gair rhydd
gair rhydd | freeword Cardiff ’s student weekly Issue 1075 Monday 7th March 2016 Also in this issue
Comment: The problems facing LGBT+ youth today P18>>
Students express concern over future of Religious Studies course
Politics: Syria ceasefire broken by both sides P26>>
• Only specialist Judaism and Hebrew lecturer will be made redundant • PhD student: “I’m very possibly going to have to change universities because of this. There won’t be any supervision for me here” • University defends decision, stating Hebrew module cannot deliver “appropriately high quality of educational experience” with small number of students EXCLUSIVE Joanna Beck
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he School of History, Archaeology and Religion (SHARE) has come under fire by students in the past two weeks after they announced their only Judaism lecturer will not be returning to the school for the next academic year. The school currently has five Islamic Studies experts, five Christian Studies experts and four that specialise in Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions, in a department that one student has described as “badly weighted” and “bleeding people”. Dr Patmore is the only expert in Judaism in the department and has taught Judaism and Hebrew at Cardiff University for the past three years. If he is removed from the department the university will not be able to offer Hebrew as a language to its any of
its students, meaning they will not be able to study some texts in their original language. After enquires made by Gair Rhydd, Professor Chris Williams, head of SHARE, released a statement about the decision not to renew Dr Patmore’s contract. “Due to the end of external funding of a research post, we have reviewed our degree course modules, and in consultation with senior staff within the Religious Studies department, we have had to take the decision to withdraw the Hebrew language teaching module. “This module attracts fewer than five students per year. Taking on board the feedback from our students, many of whom I have met with over the last few weeks, we have recently confirmed that we will be continuing to offer a 20 credit module in Judaism, a popular choice for our students”. Some students, however, feel this
module will not be on par with the other modules offered as it will not be taught by an expert in the area. Second year student Tyler Higgins expressed these concerns in an email to Professor Williams. “Having discussed this with others, this partial solution doesn’t appear good enough. The teaching of a Judaism 20 credit module is merely ‘window dressing’ without the study of Hebrew language and texts. “It is vital in many students’ opinion that Hebrew language is also taught here. And the loss of the Hebrew language has an even greater impact than the loss of Judaism”. Third year student Frankie Gudiens spoke to Gair Rhydd about how the Judaism Module played a part in her University choices: “My sixth form didn’t offer Judaism to be studied at A Level so when I saw that Cardiff offered one of the world’s major religions it was very appealing to me.
Pictured:
The John Percival Building which houses the School of History, Archaeology and Religion (Photographer: Carwyn Williams)
Continued on page 4
Science: New way developed to give blood without needles P28>>
Taf-Od: Dathliadau Dydd Gwyl Dewi yng Nghaerdydd P40>>
2 EDITORIAL Gair Rhydd Coordinator Elaine Morgan Editor Joseph Atkinson Deputy Editors Carwyn Williams Anna Lewis
the free word
The future’s bright, hopefully
News Anna Lewis Joanna Beck Toby Holloway Advice Gwen Williams Caragh Medlicott Comment Em Gates Charley Griffiths David Williams Columnist Helena Hanson Politics Carwyn Williams Luke Brett Sam Patterson Science Maria Mellor Lizzie Harrett Societies Aletheia Nutt Taf-Od Rhian Floyd Park Life Vacant Sport Jim Harris James Lloyd Jamie Smith Social Media Editor Jack Boyce Proofreaders Jamie McKay Tom Morris Get involved Editorial conferences are each Monday at 5pm. Proofreading takes place from 5pm on Thursdays in the media office during print weeks. Write to the editor editor@gairrhydd.com Tweet us @gairrhydd
At Gair Rhydd we take seriously our responsibility to maintain the highest possible standards. Sometimes, because of deadline pressures, we may make some mistakes. If you believe we have fallen below the standards we seek to uphold, please email editor@gairrhydd. com. You can view our Ethical Policy Statement and Complaints Procedure at cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk/complaints Opinions expressed in editorials are not reflective of Cardiff Student Media, 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.
Plus we’ve been shortlisted for awards!
