Exeposé Issue 618 Week 14

As Guild elections draw nearer...

Survey reveals one in three students can’t name a single Sabbatical Officer - Page 3

THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

SINCE 1987

Tuesday 21January 2014 • Issue 618 • www.exepose.ex.ac.uk • Twitter: @Exepose • www.facebook.com/Exepose

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The wait for Wellbeing

Photo: Niklas Rahmel

Growth in student mental health concerns leads to emergency funding EXCLUSIVE Meg Drewett Editor AN EXCLUSIVE investigation by Exeposé has shown that a dramatic increase in the number of Exeter students seeking support for mental health issues has led to the University’s Wellbeing Services being granted emergency additional funding. The funding has been granted amidst students complaining of long waiting times, with

one student claiming that they waited up to a year for ongoing support after their initial contact with the Centre.

718 students contacted the Wellbeing Services last term to seek support.

This is compared to 517 students that contacted the Wellbeing Centre in term one of the 2012/13 academic year, indicating a 38.8 per cent increase in the number of students contacting the service. 2,324 appointments in total were issued, an increase of approximately 700 appointments compared to the same period the previous year.

This increase in students struggling

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with mental health related issues at Exeter has also been seen by both the Student Health Centre and the Students’ Guild Advice Unit. A representative of the Student Health Centre told Exeposé that there has been “a noticeable increase in mental health cases [last] term, including severe and complex cases”. The Students’ Guild Advice Unit, which provides students with practical information and support on funding, housing and academic-related matters, confirmed that they had also seen an increase in the number of students seeking support where a mental

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health issue was contributing to their situation.

The increase in Exeter students requiring consultation on issues on mental wellbeing is in line with a national trend amongst students. An NUS study from May 2013 revealed that 20 per cent of students consider themselves to have a mental health problem, while 13 per cent claimed to have had suicidal thoughts.

The study, which questioned 1,200 students, said that 92 per cent of respondents identified as having had feelings of mental distress, which often

MUSIC: Interview with hip-hop star Scroobius Pip - PAGE 25

includes feeling down, stressed, or demotivated. 74 per cent of respondents who experience feelings of mental distress experienced them at least once a month, with almost a third admitting to feeling like this every week.

65 per cent of respondents who experienced mental health problems cited coursework deadlines as triggers of distress, while 54 per cent mentioned exams. 47 per cent also mentioned financial difficulties, while 27 per cent were worried about “fitting in”, with 22 per cent being concerned with homesickness.

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Editorial team Editors Meg Drewett & Jon Jenner Online Editors Olivia Luder & Liam Trim Deputy Editors Clara Plackett & Emily Tanner depeds@exepose.com News Editors Print: Louis Doré & Owen Keating Online: Harrison Jones & Tom Elliott news@exepose.com Comment Editors Online: Dave Reynolds & James Bennett comment@exepose.com Features Editors Print: Alexander Carden & James Roberts Online: Meg Lawrence & Imogen Watson features@exepose.com Lifestyle Editors Print: Kitty Howie & Emily-Rose Rolfe Online: Emma Brisdion & Ben Gilbert lifestyle@exepose.com Music Editors Print: Magda Cassidy & Josh Gray Online: Callum Burroughs & Ben Clarke music@exepose.com Screen Editors Print: Megan Furborough & Rob Harris Online: Jess O’Kane & James Smurthwaite screen@exepose.com Books Editors Print: Elli Christie & Emma Holifield Online: Sophie Beckett & Rory Morgan books@exepose.com Arts Editors Print: Sophy Coombes-Roberts & Ricky Freelove Online: Bryony James & Giverny Masso arts@exepose.com Games Editors Print: Gemma Joyce & Becky Mullen Online: Hernan Romero & Jon Jones games@exepose.com Sport Editors Print: Will Kelleher & Mike Stanton Online: Matt Bugler & Jamie Klein sports@exepose.com Chief Photographer Niklas Rahmel photography@exepose.com Copy Editors Charlotte Earland, Lauren Swift & Vanessa Tracey

@Exepose facebook.com/exepose issuu.com/exepose Advertising Ross Trant R.Trant@exeter.ac.uk (01392) 722432 The opinions expressed in Exeposé are not necessarily those of the Exeposé Editors nor the University of Exeter Students’ Guild. While every care is taken to ensure that the information in this publication is correct and accurate, the Publisher can accept no liability for any consequential loss or damage, however caused, arising as a result of using the information printed. The Publisher cannot accept liability for any loss or damage to artwork or material submitted. The contents of this, unless stated otherwise, are copyright of the Publisher.

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Green Unit launch sixteen new projects Vanessa Tracey Copy Editor

THE STUDENTS’ GREEN UNIT have funded 16 new sustainability projects which will take place this term.

Projects such as the ‘Sustainable Festival and Art Exhibition’ and a rewriting of the University’s Carbon Management Plan have been designed by students and were awarded £25,000 worth of funding for the rest of the academic year.

Other projects include a clothes swapping app titled ‘Style Cycle’ and ‘Bag Free Campus’ which will involve the designing and distribution of reusable bags.

Basic cooking courses for students with a focus on sustainable consumerism will also be running alongside free workshops on responsible electricity consumption and wildflower planting as part of ‘Going Wildwards’. These workshops will take place in the A&V Hub

and commence on Monday 20 January.

The Student’s Green Unit was formed in October 2013 by a £300,000 funding grant from the National Union of Students (NUS) Green fund. Exeter was one of 25 UK universities to receive this funding and the Unit’s purpose is to create a more sustainable University and Guild.

Emma Hutchings, Student’s Green Unit intern said: “We were pleased with the high quality of project bids that we received and have been working closely with project leaders to develop their ideas.

“A wide range of issues will be addressed by the schemes now underway and we are excited to see the outcomes and impacts of the students’ hard work and collaborations with stakeholders and academics”.

Each project has been provided with an academic mentor from the University and will also have the support of the Student’s Green Unit interns and external partners based in Devon. The Unit aims

to encourage inter-societal involvement such as the collaboration with the Debating Society during climate week.

Grace Stoneman, second year Geography student commented: “It is vital that students take charge of sustainability issues both on and off campus. Creating new projects with a modern twist is

velopment of the Forum and Exchange buildings as well as continual investments into teaching and learning spaces. Vice Chancellor Professor Sir Steve Smith also personally read each of the 4,260 pieces of written feedback to ensure action was taken.

David Miller, Head of Marketing at the University of Exeter and co-ordinator of NSS promotion this year, commented: “The University takes student feedback on the NSS very seriously. Thanks to the students, Guild and staff working together to make the student experience as good as it can be, we have been in the NSS Top 10 every year since its inception. We are determined to stay there by continuing to listen and to invest”.

Alex Louch, VP Academic Affairs, commented: “The NSS is a crucial barometer for student opinion and I strongly advise all final year students to fill in the survey and to have a say on their university experience. The university and Students’ Guild have worked throughout this year to make significant changes based on feedback from the NSS, such as the addition of 164 study spaces to the Forum library and power provision to the spaces. The NSS is crucial for gathering student opinion and I encourage students to take part and influence change”.

The NSS gives students a unique opportunity to anonymously speak up and make a positive impact towards the quality of UK higher education. For your chance to get involved and have your say, head to www.thestudentsurvey.com.

Simon Dewhurst News Team

essential in order to make a step towards combating climate change”.

Students, staff and external organisations can get involved in these projects via the Student’s Green Unit newsletter and the Guild website.

Photo: Students’ Green Unit

Students warned Exeter seeks success in NSS about burglaries Oliva Bateman News Team THIS January sees the return of the National Student Survey (NSS) for 2014.

First launched in 2005, the NSS gives independent, year-on-year data regarding hundreds of Higher Education Institutions and courses across the UK. It aims to gather information from final year undergraduates on the quality of their courses to help both current and prospective students make informed decisions of where and what to study. It gives students the chance to have their say on a range of academic affairs of their university, such as assessment, feedback, learning resources and personal development, and it is designed to improve the quality of courses across the UK. The NSS is a nationally recognised survey, undertaken by the independent body Ipsos MORI, and published on the website Unistats. The survey asks students to respond to statements using a five star scale ranging from ‘definitely disagree’ to ‘definitely agree’. Last year’s survey was taken by around 304,000 final-year students.

The University of Exeter has had a very positive relationship with the NSS. Last year it scored 91 per cent in overall satisfaction and came in seventh place.

The university has also actively taken on the feedback provided regarding where improvements can be made. After the 2012 NSS results, the University of Exeter implemented changes such as increasing staff to student ratio, the de-

POLICE have warned Exeter University students after a recent spate of burglaries in the city.

Over the past month there have been seven burglaries in the St James Ward and eight in Duryard. The rise in thefts has also been attributed to burglars targeting Christmas presents such as laptops and tablets. A recent survey in a student accommodated area also showed numerous properties to be insecure with many leaving windows and doors open.

Statistics published by the Home Office show that households comprising of people aged between 16 and 24 are the most likely to be burgled due to poor security and expensive items being left unattended.

As well as student accommodation being targeted by burglars, there has also been an increase in opportunistic thefts on campus with bicycles and laptops the most common items stolen.

Police have advised students to secure their properties as best as possible, keep possessions out of sight and avoid storing packaging for new valuables in their gardens as this can send a signal to prospective criminals. They have also recommended that computer work is backed up to prevent it being lost. If a student notices anything suspicious near their home or would like to report a burglary they should contact the police on the non-emergency number 111.

People are also encouraged to sign valuable belongings onto the website www.immobilise.com which allows stolen property to be located and returned more easily. Free property marking is also available through the University’s Student Community Wardens. This can be booked by emailing streetwise@ex.ac.uk.

Chris Rootkin, VP Welfare and Community, said: “I urge all students to think carefully about the security of their houses both before going out and when at home. It only takes a second to secure a door or window and the statistics exist to prove that burglaries are increasing, so be vigilant. For any more information about student safety or security, please come and find me in Devonshire House or contact the Community Wardens”.

PC Ian Lugg, Neighbourhood Beat Manager for the University of Exeter, commented: “Most burglars are looking for an easy way in through an open door or window. If you keep yours locked and secured then you are much less likely to become a victim.

If you register your valued possessions and ownership details online with immobilise you increase your chances of getting it back”.

A third year history student told Exeposé: “It is certainly a concern that opportunistic criminals are preying on the student population. However, if students remain vigilant I see no reason why Exeter should lose its reputation as a safe student city”.

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Do you know these people?

Survey shows that nearly a third of students do not know any Sabbs Owen Keating News Editor AN INVESTIGATION by Exeposé has revealed that nearly one in three students cannot name or recognise any of the four Sabbatical Officers they elected in 2013.

32 per cent did not know Hannah Barton, Alex Louch, Jak Curtis-Rendall, or Chris Rootkin when shown pictures of them, while 29 per cent could not recognise any of these four in addition to Alex Powell, the incumbent AU president.

The survey, which questioned 100 students in Devonshire House and the Forum across January 16 and January 17, is the first of its kind since a similar survey in 2012, which indicated that 68 per cent of students could not name a single Sabb.

In this survey, only eight per cent could name and recognise the roles of all four Guild Sabbs and the AU President when shown images of them, though 15 per cent were able to name and recognise

the four Sabbs (excluding the AU President) when questioned.

Sabb is short for Sabbatical Officer,

As the foremost representatives of students at the University, we can be most effective when able to engage with the student body Hannah Barton, Guild President and refers to the Sabbatical Officers, a team who work for the interests of students from within the Students’ Guild, with the exception of Alex Powell, the AU President, who works within the University of Exeter Sport department.

The statistics also indicated significant recognition of Hannah Barton, the President of the Students’ Guild. The Guild website describes Barton’s role as being the “figurehead of the organisation; both internally and externally”, and 57 per cent of respondents recognised Barton as Guild President, with 47 per cent being able to name her.

Barton’s recognition was around double that of any other Sabbatical role.

Only 21 per cent could recognise Alex Louch as VP Academic Affairs, with 22 per cent able to name him. Chris Rootkin was successfully named by 23 per cent of respondents, with 26 per cent correctly identifying Rootkin as VP Welfare.

One in three students accurately named Jak Curtis-Rendall when shown an image of them, with 29 per cent able to identify him as VP Participation and Campuses.

Finally, Alex Powell, whose publicity is the responsibility of the AU, rather than the Students’ Guild, was successful-

ly named by 22 per cent of students, with 27 per cent able to recognise her as AU President.

These figures constitute a dramatic improvement on statistics which Exeposé gathered in 2012 about the outgoing sabbatical team in that year. In that year, 76 per cent of students were unable to name their Guild President, while 68 per cent could not name any Sabbatical Officers.

Exeter is one of the most democratically engaged universities in the country, with the Guild estimating that 45.5 per cent of students have voted in an election or taken part in a student vote on a key issue.

Hannah Barton, University of Exeter Students’ Guild President, said: “The strong improvement in students’ recognition of their Sabbatical Officers is very pleasing and marks the success of efforts by the Students’ Guild – and the Sabbs themselves – to raise awareness of their roles and the work they do on behalf of

students. As the foremost representatives of students at the University, we can be most effective when able to engage with the student body. I will continue to work with the Sabbs, the Students’ Guild and the University to raise awareness of our roles still further in order to shape and deliver the best possible student experience. Students can contact us any time in Devonshire House or by email and can follow our day-to-day activities on Twitter”.

Ricky Freelove, a second year History student, said: “I think it’s disappointing that one in three students cannot name or even recognise any of the Sabb positions. Even when I took the survey, I could only name Hannah Barton due to frequently seeing her poster in the Forum”, before adding: “Our representatives do explicitly have a commitment to make us know who they are, and what they are doing for us”.

Additional reporting by Meg Drewett

located. After my mental health assessment, there was another three week wait to start CBT. The idea of having to wait again for treatment put me off and I have not returned to the Wellness Centre. Instead, I’ve been able to steadily continue increasing my dosage as a coping mechanism to compensate”.

and Focus Triage (RAFT) unit, a service to provide immediate support to those who are severely distressed.

The Wellbeing Centre has also reconfigured its services in order to be able to cope with the increase in demand.

As well as counselling, the Wellbeing Services also offer a series of therapies, such as CBT, to address a range of mental health issues, including stress, anxiety and depression. In light of the increase in demand, the Centre is providing an increased number of short-notice appointments, online support and one-off group sessions on student focussed issues that anyone can attend.

A University spokesperson said: “The University takes a holistic approach to student welfare and provides a comprehensive package of services that students can access, which go far beyond purely academic support; the Wellbeing Centre is just one of these. However, we understand that it is an important part of

our total offer and, once we recognised that there had been a significant increase in demand for this service, we put in place additional resources to support it”.

Chris Rootkin, VP Welfare and Community, who has pushed for improvements to the Wellbeing Services, told Exeposé: “I am pleased that the University has recognised the urgency of this situation and has responded quickly to the need for additional funding to meet the needs of students. It is important, however, that the University continues to recognise the increasing demand for mental health support beyond this year, as this appears to be a nationwide trend that is likely to continue”.

Any students who feel affected by issues raised in this article are urged to contact the University’s Wellbeing Centre, or national medical services.

Wellbeing gets crisis funding CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Last term, Exeter’s increase in demand for support relating to mental health led to a serious delay in the waiting times for the Wellbeing Services on campus. Although the Wellbeing Centre aims to see all students for their initial assessment within one to two weeks of their referral, some students waiting for a Wellbeing assessment were forced to wait for three weeks or more during term one. Those waiting for mental health initial assessments had to wait for up to six weeks for their first appointment.

After receiving an initial assessment, students had to wait on average for three and a half weeks before they could access ongoing support. According to Wellbeing Centre records, the longest any student had to wait between initial assessment and ongoing support was 31 days.

However, multiple students have reported a much longer waiting period and, worryingly, noted the negative im-

pact of this. One student who wished to remain anonymous told Exeposé: “I had to wait for about a month before my initial consultation and then waited for another extended period of time after being referred for a series of counselling sessions across the term. I found the counselling itself extremely effective and overall had a positive experience.

However, at points during the waiting period, I did wonder if I had been forgotten or lost in the system due to the length of time between my consultation and the counselling beginning. I feel that had the issue been more urgent, it would have been exacerbated by the slow process”.

Another student told Exeposé: “My doctor diagnosed me with major depression and began my course of antidepressants. She said they were best accompanied with, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy available at the Wellbeing Centre. Having contacted the Centre, the wait was long. I felt thoroughly let down and dis-

Having contacted the Centre, the wait was long. I felt let down and dislocated Anonymous student The additional funding to the Wellbeing Centre, granted as a rare in-term increase, has led to the employment of two new permanent staff members, additional group support sessions and the consolidation of the Risk Assessment

Additional reporting by Owen Keating

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Accommodation Prices rise for 2014/15 Emily Tanner Deputy Editor RECENT changes to University halls accommodation prices have been announced by Campus Services. Student experience, value for money and both the availability of accommodation for under £100 per week and within the student loan allowance have been taken into account by the new tariffs proposed.

These new changes will result in the rates on 709 bed spaces increasing by 2 per cent, a 3 per cemt increase in the price of 2086 bed spaces, another 729 bed spaces will have their cost raised by 3.56 per cent and finally 1454 bed spaces will increase by 4.56 per cent.

After a steady rise in price over a number of years, a catered en-suite room in Holland Hall will now set new undergraduates back £208.32 a week, an increase of £6.09 from the 2013-14 fees, whilst should students wish to stay in these same halls with an added view, the weekly rate will be £218.40. Other catered halls have also suffered price increases, including Mardon Hall, in which a twin room will now cost students £148.26, up from £143.92 in the last academic year; an en-suite room in Birks Grange Village which previous-

ly cost £196.84 will now join Holland in the ranks of halls costing over £200 with the 2014-15 fees set at £202.79. A catered standard room in Exeter Halls will cost students £159.67 increasing by £4.62.

Kitty Howie, a third year English student said: “I believe the phenomenal cost of living encourages a certain kind of student to come to Exeter and many individuals will not wish to or be able to afford to come to university here. With fees now at £9000, to pay £218.40 a week for accommodation will result in tens of thousands of pounds of student debt and many maintenance loans don’t even cover some of the lower accommodation costs”.

Self-catered halls have also been affected by the changes from Campus Services. The cheapest halls now available from the University – many of which are off campus such as St David’s - will cost £99.82 a week in contrast to last year’s lowest price of £97.86. Lafrowda’s standard rooms which in 2013-14 were priced alongside other halls at £97.86 will now cost students £102.34. Off campus accommodation James Owen Court offers single en-suite rooms at £122.36, increasing by £2.38.

Hannah Barton, Guild President has commented that: “As in previous years,

the sabbatical officers were consulted

by Campus Services in the process of setting the rent tariff for the next academic year. As the cost of living continues to rise, it is more important than ever that students are represented in this process and I am pleased that rent will be increased by less than inflation on just over half of the University accommodation portfolio. I am now in discussion with senior University staff to negotiate additional funding support for students from low income backgrounds taking up University accommodation”.

Whilst a University spokesperson has said of the price rises that: “the

University has worked closely with the Students’ Guild to ensure that there are a range of accommodation types available at varying contract lengths and rents, which are as affordable as possible for 2014/15. Last year we were delighted to be able to freeze the rent costs for a number of residences, however as we move forwards into 2014/15 it has not been financially viable to freeze for another year. The University is pleased to confirm however that all increases have been kept to a minimum where possible. 56 percent of accommodation has increased by only 3 percemt or less and 9 percemt of self-catered ac-

commodation is available for less than £100 per week. The University will be encouraging students to look at the length of their contracts and total costs for their accommodation when considering their accommodation choices for 2014/15. The University offers a choice of contract lengths - therefore allowing our students greater flexibility.”

Campus Services’ new prices for university accommodation will be implemented from this September for the academic year 2014/15. Both new and returning students wishing to live in University halls, on or off campus, will be charged at this higher rate.

Photo: Niklas Rahmel

Gender Equality Staff strikes to cause further January disruption Society change name Owen Keating News Editor EXETER students are likely to face further disruption to their studies amidst more planned strikes in a long-running pay dispute between academics and universities.

The University and College Union (UCU) has announced it is planning a series of two hour long strikes with the specific aim of disrupting teaching. The Union says that the disruption faced by students will be more significant than previous strikes, with thousands of lectures, seminars, tutorials and practicals at risk across the country. UCU has also said that the strikes will potentially involve academics refusing to mark examination papers, which could theoretically result in some students being unable to complete their degrees.

The first three two-hour stoppages will take place on Thursday 23 January (11am-1pm), Tuesday 28 January (2-4pm), and Monday 10 February (911am). This move comes on the back of two full days of strikes last term, and takes place amidst an increasingly fractious pay dispute between academic staff and universities.

UCU have called the offer of a one per cent pay increase “miserly”, calling it an “insult too far”, while claiming that academics have seen their pay fall by 13 per cent in real terms since 2009.

UCU General Secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “Despite another embarrassing round of embarrassing revela-

tions about the very handsome pay rises those at the very top have enjoyed recently, universities are still refusing to improve a miserly one per cent pay offer and are still oblivious to the hypocrisy of their actions”.

She added: “Any kind of disruption is always a last resort, but, after five years of pay suppression and

It does seem that it’s us who bears the brunt of the strike fallout rather than the University’s senior management Josh Gray, third year Ancient History student members 13 per cent worse off in real terms, we have little option but to escalate our action”.

A spokesman for the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) said: “This appears a cynical move to cause, in the union’s own terms ‘maximum disruption’ while ‘minimising cost to members’.”

“Institutions will do their best to protect students but this industrial action is designed to damage the student experience. However, the overwhelming majority of staff realise that the UCU’s demands for higher pay in-

creases are neither affordable or sustainable.”

Toni Pearce, President of the National Union of Students (NUS), commented: “Students want a speedy resolution. We need to see the employers and unions getting round the table and negotiating a fair and sustainable pay settlement.”

Hannah Barton, University of Exeter Students’ Guild President, told Exeposé: “I am concerned by the change in tone from the UCU regarding these strikes, with a clear message from the union that industrial action is intended to disrupt teaching. Additional reports that exam scripts may not be marked are also deeply concerning. The full impact of these planned strikes can’t yet be known, but the sabbatical officers and the Students’ Guild will be listening and responding to student concerns. We will continue to do what we can to help facilitate constructive discussions and I will meet the University and unions in the near future to get a better understanding of the likely local impact”.

Josh Gray, a third year Ancient History student, said: “Though we as students realise that our lecturers are getting a raw deal with falling wages and increased workloads, it does seem that it’s us who bears the brunt of the strike fallout rather than the University’s senior management”.

When contacted by Exeposé, the University declined to comment.

to Feminist Society Louis Doré News Editor

THE GENDER EQUALITY SOCIETY of the University of Exeter has changed its name to Feminist Society.

The decision was taken by a society vote and was passed by the Students’ Guild Societies Officer shortly thereafter.

Lucy Whitaker, President of Feminist Society, explained the reasons and process for the name change: “There are a couple of reasons we wanted to change the name. One is that no one in the society shies away from the word ‘feminism’ but our society name suggested otherwise. In fact, many people both in and out of the society criticised the name ‘Gender Equality’ for this reason. In descriptions of the society I have always referred to it as a feminist society so it made sense to change our name so that we did not have to explain that we were in fact feminists and proud to be so despite not being called Feminist Society. We’ve occasionally been met with hostility for changing the name but we took a vote as a society and an overwhelming majority were passionate about changing the name so we stand by our decision.

“The terms ‘Gender Equality’ and ‘Feminism’ should be interchangeable but the fact that we had to have this discussion proves that they are not. This

could be because of hostility or fear of the word feminism or simply people not understanding that feminism is anything above equality for the genders. The fact that the York Feminist Society couldn’t get ratified by their union shows that fear of feminism, or at least the term feminism, still exists.

The fact that we will be taking on the name shows our desire to educate people on what the term actually means, our pride to identify with the feminist movement and our solidarity with other feminists who may be experiencing hostility over their use of the word”.

Jak Curtis-Rendall, VP Participation and Campuses, told Exeposé: “Feminist Society chose to change its name to reflect the important principles and activities it has held since it was first affiliated. This name change brings the society into line with those nationally, and the change was unanimously approved by the Societies Executive”.

Megan Furborough, a third year English student, said: “It’s really encouraging to see that ‘Feminist’ is being celebrated by the society. Feminism is not a dirty word, and in order to achieve and improve rights for women, the first thing we need to do is more fully embrace and use the term”.

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Sabb elections voting to Police launch crackdown on cash open in February machine beggars Meg Drewett Editor

Jon Jenner Editor EXETER police are launching a new crackdown on begging in the city centre after increasing complaints about begging around cashpoints intimidating the public.

The news comes following a concerted campaign effort from Exeter Council to tackle begging in the city, which started last September.

Superintendent Chris Eastwood said: “Neighbourhood police officers will be providing a visible presence in the city and working closely with partner agencies to address the issue”.

Begging is a criminal offence, and the Council and police force’s combined plans are becoming more strict with the growing belief that the majority of Exeter’s beggars are not actually homeless. Instead, they use begging to make up to £80 a day to fund drug and alcohol addictions.

The growing problem of beggars targeting cash machines is affecting students out in the city centre particularly badly, as Exeposé reported in September. A female student told Exeposé: “I am used to being asked for money in my hometown, and assumed that perhaps this wouldn’t be as much of a problem in Exeter as

it’s such an affluent area. I’ve actually found it much more of a problem here, and felt particularly intimidated when I was asked by a group of a few homeless men for money, whilst I was trying to withdraw money from the cash machine outside Sainsbury’s.

This has now happened to me on three occasions, and most times I’ve been lucky enough to be accompanied by friends who have intervened. When I was on my own, however, I was genuinely worried that I was going to get mugged, and I think people demanding money whilst others are trying to withdraw from a cash machine can feel very threatening. I am now much less likely to withdraw money on my own, especially in the dark”.

The Council recommends that people wanting to help genuinely homeless people in Exeter should donate to local charities rather than handing money over. Exeter police suggest avoiding cash machines at night, particularly those near to Arena and Timepiece.

