Gair Rhydd 1050 - 20 April 2015

gair rhydd

Monday April 20th 2015 | freeword | Issue 1050

In this week’s issue: the GR General Election manifesto round-up, why students should be paid the living wage, how to write the perfect cover letter and saving the NHS

Cardiff University Students’ Union student staff will not receive a living wage without legislative intervention, a Gair Rhydd investigation has found.

Despite a successful Student Senate motion in 2013 that resolved that the Students’ Union should pay living wage to all its staff, work to extend the living wage to students has all but ceased.

Te minutes from the Board of Trustees meeting that reviewed this decision said that the trustees agreed with the idea in spirit, and that they would “look to introduce it in future”. But Gair Rhydd can reveal that no progress was made towards paying student staff a living wage after this meeting.

Tis is particularly damning as the 2013/14 officer team were shortlisted

for the NUS award for “Officer Team of the Year” in 2014, in part for “supporting the university’s introduction of the living wage,” according to a news report on the Cardiff University website. Questions now remain about why the political will to see the the living wage introduced at Cardiff University did not extend to the students of the Students’ Union.

Madhura Kanade, a member of this year’s student senate, was concerned to hear that the matter had effectively been dropped by trustees. “Students should be paid the living wage if they are giving time from their studies to work and earn money. It doesn’t matter if they’re not career staff. Tey should be earning the same wage that everybody else is.”

“Te senate is really important. We’re here to represent the student body and make decisions that benefit students. I’m not sure why the issue was dropped, but I would be very interested to see this motion taken back up to the senate.”

One positive outcome of the senate meeting is that all of the Students’ Union career staff are now paid above minimum wage. But the Students’ Union’s current position on the living wage is still less progressive than the University’s, which pays all staff the living wage as standard (including casual student employees).

Gair Rhydd spoke to SU President Elliot Howells, who sat as a sabbatical officer on the board in the trustees meeting that discussed the senate motion

in 2013. In our initial contact, Howells said that the decision to introduce a living wage for students would be reviewed when the Living Wage Foundation released plans for a student living wage.

However, Gair Rhydd contacted the Living Wage Foundation, and a representative said that they “had not heard of any plans to introduce a student living wage.” Tey added that “as students may have a range of financial situations, we would suggest that the main Living Wage is the most appropriate for employers to adopt”.

A subsequent senate meeting held in February 2014 discussed an NUSprescribed student living wage, but the NUS had not announced this at the time, nor have they publicly released

Continued on page 5

Pictured: Te Taf, which employs a large number of student staff (Photographer: Greg McChesney)

THE FREE WORD

EDITOR

Michael O’Connell-Davidson

GAIR

RHYDD CO-ORDINATOR

Elaine Morgan

NEWS

Georgia Hamer

Katie Evans

Alexander Norton

Anna Lewis ADVICE

Kirsty Fardell

COMMENT

Anne Porter

Gareth Evans

Olivier van den Bent-Kelly

COLUMNIST

Jason Roberts

POLITICS

Carwyn Williams

Lauren Boyd Rhiannon Tapp

SCIENCE

Shanna Hamilton

Meryon Roderick

SOCIETIES

Hannah Sterritt

PARK LIFE

Vidya Brainerd

TAF-OD

Steffan Bryn Jones

Morgan Owen SPORT

David Hooson

Rory Benson

Joe Atkinson

PRODUCTION EDITOR

Sum Sze Tam

DIGITAL EDITORS

Jordan Adams

Gregory McChesney

SOCIAL MEDIA

EDITOR

Maria Mellor

Want to join the team?

Editorial conferences are each monday at 5PM. Proofreading takes place on Thursdays at 6PM in the media office during print weeks.

Write us a letter letters@gairrhydd.com Tweet us: @gairrhydd Online at: gairrhydd.com

CWho makes the rules?

ardiff Students’ Union is a remarkable organisation. My time at the Student Publication Association National Conference highlighted that; so many Students’ Unions forcefully intervene in their newspapers, spiking innocuous features on everything that isn’t PG13. One student newspaper editor said that they nearly had an article about sex pulled from their pages, which seems positively unhinged to me. Are other unions so conservative that students shagging students requires the approval of the chief executive?

It is this light-touch approach that has empowered us to produce investigations like the one on the front page that raise questions about how this organisation is governed and how decisions made by student groups such as the Senate are being acted upon by the organisation’s management. It is no exaggeration to say that our approach to these issues is the exception, not the norm, and that is because we are not kept on a tight leash and expected to toe a pro-university or pro-union line.

But while our speech may be free of constraints, the Students’ Union does not speak particularly freely, and I believe that this needs to change.

We made a number of requests for information that were denied or otherwise filibustered by union representatives, and I do not believe the information concerned to be particularly privileged.

Tese requests include:

How many staff had been hired over the past two academic years

What pay grade these staff were hired on

General information about pay grades (i.e. how much low level and managerial employees were paid)

Tese were all denied. A spokesperson returned to me and said that the Students’ Union had “policies to ensure that staff are protected from scrutiny by students or our student groups.”

I am not sure that these policies resonate with the Students’ Union taking its political leadership from the same student groups and students that staff are protected from. One member of the Gair Rhydd team who I speak to extensively about investigatorial and editorial policy matters found the response laughable. “I think

you’ll find we’re protected from scrutiny, thank you,” he said, flippantly. “I’d like to direct you to section 4 of the ‘Please, do not hold me accountable charter’.”

In the private sector, I believe that refusing to comment on salaries and renumeration might be acceptable. But for an organisation that takes political leadership from its members, without whom it has no reason to exist, this level of secrecy does not seem appropriate or in line with what a union should strive to be.

You see, while we have run articles about Colin Riordan’s expenses and subsequently started a conversation, those conversations will never take place about the Students’ Union, as the Students’ Union does not allow itself to be subject to the same level of scrutiny.

We may giggle at a pro vice-chancellor putting an iPad case and apps on expenses (come on, seriously? Just buy one off eBay!). But the truth is we won’t know what the sabbatical officers put on expenses because that information is not divulged, and there is no way to work it out. It would seem that the various Gair Rhydd heads in the past, as sabbs, have been quite comfortable not digging in their own back garden. But I am not a sabbatical officer; I am a journalist, and I do not feel comfortable digging dirt up about the University staff if those at the Students’ Union are not held to the same standards.

True, the Students’ Union does publish its annual accounts. As a charity, it is required to do so by law. But it does not publish the expenses of the sabbatical officers, nor does it publish the expenses of the senior management. We cannot be sure how much Daniel Palmer or other members of the management earn, and, again, while I think this would be par for the course in the private sector, why is this information placed out of students’ reach within a Students’ Union? It is particularly baffling as salaries and pay grades can be worked out based on the Union’s own job advertisements.

And this is just a small part of what the Students’ Union keeps private. Trustee discussions also take in private, and, as our front page makes clear, they can have serious repercussions on student democracy. Unlike the university, the Students’ Union is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, which is how much of

this information about the university is revealed to the public. Tis is the case despite receiving a grant of over half a million pounds from the University each year. As such, the Students’ Union is not obliged to release any information at all, and frequently clams up when asked about even innocuous salary data.

Tis is a backwards approach, and likely does more harm than good as it makes the union looks like it has something to hide. And so I’d like to call upon but the Students’ Union management as well as students themselves to enact change.

No union of any sort should be protected from the scrutiny of its members, nor should any component part of the Students’ Union. Otherwise, it is not a union at all; it is, at best, a loose association. It might as well be Crufts, or a kennel club, where people can come and go as they please.

But this isn’t a kennel club. Tis is a student-led body. It cannot exist without its members. For too long, I feel as though we have become comfortable allowing the cart to lead the horse. Tere should be no policies that put students second, and no information that is off limits except where it is genuinely confidential or where it is a commercially sensitive matter.

Cardiff Students’ Union leads in so many other regards. So I encourage everybody reading this to work to make Cardiff Students’ Union the most transparent students’ union in the country. Right now, minutes from Board of Trustees discussions are not published, and there are no plans to release them in future. Tat’s not transparent enough. Let’s make sure that the important discussions (such as which senate decisions to take forward and which ones to drop) don’t take place without a set of public minutes to accompany the decision. And let’s make sure that as far as student scrutiny is concerned, there’s no such thing as “off limits”.

By all means, keep the confidential info confidential. But don’t keep information like the amount of staff hired in a smokescreen. We need to be able to scrutinise the SU fully, and that includes its employees. After all: they work for us.

- MOCD

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: GAIR RHYDD 633

19/4/1999

Procedure at cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk/complaints

Opinions expressed in editorials are not reflective of Cardiff Students’ Union, who act as the publisher of Gair Rhydd in legal terms, and should not be considered official communications or the organisation’s stance. Gair Rhydd is a post office registered newspaper.

Tis week’s trip down memory lane takes us back to April 1999, with Gair Rhydd urging students to vote during Wales’ first Welsh Assembly General Election. With the article named ‘Devolution countdown’, it appears as if the subject is as widely discussed as it is in the present day, with the general election less than a month away.

Continuing the general election theme, ironically, the Liberal Democrats of 1999 blamed the introduction of university tuition fees for a fall in university application figures for the second year running. However, unlike the students of 2015, the Libs Dems blame the Labour party for the rise and not Nick Clegg. Meanwhile, with exam period looming on campus, the front page laments the exclusion of rowing students from national championships due to exam clashes.

However not all university students had a bad week, as Cardiff University graduate Terry Matthews became the first man in Wales to become a billionaire. Te owner of Celtic Manor and Canadian telecommunication companies was proclaimed the 12th richest person in the UK by Te Sunday Times.

Tis issue also saw University Vice Chancellor Sir Brian Smith fight back against claims criticising the relationship between research and teaching at the university. In a page-long rebuttal, Sir Smith accused the initial story of being ‘seriously misinformed’, and used the article to drown any accusations in a myriad of sta-

tistics and league table figures.

Cardiff Nightline also celebrated its national launch, with Cardiff elected as the national base for the helpline at a national AGM.

Gair Rhydd also took on the role of Welsh teacher with its feature ‘Words in Welsh’. In fitting with the weather, according to the ‘Welsh desk’, the translation for ‘where’s the suntan cream?’ is ‘lle mae’r llauth haul?’.

On a global scale, politics editor Amy Beltchetz explored the Balkans crisis in issue 633, still on-going at the time of publication. Condemning NATO for launching an offensive without the agreement of the United Nations Security Council, Beltchetz asked readers: ‘why do we chose to involve ourselves in the [catastrophes] that we do and neglect others?’ Still a question to puzzle students nowadays in the light of recent action by NATO.

However, unlike the Gair Rhydd of 1999, we can now confirm that despite suggestions to the contrary, the Balkans crisis did not escalate into World War Tree.

In 1999, Gair Rhydd also contained a supplementary section named Llafar Rhydd, in which a Cardiff student shared his university experience as a schizophrenic and criticised the stigma surrounding mental illness. It’s heartening to see the fight against mental illness stigma continuing today, with Anne Porter’s recent article tackling stereotypes of depression.

Joe Atkinson

Campus In Brief

It’s once again that final stretch of the academic year where final years are busy polishing off their dissertations, second years are worrying about their exams, and first years are wondering what all the fuss is about.

Gair Rhydd made the trip down to Southampton and picked up two awards at the Student Publication Awards, also amusingly referred to as #SPANC15 by anyone in the know. Editor-in-chief Michael O’Connell-Davidson won Outstanding Commitment award for, among other things, spending upwards of 26 hours in the office at a time. Meanwhile Politics editor Lauren “Laura” Boyd scooped the Best Interview award, and columnist Jason Roberts won the award for Best Feature for his piece on laughing gas in Quench, who were also represented at the event.

The 18th annual Welsh Varsity is upon us – that day when you really should be doing crucial assignment work or finishing your aforementioned dissertation, but in fact travel to see Cardiff University hopefully give Swansea University yet another battering and celebrate until the sun rises. Good luck to all competing for the Cardiff cause!

Cardiff University are appealing to students to volunteer for the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, after it was announced that the university would be the official partner of the event set to take place in late March of 2016. Up to 1,500 volunteers will be needed to help at the event which is expected to attract up to 25,000 participants and 100,000 spectators.

A Cardiff University study of people taken to Alcohol Treatment Centres for alcohol poisoning in Cardiff found that the highest number of people had had their final drink in Pryzm before being taken to hospital, excluding those who had had their last drink at home. Glam, Walkabout and ‘On the Street’ came third, fourth and fifth respectively.

NATIONAL

Te Easter break saw the first and only televised political debate involving the leaders of the seven main political parties in the United Kingdom. Nicola Sturgeon was seen as the winner of the debate which on more than one occasion descended into little more than a shouting contest. Prime Minister David Cameron will not appear in another debate of its kind in the run up to the general election on May 7th. Te parties released their manifestos as the election’s short campaign got underway with voting day now less than three weeks away. Gaffe highlights of the manifesto launches include Nick Clegg answering the question of just one journalist, and Ukip only including one person considered an ‘ethnic minority’ in their document in the section dedicated to ‘foreign aid’.

Lib Dem leader Clegg emphasised the increasing likelihood of another coalition when the final votes are counted, and said that one of he, Nigel Farage of Ukip or Alex Salmond of the SNP would hold the balance of power. He also vowed that his party would “add a heart to a Conservative government and a brain to a Labour one”.

Te former head of the NHS in England claimed that nothing that any of the political parties have pledged to the organisation will be enough to provide the boost needed to get it back on track. David Nicholson underlined the “substantial financial problem” plaguing the public service and criticised health policies for not doing enough to help.

A book released by Martin Fletcher, one of the survivors’ of the fire that destroyed part of Bradford City FC’s stadium in 1985 and killed 56 people, has claimed that the owner of the club at the time had a history of fires in the businesses he owned - Stafford Heginbotham died in 1995 at the age of 61 but there have been calls for further investigations into the cause of the fire because of the claims made in the book.

INTERNATIONAL

Hillary Clinton officially announced herself as a Democratic presidential candidate for the 2016 US election, with the backing of a huge social media campaign that has seen a boost in popularity for the wife of former President Bill. Clinton would be the first female President of the United States, and is the first Democrat featured in major polls to declare her running, while three Republicans: Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio, have announced their campaigns so far.

Seven and a half years after being arrested for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy, American Amanda Knox and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were for the second time acquitted for the crime. Reports are coming out that Knox has suffered severe financial loss and even PTSD after her experience. ISIS has released propaganda videos purporting to show them destroying ancient and historical landmarks across Iraq. Among the victims of the destruction was the Assyrian city of Nimrud that dates back to the 13th Century B.C. Te Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon labelled that particular destruction as a “war crime”.

Russian president Vladimir Putin hosted a four hour broadcast during which he answered a series of questions from a studio audience and members of the public who phoned in. Questions ranged from the state of his nation’s economy to worker strikes and other domestic issues, though they were carefully screened with no political opposition to truly challenge what Putin was saying.

Migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean and reach southern European countries, especially Italy, have become an ever-increasing crisis. More than 500 people have been estimated to have died attempting to cross the ocean from Middle Eastern and African nations in 2015. Tis comes as twelve Christian migrants were thrown overboard and are feared dead after a religious argument during one of the crossings.

Seven and a half years after being arrested for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy, American Amanda Knox and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito have been decisively acquitted of Kercher’s murder

Pictured: Hilary Clinton

(Photographer: NBC)

It seems like the University is spending our tuition fees on what is effectively just a recruitment drive

”University to sponsor Half Marathon Championships

Cardiff University is to become the title sponsor of the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships under the terms of a new deal with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Te prestigious biennial event, which was last held in Copenhagen last year, is set to descend on the streets of the Welsh capital next March; something described as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” by race organisers.

Given its proximity to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the event is expected to be attended by some of athletics’ biggest names – including Mo Farah, a double gold medallist at the London Olympics.

Te Cardiff Half Marathon, this year’s edition of which is set to take place on 4th October, is already regarded as one of the highlights of the sport’s autumn calendar.

Te event is held on a flat and fast 13.1 mile course, which winds its way from the start line at Cardiff Castle down to Cardiff City Stadium, through Cardiff Bay and up to Roath Park before finishing outside the Roy-

al Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Last year’s event, which was attended by over 16,000 runners, was won by Kenya’s Boniface Kongin in a time of one hour, two minutes and two seconds.

Yet despite the event’s growing profile and world class field of runners, some have questioned the value of Cardiff University’s sponsorship.

“It seems like the University is spending our tuition fees on what is effectively just a recruitment drive; a huge advert to get more people applying on the basis of a running race they might have seen on television,” one student told Gair Rhydd.

Chief executive of the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Organising Committee, Matt Newman, did not deny that the partnership would have a positive effect on the University’s global appeal.

