorsing cultural appropriation— which is not a mere matter of one person’s opinion over another. It is a disturbing, oppressive practice that results from the cashing in on cultures as “commodities”. It happens when India is reduced to colours and the song-dance-Taj Mahal trope, or Latin America to a feathered head-dress as though it were fancy dress, existing solely for one’s pleasure, to borrow and discard as one pleases. This is why Gwen Stefani faces flak for her exploitation of traditions like wearing bindis and saris. Wearing them in itself is not appropriative, what is, is the fact that they’re seen

as “fashion” that can be shrugged off at will. That they’re context-less and entertainment. That they become reductive symbols for entire cultures and emphasise homogeneity. The debate is not helped by Nandini Basu saying “the tribal theme being racist genuinely didn’t cross [my] mind”. This negotiating of “authentic experiences” by roping in someone with presumably South Asian origins to say, effectively, “I don’t think so, hence it can’t be appropriation” is fairly dubious. Deleuze’s essay “Plato and the Simulacrum” addresses the problems of this very notion of authenticity. Cultural appropriation is not restricted to political discussions or rallies, as James Crouch evidently seems to think so when he says “your aim at a party is not to make political statements with your costume but to have fun”. Fun, yes, by whom, for whom, and at whose expense? And what is this line dividing the theory and praxis of beliefs? This is institutionalized racism existing invisibly in everyday life, capitalising and trivializing other cultures. Arguing in favour of intentions and ignorance becomes an excuse for erasure and endorsing the falsehood of reverse-racism.

If Crouch wants to inform himself about cultural appropriation, I suggest he dump Bruce Parry and head, instead, towards Gayatri Spivak, Edward Said, Frantz Fanon and Ashis Nandy. They will also help override potentially insipid arguments such as “aren’t we endorsing your culture by wearing it?” and accusations of “not taking everything so seriously or making everything so political”. This kind of theory deals with our everyday lives, and helps us understand how to live alongside other cultures better, instead of trampling over them. The committee should know by now that this is deeply murky territory, best not to be entered to avoiding embarrassing themselves. The rest of us are, meanwhile, left bewildered and deeply saddened at the gaping chasm that exists between saying Exeter is a safe space for cultures, and actually living that reality out. Sharanya Muri

Dear Editors,

My interpretation of Oliver’s email is that it isn’t from a heart of chauvinism or sexism that the CU has made the decision that it has made. These news reports encourage people to attack perfect strangers’ integrity, for making a decision based on what they honestly believe is right according to their faith, and according to what they truly believe God is saying, which, as Christians, presumably is the most crucial part of their identity. To reduce this highly contentious issue to a snappy headline charged with badly-concealed spite, to lazily appropriate bible verses – out of context – for the sake of a mocking headline, in my mind irrefutably calls into question the ethics of these reporters’ journalism. The reports seem to depend on an already existing prejudice against the Christian faith, lazily using the Synod’s recent declaration as an excuse to add more fuel to the fire.

Send your letters to editors@exepose.com [RE: Issue 601, Gaza protest, Hannah King]

As I read Hannah King’s ‘report’ on the protest in support of Gaza I felt I had to re-address some of the points she made. First of all she referred to Gaza as a ‘country’. Anyone who has any knowledge regarding modern day Canaan knows this is not the case and underpins the very issue! She then goes onto say that those on the demo are ‘uneducated’. I would like to know how many people she actually spoke with to come up with this conclusion. I myself am aware of the political power playing of the region involving both Israel and Palestinian politicians. However, when Israel acts with such indiscriminate aggression I am not surprised that support for Hamas in Palestine grows. Using weapons such as white phosphorous on the civilian population in Gaza, which by the way are against the UN CCW convention, is completely unjustifiable; is she aware what these weapons do to an individual? She also must have been watching a completely alternate mainstream news to the rest of us as it was always leading the story with sympathy toward Israel and how it was defending itself. How can it be called defence when it is occupying and oppressing, through military force, a whole population of people?

Israel is and always has been the aggressor. Miss King then goes on to defend Zionism, which makes me seriously question her knowledge on this particular subject. She also carelessly throws the words Hebrew, Zionism and Jewish Society into the same paragraph. I found this a little ignorant and somewhat offensive. Speaking as one whose father was Jewish, I can’t imagine being part of a movement that destroys the homes of indigenous people who have most probably inhabited that part of the world since Biblical times, so that I can build my own home and claim the land for myself in the name of a made up national identity. Maybe as a Brit I can understand, as we Brits have a long history of doing precisely that. It is insanity. Does the West still hold on to the guilt attached to the events in World War Two so desperately that it feels it justifiable to turn a blind eye to Israel as it continues building illegal settlements on indigenous peoples land? I’ll sign off with the most poignant statement I read whilst I was engaged in my armchair activism. “The two biggest tragedies of the 20th century - the holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel”. Julyan Levy

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A sleigh-ve to consumerism?

For a season of goodwill, Alasdair Wood sees little left to Christmas than expensive gifts and corporate advertising on television THE world has seen many tyrants and villains hit the dust in recent years. Gaddafi, Osama bin Laden, Kim Jongil. Some people pin their hopes on Assad, Robert Mugabe or Piers Morgan being next, but I’m hoping it’s Father Christmas. Why? For one Father Christmas is as racist as they get, he never gave a damn about giving presents to African or Asian children. To make it worse, he takes advantage of poor labourers in these regions just to cut costs in giving presents to spoilt white children. Okay, so Father Christmas isn’t real. But he essentially represents all that is wrong with the over consumerist celebration of capitalism we have called “Christmas”. Father Christmas gleams over our television screens telling us about all the things we must buy, from Coca-Cola, to the latest ridiculously expensive children’s toy. The prices of which are hyperinflated, especially when considering their low production

“Children can happily spend an hour playing with a plastic dinosaur that cost a pound, whereas their £50 complicated toy racing track, takes ages to put together and leaves them frustrated when it inevitably breaks” costs. All these toys are made by workers in East Asia who could never dream of buying their children such

things. We allow these prices to be ridiculous because we are foolish enough to give in to the nagging of whining children, who have been seduced into wanting it by the dramatic television advertisement they’ve just seen. Christmas is about children,

you might say, and isn’t it wonderful to see their smiling faces on Christmas day. But anyone who has spent any time with children knows that thanks to their wonderful imagination they can happily spend an hour playing with a plastic dinosaur that cost a pound, whereas their £50 complicated toy car racing track, takes ages to put together and leaves them frustrated and angry when it inevitably breaks.

“For many families who struggle financially they will feel the pressure of their children wanting things they can’t have. These families are left feeling that they let their children down” I am not all Scrooge, I do like Christmas Day, and how everyone is in a good mood and such. But I really do hate the rampant excess consumerism before hand. I have the pleasure to avoid it this year, as I’m in Egypt for my year abroad and staying here over Christmas. Christmas in Egypt is simply a religious festival celebrated by the Christian minority here on the 7 January. The main Muslim festivals Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are more about generosity rather than consumption. You might say our Christmas is about generosity because of the giving of presents, but buying ridiculously expensive toys, when so many other children in the world are

deprived of decent nutrition, reveals the selfishness of our Christmas. During Ramadan here, people give more to the beggars, the butchers do large free street meals for the breaking of the fast and at Eid al-Adha a third of each sacrifice must be given to the poor. Yes, we have much great charitable work going on at Christmas, but it is nowhere as

widespread and personal as the generosity I’ve seen at the religious festivals here. Also, just to reiterate my earlier point, the children here are quite content with the simplest toys that they are given Christmas is meant to represent hope. For Christians it’s the celebration of Christ coming into the world, but it means something for Secularists too as a celebration in the darkest of winter. However, instead of this it’s all about wanting and wasting. Many families who struggle financially will feel the pressure of their children wanting things they can’t have, wanting things that “everyone else has”. These families are left feeling that they let down their children. Whilst other families waste huge amounts of money on things that don’t last long, that aren’t really needed, and buy enough food to last a month, much of which is thrown away. We do all this year after year, while millions of children across the world face malnutrition. You may say the two aren’t related, and that people give to charity at Christmas. This I would suggest is per-

haps to try and justify their overconsumption in the first place. But the two things are directly related, we waste resources that could be directed to those who need it. I do not see that much hope from Christmas, in this perverse world of gross inequality. Christmas should bring people together, it should bring out our generosity, but instead it shows only our selfish consumerism. It wasn’t the Grinch that stole Christmas, it was Father Christmas. The capitalist dream of endless consumption and waste that he represents deprives people of any true meaning of Christmas.

Frankie Plummer can still sees the real Christmas behind all the marketing

YES, Christmas has become commercialised. But what is wrong with that? The loose, basic, traditional elements are still there: gift-giving, family, unity etc. The only difference being they are utilised by companies to sell products. They’d have to be completely bloody mad to ignore the profitability and publicity Christmas can provide a brand, especially in time of economic uncertainty. Clearly, the most notorious commercial display of Christmas is the televised Coca-Cola advertisements, bizarrely juxtaposing an American soft drink with

Santa Claus. It’s a hugely baffling yet successful connection that utilises Christmas as a means to shape brand image and awareness. But it does not taint or maim Christmas; it merely uses it as a vehicle. The brand borrows the Christmas hire-car for a few weeks but dares not change a thing lest the rightful owner starts moaning. Such was the case with last year’s Littlewoods advertisement, in which children joyously declared that it was mum, not Santa, who bought all the presents. It defied traditional Christmas advertising, ignoring wholesome altruism or taste of any kind for that matter. The marketing department might as well have blindly started smashing the metaphorical Christmas hire-car with a baseball bat made out of Santa’s shinbone. People complained, and so this year we’re treated to a snowman’s journey to reach his snow-wife and Waitrose smugly telling us that this year they’re all about the giving, and how we should all do more. Nonetheless, both advertisements go back to the core-values of Christmas, caring and giving. But this is mostly futile, as in any case, the “true” meaning of Christmas

has all but disappeared from our ideal of the holiday season. The holiday is, blandly, the celebration of the birth of Christ. That is all. The meanings we have attributed to it are all additional seasoning, to give it a bit of spice. So to complain about how society commercialises Christmas is also to criticise

how society in general has always developed, shaped and altered its meaning over centuries. Now, Christmas is less of a celebration of a religious figure, to more of a annual gift-giving slob-fest. If it is to be argued that our commodity culture taints Christmas, surely the biggest effect had on Christmas is human boredom and pleasure-seeking tendencies. Let’s not forget, Christmas is a Christian celebration, and it’s the general public that has changed the season. The more elements that are attributed to it the more the “true” Christian meaning becomes diluted. Our culture and society has moulded it to its wants and needs, mostly gifts and material objects, and so commercialism of the season came to be. But what is the alternative for the majority? I doubt very much that the totalitarian bowing down and worshipping of our great Lord Jesus Christ would be popular to anyone but the most devout followers of his teachings. Most people are in it for the presents and the food and the love of tradition, they’re the ones bastardising Christmas, sabotaging and moulding the festivities to suit them. Either way, the real Christmas is to be found inside churches and that hasn’t really changed. Those who are devoutly Christian, the actual audience of Christmas, do celebrate the occasion for what it is. This more grounded and sober idea of Christmas is largely untainted for those who believe in the content and the values of Christmas, not the extra advertising garnish.

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“Only dead fish swim with the stream” Exeposé meets Peter Hitchens Photo: Josh Irwandi; Words: Meg Drewett

When he came to Exeter for a Debating Society event, Exeposé Features, spoke with columnist, author and notorious right-winger, Peter Hitchens, about all things controversial PETER HITCHENS is well known as one of the most controversial journalists currently writing in the British press. A regular columnist for the Mail on Sunday - not the Daily Mail as many believe - Hitchens has forged a career in voicing the unpopular opinion in his articles, books and in public debate. Down in Exeter last week to speak for the opposition at the Debating Society’s recent debate on the legalisation of cannabis, Exeposé got the chance to talk to him. As we wait for the crowds clambering to get a word from or a photo with Mr Hitchens at the end of the debate to clear a bit, I’m quite prepared to fully dislike Peter Hitchens. I’m a lefty and he’s clearly about as right-wing as you can get in the media today. I know I disagree with the vast majority of his opinions, like most of my student colleagues around me, and he’s got a bit of a reputation for being cold and somewhat aloof. So it’s quite a surprise when he responds warmly upon our approach and happily poses for pictures before we begin. He’s been joking throughout the evening’s debate and now we’re getting down to business, I’m curious to see what the ‘real’ Peter Hitchens is like. He’s fully aware of his reputation with the crowd. Lots of the students will have “a desire to see this fabulous monster of which they’ve heard to see if it’s as bad as they thought it was,” he jokes. “It might be quite interesting and even surprising for them to find out that my knuckles don’t brush the ground and that I can read and can string together a coherent sentence.” It’s not really a surprise that many students don’t exactly respond to Hitchens’ arguments with enthusiasm; though he has won the debate that evening, he’s definitely far from the mainstream. “If you argue from the positions I argue from, you generally are doing it against the stream,” he acknowledges, but this is “good because only dead fish swim with the stream.” Indeed, the only problem with Hitchens’ approach is that

whilst he “quite often win[s] the argument, you often lose the vote”. Still this has never deterred Hitchens’ from arguing his case. “Half the problem in modern Britain is that serious arguments for the other side are never even heard” he explains. “[Students] are the people who are going to be running our society in the future; they will be immensely influential and they are often not exposed to arguments like I make. In most universities, there’s an awful lot of teaching, student journalism and the general assumptions that are of the left.” But for Hitchens, the more he speaks out at events such as DebSoc’s, “the more you make it plain to people that there is another argument aside from the one that they’ve heard from everybody else and it can be forcefully and sometimes even humorously put and that it doesn’t lack integrity”.

“It might be quite interesting and even surprising for them to find out that my knuckles don’t brush the ground and that I can read and string together a coherent sentence” In his conversation, Hitchens actually comes across as quite a charming man with a sharp, dry sense of humour that clearly appeals to audiences. His intelligence is also obvious; all evening he’s shown that he knows what he’s on about when it comes to the legalisation of cannabis. “You need to know what you are talking about and you need to be prepared for the unexpected [in a debate] in a way that a person whose knowledge is shallow cannot really meet,” he notes, before demonstrating the point by explaining the similarities between alcohol prohibition in the US and the decriminalised state of cannabis as he believes it to be. “There was no legal prohibition on possessing or drinking alcohol during prohibition but there was prohibition on the transport

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and sale and manufacture of it and that’s pretty much the same with cannabis”. Hitchens’ views on legalising cannabis and indeed, a soft approach to drugs and crime in general are pretty much what you may expect an extremely right-wing conservative’s to be. “Taking drugs is a very selfish activity. Left to their own devices people will indulge themselves and there couldn’t be anything much more self indulgent than drug taking,” Hitchens argues before continuing, “this has been the century of the self”. Indeed, this ‘century of the self’, as he calls it, is a phenomenon that Hitchens roots in the “collapse of Christianity” in the UK because “once you’ve abandoned a religious position which is fundamentally based upon the idea of unselfishness, it’s not particularly surprising that all kinds of activities which are selfish become more common”. Hitchens, of course, is famously religious, just as his brother, the renowned writer and journalist Christopher, was famously atheist.

“I’ve dedicated my life to the collapse of the Conservative Party and so far, it hasn’t been terribly successful but I’m working on it” But for a man with such conservative views regarding social issues, it may come as a surprise to many who aren’t as quizzed up on him as some political types, to learn that Hitchens feels no affection for the Conservative Party. “I’ve dedicated my life to the collapse of the Conservative Party and so far, it hasn’t been terribly successful but I’m working on it,” he jokes.

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“If the Conservative Party were your fridge, all your food would go bad. If the Conservative Party were your car, it would spend its entire time at the side of the road emitting clouds of steam and smoke. If the Conservative Party were your lawyer, you’d be in jail; if the Conservative Party were your accountant, you’d be bankrupt. By any consumer judgement, it’s a complete failure and if it were a consumer good, it wouldn’t survive.” So why does it? “Because of this strange tribal habit, where you put up a chimpanzee with a blue rosette in a particular area and the chimpanzee is elected.” And where does Hitchens’ dislike for the party come from? Essentially it lies in what he believes to be their increasingly mainstream politics. “The old division between the political parties which used to be very important, because an adversarial Parliament is very important, has almost completely vanished. The issues which were the dividing issues; the Cold War, state ownership and industry, trade union power, all those have died” and instead “there’s an awful lot which unites [the political parties], pretty much in favour of the cultural and moral revolution which I’m against. They’re in favour of open borders, super-national institutions, liberal intervention in foreign countries, egalitarianism as a guiding principle, particularly in education, and actually, there are an awful lot of people who are not in favour of these things”. In short, Hitchens’ takes issues with the fact that “Those are us who are not in that consensus, such as me, are completely outside British politics now... [with] no mechanism by which they can get their desires listened to

in White Hall or Westminster because none of the political parties have any room for that kind of thing anymore. You have a country in the middle of major social changes that many people don’t like and no means by which they can effectively protest or act against it. I think it’s politically dangerous that Parliament has nobody speaking for a large section of the population.”

“The Labour Party and Conservative Party are corpses; they have almost no members and they have to rely on dodgy millionaires to keep them going” Indeed, once it’s clear that Hitchens’ qualms come out of issues of under-representation, it’s a lot easier to feel sympathetic to his cause. “The Labour and the Conservative parties are corpses; they have almost no members and they have to rely on dodgy millionaires to keep them going. The Conservative Party has no natural reason to continue to exist at all. It’s just a machine for obtaining office for the sons of gentlemen.” As such, Hitchens badly wants the Party to disintegrate: “When it goes, I think you’ll get a general reformation of all the political parties in this country and you might get people better represented and I think that’s better for the country,” he argues. Hitchens’ views are fairly radical ones and are hard for the average student to get on board with. It’s difficult to imagine a country without the Tory Party, as much as some of us dislike them. And yet, there clearly is a follow-

ing for views like Hitchens’, often rooted in his own controversial paper, the Mail on Sunday. When it comes up in conversation, Hitchens offers a staunch defence of his workplace. “There’s so much rage against my newspaper and it’s stable mate [because they] maintain conservative principles and are popular as a result. What the Left really hate is not that there is such a thing as associated newspapers but that people like to buy its papers and it’s successful,” he says. “I think a lot of people who talk about the wickedness of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, and they usually refer only to the Daily Mail because they can’t make a distinction between the two, don’t actually read those papers and just viscerally dislike them because they’ve been brought up to and because all their friends do.” As such, Hitchens doesn’t mind defending them: “I’m always happy to do a bit of public relations for the wicked beast Fleet Street.” And the journalism business has needed defending of late, something that Hitchens is all too aware of in light of the Leveson Enquiry’s report on press ethics. “Lord Justice Leveson has been building a coffin for freedom of the press for several months and it was produced for public admiration today. It’s got very nice brass handles on it and its beautifully polished oak but it’s still a coffin,” he says damningly. “We’ve seen so many assaults on liberties that have taken centuries to build in this country and the problem with state underpinning regulation of the press is that however small it may be at the beginning, once you’ve licensed

it and once you’ve accepted the principle, there is no limit to where it can go. You have to guard liberty in every generation and the problem is in the current generation is that people have forgotten because they are so used to being free and think it comes with the water and the electricity, they think it will carry on being so even if they dont [speak up]. And it’s very easy to make the press look nasty and make them unpopular; we do bad things, we have done bad things, who’s denying it? But that’s the reason for punishing people who do bad things, not a reason for giving government more power over newspapers.”