Chris Rootkin, VP Welfare, commented: “I fully support the Council and the police in targeting illegal begging activity in the city. If any student has been made to feel unsafe in Exeter, please get in touch with me”.

VOTING for the Students’ Guild Sabbatical Officer elections will open at the beginning of Campaigns Week on Monday 3 February at 9am.

The week will see candidates take to campus to campaign for the votes of the student body, as well as take part in the annual XpressionFM candidate debates. Candidates will be able to campaign anywhere on campus, except for the A&V hub in Devonshire House.

The election results will be announced on Friday 7 February in The Lemon Grove.

Voting will take place with the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system which ranks candidates in order of preference, and each voter will have one vote per sabbatical position. Students will be able to cast their vote on the Guild website.

In the 2013 Sabbatical Officer elec-

tions, 5992 students turned out to vote, representing 34 per cent of the student body. This was 6 per cent below the Guilds’ target turnout of 40 per cent.

This year also sees a target of 40 per cent turnout, which would require approximately 7400 students to vote, due to the increase in student numbers.

Nominations for the sabbatical roles, which opened on Monday 13 January, close on Friday 24 January.

This year’s elections mark a change to the job descriptions and titles of particular sabbatical officer positions, as VP Participation and Campuses becomes VP Activities, VP Academic Affairs changes to VP Education and VP Welfare and Community shifts to VP Welfare and Diversity. Students will also be able to vote for the Guilds’ International Officer, Postgraduate Officer and St Luke’s Officer during the same election period.

For full coverage of Campaigns week, visit the Exeposé website and follow Exeposé on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo: Josh Irwandi

Fewer phones found in examinations Lauren Swift Copy Editor ALLEGATIONS of mobile phone use during exams have decreased during the recent exam period. Following campaigns from the Students’ Guild, January saw a significant reduction in the number of alleged cases involving the use of mobile phones or electronic devices.

The use of a mobile during an exam, considered a disciplinary offence by the University, can lead to the failure or disqualification of a student. The 2011-2012 academic year recorded 61 offenses concerning electronic devices, representing a 79 per cent augmentation on statistics from the previous year’s exams. Following this, 2013 saw the Guild raise awareness that “mobile phones and exams don’t mix”. Guidance included giving the phone to invigilators or friends, or making use of the lockers in the Forum. Above all, it was advised that students left their phones at home to avoid any risks.

VP Alex Louch led a campaign setting out to address the persistent problem of students being found with mobiles in exams. Louch told Exeposé: “In addition to regular measures such as posters and messages on exam tables, we have increased our use of social media channels and the sabbatical officers defied the terrible weather to speak to students around campus wearing mobile phone

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costumes”. A giant Guild mobile phone was also placed around campus during exam week reminding students to be aware of their phones.

The University witnessed a significant decrease of offenses for the 20122013 academic year, with 22 electronic device-related incidents. Each allegation is investigated by a review panel and although this process hasn’t reached completion for the January exam period of 2014, it can be confirmed that allegations relating to mobiles have fallen dramatically since this time last year.

I’m delighted that the rate of allegations is nearly down almost 60% Alex Louch, VP Academic Affairs VP Academic Affairs Alex Louch told Exeposé: “I’m delighted that the rate of allegations relating to possession of mobile phones by candidates in the examination venue is nearly down almost 60 per cent against this time last year.

Allegations of academic misconduct relating to mobile phones are completely avoidable and the Students’ Guild has worked closely with the University to address this issue during January exam week”.

Photo: Exeter Students’ Guild

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Grand Challenges scheme returns following inaugural success Kitty Howie Lifestyle Editor GRAND CHALLENGES will be returning following the success of its initiation last year. The scheme is a week long programme in which all first year students from multiple disciplines work together to tackle 21st century societal challenges.

The scheme is set to run between 2-6 June. All first years are expected to take part, though it is hoped that second and third years will also take part if they missed the opportunity last year.

The scheme runs across the Streatham and Penryn campuses, and culminates with celebration events across the weekend.

This year the Grand Challenges offers nine topics to choose from during the application process. Designed to employ an interdisciplinary and interactive approach, the topics available are diverse, prompting students to consider and reflect upon important issues and questions, such as ‘No health without mental health?’, ‘Digital society: connected or isolated?’ and ‘Re-orienting Education: What might education look like if designed by learners?’.

Each topic has a lead academic in charge of overseeing the participants, similar to a module convenor, as well as an anchor academic role.

It is hoped this year’s scheme will build upon the success of last year. It appears the University’s website is keen to integrate as much social media interaction and promotion as possible, with Facebook and Twitter icons accompanying both the description of each topic and the sign up process.

Many participants relayed their support of Grand Challenges, which has since been onto the schemes website. One sums up the scheme as particularly beneficial: it “helps you engage with the real world, doing something meaningful you can be proud of”.

Another student commented: “I wanted to experience presentations from high profile speakers and engage in debate about controversial topics”.

Some noted the scheme was not easy, though rewarding: “It pushed me outside my normal comfort zone and got me absorbed with a group of brilliant group of students who I may not otherwise have met”.

More information about Grand Challenges can be found on the university’s website.

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Exeter research highlights contribution of green space to mental wellbeing

Oxford names and shames lowest performing students in e-mail gaffe THE NAMES and grades of nearly 50 undergraduates studying at University College, Oxford, who achieved a 2.2 or below in pre-Christmas exams were accidentally included in an e-mail sent to hundreds of other students. The recipients of the e-mail were quickly asked by the university to delete the e-mail due to ‘inaccuracies’, but not before they had an ample opportunity to peruse the confidential information regarding the academic shortcomings of their peers.

Though the pre-Christmas exams do not count towards the students’ final grades, the marks do offer an accurate representation of the levels at which the individuals are working. University College has since apologised for the error and Abi Reeves, the Junior Common Room President, told students “The document was sent accidentally and the disclosure of results was not intentional”. The identity of the staff member responsible has not yet been revealed, but Dr Anne Knowland, senior tutor of University College, has assured students that the university is “investigating exactly how this happened and are determined to make sure this does not happen again”.

20 per cent of York students admit to using prescription drugs AN INVESTIGATION by York Vision this week revealed that 20% of students admit to using prescription drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall or Modafinil during exam period to improve their concentration and obtain higher results.

Out of a sample group of 240 students spread across the three years, 79% of those studied claimed they would consider using these drugs to improve their capacity to study, despite the fact that they are known to instigate adverse side-effects such as anxiety, insomnia and hypersensitivity. Third year students were found to be the most likely to take mental stimulants regularly due to the academic pressures of dissertations and third term exams.

The Student Union Welfare Officer George Offer told Vision: “I strongly recommend any student currently taking or considering taking any sort of drugs to improve their study, to look carefully through the information available.

There’s little to no good, empirical work suggesting that these drugs can improve students’ performance in assessments, and they’re fraught with health risks”.

Photo: Gabriel Lopez-Bernal

Emily Leahy News Team RESEARCHERS from the University of Exeter Medical School have found that green space in towns and cities can lead to significant and sustained improvements in mental health.

The team gathered their data from the British Household Panel Survey in the form of questionnaires filled in by households across the country.

By following participants over a five year period, the research found that moving to a greener area did not only improve people’s mental health initially, but that the effects were sus-

These findings have significance for urban planning policy, which might aim to improve public health through the development of green spaces Dr. Ian Alcock, Lead Researcher, Exeter Medical School

tained for at least three years.

It is one of the first studies to consider the effects of green space over time. The Exeter team ensured they had adjusted their data to remove effects from other factors likely to alter the participant’s mental health. These factors included income, employment and education – as well as factors related to personality.

Lead researcher, Dr Ian Alcock, believes the study’s results could have important implications, saying: “These findings have significance for urban planning policy, which might aim to improve public health through the development of green spaces in urban areas. It suggests that new parks and

urban corridors may have long term benefits for communities”.

The results could directly address the World Health Organisation’s warning that “the burden of depression and other mental health conditions are on the rise globally”.

Student welfare can also be linked to the research, with the Office for National Statistics outlining how the number of student suicides has doubled in women and risen by over a third in men, in just four years.

The study builds on research that has found natural environments could act as vital resources to counteract stressful lives.

Diabetes causes Researchers predict rise in discovered by Exeter scientists sea levels Connor McGovern News Team TWO new causes of a certain type of diabetes have been revealed through research at the University’s Medical School.

Our genetic discovery has implications for manipulating stem cells, which could one day lead to a cure Sarah Flanagan, Lead Author Published in the journal Cell Metabolism earlier this month, the research on neonatal diabetes gives further information about the production of beta cells in the pancreas. The Exeter-based team found that mutations in two specific genes important for pancreatic development can cause the disease. The lead author on the paper, Dr Sarah Flanagan, said: “Our

genetic discovery is critical to the advancement of knowledge on how insulin-producing beta cells are formed in the pancreas, which has implications for research into manipulating stem cells, which could one day lead to a cure”.

Neonatal diabetes is a rare form of the condition, affecting around one in every 100,000 births. It is caused by a genetic change that results in a dangerous increase of insulin levels.

Having enlisted over 1,200 international patients, the University of Exeter is the leading centre for research on this type of diabetes. The study, partly funded by Diabetes UK, focused on 147 young people with the condition, 121 of whom went on to receive a genetic diagnosis. For many of these patients, knowing the causes of their diabetes will result in improved future treatment, and all of the patients will provide a significant insight into pancreatic development.

Dr Flanagan added: “Neonatal diabetes is diagnosed when a child is less than six months old. We are very proud to be able to give answers to the families involved on why their child has diabetes”.

Rachel Gelormini News Team RESEARCHERS from the University of Exeter have taken part in a study showing that the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica is in retreat. The study predicts that sea-levels will increase by 3.5-10mm over the next 20 years.

Ice-flow models, which were published in Nature Climate Change on Monday, were used to predict the glacier’s movement. Currently contributing to a quarter of the total ice lost from West Antarctica, the models show that the glacier is now in an ‘irreversible retreat’. This will result in a significant amount of ice being shifted into the ocean, causing sea-levels to increase dramatically.

As well as the University of Exeter, the research team represented a number of international institutions.

These include the University Institute of France, the University of Grenoble, The British Antarctic Survey, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the CSC IT Centre for Science in Finland, and the University of Bristol. Dr Anne Le Brocq, from Exeter University’s Geography department took part in the

study. She said: “Ongoing retreat in this region of Antarctica will have a significant impact on future sea-level change. It is important that we understand the risk of further sea-level rise resulting from change in this region in the future. The agreement from the three models suggests the risk of sea-level rise as a result of irreversible retreat is high.”

It is wonderful that the University of Exeter is engaged with such important and influential research Kate Williams, Second-year Law Kate Williams, a second-year Law student said: “It is wonderful that the University of Exeter is engaged with such important and influential research. It shows that the university is responsive to global issues which affect us as individuals, and that further studies should be encouraged”.

SABBATICAL ELECTIONS

MAKE A CHANGE 9:00 MONDAY 13 JANUARY - 17:00 FRIDAY 24 JANUARY

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PRESIDENT

AU PRESIDENT

VP EDUCATION

VP ACTIVITIES

VP WELFARE & DIVERSITY

INTERNATIONAL OFFICER

POSTGRADUATE OFFICER

ST LUKE’S OFFICER

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

inthisChina summer

International Exeter scholarships of £500 are available to eligible students to travel to one of China’s most prestigious universities this summer. Tsinghua will offer a stipend of RMB3000 (approx. £300).

Tsinghua University, Beijing Volunteers are invited to spend 3 weeks at Tsinghua University Summer Camp from 30 June – 18 July.

Applications must be made via Exeter initially and application forms will be available following the presentation on 29 January.

Deadline for applications: Friday 28 February 2014 For more information, please contact Sarah Hector at s.hector@exeter.ac.uk or visit www.exeter.ac.uk/international/ abroad/summerschoolandshortprogrammescholarshipfund/ tsinghuasummerschool/. Eligibility requirements apply.

Professor Lu Zhongshe from Tsinghua University will be visiting Exeter on Wednesday 29 January 2014 to make a presentation to interested students. Details of the presentation are as follows:

Venue: Building: Streatham Campus, Amory Building, Room C417 Time: 12:00 – 13:00 To book a place at the presentation, please visit https://mycareerzone.exeter.ac.uk/ViewEvent. chpx?id=254225

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“A great excuse for a party”: The Time to talk Prohibition Ball 2014 EST.

MENTAL HEALTH cannot really be referred to as a taboo subject.

Realistically, it’s more of a non-subject; it’s something that people refuse to acknowledge, something that they dismiss, ignore, repress. Yet one in four British adults struggle with a mental health problem in any one year. Despite that, it can be hard for the rest of us to fully accept it. We’ll tell sufferers to ‘cheer up’ or ‘snap out of it’ and genuinely believe that we’re trying to help. After all, it’s hard to understand as a problem; it’s not something we can see, like a broken leg or a gaping cut.

But despite the lack of recognition and understanding, it is a problem, and it’s a problem that is increasingly prevalent at our University. As Exeposé’s investigation this issue has shown, this problem has escalated to the point where the University’s Wellbeing Centre has had to receive additional funding in order to cope with demand. Though budgets frequently change for the University’s key services, it is almost unheard of for budgets to increase ‘in-year’. The University will take this emergency funding into account when planning its budgets for next year.

Mental health is something that people refuse to acknowledge Considering the number of students at the University that have recently sought for help with mental health problems, it is paramount that the University seriously consider a significant increase for the budget of Wellbeing Services. Almost 40 per cent more students asked for Wellbeing’s help last term, as compared with the same term of the previous

1987

year. Though it is probably unlikely that an increase would remain quite so dramatic year on year, the University has made its policy on expansion perfectly clear. Each year, the University is going to admit more students. Each year, then, the strain on the Wellbeing Centre will only get greater.

“We needed to fill the SSB shaped hole in our collective scantily clad hearts”

Each year, the University is going to admit more students.

Each year, then, the strain on Wellbeing Services will only get greater However, the rate of increase in people needing help for mental health problems is far higher than the rate of increase in students. The biggest task for the University heading forward is doing its best to find out why.

University is often described as the time of your life, but it is equally easy to describe it as a pressure cooker full of conflicting stresses, with a degree, new relationships and independent living vying for time and attention.

Without specialised support services, this problem will only grow worse.

It is an incredibly difficult issue to tackle but, importantly, the University is stepping up to try and tackle it.

Waiting times will come down, and support services will only improve and expand. Anyone at this University that feels like they need help should know that it is there, and will be there whenever they need it. If you’ll forgive the double negative, mental health is not a non-subject; the sooner that people acknowledge it, the easier it will become for everyone – students, staff and the University – to deal with effectively.

Correction from Issue 616: Music would like to apologise for not crediting Natalie Garces-Bovett for the Queens of the Stone Age Like Clockwork review Thanks to those who helped proof this issue: Vanessa Tracey, Lauren Swift, Charlotte Earland, Oliver Toms, Christy Ku, Alice Belton, Pavel Kondov, Bethany Stuart, Matthew Wilcock, Bethany Baker, Mah Tong Khei, Pui Wei Wen, Anna Hulbem, Harriet Casey, Kayley Gilbert, Ben Crick, Harry Scrase, Ciaran Willis, Julian Webb, Claire Berrisford, Sophie Harrison, Jojo Watts, Tristan Gatward, James Pidduck, Jessica Knight, Laura-Jane Tiley, Hector Fraser, Ben Pullan, Sam Brewer, Alana Libell, Emily McIndoe, Tonny Vilhena, Frasier Crane and members of the Exeposé editorial team.

James Bennett Online Comment Editor SINCE the cancellation of the ever popular SSB I am now thoroughly bereft of any legitimate reason to go out on the town in my pants, of which The Firehouse can only be so accommodating. However, the looming Prohibition Ball has promised an evening of fun and frivolity with a side of, ‘zoot suits, bowler hats, flapper dresses and feathers’ as a fun and more importantly hopefully inoffensive alternative.

Organised by Exeter RAG, it looks like it’ll be a great night for those who were quick enough to secure their non-transferable tickets before they sold out but the problem, as I see it, is the lack of a

nominated charity for the proceeds to go towards; the SSB has a legacy and a cause that the new ball seems to lack.

This is not to say that I’m not hugely appreciative of all of the work that RAG do. They’ve raised thousands of pounds for a huge selection of nominated charities already this academic year and the work they do is something each and every member of RAG can and should be proud of. Moreover, dealing with the SSB backlash must have been a nightmare and to implement a brand new event in the immediately following year is no mean feat. My concern is that because the event doesn’t have the same hype surrounding it, the money raised is inevitably going to be a more modest sum and when divided between RAG’s numerous nominated charities makes much less of a statement.

The problem isn’t really about the

amount raised though it’s that we could very easily have singled out a cause to support through the Prohibition Ball and in not doing so our alternative to the SSB begins to look like just that: a great excuse for a party with a bit of charity thrown in for good measure.

Of course, none of this actually does anyone any harm and the money raised will make a great difference. However, the message that we’re sending is no longer that we wanted to support a worthy cause with a fundraising event; it’s that we needed to fill the SSBshaped hole in our collective, scantily clad hearts.

The Prohibition Ball will be a fantastic event and I’m sure it will become a staple of Exeter’s social calendar, yet I can’t help but wonder if we couldn’t have done more to raise awareness for a plethora of worthy causes.

Cartoon: Rachael Gillies

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The most Sabbulous time of the year As the Sabb elections approach, we discuss different attitudes towards the most hectic week on campus Emily Tanner Deputy Editor

AS an unknowing and naïve fresher, coming out of halls one morning in January two years ago I was utterly baffled when a blonde man dressed in running shorts (in itself surprising for the January we were having), a hoodie and sweatbands jogged up beside me and handed me a flyer asking me to vote for him as AU president. I probably didn’t even know what the AU was then (Athletic Union for fellow sports-a-phobics like me) let alone that it had a president who someone somewhere voted for. That I could vote for? What were these elections going on?

Whatever you think about elections, for five days on campus it’s virtually impossible to avoid them These mystery elections - that caused that young man to kindly jog all the way from the path to Holland Hall to Queens with me that day, telling me all about his exciting sports based policies that I merely politely smiled at – were the Sabb elections and in two weeks time campaigns will once again sweep across campus. You may be handed sweets three days in a row on your way up Stocker Road, gladly take them and throw the accompanying flyer in the bin; you may encounter a flash-mob in the Forum plaza and stop to see what all the fuss is about; you might even decide to take the time to log onto the Guild website and vote at some point but whatever you think about elections, for five days on campus it’s virtually impossible to avoid them.

Every student who has ever been confronted with an overzealous

campaigner on their way to a lecture will have learnt the techniques to try and bypass the campaigns. iPod in and focused stare is always a good one, sneaky cut through Reed Mews from that side of campus was one I definitely tried a few times in first year and the infamous “I’m so sorry, I do really have to take this very important but very imaginary phone call” will be seen all over campus by campaign teams and candidates. However, if you do have the time to spare on the way between classes, take out those headphones, stop making excuses and have a chat with the candidates and their teams. You’ll probably get some free sweets out of it at least.

Whatever you think of the Sabbs, the work they do and their importance on campus, this is our one real opportunity each year to engage in student politics, influence the way in which the Guild will be run for another year and do our best to get what we want from our Students’ Guild. Often Sabbs may not live up to their idealistic manifestos but you can’t complain about those unfair 9AM essay deadlines three weeks in a row if you haven’t voted for a VP Education, or moan about the fact that there aren’t enough chairs in the Ram if you didn’t go out and look for the best candidate for VP Participation on Campus.

If you do have time, take out those headphones, stop making excuses and have a chat

Will Kelleher Sports Editor

“Lock yourself away from the clutches of the egodriven, CV enhancing, clinging on brigade and their posse of over enthusiastic friend”

RIGHT, so the last rant went well by all accounts. The Ram toilets were finally supplied with doors within two weeks of my angry tirade. So now it’s time for round two. Fixing the University one issue at a time.

Something’s coming ladies and gents. It’s bad. Time to batten down the hatches. Lock yourself in a quiet room away from the clutches of the ego-driven, CV enhancing, clinging on brigade and their posse of over enthusiastic friends. It’s time for the Guild Elections. God help us all.

It just doesn’t matter to most of us. Only 34 per cent of the student population voted last year Gone will be the days of feeling able to walk around campus with your head held high. Gone will be the safety. Gone are your normal commuting routes. It’ll all be gone. Here come the flash mobs, the badly edited videos, the onesies, the questionable

slogans, the token gesture sweets and the monumental balls spouting from many, many mouths. This is an advanced warning. Prepare early. I’m giving you a week or so to get ready.

It’s coming.

This time last year I was negative about the Guild Elections but wrote in this section that I will never actively express this in public for fear of being an “elections scrooge”. Now, twelve months on I am loud and proud. What is the bloody point of these elections?

Honestly, feel free to vote. This is not an article asking you not to vote. And do support your friends. They’ll like you if you do. But let’s all realise that this only matters to the eight people who will eventually get elected.

In short, this is a popularity contest of the highest order. Policies do not matter. Does the average student remember any policies from last year?

In fact, does the average student know who the current Sabbs are? I feel relatively engaged at the University and I can’t name at least two of them, let alone the roles they do. Apart from the AU President who actually runs much of Sport at Exeter rather than just being a figurehead, no matter who gets voted in your day-to-day expe-

rience will not change much at all. It just doesn’t matter to most of us. And that’s seen in the turnout figures. Only 34 per cent of the student population

The bloody buzzwords are here too. What does this corporate twaddle even mean? voted last year. That’s ridiculous.

The buzzwords. The bloody buzzwords are here too. ‘Enterprise’, ‘Dynamism’, ‘Innovation’. If you’re told any of these in the coming week then ask the person in question for a definition on the spot. What does this corporate twaddle talk even mean?

And how do we know if we are enterprising or dynamic?!

I’m sure the Sabbs work hard and good luck to those running, hopefully in a year’s time your CV will look exciting but please leave me alone in elections week. I really don’t care.

Bring in the Carbon Rod system I say. You wouldn’t even have to pay it £17,000 a year!

However little difference you think it makes, however much you don’t really think you care, this is your chance to have some say in the place you call home during term time and try and get a little bit more of what you want from university life.

Dive into campaigns week, enjoy the fun, frivolity and freebies of many of the campaigns and maybe put some crosses in some boxes if you get the chance.

Confessions of a campaign manager An anonymous campaign manager for one of this year’s Sabb candidates tell us about their expectations of campaign week ASK the average apathetic student what they hate about the Sabb elections and campaigns, you’ll get a reply of an exhaustive list which includes, but is not limited to, a disdain of: flash ‘mobs’, badly edited videos, music demonstrations, stupid viral videos that don’t go viral, shit cake, token freebies, aggressive flyering and the inability to get your work done on campus without a campaign frenzied rallier targeting you to ask whether you’ve voted yet as contributing factors.

Last year I was one of those disengaged students. I remember deliber-

ately avoiding the bottom of Stocker Road, with its barrage of canvassers and monstrous number of leaflets, by plotting out an intricate route which wound around the back of Lafrowda and the more distant halls.

This year is different, however, as I’ve decided to support a friend by acting as a campaign manager.

Frantic flyering is not enough to engage students. If anything, it turns students against the initiative of student democracy, and does little to pull up the embarrassingly low turnout numbers. Moreover, it’s not right that such a small minority get to decide

the overall decision.

As a result, it seems clear that, in order to engage the average student, campaigning needs to be creative and attitudes need to change.

If students don’t vote because they don’t like canvassing, and don’t know anything about manifesto points, that’s a failure on the candidate’s campaign more than anything.

As campaign manager, I believe it’s not going to be enough to simply rest on the laurels of previous campaigns, discussing with my team what their strong points were and then recreating them in a different colour.

As a result, I hope to be instructing small changes to bring the campaigning down to a personal level.

Never underestimate the impact one person can make. Utilise your friends and all resources around you to the maximum potential. Grow up, pull the finger out of your arse, stop complaining and take an active approach.

Effort produces results.

This can only happen if campaigners establish a reciprocal relationship with the student body. I will endeavour to get my team to flyer, promote and spread the message of my campaign, yet simultaneously leave you

alone if you’re not into it and already have pockets full of balled up leaflets that you don’t really care.

I hope students will return the favour, endeavouring to vote and pull up the electoral turnout. Mutual respect and understanding is a beautiful thing. This is not a popularity contest - I hope my candidate will win following a fruitful campaign, the utilisation of all resources and the pooling of creative efforts, rather than from the instruction of droves of their ‘friends’ on social media.

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Flora Carr

Diagnosed with depression A FEW weeks ago a message from an old best friend from primary school popped up on Facebook. “Fuck it coming home. I am.” I was bewildered. I began to question her further. I knew something was wrong; her inarticulate messages read as if she were mumbling through tears, her long pauses coming between sobs. To protect my friend’s identity I’m changing and withholding various details about her, but in our following conversation she said she’d been diagnosed with clinical depression.

Depression. Just one word and my world shifted slightly. Until that moment it had been a word associated with soap operas, or drunken, pitied family friends who seemed like caricatures in themselves.

Never would I have associated it with my friend from school, where she’d been a prefect whom everybody loved. And yet there it was.

Before I could even respond, things went from bad to worse. She began to express her ‘humiliation’ at her diagnosis, saying she’d just never thought she’d be ‘one of those people’ who’d get depression. Aside from her doctor, she’d only told me and one other friend; at that point she couldn’t yet face telling her family, saying how her mum would ‘freak’. I became even more worried when she told me that she’d lost two-and-a-half stone since going to university. Was this normal for people with depression? I felt hopelessly under-qualified. I said that I wished I could be there to give her a hug and chocolate; I immediately regretted it. Would she think I assumed that just a hug and chocolate would make her ‘better’?