“With television coverage expected in more than 100 countries, Cardiff 2016 will also enhance Cardiff University’s international profile and we look forward to working together to maximise this once-in–a-lifetime

opportunity,” he said.

But Cardiff University Vice-Chancellor Colin Riordan was quick to point out the benefits to both the local and academic communities.

He insisted: “Our involvement will go beyond simply providing sponsorship. Public health is a major part of our work.”

The awards ceremony saw Cardiff Student Media fight off competition from newspapers and magazines from across the UK

“ Tis is a wonderful platform for bringing together people from the health sector and from our local communities to promote the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle.

“ Tere will be opportunities for students and staff from all parts of the University to get involved,” he added.

National award success for Gair Rhydd and Quench

Gair Rhydd and Quench have been recognised nationally, after winning three awards during a conference held by the Student Publications Association.

Te awards ceremony, which took place during the SPA National Conference from April 10-12th, saw Cardiff University student media fight off competition from newspapers and magazines from across the UK.

During the ceremony, Gair Rhydd politics editor Lauren Boyd was awarded with best interview, whilst Quench features editor and Gair Rhydd columnist Jason Roberts won best feature.

Gair Rhydd Editor Michael O’Connell-Davidson was also awarded winner of the Outstanding Commitment category.

Tis marks the third consecutive year that O’Connell-Davidson has been recognised by the SPA, after winning the best feature category in 2013 and 2014.

Boyd won the best interview category for her feature with the spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy Yiftah Curiel, exploring Israel’s position on Palestine and the complex ongoing conflict.

Te politics editor expressed shock at winning the award, stating that at first she was reluctant to conduct the interview due to the ‘bad situation in Gaza’.

However, Boyd concluded that the interview was ‘really interesting’, and lead to an extended half hour conversation.

Meanwhile Roberts’ feature ‘Funny Business’, investigating the laughing gas industry in Cardiff, secured the Quench team the top spot in the features category.

Te features editor gave credit to Quench Editor Sum Sze Tam and

fellow Quench members Chloe May, Emilia Ignaciuk and the art team for their support.

“It’s nice to repay their faith”, Roberts said. “Emilia and the art team make my work look better than it has any right to be, and they put up with me handing in all my work past the deadline.

“So this wouldn’t have been possible without all the hard work put in by some seriously dedicated people.”

Talking about the conference, Roberts described it as “good chance to see what other student publication across the country are doing” and an opportunity for finding new ideas for both publications.

Te successes of Quench and Gair Rhydd follows the overall success of Cardiff University student media at the awards season in recent years.

‘It’s a great honour to see Cardiff ’s brilliant print media recog-

nised for the third year running,’ said O’Connell-Davidson.

‘Lauren Boyd’s interview with Yiftah Curiel has been one of the definite pluses to this year’s newspaper, and Jason Roberts has done an excellent job of maintaining Quench’s position as one of the premier student magazines in the country when it comes to long-form journalism and features writing.’

He added: ‘I am, of course, beyond honoured to see my work as Gair Rhydd editor recognised in the Outstanding Commitment category. But I could not have maintained this newspaper’s quality without the many excellent members of the editorial team, and, of course, our readers.

‘I have full faith the editorial teams of the years to come will do just as well as we have.’

During this year’s confernece, ROAR News from Kings College Lon-

don was recognised as best student publication, also scooping the awards for best newspaper design, best website, and best entertainment piece.

Te event was hailed by the SPA Chair as a ‘great conference had by all’. Talking to Gair Rhydd, they thanked the team for attending and congratulated all winners in this year’s awards.

Te event, held in the University of Southampton, was attended by six members of Quench, and seven Gair Rhydd editors.

During the conference, guest speakers included Simon O’Hagan, editor of the Independent’s Voices section and Lucy Holmes, founder of the ‘No more page 3 campaign’.

Speaking at the conference, O’Hagan finished his speech with:

“Te fun of speaking this morning only slightly offset by the realisation that these ace student journalists are my future bosses.”

Pictured: Officials at the announcement (Source: World Half Marathon website)

Anna Lewis

Alexander Norton

Pictured: Gair Rhydd and Quench members at the event

(Photographer: Megan Downing)

Katie Evans

Referendum date set for full-time Welsh language sabbatical officer

Areferendum on whether or not the Students’ Union should instate a Welsh language sabbatical position is set to launch next week, following a successful petition to bring the question to a student-wide vote.

Between the 27th April and the 1st May, Cardiff University students will have the opportunity to vote for or against a full-time Welsh language officer to join the ranks of sabbaticals in the Students’ Union. As it stands, the current Welsh language officer is a part-time position held by Steffan Bryn Jones.

For those students in two minds about the subject, a debate on the

referendum will be held in the Julian Hodge Lecture Teatre on Tursday, 23rd April at 6.30pm.

Jones initially submitted a motion to call a referendum at a Student Senate meeting back in December where it was rejected by a single vote. Following its rejection, a successful student-wide petition calling for the referendum gathered over 500 signatures.

As a direct result, the SU has called a student-wide vote on the question: ‘Should Cardiff University Students’ Union have a sabbatical officer for the Welsh language?’

Te referendum has gathered some criticism however, with none other

than VP Education, Rhys Jenkins, voicing his concern that a Welsh language sabbatical role would be impractical.

‘[VP Welsh Language] could not sit on all the committees that the VP Education, Welfare, Postgraduate, and President sit on,’ said Jenkins ‘Tis would be [a] highly ineffective use of time and resources. I would rather see the money put towards increasing the services we provide Welsh students [rather than] paying an officer for it.’

Despite Jenkins’ concerns, Jones has confirmed that the referendum is already gathering support. In a statement to Gair Rhydd, Jones said: ‘I’m encouraged by the wide range of stu-

dents, from all backgrounds, that have already expressed their support for the YES campaign.

‘Te Welsh language is an official language in Wales and belongs to everybody. Creating a Vice-President Welsh language would be a win for every student. Every student can learn a language and become part of its culture, but only they are given a fair opportunity to do so.’

Jones added: ‘With a YES vote, that would be the case. Te YES campaign is an inclusive one and I would encourage anybody interested in getting involved to get in touch through the Union’s sign-up page.’

Gender pay gap at Cardiff Uni among UK’s worst

Statistics reveal female academics earn thousands less than male colleagues

Katie Evans C

ardiff University has ranked amongst the worst universities in the UK for pay equality with some of the largest salary disparities between male and female academics nationwide.

According to the Higher Education Statistcs Agency report, fulltime academic female staff earned on average 18 per cent less than their male counter-parts during the last academic year, exceeding the national average pay gap of 11 per cent.

Te University ranked as the third worst in the country for the salary disparity between male and female academics, with only Kings College and City University, both London institutions, ranking worse.

Continued from front page

During 2013/14, the average salary for a female, full-time academic staff member was £44,749 whereas the salary of male full-time academics averaged £54,477.

Te University also placed within the bottom five Universities for equal pay between male and female fulltime professors, with males earning an average £82,301 - 11 per cent more than the £73,302 female professors earn.

Contrary to what the figures suggest, the pay gap is closing across higher education, albeit at a frustratingly slow pace. Te Equal Pay Review 2014 found that, since 2012 the pay gap between male and female academics narrowed by a dissapoint-

ing £110.

In response to the figures, a spokesperson for the University said: “We are disappointed with the findings of the Higher Education Statistics Agency report.

“We believe the figures quoted are reflective of the gender composition within the workforce rather than an issue of equal pay for academic staff within the organisation.

“We are committed to Equality and Diversity and a positive working environment for all, including equal pay.

Te University conducts its own internal Equal Pay Audit, the results of which for 2014/15 will be published soon.

Cont’d: No living wage for Union’s student employees

any information about a reduced living wage specifically for students since. Indeed, in 2012, the NUS campaigned with UNISON for the mass introduction of the regular living wage, and encouraged students to get involved.

Howells asserted that while the Students’ Union did not pay a living wage to its student staff, the union paid all students above the minimum wage for 21 year olds. But this was also proven to be false: the Union pays the majority of its 300+ student staff minimum wage, including those who work in jobs that typically pay over minimum wage, such as graphic design and administration.

When presented with this information, Howells revised his position to say that only students in managerial positions (such as “bar team leaders”) were paid over the minimum wage for 21 year olds.

He added that the Union did not consider paying living wage to students a priority because students “don’t tradi-

tionally have the same living costs and are likely to have income from student loans or grants”. He cited the council tax exemption as one of the ways that living costs differed between students and working adults, as well as student exclusive offers: “Te first example that springs to mind is bank accounts with lower fees and I’m sure there are more if I was to research this at length.”

Howells confirmed that the only way that Students would be able to secure a living wage from the Students’ Union would be if the Living Wage was introduced as a matter of law.

“Te only example I can think of that would mean we pay student staff the Living Wage would be legislative on the back of the General Election. We would then, of course, be obliged to pay the new amount which would mean a significant uplift in our salary bill which I imagine would have to be met by an increase in costs across our services.”

Te living wage for all citizens over

the age of 18 is £7.85 outside of London. According to the Living Wage foundation, this figure is “calculated based on the basic cost of living in the UK” and not on the circumstances of an individual. It has been estimated by CUSU Trustees that introducing the living wage for student staff would cost the organisation approximately £80,000 a year.

Finance is a matter of concern for many students, with NUS Wales research showing that one in three students have considered leaving their courses, with financial difficulties being the most common reason. Tey also found that “over half” of students regularly worry about meeting basic living expenses.

Te exemption from council tax is afforded to students as they have a number of constraints that working adults do not; they are, for example, prohibited from working over 20 hours a week by the University. Although some do

work over 20 hours to make ends meet, the Union does not employ anyone for longer than this as a result of agreed policy with the University.

Tere is also the small matter of studying at University at the first place, with many degrees recommending that students spend at least 35 hours a week on work relating to their course. Dr. Andrew Williams, an academic at the school of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, told Gair Rhydd that in his field students were expected to devote 200 hours to each 20-credit module, or 600 hours per semester.

In response to Elliot Howell’s statement that students enjoyed lower living costs than working adults, and that this justified the Union’s stance on paying a living wage to students, Kanade said: “Tat makes no sense. You’re still a human being. If you’re doing a long shift with a person who is older than you, you’re no less valuable because you’re a student.”

A successful studentwide petition calling for the referendum gathered over 500 signatures

(Source:

Students should be paid the living wage if they are giving time from their studies to work and earn money Madhura Kanade, student senator

Pictured: Female graduates

University of Hull)

6 NEWS

Cardiff band appeals for help after burglary

Local band ‘Houdini Dax’ are requesting donations after losing more than £10,000 worth of items in a van robbery.

Te group, comprised of Jack Butler, David Newington and Cardiff University graduate Owen Richards, purport to have been deprived of “everything that makes our sound”.

Te loot, which includes a bass amp, bass guitar, snare drum, FX unit and two speakers, was stolen in Cardiff Bay on the evening of Tursday, 30th March.

On their official Facebook page, which has accrued in excess of 13,000 “likes”, the group described their loss as “heartbreaking”.

Speaking to Gair Rhydd, bass player Owen Richards said: “All of our gear was stolen. It was a terrible shock as we’d been building our rig up for years and overnight it was all gone.”

Having met as school pupils, the three-piece have played gigs in locations from Mumbai to Belfast, and

have appeared on stage with the likes of Charlotte Church.

Teir latest concert, a fundraiser aimed at financing the replacement of the lost equipment, was held at Cardiff ’s ‘Clwb Ifor Bach’ last Tursday.

Te group have also started a ‘GoFundMe’ page for fans of the band to make contributions, with almost £4,000 having already been raised.

“Te response has been incredible so far, everyone’s been very generous. We’re going to keep trying to raise funds as we’re still a long way from reaching out target yet,” Richards said. He added: “Any donation, no matter how small, really does make a massive difference to us. Hopefully soon we can start buying our own stuff again!”

Te band, which is famed for the quality of its low-budget music videos, is signed to local label ‘See Monkey Do Monkey’.

Teir most popular songs to date include “Robin You Lie To Me”, “Good Old Fashioned Maniac” and “Our Boy

Billy”.

Tey currently have gigs pencilled in at ‘Focus Wales’ in Wrexham on 23rd April and ‘Te Big Cwtch Summer Party’ in Crugybar on 12th September.

Tickets for those events can be

bought via houdinidax.com, which also houses a shop selling merchandise including t-shirts and bags. A full list of missing items is available on Houdini Dax’s Facebook profile, whilst donations can be made at gofundme.com/houdinidax.

Cardi ff knocked out of Times top twenty

Cardiff University falls 16 places for student experience in survey

Anna Lewis

Cardiff University has dropped out of the top twenty higher education rankings for student experience in the UK, according to survey results released by Te Times

In results released this month, the University has fallen six places from its ranking at 15th place last year to its current position at joint 29th.

Of the 22 categories ranked by students, Cardiff received the lowest marks within the ‘fair work’ label, with a score of 5.2.

Te highest score that the University received was a grading of 6.2, awarded to its ‘good library and library

Cardiff University Main Building (Photographer: Katie Evans)

opening hours’ and the willingness of students to recommend the University to a friend. Last year’s results reveal that the University received its highest rankings in the same ‘recommend to a friend category’, although with a higher score of 6.4.

With last year’s lowest marks standing at 5.4 compared to this year’s score of 5.2, the survey suggests a lower level of satisfaction felt amongst Cardiff students towards the quality of their university education.

Cardiff also failed to make the top ten Universities within 5 of the 6 categories given special prominence by

Te Times, including the quality of staff and facilities and good industry connections.

However, despite being unable to make the shortlist for students’ rating of academic quality, Cardiff University was ranked second in the UK for its cheap shops, bars and amenities.

In both years of the study, approximately 200 students were asked for their opinion about a range of aspects about life at the University, including the quality of extra-curricular activities, support and welfare resources and the atmosphere surrounding campus.

In response to the survey results,

are hoping to raise the funds to replace their stolen equipment

“

” The group have been deprived of everything that makes their sound

a Cardiff University spokesperson expressed disappointment at the decrease in student satisfaction.

‘We take all feedback very seriously. We will be looking at these data from large external surveys-and those completed internally-to ensure we get a good sense of the issues that need to be addressed’, they said.

According to the spokesperson, student workload is reviewed annually to prevent the ‘bunching’ of assignments.

However, they maintained that the University seeks to ensure students are ‘challenged intellectually and learn to deal with the realities of a working life.’

Despite this, students have revealed that the reality of ‘spacing assignments’ has been far from successful.

One third-year JOMEC student explained that they are currently facing pressures including a dissertation deadline, a 4,000 word research essay due and a two-hour exam within a two-day period.

However, despite its poor performance in Te Times’ student experience survey, Cardiff University has seen an improved rating in other comparative tables.

Now placed at 23rd in Te UK Complete University Guide league tables, the University has seen a 10 place increase from its position as 35th last year.

According to Te Guardian’s 2015 University League Table, the University has increased by three rankings compared to 2014 to its position at 26th in the UK. According to the table, 89 per cent of students reported being satisfied with their course.

“ ” Cardiff also failed to make the top ten Universities within 5 of the 6 categories given special prominence in an article by The Times

Alexander Norton

Pictured: Te trio

(Source: Houdini Dax)

Pictured:

Vice-Chancellor criticised for hosting Qatar’s Ambassador

University welcomes Al Khater despite Qatar’s human rights violations

Cardiff University is facing questions over the visit of Qatar’s Ambassador to the UK over the Easter break.

Mr Yousef bin Ali Al Khater, whose family are known to enjoy strong links to the ruling families of both Qatar and the politically restricted states of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, visited the institution on Tursday, 26th March.

He is the foremost representative of Qatar in the UK, a country in which political parties and trade unions are forbidden, homosexuality is

punishable by death, forced labour is rife and the media is not free.

However, a Cardiff University spokesperson said: ‘We believe that interaction, not isolation, will lead to change.’

Te country’s social problems have come to global prominence following the controversial decision to award the state the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Many of the migrant workers aiding the project’s construction are tied to their employers by the ‘kafala system’ – and as many as 1,200 are estimated to have died owing to their

working conditions.

Al Khater was pictured shaking hands with several members of Cardiff University staff (including ViceChancellor Colin Riordan) outside the Main Building on the Cathays campus.

Te Ambassador also met with a number of Qatari students at the event, which was overseen by the International Office.

Cardiff University’s website reports that the institution ‘has developed a very good understanding of the Qatari education system and is a recog-

nised institution by the major sponsors in Qatar.’

However, the same outlet did not report on the visit of the country’s most senior representative in the UK.

A spokesperson confirmed: ‘A visit took place which was part of a wider visit to Wales including meetings with representatives of the Welsh Government.

‘We do not condone human rights violations anywhere and fully support efforts to raise human rights issues and promote active student society and free speech wherever possible.’