“It’s very easy to make the press look nasty and make them unpopular; we do bad things, we have done bad things, who’s denying it?” This is probably one of the few points all evening that I’ve agreed with Hitchens on and yet as we wrap up the interview, I find a sort of begrudging respect for the man who I thought I’d dislike so much. You don’t have to like Hitchens’ opinions; most people probably won’t. For a man so much on the edge of politics, it’s honourable that he continues to stand up for what he believes in. Many would have shut up years ago, but Hitchens remains defending the views that he holds, despite all too often getting flack for it from student lefties like myself. Peter Hitchens’ book, The War We Never Fought: The British Establishment’s Surrender to Drugs, is on sale now.

Legalising Cannabis: Is Hitchens right? Dominic Madar reports on DebSoc’s debate and asks if Hitchens is right about keeping cannabis illegal WE’VE heard it numerous times from our parents, politicians and television. Drugs are bad – simple as. Well yes it turns out a lot of them are… and therefore we should make them illegal? Can you imagine if we applied that logic to alcohol, tobacco, fast food, marital affairs or any number of extreme sports? Now that really would be a stunningly boring life. Peter Hitchens and co slugged out the issue at Exeter’s Debating Society in front of a packed audience - I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more alternative crowd on Exeter campus. And yet the utter skill and command from Hitchens swayed the youthful masses just enough to scrape an impressive victory for the Opposition (to keep cannabis illegal). The trick from Hitchens was to criticise a bunch of idealistic middle class white kids for their highly irresponsible behaviour. He claimed the poor were disproportionally affected and countries like Mexico and Colum-

bia left ravaged. He tapped into their consciences and further convinced them with a devilishly cunning attack on capitalism and commercialism. By legalising it you may take it out of the hands of criminals but you place it at the mercy of greedy corporations! Establishment criminals to the far left if you will. The idea of giant businesses shamelessly advertising their harmful products (think McDonalds for cannabis) was too much.

“It’s position as a gateway to harder stuff and the legitimacy granted if legalised were on full display” No doubt Hitchens knew exactly what he was doing. I disagree on a lot that he says but it is hard not to admire such a talented orator and columnist once experienced in the flesh. The classic attack lines on the

harmful effects of the drug, its position as a gateway to harder stuff and the legitimacy granted if legalised were on full display. Likewise anybody in favour was branded a self-interested drug abuser rather than a valid opinion holder, which would make a lot more sense if marijuana was actually difficult to get hold of or prosecution seriously enforced. Many times I have undertaken passionate discussions with people firmly against its legalisation; they express a paranoid fear of drugs (having never taken them or bothered to research the different effects of each one) while simultaneously consuming an unhealthy level of booze because the law says it’s ok. This situation in itself is absurd enough, especially since alcohol – a substance that owes its legality simply to culture and history rather than any coherent logical argument – is far more dangerous than marijuana. Even if we were left with a bunch of lackadaisical pot smokers, would

that really be worse than the current level of violence and vandalism caused by intoxicated louts? In fact it sounds markedly better. How many times have you read about somebody overdosing or dying as a result of cannabis? As for aggression and damage to property, well that just requires far too much effort when you’re high (unfortunately, campaigning for legalisation does too). The ridiculous notion that drugs never did anyone any good can similarly be put to rest by a quick scroll down my iPod. More seriously though decriminalisation across various European countries has not led to a mass outbreak of stoners, crack heads and heroin addicts. Admittedly, the statistics on anything illegal are somewhat murky. Black markets have a way of distorting

and often brutal- ising whatever it is within them. Cannabis might well be a gateway drug because it’s in your dealer’s interest to hook you on something more potent. A legalised system has no such incentive (provided harder drugs aren’t legal), while reaping the economic benefits of taxation and making the trade a whole lot safer by regulating it. Despite the blissful relaxation experienced from smoking a joint or three, there are certain defects from cannabis. Criminalisation, however, only enhances these problems and the level of resources wasted by the police on such a trivial offence is obscene. To fight the growing demand and acceptance of marijuana with a blanket ban is fanciful, rigid and outdated; such a measure is to the detriment of society as a whole, not just a few stoned hippies.

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Exeposé

North Mali: secession or intervention? After almost a year of fighting, Arthur der Weduwen opens up the insurgency in Mali, which despite being under-reported by the Western media, is one of the most difficult conflicts going on in Africa today

THE current political situation in most Saharan countries have been heavily impacted by their colonial backgrounds. At the Berlin Conference in 1885, Western Powers divided large unexplored swaths of land between them as colonies and protectorates, ensuring another nineteen years of peace in the Western hemisphere. However, this practice of divide and rule had an enormous impact on Saharan countries. Random borders had been drawn on large maps. This is one of the reasons why some of the frontiers of Saharan nations, such as Algeria, Niger, Egypt, and Mali, to name but a few, are dead-straight.

“Mali is in danger of being underreported by the global media. How many people can point out Mali on a map? How many people think Timbuktu is a fictional town of fable” Imperial ambitions overruled consideration of the nomadic Tuareg, who do not take any artificial border into account to this day. They have been roaming the desert for as long as history dates back, and no border will stop them from doing so. After the retreat of the colonial powers from Africa, some of these Tuareg suddenly found themselves to be part of the official country of Mali. The historic background of Mali has created a rather odd shape on the world map. The closest comparison would be to that of a fat hook. The bottom part of this hook lies below the edge of the Sahara, and is largely inhabited by Sub-Saharan Africans in a more temperate, humid climate. The top half of the hook is situated deeply into the Sahara, and is the home of the Tuareg, of whom many are strict followers of the Islamic faith. In March of this year the President of Mali, Amadou Tourmani Touré, was overthrown by a junta of disgruntled soldiers. The justification for this coup d’état was that the president had not dealt effectively with a Tuareg rebellion which had started in January. In recent developments, various Islamist groups, who at first sided with the Tuareg rebels, have taken advantage of the anarchy in North Mali and seized major towns, including the former cap-

ital Timbuktu. Thus the conflict has developed into a three-way struggle between the Southern-based government, Tuareg rebels, and Islamist groups. Although there has been plenty of news surrounding the insurrection in the North in recent weeks, Mali is in danger of being underreported by global media. How many people can point out Mali on a map? How many people think Timbuktu is a fictional town of fable? In addition, Mali’s exports and imports amount to such small accounts that most nations will not care for Mali on an economic basis. The only country with a degree of interest is France, as she contains a sense of responsibility for her former colony. Luckily, the West African community is intent on creating a stable neighbour for fears that an insurrection might spread to their borders also. This is why, reportedly, 3,300 soldiers are on their way from Niger, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria, with some forms of Western aid (although no ground forces) in addition. If this international force strikes against the rebels, they might succeed in restoring the status quo ante bellum. However, it will take much more to unify the nation ideologically. It can be argued that Mali, instead of military unification, needs a diplomatic resolution like Sudan and its reluctant creation, South Sudan. Algeria has recently taken this stance, fearing an overspill of violence into its own Saharan provinces that a military intervention would bring. Furthermore, unlike in the Sudan, there is no oil in Mali to complicate matters economically, and it would be easier for North Mali to identify itself with Algeria and Mauritania as Muslim neighbours, ensuring that most trade would be directed northwards. This could minimize future conflicts between South and North Mali, and does indicate a more peaceful and prosperous time for the former glory of Africa.

“The ensuing conflict between the ‘original’ Taureg and Islamist groups will not end overnight” One question remains. How should this be achieved? South Sudan went through decades of oppression by its northern neighbour. North Mali seems to have taken the initiative in

The Republic of Mali Mali is an indepepdent republic in Western Africa, stretching from its tropical climate in the south to the arid Sahahra in the north. With a population touching 15 million, the largest ethnic group is the Mande (making up 50 per cent). There are a plethora of smaller ethnicities, such as the Tuareg, who make up 10 per cent mainly in the north. Mali obtained its independence from France on 20 Junbe 1960. Post-independence it was run by as

a single-party state until a 1991 coup brought about the beginnings of a democratic state. Since the beginning of this year the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad - a northern Malian nationalist group - have launched an insurgency against the Malian government. Now the insurgency is being continued by several groups. The capital Timbuktu was captured by rebels in April, but fighting between rebel groups and those supporting the Malian government has continued.

Photo: un.org

>> Taureg rebels are only one of several Islamist groups fighting for independence and control of nothern Mali

its own hands. But given news of human rights abuses and the formation of a brutal Islamist regime, should the world push for the independence of the North or assist the South in re-uniting its breakaway provinces? Furthermore, if independence is sup-

ported and achieved, how long will this last? The ensuing conflict between the ‘original’ Tuareg and the Islamist groups, supported by other international cells of Islamism across the Sahara, will not end overnight. Sadly, it looks like another long

Saharan struggle is unfolding because of the artificial conditions created in the late nineteenth century. It is in this current political climate that we have to resolve this issue, hopefully before the world sees Mali descend into Sudan-like anarchy.

Anglicans: Behind the times? Phil Thomas, News Editor, condemns the failure of the Church of England to give women the right to become bishops WHEN one reflects on the twentieth century, one of its most positive aspects was the diminishing gap in inequality between men and women. The Church of England recently opted against this progress as they denied females the opportunity to become a bishop. The measure failed to secure the required two thirds of the vote amongst representatives of the laity and so the measure can now not be re-appealed for five years, according to Synod regulations. As Rowan Williams, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, despondently realised, the Church of England has “lost a measure of credibility” in the eyes of the wider public as different interpretations of God’s message have left his denomination trailing far behind the zeitgeist. From a scripture perspective it is clear to see why women are denied equal rights in the Church. Paul the Apostle, in Corinthians 14: 34-35, said: “It is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church”. He also said in Timothy 2:12: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” For those within the Church who maintain a literal interpretation of scripture, they believe that they are simply complying with God’s will by having male-dominated congregations. The majority of the Church of England, however, does not think this literally. 42 out of 44 dioceses voted overwhelming in support for women bishops, as they know that Christianity has lasted so long by shaping itself around its cultural environment. In-

Photo: guardian.co.uk

>> The Archbishop of Canterbury comforts a supporter of women bishops

deed, Rowan Williams said: “It seems as if we are wilfully blind to some of the trends and priorities of wider society.” Although the Bible states that women are to be treated as second class citizens, many within the Church of England want females to become bishops so that the Church can be a modern institution combined with moral Judeo-Christian principles. Instead, as the vote proved, the relationship between scripture and practice remains contentious, which has served to not only embarrass the Church of England but also to further alienate them from a society that is today less interested in its

teachings than at any point in its history. The Conservative-Lib Dem coalition should also be ashamed of itself for allowing this decision to pass. How can an establishment which openly discriminates against women be legal? Considering that the average gap in earnings between the sexes was approximately £10,000 in 2011, this was an excellent chance for the government to strongly condemn the Church of England. Instead, David Cameron could only mutter that he was: “very sad the way the vote went”. Why should this institution be exempt from the ideals of our free society?

“It seems as if we are wilfully blind to some of the trends and priorities of [the] wider society” Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury Although that opportunity has now passed, the Church still has the chance to restore some credibility. As more people voted for the measure of female bishops than against it at the Synod, the Church should reform the voting system to allow the passing of a proposal if it is over fifty percent or, at the very least, make the re-appeal time less than five years. As Justin Welby, the soon-to-be Archbishop of Canterbury, must now realise, he needs to unite and reform a Church which through voting against equality has seriously damaged itself.

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Exeposé

| week twelve

LIFESTYLe

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Lifestyle FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ExeposeLStyle

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O’.com all ye faithful? James Crouch, Features Editor, argues that Claus-trophobic shopping on the high street is better than buying online during the festive season BEING battered from pillar to post by the swathe of bag-wielding non-entities walking up and down Oxford Street, while loading your own hoard of costly items that aren’t even for you, from one outlet to the next probably seems like an odd idea for a holiday. The experience in Exeter’s own High Street may involve slightly less of being crushed by middle-aged shoppers and slightly more frustration at the lack of choice, but regardless, the high street Christmas experience beats online shopping hands down.

“The high street shopping experience beats online shopping hands down” Slightly less pessimistically, I enjoy the bubbly feeling of walking around, seeing what’s on offer; the new things, the expensive things. My masochistic self forces me to walk into John Lewis and probe around the gift section, ogling at ‘Preserves Trees’ and bottles of Bollinger with crystal glasses for two that I definitely cannot afford. All this bourgeois shopping and on-repeat Christmas songs even make me think that jigsaw puzzles might even be a good idea. But even though I’m not quite silly enough to buy those, it still surprises me how anyone can fail to be gripped in the Christmas shopping

spirit, even if it is the rose-tinted term for flushing your money down the pan. But even if you get over the fact that you’re spending all your money seriously, what else is it there for but to be spent - then the stress of the whole endeavor becomes your next problem. I hear the exasperated cry ‘but what on earth am I going to get auntie Mabel for Christmas?’ This year I was organised, and with the odd telephone call and a few internet orders my Christmas shopping is near finalised. Stress free. And although some will say ‘lucky you’, I’ve got to admit that I did it wrong! A food shop should be organised, a Christmas gift bonanza should not. It’s about window shopping, seeing the displays, laughing at obviously annoyed staff who have heard Jingle Bells ten times too many and the occasional last minute

rush after 22nd. The reason why it’s not just bland commercialism is because there’s a little bit of an adrenaline rush that the holidays are round the corner and your getting a little bit loose with your wallet. To those who say that all this shopping malarkey detracts from Christmas, I find begging them to understand. Christmas itself is the important season of love, and joy and hope that we know it to be. But if you decide that you want to continue with the tradition of giving your family and friends gifts - even expensive ones - then that is a nice thing to do that doesn’t detract from Christmas. The shopping then has to be loved, not because it is what the season is all about, but because you can see yuletide joy in it. The lights, especially up in London, are just spectacular. The displays have warm colours on snowy backgrounds, and more importantly it’s all reminding students that home is

performed the same shopping routine: we wander round John Lewis on Oxford Street for an hour ooh-ing and ahing at the shiny things we’re not going to buy, then go to the Godiva chocolate shop on Regent Street were we enjoy chatting while chomping on the only pricy thing we could afford: a posh bar of chocolate. So before you write off going down to the High Street this yuletide and buying everything online, think about the positives. After all, it’s Christmas! We’re not all cynical this time of year, and even if I end up ticking off my list in PoundLand I’m sure I’ll still wholeheartedly enjoy shopping this holiday!

“No one wants to be friendly when they’re waiting in a queue for two hours” The common response to this question is browsing, of course. But simply put: browsing is bollocks. If we’re all honest, nine times out of ten you know exactly what you are going to buy your mum, brother, best mate, before you even set foot out the door; spending

hours trawling around the shops before you finally settle on getting that DVD box set of The West Wing or that special strawberry scented bubble bath is simply deluding yourself into thinking you’ve put more thought into their present than you actually have. Shame on you. And if you actually do need to browse the shops, because you have no idea what to get someone, you clearly don’t know them that well anyway and shouldn’t be bothering to get them a present. So, that’s why I suggest that this Christmas season, we all stay in. Cosy up by a fire, put on some Bublé (yes, Bublé), get some mulled wine, or just normal wine if that’s what you’re feeling, and open up the Amazon homepage where all your purchases await at a click of a button. There’ll be no need to

Check out Exeposé’s Annual fashion shoot ‘The Best of British’ over the page! Make sure to check out more photos and a look behind the scenes at

www.exepose.ac.ex.uk

Tweets of the week Follow @exeposelstyle to see your tweets in Lifestyle! ALEX PHELPS @Phelpsy93  English students complaining about essays is cute

JAMES CROUCH @TheBig_JC Don’t worry electric blanket, I am on my way! #BedTimeBeckons #ButButButIHaveToWalkBackFromCampus SOPHIA MONTGOMERY @Sophia_M_ Safer sex ball must be the only time a girl worries that her outfit isn’t slutty enough #mightaswellbenaked #boobsgalore

just round the corner. If you’re still not feeling it, get your friends involved. For years now, a couple of friends and I have

only a couple of days before Santa fumbles down the chimney. People want to get in, buy whatever it is they want to buy and get out again. It’s a hellish experience and with the wondrous invention of internet shopping, why should any of us bother?

Lifestyle fashion shoot

IAN WHITTAKER @ianwhit17 Essay finished. Now to celebrate by beginning my next one. #WeepForMeAfrica

On the other hand, Meg Drewett, Features Editor, argues Christmas internet shopping is a decision yule never regret IN my entire year, there is no activity more hellish than that of Christmas shopping. Now I’m not a Grinch; I like Christmas. I enjoy the trees and the lights and I can just about understand the horrors of cheesy songs about mistletoe and wine. What I don’t enjoy, however, is wandering around shops for hours on end, being shoved left, right and centre by screaming children or anxious adults before having to wrestle someone to the ground for the last copy of that niche CD I absolutely must get my sister. During the Christmas shopping period, people get crazy, stressed and aggressive and so any traditional shopping etiquette heads right out the window and way inside next door’s garden. In the run up to the big day, no one wants to be friendly when they’ve been waiting in a queue for two hours, still have ten presents left to get on the list and there’s

TYLER GILSON @TylerGilson 1 just saw 3 geezers walk into the library with glasses of wine #onlyinexeter BETHAN ROBERTS @bethanaroberts Def just saw Greg off’ve masterchef in John Lewis #loljk just another generic bald man with glasses. THEA RICHARD @thea_x ‘I’ve got my brandy butter so it’s all fine’ #justoverheardthis #onlyinExeter

venture out into the cold, no pretending to be nice to people so annoying even Louie Spence would stay clear of them; everything will be brought straight to your door, already wrapped if you’ve got the cash, and in a few hours of scrolling through the internet, you’re done. It’s a simple, easy and stress free way to go about Christmas, and with all that time saved from being at the shops, you can get down to what Christmas is really all about: getting so drunk you can’t even remember what your presents were.