Would she think I was belittling her condition? I was nervous that

the slightest comment from me might make everything worse. But I was also annoyed; my loyalty towards her made it impossible for me to break my promise not to tell anyone else. And her family needed to know. They could assure her, better than I ever could, that the single word ‘depression’ wasn’t her new identity. From everything she told me it seemed that, for her, depression was an embarrassing label, not a condition. But of course, before I’d had time to think calmly, even I had fleetingly seen it that way: a label to neatly categorise the more embarrassing and hostile characters in a television drama.

Never would I have associated depression with my friend from school, where she’d been a prefect whom everybody loved And yet my friend is far from alone. Every year, one in four will experience a mental health issue in the UK. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the aftermath of Christmas there is a spike in the number of people diagnosed with depression, and the number of suicide attempts. Perhaps ‘January Blues’ really is a real thing. For many of us, the idea of Christmas is placed on a pedestal. The songs that we listen to non-stop from 1 December (or, if you’re like me, mid-November) until Boxing Day constantly tell us that Christmas is the best time of the year.

And for many, it is. Despite the annual disputes about whether or not we’ll be able to fit everything in the oven, it’s also a time of family, cheer, fantastic telly and, of course, embarrassing knit wear. But at the same time, the songs tell us that “next year all our troubles

will be out of sight”; or, to quote Slade, “look to the future now / It’s only just begun”. They imply that washing down turkey with six glasses of mulled wine will also wash away all our problems.

And of course that’s not the case. In the rush of hitting the sales (and tutting at how your present to your Mum is now 60 per cent cheaper), New Years Eve suddenly creeps up on you. Sausages-on-sticks are eaten, parties are attended, your dad tries to turn Jools Holland on, and you awkwardly kiss a stranger. And that’s that. As the clock strikes twelve the nation breathes out.

It’s the annual anti-climax. After New Year’s Eve there is little to hope for except a few more days of back-toback films and left-over turkey sandwiches. After a solid month of looking eagerly forwards, January is a month of last year’s bills and back-to-work, back-to-school. For students, it’s even worse. As you slide into bed at the end of Boxing Day, surrounded by chocolate wrappers, you’re fully aware that the pile of revision you’ve neglected over the past few weeks can no longer be avoided. For many universities, including Exeter, exams start less than a week into January; barely giving you time to recover from the New Year hangover. Is it any wonder that this sudden shift from festive cheer to cold exam halls results in young adults such as my friend becoming not only rundown, but actually depressed?

In the hope that when I next spoke to my friend I would be able to give more constructive advice than ‘hugs and chocolate’, I decided to research clinical depression. However, trawling through pages of chatrooms and selfhelp guides on the internet, it’s surprising the number of people out there who view depression as something which only the weak are afflicted with.

It struck a chord with me; my friend, in expressing her ‘humiliation’ at being diagnosed, seemed to suggest that

When a friend revealed something on Facebook, Flora Carr wasn’t entirely sure how to react...

somehow she had been rendered weaker, unworthy. Many view depression as something you can ‘shake off’ or ‘snap out of’. As highlighted by the recent trending video ‘The Mask You Live In’

by The Representation Project, guys are told to ‘man-up’, the implication being that having depression in some way emasculates them. For others, apparently all it takes is for your tell-itlike-it-is friend to advise you to ‘lighten up’ before taking you on a night out.

Getting with someone in a club, getting drunk. Even hugs and chocolate… that’s all it takes, right? As it turns

It’s surprising the number of people who view depression as something which only the weak are afflicted with. Many view depression as something to ‘snap out of’ or ‘shake off’ out, no. Despite the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of General Practitioners conducting a joint five-year ‘Defeat Depression’ campaign to reduce prejudice and educate in the UK during the 90s, studies have shown that social stigma surrounding depression still exists; many have little idea about its causes or symptoms. Depression can be caused by a range of factors, from biological or social factors to drug and alcohol abuse. You can even get depression from seasonal shifts in the weather, which is called ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’ (SAD). Let alone January Blues, you can potentially become clinically depressed every winter. The symptoms of depression also vary: in-

somnia, hallucinations, appetite loss and insecurity all feature.

With such a range of causes and symptoms, ranging from the mild to the extreme, it is little wonder that so many people are diagnosed with it every year. You’d be shocked at the number of celebrities with clinical depression: Halle Berry, Alec Baldwin, Woody Allen, Jon Bon Jovi, Alistair Campbell, Kirsten Dunst, Harrison Ford, Anne Hathaway, Alicia Keys, Eminem, David Walliams, J.K Rowling, Robin Williams and many others. Stephen Fry’s struggles with depression and bipolar disorder have brought some publicity to the condition, particularly in his 2006 documentary Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, which won Fry an Emmy in 2007. As mental health issues are gradually, tentatively explored, with documentaries such as Fry’s shedding some light on the real facts, public conceptions will, hopefully, begin to shift. The fact that so many successful celebrities have battled with and won against depression surely suggests that the condition is not in any way, contrary to my friend’s opinion, a defining label or an inhibitor. And there is help out there. For immediate relief there are many help lines, such as the Samaritans. But treatment for depression can be a slow process; this term my friend will not only be on anti-depressants but she will begin seeing a counsellor, who will hopefully help her far more than I or any number of bumbling well-wishers could. But in trying to understand what she’s going though, I hope I can still help in my own small way. Besides – I’ll still be there with the big hugs and chocolate anyway.

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EXEPOSÉ

Best of the rest

In our quest to give you the best, not every interview makes the cut. Here’s some of the unlucky few who didn’t make it to Exeposé Features in 2013

#1 - Alan Johnson WE met with Johnson in his plush Parliamentary office, with the shadow of Big Ben pouring in through the window. A former postman that made it to the top table of government, Johnson is a first-class champion for social mobility. “It’s really worrying that there’s a treadmill into modern politics,” he sighs, “do PPE at Oxford, then spend a little time poncing around in communications or journalism.” Johnson has worked hard to crack down on unpaid internships in MPs offices, much to the annoyance of a steady stream of Exe-

ter graduates. Since starting his own political career, his straight-talking conviction has provided a rare relief compared to his spin-talking colleagues, including when we ask him about the government’s welfare policies. He doesn’t pull his punches: “Labour has to fight this ‘shirkers versus workers’ image that Osborne is peddling. Saying that people are claiming benefits while lying on the sofa in a string-vest watching TV, but most claimants in London are cleaners going to work in the morning on low wages”. Without a doubt, the former

A SELF-DESCRIBED Vox Populi, Rees-Mogg is the man of a very different group of people. The son of a Lord and eminent Old Etonian, and nicknamed the ‘MP for the Early 20th Century’, he asked to meet us for tea in Parliament.

“Jolly nice to see you,” he exclaims as we arrive, with a jovial handshake, “I do hope you haven’t come too far.” Since becoming an MP in 2010, Rees-Mogg has made quite an impact, having already secured his political legacy by using the longest word in parliamentary history. “You’ll always have people saying oratory isn’t what it was, though ‘Floccinaucinihilipilification’ is all I have to say to that.” Beyond his rhetor-

Photo: The Standard

#3 - The Hamiltons THE disgraced MP and TV regular Neil and Christine Hamilton have been slowly reinventing themselves as UKIP’s showbiz couple. After Neil was forced out of Parliament in 1997, the pair began their media spree, appearing on Have I Got News For You immediately following his defeat.

“Very few politicians can do HIGNFY as they take themselves too seriously,” Christine explains, with Neil dryly adding, “they’re all far too boring”.

Admittedly, the thick-skinned pair

Photo: The Independent

postman wants many coalition policies returned to sender. After resigning from the Shadow Cabinet in 2011, Johnson’s tell-it-like-it-is style landed him a spot as a regular guest on the cult political show This Week. “It’s amazing that it gets 1 ½ million viewers at 11.30pm at night,” he chuckles, “the guests get a surprise sometimes though – Andrew Neil [the presenter] has taken up the mantle of Paxman, but they often aren’t expecting to be verbally assaulted by Andrew at midnight on a Thursday night”. Nonetheless, he has thrived on the show and is now poised to return to the top. Indeed, Alan Johnson is the postman-turned politician who always delivers.

survived notably well on the hit satirical show. “Unless you’re bonkers, you know you’re there for them to bounce jokes off you,” she jests, “you can’t outwit Merton and Hislop, so all you can do is keep your head up.” Christine followed this up by appearing on the first series of I’m A Celebrity, which cemented her reputation as a larger than life, middle-class battle-axe.

“My basic rule is if it’s legal, fun and faintly decent I’m up for it,” she exclaims loudly, “actually if it’s fun I’m doubly up for it!” Neil seems less thrilled: “we’ve

had a lot of fun,” he murmurs. When Neil re-entered politics in 2011, the duo cut back on their TV work and jumped into politicking, with the personal backing of Nigel Farage. “Nigel is head and shoulders above everybody else, including me,” Neil exclaims, with the same excitement as Christine moments earlier.

Indeed, it’s clear that politics is to him what TV is to her. Without a doubt, they are quite different people, but their joint status as a plucky personality double-act has kept them safely afloat. And, with UKIP’s ongoing rise, we can expect to see much more of the king and queen of political comebacks.

WE interviewed Lord Howe, Tory grandee, following a scholarly and rather profound article for The Independent, decrying the Conservative scepticism on Europe and the unruliness of their backbenchers. Grandee is certainly an accurate term; Lord Howe was a key figure in the Thatcher administration, and clearly had, as we discovered, a sharp political mind, despite being nearly five times as old as his interviewers. After breezing into the House of Lords with surprising ease (apparently all you need is a name and an appointment time), we ended up cloistered in a strange little room on the upper floors, facing a man who had held nearly every position

Photo: The Mirror

#2 - Jacob Rees-Mogg ical revivalism, Rees-Mogg has proven extremely independently minded, often unafraid of lavishing praise on his political opponents. Peering over his glasses, he explains: “Oh indeed, I take UKIP very seriously. They produce a very attractive manifesto.” He’s equally quick to pay homage to his Labour colleagues.

“Ed Miliband was very dignified when he made his tribute to Lady Thatcher,” he notes solemnly. His father had known Margaret Thatcher since university, and Jacob is clearly affected when conversation turns to her death. “There’s a special

place in history for her,” he laments, “becoming the first female Prime Minister was an achievement of singular power.” Nonetheless, his own involvement with women in politics has been quite different; he famously brought his childhood nanny to campaign with him in 1997. Despite his eccentricity, Jacob Rees-Mogg is respected for his honesty, integrity and charm. Perhaps, with people crying out for a better class of politician, Rees-Mogg may become the type of MP we need for the 21st Century.

Photo: The Independent

#4 - Lord Howe worth having in the British government.

And while in person he was less tightly focused than in print (aren’t we all), his analysis showed the same sharp political acumen. In the hour he kindly gave us, we discussed British foreign policy, the House of Lords itself, the EU and his extensive work with the UK Metric Association, as well as an amusing diversion about ties.

Speaking only a month after the death of Lady Thatcher, we were initially quite keen to press the man some would say instigated her downfall on

his opinion of her legacy. His reluctance to speak about the topic, however, was clear. Whether unwilling to speak again about a woman with whom he is forever linked, or out of genuine respect for a towering political colleague, we moved quite quickly on to other topics. Perhaps it was for the best; Lord Howe clearly has more to offer than simple reminiscences, and his advice on politics today is still important enough to come out of the shadow of the past.

EXEPOSÉ

| WEEK FOURTEEN

FOOTBALL is losing its soul.

While an outsider may see a sport in rude health - with ever-increasing amounts of money being poured into the game through transfer fees, sponsorship deals, and ticket prices selling seats in huge stadia - those inside the game, especially those who support teams across the whole of the footballing pyramid, are seeing the other side of the extremely profitable coin. In 2014, football fans are not only regularly being priced out of watching their team in the flesh, but, increasingly, even from being able to watch their side without an expensive television subscription. The sport of the people is increasingly being taken away from them.

As if exclusion from the sport as a whole wasn’t enough, some supporters are being excluded and marginalised from the running of clubs that have sustained local communities for decades. The genesis of this article came following the news that Hull City owner Assem Allam has threatened to quit the club, withdrawing his financial largesse if he isn’t allowed to break 109 years of tradition by changing the club’s name to Hull Tigers. The fact that this outburst came on the day that he broke the club’s transfer fee by signing Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic for a fee of over £6.5million is especially telling: Allam believes that his financial contribution effectively voids any right that the club’s loyal supporters feel they have over helping to shape the club’s future.

Until 2008, Hull was the largest city in the UK to have never had a Premier League team, and it is worth remembering that the club faced relegation from the Football League and financial meltdown as recently as 2003. In light of this, it is admittedly impos-

Hull City owner Assem Allam has threatened to quit the club, withdrawing his financial largesse, if he isn’t allowed to break 109 years of tradition by changing Hull City to Hull Tigers sible to disregard the impact that Allam’s contribution has had on the club since his tenure began in 2010.

However, I would argue that more importantly, there wouldn’t have been a club for Allam to buy without the loyalty and determination of the Hull City fans who have been so shunned by his recent antics. While this month the ‘City ‘Til I Die’ campaign was told

by Allam that they should “go away”, and that “no-one is allowed to question [his] decisions”, they are a key part of the nucleus that kept the club

Football:

C Cash ow e Th As the cost of the beautiful game climbs to ever-dizzying hights, football fanatic Owen Keating, News Editor, questions whether football’s soul is for sale alive. On a visit to Hull last year (as part of a thankfully fruitful 400-mile round trip to watch my own team), I was struck by the ferocity of the city’s support for the team. If support of this quality is let down by the Football Association, who have the final say on whether to ratify Assam’s desired name change, then the new Hull Tigers badge will become an extremely powerful symbol of the prioritisation of funds over fans in the modern game.

It would be naïve to suggest that this alienation is only present in lurid headlines about the uprooting of a city’s footballing history to exploit

commercial markets; fans across the country are increasingly unable to afford admission to the game they love, especially at the higher levels of the sport. A BBC survey about the price of football has shown that season tickets in the Premier League in 2013 cost four percent more than the year before, with the most expensive season ticket at Arsenal, one of the clubs in this season’s title race, charging between £985 and £1,955 for a seat this season.

Chelsea and Tottenham’s most expensive season tickets also cost more than £1,000.

Despite the increase in season

ticket prices, individual ticket prices on average fell by around five percent this season, although this came after the 2011/12 season, during which prices rose by eleven percent, four times more than inflation. This, along with concern about the increasing cost of following one’s team, gave rise to the Football Supporters Federation’s (FSF) launch of the “Twenty’s Plenty” campaign, which encouraged clubs to set ticket prices for visiting supporters at a maximum of £20. This, along with demonstrations at games, including Manchester City’s decision to boycott some of their allocation at a particu-

FEATURES

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larly expensive away game at Arsenal, has led to some clubs partnering with one another to ensure the mutual setting of cheaper away tickets for fixtures between the two sides involved.

In addition, Stoke City have set a welcome trend by offering free coach travel to every away game this season.

However, such a statement seems futile against a monolithic, megalomaniac Premier League which consistently sacrifices supporter experience to the relentless need for profit margins. As the average age of those on the terraces increases, the young fans of the game are driven away, leading some lower league clubs to run advertising campaigns telling fans that “Football isn’t a TV show”. Given that the team that finished bottom of last season’s Premier League table earned more TV prize money than the team that won it the year before, and that some top teams, who hold enormous fan bases, see nearly half of all their matches televised on pay TV, some campaigns may have a hard time convincing.

Despite the intervention of provocative campaigns by the likes of Stand AMF, whose fierce defence of the game’s more traditional values is, despite being occasionally overreaching, a welcome tonic to the sugary sweet PR which normally accompanies initiatives which alienate the modern fan, the game faces a serious challenge in terms of overcoming its own hubris and doing more to engage the force that SHOULD be driving football’s ideological development: the ordinary men, women and children

A statement seems futile against a monolithic, megalomaniac Premier League which consistently sacrifices supporter experience to profit margins who sacrifice hours and petrol money to travel up and down the country for their team. When Saturday comes, service stations from Devon to Derby are filled with people dreaming of the potential rewards of their arduous journeys. We don’t deserve to be ignored.

Our devotion to our game, to our cities, to our teams, will far outweigh the chequebook of any prospective investor you could care to mention: it’s our game, and we want it back.

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FEATURES

21 JANUARY 2014 |

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THE topic of drinking at University is documented time and time again in student media. It barely needs to be said that the most frequently noted stereotype of students is our hedonistic drinking culture. Do we drink too much?

Is it necessary to drink at University to have fun?

What will everyone think

about my relationship with alcohol?

Frankly, it doesn’t matter whether you drink or don’t drink. It’s whether or not you are enjoying your time at universi-

ty: plenty of people get lashed under the weight of expectation, whilst many drink for the pleasure of being intoxicated. It’s not for anyone else to make a judgement on how much you should be drinking: the only person who should be ordering the shots is you. I am merely writing to give an account of my expe-

None for the road Emily-Rose Rolfe, Lifestyle Editor, has never touched a drop of alcohol. Well, that’s not true, but she is at least mostly dry for January

riences of being a sober student.

Sobriety is not what students are notorious for, our reputation is intrinsically linked to the amount of alcohol we consume on an almost daily basis and how many scrapes we get into because of this. Binging is what students gear themselves up for in the summer leading up to Freshers’ Week, and we stampede through all succeeding nights out terrified that we will never see a drop of alcohol again when the sun sets on our university days. Excessive consumption of booze is what almost every anecdote arises from and what every student signs up for when they press ‘send’ on their UCAS application. However, there are students who stay sober throughout their university days. This is not to say being sober is being teetotal, Jesus was sober whilst still enjoying a nice glass of wine.

In first year I was stone cold sober throughout: I can count on one hand the amount of alcoholic beverages I drank.

Your instant assumption after reading that sentence is that I spent every night sitting in my room watching Friends, eating lots of McVities, and fulfilling every sweet-as-sugar girly stereotype in the book. Whilst I freely admit I did spend evenings enjoying the comforts of a cup of tea, I was not a prude, and neither were the friends around me who lived the same lifestyle. Just because you don’t drink when you go out, doesn’t mean you don’t have fun.

Monday Mosaic was teeming with acquaintances and awkward encounters; I didn’t notice Arena’s cheesy Tuesday stench; Timepiece was absolutely mental; Rococos was raving; and I immersed myself in the disco vibes of the Lemmy.

Just because I didn’t drink doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy fresher.

In third year, I have started drinking. I don’t know what happened over summer, but all of a sudden I seem to have caught the craze. I had a better time when I didn’t drink. I bounced off everyone surrounding me rather than being incredibly selfish. I never annoyed people when I was sober, whereas now I have accounts of taking up too much space on the dancefloor and saying incredibly stupid things. I was there to have DDMCs (Drunk Deep Meaningful Chats) with as well as to energetically run around with.

I remembered my nights, and other people’s. I spent less money when I drank water not wine. And, being narcissistic, it was nice to not be a member of the pack and to stand out from the crowd.

It was a stimulus for engaging conversations, something to define you amidst the furor of fresher confusion and identity crises. Personally I prefer drinking a maximum of three drinks a night, it keeps a buzz without stinging the night to death, and it also keeps your dignity and your liver healthy.

Is there peer pressure to drink at university? Of course there is. But if you don’t want to drink at initiations AU societies won’t make you, they’ll give you nasty concoctions of ketchup, peanut butter, egg yolk, milk, and brown sauce, but as long as you aren’t a bad sport and refuse to down it they won’t penalise you. I know a few prominent members of AU clubs who don’t drink but are not seen as any less macho or more boring because of this difference in lifestyle.

Most people simply ask ‘why don’t you drink?’ in the same tone of voice as ‘I didn’t realise that pigs flew’, and they respectfully listened to my response. You might be called a shlad in Arena when you ask for tap water, but if anyone was judging whether or not they were having

EXEPOSÉ

more fun than me, it didn’t impact on my hype. It’s easier said than downed, but if your place within your friendship group is based on the frequency of your chunders then I would swiftly either put them in their place or find more interesting friends.

The primary reason for me not getting trashed is because I’m a Christian.

Specifically looking at the topic of drinking, probably the most relevant characteristic of the Christian life is balance: on not living excessively in any area of life. It is following the life of Jesus, who as we all know from Sunday school enjoyed a glass of wine, without downing it. He didn’t abstain, but neither did he encourage intoxication. Christians at Exeter University, despite occasional typecasting, do not live as monks do. They enjoy sobriety whilst sitting in a pub, party with and without drinking, have a huge variety of friends and are active members of many societies on campus.

Christianity is not about abstention, but equilibrium. It’s also not being judgemental: I don’t walk into a club and sneer at the amount of antics and affection. I wouldn’t rebuke someone for stumbling home, it may not be my way of life but neither is it my place to reprimand.

You may think you’re a better person when you’re inebriated, but I have never met someone who is better drunk than sober. Ever. I just find that drinking doesn’t improve you: it can result in

You may think you’re a better person inebriated, but I’ve never met someone better drunk than sober feelings of regret, embarrassment and irritation that you’ve wasted the rest of the day, and guilt if you’ve drunkenly confronted a good friend about a non-problem. Past the point of no return I can’t understand most of what you’re saying or where you’re going. You’re still great, and I don’t really care, but you’re objectively better company over a coffee or a casual pint.

Despite our frequent moaning that we are all incredibly poor, lavish amounts of money are spent in bars and clubs across Exeter. Financially, drinking just doesn’t make logical sense: we live on a budget yet knock back pounds like they’re pennies. It is also bad for your body: there are seven calories per gram of wine, almost as much as pure fat. The health-freak mindset of gym bunny Exeter is completely at odds with the spoonfuls of indigestible sugar mindlessly devoured each night. Nonetheless, you are paying £3,000 / £9,000 for tuition fees, and we all applied to Exeter for the student experience; not just to join the Library Society. Any pounds that leave your purse or go on your hips on a night out will probably not be regretted by future you. It is still something to bear in mind though.

Choosing the sober student life isn’t inferior to boozy days and nights, and vice versa. University is about enjoying yourself to your full capacity, and finding what you’re made of before entering the scary realms of ‘the rest of your life’.

Whether you choose Dry January or a liquid lunch, your pint glass is always half full at uni.

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LIFESTYLE

LIFESTYLE FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ExeposeLStyle

Work Hard Play Hard

Sophie Prescott offers up a balancing act AS A student, it may be hard to find a suitable balance between studying enough to pass exams or meet essay deadlines while continuing to enjoy student life.

Too much work and you could face severe stress and its subsequent health issues, but too much play and your time at university will become one big hangover - without the grades you were hoping for.

For 2014, try and get the balance right with a few simple tips: 1. Exercise Taking the time out of studies and everyday catatonic stress levels is an excellent way to chill yourself out and put yourself back on a level playing field. It’s good for you, and endorphins pumping around your blood stream give you a buzz that’s preferable to the normal tinnitus buzz from too many nights on the town. If you have trouble sleeping, consider working out to tire yourself out, just don’t forget to refuel. Check out the featured running routes if the rammed January gym doesn’t tickle your fancy.

2. Know when to party in moderation and in excess If you’ve just completed that 2000 word essay you’ve been worrying about all week, you probably deserve to let off some steam – whether that’s by getting the cocktails flowing on a night out, or a few competitive drinking games with your housemates.

However, when you’re in full swing in the early hours of the morning at Cheesy Tuesdays with an impending 9am lecture fast approaching, perhaps think twice about that next jägerbomb...

It’s no secret that most students are bound to be sleep deprived 3. Sort out your sleeping pattern Most students don’t need to be told twice to sleep, which doesn’t explain that familiar bleary-eyed look worn by students before 9am, stumbling across the Forum.

All-nighters are never a wise approach to imminent deadlines in the same way that several consecutive heavy nights out in a row isn’t advisable... your body needs sleep. It’s no secret that most students are bound to be sleep deprived, but try and aim for eight hours when you can.

21 JANUARY 2014 |

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4. Prepare yourself Regardless of how pointless you may think it is to start that essay/ presentation/whatever that’s due in next week, try and get something on the page ASAP while the ideas are fresh in your mind. This can be a basic mind map, an elaborately structured Word document or a few scribbles on a page...it doesn’t even have to be very good.

But, when you come to tackle it later on, you won’t have to face that daunting blank screen in terror and the subsequent incapacity to think.

5. Always allow yourself an hour longer than you actually need to complete work “I’ll get that done in two hours... easy,” you think to yourself. Fast forward half an hour and you’re already procrastinating to the max whether it’s actually distantly educational or you’ve found yourself on the weird part of Youtube.

Trust me, you’ll always benefit from that extra hour.

6. Take a break If you’ve been working solidly for hours and are slowly losing the will to live, you could probably benefit from a break. Go get a cup of tea, annoy one of your flatmates or just clear your mind... just don’t overwork yourself, especially during exam periods.

7. If you’re still struggling with establishing a suitable work/play balance...

Can’t remember the last time you went out?

Treat yourself, hit the town. Can’t remember the last time you entered the library? You should probably do something about that.

EXEPOSÉ

LIFESTYLE EDITORS

Kitty Howie & Emily-Rose Rolfe lifestyle@exepose.com

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1. Birks to the Quay

2. Quay to Double Locks

WHETHER you’re an avid runner or just feel like a light jog to attempt burning off the pounds piled on over Christmas, the city’s canal is a great place to run either on your own or with a friend.

My flatmate and I have done this route several times from Birks Grange Village, and it is great for all running abilities - if you’re new to running the distance is easily adjustable and for strong runners – consider adding on the additional distance with Carmen’s Quayside running route to Double Locks.

The route is also extremely flat with pretty views to distract youalways a bonus!

LIKE Alice’s route, this run is perfect for casual runners, those just starting out, and those (like me) who hail from flatter locales and would rather walk those daunting hills. The lack of elevation change on this route, a rarity in Exeter, is its best feature!

Although a popular path with other exercisers, cyclists, families, and dog walkers (which means on weekend

afternoons it can be quite crowded), its location by the river and away from the city centre makes it a lovely escape into nature as well as a good workout.

Consider checking out the location before you set out on this run as part of it crosses an area, which is restricted for the River Exe’s flood drainage. No one wants soggy socks. Don’t forget to say hey to Jimmy the swan when you reach Double Locks!