Easter break-ins: student houses targeted

Arecord number of student housing has been targeted by thieves operating during the Easter holidays, police have warned.

According to police reports, 19 cases of burglary have been recorded within the student populated area of Cathays in the last month.

Affected areas include Plasnewydd and Gabalfa, a ‘hotspot’ source of crime was identified around Miskin Street and Salisbury Road. Due to their close proximity to the Union and University facilities, both streets are densely populated by Cardiff University students.

The burglaries have been described by authorities as ‘sporadic’ in nature, with break-ins reported over a wide location.

The police have identified thieves gaining access to houses through insecure windows

However, a pattern has emerged with the majority of crimes taking place overnight.

Commonly stolen items include laptops, tablets, mobiles, money and other accessible items left unhidden.

The police have identified thieves gaining access to houses through insecure windows and rear doors accessed through gardens.

As a result of the crimes reported, students have been warned not to leave windows or doors open during

the warm weather, including times when housemates are home.

With many students returning home during the holiday period, burglaries within student accommodation during such times have become increasingly common.

Last year, Gair Rhydd reported on multiple thefts occurring both in the Christmas holidays and in early September before the start of the academic year.

Some students have expressed concern about the prominence of letting signs attached to many rented houses, identifying accommodation as owned by students likely to go home during University holiday periods.

In order to reduce the rate of break-ins within student areas, local police authorities have launched a campaign to raise awareness of the risk of burglary.

This included door-to-door checks conducted by police in Cathays before the Christmas holidays, warning students to install secure doors and leave any valuables out of sight of windows. Students are also being urged to register belongings on the free property database ‘immobilise’ in order to help track and return stolen items.

Pictured: Qatar has received international criticism for its violation of human rights and forced labour (Source: InQuire)

“He is the foremost representative of Qatar, a country in which political parties and trade unions are forbidden

”Pictured: Student housing is particularly vulnerable to theft over the holidays

(Photographer: Katie Evans)

A ‘hotspot’ source of crime was identified around Miskin Street and Salisbury Road

Alexander Norton

Anna Lewis

Kirsty Fardell

Mind maps may be your perfect way of organising everything neatly onto one page

Welcome to our Advice section, where we bring you tips for surviving Cardiff University life

Email us: advice@gairrhydd.com

Worried about starting exam revision?

Here are some top tips to ensure you revise well and feel better prepared for your exams

The dreaded time of year always comes round far too quickly, so here it is again. Te libraries fill up, your textbooks are opened for the first time, and the constant snacking begins. Tese all sound like a good start to preparing for an exam, but are you actually taking anything in?

For some students stressing about exams takes more time than revision does. Tere is a simple cure – prepare to revise more, and you’ll feel more confident when the time comes. Everyone has heard the phrase ‘Fail to plan – plan to fail’ and although it just reminds you of that weird English teacher in high school who forced you to make plans during mock tests (ones you actually made after writing your essay), there is actually sense in the saying. Sitting down at your desk or in the library with little direction will make all the information seem like far too much to take in. So give yourself a day of going through the exam layout and working out exactly what topics you really need to know inside out. Tat way you won’t be trying to cram in everything and instead will concentrate on the more important parts that will definitely come up in the exam.

It’s equally as important to know what works for you. All of your coursemates may be talking about going to the library to revise or get their coursework done, and feel that you should be there too. But if you work better with music playing out loud, in your onesie with loads of crunchy food, then don’t be afraid to stay at home and create the environment that works best for you.

Be honest with yourself, though – if

you know you’ll just be distracted by your housemates or spend most of the time on Facebook then push yourself to go to the library.

Everyone works in different ways. Sometimes just condensing all your notes into a few pages will be enough to secure the knowledge, but others need something more interactive. If you think you’ll remember things better by visualising it, then get yourself some colourful post-it notes. Condense your notes onto several post-its and stick them round your bedroom in a topic areas. Even spend time creating the diagrams you need to remember and make them all look pretty and memorable.

Learn your walls – that way in the exam, you’ll be able to visualise where the topic was stuck in your bedroom and be able to better recall what you’ve learnt.

Tis method can also work for those who need to repeat out loud what they’re learning, as repeating what you’ve written on the post-its will engrain them into your mind so when the time comes you’ll know the notes in your voice, in a coherent order topic by topic.

Ever wondered why you can remember all the words to a million songs but can’t get a topic to flow quite as easily? Make your notes into a song. Tere’s a few ways to do this

– for some just recording their voice talking out the facts then replaying it back often will be enough to be able to successfully recall them during the exam.

For others making your notes fit to a familiar tune will trigger your memory a lot easier. Tis works well if there is a specific order of things you need to know, or if you can condense a topic into buzzwords. Hearing the tune over and over again should force everything you need to know into a fun memorable way of recalling it during the exam. Just remember not to sing it out loud.

For some, mind maps are the perfect way to categorise everything

Condense your notes onto colourful post-it notes and stick them all around your bedroom “

What do you think? Have your say: advice@ gairrhydd.com

Pictured: Some students studying in the Lounge (Photographer: Sum Sze Tam)

Pictured: A multiple choice style exam

Continued from the previous page

Aim to explain why your previous experience will lend itself well to the job you’re applying for

onto one neat page. Get yourself some colourful A3 paper and make them big and un-missable to ensure that you can’t ignore anything when you’re writing your answers. Stick them up on your walls, try and repeat then on another piece of paper without looking to see what you miss out, then you’ll know what you need to go over.

No matter how much preparation you seem to do, there will always be that moment during the exam when you just cannot remember a crucial bit of information. Despite knowing you went over it the night before, or even just before going into the room, it will be on the tip of your tongue and you just can’t seem to recall it. You have to decide to move on and forget about it so that you don’t waste too much exam time.

Tere is a way to reduce the chances of that happening. Although you go in determined to start writing as soon as you sit down so you don’t waste a minute, it will pay off to scribble down all the notes you can recall about the topic that comes up before you start writing your answers. If you’ve drawn mind maps then replicate them in shorthand, jot down the points of your revised song or sketch out the important diagrams.

Tat way, when you’re deep into

your answers and just can’t remember something, you’ll only need to turn back to the first page for a good chance of locating it, or at least jogging your memory. Just remember to cross through all the rough notes at the end of your exam.

Spending time reading and rereading the questions at hand will also ensure that you know exactly what topic points to draw on. You’ll be able to make a brief plan that’s more

focused on the question, so your answer won’t take too long to write and go off on a tangent.

Tis is particularly important when you have a choice of questions to answer - read them all thoroughly before you commit to one.

For multiple choice exams you might hit a question that you’re too unsure about to answer, so rather than deliberating what to put leave it until the end of the exam. Otherwise you

may end up missing some questions that you know you would have got marks for.

Preparing for an exam will always seem like a daunting task before you start, but once you do begin with a clear focus on what you are doing you’ll build up a routine and wonder what you spent all your time doing without revision. You’ve still got plenty time, so break your lazy habits and start.

Confused by cover letters?

Tis is your guide to writing the perfect cover letter that will make you stand out from the crowd

They may seem like the most pointless piece of paper considering you have already attached your CV, but they could be the difference between you and all the other candidates.

Many jobs ask for a covering letter without much detail of what they want to see in it. You’ve put all your academic and employment history onto your CV, so it’s not clear what is needed on the covering letter.

Tink of a covering letter as the ‘so what?’ of your application. Te employers can see all you have achieved so far academically, and all the jobs you have had previously, but now they are asking, so what? What relevance will all of that have to the job you are now applying to?

Aim to explain why all of your previous experience lends itself well to the duties the new job will entail. If the job you are applying for involves a lot of face-to-face interaction with customers then explicitly explain what previous experience you have in this and how it improved your skills.

Perhaps the job is based around a specific area of your degree subject, so go into detail about the modules you have done that are relevant to the job and give examples of the level of detail you have learnt. Draw on your coursework topics or even your dissertation.

Make your cover letter personal with specific examples that will make you stand out as being perfectly fitted to the job specification. Let your personality come through so you sound like someone they want to work with. Show your motivation and suitability to the job, and that it’s exactly what you’re capable of doing, and doing well.

Use it to draw the employer to the relevant areas to your CV and expand on why they give you the skills they are looking for in the job specification.

Never exceed two pages –considering the amount of applications most open positions now get, they are

not going to want to read something that drags out over pages and pages. Keep it detailed and concise. Your cover letter should look neat and correspond with your CV, so use the same font and font size. Using a unique font across both will also make you stand out and be more memorable to employers. Most people will use the default fonts on Microsoft Word, but a slightly different but professionallooking font will make your CV and cover letter more unique.

Tailor each cover letter to the job you are applying for. Make an effort to find the name of the person who is most likely to read it and write it

directly to them. Adjust what you include in the letter to suit their specification.

Finish with a line that invites contact – say you’ll be happy to expand on any points in an interview, and that you look forward to hearing from them. Your contact details should be included on your CV so it won’t be necessary to include them on your cover letter.

As a personal touch, if you’re hand delivering a cover letter sign the bottom of it by hand. Most candidates will write their name electronically so using this traditional approach will help to make yours stand out.

work for you?

Make rough notes on the points you want to draw on before you start writing your answer

Kirsty Fardell

Pictured: An example of a job application form

Pictured: Post-its on your room wall - does this revision technique

Personal tutors: lacking personality?

It should be a key relationship in university life - but Cardif ’s tutor system really isn’t personal at all

Lauren Booth

The personal tutor system at Cardi ff is certainly a useful part of the university mechanism, but it is one much in need of some reform. It is positive that there is one person assigned to a student in each department giving the student an opportunity to see someone about any issues they may have. But, in my experience, it needs reforming. Te problems stem from the way personal tutors are assigned. Tutors need to be able to understand students’ academic issues as well as their personal ones. Tutors who are also module conveners work best for this.

It is not beneficial for a student to have a personal tutor who they see for no other reason except getting their enrolment forms signed off at the

beginning and end of each year. My experience with my personal tutor is exactly this. It is no fault of his own, but I am not taking any of his taught modules and my academic interests are di fferent to his. I do not criticise him for this, but I find that if I do have any trouble with work, it is better for me to go to the module tutor than to my personal tutor.

Personal tutor meetings are compulsory, allegedly. But I do not see this happening in a multitude of academic schools. Meetings that are meant to happen at the beginning and end of each term to provide both academic and emotional support do not occur. Schools are letting down their students - university is not an easy ride, so tutors should not treat

it as one. Some tutors expect their tutees to come to them with problems - but this is missing the point of the system. Students might not want to discuss di fficult problems with someone who is, most likely, a stranger, under the current system at least. Not all problems can be solved in tutor meetings, by one individual. If a student is struggling in a essay or with a particular topic, it would also be useful to have a personal tutor who has some experience or knowledge in that particular area where the student is having problems. Going to a personal tutor who has no experience in a certain field is of no benefit to the student and is, ultimately, wasting the time of the tutor and student. If you are lucky enough to have

a personal tutor who you also have as a module tutor, then it is a mutually beneficial academic relationship for both of you.

Reforming the system from the start of the academic year could able sta ff to correlate the module choices of the student and experience and expertise of sta ff ; thus, if the student does have queries or is struggling, the tutor can offer valuable assistance. Of course, any tutor throughout the university has to have some knowledge across the department as a whole in order to get the job, but tutors more often than not are specialists in a certain field. Te personal tutor system is a good one, but one requiring a personal touch to make it advantageous for the student.

Te Living Wage should be a universal right

Cardif Students’ Union needs to pay student staf a better wage

Jobshop have sent me another email. Yet another from the endless stream they produce promoting opportunities to do odd jobs around the Union and University. Working an open day for the University pays £7.85 an hour, working a similar job with the SU will make you £6.50 per hour. Why the difference? Cardiff University is a living wage employer.

Te issue is how the SU operates with its student staff - they aren’t paying them the assigned living wage amount and this is a problem.

Te living wage is needed for students for the same reasons that it is needed for everybody else. We should not be picking arbitrary demographics that deserve it and those that do not. Te very concept of a ‘living wage’ is that it is universally ap-

plicable regardless of circumstance. If we begin to make exceptions based on individual expenses then where does one draw the line? If a cleaner inherits a substantial sum are they then unworthy of a wage packet they can live on? If a shop worker receives regular payments from their parents do they deserve it?

Such exceptions are impossible to regulate and miss the core meaning of a living wage. Tose working lowpaid jobs deserve the bare minimum and the basic dignity of being able to pay their way regardless of circumstance. Tis universal idea should be universally applied.

I’d like to add here that many of the arguments against this echo those that were hurled at the minimum wage which was introduced as recently as 1998. Can you imagine

suggesting that the minimum wage should be revised and only applied to demographics or individuals that ‘deserve it’? With any societal progression come human anchors who oppose it for reasons that are soon proven to be outdated. I believe that a living wage will be a matter of law in due course, the question is, which institutions will choose to be leading lights?

How can a university be leading the way on student pay over a students’ union? It makes no sense: it needs to be the other way round. Admittedly, the SU can’t automatically convert to being a living wage employer for its students - but this simply addresses a deeper concern. Why are the University not on board with investing in changing the Union? Tey are an institution that publicised their own

change heavily, but let the Students’ Union - who they are so inextricably linked with - off completely.

It’s important to note that the university overruled a successful motion to introduce a student living wage based on the supposedly high £80,000 cost. Tis is the same institution that spent £3 million on a union redevelopment. £80,000 is a mere speck to this financial sea and it seems that they have valued prospectus vanity over the students themselves.

Cardiff Students’ Union needs to take any motion passed at Student Senate seriously, and make a commitment to achieving them. It’s not just morally the correct thing to do - it’s part of the bye-laws that the Union must strive to accomplish this. Tis includes the living wage which I believe will, soon enough, be law.

Pictured: Having the needed conversationbut it just isn’t personal (Source: Ambernectar13, Flickr)

The very concept of a ‘living wage’ is that it is universally applicable regardless of circumstance

Gareth Evans

Olivier van den BentKelly

Turned off by porn: Am I alone?

You

can sell me sex, but porn just doesn’t do it

Anne Porter

Sex sells, it is undeniable. It is everywhere, as are attempts to seduce. Adverts selling us food are designed to make us drool (I’m looking at you M&S). Shops sell shorts so short they give girls half moons – no one wants to see that much arse. Admittedly, some of these selling techniques work on me – I’ll dream of M&S food and wish regularly for new underwear, for instance. Research for this article led me to Calvin Klein – the worldwide brand that encourages its logo at the top of boxers to be shown across our society. But pornography has never done it for me. At university I soon found myself wondering why this was – and whether I was alone.

My housemate devised the genius solution of accessing porn on his phone. I just didn’t understand the obsession

”

I remember a time in my first year of university that eduroam in halls blocked pornography. Dismay among my housemates, me indifferent. Up until that point I had never watched porn. Never tried to, never wanted to. I remained a virgin, albeit one who wanted to have sex, but porn was never something I thought of satisfying me. Two (or more) individuals who I didn’t care for – sex in my beloved literature was something I felt very differently about – just going at it for the sake of it? No thanks.

My housemate devised the genius solution of accessing porn on his phone – problem solved, thank God. I just didn’t understand the obsession I guess.

I felt strange that I didn’t seem to be like everyone else. Porn seemed to be everywhere. Pornhub, one of the biggest sites in the UK, identified a town not far from me at home that had more demand for porn than anywhere else in the UK. Residents of Ware, Hertfordshire, can’t get enough porn it seems. Pornhub received 111 million visits in 2013. We like to watch people go at it, it seems. But not me. I have sat through a few seconds of porn in my time – before I gave up. Watching someone else have quick, painful sex didn’t sound like my idea of fun. Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton’s infamous sex tapes aren’t on my ‘to-view’ list. Why should they be? I don’t want to watch them fuck, thanks very much. Don’t get me wrong. Sex is great. But my own pleasure is more important to me than watching someone else get theirs, I guess I’m just selfish like that.

I found other ways aside from watching sex to enjoy it. Sex is attractive to me, porn isn’t. I have read countless sex scenes in books in my time – some terrible, some lust worthy. Atonement by Ian McEwan was a particular favourite, as was Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (a text I read for English A-Level…it was educational in more ways than one).

I didn’t bother reading 50 Shades of Grey, even when it was everyone’s guilty pleasure at school. Sex man-

aged to get Lady Chatterly’s Lover banned in 1928 – it was an instant sell out after it went on sale again in 1960. So Britain loves sex –the most searched term on Pornhub in the UK in 2013 was ‘British’. Te British don’t like our porn from anywhere else but home, evidently. Perhaps my views on porn will change.