Joseph Atkinson
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’m very definitely running out of subjects on which to base my editorials. I can no longer extol the virtues of student democracy because most of the big events have passed now - the AGM and student elections. Events such as Varsity and the Welsh Assembly elections are too far in the future for me to start harping on about them, and unlike last year there hasn’t been a crossstudent media strike to inspire a rant of any sort. I guess addressing the future wouldn’t be a bad idea. Like many final years out there, I’m still struggling to see exactly what I’ll be doing in the very near future once I graduate. At this point in time job applications come and go, rejection emails start to flood your inbox, and an inevitable sense of self-doubt washes over you as you start to question whether the three years you’ve spent at uni have been worth it at all - surely I’ve come out of this with more than just thousands of pounds worth of debt? Yes, surely I have, but it is hard
not to feel disheartened, or just plain scared of the future. As a lecturer at my School, JOMEC, said to me the other day: “you’re nearly done.” While I’m sure that was meant to be an optimistic look ahead to a bright future, it only served as a reminder that my time at Cardiff University is coming to an end. And that’s sad, because it’s been such a great time. Uni gives you so much, while only asking for a small fortune. My ten hours of contact time a week give me time to do things I love; such as working on Gair Rhydd, spending time with my friends, spending time with my girlfriend and sleeping. I’m very much aware that once I get a job those ten hours will feel like a long time ago indeed. So while I’ve been worrying about the future and fret over what I’m going to do, some good news this week Gair Rhydd was shortlisted for seven prizes at the annual Student Publication Association Awards. To add to this, Quench magazine has also been shortlisted five times, meaning that Cardiff Student Media is represented a dozen times. Both Gair Rhydd and Quench have been shortlisted for the Best Publication category, mean-
ing that by my reckoning Cardiff is the only university to have both its newspaper and magazine shortlisted for that award - with over 50 applications and 17 shortlisted, we can be very proud that the efforts of all at Cardiff Student Media. CUTV are in the process of applying for the annual NaSTA awards where they always do well, and Xpress will be entering the SRAs and undoubtedly will see their hard work rewarded. Congratulations on an individual basis to Anna and Carwyn, our deputy editors on News and Politics respectively. Anna has been shortlisted for the Best News Story category for her story on MEDIC Forward, and Carwyn is nominated for his fantastic interview with Carwyn Jones, meaning that our dream to get #CarwynOnCarwyn trending worldwide. We’ve also been nominated for Best Use of Digital Media (credit Jack on social media and all involved in the elections live blog), Best Sport Coverage for last year’s Varsity (credit to everyone involved), Best Website (credit Kieran for redesigning it) and Best Design (credit to last year’s editor Mike). A lot of hard work goes into student media from lots of peo-
ple, past and present, and recognition such as this helps vindicate that hard work. So as I continue to think about the future, I realise that I might actually be ok; I’ve managed to juggle doing Gair Rhydd and uni work while doing quite well in both, and I’ve managed to write an editorial every single week (trust me, this is no mean feat). I’ve also managed to maintain friendships, a relationship and my general wellbeing, so surely the real world can’t be too difficult? I guess that remains to be seen. So right now I still have a few months left at uni, and we at Gair Rhydd still have a good amount of issues remaining, but they’re starting to run out fast. It feels like yesterday that the first issue came out, or that we passed the halfway stage, and now we’re closing in on the threequarter mark. We’re now starting to think about next year - who will be in charge, what will we do differently, and where we can save money in tough times. I just hope that the future’s bright for those graduating and for Gair Rhydd as a whole, because it’s such a big part of people’s uni experience.
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: GAIR RHYDD 758 8/3/2004 Making headlines this time in 2004 were the Association of University Teachers (AUT) strikes. The strikes left third year students worried that they wouldn’t receive their final coursework and exam marks, which would have denied them the ability to graduate. A staggering “81 per cent of lecturers voted to boycott the marking of students’ work” and lectures had already been cancelled over two days in February. News editor Anna Hodgekiss reported that over 5,000 Cardiff University third years would be affected by the action not to mention the first and second year student progression. In other news, The Students’ Union elections were deemed “a farce” due to bad organisation from the Union and miscommunication between candidates. There were additional reports of foul play due to certain candidate’s campaign posters being defaced with foul language leaving fears that these ‘underhand tactics’ would become “the future of the SU”. Fortunately this year’s elections were a far more respectable affair. On a more positive note, Bonnie Austin reported that Cardiff had become the ‘first fair trade capital city in the world’ on St David’s day. The aim was to better support producers by giving them a fairer price for their goods and also promised the “empowerment of grow-
ers”. This showed Cardiff to be a city supporting global issues as well as local ones. There were also hopes that James Fox, the UK entry for Eurovision would win and as a result bring the music competition to Cardiff in 2005. At the time the Millennium Centre was close to completion and would have been the ideal venue for such a show. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, that didn’t happen. Since the other European countries have a love-thyneighbour voting tactic, the lonely island of Great Britain were doomed to fail. Poor James came 20th out of 24 contestants. The Welsh language section Taf-Od warned Cardiff students over ATM scams after three Welsh students had £1500 from their bank accounts. Police suspected that the fraudsters were tampering with ATMs during rugby international match days. The students were among twenty people who reported a similar incident to the police. Fortunately all three got their money back. It was a good week in Sport as Cardiff ‘s mixed lacrosse team beat Imperial College 184, making the semi finals. The Pharmacy netball team claimed their first ever IMG victory, beating Comsoc 18-5 while Jodi Parsons won a silver medal in the judo Senior Open category and a bronze in the Youth Open. - Gwen Williams
EDITORIAL 3
Campus in Brief
Jack Boyce
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A £1.8 million Welsh language project is being spearheaded by Cardiff University’s School of Welsh and School of English, Communication and Philosophy.
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£1.8 million Welsh language project is being spearheaded by Cardiff University’s School of Welsh and School of English, Communication and Philosophy. In collaboration with Swansea, Bangor and Lancaster Universities, the National Corpus of Contemporary Welsh, or Corpws Cenedlaethol Cymraeg Cyfoes (CorCenCC) project will develop the first large-scale collection of texts in the Welsh language. The texts will be taken from all communication mediums, including spoken, written and digital, and crowdsourced from the 562,000 Welsh speakers in Wales. The corpus will be available online for anyone wishing to view it. Cardiff is set to host the world’s biggest sailing race when it returns to the UK for the first time in 12 years. The Volvo Ocean Race happens every three years, with sailing crews taking their boats around the world over nine months. Teams will start in Alicante, Spain in September 2017, with Cardiff hosting a two-week stopover for crews sometime in May 2018 after a transatlantic leg. Minister for Economy, Science and Transport Edwina Hart said of the announcement, “It is excellent news that Wales has been chosen as the transatlantic race stopover for this prestigious race.” A £10 million project has been launched in Wales in an effort to help young people with learning disabilities and autism get into employment. The Engage to Change project will work with 800 employers to help 1,000 people develop their employability over five years. People on the scheme will be offered paid work placements that will last between six months to a year. Cardiff University researchers will analyse findings from the project in an effort to influence similar future projects. This comes off the back of the National Service Autistic Society Cymru claiming that service provisions for people with autism in Wales is “patchy”.