Start: On The Front, EX2 4AP Finish: Double Locks, EX2 6LT

1

Start: Birks Grange Village, EX4 4P Finish: The Quayside, EX2 4AP Distance: 2.2 miles (3.5km) one way, 4.2 miles (6.75km) roundtrip Difficulty: Easy to moderate

The route is extremely flat with pretty views to distract you Cross the road and follow the slope down to the left towards the train station.

Run towards the station and at the mini roundabout turn right to the rail crossing and cross the railway line. Keep straight on and turn left to the canal.

Follow the bike route as far as you like, this can be all the way to the Quay or shortened, dependent on time restrictions, level of fitness, recent alcohol intake or the amount your stitch is cutting into your side.

The best part about this route is that it is scenic and adjustable, you can run for as long as you feel comfortable or to accommodate time pressures – it’s easy to turn around at any point.

The route is clearly signed and gives mileage distances to the Quay along the way. The route home is also adaptable, you can continue along to the Quay, cross the bridge and return along the road, or turn back on yourself and come back the same way.

ALICE BELTON

3. Campus Loop WHO doesn’t like the whining twinge of a stitch and the build up of lactic acid in their legs? This run is reserved for those who don’t mind getting down with the hills around central Exeter.

No matter which way round you decide to do this loop, ending on an uphill stretch is unavoidable, but the satisfaction is worth it.

This run is best done early or late in the day if you’re keen to avoid introducing your beetroot face to inevitable acquaintances you run into. See what I did there?

Start: Peter Chalk Finish: Peter Chalk

Distance: 2.78 miles (4.48km) Difficulty: Moderate Run down Stocker Road. Revel in the enhanced sense of your wild fitness capabilities. Curse your knees for their shoddy shock absorption capabilities.

Navigate the treachery of the Saunders zebra crossing - best tackled at full speed, with no fucks given Turn left, and run up Prince of Wales road. Skillfully navigate the treachery of the Saunders zebra crossing -

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| WEEK FOURTEEN

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Making Tracks Kick up a fuss this term with our running routes around Exeter

Finish: Double Locks, EX2 6LT Distance: 1.8 miles (2.9km) one way, 3.6 miles (5.8km) round trip.

Difficulty: Easy to moderate.

Run downstream, away from town and the Quay’s independent shops. Resist the urge to go shopping for quirky gifts, they’ll only weigh you down.

Keep running, pass the blue Port Royal pub on your left and continue down a partially restricted road (sounds more complicated than it is).

When you’re under the trees, try to stay right. The path splits, but its important you go to the right instead of straight on, otherwise you’ll miss the suspension bridge.

Cross the suspension bridge and get yourself on the other side of the river.

Fingers crossed it’s dried out after all our recent rain.

2

Head towards the concrete path and continue heading downstream away

from Exeter. Keep out of the cycle lane. They get angry, and no amount of bell ringing will save you. Collisions hurt. Trust me.

Keep out of the cycle lane. No amount of bell ringing will save you Keep on the Exe Cycle Route and follow the signs towards Double Locks.

You’ll know you’re almost there when you pass the rugby posts on your right, and you’re increasingly running alongside the canal instead of the river.

Turn around and head back to the Quay. When you reach the bridge, don’t cross. Its good to embrace variety.

CARMEN PADDOCK

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Tweets of the week Tweet us @ExeposeLStyle Anne Marie Clifford @ammersc Need a puppy or kitten to cuddle & cheer me up! Will suggest to Exeter library to have a few to play with as revision breaks #exeterexams Indigo Hull @IndigoAMH It was only on question 12 of the ‘what should I have for dinner tonight’ quiz that I realised that I should probably get up and be less tragic.

Rhian Bethell @rhianbethell Oh great lost another shoe #ithappenedagain #notclassy #dirtyfoot

Campus Loop

Becca Hoare @BeccaHoare URGENT APPEAL: unable to leave bed and get my essay, volunteer needed, with just one small act of kindness you could help save a life today Lexy Sophia Neal @lexypexy93 feeling the need to sandpaper my whole body down after a night in the lemmy Imogen Watson @immicatherine This morning I have learnt that the French use the same word for drunkenness and exhileration. Right attitude.

- best tackled at full speed, with no f*cks given. Enjoy the downhill stretch down Vic Street as celebration, taking care to avoid festering rubbish and annihilated casualties from the night before.

Imagine the prisoners breaking free and keen to pillage you if you find yourself needing extra moivation Wiggle along Victoria Road, the lesser of the Vics, until you’re on Well Street.

Trace the boundary of the Grecians, and follow the road until you get to

York Road. Turn right and run to Pensylvannia Road.

Start to head up Penny Road and turn left at the roundabout. Feel the burn set in along Blackwall Road, and power through.

At the next roundabout, continue along New North Road. Imagine the prisoners breaking free and keen to pillage you if you find yourself needing extra motivation.

Continue to the clock tower and bear right, along past Exeter College and towards the Impy. The end of this cruel, cruel journey is in sight.

Envisage how much easier your run would be if the horse statue suddenly

3

burst into life and offered you a lift.

mess.

Push past the temptation of a redemption Impy pint, and begin the perilous slog uphill towards Peter Chalk.

Consider jumping into the water fountain as a method of cooling off your screaming quads and calves.

Die inside when the D and H, the slowest buses IN THE WORLD, callously and self-righteously overtake you.

Cry a bit to add to the wet salty perspiration on your face Curse your shoddy lung capacity and vow to cut down on smoking. Arrive outside Peter Chalk in one hot sweaty

Decide against it.

Cry a bit to add to the wet salty perspiration on your face.

Roll home.

KITTY HOWIE LIFESTYLE EDITOR

Emily-Rose Rolfe @ yesemilyrose Wearing new shoes to an exam is making the dreaful experience so. much. better #imeanbusiness Olivia Luder @olivialuder “I was in the middle before I knew what had begun...” - so, how Darcy feels about love is how I feel about cake

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LIFESTYLE

21 JANUARY 2014 |

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Relight my Fire

EXEPOSÉ

Bethany Stuart and Vanessa Tracey talk current craze Tinder LET me first start with the standard disclaimer: “I only got Tinder because my friend had it”, a statement that makes anything justifiable – just as saying “it happened in Timepiece” allows you social immunity from ridicule or judgement. We’ve all been there!

Nonetheless, I have narrowed my experiences of Tinder down into a few categories: 1. The Sex-Fiends This is probably the most familiar experience to everyone with Tinder.

From people who write “Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat… on my penis” in their about sections (true story) to booty-calling within five minutes of talking, the ‘sex-fiend’ reigns supreme. Indeed, I recently woke up to a message from one match inviting me to join the ranks of those in his imaginary library for the purposes of self-abuse.

Ok, sometimes a little ego-boost can do wonders, but I’m grouchy enough in the morning anyway without being sexually harassed before 11am.

Not to mention I’ve read too much Simone de Beauvoir not to go on a feminist rant in response.

Likewise, guys, no matter how good your abs are: cropping out your face on your profile picture to show them off is not going to fool anyone into thinking you’re a Ryan Gosling up there.

Every swipe is a little performative act of victory 2. Revenge Tinder This is one of the most satisfying aspects of this shallow little fiend of an app, allowing you to triumphantly swipe left at the sight of anyone who has given you even just a scintilla of grief in the past. Maybe that guy who suffered from ‘com-

mitment issues’ and then promptly got a girlfriend? The one you awkwardly got with in the dark recesses of Arena? Whatever the grievance, every swipe is a little performative act of victory – be gone foul specimen!

3. The Pseudo-Boyfriend There are some guys on Tinder who seem to take to heart the meaning of perseverance and will greet you each morning with some nice pleasantries and, equally, part ways each day with a goodnight.

Whilst it is doubtful you will ever actually meet these guys, it’s nice to know that not everyone out there is after one thing and may just want a chinwag about Sherlock.

4. The 25-30 Year Olds I have come to the conclusion that, the closer you get to 30, the more genuine people become; Tinder being just another way of meeting people. For singletons, this age range is the promised land of dating, where (apparently) wooing does not involve a double vodka coke and some cheesy chips.

Madness.

It seems there is no right or wrong with Tinder, you can make of it what you will. At times it leaves me despairing about the state of humanity, other times it feels just like online shopping. One thing is certain , if you’ve got some motivational Latin phrase in your about section and a picture with a tiger from your gap yah, you’ll go far.

“GET your vajazzle out then” said ‘Chris, 21’, after I told him where I was from.

Both bewildered and amused at his forwardness, I responded with a prompt “Fuck you” and blocked him.

“Doesn’t he realise I wouldn’t do that in a million years?” I questioned myself. “Does he really think I’m the type to decorate my vagina with Swarovski?”

It soon became apparent that Tinder wasn’t the medium through which I was destined to meet the love of my life.

Judging people solely on appearance is shallow and unrealistic -we don’t need anyone to tell us that.

Rejecting people together with a friend on the basis of ‘too short’, ‘too hairy’, ‘his eyebrows are too bushy’ or just plain ‘nah’ without even giving them a chance isn’t exactly what some might call ‘fair’. What would make you a truly terrible human being is screenshotting the creepiest or funniest potentials and sending them to your mate with

the caption “absolute bant, got no further with my essay but look at this bad boi I’ve just matched with.” Tinder has made me guilty of all three.

For those of you not in the know, Tinder works by searching for people within your local area using GPS, and then presents you with pictures of people who have linked the app with their Facebook. You then rate them yay or nay and subsequently expect ego inflation.

A quick slide to the left ‘NOPE’ and there’s a chance they’ll never flash up on your screen again. A quick slide to the right ‘LIKED’ and you sit and hope that they will do the same. If two people rate each other then it’s a ‘match’ and then you choose to start chatting or ‘keep playing’ the game.

Does he really think I’m the type to decorate my vagina with Swarovski?

Although you probably won’t even end up speaking to them at all. You’ll just bump into them in the Forum after Monday Arena, the one time you exchange a shower for dry shampoo and decide the jumper with egg stains is acceptable.

Awkward eye contact will ensue alongside a mutual ‘Christ, you definitely look better in your pictures’, thus encouraging more shallowness and embarrassment.

I’ve heard tales of instant booty calls or awkward pub encounters although never met anyone who takes Tinder extremely seriously. Competitions between houses as to who can provoke the most

outrageous responses from strangers run rife and most people who pop up you’ll actually know or recognise.

I spend a lot of time worrying that

Awkward eye contact will ensue alongside mutual thoughts of ‘Christ, you definitely look better in your pictures’ friends will be offended by rejection or think I’m in love with them if I give them a like.

For those looking for potential husbands or wives then maybe stick to PlentyOfFish.com or Timepiece Wednesdays. You won’t find them on here. In fact, you’ll really question the integrity of your matches when sharing them with a friend who says “Oh you matched with George! I have him on mine too, and my housemate does…”

The Exe Boyfriend Factor Georgia Roberts clings on to the embers of romance THE day after I arrived home for my lovely Christmas break with my home crowd, I called my best friend. Her ex-boyfriend had made a dramatic phone call in the middle of the night, tearful, nostalgic and quite high. He’s been doing this a lot recently, she told me. Alex Turner would have been proud. Just ignore him, I told her. But some exes – for some reason – simply refuse to be forgotten.

Throughout the holidays I managed to convince her to block his number, after he was unable to contain himself several more times at three o’ clock in the morning – including on Christmas Day. They say it takes half the time of a rela-

tionship to fully get over someone; their relationship was four months, and so ac-

Some exes simply refuse to be forgotten cording to old legend, he had outstayed his grieving welcome (after separating in September) by a whole month. I was reminded of the time shortly before I left for Exeter in the summer when I woke up to a chalked message on my front pavement: ‘REMEMBER ME G?’, in bright pink letters, glaring up at me for what seemed like weeks afterwards. Ter-

rible. There we have the two main categories clingy exes seem to fall into: the manic, and the depressive. Why do they do it? What’s more, why do we sometimes let them, the way my best friend for a long time could not bring herself to block her depressive ex’s number, or my trying to pretend that I wasn’t being pursued by an undercover maniac with good fashion sense?

Relationships are intense. It’s difficult, even after a relatively small period, to simply disregard that intensity you shared with one person in the world with just enough time for it to leave a significant impact on your life somehow.

Attachment mixed with an addictive

personality is a sneaky, not to mention dangerous little thing. Some of us, I think, are more inclined to latch on to something/someone in particular we decided we quite liked for a while, make that someone a permanent fixture in our minds, and when that fixture suddenly disappears, its forlorn, now ex-keeper seems to turn into an open padlock in desperate need to gain that particular someone back to lock on to. These are the addictive personalities whose state of denial seems to transgress above the normal, drunken phone call most of us are accustomed to after a break-up, into severe depressive, or severe manic behaviour; such as, oh I don’t know – sinister

messages written in pink chalk outside your house.

So what’s the answer? It’s different for everyone. My best friend is still struggling to deal with her marijuana man. Thankfully, my own lingerer moved away for work. But for some reason, the last few times I have received a text from him, I’ve never been able to bring myself to ignore him completely. I feel obliged, after at one time being ‘one half’ of him, to acknowledge that there will always be some kind of connection, wherever we both are and whatever we’re doing. I suppose this all begs the question about just who isn’t doing the forgetting here.

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Redundant Resolutions

Why Isobel Knight has written off resolutions and has decided to live in the now SINCE I was 17, I have been making the same New Year’s Resolution – and this year has been no different. I will keep my bedroom (and life) organised, I will stop smoking for once and for all,

LIFESTYLE

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drop a dress size, and I will absolutely 100 per cent stop sleeping with my ex-boyfriend.

Every year I have varying degrees of success with these resolutions. My bedroom remains tidy until mid-January and then the mess creeps back into my life like a (sometimes literal) mould. The first week of January I furiously clean my bedroom, fuming with myself for being such a disgusting mess. I once read somewhere that mess increases creativity and is a sign of an imaginative mind – and sometimes I use this as an excuse. In reality, I’m just too lazy to put my clothes away, and they’re just oh-so easily accessible from my floordrobe.

The same dwindling commitment applies to my ever-lasting quest to comfortably fit into a size eight dress that I ‘treated’ myself to a couple of years ago in the sales. Excitedly I buy lots of green foods, promise myself that this year the ‘new me’ will like salad, and I will enjoy exercise. I smugly trot off to the gym three times a week for a month, flirt with the idea of going for runs and joke to family and friends that they might need to worry that I’m getting addicted to the whole thing. And then I just get bored. Being sweaty isn’t that appealing, I never get a buzz off exercise and I really like chocolate.

I openly declare that I’m stopping on ‘feminist’ grounds. I shouldn’t have to lose weight for some media ideal of

a female body, I should learn to love myself instead and that involves doing the things I love, like sleeping and eating.

Quitting smoking is perhaps my most successful resolutions: since this time last year I haven’t had a sober cigarette. I do however tend to sneakily have one or two… Okay ten… when I’m drunk on the basis that ‘it doesn’t count’. There’s just something so nice about having a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. The mix of nico-

I welcomed the New Year in bed with the one person I resolved not to tine and alcohol is delicious, but toxic, so this year I’m going to try and stop the sneaky, drunk cigs.

And sleeping with the ex-boyfriend? Well, I slept with him on New Year’s Eve... So technically I’ve already broken that resolution for 2014.

There’s nothing wrong with the making, and breaking, of resolutions.

The coming of a new year is a natural time to take a look at your life and decide that there need to be a few adjustments. Will 2014 be a new year, new me? Probably not considering I’ve just had chocolate for breakfast and welcomed the New Year in bed with the one person I resolved not to.

I’m an optimist on permanent quest for self-perfection… so whilst 2014 may have had a bad start, I have 359 days left to turn it around.

Columnist

21

Maddy Everington, our brand spanking new columnist, reveals all in her debut column about brake-ing every driving rule THE HORRORS of learning how to drive: stressed parents, near fatal stalls in the middle of junctions, feelings of utter despair, shouting driving instructors and emergency stops. These somehow fade and become fond ancecdotal memories, however, when your examiner ruefully passes you a piece of pale blue congratulatory piece of paper.

Well for me, these memories are neither fond, nor in the past. At the tender age of 19 I have yet to pass my driving test.

When I was still confident and full of the reckless enthusiasm of a new learner, I unwittingly made a bet with my cousin that I would pass my test before him. I was sure to win this one; he knew nothing of my natural abilities behind the wheel, the careless ease with which I was able to carry out mirror, aignal, and maneuver every time it was asked for. I was bound to win.

Fast forward to my first test in April, nervously waving goodbye to my driving instructor in the waiting room as though he were my dearest friend. The fact that I nearly pulled out in front of a lorry and then narrowly missed running over two pedestrians on a zebra crossing yesterday in our lesson is of no consequence now. I am determined to pass.

The test did not start well when I was startled at my examiner asking me to read a car’s number plate. I asked why he couldn’t see it himself. He replied “No, I need to check that you can see it.” You would have thought that this interrogation was something worth investigating before I even started lessons. Obviously not. Needless to say, my tests didn’t begin well.

I encountered further problems when I walked out into the road to get into the car, only to realise that I hadn’t unlocked it. I remember frantically yanking the door handle several times, only to have to scoot smoothly back round onto the pavement, giving the examiner an embarrassed smile before

locating the unlock button and successfully entering the vehicle without a hitch.

From this point onwards we became rather good friends. We cruised through tricky junctions and roundabouts without trouble, I dazzled him with my flawless understanding of the ABC of driving lingo, and we chatted about upcoming holiday plans. This happy situation was not to last. Our budding friendship vanished as quickly as it began when I inadvertently tried to run over a cyclist. Subdued, but not defeated, we made our way home. My brother was thrilled I hadn’t passed. So was my cousin. The bet was still on.

I tried again in June. This time I was too keen and took a roundabout too early in the first minute of my test. Failed again. The third time in December I felt frustrated so changed my test centre to my home town, where I felt certain that driving would come more naturally to me. This time I got two majors. Roundabouts are a waste of space, I decided.

Who sticks to their BLOODY LANE anyway? Worse still my cousin rings up. He passed his test first time in the same time it took me to fail three times.

The agony still isn’t over. It pains me to confess that, as yet, driving remains one fundamental art I have failed to master. It’s something you have to really get the feel of, a key element which I have failed to clutch. Much as I am flummoxed by cars, I do admire the DVLA for having not allowed morons such as myself onto the road until they are sure they can tell one end of a car from another. And unlock the car before trying to get into it.

Wherever and whenever it is that I summon up the courage to take my driving test for the fourth time, however, please let them take pity on me.

I may be blonde but I am able to safely negotiate roundabouts now. Plus I can read number plates from a distance of 20 metres away faultlessly.

Original Prankster

Eamonn Crowe fools around with his top six Uni pranks EVERYONE loves to pull a prank.

With these bad boys up your sleeve, you’ll be sure to have the upper hand.

Be careful though, your housemates may reciprocate at the most unexpected moments. You have been warned.

Cup Conundrum Buy 500 plastic cups from Poundland and fill each one halfway with water.

Then, place them in neat rows all over the floor of your flatmates bedroom, restricting access to their bed, desk and laptop.

Victim will want to kick the cups out of the way, but will instead have to pick up and empty each cup individually. Partly because they’re full of water, but mostly because you are cer-

tainly not going to help them.

Tampon Troubles A particularly disgusting but very funny prank for girls to play on us squeamish boys. Complain to your male flatmates about ‘lady cramps’ making them all uncomfortable, then dip a tampon in some cranberry juice and leave it in the communal toilet bowl.

The result? Hilariously awkward flat confrontations about how ‘um, personal, um, lady things just shouldn’t be left in the bathroom!’

Creative Condoms Invade the private haven of your flatmate’s bed, and commandeer the space

by making it look like someone has had sex in their bed. Horrific.

Get a condom, and make it look as soiled as possible. Spitting in it usually produces great response. Discard nonchalantly across your victim’s duvet or floor, with the empty wrapper also on display. Deny all knowledge.

The result?

Hilariously awkward flat confrontations This one can also be twisted to use on a night out if your flatmate is particlarly keen to pull. If your flatmate

pulls and is keen to bring the booty back to their bed, race them back and plant the incriminating evidence. The result? Your friend / flatmate’s genuine sexual encounter being cut remarkably short. Genius.

Clingfilm Catastrophe Buy a few rolls of Clingfilm and proceed to cover every single item that’s in your flatmate’s room in the sticky plastic stuff. Bonus points go to those skilled enough to also cover doorways and toilet seats (if they have an ensuite, they deserve to be pranked).

The victim will have to unwrap every item, getting progressively angrier with each one – success!

Topsy-Turvy This one requires real dedication. Turn EVERYTHING in your flatmates room upside-down, right down to the photos on their pin-board and the pens in their pot. Particularly satisfying to do to someone with mild OCD. Room Swap Swap the full contents of your kitchen/ lounge with your flatmate’s bedroom.

I’m talking kitchen chairs on their bed and their duvet set neatly laid out on the kitchen floor.

For added evilness, set up camp in the new ‘kitchen’ and pretend everything is normal – ‘what do you mean? That mattress has always been under the kitchen chairs!’

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21 JANUARY 2014 |

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Cosmopolitan Fashion Anna Gibbons, Hannah Peck, and Emma Sudderick give pocket-sized opinion pieces on places where urban fashion will trip you up; the dizzying heights of Fashion Week; and the soft appeal of faux fur heads.

Anna Gibbons discusses morality issues surrounding iconic, notoriously-not-edgy high street brand Urban Outfitters, amidst the furor around their ‘Eat Less’ and ‘Depression t-shirts.

Recently I saw a friend share a link on facebook to a petition asking Urban Outfitters to “halt all production of their ‘Eat Less’ and ‘Depression’ t-shirts, both of which are glamorizing mental illnesses”.

After signing the petition myself I got to thinking about how, in the past, my reluctance to enter the young hipster’s mecca stemmed mainly from the fact that I had very little self-restraint upon entering the store and even less money in my bank account. However, it’s not breaking news that Urban Outfitters is Hannah Peck delves into her Filofax, and questions why London Fashion Week isn’t the highlight of her wardrobe’s year AFTER discounting fashion students, Karl Lagerfeld and the demographic of Sex and the City-esque young women I refuse to believe actually exist, I wonder how many people are aware of London Fashion Week? And I mean

outrageously overpriced, and with the company’s colourful history of controversies, the cost to the individual buyer isn’t really the problem here.

The item of clothing the petition refers to is a basic crop top covered with the printed word ‘Depression’, and

Not the first time that Urban Outfitters has had to respond to accusations of insensitivity

while social media prevailed as Twitter cries were heard and the company announced last Sunday that it would be pulling the shirt from its shelves, this is really aware, circle-it-in-your-diary and count-down-the sleeps aware.

I sometimes catch myself wondering why it’s not acceptable to don a gold fish scale bomber jacket to the Co-Op Is it a week reserved for the elite of fashion, and do we actually care when snaps of bizarre outfits tumble down through a hierarchy of magazines?

I’m all for high fashion, it intrigues me, and I sometimes catch myself wondering why it’s not acceptable to don a gold fish scale bomber to the Co-op (for reasons other than a student budget). But when it comes to Fashion Week, I’m clueless. The only experience I have is courtesy of Made in Chelsea’s Victoria, and the odd copy of ELLE. Yet perhaps we should care more about this particular week. This is the week where our choices are made for us. “You think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room.”

And Miranda Priestly’s word is always gospel.

Fashion Week should be celebrated for its creativity. It’s a celebration of British Designers who dream up concoctions that change the way we see clothing as the potential for creativity

not the first time that Urban Outfitters has had to respond to accusations of insensitivity, and I doubt it’ll be the last.

It wasn’t long ago that stick-insect girls on the site donned shirts with the words ‘Eat Less’ on the front, or Kate Moss’s famous quote ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’. Sadly, if the girl sporting said t-shirt actually did eat any less, I’m sure there would be nothing left of her to model. In an industry already saturated with distorted ideals of beauty, clothing yourself in ‘Eat Less’ slogans regresses progress on female body image and is incredibly detrimental to young customers.

Yet in many ways for Urban Outfitters its publicity is genius. Their bold designs which have in the past sparked

opposition from communities such as Jewish or the Navajo nation work to push the boundaries and convince their ‘edgy’ shoppers that they are exactly that: ‘Punk as fuck’.

Far from edgy or unique, however, the company has faced multiple allegations of stealing independent designers products. This is somewhat ironic when one considers that their justification for selling the ‘depression tee’ appeared on Twitter on Monday: “we were trying to support a small brand”.

Despite the allusion, there aren’t many things less ‘punk’ than a billion dollar company that exploits small businesses and thrives on consumerist culture, selling single pairs of sparkly socks for £8 (that’s just £4 per sock!)

The whole company completely opposes the very image it tries to convey.

For me, Urban Outfitters is far more akin to those big brands like Abercrombie (I’m sure you will remember the CEO Mike Jeffrey’s statement that they only market to ‘cool’, good-looking people).

So next time you feel the need for a little retro-retail, perhaps take Macklemore’s advice and try heading for your grandparent’s wardrobe first, or even better support your local charity shops, and preserve your pocket and your values at the same time. If you really want to master that ‘urban’ slum-chic look, there are plenty of reputable shops full of second hand goodness lining Sidwell street that give UO’s ‘Renewal’ line a run for its money.

and expression. It lifts us out of high street drudgery and into a place where if you can imagine it, you can wear it.

It’s inspiring stuff just to look at, an extension of art if you’ll forgive my pretense.

So get looking. I couldn’t take my eyes off footage of Dolce and Gabanna’s 2014 S/S runway, and although I don’t plan on decking myself in Athenian medallions and floral Grecian robes come the first ray of sunshine, I cannot deny that I want to.

Emma Sudderick strokes her ear muffs, as the battle between Cossaks and hats comes to a head

Not convinced that they’re cool?

John Lewis have even brought out a pair which combine the ear-hugging delights with headphones. The best bit about these ear muffs; if people don’t recognise your undeniable swagger then the joke’s on them, because no matter what insults they hurl at you, you just won’t hear them!