I think the main reason that I have never been interested in porn is the idea of those who participate in it. Children come across porn far too easily. ChildLine recently discovered that children in Manchester, as young as 12, have seen porn, and some have even made sexually explicit videos. I know I wasn’t thinking about porn when I was 12. Sex and porn are not the same. I find porn almost grotesque. We shouldn’t be teaching the next generation about sex in this way. Te embarrassment that we call ‘sex education’ is totally inadequate, no wonder tweenagers are turning elsewhere. I was neither taught about relationships nor about pleasure from sex. Consent was given no consideration as it was just assumed to be there – not always the case. Porn cannot teach me about the pleasure that I myself can get from sex – only real sex can do that. Porn portrays people as objects, no matter who is dominant in the activity – something even I know from my outsider’s perspective. Te porn industry isn’t a healthy one, no

matter how much it pretends to be –porn stars such as Linda Lovelace are subject to abuse at the hands of their loved ones, and anti-pornography movements are rife. Feminist writers such as Germaine Greer wrote how the female sex organs are associated with derogatory slang – referencing the word ‘cunt’ as an example. Porn treats its individuals with no respect. And one of the basic elements of sex is respecting someone else’s body and their pleasure. Sex doesn’t make people objects – it should bring people closer together, or give them a unique connection.

Curiousity killed the cat, as the saying goes. Curiousity will probably get the better of me at some point. Tat said I can’t help but feel that the reality of sex, with its awkward moments and laughter, will always be the better alternative. Porn is an addiction for some individuals. University gives an uncomparable freedom from home life – and surrounds us with individuals of a similar nature. Te odd one-night stand or a new relationship are far easier. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to have sex. But a healthy relationship with it, which will differ for everyone, cannot be solely aided by porn. Porn damages real life perceptions of sex by blocking out reality – even if the user is aware that porn is not real. I feel numbed by porn and I doubt that I am alone.

Pictured: Porn sites gets more monthly visitors than Amazon, Twitter and Netflix combined

(Source: devids. net)

“

Porn damages real life perceptions of sex by blocking out reality - even if the user is aware that porn is not real

”

12 COMMENT

Let’s save the NHS

Anne Porter

The system is failing. Waiting times are everincreasing, appointments are being cancelled and patients are being neglected

Our National Health Service is crumbling, and we are at fault

The NHS is the largest healthcare system in the world that is free at the point of service. It has been a great national source of pride since its inception in Wales in 1948. Still an anomaly internationally, it is now the most widely praised institution in the UK.

Aneurin Bevan, the Welshman who founded the NHS, is a national hero in Wales and was voted one of the 100 Greatest Britons in 2002. Today, the NHS provides wideranging vital healthcare services to millions of people in Britain, and it saves lives every single day.

But the system is failing. Waiting times are ever-increasing, appointments are being cancelled and patients are being neglected. Our political parties are all promising, in a variety of ways, to prevent the system from crashing down around us. But I don’t know who to believe. Where do the faults with our health system lie?

I’ve been on a waiting list at the University Hospital of Wales for almost a year. My doctor blamed the system for keeping me waiting. My health problems affect me every single day, both mentally and physically.

Problems with the NHS lie in the fact that there is no one responsible for its failures. Responsibility trickles down from managers to individual staff, to doctors and patients. We constantly show the failure of the NHS by pointing the finger at

one another.

Statistics released a fortnight ago show that NHS England failed to meet its target of seeing 95% of A&E patients in 4 hours. These statistics scare-monger the failure of the NHS and put unbearable pressure on it to perform. It’s not failing. It’s just overwhelmed.

I genuinely believe that there are individuals in this country who don’t understand what Accident and Emergency means. You don’t go to A&E with a mild headache, a small cut on your finger or because you have a mild cold. Grow a pair and wait until you can see your GP, or even talk to your pharmacist.

Yes, it’s difficult to get an appointment with a GP. But we abuse the system. Imagine if GP appointments had a £10 charge. It’d make you think twice about going to the GP for your week-old cold (who won’t give you antibiotics).

Politicians preach about saving the NHS from its collapse. But how much they can really do is questionable. Pumping money into the system, as the Liberal Democrats are promising to do if they are elected on May 7th, will not work in the long term. Money runs out. People’s naivety grows.

Politicians can’t save your NHS – not solely, at least. Come on, Ed Miliband can’t even eat a bacon sandwich and Nick Clegg can’t even apologise without it turning into a rap song. The Liberal Democrats

have promised the same cure for the system as the Conservatives. The focus of the former lies on mental health, which will see £500m a year added to improve waiting times for treatments.

The Conservatives will ensure that GP surgeries are running 7 days a week by 2020. All very good on paper – but highly unachievable. The wait for mental health treatment on the NHS seems to be never ending – no joke when your world is crashing around you. £500m will need to come from somewhere, too. Running GP surgeries 7 days a week will not stop the stupidity of individuals running there at every bump and scratch.

Labour stated how their ideas for the NHS were being funded – a rarity – apparently a Mansion Tax will fund a large proportion of the wages of new staff in their thousands. New staff are also the focus of Plaid Cymru’s health policies.

Labour are also optimistic about GP surgeries – promising appointments within 48 hours. And who can forget Nigel Farage’s discussion of immigrants bringing HIV into the country. So not only have politicians tried to encourage funding as the major way forward in rescuing the NHS, but they have also blamed our health issues on immigrants.

Whoever goes on to form a government after this year’s general election, and whether or not they follow through on their pre-elec-

tion promises, it will not affect patients in Wales. The NHS in Wales has been under the jurisdiction of the Welsh Government since 1999, and the Welsh Assembly has had law-maing powers in this area since 2006.

Since the devolution of the healthcare system, things have become progressively worse in Wales, with the NHS consistently missing its targets and lagging behind even the poor performances of NHS England.

Many argue that the outdated Barnett Formula (the system used since 1978 to calculate how public funding is allocated to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) is to blame, with Wales being significantly under-funded. Finding a new, fairer way of calculating this is the flagship policy of Plaid Cymru.

However, more funding is arguably not the solution to the NHS’ problemns in Wales or in England –and it is certainly not a sole solution. Patients are the ones who need to be maintaining the NHS by showing their gratitude for it. Only using the system when necessary will help it to survive. The fault is largely with those people who abuse the system. Funding the system with more staff will improve waiting times and the management of healthcare overall, but it is up to us to decide how to use our NHS.

It is ours – so we need to work to ensure that it survives.

Patients are the ones who need to be maintaining the NHS by showing their gratitude for it. Only using the system when necessary will help it to survive

Pictured: Our NHS is crumbling, and everyone is taking a piece (Source: Save Kernow NHS)

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15 JASON ROBERTS VS THE WORLD

None of the Above

O ur system is broken, but you should turn up to the polls anyway

It’s election season, and goddamn,

I am excited. Not for the future of our country, or the democratic implications, or for any reason of actual importance. In reality, it’s because there’s absolutely nothing I love more in this world than watching people tell blatantly obvious lies to other people. Frankly, it’s a thing of incredible beauty, and it’s never more beautiful than when this beautiful circus of insanity rolls around every five years.

But I also get that just because I derive a perverse, voyeuristic pleasure from watching people tell blatant untruths, doesn’t mean that this is actually good for politics, the country or democracy as a whole.

During the European elections last year, my housemates literally had to drag me out of bed to walk 100 metres to get my democracy on

It’s just an approach that makes politics palatable for me. Obviously, it also leaves millions of voters so disillusioned with the system that they won’t bother to turn out. Which is understandably a problem, considering that our political system is built around the active participation of citizens.

I understand why people don’t vote, I really do. During the European elections last year, my housemates literally had to drag me out of bed to walk 100 metres down the road so that I could get my democracy on. It wasn’t that I was ill informed; I just thought that for real change to happen, the system needed to be drastically reformed and that my vote was

worthless with the current structures in place. Tis is a feeling echoed across the country, but in particular amongst the young.

In every election since 1966, voters aged 18-24 have always been the least likely to vote. Tese sorts of statistics make up the backbone of the widely believed discourse that ‘young people simply don’t care about politics’. Tis is untrue. Ask most 18-24 year olds about politics and they’ll have an opinion. Whether or not that opinion will be something along the lines of, “I hope they all murder each other with rusty swords in an insane battle royale” depends on the person you ask. But just because those sorts of beliefs exist among young people doesn’t mean that we don’t engage in politics, in fact I’d argue the opposite. We do engage, we do care, we want our voices to be heard, but politicians tend not to make young people a priority, so there’s an overwhelming sentiment that politicians don’t care about us. And when you add an increasing belief that the system in place is broken beyond repair, you get a whole group of people believing that their vote doesn’t mean anything. As a result, young people don’t vote because there’s nothing in it for them, so politicians who weren’t going to do anything for them anyway dismiss their non-participation as apathy. Tis is a false conclusion. Young people choose not to participate not

because they don’t care, but because they do care, and they’re angry that the people chastising them for not getting involved couldn’t really care less if they did or not.

If you don’t have a preferred party or candidate, I can’t blame you. Modern politicians are rarely inspiring. But if that’s the case, go to the polls on May 7th, and spoil your ballot. Some people don’t understand the logic of taking time out of your day to do this, considering it’s technically the same as not voting. But the difference with spoiling your ballot is that it’s an active, tangible expression of dissatisfaction. Tose in power cannot construe it as apathy, ignorance, or anything else.

But it isn’t just enough to turn up, draw a picture of a cock on the ballot paper, and walk away with your head held high. Tere’s an art to spoiling your vote. As of yet, the U.K does not have a None Of Te Above (NOTA) option, although there has been a significant campaign for one that has accelerated in recent years. Instead, invalid votes are classified as either ‘voters intention unclear’ or a ‘protest vote’.

If you were to proceed with the aforementioned dick drawing, according to the government, your intention would be unclear. Protest votes must make it absolutely clear that they are voting for nobody. Te best way to do this according to Vote

or Vote None (a campaign to encourage democratic participation through protest votes) is to put a line through all the boxes on the ballet form, and clearly write ‘NONE’ across the form. Tis way your intentions are clear, and your vote will be counted as a protest.

You might think that this is a waste of time, but it’s worth pointing out that 35% didn’t vote last time around. Tat’s over 15 million people. To put that in perspective, the Conservatives were the largest party with 10 million votes. Tere are too many people that remain silent even though they’re unhappy with the way the government operates, but there are enough of them that can affect real change within government. And it’s not like people don’t spoil their votes already either; last time there were more votes spoiled than there were for the Green Party, and they managed to get an MP into Parliament.

Protest voting is important, but it’s particularly important for the young people of this country. Right now, it is too easy for politicians to say that we don’t care about politics. By using a protest vote, you will deny them the ability to continue this line of rhetoric, you will force them to listen to you, and you will be the catalyst for real change. Like it or not, this is the only way that the system can change, short of a bloody revolution. And nobody wants that, right? Right?

(source:

There are too many people that remain silent even though they’re unhappy with the way the government operates

Jason Roberts

Pictured: Vote for Nobody campaign

Mike Ashworth)

POLITICS

General Election Manifestos revealed

Each party released their manifesto last week with just three weeks to polling day. People now have just a few weeks to make decisions about who they want in power for the next five years.

Tere has been much speculation about the party manifestos appearing to make a last ditch attempt to sweep up a majority vote. It has been commented that the Conservatives and Labour appear to ‘have swapped clothes’ with Labour appearing ‘tough’ and the Conservatives ‘caring’.

Te Conservatives claim they are ‘the party of working people’. David Cameron has promised working people a ‘good life’ and plans to continue economic reform. Te Conservatives have promised £8 billion funding to the NHS by 2020. So far however, no party member has been able to confirm where this funding will come from. To reduce the deficit the Conservative Party will continue to make cuts to public spending.

Other key features of the Conservative manifesto include scrapping the Human Rights Act and introducing a British Bill of Rights, allowing a veto for English MPs on English matters, an open vote on repealing the Hunting Ban and an EU referendum by 2017. On immigration the Conservatives will end job seekers allowance for EU jobseekers, negotiate with the EU so migrants have worked for four years before they can claim tax credits and child benefits, migrants will have to leave if they don’t find a job within six months. For families, the Conservatives have promised 30 hours of free childcare for working parents, an extension of the right to buy housing scheme, 500 more free schools and will turn failing schools into academies.

Ed Miliband has claimed the Con-

servatives have ‘absolutely no idea’ how to meet their spending plans. Others have commented on Conservative failure to meet their manifesto points from 2010. Miliband has urged people to vote for the Labour Party claiming ‘what we’ve seen in the last five years hasn’t worked’.

Miliband has coined the election line ‘Britain only succeeds when working people succeed’. Labour’s manifesto demonstrates plans for a ‘tough approach to the economy’. Miliband stated: ‘every policy in this manifesto has been paid for’. Critics have mocked the manifesto’s economic emphasis. Te manifesto promises that Labour will ‘cut the deficit every year’. Miliband’s foreword promises a secure economy ‘where we balance the books’, ‘rescue our NHS’, install ‘proper controls’ for immigration, make sure we are a country where those at the top ‘play by the same rules’ and remain ‘outward looking’. Labour will introduce 50p tax on those earning more than £150,000, raise the minimum wage to £8 by 2019, bring in up to 25 hours of free childcare for working parents, double paid paternity leave and ban zero hours contracts.

Miliband said he believes he can secure a majority Labour government and claimed during the ITV debates that ‘people shouldn’t underestimate me’.

Nick Clegg has said ‘it’s me, Farage or Salmond’ as no party will likely win an outright victory. However, both the Conservatives and Labour have denied any plans to work with UKIP or the SNP. Te Liberal Democrats have emphasised their middling stance between ‘too many cuts’ on the right and ‘too much spending’ on the left. Te Lib Dems are promising to balance the budget fairly, introduce tax-free allowance to £12,500, education funding, £8

billion for the NHS and five new laws to fight climate change.

Te Green Party have urged voters to ‘join a revolution’. Te Greens wrote a story to accompany their manifesto which asserted a vision of a possible Green future. In their idyllic story the Greens set out a future where ‘you will finish work on time and pay cheap fees for transport home, your kids come “tumbling and giggling” out of their free nursery, you visit your gran who is happy now she receives free social care. Te children go and play while you plan your two week trip to Cornwall, which will work out cheaper now transport is public and there are local links’. Te Green manifesto demonstrates plans to bring in a Green energy plan for Britain and create a zero carbon sustainable economy, to end austerity, restore the public sector and introduce a compulsory living wage of £10 by 2020. Te Green Party would also scrap tuition fees, abolish the bedroom tax, make transport public and make sure there is pension equality for gay couples.

UKIP’s manifesto reveals a series of pictures to illustrate their points. UKIP plans to leave the EU, negotiate to keep open trade going between Britain and European countries, introduce an Australian style points system to control immigration and put an end to ‘sham marriages’. For the economy, UKIP would ‘raise personal allowance to £13,000, abolish inheritance tax, raise the threshold for paying 40 per cent income tax to £55,000 and restore British tax sovereignty to end businesses paying tax in whichever EU country they choose. Other key aspects include removal of the Barnett Formula and the introduction of a ‘needs basis’ system, scrapping tuition fees for approved STEM subject degrees, £12 billion investment in the

NHS, exclusion of the NHS from the TTIP agreement, introducing a flexible state pension window and funding for social and child care.

Plaid Cymru’s main manifesto points include achieving the same deal in Wales for funding and powers as Scotland, strengthening the NHS with 1000 more doctors, 50,000 more jobs through public contracts with Welsh companies, raising the minimum wage and fair taxation. Leanne Wood commented that ‘only her party can ensure equality with Scotland’.

Te SNP has introduced a business focused manifesto saying a strong team of SNP MPs in Westminster would press for a better business deal for Scotland. Te SNP want the creation of a high speed railway to Scotland, the expansion of a high speed broadband technology, to secure changes to the transmission charging regime for power generators, support the North Sea oil and gas sector and ‘make a strong case’ for the UK to remain in the EU. Sturgeon said ‘ensuring Scotland’s businesses thrive is vital for Scotland to create a fairer and more prosperous society.’

Currently the polls indicate that the Conservatives have failed to achieve a “crossover”- a consistent lead in the polls which they had hoped to secure by Easter week. Labour have also suffered setbacks, falling further behind the SNP in Scotland when the Party was hoping to close this gap. Peter Kellner commented that ‘unless things change in the next few weeks it will be unlikely that either Party will be able to secure a majority government’.

For the time being the polls show that the two parties remain neck and neck changing their lead every few hours. Based on these projections it is unclear who will be the next Prime Minister.

Miliband says people shouldn’t underestimate his ability to win a majority government

Rhiannon Tapp

Pictured:

Left to right: Nigel Farage (UKIP), Natalie Bennett (Green Party), Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats), Ed Miliband (Labour), David Cameron (Conservatives), Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP)

A

solar plant covering 1/18 of the Sahara desert would be able to power all of Europe and Northern Africa

UKIP: ‘Climate Change is not man made’

MEP Nathan Gill claims conservation efforts are “complete stupidity”

Welsh UKIP leader Nathan Gill has caused a stir by claiming that ‘climate change is not man made’.