JON JENNER @JonJenner So I thought licking the knife was the most daring thing I’d do today... then I used out of date milk. #madman #somebodystopme OWEN KEATING @owenkeats I was the 40th person to retweet what Ed Miliband had for dinner. A new low. JOE DE SILVA @desilvasays Remembering why I don’t drink wine. #dontwinemeup #ugh

lifestyle

11 december 2012 |

www.exepose.ex.ac.uk

What to expect when...

Christmas is near

Lifestyle’s new columnist, Lucy Porter, asks us to get some frankin-sense during the crazy build up to Christmas at home

IT all started a few months ago with really bad as I taped the tinsel to the a battery display in M&S. One that Coca-Cola sign on the fridge. Christhappened to be unseasonably deco- mas isn’t Christmas until you’ve seen rated with reindeer and snowflakes. the Coke advert, and now here it was, “Christmas already? It’s too practically recreated in front of early for that!” I scoffed me (albeit on a slighty lowRead more with the adult superier budget)! Suddenly I ority of one who is could talk about nothing christmas utterly impervious but wrapping paper and articles at to premature festive sprouts and everything I www.exepose. advertising. How litlooked at sparkled with joy ex.ac.uk! tle did I suspect, as I (although that’s probably turned on my heel with because I’d attached tinsel to a toss of my hair, that my it). The glorious merrymaking steely resolve would soon had begun. Mid-November. buckle. Until the dust began to settle. LitAs students, we’re generally ex- erally. And let me tell you there is nothpected to have shaken off the child- ing harder to clean than a shop doused hood tendency to dissolve into a sniv- in festivity. Furthermore, once you’ve elling mess at the first sight of tinsel surpassed the dewey-eyed wonder of - you know, because university is all the approaching celebrations, you’re about growing up (ahem). It’s a well faced with everything that is less than known fact that mentioning the C-word thrilling about them. Such as presents. before the first window of your ad- Giving and receiving. vent calendar has been greedily prised open is an absolute social disgrace. When those losers announce the four “Let me tell you there is month countdown in AUGUST (and nothing harder to clean guarateed, there will be at least one on everybody’s newsfeed), we all roll than a shop doused in our eyes, sigh and secretly feel a little festivity” seed of terror settle in the pits of our stomachs. Why? Sure, being reminded Initially it’s just a case of working of the cold, dead winter whilst we’re out what to buy for whom. Then your basking in the final glow of the glori- bank balance begins to tug the back of ous British summer (...) taps into our your mind like an insolent child. Then existential dread, but is Christmas not you remember last year’s fiasco, when the most wonderful time of the year? you watched your 50-year-old mother This was precisely my sentiment emotionally break after her months of the day I abandoned my festive con- hard work were reciprocated with an tempt, which I had originally been out-of-date chocolate orange. When determined to hold onto until at least she turns out this year’s wishlist, it early December. ‘Twas a Saturday becomes apparent that soon you won’t morning and all through the Student even have a bank balance to worry Shop, not a creature was stirring, not about. even one of those graduates with far And as you relax by the fire with too much time, money and nostalgia a mug of fortified mulled-wine to ease on their hands. I’d done the morn- your shopping-weary mind, rememing’s jobs and was happily twiddling ber; there’s an even worse nightmare my thumbs when my supervisor came lurking under the tree. Have you ever back from the stock room with what unwrapped a gift, watched by expectcan only be described as a box full ant eyes, only to find yourself conof magic in her hands. “Here you go fronted with something that inspires ,Lucy” she said, not anticipating the not gratitude but confusion, followed monstrous elf-creature she was about by attempts at phrasing “what the fuck to create, not even from the manic is it?” in a polite manner that won’t ofglowing of my eyes. “You can deco- fend the sadistic bastard who bought rate the shop for Christmas.” you an ambiguous present in the first place? there are the looming exams, “Mentioning the C-word the Then family gatherings, the attempts before opening up your at dodging various relatives like the food-poisoning you’re sure to get from advent calendar is an crazy Aunt Cathy’s turkey cake... how absolute social disgrace” many weeks left? Two? Bah humbug. Christmas? It’s too early for that. Well. I’m not one to do things by halves. By the end of the day, I had attached Christmas cheer to every feasible surface I could find. Things got

Exeposé

Warm drinks fir the festive season Egg Nog

LUCY PORTER It may seem like a silly drink, but snow joke. A great warmer in the cold winter Serves: 6 Takes: 40 mins INGEDIENTS 100g caster sugar 2 large free-range eggs, separated 600ml semi-skimmed milk ¼ tsp vanilla extract 100ml Tesco value rum 75ml whipping cream Ground nutmeg Ground cinnamon METHOD 1. Put caster sugar and egg yolks in a bowl and whisk until thick and creamy. 2. Heat the milk in a saucepan over a

medium heat until almost boiling. Remove from the heat and pour into the egg and sugar mixture, whisking all the time. Pour the whisked mixture back into the pan and heat gently, stirring, until smooth and slightly thickened. Add the vanilla and rum and whisk well. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. 3. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks, then fold into the cooled egg and milk mixture. Beat the whipping cream until thick, then fold three-quarters of this into the mixture. Add a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg according to taste (but not too much!) Chill everything in the fridge until ready to serve. 4. To serve, ladle into a glass or mug and enjoy chilled or heated up!

Mulled Cider

THOMAS LING, LIFESTYLE EDITOR A delicious warm drink that’s perfect for those leftover cans of cider Serves: 5 Takes: 10 mins INGEDIENTS 3 pts/ 1.5 l cider (any brand) 1 tps vanilla essence/ 1 vanilla pod 1 tps cinnamon 2 cloves 2 tbs caster sugar ¾ pts orange juice METHOD 1. Pour cider, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, sugar and orange juice in pan and gently heat until warm 2. Stir until sugar is dissolved, being careful not to boil off the alcohol

It’s beginning to cook a lot like christmas Roast Chicken

TONY PRODROMOU MUSIC EDITOR Chicken is probably the cheapest roast available to students and can be heaven if prepared properly. Cooking time may vary depending on size of chicken

METHOD 1. Roughly chop onions (and other veg) and place on roasting tin 2. Take chicken out of fridge 25-30 mins and take it to room temperature.

Serves: 4 Takes: 2.5 hours INGEDIENTS 1 chicken approx 1.6 kg Olive oil 3 gloves of garlic 2 Onions 1 lemon Salt and pepper Thyme Oregano Selection of other vegetables

Garlic Brussels Sprouts JAMES GREEN

If we eat Brussels Sprouts at all, it’s usually out of tradition rather than enjoyment. With just a little bit of effort though, they can be a great accompaniment to any Christmas dinner. Serves: 4 Time: 20 mins INGEDIENTS 3 cloves of garlic 1 1/2 tbs butter 12+ Brussel sprouts, halved

salt and pepper METHOD 1. Crush garlic cloves with the flat of a knife 2. Melt butter in a frying pan until it starts to foam 3. On a medium heat, add the crushed garlic and cook until lightly browned 4. Take out the garlic and discard 5. Add in the sprouts, cut in half, and leave on a low-medium heat for 15 minutes or until tender 6. Add salt and pepper and serve

Pre- heat oven to 220 degrees and place chicken on roasting tin. 3. Slice lemon in half and insert into chicken cavity 4. Crush garlic into bowl and mix with herbs of your choice. Add generous amount of olive oil to bowl and mix 5. Gently pour olive oil mixture over chicken and massage into the skin 6. Season chicken with salt and pepper 7. Place chicken in oven, Turn down temperature to 200 degrees and roast until fully cooked until juices run clear. (approx 1 hour 15 mins) 8. Halfway through baste chicken with the juices from the roasting tin 9. Take chicken out of oven and leave to rest for 10 mins before carving

ExeposĂŠ Lifestyle Fashion Shoot 2012

Megan wears: Dress £160, Coast

BEST OF BRITISH This year, Exeposé’s fashion shoot rounds off a year of Jubilee celebrations, Olympic glory, and even a royal pregnancy with a suitably patriotic ‘Best of British’ theme. As well as showing off the best British styles, we also wanted to reflect student life by bringing in affordable looks, including student created brands (see the effortlessly cool Mammal Swag and Phickle T-shirts). Four main scenes are on display: An extravagant tea party, a ‘Downton Abbey’ inspired look, cool and quirky campus casual styles, and classic evening wear featuring designer suits and gorgeous dresses. We really hope you enjoy the photos! Chessie, Alex, Thomas, Emily, Lauren and Magda

Alex wears: Jacket and trousers £35, Knitted shirt £10. Both, The Real McCoy Megan wears: Skirt £49, Shirt,£49. Both, Off the Hook

Ioana wears: Dress £39, Off the Hook

Ioana wears: Dress £65, Off the Hook Megan, as before

check out more photos and a look behind the scenes at

exepose.ex.ac.uk

Megan wears: Jacket £249, Jack Wills T-shirt £13, Mammal Swag Trousers £79.50, Jack Wills Alex wears: T-shirt £13, Mammal Swag Trousers, £69.50, Jack Wills Ioana, as before Robbie,as before

Ioana wears: Shirt £45, Off the Hook Shorts £20, The Real McCoy Robbie wears: T-shirt £20, Phickle Jacket £35, The Real McCoy Trousers £79.50, Jack Wills

Megan, as before

All outfits, as before

Alex wears: Suit £129, Moss Megan wears: Dress £195, Coast Ioana wears: Dress £195, Coast Robbie wears: Suit £249, Moss

All outfits, as before

Megan wears: Dress £145, Coast Ioana wears: Dress £38, The Real Mccoy Alex and Robbie: All outfits, as before

All outfits, as before

All clothes displayed can be found in the following stores

14 Princesshay, Exeter, UK EX1 1GE www.moss.co.uk

Unit SU2 ,Princesshay , EX1 1GE www.coast-stores.com

Princesshay, 4 Bedford Street, City Centre,Exeter www.jackwills.com

www.mammalswag.com www.phickle.co.uk 151 Fore Street Exeter, Devon EX4 3AT www.offthehookclothing. co.uk 21 McCoys Arcade Fore Street, Exeter, Devon EX4 3AN www.therealmccoy.co.uk

DIRECTORS Chessie Hughes, Thomas Ling and Alex Tindall STYLISTS Magda Cassidy, Emily-Rose Rolfe and Lauren Swift MODELS Alex Goosey, Robbie Holt, Ioana Minulescu, and Megan Train PHOTOGRAPHER Joshua Irwandi LIGHTING ASSISSANT Joshua Creek EDITED BY Joshua Irwandi and Thomas Ling WE’D ALSO LIKE TO THANK... Nick Davies, Norrie Blackeby, Jon Primrose and Exeter University Drama Department, Mark Barretto, Bethan Roberts, Laura Le Brocq, Meg Drewett, James Crouch, Kate Gray, Greg Troake, and Exeter University Estate Patrol.

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MUSIC

Music

Listings Tues 11th Dec Thick as Thieves Christmas Special Cellar Door Fri 14th Dec Our House Christmas Special Cavern

11 december 2012 |

www.exepose.ex.ac.uk

Exeposé

MUSIC EDITORS

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

Freewheelin’ Willy Mason

After five albumless years that’s seen him drift ever further from initially being pigeonholed ‘the new Bob Dylan’, Willy Mason talks to Callum McLean, Music Editor, about the new album, dub reggae and Blade Runner

Interview

Fri14th Dec High Rankin Lemmy Fri 14 Dec The xx Colston Hall, Bristol Fri 14th Dec Jools Holland Plymouth Pavilions Sat 15 Dec Modestep Lemmy Sat 15th Dec Tokyo Dub Motion, Bristol Fri 21st Dec Cabaret Voltaire: Electro Swing Christmas Party Cavern Wed 19th Jan David Rodigan, London Elektricity & Mala Phoenix Thurs 31st Jan Funeral for a Friend Cavern Fri 1st Feb Stanton Warriors Phoenix Sat 2nd Feb DJ Derek plays Bob Marley Phoenix

Freebie of the Year

“YOU can only write so many mission statements”, says Willy Mason, eight years and just two albums after ‘Oxygen’ – the coming of age ballad-cum-political manifesto-cum-love song – had everyone from Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst (“an old friend of mine”) to The Guardian heralding him as ‘the new Bob Dylan’ before he reached 20. “Eventually you’ve gotta get onto the hypothesis and the antithesis and the story itself. Which is what I feel like this album is.”

“Recording with [M.I.A. producer] Dan Carey was like plugging in an electric guitar for the first time”

ClamsCasino - Instrumental TapeII http://tinyurl.com/clamsvolii This second mixtape from the disgustingly on-point American youngster, unconincidentally A$AP Rocky’s producer of choice, provides a delicious slice of melancholic yet uplifiting instrumental hip hop. A must.

Poring over the copies of Carry On he’s autographing (it was out just the day previous) with a furrowed brow, his impossibly gravelly purr makes it difficult to see past the ‘wise-beyond-his-years ol’ country troubadour’ stereotype. And with such time lapses between releases, it’s hard to keep a hold on his media image anyway – in fact he goes so far as saying, ”writing new songs was part of the process of reclaiming my face from the cover of magazines”. If five years off the map was to dispel the freewheelin’ nomad mythology, his account of its turning point – when he realised he had a new album to release – only heightens the mystique, together with an ambiguous touch of pot-frazzle thrown in. “I was living in the fishing

village of Menemsha [near his home in subtlety, like nothing was lost in the reMartha’s Vineyard, MA] in the winter cording process. So, yeah it was pretty time - it was kind of a lonely winter but good.” I got some writing done. I had just finPretty good is an understatement for ished watching Blade Runner and then a record audibly five years in the makI made some insulated curtains to try ing. Its varied sonic palate feature Willy and keep the wind out and then I wrote Mason at his softest, most rootin’ too‘Shadows In The Dark’, which is one of tin’est and, unexpectedly, most dubbed the songs on this album. And after I’d out. “Well dub’s always been a part of written that one I decided that I had an my music, just nobody heard it before”, album’s worth of songs. I felt like that he says of six-minute jam ‘Restless Fuone was the cherry on top…One thing gitive’ with a sly grin creeping as slowly led to another and then I met [producer] across his face as he delivers his own Dan Carey. Once I met him and I saw laboured aphorisms – “If you can’t see his studio, I knew how to make the re- it, you’ve gotta look harder”. cord, which I didn’t know before that, Equally, a “whole new world of so that was kind of it really.” possibilities” is reassuring in a record Anyone who’s ever lent half an Mason says completes a trilogy started ear to Willy Mason’s music will almost a decade ago. He’s come realize that this would be a a long way since he first thrilling enough catalyst started railing against Head in its own right. The the lies and hypoconline to check “all bare bones of his risy” on ‘Oxygen’, out exclusive lyrical prowess and the title track of Carwhisky-on-hot-coals interviews with the ry On seeming to vocals are ordinar- SSB acts, reviews & answer some of the ily an instant recipe questions his youngmuch more for subtly melodic, er self posed back instantly engaging but then. “There’s a lot of lasting musical nuggets. relief where I am now”, he Throw into the equation a proexplains. ducer with credits on M.I.A. and Hot Still, when he gets up on stage, old Chip records and things are bound to numbers like ‘Gotta Keep Moving’ and get interesting. “Recording with Dan – ‘So Long’ carry a tremendous amount I learned a lot from that. It was sort of of weight. “There’s something signifilike plugging in an electric guitar for the cant in a whole room full of people singfirst time. There was a whole new world ing along”, he decides dreamily. “They of possibilities, a feeling of power and already have their own story to do with

the song, all I’ve gotta do is sort of play it out for them”. Indeed, even when a mid-croon belch completely halts a song – “I kinda had a moment there for a second”, he chuckles sheepishly – the response is overwhelmingly affectionate. But it helps that his voice, and the warm presence of his multi-instrumentalist band, are otherwise faultless.

“This album feels like paying off my debts. After this I get to do whatever I want” So with an already loyal following, greedily embracing Carry On’s new set of tunes, the trilogy seems far from complete. What’s next for Willy Mason? “I don’t know what’s to come.” He suddenly looks very distantly pensive. “I’m really happy about putting this album out, it feels like a big accomplishment. And it sort of feels like I’m paying off my debts, and after this I get to do whatever I want to do. So I’m looking forward to that, because there’s a lot to be done in the world.” Debts to whom? “It’s complicated”, he mutters mysteriously. “I guess there’s something in me that makes me feel like I gotta finish what I start, even if it takes ten years – a certain sense of duty and obligation. Sometimes it just gets me in trouble but I won’t know for sure until the end.”

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The twenty twelve days of Christmas: your year in music

Exeposé Music pore over a (Christmas) cracking twelve months of albums for your crimbo wishlist and singles for the hit list Two Door Cinema Club Beacon Kitsuné

I’M the first to admit that I was a latecomer to the Two Door Cinema ‘Club’. I shunned them and their screaming tweenage fan girls at Reading – after all, how could a band fronted by a floppy haired ginger twat, who didn’t even have a drummer, actually be any good?

different. Two Door were vocal about their enthusiasm for change as well – a bigger record, a bigger fan base and bigger venues were all on the cards – sights that scream far off from a tent of tweens. It turns out they actually pulled it out of the bag. Beacon provides the sound of an ambitious band who’ve “How could a band matured (one listen to the album confronted by a floppy firms its difference to Tourist History), haired ginger twat but who’ve managed to remain fun. Sure, it’s not as twangy, and perhaps actually be any good?” not as catchy from the off-set, but it’s Humble pie came to me when Tour- definitely more clever. TDCC have ist History turned up in my stocking jumped over the awkward second alwith an apologetic note: “You’re bum hurdle without morphing always hard to buy for into boring bastards – now you’re not in your “Someday” and the anCatch up on a ironic gothic phase themic “Wake Up” term of broadcasting maybe you’ll confirm as much. like something The first half gold, ft. interviews with catchier and of is definitely Peter Hook, Alt-J & more. less... angry?” stronger than Listen on facebook.com/ It turned the second, so out that I was make sure you XmediaMusicShow or a sucker for reget the Deluxe subscribe on tinyurl.com petitive choruses Version – its in/XmediaMusic that make up the clusion of a live set flesh and bones of at Brixton reminds Show pretty much every song you why you loved on Tourist History. But two TDCC in the first place. and a half years, almost too many KITTY HOWIE tours and a Debenham’s Christmas adONLINE LIFESTYLE EDITOR vert later, I was ready for something

voted your stocking filler of 2012 AT first glance, The Cherry Thing is an unlikely collaboration. Scandinavian trio The Thing play jazz so loose and fierce that it’s sometimes known as ‘free music’, whereas Neneh Cherry is best known for her 1988 pop-rap hit ‘Buffalo Stance’ and her smooth 90s trip-hop. But if we dig a little deeper the dynamic behind one of the 2012’s most thrilling albums is revealed. One of Cherry’s first bands was the punkjazz group Rip Rig + Panic, and her

stepfather was none other than Don Cherry, the free jazz giant from whose song The Thing take their name. Listening to the record, it’s obvious NeNneh Cherry can hold her own amidst the muscular force of The Thing. From statement of intent ‘Too Tough To Die’ to a stomping cover o f The Stooges’ ‘Dirt’, her agile voice melds with their powerful, fluid playing. She rises to the anger they muster, whispers menacingly over quieter moments, soars in the swelling build ups. ‘Dream Baby Dream’ might be the best track, hypnotically skronking to a jubilant climax as Cherry repeats the title and Mats Gustafsson makes his sax sound like a triumphant elephant.