National
English universities have a surplus of £1.8 billion due to the first generation of students paying the £9,000 tuition fee. Figures published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) showed the record surplus comes off the back of two previous £1.1 billion surpluses in a row, with English universities having more financial clout than other UK institutions. Oxford University has the largest surplus with £191 million, which is more than all of Scotland’s institutions combined at £166 million. In a close second came Imperial College London with a surplus of £141 million, whilst Liverpool University were in third with £65 million. Salford City Council have introduced a new restrictions banning people from swearing. The new restrictions states that those found using “foul and abusive” language within the Quays area of the city can be fined on-the-spot up to £1000. The council claim that they are “satisfied the ban will improve the quality of life” for people living within the area. Human rights group Liberty have challenged the ban, calling it an attack on freedom of speech. Liberty’s legal officer Rosie Brighouse said: “This is a staggering example of the misuse of a Public Space Protection Order – so vaguely worded it’s impossible for anybody to know whether they’re in danger of breaking the law.” Figures obtained from a Freedom of Information request have revealed that the BBC is failing to meet its own targets surrounding its own staff diversity. Over the past year, the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff employed at the BBC rose to 2,405, an increase from 11.9 per cent to 12.2 per cent, but still below the BBC’s own targets of 14.2 per cent by 2017. The same data also shows that 3.7 per cent of the same workforce is classified as disabled, lower than the 5.7 per cent target.
International
North Korea has fired off six short-range projectiles into the sea, according to South Korea’s defence ministry. A spokesperson told the Yonhap news agency that the projectiles were fired from the naval city of Wonsan, on the east coast of North Korea. While not entirely sure what the projectiles were, the spokesperson states that they were either rockets or guided missiles. Some reports suggested that the launch was in defiance of new sanctions that puts extra attention on imports into the country, after recent nuclear tests and satellite launches broke already existing sanctions. An Egyptian student pilot faces deportation from the USA after posting on Facebook that the world would thank him if he killed US presidential candidate Donald Trump. Emadeldin Elsayed, 23, is being held in a jail in California despite not being charged with a crime, his attorney says. Elsayed stated that he wrote the post after being angered by Trump’s comments on Muslims. He told the Associated Press, “I don’t know why they would think I am a threat to the national security of the United States just because of a stupid post.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that Elsayed was arrested for violating “the terms of his admission to the United States”. A man in Russia faces a jail sentence after being charged with insulting religious believers when he posted that “there is no God” in an internet exchange. Viktor Krasnov, 38, is being prosecuted over a 2013 law that was introduced after protest-punk group Pussy Riot were jailed for a performance at a cathedral. Krasnov has already spent a month of 2015 in a psychiatric ward undergoing examinations, which deemed him to be sane. Krasnov’s lawyer told news agency AFP that his client was “simply an atheist” who had satirically critiqued both religious and non-religious holidays, such as Halloween.
Pictured: Swearing has been banned at Salford Quays (Photographer: Christi via Flickr)
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English universities have a surplus of £1.8 billion due to the first generation of students paying the £9,000 tuition fee.
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4 NEWS
news
Editors: Anna Lewis Joanna Beck Toby Holloway @GairRhyddNews news@gairrhydd.com gairrhydd.com/news
Cont’d: Student concern over future of RS course
Continued from front page
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They haven’t told me what this adequate supervision is, it doesn’t exist. They are lying to me. PhD student, Kate Tinson
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“As I didn’t know much about Judaism I saw this as great opportunity for me to broaden my religious knowledge”. One of the key concerns regarding the University not offering Hebrew or an expert led Judaism module is the effect it will have on the study of other religions. By not offering Aramaic language it could impact some students’ applications for postgraduate study opportunities in Cardiff as well as other universities, as they will not be able to read some in their original language. In response to such suggestions, the University confirmed that no Masters students currently studying Judaism will be “affected by the changes in the modules that we offer”. They emphasised: “We are committed to ensuring that all Masters and PhD students in Religious Studies continue to benefit from the expertise and diligence of our staff. The University also reminded Gair Rhydd that they “reserve the right to withdraw any module where the numbers recruited are so low that it
is not possible to deliver an appropriately high quality of educational experience to students enrolled on it,” relating to the Hebrew course. However, one of the modules currently offered by the History department is only being taken by three students this year, which according to one student allows him to learn “so much better as there’s a small number of us.” The Religious and Theological Studies webpage is currently advertising Introduction to Hebrew as a potential module option for the course. PhD student Kate Tinson is extremely concerned as her research is based around Judaism. Tinson’s first supervisor unfortunately passed away last year and she was relying on Dr Patmore to be able to continue her PhD. Speaking to Gair Rhydd, Tinson described what this will mean for her study. “They tell me that there is still adequate supervision for my PhD. They haven’t told me what this adequate supervision is, it doesn’t exist. They are lying to me”.