Speaking to BBC Wales, Gill said, “We don’t agree that man is responsible for changing the climate.” He said it was “complete stupidity to think by sticking a bunch of wind turbines all over Wales that we are somehow going to stop the weather from changing.”

Tis contravenes the evidence emerging from scientists who have studied the subject of climate change in depth. NASA point to the fact that analyses of ice cores have revealed that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have leapt to nearly 400 parts per million, after only passing 300 for the first time in human history in 1950, to suggest that climate change has been

directly influenced by mankind’s industrialisation.

Scientists suggest that further man made climate change would be catastrophic, with North Carolina State University noting that carbon dioxide is affecting the growth of nutritious plants. Te widely held view from the scientific community is that a rise of 2 degrees in global temperatures due to manmade climate change (we are currently at 0.8 degrees) would be disastrous for humanity. If the majority of the scientific community were right, then a move to renewable energies would be sensible. Whilst UKIP remain opposed to renewables, the Green Party has committed to invest in a public programme for green energy in its manifesto, which seems a logical step in combating this serious danger.

UKIP also threaten the fight against climate change with their determination for Britain to leave the EU. Mark Rogowsky, writing for Forbes, argued that a solar plant covering one eighteenth of the Sahara desert would be able to power all of Europe and Northern Africa. Tis sort of project would need global co-operation, and the EU is a step towards bigger thinking, as it draws together countries to solve common problems.

Climate change, despite the words of Gill, is clearly a man made phenom-

enon, and it is the biggest long-term issue facing the world. Renewable energy is the best solution to the problem, but can also solve the economic difficulties afflicting countries. Britain, for one, is burdened by a huge national debt, caused in large part due to our reliance on imported fossil fuels. Large-scale investment in renewable energy will do more for future growth than trying to slowly reduce the national debt, a policy that is not actually having the desire effect needed to improve.

Voter’s Guide: Economics

Don’t listen to economic promises

Lauren Boyd

“

We could have growth (an increase in GDP) if poor people got less and rich people got more

”

Economics is not really a science, although lots of economists have physics envy and would like to believe that it is. Economists develop complicated mathematical models which obscure the fact that they have to make inaccurate assumptions because reality is more complicated than theory. If a politician says they are going to do a horrible sounding thing because an economist said it will be great for the economy in the future, we don’t know that it will. Most economists didn’t predict the 2008 crash. All we know in that scenario is that the politicians are going to do the horrible sounding thing. Tat is not to say that economics isn’t useful but because economics is not widely understood it can be used to justify all sorts of ideological nonsense, so watch out.

Running a deficit doesn’t necessitate the current levels of spending cuts

Under Labour, there was a deficit of £36 billion or so. Nobody thought this was a problem so the Conservatives promised to match Labour spending pound for pound. Te increase in the budget deficit to an average of 10.7 per cent in 2009-2010 was mostly a consequence of the recession caused by the financial crisis. Government spending can increase demand, creating jobs and

increasing productivity thus reducing unemployment, increasing tax receipts and reducing the deficit. Te coalition have opposed Keynes’ ideas about counter cyclical spending (using government spending to get the country through a crisis) for ideological reasons.

Inequality matters

Professor Richard Wilkinson and Professor Kate Picket found that life expectancy, infant mortality, obesity levels, crime rates and literacy scores were all worse in more unequal countries. Per capita GDP has a less significant impact on GDP than the level of inequality in society.

Growth isn’t the be all and end all GDP isn’t a perfect measurement of economic well-being. “What happens to the GDP when a professor marries his servant?” is a well-known economics ‘joke’ that illustrates this (of course it goes down because housework is no longer paid). We could have growth (an increase in GDP) if poor people got less and rich people got more, although many would argue that society would not be better off in this scenario. Tere are also limits to growth because of resource scarcity and climate change so developed countries need to focus on sustainability. Te benefits of growth are limited in countries where we already have plenty of stuff

” Most economists didn’t predict the 2008 crash

Michael Arnott

Pictured: A wind farm (Photographer: Christopher Cotrell)

Pictured: Cartoon ‘Laugh-OutLoud Cats #950’ (Source: Flickr; Ape Lad)

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Cyngor i Fyfyrwyr Member

Daniel Heard

Clinton confirms bid for 2016 presidency

But is she the right candidate?

“When you’ve done as much as you have, you’re gonna make some mistakes. Even Tom Hanks makes a ‘Cloud Atlas’ every once in a while”, as Nightly Show host Larry Wilmore, a disciple of the king of political satire Jon Stewart, put it when talking about Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential bid.

In the week where it was announced that the former First Lady and Secretary of State would be throwing her hat into the ring for the role of Commander in Chief, doubts began to arise almost as quickly and evenly as the praise. Wilmore makes an interesting point; despite being shrouded in humour - is she ready for this? Make no mistake; Hillary Clinton is supremely well qualified to be president.

History has shown that experience and wonkiness are not necessarily assets in American presidential elections

She has strong experience, she’s smart and capable, and she would probably do a great job. She is widely and deservedly respected and admired. She also has deep connections and an immense and talented political machine, one that has been gearing up for her campaign for years. But despite this, I don’t think she’ll get the job. Why not? Four reasons, none of which are insurmountable, two of which are politically incorrect: age, gender, track record, and her relative lack of charm and, dare I say it, likability.

If Clinton is elected president in 2016, she will be the one of the oldest

presidents ever. Only Ronald Reagan was older. Te average age of incoming presidents is 54. Clinton would be 69. Reagan was also 69. And by the end of his second term, he was viewed as old. Now, I’m not saying age should be a factor. I’m just saying it likely will be. Someday, and rightly so, a woman will be president of the US. Also, I think that the general consensus within the United States is finally ready and willing to elect a woman as president. But, across business and politics, it is still harder for women to get to the top. I think that breaking this final glass ceiling will likely take a very strong candidate, and unfortunately, I just don’t think she will be strong enough in 2016. Again, I’m not saying gender should be a factor, but it most likely will be.

History has shown that experience and wonkiness are not necessarily assets in American presidential elections. On the contrary, they are often liabilities. Al Gore had tremendous experience- something that ultimately worked against him in the election, along with his voting record and perceived eccentricity. Similarly, the candidate who eventually trumped Clinton in the 2008 primaries, Barack Obama, also had limited experience. However, he was more charming, and better at connecting with voters than Clinton was. Trough social websites such as Facebook, Obama built relationships with his supporters, and would-be supporters. He developed

an upfront, face-to-face quality that gave his supporters a sense of security and trust. As talented and sharp as she is, Clinton does not share this strength, and it leaves her exposed to more charismatic candidates.

Clinton has radically improved her public-speaking prowess and campaigning ability over the years, but she still struggles to forge an emotional connection with average voters. Tis natural magnetism was her

husband’s greatest strength, and it propelled him to two election victories despite other flaws. A Clinton candidacy will be seen as “more of the same,” and, given President Obama’s approval ratings, that may not be a good thing. I both like and admire Hillary Clinton. She is an incredible statesperson, politician and person. But, I just do not think she will win the 2016 election, unless the Republicans shoot themselves in the foot.

Australia: no vaccination, no benefits

Clinton still struggles to forge an emotional connection with average voters

Carwyn Williams

The Australian Government last week outlined plans for a new policy, where parents who refuse to vaccinate their children will be refused government benefits. Tese benefits add up to around $15,000 (£7,500) per child, with the aim to improve safety through vaccination rates.

It is vitally important to protect society by giving parents an incentive to do the right thing

In a statement, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said “Tis is essentially a ‘no jab, no pay’ policy from this Government”, and the number of exceptions will “be lucky to be in the thousands.” It is thought the only group to be able to reject to this change will be the Christian Scientists, who believe healing prayer is more effective without medical intervention.

Te new law is likely to be passed without problems, as the opposition leader also agreed with the consensus that this was a sensible step.

President of the Australian Medical Association, Brian Owler, also supported the move and underlined the importance of people talking to their GP about it. Whilst this is an important step, Owler stated “You have to

keep going with the education, the right messaging, to the media and the public to get parents to the right sources of information and to call out the anti-vax lobby for what it is.”

Tis policy is seen as a conditional cash transfer policy, which has proven to be very effective in many countries to ensure certain standards, and it is hoped vaccination rates will rise and maintain a high rate, despite the measure being considered a world first.

It seems that this policy has been set out due to a rise in unvaccinated children, and it is vitally important to protect society by giving parents an incentive to do the right thing. In recent years the UK had seen low immunization, with the number of children getting the MMR vaccine hitting only 80 per cent in 2003/4. Numbers have recovered, but there remains a threat of an outbreak as was seen in 2013 with an outbreak in the Swansea area. Over a thousand people were infected in South Wales, with one death being reported too, proving how vital vaccinations are to our community.

Australia has vaccination rates of over 90 per cent in one to seven year olds, however it is recommended it should reach at least 95 per cent to be effective, and 39,000 children were not vaccinated because of their

parents objection. Tis figure is up 24,000 over the last decade, so the government is keen to stop this rising trend. It is hoped the changes would come into effect from January next year.

Pictured Hillary Rodham Clinton

(Source: Flickr; Hans Watson)

Pictured: A vaccination report card (Source: Flickr; frankieleon)

Meryon Roderick

SCIENCE

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SeaWorld lawsuit highlights appalling animal cruelty

Imagine a room. Te room is small, maybe about 16 square metres in area. Te room has four walls but no roof, no furniture, nothing to make you feel comfortable. Tere are chemicals in the air that burn your eyes, nose and mouth and gradually damage your skin. To make matters worse the sun shines directly into the room all day every day, reaching temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius in the summer. Tere is no shade and you are only allowed sun cream after your skin has begun to burn severely. Tis room is now your home for the rest of your life.

Tis is the reality for many captive orca whales, including those at SeaWorld, the immensely popular US amusement park. Tis mistreatment of these whales is now the subject of a lawsuit filed against SeaWorld, the second such lawsuit in under three weeks.

A SeaWorld spokesman said that the lawsuit appears to be an attempt by animal rights extremists to use the courts to advance an anti-zoo agenda

SeaWorld is being sued by Joyce Kuhl from Carolina who has accused the company of lying about the “magic” of man and whale living and playing in harmony in the marine park, which “masks the ugly truth about the unhealthy and despairing lives of these whales”. Kuhl believes that the promotional material put out by SeaWorld is intentionally misleading, providing grounds to sue. She is seeking a refund for the $87 she spent on tickets to the park as well as a refund for every visitor to the park within the last four years. If SeaWorld lose the court battle the class action lawsuit will cost them a minimum of $2 billion.

Te lawsuit alleges appalling abuse of these highly intelligent mammals. Orca whales regularly swim over 160 kilometres a day chasing shoals of fish and other prey in the wild but are confined to pools often no larger than a swimming pool at SeaWorld. Moreover, Kuhl claims that the chlorine solution used in the pools is “many times stronger than household bleach” and is

often so strong that the trainers have to stay out of the water. Te court document states that “these orcas suffer in tiny, unnatural chemical tubs.”

Orca whales often reach over nine metres in length but are made to spend much of the day in tanks that are less than three metres deep, exposing them to the sun’s rays for long periods of time. Due to the fact orca whales are adapted to spend most of their time deep under water, they have quite a low tolerance for UV radiation. Tis means that their time spent trapped out in the sun results in painful sunburns which are often severe enough to discolour the skin. Tese burns are covered up for shows with the application of black zinc oxide, which matches the natural colour of the orca.

Te lawsuit further alleges that the cruelty with which these animals are treated extends to starving them for days or weeks to train them to perform “when positive reinforcement fails”, forced incestuous breeding between mothers and sons violating the rigid family structures that this species adheres to in the wild, and the keeping of whales together in cramped conditions, causing them to become hyper aggressive and inflict often serious injuries on one another. Tese factors are thought to be part of the reason why an animal that is capable of living to over 100 years of age in the wild often does not outlive its teens whilst kept in captivity. Te average age of orca whales in captivity is only nine. Kuhl claims that the stress that the orcas are under is displayed in abnormal behaviour such as grinding teeth down on walls and bars due to boredom and frustration and regurgitating their food. Tese are both behaviours that are not reflected at all in nature.

Te court documents say that “SeaWorld has long known this but ac-

cepts that abnormal (even desperate) orca behavior...is the price paid for this form of human entertainment and company profit”.

Tese behaviours are alleged by the lawsuit to be partially controlled by heavily drugging the orcas with antacids and antibiotics to alleviate stomach ulcers, and even antipsychotic and psychoactive drugs such as benzodiazepines to keep the orcas sedate, preventing them reacting against confinement.

SeaWorld have strongly denied these claims, stating that “there is no higher priority for SeaWorld than the health and wellbeing of its animals”.

A SeaWorld spokesman said that the lawsuit “appears to be an attempt by animal right extremists to use the courts to advance an anti-zoo agenda”. However, Kuhl is not alone in her disgust with the amusement park, with shares in SeaWorld falling 33 per cent at the end of 2014 after a 6-7 per cent decline in the company’s revenues was forecast.

Te falling attendance is thought to be largely due to the negative publicity generated by the documentary Blackfish, which follows the story of Tilikum, an orca whale who was taken forcefully from his pod in the wild to be exhibited at SeaWorld, a practice that SeaWorld deny they engage in. Tilikum has become infamous for causing the death of three people including his trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010. Brancheau was lying at the edge of Tilikum’s pool feeding him when he dragged her into the water by her arm. By the time the other trainers managed to separate Tilikum from Brancheau he had torn off her arm, entirely removed her scalp, and severed her spinal cord. Tis shocking and tragic death of a trainer who Tilikum apparently knew very well serves to highlight the dangers of keeping

Pictured: SeaWorld is reknowned for its action “Shamu show”. However, many are beginning to believe that the amazing tricks are via cruel and questionable means

(Source: Mandy Lackey, Flickr)

these extremely powerful and poorly understood creatures in captivity. Te beginning of the apparent decline in SeaWorld’s profits fits into an interesting wider narrative, which is affecting many so called zoological institutions across the world. Last week saw the Tai government commit to removing all of the tigers from the popular tourist attraction Tiger Temple to be released into the wild, effectively closing the attraction. Te reason for the removal has not been officially announced but there is speculation that it is linked to the removal of six moon bears last month after the attraction could not prove they had been obtained legally. Tere have been allegations made against Tiger Temple, and its larger competitor Tiger World in the past that the tigers are drugged and mistreated to keep them calm enough so that tourists can take “tiger selfies” with the captive cats.

Whilst the cultures of the US and Tailand share very few common values, it is interesting and encouraging to see both nations engaging with animal rights in such a tangible way. Hopefully this marks the beginning of the end to the anthropocentric view that other species exist purely for our own entertainment.

Using one of the rarest and most dangerous predators on the planet for a selfie for your Facebook wall or forcing one of the most intelligent animals we know of to perform unnatural behaviours in front of a baying crowd has an air of the Victorian menagerie or the Russian dancing bear. Hopefully as with these past abuses of our power over nature, we can one day look back on SeaWorld and Tiger Temple with regret but also the knowledge that eventually we learned to do the right thing. Ten we can enjoy these magnificent animals in the wild, where they belong.

“The court document states that “These orcas suffer in tiny, unnatural chemical tubs

Got a story idea? Let us know: science@ gairrhydd.com

Maria Mellor

Around 70% of men experience [spontaneous desire] as their primary desire style in comparison to only 10 per cent to 20 per cent of women

Sex drive does not exist, says experts

As humans, we have certain needs, certain drives that we have to fulfill in order to survive. We crave nourishment and warmth, we have thirst and hunger. However leading researcher Emily Nagoski has indicated that these drives are in no way similar to our need for sex. Te phrase ‘sex drive’ is actually misleading, bordering on the side of incorrect.

Sex is not essential for survival. Sex is not like food or water: if you abstain, you won’t die. You may say that sex is necessary in order for mankind to survive, however in this day and age this argument simply is not relevant. Tere is no physical evidence of a drive mechanism, says Nagoski, and thinking of sex in this way can be damaging. Society considers people who have a ‘low sex drive’ in a negative manner, especially as it implies there is something ‘wrong’ or ‘broken’, if this so-called drive is not present.

Tere is no such thing as the sex drive. Te term has previously been used by scientists and psychologists to refer to our need to find a partner.

Instead of a need, Nagoski prefers to describe it as two different kinds of desire: spontaneous and responsive. Spontaneous desire is, quite obviously, spontaneous, as it occurs suddenly when you see a sexy person or have a stray sexy thought and begin to crave sex. It is triggered by the person themselves. Conversely, responsive desire is triggered when sexual contact is initiated, and starts with someone else turning you on.