THE FIRING RANGE 2 12 *

past (picture Lady Gaga covered in meat, or rather, don’t... ever). From its title to the stunning

Dead Oceans

KRISTIAN Matsson, better known as The Tallest Man on Earth, had a tough act to follow when it came to There’s No Leaving Now. The Wild Hunt, lavishly praised by critics, even obtained Pitchfork’s stamp of hipster approval: an 8.5 and Best New Music. With this in mind, there were high expectations for No Leaving Now. Once again, Matsson nailed it. But not how you might have expected. Knowing that the passionate urgency that formed the lifeblood of The Wild Hunt was insurmountable, he mellowed

things down. Instead of shouting every line like it was his last, Matsson controls his distinctive voice with a bit more care. This approach feels like a more mature, more comfortable Tallest Man, and this is reflected in the lyrics as well. Whilst his previous songwriting revolved around the notion of running away, Matsson has said that No Leaving Now is about confronting fears and anxieties. Driving his ever-cryptic, evocative lyricism is his flawless work on the guitar. In a genre and industry saturated with moody guys with acoustic guitars, Matsson distinguishes himself with his usual bout of highly adept guitar work in open tunings. His approach to the instrument has always felt like a breath of fresh air, and his 2012 release is no different. However, at the same time he has progressed his own sound from previous albums. We hear more frequent ventures onto piano and particularly electric guitar that serve to diversify his sound, just in case you ever felt the formula getting stale. No Leaving Now continues Matsson’s reputation as one of the most consistent acts in the genre. Despite making some daring changes to his near-flawless sound, Tallest Man’s latest effort has proven to be a real contender for the best of 2012. Sadly, though, he seems to have ditched the banjo. DOM FORD

The reason The Cherry Thing works so well is that the collaborators meet in the middle, bringing out new qualities in eachother. The Thing get subtle, and melodic, and even a bit more conventional, whilst retaining their energy and the menace of possibly bursting out of these constraints at any moment. Neneh Cherry gets even sassier than usual, improvises, stretches her voice in ways more radio-friendly music doesn’t allow. It produces a unique sound – jazzy, experimental and raucous while also catchy and seductive. It gets a hold on you with punk energy and the pop of its hooks, then entrances you with all the intricacies of jazz, and for that it is my album of the year. HENRY COULSHED

Neneh Cherry & The Thing The Cherry Thing

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Jay-Z & Kanye West N****s In Paris

IF Jay-Z and Kanye West’s refreshing take on the hip-hop floor filler taught us anything this year, its that provocation can become a refined style in itself, without resorting to the shock tactics and crass humor seen in the

The Tallest Man On Earth There’s No Leaving Now

use of Will Ferrell’s immortal words from Blades of Glory, ‘N***as In Paris’ distills controversy into something caught between fantastic pop sensibilities and high art: The beat goes hard, Kanye raps about possible sex in a toilet and Jay-Z re-asserts just how goddamn baller he is, whilst still subtly reflecting on the material success of black artists at home and overseas. WILL PLATT

Mumford & Sons I Will Wait

Muse Survival (Olympic)

Carly Rae Jepsen Call Me Maybe

BUMFORD and C*nts [sic] satiated the Heart FM barnstompers earlier in the year with a new single, apparently written for the sole purpose of being chanted at Wednesday Timepiece. As the first single from their second album, the masters of the simple folk-pop song took it up rusty notch or two and produced a strummy lads-on-tour track which goes absolutely nowhere. Meant to be a lively sing-along track it is horribly over produced, and the instrumentation is disastrously hackneyed. Marcus Mumford’s rustic vocals are the only thing that saves this tragically banal, faux-emotive shitstorm.

IN 2050 the people of Great Britain will look back fondly on the musical heritage of the Noughties and wonder how it all went so horribly wrong in 2012. Was it X-factor? Gangnam Style? Nick Clegg auto-tuned? Alas, it was none of these. Music died in 2012 because Matt Bellamy, like Anakin Skywalker, took his impending greatness and shit it out through a synthesiser and an LED suit. Anakin became the best movie villain in history; Bellamy created the biggest musical turd since the invention of the auto-tune. Muse, it’s not that we’re angry, we’re just disappointed.

AS the end of the term approached in April, Carly Rae emerged with her saccharine pop injection to revive a populace deadened by exams. “Call Me Maybe” became a soundtrack for hope and a clarion call to the idiots inside us that had been repressed for so long. The ridiculously inane lyrics allowed drunken miming of the most disgraceful order. I miss her nasal tones every day, as each passing moment distances the present from when the “vintage telephone” could be whacked out in Arena. Also notable for its inappropriateness when sung by 50-something locals who look like they’ve done time.

LEAH DEVANEY

BEN WINSOR, ONLINE MUSIC EDITOR

TOM OBERST

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Two Short Nights lights up Exeter Liam Trim, Online Screen Editor, looks back on Exeter’s premier film festival

Nolan considered casting Ledger as Batman Christopher Nolan has revealed that he came close to casting Heath Ledger as Batman in Batman Begins, before eventually giving him the role of The Joker in which he was so iconic. Nolan also revealed that Ledger told him in 2005 that he would never be in a comic book film. We, like pretty much everyone who’s seen The Dark Knight, are very glad he changed his mind.

Widespread internet rumours have finally been confirmed as it has been announced that Jamie Foxx has been cast as Electro, the villain in The Amazing Spiderman 2, the follow up to last summer’s box-office smash. Electro can manipulate vast amounts of electricity, and does so to further his criminal ends.

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SCREEN EDITORS

Seth McFarlane, creator of Family Guy, has confirmed that a movie version of the hit comedy series is currently being worked on. The show has gained a cult following and a raft of complaints after consistently redrawing the line of what you can and can’t say on TV. The film should hit screens in 2013.

Jamie Foxx to play Spiderman Villain

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The Projectionist Created by: George Graham Cast: David Danson, Chris Kenya, Ric Cooper (13 Mins) HOW do you convey a lifetime of love in one moment? Second-year Exeter student and director, George Graham, effortlessly answers this in his latest short-film, The Projectionist: as the eponymous projectionist opens his wardrobe, he sadly brushes a lonely red dress tucked away at the back. The Projectionist is filled with these quiet moments and it is Graham’s ability to maintain this subtle poignancy that makes it so moving. An ageing projectionist, Oliver

Serry, is being forced into retirement with the advent of a digital age. Serry’s replacement is Andy, a twentysomething film enthusiast with his own domestic troubles. As a classic odd-couple, the dynamic works. Credit is again due to Graham, as well as his immensely talented actors, for creating characters that are both touching and recognisable. I have to be honest: I’ve always been a bit wary of ‘student film’. But the deftness with which The Projectionist handles the characters – their dreams, their losses, their aggravations – disproved any negative preconceptions I previously had. Graham won one of Exeter Phoenix Digital’s 2012 Short Film Commissions and his film really is testament to the success of the

OSCAR night, with its tears, tantrums and tiaras, may well be miles away, on the other side of Christmas and end of term deadlines, but Exeter recently hosted its own impressive awards ceremony. Refreshingly, the nominees at Exeter Phoenix’s ‘Two Short Nights’ premiere event were young, passionate, talented filmmakers, not posing celebrities. The high standard and breadth of genres on show made for a uniquely entertaining evening. For me, three of the six short films stood out, although they all had their own qualities. My favourite was The Oliver Complex, a wonderfully mad musical that had everything a great short needs. The production values were extraordinarily good, the premise was fresh, and the lead actor had sublime range. Director Jerri Hart ought to be tremendously proud of creating an irresistibly hilarious crowd pleaser, complete with campus locations. My two other highlights were The Projectionist by George Graham (an Exeter student) and Watch Me Dance by Nicola Tetlow. Both directors injected great poignancy into these films, making excellent use of nostalgia and generational conflict. Watch Me Dance was coated in a striking professional gloss, whilst The Projectionist evolved into a touching hymn about the power

of film. Sister, directed by Kate Graham, also deserves praise for its atmospheric execution. Graham’s style is reminiscent of Andrea Arnold, who won the Oscar for best short in 2005 with Wasp. But despite the immersive shots of rural Devon, the central theme in Sister needed more fleshing out. Polednice and Must Believe in Aliens! were the other two films in the line up. Polednice is an adaptation of a tale from Czech folklore, whilst Must Believe in Aliens! is a comedy about a woman who will only date men that believe she was abducted by aliens. Must Believe in Aliens! was undeniably funny but at times the comedic demands of the material exposed the inexperience of the cast, and the general premise behind the story was gimmicky in comparison to the rest of the films. Polednice was far too abstract for my tastes and it left me mostly baffled, although it did showcase director Michaela Morning’s mastery of a variety of filmmaking techniques. In the awards ceremony that followed the screenings, Polednice proved that it certainly wasn’t too abstract for the judges, bagging the top prize jointly with Watch Me Dance. All the films involved are worth seeing however, and it was a real privilege to watch such original work get the platform it deserves.

bursary programme in aiding talented filmmakers of any experience or age. There are flaws here - it’s a little too schmaltzy of an ending, it would have been nice to see more of the two together and the ‘film within a film’ could have been more impressive. But these are only minor quibbles within

an altogether rather lovely short film. With his time at university not even finished, I’m sure there’s a lot more to come from Graham and I’ll be excited to check it out, student film or not. OLIVIA LUDER ONLINE SCREEN EDITOR

Screen meets: George Graham Owen Keating, Screen Editor, sits down with one of the stars of the Phoenix’s festival THERE are very few people our age who can legitimately describe themselves as a professional filmmaker. George Graham is one of those people. The second year student debuted his first professional film, The Projectionist, at the Two Short Nights Film Festival (2930 November), at the Exeter Phoenix, to widespread acclaim amongst those in the ‘packed’ audience that night. The Projectionist is a classic odd-

couple film about a projectionist made redundant by his cinema’s switch from celluloid to digital, and his relationship with his younger, more technically savvy replacement. George was commissioned to make the film after a rigorous selection process, eventually winning one of six £500 bursaries with which he was able to make his film. This budget enabled what he calls a ‘wholly different production setup’ from

his previous projects, with a ten strong film crew and four different locations, including Exeter Picturehouse’s main auditorium. George is relatively effusive about the effect his course has had on his work; he comments that his degree is helpful in that “you read a lot about what’s happening in current cinema, including the transfer to new mediums”, a theme obviously prevalent in The

Projectionist. He sees filmmaking as a career. Well, “hopefully”. “The immediate plan is to try and write and direct one film a year”, he says, starting with a project he’s currently planning to release next year. In terms of his influences, he cites Alejandro González Iñárritu and Paul Thomas Anderson as two of his favourite directors, and people that one day he’d maybe hope to emulate. When asked for

his top bit of advice on how to get into film, he, perhaps surprisingly, suggests doing lots of reading. “Just because you’ve seen lots of films”, he says, “doesn’t mean you know how to make a good film”. George’s strategy involves reading lots of screenplays and paying close attention to the techniques and practices inherent in such a specialist form of communication. To our eyes, it seems to be a strategy that works.

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48 hours of film

Owen Keating, Screen Editor, experiences a surreal night of short film I HAVE rarely gone into a screening less sure about what to expect. The premise of the 48 Hour Film Challenge is a relatively self-explanatory one; each team has two days to make a film on a theme, using a prop. This year, the theme was ‘Crossing the Line’, and the prop was a kitchen timer. To make things more complicated, each film had to use the line ‘it’s never easy stepping into someone else’s shoes’. Simple, right? Needless to say, I couldn’t have predicted what I was about to see. Each of the eighteen short films that were screened were genuinely bonkers; when an old man sitting in a wheelchair in his garden, cradling a martini and pretending to know Richard Burton is one of the less weird things you see on an evening out, you know you’ve seen something special. The films covered a wide range of topics, from growing up to chess to cake to pheasants, by way of an old man wearing a dress on a webcam. Obviously. One thing that unified all these vastly different films was their quali-

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ty; the films conveyed genuine emotional depth, even the one which only featured a man, dressed as a banana, cradling a giant inflatable banana in his kitchen. The submissions were heartwarming, funny, and extremely professional in their production. It’d be hard to say which film was actually the best, but Wisdom of Nature, a stop-motion rendering of explosions and war’s pointlessness, was my own personal favourite. Funny, fast, and totally unexpected, it made the audience

laugh like no other film that night, as it dissected the bravery of war, reducing conflict to child’s play as lego men exploded on a plasticine battlefield. The eventual winner, Balloons, by Never Coming Home, was in itself a worthy winner; a man, waiting for his girlfriend, eyes up a cake he’s made for her. He can’t justify eating it as himself, so he dresses up as her to enjoy the gateau. As you do. She walks in, and hilarity ensues. A fitting winner to an extraordinarily surreal night.

Screen Asks We asked you this week to pitch us your ideal Christmas film... An xmas version of 127 Hours would be epic in which Father Christmas gets stuck down a chimney with his arm crushed against a boulder of presents. Imagine the happy looks on the kids faces as they see Santa slicing off his own arm using his shiniest belt buckle. THOMAS LING LIFESTYLE EDITOR The Wire - Christmas Special. Everyone is miserable and no one gets presents. Children are informed that Santa isn’t real and then sent out to deal drugs instead. Meanwhile the team’s investigation is thrown off by a sudden surge in communication with a shady ‘present’ dealing figure...But mostly just people being sad and life being grim. HUGH DIGNAN Snowfall. A rogue Elf leaks the naughty list, creating carnage. Santa himself (or Double-O Sleddin’) has to go after the list and save Christmas. Judi Dench stars as the Christmas angel. OWEN KEATING SCREEN EDITOR

The Expendables meet Santa CALUM BAKER Snakes on a Sleigh - Samuel L. Jackson stars as Father Christmas trying to get the presents to safety, as reindeer after reindeer falls to the venomous stowaways LOUIS DORÉ SCREEN EDITOR A Christmas classic relocated to our very own University city - “Miracle on Gandy Street.” Tom Payne stars as a second-hand store St Nick who gets hauled into the local magistrates’ court for trying to convince the fine people of our fair town that he actually is the jolly cherub we all know and love. Meanwhile there is a subplot of two good looking real estate agents who bond over their love of christmas deals and capitalism, helped along by the winsome daughter of one of them. Locations suggested: Gandy St, John Lewis and Devon county prison... BEN MURPHIE DEPUTY EDITOR

XTV review: The Venue PRODUCED and directed by James Tyndall, Jamie Grace and Henry Coulshed, the October/November episode of The Venue sees XTV sizing up Exeter University Big Band and indie upstarts Lion the Weak as well as trawling through the best places to buy records and CDs all around Exeter. The Big Band feature opens in style, with the furiously waving arms of Mr Big himself, musical director Nic Craig. The segment is artfully shot and whilst some of the live brass recordings veer dangerously close to overloading microphones, it is a skilled hand that can capture a glistening pile of frying onions within the Timepiece burger shack and lend it to the smoky Jazz glamour of a Big Band performance. This is followed by an informative piece on the best places for students to buy music around our fair city. Presented by Henry Coulshed, the action suffers from pacing issues in one or two places but all is forgiven when outside a charity

Films to see before you graduate

QUITE possibly the strangest, funniest and most rewarding film I have ever seen, Being John Malkovich should be on everyone’s list to watch before New Year’s, let alone before you graduate. The tone of the film is immediately set by the opening scene; a wooden puppet, dancing alone, becomes aware of its strings and destroys the mirror in front of him to thunderous applause. Being John Malkovich is certainly no ordinary comedy. Directed by Spike Jonze, John Cusack stars as Craig Schwartz, an unemployed puppeteer who gets a clerical job on floor 7 ½ of Lestercorp. Craig not only develops an attraction to his co-worker Maxine, played by Catherine Keener, he also discovers a tunnel into John Malkovich’s – played fantastically

by himself – brain behind a filing cabinet. Crawling through the tunnel, Craig discovers that he can control Malkovich’s speech and actions for 15 minutes before being ejected and dropped into a ditch on the New Jersey Turnpike.

“Wider themes of identity, celebrity and free will are cleverly weaved into this story” And it gets weirder. Maxine and Schwartz start charging people to enter the tunnel until the real John Malkovich turns up and demands they stop. They of course don’t, and later Schwartz’s long-suffering wife Lotte, played by the

unrecognisable Cameron Diaz, uses the Malkovitch tunnel to play out her fantasy of having sex with a woman – Maxine. This coupled with puppets, a plan to occupy the new ‘host’ brain and a cameo from Charlie Sheen could easily make Being John Malkovich an alienating film. Yet the audience is always a part of its increasingly mad journey through the life of these oddball characters. The plot is incredibly inventive, and wider themes of identity, celebrity and free will are cleverly weaved into this story as we are left thinking what the chances are of there being a tunnel somewhere into our own weird minds. MEGAN FURBOROUGH

shop, he utters the immortal line “here you’ll find records for less than the price of a pint…a hard decision I know but in your bladder of bladders, you know which one you’ll be pissing away before the day is done.” Finally, it is at a quayside acoustic session with indie band Lion the Weak where The Venue really comes into its own. A beautifully realised combination of location filming and live performing, the piece is easily equal to established online acoustic music projects such as the Mahogany Sessions or Burberry Acoustic. It is obvious from watching The Venue, that aside from being a testing project with many location shoots and difficult sound situations, it is most certainly a labour of love that any university TV station would be proud to lend its name to. BEN MURPHIE DEPUTY EDITOR

SCREEN

Elf Director: Jon Favreau Cast: Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, James Caan. 97 mins (PG) ELF is a film about love, life, and Christmas cheer. It also features Will Ferrell in tights, an extremely violent Santa, and pasta and maple syrup for breakfast. These are basically all of the things I look for in a film, and it is therefore unsurprising that I absolutely adore Elf. Buddy (Will Ferrell), is a human who inadvertently crawls into Santa’s sack as a child, and is subsequently raised as a grossly oversized human at the elf-populated North Pole. Buddy’s size counts against him, as his stubby human hands lack the precision to craft the toys in Santa’s grotto (aw). Upon finding out the truth, he sets out to Manhattan to seek out his human family.