“When I pay £4,000 a year for my tuition, in accepting me they guarantee that they have supervision for me. Obviously the first one wasn’t their fault, the second one is bad. “I’m very possibly going to have to change universities because of this, it is that extreme, because there won’t be any supervision for me here. I’ll have to pick up my entire life, this is my home, I’ll have to leave”. Tinson, who is Jewish herself, went on to suggest the lack of Judaism representation has greater connotations of discrimination. “No-one has ever been anti-Semitic to me. However the fact that already there was only one Jewish studies member of staff when it is such an important area of study was already disproportionate, and the fact that this is now the only person they are getting rid of shows senior management clearly don’t see the value in it. It certainly appears antiSemitic”. It is important, however, to note that Dr Patmore is the only member of staff in the Religious Studies department who is on a fixed-term contract rather than a full time contract. This means that there are a number of factors which make his contract different, including how it is funded. Furthermore, some of the other staff are funded independently from outside the University. It is believed that Higher Education Funding Council for Wales cuts have played a large role in departments having to review spending. The crucial role of Judaism within Religious Studies has been highlighted by many students. One third year student described its importance within the course and her thoughts on the news of the module being taught by a non-expert. “Well I think its ridiculous, Judaism is not only one of the six main world religions it is also a core stem of both Islam and Christianity and
it is impossible to study the oldest parts of these religions without touching on Judaism. “Speaking as a Jewish student I cannot express the importance of teaching it, particularly at degree level. The knowledge of any religion in modern society is only going to have a positive effect and encourage tolerance across the board”. Another third year student described their thoughts on the news saying: “The lecturer himself is very helpful and is a great asset to the Uni. “I am surprised that they are getting rid of such an important topic and a helpful tutor, due to cuts”. In a statement Vice President Education, Sophie Timbers, showed her support for the students involved, as she said: “I am in regular contact with the students who are involved and I will continue to support these students to ensure there is a positive outcome and the views of the Religious Studies students are represented.” Timbers met with the Head of School on Monday to investigate the matter further, stating that “we need to find out more information before we can suggest what to do next.” Professor Williams also discussed the future of the department in his statement to Gair Rhydd. “We are currently undertaking a wide-scale review of the way that the discipline is taught in order to ensure that our students benefit from a wide, thought-provoking and stimulating syllabus during their studies with us. Student input will be key to this and we will shortly be contacting our students to ask them to give us their views and participate actively in the review”. As it stands Dr Patmore will continue to teach for the rest of the semester but his contract will not be renewed and he will not return next year.
National recognition for Cardiff Student Media
Joanna Beck
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ardiff Student Media has received national attention, after both Gair Rhydd and Quench were shortlisted for the 2016 Student Publication Association Awards. Both publications have been shortlisted for the prestigious Best Publication award, making the top 17 out of the 130 members of the SPA. The award takes into account Gair Rhydd and Quench’s “overall relevance to their student community, the quality of content produced, and achievements across the other award categories”. Meanwhile Cardiff Student Me-
dia’s print publications have also been nominated for Best Design for the newspaper and magazine categories and Best Use of Digital Media. Quench’s nomination for digital media includes their interactive multimedia coverage of Welsh music festival Swn, whilst Gair Rhydd have entered their live blog from last week’s student elections. The awards will be announced at the annual SPA Student Media Conference which will be held in Loughborough University from April 8th to 10th. The event will include talks from a range of guest speakers from the journalism industry.
Following their success in the shortlists last year, Gair Rhydd have also made the top publications in terms of Best Website, following a redesign this year, and has been noted for Best Sports Coverage for its coverage of Varsity at Swansea last May. Meanwhile Deputy Editor and Politics Editor Carwyn Williams has made the shortlist for the Best Interview category for his feature with First Minister for Wales Carwyn Jones. Representing the news section, fellow Deputy Editor Anna Lewis has been chosen to make the final group
for Best News Story, following her investigation into the criticised restructure of the School of Medicine. The news follows after Gair Rhydd and Quench won three awards during last year’s conference. With his feature about the laughing gas trade in Cardiff, Quench features writer Jason Roberts was given the award for Best Feature, whilst fomer Gair Rhydd Editor Michael O’ConnellDavidson was given the prize for Outstanding Commitment. Former Politics Editor Lauren Boyd also won Best Interview for her feature talking to Israeli embassy spokesperson Yitfah Curiel.
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We are committed to ensuring that all Masters and PhD students in Religious Studies continue to benefit from the expertise and diligence of our staff. Cardiff University spokesperson
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Pictured: Inside the John Percival Building (Photographer: Anna Lewis)
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Both have been shortlisted for Best Publication, making the top 17 out of a potential 130 members.
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NEWS 5
University support “overwhelmed” by high demand, according to students
Number of students seeking help rockets over last two years
EXCLUSIVE Toby Holloway
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There is a real problem with the amount of time it takes to access support and help. Second year student
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ardiff University’s Student Support Centre has been described as being “overwhelmed” by a number of students requesting access to their services. Gair Rhydd have received reports of students having counselling sessions moved from weekly to fortnightly, as well as lengthy waits for appointments with both the Counselling Team and the Wellbeing Team. The Student Support Centre is located at 50 Park Place, and offers, in the words of a University spokesperson, “counselling, health and wellbeing services to help you get the best degree you can and make the most of your time at university”. According to a University spokesperson, although the services have seen an increase in demand, Student Support has continued to “innovate” to cope with the pressure and has introduced a wide range of alternative methods of receiving help. “They are not there to replace NHS provision for long term mental health conditions which might take a lot longer to resolve” they stressed. Despite this, Gair Rhydd spoke to students about their experiences with the Student Support Centre. One 2nd year, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I have been receiving counselling every week to help manage my anxiety but due to high demand from students, my sessions had to be put to fortnightly which can sometimes make my anxiety worse”. Another 2nd year student, who also requested to remain anonymous, reaffirmed the issues surrounding waiting