So if you’re a hat fanatic or simply love the practicality then this winter has been an absolute goldmine. After all, as the Mad Hatter says, “Anyone can go by horse or rail, but the absolute best way to travel is by hat”.

EVERYBODY has that one accessory that they just wish they could don. Unfortunately for me, I cannot even contemplate pulling off hats. It’s a struggle which has left me with cold ears for most of my life and, especially in the harsh climate that the South has experienced this winter, I have never recognised my misfortune more.

Yet, head gear is exactly what I love this winter. Even if hats aren’t my thing, at least I can admire those who manage to wear them without looking like a mole coming out of its hill.

A particular favourite this year is the faux fur cossack. Available in a range of colours, this furry accessory looks like it’s fresh from the bitter winds of Moscow. Styled on the historical clothing of Slavic militia, the cossack has been redefined as quirky headwear which, when hit by the wind, gives the impression of a cat having its fur brushed the wrong way. But this just adds to its allure.

However, if you ARE one of the unfortunates who look like desperate Arctic explorers whenever they wear hats, then perhaps you should take a step back to the slightly questionable fashions of your childhood and consider buying a pair of ear muffs. That’s right. Ear muffs are cool again.

They’re so cool that Topshop and many other high street favourites have entire ranges of them.

THE BEST CHOICE OF STUDENT FLATS IN EXETER

HOME TO STUDENTS500 EXETER IN • ALL BILLS & WI-FI INCLUDED • ROOMS TO SUIT ALL BUDGETS

FIND OUT MORE unite-students.com/exeteruni 0800 121 7375 facebook.com/UNITEExeter

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WHY NOT CONSIDER BEING A RESIDENCE LIFE MENTOR?

If you’re friendly, approachable and ready to help, you might be the right person to join the Residence Life Team for 2014-15 and offer peer support to students living in University residence.

In return, you will receive full training and a rent discount on a range of rooms in University accommodation.

How to apply

Please contact residencelife@exeter.ac.uk for more information or visit

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Listings Wed 22 January JAWS Kink @ The Cavern Mon 27 January Outfit Start The Bus Bristol

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Pip Off The Old Block Josh Gray, Music Editor, chats to the poet /spoken word artist / rapper / director /radio DJ /one half of hip-hop duo Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip: Scroobius Pip

Tue 28 January Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip Lemmy Fri 31 January Dumber Than The Average Bear Old Firehouse Sat 1 February The Big V Old Firehouse Mon 3 February Verses Cavern Thu 6 February Fuck Buttons Trinity Centre Bristol Fri 7 February Seth Lakeman Cathedral Fri 7 February Tom Odell Plymouth Pavilions Wed 12 February Fairport Covention Corn Exchange Fri 14 February Mr Scruff Phoenix Sat 15 February The Strypes Bierkeller Bristol Mon 17 February London Grammar O2 Academy Bristol

One to Watch

“I KNOW it sounds weird” roars Scroobius Pip, “I do want you to look back on this and smile but I kinda want that smile to be through tears”.

This isn’t how he starts our interview, in case you were worried: it’s the lone vocal that kickstarts Repent, Replenish, Repeat, the latest collaboration album between the well-bearded Essex rapper and producer/laptop musician Dan Le Sac. The two have been working together since the release of their debut album Angles in 2008, merging Pips’s unique style of spoken word poetry with Dan’s trigger-happy electronic hooks. The last few years have seen them working on their solo careers, with Scroobius Pip releasing his heavier Distraction Pieces and Dan Le Sac his more experimental Space Between The Words, but now they’re back together and ready to take over the UK underground scene once more.

There wasn’t any competition. I mean, I’m a Dan Le Sac fan The Big V @ The Old Firehouse Locally sourced but packing some meaty riffs, The Big V sound a lot like Led Zeppelin if you swapped Robert Plant for Karen O. Also, everyone knows The Firehouse is the best pub in Exeter.

“The point of doing solo records is that they would be so different,” explains Pip, “I needed to do Pieces ‘cause I had all these punk and metal influences, and Dan equally had all these different areas he wanted to explore that we don’t cover in our stuff together”. When asked if there was any sense of rivalry, he laughs: “There wasn’t any competition. I mean, I’m

a Dan Le Sac fan”. He speaks with a rhythmic stutter, giving the impression that he could break out into a well-paced verse at any moment: “I’m lucky to get this constant variation of

If you want to hear what Scroobius Pip sounds like you can take your phone out and find out in under a minute going from touring with Dan for ages to then touring with a band. The last huge runs of tours and shows I did were all spoken word, so I get to experience all those styles and areas, so I can’t complain at all”.

The spoken word scene is where Scroobius Pip started out, performing without backing music to bring audiences a pure performance of his poetry.

But in no way is he tied down to any one artform: “I do what I do,” he explains, “I usually go with spoken word artist ‘cause it’s so literal, I literally speak words. Ten years ago it was pretentious to say you don’t need labels, but now you clearly don’t. I mean if you want to know what Scroobius Pip sounds like then you can take your phone out and find out in under a minute. You don’t need to say ‘it’s poetry, it’s spoken word, it’s electronic and hip and this and that’. It’s like ‘it’s this, come listen!’” Pip has also taken on di-

recting duties for the pair’s videos and presents his own hip-hop radio show The Beatdown on XFM: “I have people who listen regularly and say ‘I’m not into hip-hop, but I like the stuff you play.’ Well that means you’re into hip hop! You’re just not into certain types of hip hop. I mean there’s a lot that’s crap and a lot that’s absolutely amazing, it’s about finding the right bits”.

Much of Repent, Replenish, Repeat’s content was inspired by loss and heartbreak: “I draw from true experiences; (lead single) ‘Stunner’ was about five or six different exes and probably one or two people I’d just fancied in films. As for ‘You Will See Me’, it’s largely about a guy who cheated on a friend of mine and then there’s elements I’ll take from my own break ups”.

Pip’s couplets slot in perfectly around Dan Le Sac’s glitchy soundbeds, demonstrating the synchronicity that has built up between them. “The process will normally start with Dan sending over tonnes and tonnes of beats and I’ll pick a few that I’m feeling” Pip tells me; “It’s all felt like a very natural process. We started out as solo artists, then did a couple of albums together, then both fancied doing solo records again. But the plan was always to then do our third record”.

The pair of them are known for performing electric shows before mingling with their fans: “I like that personal touch. It annoys me that there now exists such a thing as meet and greet tickets for gigs, when you can

pay extra to meet the band. They f*cking paid to get in! They’re wearing your t-shirt and singing the words to your songs back to you, they shouldn’t have to pay to then meet you. In general, from doors ‘til stage time I’ll be on the merch booth, and after the gig I’ll be on the merch booth til the end to chat and hang out. It’s weird that people see that as a special thing. It’s what we should be doing”. So look out after the DLS vs SP show this week; you might just get a chance to meet the man of the mighty beard.

The point of having a beard is that you’re not having to ponce about and shave and be all caring of yourself Speaking of which, I did manage to ask how he keeps his mane in such good shape: “Good beard oil is the way to go”, he sagely responds, “It’s such a fine line, I wouldn’t do anything more than that, because the point of having a beard is that you’re not having to ponce about and shave and be all caring of yourself. But get out the shower, put a bit of beard oil on and you’re sorted”.

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip are playing The Lemon Grove on Tuesday 28th January

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Lewis’s Love It or Loathe It

21 JANUARY 2014 |

www.exepose.ex.ac.uk

Let there be Peace in our time

Ciaran Willis talks to Worchester rockers Peace on dealing with hype and hard Midlanders

In his final column Lewis Norman rates his final ups and downs Coachella Line Up Earlier this week the release of the Coachella Festival line-up was met by a fleet of bloodthirsty hipsters who took to social media to declare their rage at the so-called ‘mainstream shit’ that it has to offer.

Although the line-up does include some insultingly awful acts, the Coachella bill is actually a joyfully colourful fusion of genres that doesn’t disappoint. Appearances from Beck, Neutral Milk Hotel and OutKast make the whole festival a love-letter to the 90’s; and from rock colossi Muse, QOTSA and Arcade Fire to the geniuses of indie: Bombay Bicycle Club and MGMT, the bill is beautiful, diverse and very exciting.

Justin Bieber BREAKING NEWS: It has just been revealed that Justin Bieber is arrogant and self-indulgent! Okay, we already knew this, but over the Christmas break we learnt that he knows it as well! The scheming little rodent plotted to convince the world that he was retiring from music, only to annihilate our joy and celebratory cheer by having his producer contradict this statement. Like a chronic virus, Bieber not only continues to plague us with his dire music but actu- a l l y revels in the idea that our greatest wish is for him to stop.

FOR my first ever interview I ventured to the Anson Rooms in Bristol’s Student Union, where I met two members of Peace – frontman Harrison Koisser and drummer Douglas Castle. Though nervous and (gasp) sober, I was put at ease by their friendly manner and after half an hour we had covered all the big questions: what Douglas thought of Call of Duty, what Jake Bugg thought of Harrison’s trousers and their favourite Christmas song.

After a hectic year of tours, supporting their debut album In Love – including gigs in Australia, America and Japan – surprisingly “it was the first time coming back that was the best feeling”.

The other highlight was their end of year British tour where I caught their penultimate gig. Interestingly they felt more pressure playing for a thousand people

in Manchester or Nottingham than ten thousand at a festival. Ostensibly, as Douglas said, because it was a ‘Peace show’ and people were paying principally to see them. Yet the tour “couldn’t get any better” - and where their previous highest audience was a one-off gig for a thousand people, on this tour that was a normal show, with their hometown Birmingham gig reaching three thousand.

If you make good records people will compare other people to you For those of you that haven’t heard Peace before, they sound like The Cure and Suede distilled through The Stone

Exeposé Music’s Bogus Debate!

Did you go record shopping with your hard earned Christmas cash?

Or did you save and stream Robbie Williams’ latest online? Our writers address the question of how we should consume music...

WHEN I look at my five square metres room in student accommodation, overpriced textbooks on the shelves, useless

You can experience your favourite song through the studio version, live performances or someone covering it on a traditional Uzbek instrument

sheets of paper all over my desk and yesterday’s pair of socks on the floor, I thank a certain deity that I do not need to set aside room for my music collection and sound system as well. Like all self-respecting deities, this one is omniscient, omnipresent and knows when you

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have been watching naughty things. I am talking, of course, about the internet.

Be it through YouTube, Spotify, TuneIn or some other of the hundreds of online music services, you can access most of the things you want for free or a fraction of the price of a physical storage format.

This is especially important considering that as a student you spend all your money on Timepiece drinks deals and the oh-so-overpriced but oh-so-delicious Marketplace baguettes.

Within moments you can experience your favourite song through the studio version, live performances, acoustic renditions, rare remixes or someone covering it on a traditional Uzbek instrument in

their bedroom.

Now obviously you would immediately ask if that’s fair for the musicians.

It can be. Not

Roses, early Blur and Nirvana – an amalgam of numerous indie bands. Reviewers have continually defined them by other bands and I asked if this bothered them. Harrison said, “I think that’s happened with every band ever… and if you make good records people will compare other people to you”; a fair point, though writing lyrics like “we’re gonna live forever” can occasionally seem less like pastiche and more a lack of inventiveness.

But Peace don’t seem too perturbed by the nit-picking of reviewers, like Alexis Petridis of The Guardian, who they compared to the “boy at school who calls you out over the slightest thing wrong”, with his esoteric references. At the time of their record release Harry “had just turned twenty one and was enjoying being in a band and playing only do artists nowadays make most of their money through touring – the money you can save from buying music will actually allow you to shell out the 15 or so quid for a ticket and see them. Naturally, us being students at the University of Exeter, we are all going to earn six-figures a year the instance we graduate, but until then, that box-set that doubles as a Transformers robot would have to wait.

I bear bad news about sound quality purists as well – living with other people, as you most probably are, you cannot blast your 5.1 surround mixed CDs full blast on your hi-fi sound system without pissing off your flatmates, which makes it practically useless. On lower volumes or reasonably priced headsets, the accusations of Youtube-quality killing the music borders on snobbery.

With the Internet being endless and all, you can consume your music unhindered by limited space, limited money or plentiful pretentiousness. Because in the end, that’s what it comes down to – getting your recommended share of music for the day just in order to keep you well-nourished on music. The Internet may well put some boundaries on what would be your ideal listening experi-

music,” regardless of what critics had to say.

Peace seem like genuine guys happy to talk to anybody. On the tour bus they “play alarmingly little collective music except some northern soul”. Rather for recreation they “prefer stirring up a conversation with their new touring staff letting them tell stories” - they like a “good old chinwag”. They have a games console, but Doug played five minutes of Call of Duty and was disturbed that “within five minutes with no backstory I watched a man burn to death”.

The best moments of the interview are the most candid ones. Harry tells me how the album is sadder than people think, and that ‘Lovesick’, a Cure-esque bubble gum pop song, is “probably the saddest song I’ve ever written”. While there are plenty of light hearted moments; Jake Bugg (completely dressed in trackies) at a Beatles tribute band concert in Japan was bemused by Harry’s baggy paisley trousers and told him that “I just don’t get your trousers.” Harry replied, “Well I like them, just don’t worry about it Jake”. By the end of the interview Harry was breaking into ‘it’s Christmas’ with his best Slade impression; Slade and Wizzard being Peace’s favourite Christmas songs.

Peace have a good repertoire of catchy songs and an incredibly young audience (I was one of the oldest there – obviously long past it) in thrall, simultaneously bouncing and singing along.

Highlights were the breezy and beautiful ‘California Daze’, the funkiness of ‘Wraith’ and the joyous pop of ‘Toxic’.

However, the band’s charisma didn’t quite come across on stage and their performance felt a little flat. But – as they told me – Peace have already recorded four new songs at Sarm Studios in London and 2014 should see another piece of Peace. I wish them well for the New Year.

ence. But for you, a student, it enables you to get that much needed dosage of musical sanity – the essential listening experience.

PAVEL KONDOV YOU have to buy music. It’s literally the law. I can sit comfortably in my ivory tower and look down with contempt at these modern day, non-Somalian pirates because I know I’m not breaking the law. It’s a very easy high ground to take, but that’s not the issue here. I could put on my smug cap (hand-stitched by bearded hipsters) and preach about the crimes off the masses, but instead I’m going to try to convert them.

In many ways the debate here is similar to the Kindle/Book argument.

On the one hand, one is obviously more convenient and economical; but, at the same time, there’s a sense of value to a physical copy that the digital just can’t replicate. With books it’s cover art. I’m an unabashed snob when it comes to buying books: if the cover is anything less than a work of art then I’m not buying it. The idea of Kindle and its cold, coverless digital replica is heresy to me,

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The Immortal Walter Brothers Josh Gray, Music Editor, meets up with The Family Rain before their show at Bristol’s Thekla Club

PICTURE the scene: a night in December, an empty boat on a silent river, in which I sit at a deserted bar with no sound but the waves and the wind.

Such is the setting in which I meet The Family Rain, one of the most exciting prospects for the flagging UK rock scene to have emerged in years. The three brothers from Bath enter the upstairs of the Avon-bound Thekla Club

Americans love English bands that reinvent an American genre and sell it back to them nonchalantly, looking more like three lost buskers than the band who are set to rock the boat that evening. “We’ve and the same goes for digital music.

The package is such a key part of the attraction for me that it makes up for the difference in price. The packaging is your way into an album. It’s where the artist behind it strips away the music and just shows you what they’re about, it’s where you see who really made the album behind the scenes and where you see what all those noises are really about once you read the lyrics.

Perhaps more than anything the package is simply proof of ownership. I have no attachment to the vague mass of letters and numbers that form my iTunes library Perhaps more than anything else, the package is simply proof of ownership. I have no attachment to the

never played anything quite like this before” admits bassist and singer Will, “maybe we should get into playing more forms of transport”.

The Family Rain has only existed since 2011, when the Walter brothers all found themselves without their previous respective bands. It was the release of their spikey, bluesy single ‘Trust Me... I’m A Genius’ that got them recognised by the music world in 2012, just a year after they’d formed.

“The response to ‘Trust Me...’ was incredible, we never expected it,” guitarist Ollie informs me, but when asked if this has put pressure on them to write a bigger hit, the band are stoical: “It’s something really special when a song connects with people like that,” Will chips in, “but we’ve continued to get positive responses to our newer stuff.

We just keep on writing and forming a body of songs without worrying to vague mass of letters and numbers that form my iTunes library, but that pile of flimsy plastic cases on my shelf is an enormous source of pride. When I visit someone else’s house and spot their music collection I’m going to peruse it. It’s essentially a cultural gauge, there for everyone to appreciate and judge. It tells you about who they are and what they like, obviously vital research for terrible conversationalists like myself.

I’m not going to do that with someone’s digital collection and they shall always and forever remain impenetrable and identity-less.

But what if you don’t care about that? What if the fact that Modern Vampires of the City has spectacularly pretty box art to adorn your shelf and impress your peers means nothing to you? What if you’re a pure audiophile, embracing the streamlined experience of the digital? Well, enjoy downloading those giant, iTunes incompatible FLAC files because that’s the only way you’ll match the physical. Most illegal

me about their plans for their debut album, Under The Volcano, which is coming out in February and will apparently include a combination of the heavy blues spirit that possesses their singles and some more varied styles, not that the band want to push the envelope too far on this release. “This album is going to be a statement of our sound,” says Ollie. “We’ll think about adding more instruments and experimentation later on, but this album will

be pretty focused on our three piece sound,” adds drummer Tim. It’s strange that, in a country dominated by the twin musical pillars of laptop electro and folk pop, there is still a space for the back-to-basic blues rock that The Family Rain offer. “People will always like music that speaks to them on a basic level,” reasons Will. But will their commitment to pure blues pay off when they fulfil their dream of touring America? Would the nation that created the blues take to some upstarts from Southern England drawing heavily on their musical heritage? “I actually think we could get on pretty well in America,” muses Will, “They love English bands that reinvent an American genre and sell it back to them. It’s happened with every major English band in the States, from the Stones bringing them back Rhythm & Blues to Adele’s adaptation of Ameri-

can soul”. However, the band retain a certain sense of Britishness; according to Tim, The Family Rain “often get described as Arctic Monkeys crossed with the Black Keys, or Blur crossed with The White Stripes, so there’s definitely a British core to our sound”.

That night the band’s uniquely British blues-rock comes into it’s own on stage, with tracks like ‘Feel Better (FRANK)’ and ‘Pushing It’ gaining a ball-churning rawness when blasted through the boards of the Thekla boat.

By the time they encore with the rapturously received ‘Trust Me.. I’m A Genius’ no-one is in any doubt that there’s still a palette for heavy blues in the British public. Watch out for The Family Rain, they’re heading for big things.

is a hobby, digital is pure consumption and CD is somewhere in between.

downloads are shoddy, horribly l o s s y compressed versions of a CD; most legal downloads are higher quality, but DRM locked anti-share zones. Buy an album on iTunes and it exists only

on your iTunes. Buy a physical copy and it exists on your computer, and your friend’s computer, and your other friend’s computer and so on until copyright lawyers cry at unrestricted sharing.

There’s no getting away from the wealth of choice and low cost of entry that digital presents.

Buying and listening patterns have changed, and now thanks to streaming services like Spotify purchases are more infrequent and more measured. You’re buying this album because you know you really like it and you want to show that appreciation with money and a physical seal of ownership. Everything else can live in the vague nether-realm of The Cloud until you deem it worthy. And what of vinyl then? Sure, there’s a nice quality to it; but it’s also expensive as hell. Vinyl

much about things like that”.

When I ask what the final aim with this collection of songs is, the band tell

It’s something really special when a song conects with people like that

You’re buying this album because you know really like it and you want to show that appreciation with money and physical ownership Digital will always be the easiest option, but it’s also the most lonely and the most empty.

HUGH DIGNAN

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Newsreel

The Golden Globes winners named

After a riotous ceremony hosted

by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, it looks like awards season is finally heating up. The night’s biggest winner, American Hustle, picked up three trophies, being named best comedy, with Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence picking up awards for best actress and best supporting actress respectively.

Elsewhere, 12 Years a Slave was given the top honour as best film drama; Matthew McConaughey received the award for best actor in a drama for his part in Dallas Buyers Club, and Leonardo DiCaprio firmly established himself in the frame for an Oscar by winning the award for best actor in a comedy for his lead role in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street.

Oscar nominations announced With the award ceremony set for 12 March (hosted by the glorious Ellen DeGeneres), the categories have been filled to bursting by a foray of quality films. Heading the group is Gravity and American Hustle with 10 nominations, including for best film, best director and best leading actress, with 12 Years a Slave close behind with 9 nominations. There may be some slightly controversial omissions, such as the Coen brothers for best directing and Tom Hanks for best actor after his turn in the brilliant Captain Phillips, but it looks like it’s still set to be an excitingly close contest.

Steve McQueen to make new TV drama Fresh from the critical success of 12 Years a Slave, the director has revealed that he is now working on a new series for the BBC. Currently untitled, the show will follow the lives of black Britons and their friends from 1968 to the present day. In an interview with The Daily Mail, McQueen expressed his enthusiasm for the project, stating “I don’t think there has been a serious drama series in Britain with black people from all walks of life as the main protagonists”, and that it will be “epic in scope”. At the moment, all signs seem to be pointing towards it being one of this years’ most exciting new prospects.

Bethany Baker gives her verdict on the hotly anticipated third season of Sherlock Sherlock Director: Jeremy Lovering, Colm McCarthy, Nick Hurran Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Lars Mikkelsen 2014 BBC 1 Season 3, 3 Episodes SHERLOCK is back. After two long years the highly anticipated detective drama returns in full force, bringing with it the explosive combination of intrigue, emotion and exceptional writing that we have come to expect.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance in ‘His Last Vow’ is flawless in his compelling portrayal of Sherlock As the series opener, ‘The Empty Hearse’ held the responsibility of answering the question on over nine million live viewers’ lips: how did Sherlock survive the fall? It does so, but not in a way anyone saw coming. The solution, when it eventually appears, is predictable (there’s no use denying it), but surprising an entire country of theorists was an ambitious challenge wor-

thy of the detective himself. As Sherlock says, “everyone’s a critic”.

A potential let down, certainly, if it were the only major focal point of this run of three episodes (as the pre-Series Three hype would have you believe); however, if this series of Sherlock is defined by one aspect, it is its ability to shock. With plot twists at every opportunity, it takes us into corners rarely explored by the detective genre, continuing to catch viewers off guard.

Each film-like episode showcases a different approach. The fast-paced script of the opener shamelessly breaks the fourth wall by revealing that Sherlock has gained a fan club (complete with meta-hashtags that span the Twitters of both universes), allowing the writers to experiment with ideas of fan theories and social networking.

The middle episode, ‘The Sign of Three’, ventures boldly away from a crime-focused plot to focus on the emotional development of the characters, a move which risks

disapproval from those who prefer their sleuths clinically detached.

Watson’s wedding to canon-inspired fiancée Mary Morstan sets the tone for this episode as an exploration of relationships.

Narratively centred around Sherlock’s best man’s speech, flash-

backs lead the viewer through a selection of (seemingly irrelevant) past cases, a particularly humourous stag night and a privileged glimpse into the detective’s mind palace before drawing the threads together in an artful denouement.

Surprising an entire country of theorists was an ambitious challenge worthy of the detective himself Yet without a doubt the jewel of this series is the jaw-dropping finale.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance in ‘His Last Vow’ is flawless in his compelling portrayal of a familiarly naive yet newly self-aware Sherlock.

But special mentions must go to Lars Mikkelsen as spine-tingling blackmailer Charles Augustus Magnussen and Amanda Abbington as an unexpectedly colourful Mary, perfect foils to Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and Martin Freeman’s Watson.

Remarkably faithful to two of Conan Doyle’s originals, this episode reassures that, underneath the changes, the Sherlock we know is still there.

And what would Sherlock be without the traditional cliffhanger? Or even its villains? Whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. The game of speculation is on.

Headshot: Mark Gatiss ACTOR, comedian, screenwriter, novelist: is there no end to this man’s talents? Perhaps best known to older audiences as co-creator, writer and performer of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, alongside Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, and Jeremy Dyson, Gatiss first became a household name when the stage act transferred to the big time on BBC 2 in 1999.

But beyond his acclaimed comedy talents, Gatiss’ work developed throughout the 2000s with smaller roles in film and TV, including Spaced, Stephen Fry’s Bright Young Things, and indie comedy Starter For Ten. This, all whilst managing to make it big in the theatre world, appearing in the successful runs of Art, All About My Mother, Private Passions, and The Recruiting Officer. More recently, Gatiss has starred in Coriolanus opposite

Tom Hiddleston, receiving acclaim from critics and viewers alike.

But it is Gatiss’ childhood passions for Doctor Who and the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that most inspired his recent creative efforts. Gatiss penned a series of New Adventure Doctor Who novels before the show’s

It wouldn’t be surprising if he were single-handedly running the BBC in a few years revamp in 2005, then becoming a regular writer for the series, with episodes like ‘The Unquiet Dead’ and ‘The Idiots’ Lantern’ under his belt, and acting as the both creepy and crawly Professor Lazarus in the show’s third se-

ries. His original drama depicting the origins of the series, An Adventure in Space and Time was commissioned to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary, and received enthusiastic responses from fans and critics alike.

Today, he is probably best known as half the writing team of the BBC’s pride and joy, Sherlock, alongside Who show-runner Steven Moffatt. Gatiss’ onscreen presence as Mycroft, Sherlock’s deliciously deceptive older brother, was a genius addition to an already stellar cast. His documentary series A History of Horror, and revival of the M. R. James ghost story for Christmas demonstrate the diversity of his commitments to British Television; it wouldn’t be that surprising if he were single-handedly running the BBC in a few years time.