Tese desires vary from person to person, in the same way that different people are attracted to different aspects of a person. Attraction to a person’s body, smell or even personality can trigger spontaneous desire, however it has been found that spontaneous desire is found more commonly in men than in women. Around 70 per cent of men experience it as their primary desire style in comparison to only 10 per cent to 20 per cent of women. Nagoski has suggested that the outdated idea of the sex drive stems from the male ideas of arousal, and she states that as a society we need to see both kinds of desire as

normal and healthy. Nagoski, in an interview with New Scientist, said this: “Is it more important that people crave sex than it is that they enjoy the sex they’re having?.” With

her work she aims to change the way people perceive desire and stop people from believing that they are in some way ‘dysfunctional’ if they don’t experience desire in the same way as others.

Tose cute memes might be cruel to animals

Photographers go to extreme lengths for the best viral adverts

(Source:

Shanna Hamilton

There is something about a cute critter that we simply cannot resist. Toy piglets wearing wellington boots, tiny French bulldogs with their huge puppy-dog eyes: we as human beings seem to completely lose our dignity around all creatures great and small (slugs and spiders excluded).

Te media industry has long capitalised on the attraction of cute. In the current climate of sharing and social media, the possibility of a weasel riding on a bird’s back spreading like wildfire across the globe, the quest for the perfectly cute animal meme may be going a step too far. Te allure of making money is sometimes overriding a sense of responsibility: animal cruelty is rife when finding such farfetched photographs, and it’s high time these practices stopped.

Animal cruelty is rife when finding such farfetched photographs, and it’s high time these practices stopped

Science can easily explain why we are so fond of young, baby creatures that appear to us as adorable. First discussed in 1943 by ethologist Konrad Lorenz, he described the socalled ‘baby schema’ – the reason we find animal babies cute. Lorenz indicated that we find chubby cheeks, a plump body with thick extremities and a small nose and mouth particularly attractive – all features of a new born human infant. Since his description of ‘baby schema’, numerous studies published in scientific journals have identified that adults feel a range of positive emotions, such as endearment, when they see an infant. Te urge to protect our young is deep seated in our genes.

It is therefore no surprise that the

media, to pull us in to an advertising campaign or a website, exploits the infant features of animals. We are attracted to creatures when they show anthropomorphic behaviours, like those of human beings. However, a grinning monkey is not happy, it is nervous. Lizards playing air guitar, or frogs blazing the middle finger up to the air, are not natural incidents that photographers can claim to stumble upon. Tese photos and behaviours are staged, with the animal being distressed.

Celebrities are also not shy of taking part in practices they may not realise are cruel. Te lion cub curled up with Cara Delevingne, in an ad campaign for watch brand Tag Heuer, is only submissive to her company thanks to sustained physical abuse and starvation.

Dr Neil D’Cruze, a World Animal Protection wildlife expert, said about this advert; “When you look behind the scenes, advertisements like these support an industry that relies on animal cruelty. Our concern is that such high profile adverts will legitimise these cruel encounters with wild animals.”

Te latest viral meme to anger ecologists globally is of a frog riding a beetle cowboy-style, with a widemouthed expression suggestive that it is enjoying it. Some versions of the photograph include the words “Yeehaw”. But according to amphibian expert Jodi Rowley, this image has almost certainly been staged, and she took to twitter to express her concern. So while we all enjoy and share the

latest viral meme, with a cuddly creature doing something outrageous, it is worth contemplating whether the animal in question had to suffer for our enjoyment. Dr D’Cruze said, “I am sure that both advertisers and

consumers alike would think twice about the commercial use of wild animals if they were aware of the suffering involved behind the scenes.” Tat swearing frog might be funny, but think before you share.

Animals do well enough at being outrageously cute without being forced to do things that may distress them

Pictured:

(Source: Stijn Hosdez, Flickr)

Pictured: Many people do not become aroused until sexual contact is initiated.

www. randomrocker. com)

“

ECT should only be used for the treatment of severe depressive illness... after all other

treatment options have failed

”

Electroconvulsive therapy: effective or disturbing?

Most of you will admit to Netflix binge-watching. Te latest seasons from start to finish, easily accessible and so good for all your procrastination needs. Fortunately, a painful hangover session watching American Horror Story piqued my interest, not only in Evan Peters and his blond locks, but in what appears to be a horrifying medical practice: electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT.

Forced ECT is seen throughout Season 2, Asylum, in particular applied to Sarah Paulson’s character Lana Winters, the sharp and competent journalist who cannot escape the psychiatric hospital she tries in vein to close down. She is strapped to a bed, electrodes applied to her temples, and what follows is a blast of electricity, leading to convulsions that can be painful to watch.

I soon wondered how on earth does this procedure work, is there was any truth in the portrayal of its effects, and is this controversial treatment was still used today?

Firstly, the suffering of Lana Winters would not be seen so severely in actual medical practice. ECT involves a brief application of electrical stimulation to the brain after the patient receives an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxant – so the pain would not be evident. Charge coursing through the brain can last up to 4 seconds, causing epileptic-like seizures. Te procedure has been used to treat depression, schizophrenia and catatonia when symptoms fail to improve through other interventions, and not as a method of toture as portrayed in the popular American show.

Since 1785, therapeutic seizure induction has been used a method to treat psychiatric conditions, beginning

with drugs to cause fitting. In the late 1930s, Italian neurologist Ugo Cerletti developed the idea of using electricity as a substitute for such drugs, after experiments with pigs revealed that an electric shock before slaughter led to an anaesthetized state. Trial patients showed improvement after multiple treatments. Although retrograde amnesia is often thought of as a side effect, patients viewed this as a positive outcome, forgetting the procedure completely and therefore harbouring no bad feelings towards them.

Te use of ECT has steadily become more controversial as the mechanism of effect remains elusive. Its popularity has declined as we have moved into the 21st century and the use of antidepressive medication has grown. In 1980, the UK saw over 50,000 people receiving ECT, but numbers have dwindled to just less than 2000 in 2013. NICE, the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, recommend: “ECT should only be used for the treatment of severe depressive illness… only to gain shortterm improvement of severe symptoms after all other treatment options have failed.”

What struck me while watching American Horror Story was the method was never used with informed consent – the patient was forced to undergo what looked like a horrendous treatment, without the knowledge of what it involved. In the UK, however, this cannot happen. Until 2009, the Mental Health Act 1983 did allow the use of ECT on detained patients, whether or not they could agree. However, new amendments mean that generally the intervention cannot be used on a patient who refuses it, even if they lack capacity to consent. Te

World Health Organisation, in support of this stance, advises that “ECT should be used only with the informed consent of the patient (or their guardian if their incapacity to consent has been established).” So if Lana refused here in the UK, the procedure would not take place.

American Horror Story has added to the negative depictions of ECT in mass media, including that of the drama film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, where it was used by a nurse as a tool of terror. While backlash and concern remains within the public and medical communities of what may appear to be a brutal therapy, it is worth

Anoting that some famous and more recent recipients of ECT are happy with its results.

“It makes me feel better, it is not like it was. Tey put you to sleep and give you medication so there is no convulsions and put these films on you and it is all over very quickly”, said actor Carrie Fisher, famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy. Discussing her mental illness, and the failed attempts to treat the condition with other methods, Fisher said, “Te only lesson for me, or for anybody, is that you have to get help. It’s not a neat illness. It doesn’t go away.”

Is abortion really reversible?

Arizona doctors must now discuss possibility

rriving at the decision to have a termination is difficult, and the issue sensitive. Te latest law passed in Arizona is unsurprisingly controversial, and argued by some as another way of placing pressure on women to change their mind about abortion. Doctors in the American state are now required to inform their patients that drug-based terminations may be reversed at a certain stage in the process. Are these claims scientifically valid? Can you stop an abortion half way through?

Tere are two types of medical termination, drug-based and surgical. Drug-based, also known as medical procedures, accounted for 65% of terminations in Wales in 2013, with 72% of women receiving treatment before the embryo reached 9 weeks development. Two drugs are taken, within a 48-hour window, and the effectiveness depends on the stage of pregnancy. Mifepristone begins the process, a drug that causes the embryo to

separate from the womb lining. Te second drug, misoprostol, causes the womb to then expel its contents.

Te new law passed in Arizona is based on new experimental treatment that as yet has little evidence in scientific literature to support it. It requires medical professionals who offer drug-based terminations to discuss an intervention that could potentially stop the procedure.

Te regime, developed by George Delgardo of the Culture of Life Services in San Diego, involves an injection of a hormone that would normally help to maintain a pregnancy, progesterone. If a woman changes her mind after the first dose, Delgardo believes the process can be reversed, and says that his approach has halted 87 abortions, with a 60 per cent success rate. It is important to note that these findings aren’t published, and that once the second dose is taken, the process cannot be reversed.

Obvious concerns would be the

health of an embryo after treatment to in effect remove it from its environment. Delgardo has said there have been no congenital deformations or other conditions reported as his clinic; most safety concerns with pregnancy after a termination procedure are due to the second drug instead, according to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.

Other concerns about Delgardo’s claims include the choice of drug. While he cites animal research to support “reversal treatment” in this way, other doctors are unsure that progesterone could actually provide this. Te first drug, mifepristone, actually knocks progesterone off receptors, its attachment to a cell. An extra dose of progesterone may be unlikely to reverse this.

Delgardo points to a study that suggests up to 10 per cent of women regret their decision to have a termination. However, Patricia Lohr of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service,

points to a British study published in BJOG, that found in over 4000 women, only one changed their mind after beginning the procedure. She pointed out that this law may make some women feel uncomfortable: “If a doctor told me the abortion they were about to carry out was reversible I would feel as though they weren’t listening when I said I didn’t want to continue the pregnancy.”

Some critics have not filtered their outrage to what is seen as an attack on abortion. Te US differs state to state, but is often much more restrictive than the UK on the rights of a woman to terminate. Marge Berger, of the International Campaign for Women’s Rights to Safe Abortion, blasted Delgardo’s work: “ Tis is another example of anti-abortion pseudoscience, which unfortunately is becoming common practice in the US. Whether this bill stays on the books in Arizona, I think it’s likely that we will see it pop up somewhere else.”

It makes me feel better, it is not like it was. They put you to sleep and give you medication... it is all over very quickly

This is another example of anti-abortion pseudoscience which unfortunately is becoming common practice in the US

Shanna Hamilton Pictured: Jack Nicholson receives ECT in the film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” but it is not a truthful representation (Source: imgkid)

Shanna Hamilton

Pictured: Te only view of sunny Cardiff - out of a library window - many people will be familiar with currently - take a break and have a look at What’s On (Photographer: Beth Powell)

SOCIETIES

Barney’s Note

Hello everyone – hope you have all had a lovely Easter. Things have been quite quiet without throngs of students buzzing through the SU but it has meant we have been able to put plans in place for many wonderful fun things.

What’s On

Monday 20th April

Xpress Radio

Live on 87.7 FM Radio

20th-30th April

http://cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk/ xpress/ or 87.7FM.

Student Advice

Student Advice Drop In Noon - 2pm

Chief among these is the upcoming Societies Ball – over 300 of you will be coming and I honestly can’t wait! The shortlist for the Awards is out and viewable on the website so have a look to see if your society is in the running.

In other news, the Guild of Societies is having its Council meetings on the 22nd and 23rd of April. Here we will have an overview of the year (spoiler – things have gone very well), discuss any changes for the year moving forward and also open nominations for the new Societies Executive Committee. Come along if you want to get involved in the proceedings and have a say about how Societies are run here in Cardiff!

Anthropological Society

Dr Steven Stanley - Mindfulness: Psychological, Social and Historical Dimensions

Meeting rooms close to the IV Lounge

LGBT+ Society

LGBT+ Society AGM 7pm - 9pm Sir Donald Walter Boardroom, Students’ Union.

Tuesday 21st April

5.30pm

Room 4.45, John Percival Building, Colum Road

Anime Society Calligraphy Session 6pm – 7.30pm

Cardiff Healthy People Society (CHiPS) Last CHiPS Session

7.30pm – 8.30pm 4J, Students’ Union

Wednesday 22nd April

Students’ Union

Welsh Varsity 2015 9am - 23rd April 3am

Swansea

Airsoft Society Airsoft Society Annual General Meeting 6pm - 9pm 4A/B, Students’ Union

Tursday 23rd April

Engineers without Borders Society EWB Cardiff AGM 2015 5pm - 6pm Te Forum, Cardiff School of Engineering

Student Voice

Referendum Debate

6.30pm – 7.30pm Julian Hodge Lecture Teatre

Friday 24th April

Social Sciences Society SOCSI Ball

7pm – midnight Cardiff Museum

Brass Band Society End of Year Concert – also joined by the Jazz Orchestra. £5 entry, £2 students and concessions 7pm – 9pm Concert Hall, School of Music, Corbett Road

Saturday 25th April

Psychology Society Te Psych-Ademy Awards Ball 7pm – midnight Te Mercure Hotel, Newport Road

Sunday 26th April

Journalism Society BBC London Tour! 7am - 8pm London

Cardiff University String Orchestra Baroque to Broadway End of term concert, £2.50 adults, £1.50 students. 2pm

Concert Hall, School of Music, Corbett Road

Amnesty International Society host Jamnesty

Annual jam night fundraiser scheduled for next Monday

Emily McGroarty

Our campaign events focus on film screenings, letter writing, Christmas card making and talks

It’s that time of year again where Amnesty International Society rounds up a wealth of talent from all across Cardiff to throw their annual Jamnesty gig. Take a night off from your uni work and make your way down to Te Full Moon Club in Cardiff at 7.30 pm on Monday 27th April for an unforgettable feast of fresh talent. Jamnesty is Amnesty International’s annual jam night, put on to raise as much money as possible for the world’s leading Human Rights organisation.

Amnesty International is an organisation which challenges authorities which violate our human rights. It consists of ordinary people across the world that use the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Act as a powerful tool so stand up for humanity. We invite everyone to take action by doing a simple act

such as sending an email, signing a petition, posting a letter or attending a fundraising event like Jamnesty. Tis could make a real difference to someone’s life.

At Cardiff University, we run a society to allow us to regularly do our bit for Amnesty. Troughout the year we put on fundraising and campaign events, the first to raise money and the latter to raise awareness. Our

fundraising events include bake sales, pub quizzes, our annual Secret Policeman’s Ball and Jamnesty while our campaign events focus on film screenings, letter writing, Christmas card making and talks.

Last year we were joined on the Gwdhihw stage by a diverse range of acts who helped us raise £200 for Amnesty. Tis year, with doors opening at 7.30pm and music

beginning at 8pm, we invite SauSau, Te Antz Wandle Project, Nowhere Boy and Te Starling Radicals to the stage, with Te Strip Lights to headline the event.

Tickets cost just £3.50 for students, all of which will go to the organisation Amnesty International and with a wealth of diverse music talent and cheap drink deals; it’s an event not to miss.

Louisa Sham

When asking the audience for requests at the end, one witty Dutch man replied: Time to Say Goodbye

The City of Cardiff Concert Band annual tour goes to the Netherlands

Just before the Easter break, whilst many of the student population may have been recovering from Drink the Bar Dry, 36 members of the City of Cardiff Concert Band headed off on our annual tour, this year to the Netherlands. We got on a coach at 4am and 15 hours later, we arrived at a lovely hotel in a town called Noordwijk.

With Dutch food to warm our stomachs, we were more than ready to have our first rehearsal as a 36-piece. Afterwards, some went to explore the local nightlife, (which we were all more than familiar with by the end)! However, most went to bed for a well-earned rest in preparation for our first day.

Bright and early, we travelled to Amsterdam, where we performed a lunchtime concert in a big and busy youth hostel. We gathered a large fan base, with one woman singing and dancing to our rendition of Frozen Having had a successful first concert, we treated ourselves to a boat tour through the canals.

Te next day, we visited the

Anne Frank House, which was an experience, both moving and interesting. We then headed to a nearby city, Delft, where we performed at the market square. We braved the cold, wind, falling stands and ripping music to an appreciative, albeit amused audience.

Our last full day gave us the opportunity for free time in Amsterdam. We trialled the tram system, admittedly with limited

success, took a number of touristy photos and strolled through the redlight district.

Feeling refreshed from the Amsterdam air, we performed our final concert to hall-full of people at a nursing home. At the end, when asking the audience for requests, one witty Dutch man replied: “Time to Say Goodbye”. Unfortunately, that wasn’t in our repertoire! We headed back to the hotel, where we celebrated the end

Josh Gibbs

Amsterdam is the city of original cool, and also the city of multilingualism

of tour with an awards evening and recalled our favourite moments before having one last night on the town.

Finally, we departed our hotel in the morning for the long trip back to Cardiff after an amazing time.

We are all extremely grateful to our Tour Representative, Niamh Kelly, who said: “Organising the tour was an incredible experience and it was so fun to be able to play music in a different country with a group of such talented musicians!”