time for appointments: “I have suffered badly with anxiety and depression...I have just re-enrolled and have an appointment coming up. There is a real problem with the amount of time it takes to access support and help. I have to say once accessed the help is really good”. During an interview with Gair Rhydd during Election Week, Student Disabilities Officer candidate George Watkins described Student Support as being “overwhelmed” due to high demand, explaining that whilst he was attending a drop-in session, “they had to turn away five or six different people”. Watkins highlighted the severity of this problem, stating: “If someone’s having a bad day then that’s the last thing they need to be told”. In response to the allegations, the University spokesperson said: “In common with other universities we are seeing demand for professionally delivered services to support students increase”. This number of students seeking support has increased sharply in recent years, reaching a record high of 2,061 students in the 2014-15 academic year. This is up from 1,494 students the previous year, while numbers have nearly doubled since 2011-12, when 1,131 students engaged with the service. This rise has put increased pressure on support services, and has prompted the Student Support Centre appoint additional staff, and also to consider expanding their current facility. The spokesperson continued: “There has been some increase in staffing and we are in the process of increasing the
number of sessional (hourly) staff we can call on. “The major operational constraint is the availability of rooms to see students in the existing Student Support Centre which the service has outgrown. The University is developing plans to resolve this”. Asked about plans for expansion, they continued: “The proposed Centre for Student Life, which is currently being developed under the University’s estates master plan, will resolve many of these issues. In the interim we will continue to creatively use the existing space at our Student Support Centres on the Cathays Campus and the Heath Park Campus”. Student Support have already expanded their programme in the last few years, by establishing the Wellbeing Team to their services who “provide access to a cohort of students who were not accessing services before and help students access help earlier”. In 2014, they also introduced the “Silver Cloud” self-help tool, an online service which provides 24/7 advice and resources for people suffering stress, anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, the Support Centre have attempted to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues with their ‘Time to Change’ pledge, and have also engaged with Students’ Union executive officers on the matter. While these are important steps in increasing the future capacity of the service, there is still an urgent need for support among many students. Gair Rhydd spoke to Charlie Knights, who was recently elected Student Disabilities for the 2016/17 academic year. He had high praise for the services provided by the Student Support Team, saying: “The support services on the whole are fantastic. Students that I have spoken to who suffer from a range of disabilities that are covered by the Wellbeing Team are handled excellently, staff are friendly, and on all accounts are doing a great job”. He did, however, agree that there
was an issue regarding the accessibility of the services. He said: “However the services do not seem to be able to support any where near the required capacity, with many students getting turned away, or not having the fullest treatment given. Services at the Heath also lack the completeness of services on Park Place, something which I hope to be remedying within the next year”. Currently, the process by which students access support involves applying online for either a Counselling session or a Wellbeing appointment. The Support Team will then send an email with an appointment date and time, which may be brought forward if there is a cancellation. The next step involves filling out a ‘self-referral form’ which is designed to help students decide if they are ready for therapy or not. Professionals will then examine this form and decide if the student needs a counselling appointment or a wellbeing appointment. Counselling appointments are 90 minutes long and focus on trying new behaviours to solve issues, and, according to a University spokesperson, “approximately 50 per cent of students find this single intervention is sufficient for their needs”. Wellbeing appointments are typically 45 minutes long, and are more focussed on providing students with self-help resources and helping them set goals. If both the student and the counsellor believe that it is needed, further sessions are then arranged. The Student Support Centre also offers daily drop-in sessions, in which students have 15 minute windows where they can talk to members of staff and receive advice, information and discuss the possibility of further appointments. These sessions run daily from 3pm-3:45pm, with an additional session on Wednesdays from 9:45am-10:30am. On Wednesdays there is also a session that takes place at the second floor of the Cardigan House at Heath Park Campus.
Pictured: Above: Graph showing number of students accessing Student Support Below left: Student Support on Park Place (Photographer: Anna Lewis)
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The major operational constraint is the availability of rooms in the existing Student Support Centre which the service has outgrow. Cardiff University spokesperson
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6 NEWS
Cathays set for regeneration
Cardiff Council to tackle problems caused by “alcohol abuse”
Anna Lewis
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The student area has experienced issues with waste disposal, noise levels, anti-social behaviour and a loss of community.
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Anna Lewis
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athays is set to have a facelift, in a regeneration project that will tackle the issues caused by an increase in population. According to Cardiff Council, the student area has experienced issues with “waste disposal, noise levels, anti-social behaviour and a loss of community”. In order to solve this, a partnership between Cardiff Council, South Wales Police and other groups will work to improve the amount of “green spaces in Cathays” to “improve the local area”. Problems caused by alcohol abuse, vandalism and “other forms of antisocial behaviour” in current parks have also been stressed by the council. By introducing a new project it is hoped that public areas will be used more by residents and subsequently will reduce “misuse.” Through work conducted by Cardiff University, research has identified the needs of residents in the area and created subsequent designs for green spaces. This includes Llanbleddian Gardens near to Senghenydd Road and Ruthin Gardens by
the Students’ Union. According to the council these areas constitute a “a key pedestrian route”. They continued: “We are interested in the views of everyone who lives, works or studies in the area.” The proposed changes include installing facilities such as tennis and picnic tables, “items of gym equipment” and new seating. In the potential plans for Coggan garden it was explained that table tennis would benefit the community by encouraging “physical and social activity and is likely to bring more people into the park.” The redevelopment has been praised by local politicians, as Cabinet Member for Skills, Safety, Engagement and Democracy, Cllr Daniel De’Ath, stated: “The Cathays Regeneration Project has the potential to breathe new life into this area of Cathays. I’d really encourage the community to take the opportunity to have their say on the proposals. Their responses will help shape the designs and secure the funding needed to bring the plans to life.”
A consultation period is currently ongoing in order to take the ideas of all residents into account, with being
people urged to fill in a questionnaire. They survey will remain open until March 23rd.