MADDIE SOPER

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I’ve got 2014 problems but the screen ain’t one Sophie Parkin gives us her rundown of some of the best TV and film that this year has to offer

THE excitement of Christmas and New Year has faded away and the reality of exams and deadlines has set in. However, the exciting smorgasbord of new films and TV programmes coming our way this year is sure to combat those January blues.

2014 sees Angelina Jolie take on the title role in Disney’s much-anticipated dark-fantasy film Maleficent, in which we see the untold story of one of Disney’s most iconic and infamous villains from the 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty. Russell Crowe leads a star-studded cast, including Sir Antho-

ny Hopkins and Emma Watson, in the multi-million dollar biblical epic Noah.

Also, Andrew Garfield reprises his role as Peter Parker facing his latest foe, Electro, played by Jamie Foxx, in The Amazing Spiderman 2.

Comedy seems to dominate this summer’s offerings with the return of much loved comedy duo Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill in 22 Jump Street.

This is closely followed in August by the next instalment in the mishap-ridden journey of The Inbetweeners boys, who are set to venture to Australia.

Then to polish the year off, we have the

concluding part of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy and the first instalment in The Hunger Games two-part finale,

Comedy seems to dominate this summer with the return of comedy duo Tatum and Hill Mockingjay. With all this and more set to be hitting our screens throughout 2014, it seems we can expect some

great things from the world of cinema.

Meanwhile, on the small screen, novel adaptations are plentiful this year, with Cornwall being the backdrop for both Daphne Du Maurier’s eerie tale Jamaica Inn and Winston Graham’s eighteenth century romantic saga Poldark. With Doctor Who fans having to wait until the third-quarter of the year for the return of Peter Capaldi’s incarnation of the Time Lord, there is an opportunity to catch an early glimpse of him as Richelieu in the swashbuckling ten-part drama series, The Musketeers, based on Alexandre Dumas’ classic

French novel. Furthermore, with 2014 marking the centenary of the start of the First World War, be sure to expect several documentaries, re-enactments and drama mini-series in commemoration of this historic event. One to watch out for in particular is BBC One’s The Ark, about the untold story of medics in a French field hospital.

With stunning sequels, ambitious adaptations and realistic re-makes, there looks to be plenty in store for all lovers of screen, both big and small, in 2014.

Hustlin’, hustlin’, hustlin’, everyday I’m hustlin’ With three Golden Globes already under its belt, Carmen Paddock reviews one of 2013’s best swan songs American Hustle Director: David O. Russell Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper 138 mins (15) AFTER the success of last year’s Silver Linings Playbook, director David O. Russell and actors Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are back in the Oscars running with American Hustle, a screwball comedy about the New Jersey’s mafia underbelly in the 1970s. Cooper and Lawrence are joined by an all-star cast – including Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Robert De Niro (in a marvelous cameo) – none of whom disappoint in the least as a pack of scoundrels so fantastic and ridiculous it is impossible to despise them. The film’s one, yet notable, downfall, however, is its excessive length, which considerably lessens its impact.

The plot – loosely inspired by true events – follows the bril-

liant con-man Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) and his seductive ex-stripper girlfriend (Adams), who must team up with the unpredictable, novice FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper). Their goal: to ensnare Carmine Polito (Renner), the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, in a phony deal and thus expose his ‘corruption’.

And throughout their escapades in this

The antics of this scurrilous pack elicit laughter much more often than tension madcap world of corrupt politicians and powerbrokers, Irving’s volatile, eccentric wife Rosalyn (Lawrence) may be the one loose end that brings every carefully designed plan crashing down.

Despite

the story’s potential to be incredibly dark, it instead veers towards the absurdly comedic. The antics of this scurrilous pack elicit laughter much more often than tension.

The magnetic, colourful performances from each and every cast member is the film’s strongest point. Bale has undergone another body transformation – this one marked by a beer gut – to portray the savvy, intelligent, yet slightly pathetic Irving who nonetheless is incredibly sympathetic as he navigates the insane worlds of politics, the mob, and domesticity. Adams and Lawrence certainly make that last feat difficult; the former brings a wild passion and cunning coolness to Irving’s girlfriend Sydney Prosser, and the latter keeps Rosalyn’s mood swings and kooky outbursts entirely believable and endearing.

Despite his inexperience in crooked dealings, Cooper’s DiMaso oozes slime, despicable charm, and hilarious naivety (especially in his home life scenes).

Renner’s mayor, despite the dealings in which he is involved, comes across as the least corrupt of the bunch, and his genuine

devotion to his city and cause makes him lovable and the scandal slightly tragic. De Niro is only in one scene, but he commands every second as the premier mob boss in the country.

The magnetic, colourful performances from each and every cast member is the film’s strongest point American Hustle may also be a strong contender in the production awards this season. Set design, soundtrack, and especially costume all evoke the place and era masterfully. The stars’ hairstyles – from Bale’s poor combover, Cooper’s meticulous curls, Ren-

ner’s fabulous coif, and Adams‘s and Lawrence’s terrific ‘dos – are standouts.

Russell – both writer and director – proves a master of smart dialogue and never lets his cinematographic style interfere with the story or performances, thus doing his plot and characters a great service. However, he does prove the film’s fatal flaw in stretching the running time ever-so-slightly too far.

It clocks in at 138 minutes, but had it been fifteen or twenty minutes shorter it would have told the same story in a tighter, more interesting way. The film’s effect is certainly dampened, if not irrevocably damaged, by viewers figuring out the plot direction well before it actually comes to pass (and the nearly-inevitable fidgeting that ensues).

However, American Hustle should not be written off entirely. Due to its several award nods early in the season and the incredibly strong performances, it is certainly a memorable (if imperfect) cinematic creation and one of the season’s highlights.

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“I don’t want to survive. I want to live.”

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Katherine Perrington reviews the star-studded adaptation of Solomon Northup’s forced life into slavery 12 Years a Slave Director: Steve McQueen Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’O 134 mins (15) 12 YEARS A SLAVE is an exceptional achievement and undoubtedly one of the best films you will ever watch. Director Steve McQueen creates an often brutal and uncomfortable viewing experience but one that is essential to the brilliance and realism of the film. He does not shy away from the grim truths of slavery and the atrocities committed by many are laid bare for us to see.

Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a free man living with his wife and children in New York before he is tricked, drugged and sold into slavery.

His first master, William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), is shown as a kind and benevolent slave master - although he doesn’t hesitate in selling him on when conflict arrives from racist and bitter carpenter John Tibeats (Paul Dano).

Solomon is then forced into the hands of evil plantation master Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), whose vile and sadistic actions make for some of the most difficult viewing in the film. His

prolonged abuse of the slave girl Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o) is particularly painful and shocking to watch. Eventually with the help of Canadian labourer Samuel Bass (Brad Pitt), Solomon gains his rightful freedom, much to the anger of Epps.

However, Solomon’s lucky escape to freedom highlights the injustice of all those left behind, along with the obvious moral fact that they should all be free and should have always been so. The acting throughout the film is phenomenal, Ejiofor perfectly depicts Solomon’s dignity and sorrow in his miserable situation. Fassbender expertly contrasts Ejiofor’s performance with his manic, violent and self-loathing fuelled portrayal of Epps, which leaves you wondering if humanity could possibly produce anyone more wretched and ferocious.

The stand out performance came from newcomer Lupita Nyong’o, whose character suffers repeated rape and abuse throughout her unhappy life, as did many female slaves at the hands of their owners. You must go and see this film. It is, unquestionably, a modern masterpiece.

Please mind the commuters

Sophie Gough takes a look at David Nicholl’s new BBC drama The 7:39 Director: John Alexander Cast: David Morrissey, Sheridan Smith, Olivia Colman 2014 BBC 1 2 Episodes BBC’s two-part romantic drama The 7.39, written by bestselling author of One Day, David Nicholls, had everything on track to become a hit – great writing, great actors and a primetime weekend slot. So why did it end up being such a flop?

Married middle-aged professional Carl Matthews ends up chatting to fellow commuter Sally Thorn, a bright, bubbly gym manager on their morning train. Of course, after a few book discussions, they’re soon frolicking in first class and sweating in a sauna together, as you do. Obviously, such a wild love affair can only end in disaster: after a half hour kissing montage, their home lives derail quite spectacularly and Carl gets fired – quite archai-

cally, might I add. Yet Nicholls’ moral does not end up being “cheating is bad, don’t do it”, rather, he seems to say “cheating is fun and everything works out fine”: Carl manages to patch things up with his wife, whilst Sally trades up from Neanderthal fitness freak to caring chap in a shirt and jumper combo, with all trains running on time throughout.

Whilst Nicholls’ dialogue is pacey and entertaining, it is the unreal-

My running commentary throughout went “he’s got too much beard for her” istic nature of the plot that really let this programme down. Why would a fitness instructor commute two hours to work in a gym? Who gets a private swimming lesson on their first trip to said gym? Oh, and let’s not forget the

selfies in front of the London Eye – the usual pastime of two modern adulterers?!

Fortunately the whole piece is salvaged by a couple of stellar performances. Olivia Colman, who played Carl’s loyal wife Maggie, is brilliantly convincing. Whilst Sheridan Smith best known for her roles in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Gavin & Stacey and Mrs Biggs – captivated as Sally Thorn. So much so that you wondered why she is even interested in the dull, awkward Carl Matthews, played by David Morrissey and his beard. Was it just me who found the beard horribly distracting throughout?!

My running commentary went from “he’s got too much beard for her” to “no, she can’t be kissing that beard” to a rather aggressive “SHERIDAN, GET OFF THE BEARD FOR ALL OUR SAKES WOMAN”.

So, in summary, The 7:39 had too much kissing, too much disbelief and too much beard.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Director: Ben Stiller Cast: Ben Stiller, Sean Penn, Kristen Wiig 114 mins (PG) AT this time of year, when some of the year’s most highly anticipated films such as The Wolf of Wall Street and 12 Years a Slave are due to hit the box office, it wouldn’t come as a huge surprise to me if Ben Stiller’s latest directorial outing The Secret Life of Walter Mitty slips off the radar of the average film-goer. Though the movie’s premise has potential, the plot fails to maintain this early intrigue and ultimately limps to an unsatisfying and weak conclusion.

The set-up is generic enough as it is: an ordinary man, Walter (Stiller), has his world turned upside down when he is tasked to pursue allusive photographer, Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) for a photograph that contains the ‘Quintessence’ of life, or face losing his job.

Through the eyes of Walter, we experience action-packed sequences of makebelieve that prove to be more interesting than his mundane life, as well as the actual plot of the film. Walter’s journey takes him around the world, and though the photography in these sequences is

breath-taking to say the least, Walter’s spiritual soul-searching and thoughtful, glazed expressions grow tiresome quickly.

Ben Stiller seems caught between trying to assert himself as a serious director, whilst still trying to provide audiences with the goofy humour that he so gleefully flaunted once upon a time in Zoolander. Any punchy message the ending could have had is thrown away

Any punchy message the ending could’ve had is thrown away in place of a soppy romcom ending in place of a soppy rom-com resolution, and one of the crucial plot points is sold out for a cheap gag. Walter himself develops from being imaginative and detached to pragmatic and realistic.

Unfortunately this character is not as interesting and or as funny as the one we were introduced to at first, and the film itself ends up being a lot less fun than it perhaps could have been.

JOSHUA MINES

As Hot As... the hot or nots of this week’s film news SHIA LABEOUF – The star has announced that he is “retiring from all public life” after his short film Howard Contour.com received huge criticism for plagiarising work by graphic novelist Daniel Clowes. Oh, Shia.

Shia

STAR WARS - With fresh casting rumours being pumped out on a daily basis, Michael Fassbender and Hugo Weaving have now been linked to the franchise.

It’s by no means bad, but as far as gossip goes it seems that starring in any major film in the last decade means that you’re a dead cert.

TARANTINO - Now over a year since Django: Unchained stormed cinemas worldwide, the director has announced the title of his next script. Set once again in the old west, The Hateful Eight will see Christoph Waltz teaming up with Tarantino for a third time.

CATCHING FIRE - It’s official: the second iteration of movies was 2013’s box office smash. The film grossed over $400 million in the US, making it the first film with a female main protagonist to do so since The Exorcist in 1973.

MOFFAT AND GATISS - The pair announced that they have already plotted out the stories for seasons four and five.

With Moffat describing their ideas as “the best we’ve ever had”, it looks like we’ll be kept “sher-locked” for the foreseeable future.

Sherlock

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Book Shelf New year, new productive you? Or not! If you’re looking to procrastinate, a great place to start is these Twitter loving authors. @neilhimself Neil Gaiman With nearly two million followers, Gaiman has the biggest Twitter presence of any of the authors on our list. Gaiman also keeps a regular blog and Tumblr page.

As well as maintaining this huge online presence, he’s managed to be the first author to win both the Newberry and Carnegie medal, an inspiration to all Twitter-loving students. @realjohngreen John Green As well as being a prolific author, Green has a strong online presence. As well as tweeting several times a day, John and his brother Hank have a YouTube channel called VlogBrothers. What began as a year long experiment, to see if the siblings could talk to each other in ways that aren’t text based, has expanded to become a funny series of exchanges between the pair. @joannechocolat Joanne Harris Joanne tweets about everything, from dreams she’s had to pictures of her incredible bookshelves and, inevitably given the titles of her books, food. Like many of the other authors listed, she has a Tumblr page, which includes everything from short answers to fan questions and long tracts of her interest in the work of Edgar Allan Poe. @MargaretAtwood Margaret Atwood Margaret Atwood is another prolific author who manages to keep up an active Twitter presence. As well as retweeting interesting artsy news, she’s been outspoken on her Twitter page, rather unusually using it as a platform to hint that she might write the University of Toronto out of her will, after taking offence to their new artificial turf field. @LeVostreGC Geoffrey Chaucer No the long dead author is not still alive and tweeting. However, if you need a bit of medieval literature in your life, make sure you follow ‘Chaucer Doth Tweet’. With over 24,000 followers, Chaucer’s tweets include an amusing mixture of Old English and pressing modern concerns, such as “Gandalfe came arounde tonighte”.

EMMA HOLIFIELD BOOKS EDITOR

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So you think you can read?

Christy Ku gives advice on how to focus on reading and be efficient with your study time ‘HAD a nice Christmas at home? Got some money as presents? Good – now spend it all on your course books. And then read it all - you’re not seeing daylight again.’

That seems to be the voice of uni as we head back to our halls, to the mountain of reading ahead of us. But never fear – Exeposé is here! We might not be Hermione Granger, but here are some tips on how to tackle that stack of books. Good luck!

1) Get into your optimum mental state AKA calm down.

There’s a lot to do, but don’t be daunted. Accept the stress and use it to motivate you. If you take nothing else away from this article, just take these two mental tricks: first, take some deep breaths and relax so your mind is better able to concentrate and take in information. The second: remember a time when you were really absorbed in learning. Fill yourself with that feeling – this is your best learning state!

Then, press your thumb and middle finger together (or whatever discreet action you prefer). Over time, the association of the action and feeling will become stronger, and you’ll find it easier and easier to place yourself in that state.

The Reader Bernhard Schlink Vintage International 1995 IN RECENT times, what has been termed ‘Holocaust fan fiction’ has become visibly popular. Books written

by Holocaust survivors about their experiences are ubiquitous; while Anne Frank’s Diary and Schindler’s Ark remain widely read worldwide. Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader, however, while exploring the theme of the Holocaust, is not an autobiographical narrative about experiences in a concentration camp, but rather uses the experiences of a female guard at Auschwitz to explore darker themes of guilt, responsibility and evil.

2) Find your reading spot There’s a great episode in Gilmore Girls when Rory gets obsessed with her perfect “study tree” on campus. But then, we all have our ideal places – library, cafe, your room etc. Find somewhere you feel comfortable, and with few distractions, which brings me to: 3) Remove distractions Announce on your social media sites that you’re busy working. And put that phone away. Now. Also, some people need a bit of noise to read – I personally

prefer a very quiet space, but I listen to soundtracks to help me concentrate. The Hobbit soundtrack + Freud = suddenly epic literary theory.

4) Make a timetable Break up your reading into smaller chunks. Prioritise your compulsory reading, and work for an hour or so, with little breaks for you to stretch your legs, have a snack, or rest your eyes. It’s best to read for an hour or two each day, but if you’ve had a

hectic week, then try to set aside a big reading day.

5) Read for speed Skim read for the first read – get the general gist of the text, then go into more detail later. If it’s a giant novel, there’s nothing wrong with looking at Sparknotes or something similar to get a summary, before reading it properly (but yes, you do have to do that second part).

You can train yourself to read faster by sliding your finger down the page and making yourself read at that pace until you get used to it.

6) Read actively Ever turned a few pages before realising you have no clue what you’ve just read?

Time to get the highlighters out! Mark important quotes and interesting sections. Also, try and summarise the paragraph/page, and write it down in the margins. At the end of the chapter, condense everything in as few words as possible. If it helps, read the text aloud (but not in the Silent Zone, or you’ll annoy Ricky the Arts Editor), or listen to an audiobook. If you don’t understand anything – then that’s a good question for your seminar.

7) Treat yourself!

Have a little reward at the end.

You deserve it!

The book has become extremely successful, generating a film adaptation starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. Easy to read and short but gripping, the novel is written from the perspective of Michael Berg, an adolescent

cult and disturbing relationship, in which the thirty-something Hanna, to our eyes at least, takes advantage of the teenage Michael. Their relationship is sexual and entirely unequal because of Michael’s youth, his immaturity and his complete lack of knowledge about Hanna’s life – she is secretive and resists his frequent questions.

Above all, however, as the novel indicates, their relationship is characterised by books. Without giving away too much, we learn quickly that Hanna yearns to be read to, to enjoy literature, and therefore encourages Michael to read to her, usually the books he studies at school. Eventually, however, Hanna deserts Michael without warning and, emotionally scarred and confused, he is

forced to get on with his life.

Years later, as a law student at university, Michael participates in the postwar trials of German war criminals who participated in the Holocaust, and is shocked to learn that Hanna is a defendant, as a prison guard at Auschwitz.

He is more shocked, however, when an unthinkable fact about Hanna emerges, and subsequently explains their whole relationship... Dark, unsettling, yet very moving, this novel is excellent both in chronicling an unusual love affair and in conveying a sense of unease and horror which continues to be felt about guilt and responsibility for the Holocaust.

Dark, unsettling, yet very moving, this novel is excellent growing up in postwar Germany. Prone to illnesses, his incapacities provide the context for his random meeting with Hanna, a mysterious blonde woman living alone nearby. What begins as an unforeseeable encounter leads to a diffi-

CONOR BYRNE

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Condensed Classic Villette Charlotte Brontë (1853)

“Life is so constructed that an event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation.”

CHARLOTTE BRONTË is best known for Jane Eyre, but many people agree that she wrote a second masterpiece.

Villette is the last of Brontë’s novels and the most autobiographical.

Lucy Snowe, destitute after some unspecified disaster, decides to leave Britain and travel abroad in the hope of finding employment. She soon finds work as a teacher in a girls boarding school in Villette, a thinly disguised version of Brussels, where Brontë once found herself in a similar situation.

Lucy’s quiet and collected exterior belies her turbulent emotional life.

First she falls in love with the school’s English doctor whom she knew as a family friend in childhood, an infatu-

ation which ends in heartbreak and a chilling scene in which she literally buries all correspondence from him. Later she develops feelings for the irascible teacher Monsieur Paul, a man to whom she is much better suited. However, it is in the interest of several powerful people that the affection between Paul and Lucy does not develop, and barriers are constantly placed in their way.

Throughout her time in Villette, Lucy battles with her loneliness and her status as a perpetual outsider.

Although she is often filled with powerful emotion, experience tells her that she must repress her feelings, and the result makes for both fascinatingly original language and a thoroughly unreliable narrator.

Famed for its ambiguous ending, Villette is above all a masterful study of the psychology of its heroine and a violently felt protest against the convention of the times.

SOPHIE BECKETT ONLINE BOOKS EDITOR

Laid in Chelsea: My Life Uncovered Ollie Locke Harper Collins 2013 AS MANY of my fellow first year English students will agree, if you’re voluntarily going to read something over Christmas, it is not going to be something classical and it certainly isn’t going to be something off the reading list.

So that’s why when I was deciding what books to ask for for Christmas, I quite pleasantly stumbled across not only the trashiest book I could find, but quite possibly the trashiest book I’ve ever read.

Ollie Locke’s Laid in Chelsea is a hilarious reflection on the sexually confused Made in Chelsea star’s relationships, romantic incidences, sexual encounters (or should we say mishaps) and comical stories about his childhood.

Despite being poorly written and at

times pretty repetitive, the book does everything it says on the tin- it makes you laugh, is an easy read and gives the reader an insight into the life of one of the most loved Made in Chelsea stars.

Locke discusses everything; his first love ... (at four may I add… is that even possible?!), losing his virginity, his first relationship with a man and of course his infamous relationship with Gabriella Ellis on the set of Made in Chelsea. Lovers of the show will be well aware of the

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and incredibly awkward moments with girls, celebrities and anecdotes from life in boarding school.

The book is written literally as if Ollie is speaking to you, which gives it a friendly and light hearted feel, but can sometimes be frustrating to read.

Despite this, Ollie writes about what every Made in Chelsea fan wants to know - relationships, the club scene in Chelsea and the ins and outs of life as a reality TV star. So, if you’re a fan of the show and are looking for an enjoyable, humorous read then this certainly is the book for you, even if you don’t want to admit that you’re reading it!

ALICE BELTON

awkward silences reputation Made in Chelsea upholds - and this book is full of hilarious, honest

The Boy Who Was Illustrated Natalie Clark questions whether the new illustrated Harry Potter series will ever live up to the imagination of a child or if it will leave readers disappointed

BLOOMSBURY has recently announced that all seven Harry Potter books will be published in full-colour illustrated form. The series will begin with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which will be published in September 2015.

Jim Kay is undoubtedly a talented illustrator, however, the commission of a lifetime is joined by a tremendous responsibility. Fans will be eagerly anticipating the reimagining of the Potter-verse, and Kay must be able to keep true to the books, keeping in mind the

power held by one of the largest and most vocal fandoms.

Harry Potter is first and foremost a children’s series, so should we consider the illustrated version as a book for even younger children? The fandom is constantly awash with the promises of fans to raise their children as Harry Potter lovers, immersing them in the Potter-verse from an early age. So will future generations of children access the world of Potter in this manner? The series holds a legacy of encouraging an entire generation of children to read, and with the addition of engaging and beautiful illustrations, Jim Kay’s work will undoubtedly bring more children closer to the magical world of Harry Potter.

The collection will inevitably be a

welcome addition to the book-shelves of the aging Potter-generation. Some fans have, however, taken issue with some of the teaser illustrations released by the publishers. An image of a young Harry has been criticised as too chubby, disturbing the idea of the underfed, skinny Harry mistreated by his uncaring aunt and uncle. An accompanying image of Hogwarts also features what some feel is an out of place gargoyle or dragon, which adds a sinister feel to the warmth of the wizarding school. Although questions about accuracy have been raised, Jim Kay is sure to be working closely with Rowling, and the fantastically gothic image of Hogwarts confirms his powerful imagination and skill.

Kay is a self-proclaimed Potter fan, and in an interview with the Guardian he claimed to be excited, yet “mindful of the huge responsibility this represents, I just want to make sure I do the best

The series holds a legacy of encouraging an entire generation of children to read job I possibly can.” He is also quoted as having a soft-spot for Neville, admiring Hermione’s drive and ambition, and enjoying the visual recreation of Hagrid’s image. In 2012 Kay was awarded the Kate Greenway Medal for his work on A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness. The first in the series is due to be published in September 2015, with the rest in the series following in yearly installments.

Elli Christie, Books Editor reminisces about her first encounter with Harry THE COVER of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone will always have a place in my heart as it belongs to the first book that I remember actively seeking and reading independently.

Harry was illustrated mid-way through gasping at the Hogwarts’ Express and this encapsulated the generation of children that were swept away by J. K. Rowling’s magic. This world was just as vivid to the readers as it was to Harry’s widened eyes.

Being able to not only imagine but see the world that was taking my breath away really coloured and helped my mind by adding insignificant details, such as the colour of his rucksack or the elabo-

rately ironworked 9¾ sign. This single illustration was so imprinted on my brain that I was outraged when the Harry on the front of the second book was drawn in a competely different style and just looked so different.

Even if illustrations are not always accurate to the words of a book, they often embody the spirit of the story, especially in children’s literature.

Another era of readers will be able to claim their own illustrated version of Harry away from the films and original editions and so engage with a passionate belief that theirs is the best Harry.

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Author Profile Joanne Harris Born: 3.7.1964 I FIRST came across Joanne Harris when my mum left a pile of her books on my bed. This was definitely one of mum’s better book-choosing moments and Harris is now lodged firmly on my bookshelf of old favourites.

If there’s one thing I love as much as reading, it’s eating. With several of Harris’ books, particularly those nicknamed ‘the food trilogy’, you get to do both! Whether you are experiencing the fruit liqueurs of Framboise’s mother, Joe’s ‘Specials’, or Vianne Rocher’s chocolates, Harris has the ability to lift them from the page and tantalise your senses. As delicious as Harris’ writing may be, her simple yet elegant style means that her books remain accessible and interestingly written.

Harris’ characters also have a tendency to tantalise Harris’ characters also have a tendency to tantalise. They are often easy to warm to but they rarely win your complete admiration. Whether it’s through a plot twist or a decision you don’t agree with, there are always

moments when the characters frustrate you just a little bit. Chocolat presents the wonderfully independent Vianne whom you can’t help but admire. Yet, when the possibility arises for her to sacrifice some of her independent spirit for Roux, I can’t help but be a little disappointed. Who doesn’t love a bit of romance, however small and improbable?

layer, the narrative is cleverly framed around a dramatic game of chess which certainly gained my admiration when reading it. Harris has also harnessed the genre of magical realism in Blackberry Wine; tapped into fantasy with Runemarks, and written several collections of short stories to

Dutton Books 2012 IN LIGHT of the upcoming movie and the endless praise that I’ve read for this book, I decided it was high time I found out what everyone was getting so excited about (a little late to the party, I know, as the book came out two years ago).