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making paper chains, and getting very, very scared of radiators. He also befriends Michael, his new half-brother, and pelts local children with snowballs. In fairness, they deserved it, they mocked his tights. The inhumanity. Amidst this domestic chaos, Buddy sneaks into a department store, redecorates it, and meets Jovie, Zooey Deschanel’s quirky, anti-Christmas shop assistant who is possibly the only person not to be totally baffled by Buddy’s behaviour. Their friendship underpins the turning point of the film. After fighting Santa in his grotto (hilarious), he trashes the store, is harangued by a lovably stereotyped black

security guard, and actively startles both children and adults alike. Good old-fashioned family fun, and definitely not weird. The film ends with Buddy both ruining and rescuing Santa’s sled, as the film bounces towards its inevitable festive conclusion. Buddy saves Christmas, rescues Jovie from a joyless December, and, most importantly, learns that chewing gum from the street is not free candy. Compelling and rich.

OWEN KEATING SCREEN EDITOR

The Star Wars Holiday Special Director: Steve Binder Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher. 97 mins I KNOW what you’re thinking but yes, this actually exists. Not that George Lucas wants you to know that. Despite minimal involvement in its production, he still to this day regards it as his single most regrettable moment in his lengthy film career. Seeing as this comes from the man who genuinely believed Jar Jar Binks was a solid idea,

“They mocked his tights. The inhumanity” Shockingly, a childhood at the North Pole has not prepared Buddy for life in New York; for a start, his yellow tights are more of a niche fashion choice than he perhaps expected. His father (James Caan) initially doesn’t want to know him, dismissing him both as a Christmas-gram and a mentalist. Buddy perseveres, however, and after a paternity test, is taken home with his dad to live with his family. Buddy fits in at the Hobbs family home like Hugh Hefner in a nunnery (not literally), as he rampages through the house, destroying Christmas trees,

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you can probably guess what kind of rock bottom levels of quality we are dealing with here. We begin with Chewbacca, accompanied by Han Solo, on his way home to celebrate ‘Life Day’ with his family. After an attack by Imperial star ships (I assume in an unselfish attempt to try and spare the viewers of the incoming franchisicide), they are forced to escape and put their holiday celebrations on hold. Rather than following the duo on their adventure home, we instead spend the majority of the film with Malla, Chewie’s wife, Lumpy, his son, and Itchy, the lustful (don’t ask) grandfather in their preparation for Life Day festivities. All semblance of plot is then frozen in carbonite, ejected into space and obliterated by the Death Star as the film makes way to celebrity cameos, frequent musical intervals and utterly bizarre scenes including miniature acrobats and a four-armed transsexual TV Chef, both apparently lifted directly from a drug-induced nightmare rather than one of cinema’s most beloved of film series. Did I also mention that a good 75 per cent of the dialogue is purely screaming Wookies? Sure, it carries greater depth than the dialogue in, say, TOWIE, but there was definitely a reason why Chewbacca’s speech was always limited to intermittent roars. Since its initial airing, it has never been rebroadcast on TV or even officially released on DVD or video, but has lived on purely through pirated copies and more recently, the internet. Now a cult classic, it is well worth a watch even if it is just to wallow in one of TV’s most infamous events. ROBERT J. HARRIS

The alternative Christmas movie Rhys Mills asks Christmas films: more McClane than Miracle on 34th Street? THE lift doors open to reveal a dead German mercenary with a message written in blood on his sweatshirt. “Now I have a machinegun,” it says “Ho-ho-ho.”

“You have a stocking full of good old-fashioned bad-assery to look forward to” In the ultimate Christmas action movie, Die Hard; the unfortunate European in the elevator is but one of many cannon fodder extras destined to find themselves at the sharp end of John McClane’s tattered vest. McClane

(Bruce Willis) is a loose cannon cop with a filing cabinet’s worth of one-liners and a bone to pick with criminal mastermind Hans Gruber, played by the velvet-voiced Alan Rickman. Die Hard may not describe hearts that are two sizes too small, or impress upon us the importance of believing in mythical sleigh-driving philanthropists, but if you’re lucky enough for a visit from John McClane this Christmas, you have a stocking full of good old-fashioned badassery to look forward to. I’ll certainly be wrapped in fifty blankets in front of a roaring fire and a big TV broadcasting his antics. If you’ve already got Die Hard on your radar then another festive flick I can only recommend is Finnish fan-

tasy Rare Exports. A handful of poor reindeer herders think they’ve hit the money when they discover a mystical bearded savage in the wilderness, potentially the source of the original Santa Claus myth. The feral creature proves one of many delightful twists on today’s familiar holiday with young protagonist Pietari suspecting that, contrary to modern myth, Saint Nick is a vengeful mythical creature with an appetite for children. The film has that sort of subtle, sombre tone present in a lot of Scandinavian film, avoiding Hollywood’s temptation to err towards campy stereotypes, and proves an interesting watch amongst your average annual catalogue of derivative Yuletide flicks.

As Hot As... the hot or nots of this week’s film news TOWIE - Combine Joey Essex with the pressure of a live broadcast and you get this; an hour long show that The Guardian dubbed the worst thing on television. Ever. Some people were surprised it was so awful. Why?

Scrooge

LINDSAY LOHAN - Child actor turned crisis-ridden mess Lindsay Lohan is making a film comeback as Liz Taylor in Liz & Dick, a made for TV movie for cable channel Lifetime. The film deals with the exploitation of celebrity and the perils of having too much too young. Like Lindsay, then.

ANGUS T. JONES - The child actor in Two and a Half Men appears to have snapped after being described as half a man for 11 years, despite actually now being an adult and not a chubby youth. He’s called his own show ‘filth’, and asked the viewers to ‘please stop watching’. Odd.

JAMES ARTHUR – The affable singer has been embroiled in a Twitter feud with Frankie Boyle this week, after Boyle called him ‘an alien-headed busker’. Arthur gave as good as he got, to the delight of his Saturday primetime audience.

OLIVIA COLMAN – Olivia is not only the only vaguely serious entry in this week’s Hot or Not, but she’s also been nominated for the same British Comedy Award twice. Her performances in Rev and Twenty Twelve will compete against one another for the title of Best Actress.

Santa

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| week twelve

Books

Books Playlist We do a round up of the 5 biggest literary news stories of 2012 1. Hilary Mantel wins the Man Booker Prize for the second time

Hilary Mantel made history this October when she became the first woman, and British writer, to win the literary prize twice. Bring Up The Bodies, the second book in her trilogy about Oliver Cromwell, has received as much critical acclaim as that of its predecessor Wolf Hall. Mantel has an exciting 2013 ahead of her with a BBC adaptation of her first two books and the release of The Mirror and The Light, the final instalment of her trilogy.

2. Penguin merges with Random House

In the biggest publishing news of 2012, Penguin struck a deal with Random House in late October. The merger of two of the six publishing giants will have interesting implications on the future of printed books, in 2013 and beyond.

3. Fifty Shades of Grey leads the boom of erotic fiction

Despite scathing reviews and its incredibly dubious literary merit, Fifty Shades of Grey became a huge phenomenon during the summer. Since then the public appetite for erotic fiction has not abated, with the most recent offering Reflected In You by Sylvia Day.

4. J. K. Rowling follows up the adventures of Harry Potter with her new novel The Casual Vacancy

Although her new novel has received mixed reviews, it has just been announced that BBC One will be adapting it as a drama series for 2014.

5. The Orange Prize is saved from funding cuts by private donors

There is no more Orange in the Orange Prize. In May Orange announced that they were cutting the funding to the prize that they set up 17 years ago. It has been saved by private donors including Cherie Blair and Joanna Trollope and is now known as the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

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Darlington is latest creative writing success story

Dorothea Pease interviews PhD student Miriam Darlington, the biggest new name in nature writing ACCORDING to Miriam Darlington, otter poo (or ‘spraint’ to use its technical name) is “slightly perfumed” and “does smell like you could make jasmine tea out of it”. However, as the author of the highly acclaimed new book Otter Country, Exeter PhD student Miriam Darlington is perhaps allowed a little slack to wax lyrical about the joys of otter poo. Her new book, which has been described as ‘beguiling’ and ‘passionate’ by the Guardian, documents her travels through Britain searching for otters. She roams from the West coast of Scotland in search of the landscapes she read about as a child in Ring of Bright Water, another otter-orientated novel, to her home county of Sussex, to “look at Britain at otter-nose level”.

“It’s an optimistic story and a way of enchanting people about the natural world” Why otters, you may ask? Darlington pinpoints this obsession to her first reading of Henry Williamson’s “profoundly enchanting book” Tarka the Otter at the tender age of ten, saying that she was captivated by Williamson’s “amazing vision of the natural world” to the extent that she spent time pretending to be an otter herself. She continues, “I was taken over by that feeling and it stayed with me, and then after that I wanted to see an otter

Author Profile: John Steinbeck IF there is one writer who can claim to beautifully and poetically capture the cultural and social climate of Depression-era America, it is John Steinbeck, a writer whose blistering social commentary and wealth of complex characters not only gives us a bleak and realistic view of the American Dream gone wrong, but also gives us situations that we, in a world gripped by Recession and economic crisis, can still relate to today. Steinbeck was born in 1902, into a family of only very moderate income. His early career and aspirations were often fraught, and many times in his younger years, he met with failure. Although he worked his way through Stanford University, he did not graduate. His move to New York in 1925 to become a freelance writer would also be unsuccessful, necessitating a move back to his Californian roots. However, out of hardship and struggle, he managed to create works of intense emotional pow-

in the wild.” However, the dream of seeing such a creature was staved off until adulthood, when she started writing about otters and realised she should probably “go out and find some”. However, this book is more than an autobiographical meander through Britain’s otter spots. Miriam Darlington is obviously passionate about otters as a “key species” to indicate our relationship with the natural world. The otter population is an indicator of water pollution and the optimism in the novel stems from Darlington’s discovery that otters are indeed making a comeback, albeit in a small way, after becoming almost extinct in the 1970s. She argues that “the best way to get people was through the heart”, adding “It’s an optimistic story and it’s a way er, basing them all in the beautiful but unpredictable Californian countryside, where struggling Americans would come in the pursuit of the American Dream, only to find a land of exploitation, hard labour and the realisation that the American Dream was, in the end, just a dream. His most famous work for younger readers is Of Mice and Men (1937), the tragic tale of two friends – one of whom has a child’s mind – who come to California in pursuit of their own dream: to own a small bit of self-sustaining land where they can grow plants and breed rabbits. Such simple desires are denied, and in this case, it is the misunderstood giant who leads the two men to lose what little hope they had. However, the work that stands out in history is The Grapes of Wrath (1939), a story of a family who must leave their home in pursuit of work. The whole novel is abundant in rich characters and an attention to geographical detail that is nothing short of remarkable, but it is Steinbeck’s gruelling social commentary as he plunders the depths of basic survival, family, morality and exploitation that gives us something that rings true as much today

of enchanting people about the natural world and about this particular species but there are all sorts of warnings; there is a subtle campaign in the book to make sure people are awake and alert to these species that are vulnerable”.

“If you can put your authentic unique voice into your writing then you’re onto a winner” Back on the subject of otter poo (spraint, if you must), Miriam explains that this is the main way otters are spotted. She believes this is part of their appeal, saying that “not only are they difficult to see in the wild, they are toas it did when it was first published. What is more, despite this bleak world view, Steinbeck manages to inject a small sense of hope and optimism for the future into both of these novels, with the characters picking themselves up and carrying on despite everything, similar to the author himself during the early years of his career. Steinbeck’s novels are as entertaining as they are intelligent, beautiful and tragic. In the current climate of budget cuts, graduate exploitation, unstable job

tally elusive” and this makes them all the more enticing. Many people have become incredulous about her claim about the sweet-smelling otter spraint, so much so that Darlington actually posted some poo to the environmental correspondent at The Telegraph to prove her point. However, as Darlington points out “otter poo is usually the only sign you will find of otters”, so you might as well get used to it. Given her success, it seems only right to ask Miriam Darlington whether she had any advice for aspiring writers. The answer was presented as surprisingly simple, as she pointed out that “the reason why Otter Country was so successful was that it was my unique story and it was totally written from the heart, and if people can put their authentic unique voice into their writing then they are probably onto a winner”. It is her passionate interest in otters that is the main thing that comes across while talking to Miriam Darlington; her genuine love of these watery creatures really shines through. She has described the difficulty of letting her writing “swim off on its own” but it seems that, like the otters she so adores, Miriam Darlington has definitely established herself as one to watch. If you want to hear more about how Miriam Darlington wrote her critically-acclaimed novel Otter Country, she is giving an exclusive free talk in the Senior Common Room in Queens, at 6pm on Tuesday 11 December and everyone is welcome. markets and rising living costs, these books are more important than ever, not only because they give us something to relate to, but also for their sense of hope and renewal. If you can read the final image in the Grapes of Wrath of the woman who, having recently lost her baby, breast-feeds a starving elderly gentleman in the pouring rain without weeping, then you are a stronger person than I. Nicole Laffan

books

Encore for the hidden high notes of Song of Songs

James Crouch, Features Editor, sings the praises of the underrated biblical romance THE days of obedient Christian children up and down the land reading their Bible are, for better or worse, long gone. Now seemingly a preserve of church-goers and theologians, most nowadays have read little or none of the Bible. Obviously, reading the word “begat” like it’s going out of fashion might not seem like a fun afternoon. But if you look closer, you will find a depth of literature and poetry that, aside from whatever moral value you may put on it, has a superb aesthetic worth.

“Any text with the line ‘my breasts are like towers’ cannot be boring” One brilliant example is the Song of Songs. The shortest canonical book at only eight chapters taking up a handful of pages, it is far from taxing time-wise. But also, perhaps illustrates easiest what so many get from the Bible as a work of literature. It is a piece of poetry which looks at two lovebirds (the “lover” and the “beloved”), who court and eventually consummate their relationship. What this book does is simply run a truck through so many misconceptions of the Good Book. Firstly, that the Bible is just about boring stuff. Any text with the line “my breasts are like towers” cannot be boring. More importantly the Solomon’s Song of Songs really shows how even over thousands of years (at least ten thousand years in this case, and maybe up to twelve) true human emotion still pours out of the text. If you read it, your own heart strings pluck their own little notes. Multiple times, the lover will list a long line of beautiful qualities that his beloved possesses, just in the same way a love-struck teenager might confide in a friend “his hair is so dark, his eyes are so deep” and so on. Just the same way, Shakespeare is repeatedly on tap at theatres because you can still emotionally connect with the work. Al-

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though the language and time may be different, the instinct that this really portrays human life and thought is what makes it fresh and vivid. For some parts of the Bible this can be very hard to see, but this book perfectly illustrates that it is just as capable of doing so. Also worthy of merit is the language itself. The language of love has provided the world with perhaps some of the best literature, and is the most frequent topic of song lyrics even up to today. But the imagery throughout the Bible is in such a personal way brought to full life in the Song of Songs. Love “burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love, rivers cannot wash it away.” Of course some of the language is nestled in historical context, which is helpful - but not essential - to know when reading it and fully comprehending why something is important. Although I’m sure you have never been complimented in Arena for having teeth “like a flock of sheep” or hair “like a flock of goats” - even for Devon these agrarian compliments might seem out of place today, but you can appreciate the meaning even if you wouldn’t use it as a chat-up line.

“If you read it, your own heart strings pluck their own little notes” And of course, like much of the Old Testament especially, part of the joy of the text is that you have a unique relationship with it. I don’t believe anyone can look objectively at a series of books, written over thousands of years in different places, times and even languages. What reading the Song of Songs will do for those that have never read the Bible or have long since become uninitiated with it to find a dusty ol’ one in the corner and have a reread and rethink. Because between the endless lists of descendants and occasional commandment, you will find a treasure trove of literature that quite frankly is dreadfully underrated.

Exeposé

Reading around the Christma

Tom Bond and Emily Lunn, Books Editors, Naomi Poltier, Anna Varadi and Kate Gray find the p

Family

-Philip Pullman Grimm Tales (Waterstones, £10.00)

-Linda Collister Great British Bake Off: Learn to Bake (Amazon, £9.31)

-Michael Morpurgo A Medal for Leroy (Waterstones, £9.74) PHILIP PULLMAN chooses his 50 favourite fairytales by the Brothers Grimm and retells them in his own distinctive voice. From the wellknown tales such as “Rapunzel” to the more overlooked such as “Godfather Death,” Pullman shows how these stories continue to fascinate us. With a brief commentary on the history and background of each tale, Pullman’s retelling will captivate all ages. Following on from the baking fever that gripped the nation during the Great British Bake-Off, this recipe book is a crowd pleaser. With eighty easy to follow recipes from the team behind the programme, this is perfect for new cooks. It explains techniques, ingredients and shows how baking can be inexpensive and something that everyone in the family can get involved in. Enjoy some homemade creations during the festive season! If you’re looking for a good present for younger siblings, try the new novel from one of the UK’s bestselling children’s authors. Morpurgo returns to one of his favourite subjects: World War II, in a story of loss and identity. This time he draws inspiration from the true story of Walter Tull, the first black officer in the British army. Morpurgo’s book has received glowing reviews and has won many adult fans as well as younger readers.

Keen Reader

-Mo Yan The Garlic Ballads (Amazon, £8.09) -Will Self Umbrella (Amazon, £9.31) -Zadie Smith NW (Waterstones, £11.39) -Margaret Atwood Negotiating with the Dead (Amazon, £6.59) MO YAN has spent most of his life winning literary awards for fun over in China, and now he has claimed one of the biggest in the world: the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Garlic Ballads tells the story of post-revolutionary China where farmers were ruined by the orders they received to grow garlic instead of rice. Often censored in his home country, Yan’s brand of poetic magical realism is finally making it’s mark in the West. Shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize, Self’s book has been compared to Catch 22 and Slaughterhouse Five for its daring moral lessons. Described as radical, extravagant and imaginative, Self’s experimental fiction shows the influence of Joyce. Most of the book is set in a psychiatric hospital, making this a thought-provoking novel for the keen reader. This latest offering from Zadie Smith is centred around the lives of 4 Londoners, as a chance encounter forces them to question the people they have become. A tragi-comedy of modern urban life that is varied, both humorous and angry at turns. This has been dubbed one of the must-read books of the year. Negotiating with the Dead by Margaret Atwood is the book to get for any friend/family/acquaintance who has always told you they want to be a ‘writer’. Atwood is funny yet inspiring and asks questions which will make any writer reflect on their own writing like “are you entitled to make off with conversations you hear in bus stations?”. It also allows the reader to relate to great poets and novelists by sharing what they thought in a casual yet sensitive way. Want to get someone inspiration for Christmas? Get this book.