Senate postponed as no motions put forward
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tudent Senate were forced to postpone their meeting last week after no motions were put forward. The meeting was meant to go ahead on Tuesday March 1st but Gair Rhydd were informed that no suggestions for discussion were sent in. Despite this there were plans to vote whether a lapsing policy should be renewed during the meeting. The policy in question was described as a measure to prevent “students from victimisation in Student Media”.
This follows after criticisms were voiced during the last two meetings about the lack of publicity that the Senate receives. According to the Students’ Union website the Senate plan to meet every third-week of the semester. The next meeting will take place on April 26th. Last year the Student Senate were also made postpone their meeting after failing to make the required number of students needed to make votes binding.
Talking to Gair Rhydd, senator Jake Smith stated that the decision to cancel the meeting is not necessarily negative, as he explained: “I think Senate is at its best when its debating important policies that students have put a lot of time into making, so personally I’m fine with the meeting being postponed as there would be little benefit for students if we all turned up with policies we hadn’t thought about just to fill the time.” Meanwhile fellow senator Chiron Hooson was more critical of the situ-
ation, stating: “I think due to many deadlines for students around this time, nobody was able to draft a motion, but this still shouldn’t avoid the fact that out of the 25 senators and nine campaign officers, not one motion was submitted. “Annoyingly it wasn’t rescheduled due to many different events happening in March, so the next meeting will be on the 26th of April, where I am hoping to put forward a motion or two[...]”.
cation to study law remains the BPP Law School in London, which has seen fees rise 3 per cent to £19,040. The Bristol Institute of Legal Practice remains the cheapest avenue to gain the required law qualifications with
costs of £13,795. The news follows after new figures suggested that it may cost up to £127,000 for new students to become a barrister, in a statement given by the new chair of the Bar Council.
Prices to study law increase as University defends decision
Anna Lewis
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It may cost up to £127,000 for new students to become a barrister.
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ardiff University has led the way in a country-wide price increase in the cost of completing a law degree. According to law specialists Lawyer2B, Cardiff has increased the cost of its law degree by 11 per cent, in what has been labelled the biggest jump in price compared to other universities. As a result, law undergraduates will have to pay £14,340 to study including an initial deposit of £1,000. The increase is due to a rise in the cost of the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) across all law institutions in the UK. In comparison to Cardiff, legal website Legal Cheek stated that other universities have increased their fees for law students at an average of 4.3
per cent for the next academic year. However, the University have since suggested that such statistics may be misleading. A University spokesperson defended the increase by stating that it has actually been caused by combining the tuition fee with additional course costs such as books and the Bar Standards Board fee, totalling of £1,500. This change was brought about in order to “ensure compliance” with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The spokesperson also clarified that the tuition fee in question has only increased by £495 to a sum of £12,830, the equivalent of a four per cent increase. By contrast, the most expensive lo-
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Out of the 25 senators and nine campaign officers, not one motion was submitted.
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Pictured: Cardiff Law School (Photographer: Anna Lewis)
8 ADVICE
advice
Editors: Gwen Williams Caragh Medlicott @GairRhyddAdv advice@gairrhydd.com gairrhydd.com/advice
Dealing with theft
Tom Morris
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Some people do manage to get them back. Usually it is by keeping an eye on the buy and sell groups, getting details, then handing them to the police.
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he first things the university security team tell you when you arrive in first year are: 1. If you have a bike, you should buy a D-Lock; 2. You should never leave your phone on the windowsill; 3. You should mark all your expensive stuff with invisible ink and register it with the Police property register, Immobilise. So it was with a daft grin on my face that I went into the security office last Friday and said to the guys there: “I’ve had my bike nicked because I didn’t buy one of your DLocks.” Every cloud has a silver lining though- it gave me insight into what happens when you get your stuff stolen on campus. Now, I can share with you Gair Rhydd readers the information I learned about what you should do when things get stolen (not just bikes!) instead of just warning you about thieves. My friend Eleanor and I had just left the Bute building Friday lunchtime when I noticed my bike had gone and so the first thing I did was check Immobilise. Unfortunately I
had forgotten to finish registering my bike on there. The first thing to do then, is to go to the police station, handily situated just two buildings down from Bute, or one from Glamorgan! It was a bit scary heading in because it felt like I was signing on for parole, but the lady behind the desk understood. I thought they might not be interested in the crime, as bike crime is a major problem in and around Cardiff, I clearly didn’t lock the bike well, and they probably have bigger fish to fry. However, this wasn’t the case- the police officers spent quite some time writing down the details. They asked whether I had the lock, and if there was CCTV on the bike rack. I didn’t know either of these, so after they had given me a piece of paper with the incident number and occurrence number, which you use to communicate any further information regarding the case, I went back to Bute to find the lock. I found the lock on the floor, severed of course. When I brought it back to the police they told me to not touch it too much because there
could be fingerprints on it. They handed me an envelope and I put it in- as of course this isn’t a major crime they told me to hang on to the envelope myself, and not take the lock out. It’s now on my shelf in case they ever want it. Next I headed to University Security, in the office located between the Sir Martin Evans building and the Psychology tower. Here I bought a D-Lock (as my dad put it, I locked the door after the horse had bolted) and they had a look at the CCTV for me. Last of all, I made sure to join every Facebook buy and sell group going, and use https://stolen-bikes.co.uk/ to check all the major UK classified ad sites. The chances of someone being daft enough to sell my bike right away all in one piece are pretty low- in fact likelihood is they’ve already separated the wheels from the frame. You may also want to set up an IFTTT (If This Then That) alert system so you get an email, phone notification or similar every time a new ad pops up on Stolen Bikes. When I was still in school, I lost
my phone on the train. This isn’t the same as having it stolen, but the great thing about most phones now is they have GPS built in as well as 3G and everything, so you can track them down. At the time I was using a Galaxy s3 which I tracked down using the Samsung Dive service. If you’re not using a Samsung but you’re still on Android, Android Device Manager does the exact same thing, and on iOS there is Find My iPhone. These services of course require the person who stole your phone to not have turned it off, or turned GPS/ Mobile Data off. It’s not all doom and gloom. Though plenty of bikes, phones and laptops get taken from complacent students like me every year, some people do manage to get them back. Usually it is by keeping an eye on the buy and sell groups, getting details, then handing them to the police. Do not by any means try and get your stuff back yourself! Of course, the best thing to do is work together with the police. After all, if the police get the perpetrator nicked, they can’t nick any more student possessions!