The Fault in Our Stars is a young adult novel written by John Green, who some of you may know from his and his brother’s YouTube channel Vlogbrothers. It is a nice light read, though the story centres around the life of Hazel Grace, a young teenage girl who has to live with cancer, the issues this brings (practical ones such as not being able to breathe, philosophical ones such as the imminent and unstoppable nature of death) and her relationship with Augustus Waters.

I expected an emotional rollercoaster By the time I finally came to read this book, I had already had the main plot twist spoilt for me, so perhaps my opinion is not the best one. However, the story for me was not what I expected. I expected an emotional rollercoaster and to have my heart broken.

Honestly, I expected tears. All that I’d heard concerning this book was

boot. With this in mind, I think Harris has written something for nearly everyone, so this new year pick up a book and see if you can prove me wrong.

In the face of exam week, it most certainly would have to be Hermione Granger. I could use her unbelievable intelligence and study habits!

CARMEN PADDOCK Paddington Bear. His hat, big coat and wellies are definitely suited to the horrific weather we’ve been having lately. Also, he’s a bear.

ROB HARRIS I wish I could transform into Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby as I would have lots of money and a man hopelessly in love with me.

SOPHIE PARKIN Mallory Towers because they always drink a lot of lemonade!

OLIVIA LUDER

e i of T fferen to rea d he F t op aul inion Russian Roulette: A Sta t in O rs! ur Deadly Game: How

EJONA REXHEPI

Any Last Words?

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU! Which literary character do you wish you could transform into and why?

But Vianne wouldn’t be the unlikely character of Lansquenet-sousTannes if she had and that would be an even greater disappointment. It is this playful balance which draws me most to Harris’ writing, and, considering my love of all things sweet, that is saying quite a lot.

Her talents extend far further than writing permeated by food, however, although she has penned several French cookbooks too! Gentleman and Players is an exhilarating thriller that follows the revenge of an old schoolboy on St. Oswalds. The action unfolds excitingly with multiple subplots coming together to add to the complexity of the Go novel. onl To add another a d in

how moving and touching the story was, how terribly sad the ending was.

Whilst I cannot deny that the story itself was sad, it didn’t move me. My problem with this book was the way the characters were moulded, they did not seem at all human to me. They didn’t come alive in my imagination, I didn’t connect with them. To me Hazel and Augustus were incredibly pretentious and slightly annoying, while the secondary characters also failed to spark my interest.

The dialogue seemed so silly and unrealistic. While I understand that the author was trying to reinforce the idea that these are very intelligent young people, I do not believe that the conversation between the characters flowed in a natural way. I spent most of the novel thinking to myself that “no one talks like this”. The characters weren’t convincing, they weren’t believable, and so, when the ending came, I didn’t really care. The only characters that I felt sympathy for were Hazel’s parents as they were constructed in a way that made them genuine.

But, as I said, I knew the ending, maybe if I hadn’t the book would have had more of an effect on me (though I doubt it). The movie adaptation, coming out this summer and staring Shailene Woodley as Hazel and Ansel Elgort as Augustus will probably be more emotional than the book because it will likely bring the characters alive in a way the book didn’t.

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LAUREN FRASER

Who doesn’t love a bit of romance, however small and improbable?

British Spies Thwarted Lenin’s Global Plot Giles Milton

The Fault in Our Stars John Green

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Sceptre 2013 RUSSIAN ROULETTE: A DEADLY GAME by Giles Milton is a cracking read for anyone interested in spies, and even if you know nothing about espionage except how Bond likes his martinis it is still well worth a look.

It describes the genesis of the Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6, and its undeclared war with Bolshevik Russia from 1917-21.

Milton certainly has done his research, providing extensive coverage of the almost unbelievable activities of British agents inside Russia, infiltrating the communist regime pretty well from their first day in office. It is a thrilling tale of mystery as a few brave men, alone inside a hostile and volatile country in the grip of terror and civil war, pitted their wits against the formidable CHEKA, the more violent and terrifying precursor of the KBG, and its leader ‘Iron Felix’ Dzerzhinsky.

The danger of the situation is powerfully evoked and, at times, feels more like a novel than a history. Anecdote, evidence and narrative merge smoothly giving a real sense of the extraordinary characters involved. For example, Paul

Dukes, the ‘Man with a Thousand Faces ’and Sidney Reilly ‘Ace of Spies’ (and incidentally the subject of a 1983 TV series with Sam Neill in the title role).

But the most engaging of these characters has to be Lieutenant-Commander Mansfield Smith-Cumming, known only has ‘C’, the head of MI6.

Cumming’s eccentric personality leaps off the pages with a few specially chosen anecdotes. One of my favourites involves his interviewing technique for new agents. The prospective agent would be led through a maze of corridors to Cumming’s office where the interview would proceed quite normally until Cumming suddenly would thrust a razor-sharp letter opener through his trousers and into his wooden leg. If the recruit flinched, they were dismissed.

The spies had equally unbelievable adventures, one blagged his way into an audience with Lenin, while another went undercover so effectively that the British Government thought they had genuinely defected. Others led sabotage missions and military operations as part of the Great Game in Central Asia to protect British India. It is a story of courage, ingenuity, intrigue and in many cases sheer audacity that had a hidden, but at the same time, exceptional impact on the development of the post-war world. This is a must-read for any fan of spies, real or fictional.

DANIEL MORRIS

Edith Granger from Dombey and Son. Proud, cold, and enrobed with diamonds. One of Dickens’s few female characters with agency. She don’t need no man to make her feel good -clicks fingersKITTY HOWIE Lucy from Lucy in the Sky because she ends up with a cute surfer dude.

LIZZY ANDERSON Elizabeth Bennett because of her ability to deliver cutting one liners that seem oh so polite. Also she’s really clever...and marrying Colin Firth wouldn’t exactly be terrible!

EMMA HOLIFIELD Amy from The Ordinary Princess.

Not only is she excellent at saving she gets to befriend a squirrel and a bird! Oh and she marries a king.

ELLI CHRISTIE It would have to be Sherlock Holmes, so I could fake my own death and not have to finish my degree.

RORY MORGAN I’d like to be Meg from Meg and Mog. She has an awesome cat and loads of friends.

MEGAN FURBOROUGH Katniss Everdeen! Because she’s my hero! She’s amazing at archery and she gets both Gale and Peeta.

SOPHY COOMBES-ROBERTS Mr Grey. He’s my favourite one of the Mr Men. MARCUS BEARD

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Resolutions Isabel Irwin suggests some arty New Year resolutions

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A New Year, A New Degree

Eleanor Marsh provides a fresher’s insight into studying a Liberal Arts degree at Exeter

many opportunities with this course, both academic and personal. Not only do we get to study a wide range of subjects, but next year we will undertake a challenging work experience program.

We will also have the choice to spend a year abroad in our third year and as our course spans across the University, our choice of destinations is pretty much unlimited.

I’ve really enjoyed it, so far. Being a naturally interdisciplinary person, the range of subject areas is wonderful.

Plus, I’ve had lectures from experts all over the university, each one passionate about their different subjects.

1. Make things: cards, presents, wall hangings – anything.

2. Get Creative: set aside time each week to do something inspiring that’s not focused on an end result. Playing with mixed media, flicking through an article on your favourite artist or a book on painting can be a great way to get inspiration, or creating a ‘creativity journal’ to document any ideas you have.

3. Take a picture: every day. For a year. It’s a new trend, I’m told. Or just get Instagram.

4. Invest in a decent camera: if drawing really isn’t your calling, try the Canon Power Shot G15/ G16, a great little ‘in-between’ bridge camera... if it’s good enough for the Duchess of Cambridge, then it just might be good enough for an Exeter student.

5. Go to an art gallery: the best fun really is for free! Try the Exeter Phoenix, RAMM or the Antique Shop down by the quay.

6. Visit the Northcott Theatre: “but it looks like a place you’d go to die”, pleads a friend. Yes Sam, it may seem like a prison from the outside, but the website seems to reckon otherwise. Also look out for the ’24 hour plays’ organised by the University, or go wild and actually get involved.

7. Go to a life drawing class: or just be present at Exeter Halls’ dinner time on someone’s birthday. You’ll still get The Full Monty. And it’s free.

8. Try something new: Attend a play, or an opera, ballet, musical, anything you’ve not tried before.

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LIBERAL ARTS. I’m sure the name has already evoked many eyebrow-raising images: lots of hippies sitting in a field discussing art, to eventually achieve some sort of official qualification, something like that. But actually, it’s rather different. For anyone who is familiar with the American education system, this degree will ring a few bells. Across the pond, Liberal Arts has been an established form of teaching for a few hundred years and is still hugely popular. It is such an integral part of American culture that there is even a film called Liberal Arts, starring the ever-charming Josh Radnor (or Ted from How I Met Your Mother). I’d recommend it.

Traditionally, Liberal Arts courses

generally involve a range of modules from areas across the university, and here in Exeter this is no different. As it is the first year of Liberal Arts at the University, things are still a little ‘loose’, but we are currently taking modules spanning from areas such as Archeology and Theology, to English and Film, to Languages and Statistics.

Following the American system, the degree also offers us the chance to choose a major from any subject that the University has to offer. This is really exciting for all of us: not only to secure a wide foundation of knowledge for ourselves in this first year, but later we are able to specialize in a subject that really grabs our interest. Personally, I am leaning towards English, but

the majors vary from person to person..

This term will be spent taking classes for our major and experiencing all the different aspects of other subjects. The variety keeps us on our toes, meaning there is rarely a dull moment.

Truth be told there have been a few kinks in the course. However, most of these were quickly smoothed out at the beginning of term, ready for us eager first-year students to get started. It can be frustrating constantly explaining what Liberal Arts actually is – I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to recount ‘it’s a mix of humanities and social sciences’, aware that I don’t have enough energy for another explanation. Although, it is actually more than just that. We are given so

It can be frustrating constantly explaining what Liberal Arts is It really is an engaging and exciting course, encompassing lots of different subject areas, and it’s got a lot of things planned for the future. With universities across the country developing Liberal Arts programs, it is only a matter of time before the looks of confusion regarding the degree disappear – hallelujah! I’ve made some great friends, learnt a lot, and have got a lot of opportunities coming my way – what else could I need?

Fine Dining: Almost too good to eat Emily Tanner, Deputy Editor, discusses fine dining as an art form you won’t see in galleries THAT burger you ate for lunch today was probably not the sort of thing you would expect to see in the Tate any time soon. Quite a fair assessment?

I’m sure if a modern day Andy Warhol placed a decaying McDonalds Happy Meal on a white plinth in one of the country’s finest modern art establishments, visitors – however open-minded and experimental – may be more than a little bit confused. Yet in many respects the merger of food and art is one that shouldn’t startle too much, especially when it’s the food on your plate that has its artistic potential and not the other way around.

As a massive fan of food based reality television shows – who doesn’t love a little bit of Masterchef or Bake Off on occasion – the focus on the artistic quality and presentation of the food on the plate is something that has always caught my attention. At a restaurant, even if the portions are tiny, we are often impressed by the way in which it has been presented. In fact, nowadays, if you’re going to pay

more than £40 for a three-course meal, you’d like to see something a little bit special.

If you’re going to pay £40 for a three-course meal you’d like to see something a little bit special Eating, especially eating out, is all about the experience; the artistic potential of the food on our plates is all a vital part of the ambiance created.

In seeing that a chef has carefully crafted a sugar spiral over our dessert we know that care has been taken in the creation of this food. Not

only this, but we surely appreciate the skill of the chef as more than merely a great creator of taste. A great chef is no longer someone who can combine great flavour; he is one who has an eye for colour just as a painter would, or knows which textures will look most appealing on their canvas of crockery.

Whilst I can’t image I’d decline too much

food purely because it hadn’t been presented quite as well as a Picasso, the sensory experience of eating is always enhanced by appealing aesthetics. Looking at delicious images of food on a website or menu is not too far from looking at beautiful works of art in a gallery, and engaging with artistic qualities makes food more worth the while, especially at a pricey restau-

rant.

Almost anyone can knock up a decent pasta bake, stick a fillet of fish in the oven, or some potatoes in a pan, but not everyone has the eye of a true culinary master. Food and art combine regularly to create appealing dishes that tickle the taste buds and interest the eye.

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Centre Stage for Student Theatre

Sophy Coombes-Roberts, Arts Editor, and Magda Cassidy, Music Editor, chat to West Side Story’s leading man Nicholas Kenchington, Shotgun’s Director, Genevieve Skehan, and Producer, Tim Bradbeer

Footlights’ ‘West Side Story’ HOW long have you been involved with Footlights?

This is my fourth Footlights show. Pretty much the first thing I did in the first week of my first year was audition, and I’ve been a groupie ever since.

What can people expect from West Side Story?

They can expect an incredible show, Footlights’ best yet. If you love Shakespearian storylines, big dance numbers and beautiful music, this musical is for you!

What is the atmosphere like within the cast?

We all get on incredibly well, there’s never a dull moment. The only thing that has created tension is the recent discovery of the iPhone app ‘Quiz Up’, but it’s all in good fun! This group contains some of the most hard-working, loveable, enthusiastic people I know, it’s a great privilege to be performing alongside them all.

How have you personally prepared for the role of Tony?

Is it too cheesy to say that I feel like I’ve been preparing my whole life to play

Tony? Probably. But the songs are some of my all-time musical favourites and preparation has just been about continuing to immerse myself in the story.

How has the show taken shape over the past few months?

The rehearsal schedule has been hard work, I won’t deny it, but it has been so wonderful to see it all come together.

Particularly this last month with the intensity of Footlights week (7 days of rehearsals, 10am-6pm), we’ve really seen it come on: there’s not much left to do other than keep polishing it up!

What makes Footlight’s version of West Side Story different to all of the other performances of the show?

I’ve not seen the show in the theatre, so can’t tell you about concrete differences. It strikes me, though, that Footlights brings a really natural atmosphere.

Scenes that could be cheesy have been toned down; scenes with huge emotional power have been made keener. All in all, everything is very real, and I think that will draw the audience in.

Describe the show in 3 words?

In. Freaking. Credible.

Shotgun Theatre’s ‘Spring Awakening’ WHAT can people expect from Spring Awakening?

G: A lot of sexual tension, laughs, singing, dancing and tears.

T: Something that Exeter has never seen before. A musical with a cracking storyline, beautifully drawn characters and an emotional core. Something new, fresh and exciting.

Genna, what was it like directing such a risqué show?

G: I thought it would be really hard, and at times it has been, but honestly, I’m really lucky to have a really close cast and so we’ve had a lot of laughs through the awkwardness.

What is the atmosphere like within the cast?

G: Very friendly. We spend a lot of time together, inside and outside rehearsals. I try to create an environment that isn’t intimidating and allows them to offer their own character ideas and visions.

T: We have managed to collate a fabulous cast, of all different years, experiences and degrees. And magnificently, the cast get on like a house on fire, collaborating together to make the best show we can.

Photo: Exeter University Footlights

Bring up the Bodies RSC - Stratford-upon-Avon

Ends 29 March 2014 HILARY Mantel’s critically acclaimed ‘Bring up the Bodies’, the second instalment in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, shines on stage at Stratford upon Avon’s RSC. This historic and culturally famed setting provided an excellent environment for a theatrical performance of this bloody and energetic tale.

Mantel, who is an Honorary Graduate of the University of Exeter, has won the Man Booker Prize twice for Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies, both of which have been made into plays now being performed across the country. In an interview, she expressed excitement

at the thought of her bestselling novels being made into plays, offering scope for new interpretations and insights.

Even if you’re not a fan of the Tudors this is a play full of dark twists, betrayal and brutality The play remained extremely true to the novel, which as anyone who has read it knows, is fast-paced, energetic and full of twists, reflecting the brutal events of 1536. Told from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s master secretary and chief architect of the English Reformation, the novel essentially

plays out the downfall of Anne Boleyn, second queen of Henry VIII. Cromwell is portrayed as shrewd, devious and eager to maintain his own advantage in light of his best interests. Played by Ben Miles, we are positioned to respect Cromwell’s intelligence and cunning while feeling some horror at the cold efficiency of his manipulative endeavours.

Leah Brotherhead takes centre stage as the plain but seductive Jane Seymour, maid of honour to Anne Boleyn and Henry’s mistress in the spring of 1536.

While feigning a placid, simpering manner, she in fact appears as cunning and devious as her ally Cromwell, who negotiates the bloody politics of the court to bring down the Boleyn faction. Anne, played by the excellent Lydia Leonard, is shrill, cruel, selfish and arrogant. She

How has the show taken shape over the past few months?

T: The show has simply gone from strength to strength. We had our first rehearsal with a full band the other week, and the production team were blown away with how far it has come. I cannot wait to see it on the stage.

What makes Shotgun’s version of Spring Awakening different to all of the other performances of the show?

G: I think when there’s been a Broadway version of a show that’s been so celebrated it is sometimes hard to create something different from it. I decided, before I even got the role of director, that if I was going to do this show, I would refrain from seeing the Broadway version and work towards creating something different. I still have yet to see the show but others who have tell me that this version includes more dance and perhaps more themes from the original script by Frank Wedekind.

T: Something that has particularly separated this show from others I have produced is that I truly feel that it is a particular, individual production of this musical. The choreographer, director, musical director and vocal coach have regards Cromwell first and foremost as her servant, and bullies him into accepting and doing her will. Nathaniel Parker, as her husband Henry, thinks of nothing but his latest mistress and his desire to rid himself of his troublesome wife.

The historic and culturally framed setting provided an excellent environment for a theatrical performance Parker brought the ageing king to life, particularly from an aesthetic perspective; his costume and appearance were remarkably close to the real Henry VIII.

all put their own spin on the show, from writing a saxophone into the score, to choreographing a stunning piece of interpretative dance during an emotional song. This truly is one of a kind.

What do you think of the original play?

G: No matter what the decade, teenagers will always go through an awkward time in their life full of sexual urges and discoveries.

How did you tackle the show’s themes?

G: Because we are blocking the show so differently, as a cast and production team we actually had to redefine the themes and our overall message. In the past few weeks we’ve been working really hard to create the atmosphere with a small town community feel within the piece that rings true to the era it takes place in.

I hope the issues brought up within this community can resonate with people today, and with their own hometowns.

Describe the show in 3 words?

G: Comedic. Radical. Relatable.

T: Powerful, emotional and heartbreaking.

While feeling some disdain for the amorous courtiers who surround Anne, we eventually feel real sympathy for them, innocents caught in the crossfire of scandal and corruption.

The intimacy of the theatre itself and the close proximity of the audience to the stage meant that the drama and tensions of the play were heightened immeasurably. Alongside this, the costume and music were excellent. Even if you’re not a fan of the Tudors, this is a play full of dark twists, betrayal and brutality certain to keep you on the edge of your seat, always aware of the inevitable gruesome ending to the drama of 1536.

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GAMES EDITORS

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Killzone: Shadow Fall Is the PS4’s flagship shooter the best of next-gen? Harry Shepherd discusses the tech, maps and online play Killzone: Shadow Fall Guerrilla Games

PS4 Out Now THE LAST generation of gaming was dominated by the First Person Shooter genre, and the next-generation seems to be no exception. Lucky early adopters will find themselves already spoilt for choice. Killzone: Shadow Fall serves up genuine innovation in its game-play and presentation that marks it as truly revolutionary, as opposed to a prettier last-gen upgrade. Killzone is more than a viable alternative to sate your itchy trigger finger.

Killzone: Shadow Fall straps you into the boots of Shadow Marshal Lucas Kellen, 30 years after the events of the previous instalment. Following the total annihilation of the Helghast home world, Kellen must maintain the peace either side of the immense wall that

divides the humans from the surviving Helghast aliens. It’s the strongest narrative in the series so far, a world away from the dull machismo of old characters Sev and Rico. Attempts are made to comment on interesting topics and place the player in a difficult grey area, but the story is ultimately let down by muddled and incoherent plot direction and poor voice acting.

But Killzone: Shadow Fall really sets the visual standard for the Playstation 4. Gone are the monochrome, colourless environments of Killzones past.

In its place is the jaw-dropping cityscape of Vekta, with shimmering glass buildings and a sparkling array of colour. The disturbingly massive scale of the New Helghan slums and the beautiful, constantly shifting chaos of the destroyed, original Helghan mean there is a tremendous variety of locations to explore. Combined with a fresh, emotive score and thrillingly punchy combat, the game creates an unprecedented

atmosphere.

The undoubted strength of the franchise is its game-play, which remains unchanged and is led by innovative use of the PS4’s new hardware functionalities. Features of the new Dualshock 4 controller, which initially seemed gimmicky, now feel natural when donning your Shadow Marshal gear. The O.W.L attack drone is controlled with the Dualshock’s touch pad, selected by stroking the touchpad in the corresponding direction. The O.W.L can attack, distract enemies, provide a defensive shield, produce a zipline, hack doors and even heal. It brings a new level of tactical depth, and executing a stealthy or all guns blazing plan with the O.W..L in support is immensely satisfying. But not all changes to the formula work as effectively. The zero gravity sections and flight sequences are unnecessary at best and downright frustrating at worst.

Once you have beaten the story mode, you can revisit the glorious lo-

cations online. In this sense, Killzone: Shadow Fall is similar to the close

Killzone is more than a viable alternative to sate your itchy trigger finger quarters chaos of Call of Duty but still retains a strongly tactical element. Online assailants are harder to kill, so you must consider carefully whether to engage. Three all newly simplified classes are available from the get go, so you can decide if perhaps a supporting role is more your speed than a head-on assault. As a scout, invisibility will aim in your long range stealth, the support class will allow you to help your teammates with spawn points, ammo drops and revivals, and the assault class enables you attack the enemy head on with faster movement or an attack drone.

Drivers, start your engines...

Popular game modes like Warzone return, where up to 24 players can fight a hectic battle where your team’s objectives change on the fly. Experience points have been dropped in favour of a unified points system with constant rewards which will inevitably keep you coming back for more.

Guerrilla Games has harnessed the power of the Playstation 4 to revolutionise the areas of its Killzone franchise that were its original strengths.

The breathtaking graphics and excellent game-play make up for its narrative weaknesses. With the addictive multiplayer considered, this is the best overall shooter package on Playstation 4. It paints a promising picture of your future for your shiny, rectangular box of joy.

Sam Brewer reviews the latest installment to Xbox One’s blockbuster franchise Forza Motorsport 5 Forza Motorsport 5 Turn 10 Studios

Xbox One Out Now FORZA MOTORSPORT 5 was released with the weight of the high expectations of Xbox One buyers on its shiny shoulders. Pressured to harness and exemplify the features of the new console without

overcomplicating the usual format of the game, has it lived up to the hype?

Firstly, Forza is the leading racing simulator ever released on Xbox, if not in gaming as a whole. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, Turn 10 is owned

by Microsoft, so it is the one game that should have been most refined and at home on the Xbox One. As the newest addition to the series, Forza 5 has not been overhauled but simply refined. Fa-

vourite cars and tracks return much the same as they were before and the gameplay experience remains similar, but most won’t find this an issue. The series is sleek and, in many ways, all that you could ask for on the track.

Assists are an easy way in for newcomers, while experienced players will be able to jump in at their own level with added credits. The ability to customize your cars with parts and paintwork is again possible, and artwork choices mean there are practically no limits to the imagination. Both experienced fans and newcomers will bemoan the introduction of ingame credits, which tempt players to part with more real cash to buy in-game cars that would otherwise take multiple hours of racing to attain.

All of this then leaves you feeling that,

even though the game-play feels great, there aren’t really any massive changes pushing the series onto the next level.

If Forza 5 fails to make huge leaps in the series, what does it do in showing off the features of next-gen? The Cloud, for example, is used extensively. As you race, your driving style is recorded and used to create your ‘drivatar’, which earns you credits by providing opponents for other players. Paintjobs are shareable and again, as with almost anything you do, will earn you credits. When racing, the new controller trigger vibrations are utilized very well. As you progress to more aggressive cars you see a more powerful response from your triggers, which may be simple, but is also very effective. The improved graphics are immediately apparent, showing how much effort has gone into the design – it’s likely many gamers have been so distracted

Check out Exepos é Gam es console review s online soon!

by the damage they’ve caused to the car in the rear-view mirror that they have driven straight off the track. The new Kinect doesn’t get much use, but that’s probably for the best. Pointless voice commands or waving hands would only take away from the game and it’s a relief they haven’t been added.

Forza 5 doesn’t do anything spectacular, as the game-play hasn’t radically changed and next gen hasn’t transformed it into something new. It’s a refined game, which takes advantage of The Cloud and the improved graphics of the Xbox One. You probably won’t be buying an Xbox One if Forza is the only game that appeals to you, but if you’re getting one, this shouldn’t be missed.

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Oh my DayZ, it’s the new zombie craze Pack your shovel and cans of tuna as Josh Gray, Music Editor reviews the latest survival nightmare DayZ Bohemia Interactive

PC Alpha Testing Out Now I HAVE been running for three hours straight. My screen is turning grey and my focus is blurring. Over the last 30 minutes my avatar’s urgent notifications have progressed from ‘I could do with a drink’ and ‘I’m feeling hungry’, to ‘I am dying of dehydration’ and ‘I’m genuinely starving to death’. This is an everyday occurrence in DayZ, which truly follows a tough love tactic in its treatment of the player. The game puts you through the wringer for ages before it even allows you to find the most basic of foods, weapons, or motorcycle helmets that are essential for survival in its harsh and hostile open world.

On the surface DayZ is a zombie game, but not your average Left 4 Dead badly-animated on-rails snoozefest either. It’s the free roaming

post-apocalyptic survival game we’ve always deserved but never received. If you’re anything like me, then you’ve dreamed of this game - of putting into practice the complicated zombie survival plans you’ve turned over in your head nightly, seeing how they play out in a virtual scenario. Sadly, this is not the kind of game where you can grab the meat-cleaver from the kitchen and set off towards the nearest canal

barge (which is my zombie plan, by the way, so you vultures stay away from my barge). The game is still in its alpha testing stage,

which means clunky mechanics, identikit house skins and a range of survival tactics that are pretty much limited to ‘run in house, hopelessly look for food, choose new house, find rotten kiwi, then face unkillable zombie with naught but the power of heart’.