Technology -Kindle Fire

(Amazon, £129; HD version £159) -Personalised Kindle covers (Firebox £34.99) FOR a long time Amazon’s Kindle has been the e-reader of choice for techaware readers, and this year they’ve improved their package, offering an upgraded model so good it rivals the iPad at a fraction of the cost. A book is still a book no matter how you read it, and people are rightly embracing the increased accessibility the Kindle Fire offers as well as its multimedia capabilities. The Kindle Fire can do so much more than download books. Nevertheless, if reading is all you want to do then the Kindle will allow you a vast choice of titles, including magazines, often cheaper than they would be in print. When reading looks this effortlessly cool, how can you say no? So, you own a Kindle. Yet you miss the soft, dead cow feel of a leather-

bound book in your hands. This gift is ideal for those who want to read Fifty Shades of Grey but want everyone to think they’re engrossed in something even just a little bit more intellectual. Probably your mum, then.

Exeposé

| week twelve

as tree: the festive gift guide presents that should book a place under your Christmas tree so you don’t have to

Niche

Casual Reader

(Amazon, £12.15) -S. J. Watson Before I Go To

(bookdepository.co.uk, £8.06)

-Joe Sacco Journalism

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-Caitlin Moran Moranthology

Stocking Fillers

-David Mitchell Back Story: A Memoir

Sleep

-Peter Serafinowicz A Billion Jokes

(Amazon, £3.86)

(Amazon, £8.44)

CARTOONS come in many shapes and sizes. You might find Spiderman swinging around New York or Snoopy sleeping on his kennel but one thing you might not expect a comic to do is serious journalism. Joe Sacco faced similar opposition throughout his career as a comic journalist but his accounts of India’s untouchables, the war in Iraq and much more prove the worth of his form. His illustrations are both beautiful and informative, conveying the horror of real-world atrocities more effectively than you might imagine. S.J. Watson’s debut novel shot to prominence in the blink of an eye, attracting critical and commercial plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic. The high-concept thriller follows Christine Lucas as she recovers from serious memory loss and slowly realises the memories she is returning to may not be as true as they seem. Christmas might not be the best time to read a book that makes you paranoid towards your nearest and dearest, but Before I Go To Sleep is simply too compelling to resist.

(Waterstones, £6.99)

Must Read Before You Die (Amazon, £10) -Magnetic Mini Page Markers

-I Am The Secret Footballer

(Waterstones, £2.99)

(Amazon, £8.96)

LOVED nationwide for his charmingly awkward demeanour and searing wit, David Mitchell has released a celebrity memoir, an act that always seemed below someone as oblivious of the mainstream as him. Back Story is not the book you may expect. It isn’t merely a luxury sounding board for new comic material, nor is it a money-grabbing tour through his embittered childhood (like he has one). Instead, it is a simple and funny walk through his life inspired by his newfound happiness with Victoria Coren. Sometimes it can get boring reading through lists like this every christmas and birthday, trying to work out what to buy your family and friends. 1001 Books is the perfect solution, offering more recommendations than anyone could hope to actually read, throughout the history of the written word. Working just as well as a short history of books, it’s perfect for the tireless reader who likes a challenge. It is essential for students to mark any page in a book that might come in handy at some point - but little pieces of paper easily get lost during study-panics and all-nighters. This is where magnetic mini page markers come in. They are 100 per cent effective in marking pages for future reference and they come in six piece sets of several designs including romantic images and superheroes. The designs are fun and what better way to start a study session than by smiling?

-Fifty Sheds Of Grey

FOLLOWING on from the success of her hilarious memoir and rant How To Be A Woman, Moran shows that she can be “quite chatty” about a variety of topics beside womanhood. Humorous, yet with the political edge of Moran’s other work, this book covers a vast range of issues from “Boris Johnson - Albino Shag-hound” to “Caravans.” For more hilarious and insightful social commentary, How To Be A Woman is also well worth a read. Peter Serafinowicz is something of a cult figure, skirting around the edges of major comedic fame. He’s starred in Spaced, Black Books and his own underrated sketch show but now he’s testing his wit in paper and ink. Although many of the jokes are collected from his hilarious Twitter account, this is a celebration of a traditional style of humour. Simple set-ups, brilliant punchlines and a whole lot of laughs. Step aside E. L. James, it’s time that we embraced some shed-porn. A fantastic parody of this year’s most well-known piece of erotic fiction, this book makes for an amusing gift. Born from the twitter account of Colin Trevor Grey - self-proclaimed “passionate gardener and amateur shed owner,” this is a cheap, light-read for those looking for shed-loads of erotica. Sports books are often popular with people who wouldn’t normally dream of reading for pleasure and I Am the Secret Footballer is no different. A step up from the usual postmatch analysis du jour of a new Wayne Rooney autobiography, this book is a no-holds-barred look at the life of the modern footballer. Writing with the freedom that only anonymity grants, the secret footballer exposes the truths at the bottom of the beautiful game.

(Amazon, £8.00) -Peter Boxall 1001 Books You

Author Profile: J. P. Donleavy AS the pagan winter festival approaches, we will all hear and be cheered by The Pogues’ classic ‘Fairytale of New York’, one of the only tolerable festive songs. If you are partial to its ragged sad beauty and lusty anger I wholeheartedly recommend to you J. P. Donleavy, on whose novel A Fairy Tale of New York it is based. Donleavy caroused into the literary scene in 1955 with his controversial novel The Ginger Man. To his anger, the publisher Olympia listed it among their pornographic titles. It was banned for obscenity in his two homelands, the Republic of Ireland and the USA. However, with time and the slackening of morals it achieved cult status - its mash of social realism, wild hedonism and profound insight into humanity earning comparison with the Beat writers and going on to be a major influence on Hunter S. Thompson. Since The Ginger Man, he’s written twelve novels, four stage adaptations and various other works including a humorous guide to polite society and a book of rules for the imaginary sport ‘De Alphonse Tennis’. Like all the best writers of debauchery, Donleavy hits that sweet spot where high and low art meet. His subject matter is often crude or bizarre, but he writes with a poetic brilliance that makes it

beautiful and witty. He has called his method of writing “an orchestration”, but it seems more free than that. Careering freely from third- to first-person narration, from past to present, his unorthodox stream-of-consciousness style breaks down prose into short fragments. These stuttering sentences feel like the direct thoughts of his protagonists, be they lapsing into melancholy memories or getting lost in passion. His writing is also notable for his love of alliteration, obvious in the titles of books like The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B or Meet My Maker The Mad Molecule, and for the poetic “epitaphs” which end each of his chapters. Together, these elements make up a style which is genuinely moving, technically impressive and roaringly funny. The writer has distanced himself from his characters, claiming that he would be unable to write if he lived a life like those he has written. This reveals the ultimate joy behind reading Donleavy: all the hedonism, drink, sex, chaos, squalor, misery and shame gives the reader fantastic vicarious pleasure. Not many can fight, drink and screw like Sebastian Dangerfield - the Ginger Man, or be overwhelmed by such entertaining nutters as the guests of Clayton Claw Cleaver Clementine in The Onion Eaters, but we can feel the brilliant extremes of their worlds by sitting at the pub with a pint and a book by J. P. Donleavy. Do yourself a favour this Christmas and take a few hours out to do just that. HENRY COULSHED

Any Last Words? We asked: which book puts you in the Christmas spirit? Band of Brothers...my word, those 101st chappies sure were resilient when they dug in at Bastonge...so cold and yet they gave Jerry the whatfor with a jing and a yang and a zingzangspillip for Christmas! HUGH BLACKSTAFFE Christmas in Exeter Street - it epitomises the festive spirit of community. EMILY TANNER Reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is always a welcome return to the perfect Christmas landscape. At once a nightmare world where it is “always winter but never Christmas”, it is also a snowy wonderland that includes a visit from Father Christmas himself. TOM BOND

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson, you would have to have a heart of ice not to cry at this one! KATE GRAY One of my favourite folk tales is a Norwegian one - East of the Sun and West of the Moon which is a bit like Beauty and the Beast but involves a white bear, trolls, the four winds and a castle that is east of the sun and west of the moon. Being set in the snowy north and filled with fantasy and magic it makes me feel very Christmassy, and East by Edith Pattou is a brilliant adaption of that story! MEGAN FURBOROUGH Die Hard: The Official Novelisation CALUM BAKER

ARTS

Arts

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

Art A Bigger Splash: Painting after Performance @ Tate Modern 14 November - 1 April 2013 Tracing the Century: Drawing as a Catalyst for Change @ Tate Liverpool 16 Nov - 20 January 2013

Comedy Josie Long : Romance and Adventures @ Exeter Phoenix 13 December

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

Our Boy: Jonathan Lewis

Meg Drewett, Features Editor, chats to alumnus and playwright Jonathan Lewis Jonathan Lewis, writer of Our Boys, currently making its West End debut at the Duchess Theatre nearly 20 years after it was first written in 1993, is one of the biggest theatre names to come out of Exeter. So one may think that sitting down with him an hour before curtains up would be a relatively nerve-wracking experience. And it would, if he weren’t one of the most down-to-earth men ever. After providing us with some tea and hot chocolate and finding a quiet corner of the theatre to chat in, he begins by sharing a little about his time at Exeter where he read Politics and Society in 1985 and how he got interested in the theatre business: “I was sponsored by the Army so I was destined to go to Sandhurst and spend at least some time in the army... but I was very much involved with student theatre. When I was [at Exeter], there was

a big divide between the drama course and student theatre - we were the riff raff and they were far superior to us.” After directing a production of a Tom Stoppard play in his first year, Lewis was then involved in “at least one, sometimes two things a term”. His love o f

The Last March @ Bikeshed Theatre 18 Dec - 12th Jan 2013 The Snowman @ Peacock Theatre, Holborn 28 Nov - 6 Jan 2013

Dance Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty @ Sadler’s Wells 4 Dec - 26 Jan 2013

As Christmas is just around the corner we thought we’d celebrate the festive season with this week’s ART ATTACK with a Christmas card from pop artist Andy Warhol! What do you think of the piece? Does it sum up the season? Do you feel it says anything about Christmas? Or is Warhol - famed for his comments upon commercialism - just selling out to a corporate Christmas?

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Drama

Art Attack

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TOBY CRADDOCK: The corporate implications are clear in these illustrations with their commissioners being no other than Tiffany&Co! This shouldn’t detract from Warhol’s Nostradamus-like prophecy of a consumerist society with the cult of celebrity at its core nor his whimsical style that are both apparent here. MEGAN FURBOROUGH: Okay, yes, whilst I agree that it is a very corporate image, it’s also really Christmassy and makes me feel really happy - look at the colours! And the ivy!

My first thought was of fairy tales anyway; it looks a bit fantastical, like something a princess or an elf or a fairy would wear to an ice ball. MARCUS BEARD: I feel it encapsulates the primal brutishness of the Christmas sentiment in the minds of modern America. I would never wear this; perhaps as a hat? EMILY TANNER: It’s not your typical snowy hills and log fires greeting which I think makes it stand out from the rest of its fellow cards!

student theatre led him to audition for drama school at the end of his last year - “I couldn’t resist,” he explains, “just to see if I was even vaguely in the ball park because I spent all my time acting or directing or writing stuff at uni”. As it happened, Lewis got a place at the Guildhall, as well as a back injury that resulted in several stays in a military hospital, before embarking on a sort of double life at both drama school and on military sick leave. It was this experience that provided the inspiration for Our Boys. Narrating the tale of six soldiers in a military hospital in the 1980s, Lewis says the play’s “about what happens when you are let down by an institution and what happens when [these soldiers] are given all these things to be proud of, and then [they] have to leave.” It’s certainly a political play, though it’s clearly important to Lewis that politics isn’t all it is. “I didn’t want to bash people over the head with something; I wanted it to be entertaining but underneath there is definitely a subtext and the agenda of what do you do with these guys, and of course it’s more relevant now than when I wrote it”. Its relevancy is an important subject to Lewis. Having received many requests to rework the play over the last 20 years in order to address current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Lewis always “resisted it because [he] just felt it didn’t need it.” “It’s got a bit of a timeless quality” he explains, “and I feel a bit vindicated that the play holds up very well, and I think it’s just as relevant now, which is the tragedy of it really.” The production stars several household names, including Arthur Darvill, Matthew Lewis and Laurence Fox (also known as Rory in Doc-

tor Who, Neville Longbottom and Billie Piper’s husband from Lewis). The cast have received “the label boy band theatre” due to the screaming crowds that have been gathering at the stage door night after night to congratulate the men; “It’s exciting that these young guys want to do a play like this, and we wouldn’t be here without Laurence Fox or Arthur Darvill and Matthew Lewis, the theatre came because they committed to it”. Interestingly, Lewis notes how the young cast is helping the play tap in to an unexpected market. “It seems to have really plugged into 17, 18, 19 and 20 year olds in a way that I just hadn’t imagined it would” he notes and the play has tapped into viral marketing, moving on from Lewis’ day where “word of mouth was a great review in Time Out and if you made Critics Choice, you’d sell out”.

“Follow your dream! You only get one life and if you play it safe, what’s the point?” Whilst enjoying Our Boys’ West End debut, Lewis is still working on a host of other projects. He’s working on “a play about the poppy factory, [possibly] to become part of a trilogy with Our Boys... with a group of guys called the Combat Veteran Players, who are all ex-military and suffer with PTSD”, as well as working on a play with his son’s school about students in isolation during exam time. This is in addition to currently reworking his previously successful one-man play I Found My Horn. So with a host of projects on the go and a successful career under his belt, what advice does Lewis have for younger generations? “Follow your dream,” he says after giving it some thought. “You only get one life and if you play it safe, what’s the point? Give it a go... who’s to say that you aren’t going to end up becoming very successful but if you don’t try, you don’t know.”

Exeposé

| WEEK TWELVE

Zanna, Don’t! Kay House

5-8 December 2012 ZANNA DON’T! is Shotgun Theatre’s latest production, a thoroughly feel-good musical set in American school Heartsville High where homosexuality is the norm and heterosexuality is taboo. Zanna, the show’s protagonist, is a magical matchmaker dedicated to helping his friends around him find love with the help of his rather splendid light-up wand. The characters seem to lead normal lives until Heartsville’s high school musical about straights in the military (cleverly inverting the now-abolished Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy) serves as a turning point for them as they begin to explore their own confusing sexual identities. As the eponymous Zanna, Aaron McCrossan shone as bright as his wand. Skipping across the stage in pursuit of couples in trouble, the character could have easily become a tired stereotype with an overly-camp delivery, but Mc-

Medea Northcott

28 November - 1 December “I DIVIDE men into three types.” The audience smile, anticipating Medea’s quick wit and acute intellect about to be fired at her scorned ex-husband, Jason. “Wankers need a mum, dads treat us like children and rapists want to fuck us whether we like it or not.” Mike Bartlett’s Medea is a single mother planted in suburbia and navigating a ruinous marriage following her husband’s infidelity. Her hair hot crimson, skin sallow and eyes red-raw, she wears bleached tracksuit bottoms and a tired, grey rock concert t-shirt. Hell has no fury like a woman scorned and Medea’s passions lead her to poison Jason’s new bride and slaughter their son in a terrifying climax which sees a bloodied Medea atop the roof of her house, axe in hand, crying out to God before a wall of fire.

“Headlong have taken Greek tragedy and delivered it kicking and screaming into the contemporary” Headlong Touring Company have taken Euripides’ Greek tragedy and delivered it kicking and screaming into the contemporary without apology, for none is needed; the cast members are

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Crossan played Zanna with just the right amount of perky charm and sweetness. However, the real star of the show had to be Anya Williams as Roberta. Loud, mouthy and full of attitude, Williams delivered Roberta’s lines with a perfect sarcastic humour and derisive sneer, but also revealed a more vulnerable side in numbers such as “Do You Know What It’s Like”. The cast as a whole were very strong with Joel Smith and Hollie Morgan delivering many of the laughs as

“The cast delivered a heartfelt performance that enchanted the audience” double act Candi and Arvin. The script was full of ironic wit and littered with pop-culture references – I particularly enjoyed “What are you doing tonight?” “Oh the usual guy stuff: making brownies and watching Buffy” – and much of the humour, especially anything involving Roberta, was laugh-

each Titans in their performances. Rachel Stirling assumes the title role, as did her mother, Diana Rigg, at the Almeida Theatre some 20 years before with a performance winning High Place in the memory of West End theatre. This might be the more humble West but Stirling embodies every movement of Medea’s psychological journey which charts how madness, witchery and revenge outwit maternal instinct.

“But would Euripides’ applaud Bartlett’s resurrection?” But would Euripides applaud Bartlett’s resurrection of his play? The great

out-loud funny. However, I did feel that an overly quick delivery from members of the cast meant that at times some of the jokes were missed. The cast coped brilliantly with the audio problems in the first half of the show, and the musical numbers, accompanied by an excellent four-piece band, were fantastic. A mixture of sung and spoken lyrics in each song moved the action along and the tight choreography highlighted the clever lyrics. The vocals were polished and clear and the American accent was generally well held after a slightly shaky start in the opening “Who’s Got Extra Love?”, whilst “Tis A Far, Far Better Thing I Do/ Blow Winds” was noticeably weaker than the other songs, “I Think We Got Love” and “Fast” were particularly good. Overall Zanna, Don’t! was a pleasure to watch as the cast delivered a heartfelt performance that enchanted the audience and left us all demanding ‘please Zanna do’! MEGAN FURBOROUGH

tragedian would often make specimen the plight of Greek women with Medea being his most polemic feminist revolt. Similar experiences should be history to the modern, emancipated Medea making the play of more interest to Freudians than feminists. Yet when Medea laments men are intimidated by intelligent women and female peers loathe the competition, we see the allegory has not folded with the hand of time. The Northcott has hosted an arresting realisation of Medea with themes that thousands of year later, bear resonance to today’s intelligent and witty female protagonist. RACHEL BROWN

You With Me Exeter Phoenix

17 November - 9 December

Street listening to the gasps of passers-by as you bob and weave before slipping stealthily down an alley-way in order to avoid detection.