Pictured: Lock your bike up securely (Photographer: drpavloff via flickr)
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The great thing about most phones now is they have GPS built in as well as 3G and everything, so you can track them down.
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ADVICE 9
Respecting others:
Em Gates
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How your behaviour can affect others.
n life, let alone at university, you are going to meet people that you don’t get on with. It’s a fact that you should deal with as soon as you can, because frankly, if you don’t deal with it, you could lose the people in your life that you do care about. The last thing you want is to start your first job after university and meet someone who is, let’s just say not to your taste, and then act like a child about it and alienate yourself. That is a one-way ticket to a miserable job, a miserable social life, and a general miserable existence. But there are certain attitudes you can have that combat this sort of situation, and it starts with a big ole thing called ‘tolerance’. And by that I simply mean that you need to take into consideration other people’s circumstances before you run off on your high horse. While first impressions may be important, it’s vital to remember
that there is a lot more to people than first meets the eye. And even more so, and as much I hate that I even have to say this, discrimination on any sort of gender, religious, nationality, or sexual preference basis, is the main place where people slip up. Meeting your girlfriend’s parents and making a Caitlin Jenner joke, only to find out that her brother is trans is a situation no one wants to find themselves in. Yes it may be a nervous coping mechanism, but that one joke is going to be the thing they remember about you. The main thing to remember is to put yourself into someone else’s shoes. A little bit of respect can go a long way, especially in terms of people you’ve only just met. In the same way I wouldn’t like to be judged for my hair colour, body shape, intelligence, or how much money I have, I’m not going to base my opinion of
anyone on who they worship or who they sleep with. And this idea should extend much further than this, from people you vaguely know to your best friend. When you’re telling girls to ‘get back in the kitchen’ or how you think that the civil rights movement is ‘blatantly offensive to white people’, you’re only thinking about your own life experiences and giving no consideration into what that person may deem to be offensive. A little bit of tolerance and a whole bunch of respect will get you everywhere in this life, and it is really easy to take action. Be respectful, don’t poke fun at anyone’s appearance, religion, or sexuality, at least not until you’ve worked up a level of mutual banter, and show everyone the same kind of respect that you would like to be treated with. Once you get this sort of attitude on board, the amount of friends
you’ll make, and more importantly keep, will grow to more than you could ever imagine. Just as I am touchy about certain aspects of my self, many other people are sensitive about bits of their life which you are not free to comment or judge on. Respect is a two way street, you give it, you receive it. And most importantly of all, it is important to know that it is ok to slip up. To accidentally say a racist remark to your black friend, to subconsciously call someone a slut, to completely forget about Kosher rules and include bacon in a stir fry with you Jewish friend. These are all bad things, but followed by a sincere and honest apology, well, it’s just a little life lesson that you had to learn. Be respectful, be tolerant, apologise when you’re wrong, and you will get by just fine. It’s got me through the last 20 years, so I don’t see why it can’t work for everyone else.
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A little bit of tolerance and a whole bunch of respect will get you everywhere in this life.
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Making use of university resources James Smith
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Working in the library usually means you can get your work done quicker, as you don’t have Xboxes, housemates and alcohol distracting you.
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James talks about why the library is the key to productivity and success in your degree
ack in 2012 I stumbled into the Arts and Social Studies Library for the first time to begin researching an essay. After a failed attempt at leaping the entrance barriers I decided today was not going to be my day, and quickly abandoned the endeavour in favour of a lengthy FIFA session. Three and a half years and a dissertation later, I have learnt that good research practice is essential to both success at university and in other aspects of life. Like many things, good research starts with planning. Begin by looking up your deadline and then start organising when you will conduct your research. Consider other commitments that will have to be juggled; are you going on any trips? Do you have any other deadlines? How many times are you going to go to Glam? If you are unsure about how long re-
search should take, ask your tutor, after all they research for a living. A good way to ensure you meet these targets is to set aside one day of the week as your ‘research day’. This ensures continual progression towards your goals, preventing the mad rush to cram as much research as possible into the day before the deadline, which is certainly not good for your wellbeing. Moreover you can prevent a decline into ‘research madness’ by accepting your limitations. Not a morning person? Then DON’T force yourself out of bed at six am to read that article on ‘Post-Structuralism’. Many of the libraries are open until after nine pm on weekdays, and the Arts and Social Studies Library is now open 24/7, so your research can work around you, not the other way around.
The libraries also offer a route to a better work-life balance. Working in the library usually means you can get your work done quicker, as you don’t have Xboxes, housemates and alcohol distracting you. Also by separating your home from your university work, this will allow you to relax once you get in, knowing you can spend a few hours on YouTube guilt free. Whilst finding what you are looking for in the sea of books can be daunting at first, the library search system makes it easy. Just remember to stick to key words; the authors surname, the main words in the title. Make sure you omit ‘The’ from a title’s beginning, as this confuses the system, causing what can be best described as ‘interesting’ results. Still can’t find what you’re looking for? Ask the librarians. Every experience I or anyone I know has had with
them to date has been positive, as they are always willing to offer assistance, particularly when it comes to tracking down that vanishing book. Furthermore, many research resources are available online. Through the Cardiff University Intranet you can search the library, read the journals the university subscribes to and renew any books you have taken out. So not only will the intranet help with your research, but it will also prevent any unwanted library fines. Although intimidating at first, a research study is not only manageable, but beneficial to your development and, more importantly, incredibly rewarding. By planning ahead and utilising the Cardiff University resources at your disposal, you can ensure that you remain on top of your studies and receive the best mark.