However, there are many promising pluses to the game. The world is still breathtakingly large, meaning you can play the game for days and never end up in the same place

twice. Meeting up with friends on the limited MMO servers provides infinite scope for forming a post-apocalyptic gang with matching rucksacks. There is no greater satisfaction in any game than the feeling you get when you actually manage to find supplies in an abandoned house.

The unrelenting hardcore difficulty of the game means little victories, like finding a tin of tuna in an old abandoned Soviet kitchen are moments to truly celebrate. It doesn’t take long before you forget about the zombies and the game morphs into Food Forage 2000, with occasional shambling corpses. Also the game takes place in Poland, which makes navigating a bitch if you don’t understand Cyrillic signposts.

But there are the bare bones of a brilliant survival horror game here.

The developers just need to realise that sometimes throwing the gamer a bone (and not a rotten orange) could leave them with time to actually enjoy the whole experience.

Nostalgia Hit: Destroy All Humans!

Andrew Owens reminisces about the soulful joys of eradicating the human race

Preview: Alien Isolation

Will the newAlien be a chest-bursting success or end up shoved back in the vents?

DUE in late 2014, Alien: Isolation puts players into the shoes of Ellen Ripley’s daughter Amanda, searching the Nostromo 15 years after the events of the first Alien movie.

According to the small amounts of information that have been given in the press releases, Isolation will be a survival-horror game with one Xenomorph stalking the player, rather than the FPS of previous Alien title Colonial Marines.

Now while this may get people desperate to give their money over to Sega, we’ve got to remember the cesspit of disappointment that Colonial Marines created when it was released. Issues included the use of video footage rather than in-game footage, the terrible AI of

the Xenomorphs that makes them look more like can-can dancers than anything that could be at all threatening, and the concept of a demo being better than the full game in order to get players’ money before any content is released.

The two lines of text before the trailer fill me with dread as a prospective buyer. While survival horror is the new golden boy in the video game world, with Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs and Outlast being contenders for various “Game Of The Year” awards, there are too many times when that gets pushed to one side in favour of making money. See, for example, Dead Space 3. “The trailer footage shown uses the in-game engine, and represents a work in progress”, says the trailer. Well, that’s

a nice get-out clause, says I. Does that mean that the trailer footage is someone demonstrating the engine, or making a film using the engine? And what do you mean by a work in progress? Is this some sort of loophole you can point at in case it all goes wrong and say “We told you so?”

Hopefully, my fears will go unrewarded. The change from Gearbox to Creative Assembly as developers might herald a change in tone. Isolation has been under development for three years, so we will all wait with baited breath to see if it turns out to be a world apart – preferably a planet apart – from the reanimated corpse that was Colonial Marines.

ADAM SMITH

THE ALIEN invasion scenario has been played out countless times in games, usually in the role of “Heroic Human”, tasked with defeating the extra-terrestrial attackers. That all changed in 2005, with the release of Pandemic Studio’s Destroy All Humans, the first game to put the players in the position of the alien invader.

The game centers on alien clone Cryptosporidium 137, who ventures to Earth in the mid 1950’s to find his absent forbearer, 136, who vanished on a trip down to the planet’s surface. In his quest to find his clone brother, Crypto uses a variety of sci-fi weapons to blast the human race to pieces. His arsenal features classics such as the Zap-o-Matic that fires electricity bolts, the Disintegrator Ray, shooting fireballs that burn people to skeletons, and the ever entertaining anal probe that causes brains to pop from heads. To supplement these weapons, Crypto also has powerful mental abilities, such as the ability to read minds, project a holographic disguise and best of all, lift any object and throw it with telekinesis. When in need of heavy firepower, Crypto can take to the skies in his flying saucer, melting tanks with the Death Ray and levelling cities with the nuclear warhead firing Quantum Deconstructor.

Throughout the games, Crypto ventures through various 1950’s styled lo-

cations including the rural Turnipseed Farm and Capitol City, the parody of Washington DC. The game takes full advantage of the time period. Everything from Red Peril, shadowy government agencies, the growing teenage subculture, cold war paranoia and classic science-fiction films are parodied in the game’s hilarious voice acting. The murderous alien protagonist speaks in

It was the first game to put players in the position of the alien invader a Jack Nicholson drawl, expressing his contempt and hatred for the “monkeys” of planet Earth.

It’s this attention to comically exaggerated period details that keeps Destroy All Humans entertaining until its ridiculous conclusion. Its gameplay features all the boring staples that have forever plagued open world games (follow this, hide from this, destroy that etc.) but the alien protagonist, weird weapons and abilities, and perfect satirical humour will keep you playing until the end. It’s one game I often pop back in the old PS2 for a enjoyable night of electrocuting annoyingly chirpy 1950’s teenagers to death.

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Feature

In the Clubhouse

In the Clubhouse this week Peter Medhurst, Cycling Club’s Race Captain, freewheels with Mike Stanton and Will Kelleher, Sport Editors THE CYCLING CLUB has been growing a lot recently.

Several years ago there were barely a handful of ‘regulars’ who would turn up for rides. Now the club has over 100 members, more than doubling its size in the last few years.

Our University’s cycling club covers all disciplines of cycling including road, downhill, cross country, cyclocross, BMX and more.

With lots of people getting involved with road racing, probably due to the success of British riders on the world stage, the club’s results have witnessed a huge leap forward in the last two years.

For the first time, the club entered the BUCS Team Time Trial and finished second out of 50 teams, collecting a silver medal. They have also been competing in some of the top amateur races in the UK, including a five day mini Tour De France style race in Wales.

Last year’s riders also racked up six individual wins in the local Devon area.

The BUCS Downhill competiton is in Scotland this year. The club is hoping to take a strong team of 12-16 riders The BUCS Downhill (DH) event was unfortunately marred by crashes, but three riders succeeded in getting through the qualifiers and finishing inside the top 100, a strong achievement.

Last term the club successfully organised their own mini varsity DH, using their own timing poles and equipment, between Exeter, Bath, University of West England and Bristol University clubs.

60 seconds with...

Pierre Keyzar

Lucy Gowing

Social Secretary

Cycling team member

What is the best aspect of Cycling Club?

Trying a new sport I previously had almost no experience in and really enjoying it, the mad socials and meeting some of my best mates at Uni.

What is the best aspect of Cycling Club?

Riding as a group makes it a lot easier to cover the miles as well as more enjoyable. The scenery around Devon is amazing too.

Best sporting moment?

Looking at the biggest jump at our local trail spot at the start of first year and thinking “I will never have the guts to jump that” and proceeding to hit it at the very end of first year.

Progression has always been one of my favourite parts of the sport.

Best sporting moment?

Watching Wiggo lead Mark Cavendish out for the win on the final stage of the 2012 Tour de France.

Sporting Hero?

Travis Pastrana. If you don’t already know about him, just do a cheeky YouTube search!

What are your pre-cycling preparations?

Always go down. I walk my bike back up to the top of the trails.

What are your goals for the season?

Qualify for a BUCS championship run, enjoy riding with friends in the sun, progress my jumping skills, and have fun.

Sporting Hero?

Richie Porter.

What are your pre-cycling preparations?

I hate hill climbing but it gets slightly more bearable with every repetition you do.

What are your goals for the season?

Survive at least one race.

Exeter triumphed in the team competition, showing the strength and depth of the squad.

On the road side of things an amateur racing team has been set up. The project is sponsored by the Bike Shed and the University. The team will be known as BikeShed-UEx. The squad will be made up of the best university riders as well as other top riders in the region. The goals for this season are to compete and race side by side with the best riders in Britain. The team is also hoping to improve on the silver and bronze medals won at BUCS last year.

The club has also just organised its first ever training camp which will be a weekend away to Exmoor taking in two long days of excellent hilly terrain.

The BUCS Downhill competition is in Scotland this year. It’s a long way to go, but the club is hoping to take a strong team of 12-16 riders up to compete and improve after last year’s mis-

fortune.

There are also a few local races and a series in the Forest of Dean that some riders will be competing in.

The great thing about the Cycling Club is that all you need is a bike! To join up and find out more about the club and its events, contact the club on Facebook, Twitter or e-mail.

EUCC is one of the cheapest AU clubs and membership is only £30! The great thing is that all you need is a bike EUCC is one of the cheapest AU clubs and membership is only £30!

Devon is a great place to get out and ride. Be it on or off road, there’s a wealth of places to ride in the area that

offer superb rides and some breathtaking views.

The club often rides along the scenic coastlines, as well as over Dartmoor, and head to trails such as Haldon and Gawton.

The road rides take place on Wednesday and Saturday each week.

The Wednesday ride is normally a bit shorter (25-35 miles) and will split into two groups – one for everyone and one which will go a bit faster. This is for those who want to train more intensely for races. On Saturday the rides tend to be longer, but steadier, and are normally 40 to 60 miles.

The Downhill riders also head out on Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays, driving over to the various local trails the area has to offer.

To find out more like University of Exeter Cycling Club on Facebook, follow @ExeterUniCC on Twitter or email cycling.captain@exeter.ac.uk Photo: Cycling Club

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45

International honours for Exeter students Following the England Students squad announcement, Mike Stanton, Sports Editor, caught up

with Rob Coote, Ollie Claxton and Jamie Gray before they head to Portugal for the first fixture THREE Exeter students have been selected for the England Students squad playing against Portugal on 24 January.

Rob Coote, Ollie Claxton and Jamie Gray of EURFC made the squad following trials at Loughborough.

These selections mean a return to the squad for Coote and Gray following their successful season last year and, sees Claxton’s first call up for the Students’ side.

“It’s a massive honour playing for your country,” EURFC Club Captain Jamie Gray told Exeposé.

“You never know when is going to be the last time you pull on the England jersey, so it’s very special every time.”

“It really sinks in when singing the anthem,” said Claxton, who has previously represented England at a variety of age groups.

“It sends chills down your spine.

That’s when it really sinks in that you are representing everyone in England.”

“It [the anthem] builds you up so much,” Coote continued.

“Once you are out there you are trying so hard, you’ve got the emblem on the shirt, the rose, it drives you on.”

The squad is made up of students from all over the country, a considerable contingent coming from the South West, and Exeter is one of the most well represented universities in the squad.

The Exeter boys are looking forward to playing the Portugal international side, who are ranked 22nd in the world on the IRB rankings. Following a close fixture last year, where the students won for the first time, they are preparing for a tough fixture.

“They will bring the same physicality.” said Coote.

“They like to hit the rucks and have some big boys.”

The England boys face a quick turnaround following the Portugal game, getting back from Portugal on the Saturday before flying out to France

three days later, but the Exeter boys are confident for the upcoming games.

“It was a huge boost beating Portugal last year,” said Gray, “France are always decent, I don’t know when we last beat them.

“With regards to Wales,” who England Students face on 7 March, “we usually show some dominance against them.”

It is an honour playing for your country. It is very special every time you pull on the England jersey All three manage to balance studying full-time degrees with their rugby, as well as representing Exeter Chiefs at fifteen and seven-a-side. On the opportunity to represent their country whilst studying, the Exeter trio are very grateful and relishing the opportunity.

“Eight guys got contracts after England Students last year,” said Gray, “I think it’s a really good way to expose players to a higher level.

Turning from international duties to EURFC 1st XV, Exeter currently sit second in the table behind Hartpury, the boys admitting to a few performance hiccups.

“I think if we had beaten Bath everyone would be a lot more relaxed because we would be level pegging with Hartpury,” Claxton said.

“If we had beaten them all we would have to do is win our remaining games but now we have to chase bonus points.

“We’ve got four games left and I think if we win them and pick up some bonus points we can come top.”

Exeter face first placed Hartpury in their next game, which falls in the week of the England Students game meaning

the squad will be missing three of its key players. Despite this they are very confident.

“We’ve got a great squad and fantastic individuals,” said Coote.

“We know how they play so we will look to cut them off wide and force them in, we got an interception try from that last year.”

“It was a close game last time we played them,” said Gray. “It will be an 80-minute game, it won’t be won in the first half.”

The 1st XV also welcome Bath in the annual varsity at Sandy Park on 19 February. Having lost to their rivals earlier this season, the men in green will be looking to make amends at their marquee derby match and are hoping for yet another large crowd.

“Even if you don’t like rugby it’s a great place to be, great atmosphere and everyone’s a bit merry!” said Coote.

“It’s the whole uni coming together for a celebration,” continued Claxton.

“It doesn’t matter if you are a rugby player, football player, hockey player; everyone is willing the team on and raising money for charity.”

Despite a demanding close to the season and admitting to putting pressure on themselves to perform, fully expecting to reach the BUCS semi’s and hoping to improve on last year’s outstanding season, the three internationals are relaxed, quietly confident as they joke about Claxton’s impending initiation to the England Students and Jamie’s England Sevens prospect; the big second row stating “He may have a run out,” followed by laughs from the other two.

With England Students caps hopefully coming for the trio in Portugal the boys from Exe will definitely be ones to keep your eye on in the future. And what better opportunity than the Varsity to see them and the rest of the 1st XV in action, just a month away?

EUGC remain unbeaten following season best win G��� Christopher Fleming EUGC

EUGC 1st Merrist Wood

5.5 0.5

MERRIST WOOD COLLEGE; formerly known as Kingston University, were this week’s opponents for the EUGC 1sts.

The team were looking to continue their unbeaten run and extend their lead to five points at the top of the BUCS Southern Premier League with victory.

After the recent wet weather the course at Dawlish Warren had taken a battering and some of the holes were out of action, but despite this the greens were in superb condition as always.

With the recent bad weather continuing, the match started in difficult wet and windy conditions but the EUGC were determined to get the second half of the season off to a quick start and con-

Photo: EUGC

tinue from where they left off before the Christmas break.

Captain Laurie Potter led the team out and although he admitted he wasn’t at his best he ground out the first win for the team at the 17th 2&1 and maintained his 100 per cent record for the season.

Joe Davis put in a man of the match performance out second with the biggest win of the day (5&4) courtesy of some superb putting.

The team are now in a strong position to secure a vital place as top seed for the trophy draw Solid wins then came from Scholars Ben Leigh and Katie Bradbury by the scores 2&1 and 3&1 respectively.

While at the back Tom Thornhill earned a hard fought half and Chris

Fleming out sixth finished strongly to secure a 3&1 win in an up and down match.

This meant the team recorded their largest win of the season by 5.5-0.5, however this score line does not reflect the closeness of the match.

As one point in time Ben Leigh, Katie Bradbury and Tom Thornhill were all down in their respective matches.

So credit must be given for the fight back they showed to help record a comfortable victory.

The next match up for the EUGC is at home to bottom of the table New Buckinghamshire University where the team will look to continue their fine form and take a step closer to the defence of their league title.

The team are now in a strong position to secure a vital place as a top seed for the BUCS Championship Trophy draw, where they will look to go on to defend their BUCS Gold title from last year.

46

SPORT

The Final Whistle Here is your guide to a few upcoming sporting courses, classes and events 25-26 January

Level 1 Award in Coaching Basketball 09:00-17:00 University of Exeter Students £110.00 Contact: 01392 722039 p.d.mouland@exeter.ac.uk

27 January

Tennis Clinic – “Using the Court” Intermediate level 18:00-19:00 Members £6.00 Non-members £7.00 Exeter Tennis Centre Contact 01392 723699 xtc@exeter.ac.uk

29 January

Tennis Clinic – “Perfect Doubles” Intermediate level 10:00-11:30 Members £8.00 Non-members: £9.00 Exeter Tennis Centre Contact: 01392 723699 xtc@exeter.ac.uk

1 & 2 February

UKCC Level 1 Award in Coaching Tennis 09:00-17:00 University of Exeter Students £180.00 Contact: 01392 722039 p.d.mouland@exeter.ac.uk

1, 8 & 15 February

SLUK Dance Leaders Award 09:00-17:00 University of Exeter Students £180.00 Contact 01392 722039 p.d.mouland@exeter.ac.uk

17-21 February

National Pool Lifeguard Qualification 08:00-17:30 St Luke’s Sports Centre University of Exeter Students £200.00 Contact 01392 724940 s.takel@exeter.ac.uk

Mondays

Adult Swimming Lessons - Beginners and Intermediates 12:00-13:00 or 13:00-14:00 £6.00 per lesson St Luke’s Sports Centre Contact 01392 724940 swimminglessons@exeter. ac.uk

21 JANUARY 2014 |

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EXEPOSÉ

Riding Spirited badminton g High R�����

Emily Dawson & Victoria Fenney EURC

WITH the conditions against us through rain and swampy going we, the EURC 1st BUCS team, approached our home competition with trepidation.

The first draw of the day for the dressage horses could have been more in our favour; however this concern proved misplaced with each of us winning on our horses, resulting in an early lead for Exeter, with Plymouth following in second and Bristol in third.

All was still to play for in the second half, the show jumping, with many a leading dressage score ruined by an unfortunate jumping round in the past, but not today! All four Exeter riders sailed clear through their rounds, whilst both Bristol and Plymouth struggled with a couple of faults a piece from their rounds.

The final results of the day was a clear win by Exeter, finishing on just six penalties and 189 points ahead of Plymouth and guaranteeing ourselves a place at this year’s regional competition, with one away competition still to go! To further cement the success of the day for Exeter, each team member came away with an individual placing: Kate Martin in 5th, Emily Dawson (Cpt) 3rd, Imogen McMurray 2nd and Hannah Mann in 1st.

Our third team also had an incredibly successful day. After a long journey to Glamorgan via McDonalds, we finally made it and were ready to take on the challenge of Plymouth University, University of the West of England and University of South Wales.

After a dressage draw which wasn’t necessarily to our favour, it was impossible to call. Exeter had had some decent dressage tests but BUCS is always unpredictable! As it turned out, Exeter was on top with just five penalties, with UWE trailing on 18.

However, teams and individual placings were still incredibly close, so the competition was far from over.

The show jumping was a tense affair, but with 3 clears and one pole down, Exeter had outperformed the other teams, who had fewer clears than us and lower style marks, so it ended with a win for Exeter. We added just 9 penalties from our jumping, extending our lead over UWE. Our day was made all the more successful by four individual placings: A win for Anne-Marie Spalding, 2nd place for Beatrice Lewers in only her second ever BUCS competition, 4th place for Antonia Riley, who was filling in for a missing team member, and 7th place for Victoria Fenny (captain).

We are now equal on points with UWE after a second place in our first competition, so there is all two play for in the next to competitions for regional qualification!

W����’� B��������

Freddie Turner Sports Team EUWBC UCL

3 5

DESPITE a much improved performance, EUWBC women’s 1st team were on the wrong side of a 5-3 scoreline against opponents UCL. The defeat further increases their fears of relegation from BUCS Premier South.

Exeter went into the game looking to avenge the heavy 7-1 defeat they had suffered on their travels against UCL in 2013 and move away from Cardiff at the foot of the table.

They rang the changes, with a different doubles and singles line up. The new look side began brightly with the first doubles pair of Charlotte Wardle and captain Lucy Manley taking an early lead. Manley took control of the rallies and this combined with stellar

defensive work from Wardle meant they took the first set comfortably 219.

The second set was a much cagier affair with UCL upping their game and the Exeter pairing losing their fluency.

However, they were able to win important points at the end of the set to come through 21-18 and give Exeter a 1-0 lead.

This lead was short lived, however, as UCL’s star player was playing some extremely impressive badminton on the adjacent court. Exeter’s Lucy Battersby, playing in her first BUCS singles match competed admirably but was unable to stop her opponent running out 21-6, 21-6.

The other singles match pitted Exeter’s number one Tash Drew against UCL’s number two. It was apparent that this game would be pivotal in the outcome of the game. Drew started well, outmanoeuvring her opponent and raced to 20-16 lead in the first set.

However she was unable to convert

her four game points and her opponent completed the comeback to win 23-21.

Drew however was able to put this disappointment behind her and continue to play some wonderful badminton in the second set in what was becoming a fascinating encounter.

Momentum continued to shift from one player to another until it was finely poised at 19-19. Unfortunately, once again the UCL player displayed the cutting edge, to come through 21-19 and secure a huge point for her side.

The unlucky Drew didn’t have long to dwell on what might have been as she was back in action, against UCL’s stand out player. Again she played commendably making her impressive opponent work really hard for a 21-8, 21-10 victory.

The second doubles match of the day was Exeter’s second pair of Lily Stanton and Natalie Kent against UCL’s first pair. The two, who were playing together for the first time, began well with Stanton impressing from

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girls lose out to UCL

47

Crossword No. 56 by Raucous

Photo: Lucrecia Scarapicchia

Across 1. 12 Years a Slave director (7) 4. Beginning, opening (abbrev) (5) 7. First letter (7) 8. SouthWest city (7) 10. Large open space in a building (6) 12. Silly ace trial (anag) (13) 17. Repeats (6) 18. Musical mobster? (7) 19. Large African feline (7) 20. Greek letter (5) 21. Only Fools and Horses character (7)

the back of the court. However the strong UCL pair took the first set 2114. The second game was extremely close with the scores locked at 15-15, after a number of well-judged backhand winners from Kent.

However, once again Exeter were left to rue a missed opportunity as they lost 21-17. UCL needed one more point to secure victory and this came in the second seeds single match.

Lucy Battersby showed great agility and touch around the court but was outdone by the sheer power of her opponent, who won another close match 21-13 21-18.

With the game lost, Exeter’s two double pairs went out wanting to make the score line look a much fairer reflection of what had been a very tight affair. Stanton and Kent were first to do this with an emphatic 21-14 21-14 win, their newfound partnership beginning to flourish.

Meanwhile Manley and Wardle secured their second win of the day with

a magnificent performance. Explosive overhead smashes and fantastic defensive scrambles allowed them to take the first game 21-16 and edge out a thrilling second game 22-20.

Our last match against Cardiff is now a must win game to avoid relegation from the Premier Division EUWBC Captain Lucy Manley This meant the score line ended 5-3 to UCL, which had ultimately been decided by a couple of close clashes, which just didn’t go in Exeter’s favour.

Afterwards skipper Manley said: “Overall it was a good performance and an improvement on the last time

we played this tough opposition.

“We mixed up the team today and it seemed to work well. However, our last match against Cardiff is now a must win game to avoid relegation from the Premier Division, which is really important for the club”.

The green army travel to Cardiff on Wednesday 29 January hoping to maintain their three year stay in the Premier Division.

Badminton Premier Divison

P W D L Pts Bath

7 7 0 0 21

UCL

7 3 2 2 11

Brighton

6 3 1 2 10

Exeter

7 1 0 6 3

Cardiff

5 0 1 4 1

>> Correct as of 16.01.14

Down 1. AustralianTennis Open city (9) 2. Not normal (7) 3. Body part (4) 4. Moronic (7) 5. Meaningless (7) 6.‘Black gold’(3) 9. Betting statistics (4) 11. Pilgrim ship (9) 13. Attain (7) 14. I earn it (anag) (7) 15. Shakespearean villain (4) 16. Loving (7) 18. Method of drinking alcohol swiftly (4) 19. Pigeon noise (3)

48

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

Tough win puts Fresh 1st XV second Photos: Edwin Yeung

>> Inside centre Chris Swash storms through three Cardiff Met defenders before expertly side-stepping the full-back to put Exeter ahead before half time

R���� U����

Jacob Knight EURFC

Exeter Fresher 1st XV Cardiff Met 3rd XV

22 0

THE FRESHER 1st XV (aka the 3s) secured a dominant 22-0 win against Cardiff Met 3rds to take them up to second in the Western 1A league behind leaders UWE 1st XV only on points difference.

It was a miserable day at Duckes Meadow and the match was played in boggy conditions due to the recent inclement weather. This kept the scoreboard and the Fresh 1sts’ usual flair to

a minimum.

A conservative drop goal from Full Back Adam Worth initiated the scoring, the opportunity arising from a forward dominated battle which set the tone for the day.

The game was scrappy, which lead to turnover after turnover as both teams struggled to keep possession.

Midway through the first half, Exeter showed an example of their talent as a line break released powerhouse inside centre Chris Swash (pictured) to barrel his way through four players to the hallowed white line: a superb effort which put the hosts firmly in front leading into half time.

The introduction of Scottish Exiles

In this issue of Exeposé Sport...

star Gavin Parker allowed Exeter to control the game for the majority of the second half. Some exquisite territorial kicking kept Cardiff Met on the back foot.

Doe continued to pull the midfield strings, setting up Prince with a perfectly weighted cross-field kick Parker was soon rewarded by finishing and converting the best team try of the season, getting on the end of a flowing backs move.

In the Clubhouse: Cycling - page 44

James Doe continued to pull the strings in midfield, setting up Vince Prince on the wing with a perfectly weighted cross-field kick. Parker unfortunately failed with the conversion attempt due to confusion surrounding the wrong black kicking tee.

Team Manager Knight was forced to make changes due to injuries, and prop Ollie Thompson found himself very out of place out on the wing but put 100 per cent in for his teammates.

Late in the game, at a crucial point in the season, Fred Wheadon missed out on an opportunity to touch down and cut the points difference between Exeter and league leaders UWE, who are next up on the fixture list, surely the biggest fixture

of the year so far.

It was a very solid performance for the men in green who lie a mere 36 points behind UWE on points difference but are level on a total of 21 points.

Rugby Union Western 1A

UWE 1st Exeter Fresher 1st Southampton 1st Bristol 2nd Cardiff Met 3rd Swansea 2nd Glou’shire 1st Cardiff 3rd

P 8 9 9 9 9 7 7 8

>> Correct as of 16.01.14

W 7 7 6 6 3 3 1 0

D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

L 1 2 3 3 6 4 6 8

Pts 21 21 18 18 9 9 3 0

Interview: Coote, Claxton and Gray - page 45