President Matthew Williams added: “Tour is always a major highlight for the band and this year was no different. It brings everyone closer together as a group which contributes to the fantastic friendly atmosphere which is one of the things I enjoy most about the society.

“Niamh did an amazing job of organising the week and I know that everyone is looking forward to next year! Roll on Tour 2016!”

For more information about the band, please get in touch: Facebook: City of Cardiff Concert Band; Twitter: @cardiff windband; Email: cardiff windbandsociety@gmail.com

Seven reasons to Give Amsterdam a Go

Give it a Go are running an amazing end of exams summer trip to Amsterdam! Here are seven great reasons why you should seriously consider getting yourself on this trip, which is their biggest and best yet!

Amsterdam is a beautiful idyllic capital city, steeped in history, culture and natural architectural beauty.

Packed with street side cafes, restaurants and bars and generally adorned in amazing weather, Amsterdam is an iconic European city you can really enjoy exploring. It’s unquestionably a city break everyone should have on their bucket list.

Forget hostels. Te accommoda-

tion the Students’ Union is offering is award winning and hotel standard with an amazing all you can eat breakfast included on both mornings you wake up in Amsterdam. Perfect fuel for all the lonely planet exploring you’ll be doing.

A free extra day. Te overnight coach means you get an extra day to explore Amsterdam free of charge! Give it a Go will provide you with ear plugs and an eye mask so just remember to bring your pillow and get some well-deserved shut eye on the coach. Why not use that extra day to explore Amsterdam like a local – hiring a bike is by far the quickest and easiest way to zip around the main sights!

Freedom. You have the choice between wandering off and having an adventure with your friends or following the specially organised and jam packed Give it a Go Itinerary. You also get the option of signing up for the phenomenal Cardiff on Tour bar-crawl going through four separate bars and a nightclub. You get a Tshirt, free drinks at every bar and all entry included for just £15.

Tey speak English. Amsterdam, the city of original cool, is also the city of multilingualism it seems. Everywhere you go you’ll find people speaking… well, English. Without a language barrier, why wouldn’t you embrace everything the city has to offer?

Te attractions. Te stunning Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum, Te Anne Frank House, the iconic canals, the floating flower markets, the Red Light District, the Heineken brewery, the legendary nightlife and famous coffee shops, all mean one thing: why haven’t you booked yourself on this trip yet?

Te price! For three days with all return transport, ferries, hotel accommodation, breakfast, a packed optional itinerary and all your friends, £142 makes this an affordable way to reward yourself after the stress of exams!

For more information visit cardiffstudents.com/Amsterdam or search #AmsterdamCSU

We gathered a large fan base, with one woman singing and dancing to our rendition of Frozen

Pictured: Amsterdam (Source: Moyan Brenn, Flickr)

SOCIETIES

Shortlist released for this year’s Societies Awards

Hannah Sterritt

With just over 2 weeks to go, the shortlist for Te Societies Awards 2015 has been released. Winners will be announced at Te Societies Ball on Friday 8th May.

Te 2014 Societies Ball celebrated the 169 societies and their 7,945 members’ achievements. Tis year, there has been an increase in both to almost 200 societies and 8,600 members! Societies play a massive part in student life and it is through the tireless work of committee members that this is the case, engaging students and providing countless activities.

Palestine Society and Tamil Society. Tis category was won last year by the YUVA Indian Society with Arab Society the runner up. As predicted, Act One and Operatic Society are seen again in the Best Cardiff Fringe Event category, the winner and runner up respectively at last year’s awards. Te Cardiff Fringe Festival celebrated its second year as a festival dedicated to showcasing our performance and artistic societies’ talents and was held the week before Go Global from Friday 13th March. Broadway Dance and Student Minds are the other two societies in this shortlist.

– Malaysian Society and the Real Ale & Cider Festival. Te two latter events in this list are the same as last year’s runner up and winner.

Te Best Newcomer award is shortlisted between the Bollywood Dance Society, British Red Cross Society, Cardiff Healthy People Society and the Effective Altruists Society, all formed at the beginning of the academic year and have been very successful during their first year.

We are working hard to make sure that this year’s ball exceeds expectations Barney Willis, VP Societies

Te current VP Societies, Barney Willis commented: “the Societies Ball last year was possibly the best party I went to in the entire academic year! Tere were obvious reasons for this (like the awards, the fantastic food, the magician, the free wine etc.) but perhaps the most amazing thing about the night is seeing all of the incredibly dedicated society members together in one room congratulating each other on their successes. Te event is full of ‘Societies people’ for lack of a better expression – dedicated people who care a huge amount about what they do! Seeing them all in one room is just incredible and it is a reminder of just how large the Guild of Societies family is! We are working hard to make sure that this year’s ball exceeds expectations – I can’t wait to see everyone there!”

Te first category on the list is Best Go Global performance, which was held on the 21st March. Nominated for a second year running, Asian Society have been shortlisted alongside Malaysian Society,

Following on this pattern, the shortlist for the Association of the year includes the recipients of the winner and runner up awards from last year, the Women’s Association and LGBT+ Association, showing a consistently high level of commitment. Te Mature Students’ Association and Postgraduate Association also made the shortlist. Tis trend continues with the Student Led Service Of Te Year category, again featuring last year’s winner, SHAG, and runner up, Student Minds. Also included are Nightline and RAG.

Te shortlist for the Best Small Event has five contenders: Battle of the Bands – Live Music Society, Catholic Society Conference, Netherlands Tour – Windband Society, Speed Ball – Airsoft Society and Yule Ball – Harry Potter Society. Both this category and the next, Best Large event feature an incredibly varied selection of events. Te Best Large Event shortlist includes the Broadway Dance Competition, Convinced? –Christian Union, Festival of Diversity

Te Best Society Collaboration category is another example of an award particularly celebrating the connections societies make with each other throughout the year, demonstrated in how successful these events have been.

Te Boots Varsity Challenge, Breaking the Silence, Music Showcase and Student Led Services Week made the shortlist.

Te Most Improved Society is an interesting one, the shortlist featuring the A Cappella Society which was in the shortlist for Best Newcomer at last year’s awards, and the Music Society which featured in the same category last year. Tese societies are joined by Expression and Global Health Student Network.

A new category this year, the Committee of the Year shortlist features the Duke of Edinburgh Society, Jazz Society, Slash and Teddy Bear Hospital. A category which does not feature this year is Best Society Activity which could be because the other categories cover this suitably.

Te awards that celebrate individual’s work with societies are the Most Committed Member, Committee Member Of Te Year and Te Officer’s Choice For Outstanding Contribution awards. Te Most

Committed Member shortlist is for a non-committee member of the society. Te shortlist includes: Abby Spittle – A Cappella Society, Bri Parker – Baking Society, Harry Henshaw – Jazz Society and Kandarp Patel – Asian Society. Te Committee Member Of Te Year shortlist is: Charley Senter – Slash, Emily Harrison – Windband Society, Katie Blackwell – Operatic Society and Victoria Botting – Cardiff Marrow. Te Officer’s Choice for Outstanding Contribution shortlist is as follows: Eliza Walwyn-Jones – RAG & STAR, Emily Greenfield – Expression & Student Minds, Heather Sadler – Erasmus Society & Give It A Go, James Ledward – Maths Society & SHAG and Milly Dyer –Brass Band & Give It A Go. Give It

A Go as a new programme of events has been particularly well received by societies offering no obligation events to potential members, so it is great to see two people in this shortlist who have had involvement with so many different societies through this.

Finally, the categories for the different sizes of society and their nominations are as follows. Te Best Small Society: Cardiff Marrow, Healthcare Music Society, Operatic Society, Sikh Society and Slash. Te Best Medium Society: Anime Society, Art Society, Christian Union, FAD and Windband Society. Best Large Society: Act One, Broadway Dance Society, Maths Society and Optometry Society.

All will be revealed on Friday 8th May, after a staggering 350 tickets have been sold. Te ball is promised to be an unforgettable night of celebration.

Pictured: Highlights from last year’s Societies Ball (Photographer: Cardiff University Students’ Union)

PARK LIFE

A note from Claire

Claire Blakeway H

ello everyone! We have quite a jam packed Park Life in stall for you today, full of lots of Heath Park activity!

You will notice that we have a new editor, Vidya Brainerd. I just want to say how grateful I am to Vidya stepping into this role so late on in the year, and doing this role alongside her radiography degree! I know how demanding a healthcare degree is so I really appreciate her time and effort into Park Life. Tank you Vidya!

Before the end of term, we had a Student led Service fair in the IV Lounge. For those of you who don’t know what I mean by this term, Student led Services are student groups that come together to provide services for other students and the local Cardiff community. Stalls at the fair included Sexual Health Awareness Group (SHAG), Raise and Give (RAG), Student Minds

and Cardiff Healthy People Society (CHIPS). It was great to see these services reach out to Heath students! One of these services, SHAG, have recently been working really hard to get a condom dispenser on the campus, and a result of this hard work, I am happy to announce there will be a condom dispenser on campus from the start of the summer term. It will be located on the wall of the Heath Hub. Condoms will be free, so make sure you check it out!

In other news, I have been working with the Languages for All Programme to discuss how we can make their classes more inclusive for Heath students. Later this term, I will be releasing a survey to see what timings work best for you to have classes. Make sure you fill it out as the results from this survey will help us to make Languages for All more inclusive for you.

A note from your newly-elected VP Heath Park

Hello! Just to introduce myself, my name is Katey Beggan and, as Claire mentioned last week, I will be taking over the role as your new VP Heath Park in July.

Over the past few weeks quite a few people have asked me how I feel about taking up the role in three months time, and I’m not going to lie it still hasn’t sunk in yet. For anyone who has never run in elections, campaign week is a bizarre mixture of exhaustion, comradeship, adrenaline and unhealthy eating.

Tis, topped with the anxiety of waiting for results, is likely to put off anyone who wants to run in elections, but I maintain that it is worth it! I know you may think, ‘ Tat is easy for you to say! You won!’ However, the skills you learn in such a short space of time, coupled with the positive impact on your personal development, can’t be gained any other way. After all this, the realisation of working next academic year and not doing my degree is daunting. However, I am very excited about starting the role and can’t wait to begin working with you all!

Tere are some very exciting projects which I will be working on next academic year that I hope will really improve the student experience at the Heath. I will tighten up placement organisation so that you can turn up to placements knowing that you are expected and that you will have a productive day of learning. I also want to lobby for a one month rolling mem-

bership at the Heath Gym. Tis means that those of you who are on placements away from Cardiff can easily join up for a month in-between your placement blocks. Moreover, I want to establish and maintain better support for student parents at the Heath. Heath courses have one of the highest percentages of student parents throughout the whole of the University. Terefore, developing childcare facilities and support at the Heath will be one of my main priorities, and I look forward to working with Rachael Melhuish, next year’s Women’s Officer, on this project. Finally, I want to lobby for more social and academic spaces as well as more core reading textbooks. So as you can see, there is a busy year ahead for me!

My initial idea to run in elections stemmed from wanting to become more involved with the Students’ Union. At first I was apprehensive about taking a year out of medicine, although after some thought, this year seemed the best time, as it is before I start long clinical placements in the third year. Along with this I had great support from the medical school and that finalised my decision to run in elections. I am incredibly grateful to be elected as your next VP Heath Park and I look forward to working with Claire Blakeway and the rest of the officers next year to push for increased students’ union representation at the Heath.

I look forward to meeting many of you soon.

I will tighten up placement organisation so that you can turn up to placements knowing that you are expected and that you will have a productive day of learning

Pictured: Clare Blakeway, VP Heath Park & SU President Elect and Katey Beggan, VP Heath Park Elect

Katey Beggan

Pictured: Claire Blakeway at a Heath Park Fair, October 2014

Shared their experiences of securing competitive preregistration training posts in industrial pharmacy

”

Cardiff Medics Squash 2014-15

From a club on probation to Silver status, Medics Squash has gone from strength to strength

The 2014-15 academic year has seen the revival of Cardiff Medics Squash. Prior to this academic year the sports club was on ‘probation’ with the AU and catered, almost exclusively, to a small group of friends. Now, this sports club is thriving with over seventy members and achieving ‘silver’ status, warmly welcoming members of all abilities tailored to all Healthcare students; medics, dentists and physiotherapists alike!

Te club provides regular, free court time every week to our members, currently five hours a week, with separate sessions accommodating beginners, intermediates and team players. A friendly sports club; this year we have had have monthly socials which also include non-alcoholic socials, termly charity tournaments and competing in various competitions throughout the year. As well as the ongoing South Glamorgan Squash League, with weekly matches against local teams (where we are currently looking promising for promotion), we have had the opportunity to compete against other Universities.

In November we were able to take two teams to the first ever Medics Varsity and came away with a very

convincing 4-1, 5-0 team for our ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams respectively. In January, we took two Mens’ and a Womens’ Team to partake in the Squash NAMS in Birmingham against various other medical schools in the UK, including Sheffield, Birmingham, Leicester and UCL (see below).

Tis year we have been sponsored by Gassy Jacks, Wesleyan and Cardiff Medical School – we’d like to thank them all for the support they’ve given us and for helping us to set a new standard for the club. With the elections for next year’s committee ongoing, we are confident that the club will continue to go from strength to strength and build on the success of this year.

If this sounds like a sports club for you – feel free to drop by one of our sessions (Wednesdays 2-4pm at Heath; Sundays 3-6pm at Union), further details are on our Facebook page – just search “Cardiff Medics Squash”!

Squash NAMS Results

It was the first year as part of Medics Squash for all the Cardiff Women’s Team and the first time they were playing a competitive tournament –they had an excellent tournament finishing second overall.

Te A team were in a very tough “A Tournament” with many of the other teams fielding players who were playing at University level. Tey all held their own though reaching the semifinals.

Te B team were a very strong side in the “B Tournament”. Tey had a great first day, winning all their matches and were given a number one seeding for

the knockout tournament. Tey were very unfortunate that three of the fiveplayers were struggling with injuries on the Sunday but did extremely well in reaching the semi-finals.

We had a fantastic weekend of Squash, which included a social in Birmingham on Saturday night. We look forward to next year where we hope to come away with the NAMS title!

International Women’s Day Celebration at the School of Pharmacy

Pharmacy students and staff aim to “make it happen”, with talks from women in leadership

The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences hosted its first Women’s Day Celebration on Wednesday the 11th of March, organised by the Student Staff Panel (SSP). Going with the theme for Women’s Day this year, ‘MAKE IT HAPPEN’, the afternoon was filled with inspirational and motivational stories of how females have made it happen and successfully accomplished their goals and aspirations.

Te event was introduced by Professor Gary Baxter, the Head of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. It featured talks from inspirational women in leadership positions which included: Elen Jones, the Principal Policy Advisor at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Claire Blakeway, the Vice President of the Heath Campus, Laura Carter, the Women’s Officer, and Taslima Alam, the Black and Ethnic Minorities Officer.

Sarah Trenfield and Freya King from the School of Pharmacy also shared their experiences of securing competitive pre-registration training posts in Industrial Pharmacy, and

Maryam Bham a student in MA Islam in Contemporary Britain shared her story of being a Secondary School Citizenship Teacher, an EYFS Coordinator, and a Documentary Consultant. Te dress code for the event was purple, as it is the colour symbolic of Women’s Day, and the attendees

turned up in such lovely shades of purple, which went beautifully with the purple balloons that decorated the Vernon Lloyd Lecture Teatre, where the event was held. Following the talks, a number of videos messages from those who were unable to attend were played. Te videos included messages from the Pro-

vice Chancellor, Professor Patricia

and Dr. Kathryn Taylor, and former students. Te afternoon was a brilliant success and ended with a discussion and Q&A session while everyone enjoyed tea, coffee and purple decorated cakes!

Tailored to all Healthcare students; medics, dentists and physiotherapists alike

Amrit Dhadda & James Oldfield

Pictured: Cardiff Medics Squash Club

Price, senior members of staff from the School of Pharmacy: Dr. Emma Kidd, Dr. Karen Hodson,

Jumanah Nabulsi

Pictured: Pharmacy students at the International Women’s Day Celebration

FIXTURES

WEDNESDAY 22ND APRIL

Coaches will depart from Senghennydd Road on Wednesday 22nd April. Please arrive no more than 10 minutes before your coach is scheduled to depart. If you miss your allotted coach time, we cannot guarantee transport to Swansea.

If you have a Welsh Varsity Hero Package, you will need to collect your club night wristband from Y Plas before queuing for your coach. There will be no opportunity to collect your wristband on your return to Cardiff so make sure you arrive in plenty of time to pick it up before you leave. You must be wearing your wristband prior to departure from Swansea.

Coach travel will only be permitted with an official wristband: red wristbands are for travel from Cardiff to Swansea, yellow wristbands are for travel from Sketty Lane to the Liberty Stadium.