YOU WITH ME is a unique and intriguing piece of theatre. As the sole audience member you arrive at a location in the centre of Exeter and at a specified time call a telephone number. The voice at the other end of the line is then your private contact for the next forty five minutes with whom you are free to discuss or do anything, anywhere in Exeter. You can have a deep and meaningful conversation, share jokes or even play some games. One of the voice’s opening lines is “I’m with you. I can see you. Do you think you can see me?” You may then be invited to play a quick game of Hide And Seek, creeping round street corners, bobbing in and out of crowds and escaping through lifts in department stores to try and evade their sight. Throughout the 45 minutes you can experience a plethora of roles: you might become a secret agent fleeing an omniscient observer, a coffee drinker in a café or a confidant speaking frankly with a stranger. For me, however, the highlight has to be playing Hide And Seek. There is no thrill like that of sprinting full-pelt down the High

“It’s almost like becoming the protagonist in an action film with the general public being oblivious”

Artist Profile - Hockney

works, Hockney’s works have often been influenced by his life and experiences. As an artist, Hockney is estimated to be worth a staggering $5.52 million and was voted one of the 50 most stylish men in Britain by GQ magazine. In recent years Hockney has returned to his native England, working both on his paintings and also on his innovative iPad pieces. His recent exhibition, A Bigger Picture, at the Royal Academy of Art attracted great attention and critical acclaim demonstrating that even after decades in the art world, Hockey is still an incredibly relevant artist whose works have the ability to move his audience. EMILY TANNER ARTS EDITOR

Bigger Splash Exhibition

Tate Modern until April 2013 DAVID HOCKNEY is one of the country’s most famous artists and is currently being celebrated by the Tate Modern in their winter/spring exhibition A Bigger Splash; Painting after performance. Alongside Hockney’s works here the Tate are exhibiting pieces by Jackson Pollock in order to display the links between more traditional forms such as painting and experimental forms such as performance art.

“Hockney is still an incredibly relevant artist whose works have the ability to move his audience” Hockney was born in the Yorkshire town of Bradford in 1937 where he was educated at the Grammar School and Bradford College of Art before completing his education at the Royal College of Art in London. After art school Hockney moved to California for a time where he befriended Andy Warhol and completed some of his most vibrant and colourful works, inspired by the Los Angeles lifestyle. Also known for his open exploration of his homosexuality in his art

The success of this show, I would suggest, lies in its ability to juxtapose reality with fiction. It enables you to exist simultaneously in the real world around you and, at the same time, within an egocentric reality where you are the centre of attention. It’s almost like becoming the protagonist in an action film with the general public being oblivious to the drama playing out around them. For anyone who likes to try something new or being the centre of attention this is the perfect show. It combines a complete removal of dramatic irony with absolute realism which allows for a truly mysterious and unique show for every audience member. JOSHUA CREEK

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11 DECEMBER 2012 |

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Exeposé

The Turner Prize 2012: Perfect in pr Exeposé Arts joins the debate surrounding the country’s prestigious and most controversial prize for modern art around: The IN an article dating back to 2000, Matthew Collings expressed the view that the Turner Prize was no more than “a formula where something looks startling at first and then turns out to be… some kind of banal idea…The ideas are never important or even really ideas, more notions, like the notions in advertising.” Although a common parrot call in the media, what we have here is criticism constructed around the reduction of the Turner Prize to sensation and ‘popular’ forms of culture, implying that the prize is no more than entertainment. For one, perhaps if the general public was not so restricted in the beginning from sequestered ‘higher’ forms of culture, then it wouldn’t be necessary to snatch engagement and interest through “startling” us, to use Collings’ term. Moreover, Collings’ intellectual position that art is only commissioned, contracted even, to convey what are “really ideas” is in itself “banal”; in one short comment he blasts away the value of centuries of entertainment culture. Are we right to conclude from this that Botticelli never painted The Birth of Venus with sex appeal in mind? As if “ideas” are measured by authenticity, anyway.

THE Turner Prize winner must impress but most importantly astound its board of judges. So much so that when I went to the exhibition for the first time in 2008, all I could think was “this isn’t art”. What have a load of random objects/events bundled together got to do with artistic talent? My mind was screaming “where’s the paint?” You’ll be glad to hear I’m no longer quite so conservative as my 14-year-old self. When I visited the Tate Modern a few weeks later my experience at the Turner Exhibition had prepared me enough to stop me giggling at a can of baked beans. After some serious thinking I was even able to appreciate how this artist had managed to present an entire world in a tin. In one simple object they’d managed to provoke childhood memories and make a political comment in referring to our current age of consumerism and the cult of the ‘ready made’. This artist had made millions of pounds and all they’d had to do was pop to the supermarket. Clearly an A* at GCSE wasn’t as hard

sphere of the general public; yes, shortlists may be published. Yet this all seems like a rather second rate compromise, stimulating little to no media coverage of the proceedings, with an exclusive invite only system to previews of the exhibitions. Perhaps most disheartening is not how these prizes deny us physical access to the art, but to intellectual access, through points of discussion: for the right of society as a whole to participate in the definition and production of art. The Turner Prize, by contrast, centres and localises art. It allows entries to speak for themselves and speak with their viewers, having been muffled in so many spheres. The Turner Prize stimulates discussion into the distribution of government funding. It has filtered into the lesson plans of both primary and secondary schools and, ultimately, appeals to people from all backgrounds and age groups like no other event in the UK art world. The 2012 finalists prove this in a spirit unlike any former year, a selection exploring the pervading and topical theme of ‘immersion’. In particular, the live performance piece from Spartacus Chetwynd, ‘Odd Man Out’ is a morality tale enacted with a refreshingly carnivalesque, grotesque street aesthetic. In spite of criticism towards ‘Odd Man Out’ and its handmade props as “ramshackle…matching an infant school play for production values” (Alastair Smart of the Telegraph), the piece harks back to traditions of revelry as archaic as the York Mystery Plays (c. 1300s). It prompts audience participation and above all collapses the boundaries set in both institution and physical gallery setting, so intimidating to the unfamiliar viewer for decades. Long may we revel in this ‘immersion’ and the players of art, as opposed to institutional debates and gambling over the winner of the prize. EMILY PICKTHALL

FOR

“Long we may revel in this ‘immersion’ and the players of art” The secondary argument that the turnout of the prize is selected above the general public’s heads is an even flimsier one. Compare the Turner Prize to the Northern Art Prize, or the £20,000 bursary of Woon Tai Jee Art Fellowship affiliated with fine arts at Northumbria University, awarded to a final year undergraduate of fine art in the UK. They are privately contained in the world of business and academia, hovering outside the information

The history of the Turner Prize NOW in it’s 28th year the Turner Prize has brought some of the country’s most renowned modern artists fame and fortune. From Tracey Emin’s drunken exit in 1997 to 2004’s increase in the prize money and with controversy and debate every year, The Turner Prize is loved by some and dismissed by others. As the 2012 winner was announced last week we look back over the prize’s history.

The Turner Prize launches in 1984 with photorealist Malcolm Morley winning the award.

1984

ly; so many of these pieces are just a jumble of objects bearing very tenuous relationships.

“It seems to me that contemporary art has lost its point” The name itself provokes controversy. Yes, Turner was a ground breaking artist in his time, but would Turner really appreciate pictures where the only way to describe them is: “baby turd sits on mummy poo’s lap”? It seems to me that contemporary art has lost its point and, yes, I realise pointlessness is often the point but aren’t we over that now? Isn’t it time we stopped pretentiously attempting to be controversial? As Mark Lackey said when he won in 2008 “I want to make work that has some sort of effect”. Art has become too much about the effect on its viewers. Contemporary art aims to astound and amaze all who see it. To cause us to “ooo” and “ahh” and feel intellectually inferior to this oh-so-great philosopher who has translated our very innermost feelings into a flickering light bulb. It seems to me that the Turner Prize has got bogged down in the ridiculous. Now I’m not suggesting that art should revert back to Turner-like impressionism. However, for me contemporary art has become lazy. Rather than trying new ground-breaking things like the Impressionists or the Cubists, artists are borrowing from the work of the last 20 years. Assembling random objects together in the hope of creating some kind of overall ‘atmosphere’ takes ‘arty farty’ to a whole new level. I’m all for things that are a bit out there but the Turner Prize takes things too far. I’d like to see a reversion back to the personal and the real, not the imaginary, fantasy worlds of a very select group of artists.

AGAINST

“I’m not suggesting that art should revert back to Turner-like impressionism. However, for me contemporary art has become lazy ” as my art teacher made out. However, after the millionth time I’ve seen ordinary objects put together in an attempt to create an ‘atmosphere’, I have to admit I’m more than slightly bored. At least with painting each artist has a slightly distinctive style to differentiate the often similar subjects, now even that personal touch has been removed. Contemporary art has become one big mass of unimportant stuff. And I use ‘stuff’ specifical-

1990

A lack of sponsorship means no Turner Prize in 1990. The Tate’s Director, Nicholas Serota, makes changes including the opening of the annual Turner Prize public exhibition.

Young British Artist Damien Hirst takes the award in 1995 for an exhibition which included some of his most famous and controversial works to date. This year, Hirst fought off competition from other artists such as Mona Hatoum, Mark Wallinger and Callum Innes.

1995

KRISSI HILL

2001

Award winner Martin Creed’s work, Lights going on and off - piece which involved lights going on and off in an empty room - causes some controversy. Creed is awarded the prize by a foulmouthed Madonna live on Channel 4.

Exeposé

| WEEK twelve

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inciple but pretentious in practice? Turner Prize. Clara Plackett and Emily Tanner, Arts Editors, discuss the nominations and winner Elizabeth Price Woolworths Choir 1979

Winner ALTHOUGH some have dubbed Elizabeth Price as a “surprise winner” of the Turner Prize, I feel that she fully deserves the £25,000 prize money. The first video artist to win in a decade, her use of the medium of video is like nothing I have experienced before. She begins by focusing on magnificent baroque and gothic architecture in churches, including jagged shots accompanied by loud and metronim-

Paul Noble Nobson Newton

Nominee PEOPLE say that modern art is getting silly. Artists are throwing paint at walls and blocks of wood on the floor of a gallery apparently mean something. Point any such naysayers in the direction of this year’s Turner Prize nominee Paul Noble and the stunning, intricate pencil-on-paper drawings should quickly prove them wrong. Noble is the first artist visitors to the exhibition encounter and his collection of drawings of the fictional metropolis Nobson Newton immediately sets the standard for this year’s selection. The drawings on display here are both technically excellent and thought provoking, with details which, even after gazing upon the paper for hours, a viewer may not even notice. Nobson Newton appears to be a strangely dystopian world, somewhat decaying and

Potter Grayson Perry takes home the prize for his ceramics decorated with sexual imagery.

2003

ical finger-clicking which eventually comes to reveal hideous gargoyles and pagan symbols which have been hidden amongst the beauty. The way in which she does this is so detailed – flashing captions appear with every couple of images – intense, and shocking, that within the first five minutes she has made me feel more than Luke Fowler had in ‘96. There is no break between this and the next surge of emotion, as 1960s band Shangri-Las begin to blare and raise spirits. We are slammed down again, though, by the quick re-telling

of the 1979 fire at a Woolworths store in Manchester, where ten people died. Amongst sharp captions and continual clicking and clapping are images of the ridiculously cramped rooms, furniture blazing towards the heavens and the desperate, but silent, cry from a girl thrashing her arm around through barred windows to attract attention. Her work is so methodical, yet so deeply distressing. Price explained that “I’m interested in the medium of video as something you experience sensually... that you feel as a dramatic, flowing kind of surge”, and she has so clearly succeeded in making others experience exactly that. After accepting the prize, Price praised her comprehensive school education, whilst Jude Law – presenting the award – criticised the Government’s recent cuts to the Arts, and the introduction of the English Baccalaureate, which arts subjects will not count towards. Let’s hope that this is duly noted, and that we will still have Turner Prize nominees as strong as this in 30 years time.

dying yet somewhat still alive. Images begin from a word or phrase drawn out on the page which Noble then expands upon in the drawing, creating the concept through the detailed image and the sometimes juxtaposed meaning of the phrase. “Villa Joe,” one of the largest pieces in Noble’s nominated exhibition, is a powerful and detailed drawing of a decaying holiday villa. Noble sets up a pristine glass house against a scene of disgust and decay which somehow seeps into the perfection, polluting the idealised building. This is an overwhelming piece which I stood trying to work out for some time, only noticing the puzzling yin and yang cow - tied with a rope to the edge of the page - as I was moving away. I was immediately drawn back in to try and understand what was going on. There’s a chance I was looking too much into “Villa Joe,” since Noble’s drawings have a clear sense humour to them, though the fact

that so many different readings and experiences can be gained from simply one piece is astonishing in itself. Noble proves that modern art doesn’t have to be earth shattering, controversial or unbelievably wacky to make an impact and Nobson Newton is one of the most intriguing and really quite exciting exhibitions I have seen in recent years.

2006

Judge and journalist Lynn Barber asked if the prize is all a fix and is quoted by anti-Turner Prize group The Stuckists in their campaign, whilst Tomma Abts claims victory.

For the first time ever, the Turner Prize was held outside of London at Tate Liverpool in celebration of the city being named European Capital of Culture.

2007

Luke Fowler All Divided Selves

Nominee WHETHER or not a feature length film about the life of a Scottish psychiatrist should have a place on this year’s Turner Prize shortlist is surely a question of much debate. Luke Fowler’s, 96 minute long All Divided Selves, details the life of psychiatrist RD Laing with footage cut in concerning sufferers of mental illness. Yet despite some stunning imagery and thoughtful cinematography, why 96 minutes of edited footage concerning the subject of schizophrenia deserves a place in the shortlist of this esteemed prize for modern art still baffles me. Shown within a specially constructed, and astonishingly comfortable, cinema – which was supposed to solve the problem of screening video within a gallery setting - All Divided Selves is definitely claiming to be a piece of art. The opening footage contains some beautiful instances of cinematography - such as the stunning

Spartacus Chetwynd Odd Man Out

Nominee EAGER to see the first piece of performance art which has ever been shortlisted for the Turner Prize but slightly anxious that someone dressed as a torn up tree would imminently be inches away from my face; I approached Chetwynd’s bombshell of an exhibition space with some caution, trying to blend in amongst the giant, yellow inflatable sofa and the stripy walls. My inhibitions did not last long. As soon as three performance artists arrived and music sounded, the atmosphere transformed, and I was the first to follow artists dressed in black and white from head to toe into a smaller exhibition area. With everyone else who had been unable to resist, I sat through a baffling puppet re-enactment of the story of Jesus and Barabbas. Little was made clear, and as the artists

shots of nature which Fowler juxtaposes with the archive footage of RD Laing - and works to create an interesting atmosphere on screen. Had the film stopped after about twenty minutes it may have been easier to accept it is a piece of visual art and to enjoy what had been presented yet the lack of development and progression as the film went on made it difficult to enjoy, especially without any knowledge of the subject matter. Still, it is interesting to see such a work presented in the setting of a gallery and to be asked to consider its artistic merit. Fowler is clearly an incredibly skilled filmmaker and photographer – the photographs displayed around the entrance to the screening room were striking and arguably raised some more interesting questions than the film itself – and the way in which All Divided Selves has been produced with the beautiful visual imagery demonstrates this. The difficulty here lies with seeing the work as a piece of thoughtful art or as a very well-made documentary. held freaky puppets up to our faces, pinned them on walls and made one batter another with a stick, all I could construe was that they were trying to depict the marginalisation of an individual. This didn’t really fit with the quirky lights and upbeat music, and actually, most people looked as though they couldn’t stop smiling, or perhaps stifling laughter, throughout. It was entertaining and light hearted, but it comes as no surprise that it was not chosen as the winner, and in all honesty I would have been disappointed if it had.

2012

Bradford-born video installation artist Elizabeth Price wins the 2012 Turner Prize on the 3rd December 2012. She is awarded the prize for her twentyminute video Woolworths Choir 1979.

The Turner Prize Exhibition 2012 - with works of all of this year’s nominees on display - runs at The Tate Britain until 6 January 2012. Admission is £10 with concessions

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

Fish out of water Tom Stanley rates the third installment in the Far Cry series as one to buy this Christmas Far Cry 3 Ubisoft Montreal

Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC Out Now

Mus play t !

MY Xbox has been feeling somewhat neglected of late. You could say we have been going through a dry patch. Conversation has been dull; Call of Duty this and Halo that. Needless to say, I was thinking of giving up on our relationship all together and declaring myself celibate from the world of video games. But this Christmas has spurred on a new wave of AAA game releases and a last minute push to save my Xbox and I from going our separate ways.

“It’s a sprawling expanse of dense jungle peppered with villages, caves and curiosities” Enter Far Cry 3, a new open-world first-person shooter from Ubisoft. My initial reaction to this release did not have me jumping out of my seat and heading down to my nearest game retailer to queue up for the midnight release. My experience with Far Cry 2 left me with a rather disappointing memory so its sequel had a lot to make up for. Far Cry 3 has you playing as young American and all around stand-up guy, Jason Brody; a rich, carefree adrenaline junkie out on a rad holiday to Rook Island with his friends. It’s a case of wrong island at the wrong time and they are swiftly kidnapped and held for ransom. It’s up to you to work your way through the island, rescuing your friends and taking out the gang of pirates responsible for this holiday hiccup on the way. The environment is the standout

feature of Far Cry 3; it’s a sprawling expanse of dense jungle peppered with villages, caves and curiosities. I’m not sure I can do the sheer size of the world justice with mere words but, unlike other large open world maps, none of it feels like size for size’ sake. There is no huge area of desert in the middle of the map because the developers ran out of ideas. It’s graphically very impressive; the view from the mountaintops is spectacular. This alone was not a surprise; the ‘cry’ franchise has always looked pret-

ty. Natural lighting models and lush textures make it very easy on the eye. The

“Far Cry 3 is the biggest surprise in recent years” awe of Rook Island goes beyond its foliage. There are some excellent details and game mechanics that make the island a truly authentic world to explore. I have grown to love the wildlife on the island. Once you have gotten to grips with Siberian tigers and Galapagos turtles inhabiting the same corner of the earth, you can appreciate how such a small inclusion can add so much to the game. Besides being used for equipment upgrades and side missions, the four-legged inhabitants of Rook Island add a sense of realism; many a mission I was sneaking up to an unsuspecting camp only to be blindsided by an enraged leopard, better still, a rogue bear who has taken it upon itself to clear the camp out for me, allowing me to watch from afar with my very expensive camera. The characters in the world are very well thought out; this, coupled with an engaging story and varied mis-

sions, creates one of the most enjoyable single player experiences I think I have ever had. The pace of the game never seems to stagnate even though a solid play through will take you upwards of 15 hours. The missions are well-written the progression is very definite, and at points there are some truly spectacular set pieces; it’s difficult to expand on these without yelling ‘spoiler alert’ at the top of my voice, so I shall have to leave these to yourself to discover. If you do decide to take a break from the main story, there is a wealth of side missions, hunting challenges, assassination missions, oddjobs and generally ramboing through the jungle with a bow and arrow to keep you occupied for hours at a time. These side missions also include taking over control points on the island, which brings me nicely to the biggest improvement of Far Cry 3 over it’s predecessor. Gone are the days of Far Cry 2 where any encounter with a human will results in diving into the nearby undergrowth or an allout firefight. In Far Cry 3 you actually have an allegiance to an island faction and therefore can clear out parts of the island of any hostile forces. This leaves you free to roam conflict-free through the blissfully peaceful landscape.

One of the more noticeable changes is the introduction of an upgrade tree or, for reasons that will become apparent, the magic tattoo. I am well aware this is not a new concept. However, Jason Brody is your standard American citizen, therefore to go from 90210 to Rambo in one short blackout would not be entirely believable. So it does introduce an unconscious level of character development that would have otherwise been lost and left the player jarred by the apparent superhuman ability of the character to pick up combat techniques. Also, there is a genuine moment of joy when you can finally learn the ability to leap onto an unsuspecting pirate from above, steal his knife and throw it into the neck of his equally surprised comrade, all in the time needed to turn one’s cap backward. Far Cry 3 is the biggest surprise releases in recent years. I was expecting to find this game mediocre at best. I have found it to be outstanding in almost every aspect of gameplay. I’m not sure it qualifies as ‘INSANE’, as the box art repeatedly tells us. However, this one should be on everyone’s Christmas list.

Exeposé

| WEEK TWELVE

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All is fair in Love and FIFA... Matt Bugler, self-proclaimed gaming gentleman, offers his fairly controversial take on FIFA etiquette...

DON’T Pause the game when your opponent has the ballSometimes a cheeky pause seems the only option when a friend has breached your defence and is galloping towards goal like Bullseye towards a plane. This is unacceptable. Bring your keeper out, go for a legal shirt pull, but always let the action flow. Which leads to… Professionally foulA slide tackle from behind as the last defender is the epitome of scum, and should be consigned to FIFA hell. Free

kicks are notoriously hard to score, and deliberate sendings off throw the beautiful game to disrepute. And if you dare think about getting enough red cards to have the match abandoned, you deserve to be left in a cold changing room with nothing but Fergie and a lone football boot for company. Put a player on the line defending free-kicks There is nothing worse than lining Rickie Lambert up to caress the ball into the top corner only to see your opponent’s player gleefully scurrying back to the line, ready to stop any efforts good

enough to beat the wall and goalkeeper. It is almost impossible to score over this extra defender, and just worsens the crime of fouling someone further. Quit the match before the end if you’re losing Who does that? What kind of human being decides to mess with the laws of time and space by discounting what has occurred in the last 88 FIFA minutes? This is simply not on.

DO Mark up defenders at goal kicks This is a murky area and requires cool judgement. If your opponent is unfortunate enough to pass it straight to you when trying to skip a replay, you should uphold the sporting values of Corinthian Casuals and give it straight back. But if they pass it to you when you’ve fairly marked them up, then they’re an idiot and must take the resulting goal on the chin. Apologise if you lose 5-0 or more FIFA apology rules are a whole dif-

Telltale Games

360 / PS3 / PC / Mac / iOS Out Now

“No single choice you make is going to be correct or incorrect, but just a necessary solution born out of an increasingly daunting labyrinth of probems” The story begins with Lee, a former college professor turned convicted murderer, on his way to the slammer. After the cop car is forced off the road and the driver suffers from an unfortunate case of zombification/ cranial explosion, Lee is set free into a world that suddenly makes prison seem a lot more inviting (burly men in showers not withstanding). After

Score ‘sweaty goals’- this is where we get controversial. Many people I’ve played will scream “Don’t Sweat it!” when I’m two on one with the keeper, thus increasing my delight in passing it across to my unmarked striker to tap home. These goals are standard in real football, perfectly legal and often put an end to a well-worked team move. Let the ‘sweaty goal’ revolution commence.

Sandbox

The Walking Dead Saga

YOU’VE probably already looked at the score haven’t you? Well, I’m calling it now – Game of the Year. I’m as surprised as you are; time and time again studios have taken pre-existing franchises and adapted them into lacklustre time-wasters which head straight into the bargain bin, Telltale Games included. Their previous endeavours into downloadable adventure games such as Back to the Future and Jurassic Park have never risen above decent, but this time around they have managed to create a truly special experience unlike anything else.

ferent exciting field, but they are always entertaining, whether it be the letter to your victor’s parents or the perverse pleasure I took in having a housemate kiss my feet.

What are you looking forward to playing this Christmas and why? Rob Harris: Hitman: Absolution, because nothing says “Merry Christmas” like garotte wire to the throat. Alex Phelps: Far Cry 3 because I could really do with an entire island of people to slaughter.

being saved by Clementine, an eightyear-old girl whose parents are yet to return from out of town, Lee makes an unconditional promise to protect her, and the pair set out on a journey to find safety, survivors, and despite bleak odds, Clementine’s parents. The only rule to remember before you start is that there is no good or bad, only survival. Okay, that might not be completely true; those bandits with shotguns probably aren’t the cuddliest bunch, but take a step back and you’ll see that they’re just another group of survivors struggling to adapt to a new and frightening reality. Lee himself will have his moral compass put through the ringer on more than one occasion. No single choice you make is going to be correct or incorrect, but just a necessary solution born out of an increasingly daunting labyrinth of

problems. These can range from justifiable to downright unpleasant, be it lying, theft, abandonment, even murder. Sure, you may choose to have no part in it, but doing nothing may be the worst choice you could possibly make. If it is not clear already, it is the narrative which acts as the major driving force in The Walking Dead. In all honesty, there is little traditional game play to speak of. What this allows us to do, however, is appreciate the time and effort put into character development. Each survivor, big or small, develops, adapts and grows (for better or worse) as each episode progresses and an array of unique personalities and quirks prevents them from becoming stale or tiresome. This particularly applies to Clementine, the star of the tale. Children have always been notoriously difficult to incorporate into videog-

ames, often coming across as irritating (*cough* Heavy Rain) or unnecessary. Yet, her intelligence, wit and unwavering spirit makes her instantly likeable which does wonders for a story centred around her protection. When the game eventually ends in a climax as incredible as it is heartbreaking, you would have enjoyed every last moment. Not only does it exceed some of the very best the industry has to offer, but it arguably stands taller than both the comic book and TV series it is inspired by. Easily one of the most unforgettable games in recent memory, The Walking Dead is certainly something that should not be overlooked.

ROBERT J HARRIS

Owen Keating: Football Manager, because addiction doesn’t stop for the festive period. Laurie Pope: More Borderlands 2, because guns. Alex Carden: Battlefield 3: Aftermath, because when have crossbows ever made anything worse. Louis Doré: Pokémon Diamond the epic Christmas battle against my sister is a tradition I am not yet too old for. Jon Jenner: Playstation All Stars Battle Royale - the best way to spank Fat Princess about without visiting questionable websites!

SPORT

11 december 2012 |

www.exepose.ex.ac.uk

Exeposé

Feature

In the Clubhouse In the Clubhouse this week Steph Brown, Korfball Club’s Publicity Secretary, spills the beans about her sport with Mike Stanton and Will Kelleher, Sport Editors

WHAT is Korfball? That’s a question that the members of Exeter University Korfball Club often hear and they want to increase the publicity of the sport on campus and give it the credit it deserves. Korfball is a Dutch, non-contact sport that is similar to Basketball or Netball. There are eight players in a team; four guys and four girls. It is fast paced, physically demanding as well as extremely tactical. One of the key rules that differentiate it from Basketball and Netball is that players can only shoot when their defender is not within touching distance, between themselves and the post (which is 3 ½ metres tall!) This is where the game becomes strategic as players must work together to create opportunities to shoot. The Korfball club at Exeter University was founded in September

2009 by Exeter City Korfball Club and since then it has continually grown in numbers. The beginning of this year was the first that the Korfball Club were officially part of the Athletic Union which is a great achievement and was a result of much time spent campaigning and fundraising by members who have since graduated.

“This is the first year that the Korfball club has been officially part of the AU; a result of much campaigning and fundraising” The club now has two teams and their training has been extended to two courts for two hours, allowing us to have more focused training, result-

60 seconds with... Nick Regan

Jessica Rose

Korfball Fixtures Secretary

Korfball Team Member

What is the best aspect of Korfball Club? The fact that it’s mixed and it’s a lot more chilled out than a lot of AU clubs. It’s for people who just want to come for a laugh and burn a few calories.

What is the best aspect of Korfball Club? It’s an inclusive, friendly club but we have plenty of opportunities to compete at various different levels.

Best sporting moment? Last year we beat Exeter City Korfball Club and they’ve been playing for years. We’re a new club with not a lot of funding or coaching so we were chuffed with that.

Best sporting moment? Representing the Uni and scoring for us at BUCS 1st Team Southern tournament.

Sporting Hero? There’s still so much that is unknown to me I can’t think of a single professional player, they all play in Amsterdam where it originated!

Sporting Hero? Chris Budgen, veteran prop for Exeter and also a member of the Armed forces, who has seen operational service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What are your pre-match preparations? I always have a bit of chocolate. We may need to bring back our unofficial Motivational Sec, Clare Silver, she always got us pumped!

What are your pre-match preparations? When we’re practicing shooting before a match I like to score three consecutive times.

What are your goals for the season? We’d like to do well in the local Southwest Korfball League. We’re also looking to expand and start a 2nd BUCS team.

What are your goals for the season? To continue to represent the Uni and hopefully we’ll improve on our previous performance at the next BUCS tournament in the New Year.

ing in a much higher standard of play in their matches and tournaments. This is also the first year the club has been entered into the local league, in which they play University teams as well as more established local teams in and around Exeter. Our matches so far have been extremely close and the standard of all players has been very high. As they play teams who are often more experienced, their performances so far are a great indicator of how much the club has grown. The biggest recent event for the Korfball club was the BUCS qualifiers at Cardiff University in November. Since last year’s qualifiers the club’s level of play has increased dramatically and the 1st team only narrowly missed out on a place in BUCS. The final result was decided by a nail biting penalty shootout against Bristol University which was finally clinched by

Bristol with a sudden death goal. Although they did not qualify this year, Exeter were considerably closer than last year when our goal difference was -45, compared to this year’s zero.

“Players can be as committed as they like. As long as members show willingness to play and effort in training, everyone gets a chance to play in matches” The best thing about being part of Korfball is that it is such a sociable club. With regards to training and matches, players can be as committed as they are able to be. As long as they show willingness to play and show effort in training, everyone gets a chance to play in the matches. As Korfball is a new sport to almost all those who join,

everyone starts at the same level. It’s a friendly environment to train in and playing in mixed teams makes the atmosphere relaxed and enjoyable without losing our competitive edge. Training takes place on the covered courts at Streatham Sports Park Thursdays from 7pm-9pm and is traditionally followed by a friendly drink at The Ram. The club’s regular league matches are every weekend, with their last fixture against Exeter City at Wonford on December 8. Membership is only £20 for the rest of the year, making it one of the cheapest sports clubs at the Uni. If you’re looking to get involved in a fun, new sport and meet new people, get in touch! Find them on facebook or email the captain Chloe Darlow: korfball.captain@exeter.ac.uk

Photo: Korfball Club

Exeposé

| WEEK twelve

SPORT

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EUSK: Fast as Lightning

Crossword No. 42 by Raucous

Photo: EUSK

Across

Karate Jasmine Gardosi EUSK Club Captain

THE Exeter University Shotokan Karate Club made waves at the annual KUGB Students National Championships on 17 November, dominating the Team Kata event and winning Gold for Exeter. A tiny squad of three, Thomas Collier, Ayo Ogunbambi and Jasmine Gardosi arrived rather sleep-deprived at Chesterfield where the enormous squads of Manchester, Newcastle and countless others awaited them. Arguably the most unique and exciting event to watch, Team Kata requires three competitors to perform a set sequence of movements (a kata) in close synchronization. Timing, strength and sharpness of technique are all cri-

teria on which the judges base their scores. Having used the past month to train together in and out of sessions, the team had hoped their practice would pay off on the day. The Exeter squad entered the Eliminations round with a rendition of Jion, a relatively high-level kata that stood out from the other teams’ choice of lower-grade routines. Despite being marked down by judges for a questionable technique, Exeter sailed through to the Finals with a comfortable Second place behind Kirkby.

“Their risk was rewarded; their kata was rewarded with enough judges’ points to secure a clear victory” By the time they walked onto the Finals mat, the squad were hungry for

a winner’s medal. They chose another high-difficulty sequence to secure their win; this time it was kata Empi, involving a 360 degree jump which hazards a loss of synchronization. Their risk was rewarded; their kata was rewarded with enough judges’ points to secure a clear victory over the other finalists. The new champions thank their instructor Sensei Trevor Jarrett for his coaching in the lead-up to the competition. With renewed ambition, they now turn their sights toward the BUCS Karate Championships set to take place in February 2013. The squad hope to build on their success from last year’s BUCS in which they won a well-earned Bronze in Team Kata. BUCS is set to be a tougher competition than KUGB due to the sheer multitude of entrants. Still, EUSK’s success at these recent championships bodes well for the future.

Regional Champs? Bring it on! Cheerleading Eleni Garidis

Exeter Emeralds Publicity Secretary THE Exeter Emeralds cheerleading squad competed in the regional competition “Winter Wonderland 2012” at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre last weekend. The day began with an early start and 21 very nervous girls. After one of the Jazz squad members came down with mumps, the girls were unsure of what to expect. At 9.04am the Jazz squad took to the stage and performed a very moving routine to ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay. They had just followed RH Tom Cats who had blown away the audience, so tensions were high.

40 minutes later the hip hop squad took to the stage and performed their circus themed routine which went as well as it could have gone. A tense period followed as the girls were left to watch their rivals until the award ceremony.

“Exeter Emeralds once again came out on top; the girls were awarded two first place trophies winning both Senior Open Jazz and Senior Open Hip Hop” Exeter Emeralds once again came out on top; the girls were awarded two first place trophies winning both Senior Open Jazz and Senior Open Hip Hop.

However, the day was not yet over as the stunt squad were still to perform. That afternoon, the stunt team went up against 9 other teams, and after a solid performance they managed to get an impressive fourth place trophy.

“The day began with an early start and 21 very nervous girls” Overall, the competition was a huge success, the Emeralds returned yet again with more trophies to add to the collection. All the time and effort from captain Kirsty McKay and vice Lois Gidley had paid off. The girls should be immensely proud – a huge well done!

1. Monty Python member (7,5) 7. Bone (3) 8. I intend to (anag.) (9) 9. US national park; Yogi Bear’s home (11) 12. Offspring (3) 14. See 1. Down. 17. Oven (3) 18. Urban population (11) 23. Misanthropic Yuletide sentiment? (3,6) 24. Fix (3) 25. US playwright; married Marilyn Monroe (6,6)

Down 1. & 14. Across. Seasonal greeting (5,9) 2. Secret group (5) 3. Found on a golf course (5) 4. Friend (5) 5. Incises (anag.) (7) 6. Shakespearean Roman (6) 10. Rowing blade (3) 11. Vietnamese New Year (3) 13. European river (6) 14. Car tech (anag.) (7) 15. Public house (3) 16. Honour (3) 19. British Catholic writer (5) 20. On the wagon (5) 21. Danger (5) 22. British composer (5)

Find the Deputy Editor! Ben gets a bit cheeky We’ve hidden Ben around the paper cos it’s christmas

Promote your society here. E-mail editors@exepose.com

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Tuesday 11 DECEMBER 2012 |

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Sport

Exeposé

SPORT EDITORS

Will Kelleher & Mike Stanton sport@exepose.com

JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP Exeposé Sport Photo: Jessica Gay

Let’s go fly a kite!

>> Exeter’s Kitesurfers showing off their moves at Westward Ho! .The team managed to come home with one 1st place, two 2nd places and were awarded the best University award in a fantastic day out for the club.

Kite Surfing

Jessica Gay

Kite Surfing Team Member

THE Weekend of 1 December saw the University’s Kite Surfing club achieve an epic success at the Student Nationals Westward Ho!. Organised by the Student Kite Surfing Association, the event saw around fifty plus riders, from a variety of Universities including Plymouth and Swansea, competing to win. The riders were split into four different categories with Exeter competing in the mens intermediate, mens pro and ladies groupings. Despite the initial threat of the event being cancelled, due to the lack of wind, once conditions picked up the kites were out and the competitors were in full force shredding the waves.

Spectators lined the beach at Westward Ho! in Devon and the event began with the mens intermediates. Exeter’s Josh Clarkson, Ross Browne, Sam Evans and Oli Rubinstein all hit the waves in the first events of the weekend. Each rider had around fifteen minutes to impress the judges with their ability and skills in a ‘freestyle jam’ and despite the volume of kiters in the sea, Exeter’s lads were on top form showcasing their kite loops and raleys. Competition was fierce but the men performed superbly and after making it through to the finals, club president Sam Evans went on to win first place and club captain Oliver Rubinstein won second. A superb double for Exeter! Exeter also achieved a great success in the men’s pro category with Liam Proctor winning second place behind the student champion Ali Bar-

rett. The event, sponsored by top companies including ‘Blast Kite Boarding’ and ‘King of Water Sports’ saw the winners receive big prizes including a ‘Gopro HD Hero 2’ camera and a 7m ‘Flexifoil’ force kite. Exeter’s Kite Surfers were also awarded the best achieving University receiving a new 10m Flexifoil Ion kite for the club to use. President of the Kite Surfing club, Sam Evans, said of the event; “The Exeter Kite Surfers did a fantastic job this year with excellent performances from everyone who competed. “A massive thank you must go to all the supporters who came along to Westward Ho! for helping to make the weekend a success. “I was delighted to see some of last year’s beginners competing so soon and doing so well. It was a great way to finish off 2012 in style”.

Exeposé Sport’s Rugby Varsity coverage 2013 Exeposé can officially reveal that unprecedented plans are afoot for groundbreaking Rugby Varsity coverage in February 2013. We are looking to recruit a team of sports writers to help us on the day to produce the first ever Sport pullout in your student newspaper. Team members will need to attend the Exeter v Bath Rugby Varsity on 13 February 2013 at Sandy Park and must be available to help with producing the pullout for the majority of that week. We are looking to assem-

ble a team of six which will include: two for player ratings, three compiling match statistics and one to write the match report. Please email exepose-sport@xmedia.ex.ac. uk if you are interested. Rugby knowledge is not essential and we will assign positions at the start of next term. This is a fantastic opportunity to get involved in something that has never been done before. We are hoping to create a lasting legacy in Exeposé. Be part of it!