Alcohol will not be permitted on the coach.

Food and drink will be available to purchase on site at Sketty Lane and at the Liberty Stadium.

There are no cash machines at Sketty Lane so we would recommend making sure you have enough cash with you before you depart from Cardiff.

The Varsity YOLO after-party is sold out. No tickets will be sold on the door. Entry will only be granted with an official club night wristband. Wristbands are not refundable or transferable and cannot be replaced if lost or broken.

Buffet style breakfast is available in the Taf from 7am for £2.99 on Wednesday 22nd and the Varsity Burger will be on sale all week. You will be able to pre order a packed lunch through cardiffstudents.com to take with you on the coach, please check the website for further information.

STEP 1. Cut out the mask template below, including the eyeholes.

STEP 2. Glue the template to a piece of card and cut it out.

STEP 3. Punch through the pair of holes on either side of the mask.

STEP 4. Cut a length of elastic string (about 12 inches long) and tie the ends around the pair of holes at the sides of the mask.

STEP 5. Try on your superhero mask. It should fit snugly but not too tight. Adjust the length of the elastic if necessary.

34 SPORT

Cardiff clubs preparing forWelsh

Bryn Griffiths AU President

Like the majority of current Cardiff University students I have only ever experienced Varsity being held in Cardiff. So it’s a big change travelling west to Swansea for the biggest student sports event in Wales.

I don’t anticipate the move having much of an impact on the mighty

John O’Rourke

Badminton

As this year’s Varsity fast approaches, Cardiff Badminton Club are looking to repeat last year’s results and defeat Swansea to retain bragging rights for another year.

Despite being the away team this year, the prospects look good for both the men’s and women’s teams after a season which saw us

Rhiannon Tapp Canoe Polo

Frisbee

Cardiff Kayakers will this year enter a men’s ‘A’ team, men’s ‘B’ team and a ladies team for Varsity’s canoe polo match. Te games will take place at Swansea University’s pool.

Canoe polo is a growing sport played by men and women with an enthusiasm for fast-paced and skilful games. Te sport is played by two teams of five players and usually lasts for 10 halves, each 10 minutes long.

Last year Cardiff played well, the men’s ‘A’ team winning 7-1 and the Ladies team winning 5-0. Te Cardiff men’s ‘B’ team took a loss of 2-1. Tese scores lead to Cardiff kayakers winning their varsity match overall against

Team Cardiff. If anything we’ll be even hungrier to beat Swansea on their own soil and I have every confidence that we will extend our unbeaten streak in the Varsity Shield even further. Last year the record was broken for the largest margin of victory with Cardiff winning 25 of the 32 Shield Fixtures. So breaking that again

put badminton fifth on the list of Cardiff ’s BUCS points contributors.

Te men’s team, led by Oliver Digby, is mainly made up of the first team who finished mid-table in this years BUCS Premier.

With most of the team being new to Varsity it will be interesting to see how we compare to Swansea’s

Swansea by 2-1.

Tis year we have a new set of teams. Many of last year’s ‘B’ team have moved on to the ‘A’ team and a whole host of male freshers have entered this year’s ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams. Te Ladies team has only two remaining players from previous years and is now training some enthusiastic girls who are fast learning in how to play the sport.

Cardiff Kayakers have had trouble this year finding a place to train and have said goodbye some of our best players however all teams showed promise at our recently hosted competition CUCP and are more than capable of wiping the floor with our old rivals.

12000 shots, 11980 on target, 800 targets, 160 bulls eyes, 61 members, 25 yards, 22 calibre rounds, 21 people on our weekend away, 14 hours shooting on the national rifle ranges, 13 rifles, 12 mental socials, 6 dedicated committee members, 1 end point – Varsity. Tis year, Cardiff Uni Rifle Club will join the legions as we march west to do battle with the green masses and it’s fair to say we have victory in our crosshairs.

With another Varsity between Swansea upon us, Cardiff University Ultimate: No Frills are high in confidence leading up to their two games.

Last year, the Cardiff women secured a 14-1 victory over a depleted Swansea girls team, and with another large haul of freshers into the club, Cardiff remain confident for this year. The team meets all requirements: confident handlers; including Niamh Corr, a

Michael Cantillon

It has not been a good Easter break for the Cardiff Blues, with a couple of bone-crunching defeats in the Pro12 to Ulster and Glasgow, both with the exact same score-line of 36-17. Tis was compounded a European Challenge Cup exit at the hands of the Newport Gwent Dragons.

Te Quarter-Final derby at Rodney Parade was a fantastic encounter, in which the Blues actually drew first blood, going 3-14 ahead with early tries from Lloyd Williams and Gareth Anscombe. From this position of promise for Dale McIntosh’s men

this year has to be the target!

Te result of Men’s Rugby Union has always swayed in the balance more than the Varsity Shield. However, this year we’ve seen some phenomenal performances from CURFC 1st XV who earlier in the season reached the BUCS Championship Quarter

team, given they too have had a good season. However the men are confident that they can secure a win, repeating last year’s strong performance.

Te women’s team, who have had a tough season in the BUCS Premier due to players being unavailable to play, are playing on Wednesday

Finals only narrowly losing out to a strong Loughborough side who have consistently been one of the top teams in the UK.

I truly believe that this year we have a good chance of turning Swansea over at the Liberty Stadium regardless of any players they may bring in last minute.

without their captain Caitlin Gilmour.

Like the men, some of the team this year are new to the Varsity fi xture, however they are still fielding a strong side captained by Roshani Mann and hope to defeat Swansea, giving Cardiff the double over our neighbours.

As the newest members to Varsity, we have much to prove, we’ve been a-round for quite a while, but have to come out of our shell and fire on down to Swansea, to pull the trigger on our dreams.

first year, alongside the agile cutters; Jill Thompson and Chloe Jones, this year’s captain. With all this in place, and with Swansea girls low on numbers once more, it should be an exciting game that ends in Cardiff’s favour.

Last year’s clash between the two Men’s teams saw a 15-6 victory for Cardiff. The Cardiff Men’s play a fast game, which the Swan’s struggle to match. The team contains all the ingredients for a perfect display; the

however, the Dragons replied with gusto through the fantastic talent that is Cardiff University medic Hallam Amos. Te wing burst through for a score under the posts with just five minutes remaining of the first-half; the resulting interval score of 1014 meant that it was a completely different game.

Nic Cudd would add a further score for Newport, before the Blues responded in this chaotic affair. Te catalyst for their retort was one Adam Jones. Jones had been left on the bench for Scott Andrews, with

A club of ambition, a club of friendship and a club of camaraderie, often a still calm falls as we train, shot after shot, pint after pint… For if you aren’t a friends, you aren’t truly a team.

Te first year is always jittery, but to say we are novices would be an understatement. We shot against Swansea last year and put them to the sword, or rifle if you please, and mean to do it again, along 33 other sports, to take the shield back to the Capital where it belongs and you can rest assured that we will fight, we will struggle, yet we will persevere to bring the shield home.

captain Alden Ching, the keystone Bon Leung and of course, Mike Walters, our club veteran who is walking into his 6th and final varsity, are all on cracking form. In the history of the club, the Swansea team have never won varsity and we think it’s cute how they keep on trying. With both these matches being away at Swansea, and eyebrows of both Men’s captains at stake, who knows what role the home advantage could play?

McIntosh mirroring the actions of mational manager and fellow kiwi Warren Gatland in writing off the big prop completely. In actuality, Jones came on and caused havoc in the scrum, from which the outstanding Josh Navidi scored a try after a series of scrum penalties. What does this lad have to do to get a national call up? Te Dragons repelled a late onslaught though to take their place in the semifinal where they will face Edinburgh at Murrayfield.

Te following weekend the Blues

produced an embarrassing display at Scotstoun against Glasgow, conceding four tries and lost the liability that is Jarred Hoeata to yet another sin-binning for a ridiculous off-the-ball challenge. Wales skipper Sam Warburton later admitted that the display was one of the worst he has ever been involved in.

One reporter this week commented that after the efforts of Newport in Europe and against Leinster recently, the Blues are now the poorest region. Tere would have been long-odds on that at the start of the season.

Dan Geerah Ultimate

George Griffiths Shooting

Pictured: Action from a Cardiff Kayakers water polo game earlier this year

Pictured: Last year’s Ultimate Frisbee Varsity match

forWelsh Varsity 2015 away day

James Lloyd American Football

Te Cardiff Cobras head into their Varsity match up against the Swansea Titans looking to end their successful season on a high. Te Cobras have enjoyed a great campaign having won seven games and losing just the one at the hands of Swansea in December.

However, the Cobras enter this Varsity fixture full of confidence as Swansea have lost twice already in 2015, to an inconsistent Bristol side and in the play offs against Kingston. Cardiff are fully aware of the threat of Swansea having not beaten them since 2012. Te rivals faced each other in December in what was an extremely tight game but Swansea’s Jacob Amadi’s last gasp touchdown proved to be enough as the Titans won 14-7.

For a number of Cobras, players it could be their final outing in the famous red colours. Veteran wide receiver Stefan Pollitt, who has scored

Jonny Carpenter Cricket

As a club we are very excited about the prospect of heading to Swansea for Varsity for the first time to try and retain the trophy. Te last two years we have won convincingly, though the scores didn’t reflect it.

Te club have unfortunately lost a few key players this year but are very fortunate to have gained some

Jamie Reed Golf

After the disappointing loss last year the club are aiming to avenge the narrow defeat. Last year’s fixture saw the team leading Swansea 4-2 with four games to come in, but failed to cash in on early wins cost the team victory. Despite losing valuable players at the end of last year, the overall strength of the squad has improved from years

Te Squash Club look set to continue their recent domination over Swansea at Varsity with the men and women both striving for wins on the 22nd April.

Te Men’s first team have played Swansea three times in all competitions already this year and boast an unbeaten record. However the Swansea side is stronger than they have fielded in previous years and two of those matches have come down to nail-biting 3-2 results, so it is by no means a done deal.

We’re hoping for a fast start with victories for our 5th and 4th strings,

Te last month or so has been a rather bizarre one from Cardiff City’s point of view, both on and off the pitch.

On the field, the Bluebirds have continued to present themselves as sort of an enigma. It seems that every good result is then juxtaposed with a terrible one; a solid win at home against Birmingham City, along with a well-deserved victory at Leeds United, showcased the kind of talent that manager Russell Slade is able to extract from his squad members. However, mix that in with an

five touchdowns this season including one against Swansea in December, has been an influential player both off and on the field.

After four years with the club, Pollitt looks to end his time with Cardiff on a high. He said: “Tis game means a lot to every member of the squad, not least to those who will never put on the uniform again.

“We’re coming off a fantastic season this year and have every opportunity to win this game if we’re disciplined and play to the level that we know that we’re capable of”.

Offensive captain Pollitt also expressed how a win versus Swansea will cap off a memorable career at Cardiff : “Having a chance to take it to Swansea and beat them in their own house seems to be the perfect way to end my time with a team that’s given me so much since being here”.

extremely talented freshers and the squad as a whole is looking stronger and more balanced with lots of options to choose from. Myself and the captain Josh Allen (with help from our vice-captain Nick Kent and new coach Alistair Waldron) have had an extremely difficult task in choosing the squad for varsity this year but feel

gone by and it is hoped that strong strength in depth will win come the April 22nd.

New additions such as Dan King and Johnny Wright, along with experienced team members such as Lewys Charles, Tom Tracey and Jamie Reed have gave the squad of 10 venturing up to Pennard a healthy mix of high quality

Kieran Collinson and Angus White respectively, who are unbeaten against their expected opponents.

Jason Matthews should be able to pull through for a 3-0 start and immediate victory for our campaign but having contested some 3-2 results against Swansea this year himself, he is in for a difficult match. I’m sure our South African squash sensation will rise to the occasion, however.

President Rees Herrod and first team captain Adam Doran have both had tough matches this year against Swansea, but pulled through for the team. Te team have played some

atrocious thrashing at the hands of Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town, Cardiff are back to the form that haunted them during their rough period of the season that occurred at the end of January and into February. Tese results along with a spirited draw at the Madejski Stadium against Reading throw City’s form up into the air even further.

Off the field, the hard-fought victory up in Yorkshire against Leeds was marred by a ticketing scandal, which resulted in a grand

Cardiff will be without defensive duo Shaun Rees and Harry Kirkham for the game. Rees injured his ankle in

it is a team that is more than capable of beating our Swansea counter parts.

I am very confident in the boys bringing the urn home, which would be the third year in a row, as the team has a fine balance of experience and new blood.

training whilst Kirkham took a knock to the shoulder in Cardiff ’s last outing against Filton.

Players to look out for this year are obviously our captain Josh Allen and opening bowler Nick Kent who have both performed to the highest standard in the last two years and bring key experience to the team. Fresher Feroz Baig, whose leg spin andaggressive hitting should cause a lot of problems for Swansea and is certainly one to look out for in this game throughout the season.

players mixed with reliable, committed members.

It is undeniable the Swansea squad boasts players of high quality, who will no doubt provide more than a challenge to us. It must be said as well, that despite the competitive atmosphere building, Swansea have already offered to take us on a tour of Wind Street!

fantastic squash this year and we’re confident the squad are all capable of wins against their prospective opponents.

Te Women’s first team have performed exceptionally this year and narrowly missed out on promotion. Natalie Machin, undefeated this year, has been the key to our success and will no doubt power past any opposition Swansea offer.

Anna Johnson at second string has been a successful member of the squad and her experience in her first Varsity last year will no doubt stand her in good stead to take on whoever

total of zero travelling supporters present in the away end cheering on the Bluebirds, though there has been evidence of social media that a small fraction of Cardiff fans managed to sneak into the home crowd.

Te lack of away support came after Leeds supposedly granted the Cardiff faithful 1,000 tickets compared to the reverse fi xture where Leeds brought 2,000 fans to the Cardiff City Stadium.

Tese tickets were also supposedly restricted, so that they could only be collected at a motorway service

One that we will be glad to honour, only if they return the favour at Chippy Alley! With regards to the match we hope that our strength in depth will provide the deciding factor come Varsity day! Tere would be nothing sweeter than after last year’s defeat, to go to Pennard Golf Club and claim victory.

she faces. Captain Rachel Farquhar, playing at 3rd string, will prove a tough adversary for Swansea and will no doubt want to end her campaign at Cardiff with a strong display.

Shailee Morjaria will be the first player to take to the court though at 4th string and with some fantastic performances throughout the year so far I’m sure Cardiff Women’s Firsts will prove too strong for a Swansea side who have done well themselves up to this point.

If all goes to plan you’ll see the teams celebrating their wins in Y Plas come the night of Varsity!

station under the supervision of the police, which brought up another problem for fans not travelling up on road.

After much protest against this Leeds then went on to only allocate 500 tickets, which lead to the rallying of City fans and club management against the Leeds box office.

Tis event, while not ideal for fans looking forward to viewing the game in person, was a great show of solidarity in a fan base that has been torn apart by uneven play on the field all year.

”

I truly believe that this year we have a good chance of turning Swansea over at the Liberty Stadium

Jack Boyce

Rees Herod Squash

Pictured: Cardiff Cobras during this season’s meeting with Swansea Titans

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Team Cardiff ready for Varsity

Representatives from some of the university’s top sports clubs look ahead to this Wednesday’s annual Varsity in Swansea

Joe Atkinson

Sport clubs from Cardiff University are geared up for this Wednesday’s clash with their Swansea University rivals for this year’s edition of the Welsh Varsity. Representatives from some of the 34 teams competing have given Gair Rhydd Sport previews of their events in what will be the most largely competed Varsity yet.

Hoards of Cardiff University students will travel west to Swansea

to take in the first Varsity on away soil since 2010. Tey will be hoping to see the Varsity Shield return to the Welsh capital for the 14th consecutive year. Events will be taking place at Swansea University’s Sports Village and Sketty Lane Sport Complex, as well as in locations around the city such as the Swansea Leisure CentreCardiff students are going to have to get used to playing away from home. While form in previous years

suggests that Swansea are firm favourites to win the marquee rugby match at the Liberty Stadium, Cardiff have put in a strong showing during the BUCS season, securing a 3rd place finish in their division, the same one in which Swansea finished last, in 7th position.

Swansea have won twelve of the 18 Varsity rugby matches, with Cardiff securing only five victories, and the other match ending a 10-10 draw.

Cardiff last won the rugby game in 2012, but their form this season suggests that they have a good chance of avenging last year’s 15-19 defeat at the Millennium Stadium.

Read inside for a preview of some of the biggest clashes at this year’s Varsity from the students competing and a comprehensive fixture list. Check out @GairRhyddSport on Twitter for live updates on Wednesday as well as our live blog on Gair Rhydd’s website.

Continued on page 34