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A good way to ensure you meet these targets is to set aside one day of the week as your research day.
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Pictured: ASSL library (Photographer Cardiff University International. Office via flickr)
10 ADVICE
How safe is your online life? Caragh Medlicott
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Take the appropriate measures to keep yourself and your information secure online.
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Caragh talks about how you can protect yourself against cybercrime in the digital age
n the modern world so much of our lives are online. From internet banking to social media, every day we share and add personal details onto the internet. To some extent this is inevitable, most websites require your email address or phone number to allow you to sign up to their services. And who can resist the convenience of online shopping? So seeing as we can’t avoid the internet, what can we do to stay safe online? The first thing to do is to consider the basics as there are so many obvious things we can all forget to do, like making sure to use different passwords for different websites. This way, if someone gets hold of one of your passwords they don’t then have access to your whole online life. It’s also important to consider making sure you use a ‘strong’ password. Some websites will actually rate your password strength for you. Try to include capital letters, numbers and symbols as well as normal letters when making your password. Avoid obvious things like birthdays or names. These small steps will make you less vulnerable to hacking. When it comes to online shopping always check out the website you’re buying from before you actually make your purchase so you can make sure they are a legitimate company. Never save bank details onto a shared
computer or laptop. In fact it isn’t advisable to have your card details saved, even on a personal laptop. If your laptop is stolen that person then has access to your money too. Always logout of online banking. If you ever suspect that you have been a victim of fraud call your bank immediately and check your bank statement for purchases you haven’t made. The sooner you catch it, the less damage that can be caused. There are different kinds of oversharing on social media these days. There’s a difference between going into detail about the corn beef sandwich you had at lunch and sharing too much of your personal details. While sharing your address, phone number or other such details may be less annoying then the aforementioned beef sandwich status it is also far more risky. Sharing details online can go beyond that of personal information such as addresses too. You shouldn’t mention when you are going on holiday or will be out of your home for long periods of time as this leaves you open to burglaries. It may sound unlikely but it genuinely has happened to people. You should also always consider your personal safety when talking to people you don’t know online or using online dating services. The same rules apply with never giving out too
many details about yourself. If you’re arranging to meet someone from a dating website then make sure to do it in public place, preferably with people you know around to keep an eye on you. If this isn’t an option then at least make sure some of your friends know where you are and what you are doing so they can
keep an eye out for regular updates from you. Overall, providing you take the appropriate measures to keep yourself and your information secure online there is no reason why you should be too worried about cybercrime, a healthy awareness and reasonable precautions will keep you safe.
Pictured: Are your details safe online? (Photographer: Jochen Zick via flickr)
Students go green!
Being eco friendly is also great for your purse Gwen Williams
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Doing your bit for the environment can more often than not help you save money.
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n a country obsessed by the three E’s (education, economy and environment) being eco friendly is shoved down our throats on a daily basis. Now I’m no eco warrior but to be honest, I don’t blame the government for doing so because the bottom line is that our careless actions will have consequences down the line. You don’t need to relinquish the twenty first century way of life or go and live in the woods. There are so many easy ways to incorporate an environmentally friendly attitude into our everyday lives. Since the council have replaced our dustbins with narrower ones we are now forced to recycle to avoid fines. However it’s not as if recycling requires a lot of effort. Being students who regularly eat takeaways and conduct pre drinks, we have lots of tupperware to be reused for storage and glassware to recycle. For first years, a trip down to the bottle bank near your halls may be slightly embarrassing if your drinking session was pretty heavy
but second and third years have no excuse as they don’t have to leave the house. These days most things can be recycled and the council will take as many green bags as you leave out. Doing your bit for the environment can more often than not help you save money. When it’s convenient, doing tasks communally such as cooking and laundry can save on water, gas and electricity which in turn reduces your utility bill total at the end of the month. Also, try not to leave devices such as laptops and televisions on standby and turn lights off when you leave your rooms. I’m sure that turning the heating on has caused a number of arguments in your house over the winter months (actually it’s Wales so all year is a more realistic assumption). Why not agree to set the heating on a timer and wear extra layers when it’s off? If you have brought your car to uni, try and resist driving everywhere. Several short journeys use up more petrol than one long journey and again is an unnecessary expense
as well as bad for the environment. Plus there is the cost of parking. Almost everything you need in Cardiff is within walking distance and even if the weather is terrible the city’s public transport is frequent and tickets are reasonable. When you are having a clear out of your things, why not donate any unwanted items to local charity shops rather than throwing them away? It not only reduces waste but you do your bit for charity in the process. Even shopping in charity shops helps as you are reusing second hand items rather than buying new ones. Speaking of shopping, make sure you reuse carrier bags on your weekly trek to Lidl. Despite the fact there is a charge on plastic bags, people still seem to be requesting them at the checkout instead of taking reusable ones. I’m sure most of you already do most of these subconsciously as many of these ideas benefit you individually also. However, there are those who fail
to see how little things make a difference. The reality is, if we all made a couple of little changes, our actions would accumulate and have a significantly positive impact on our collective carbon footprint.
Pictured: Reduce, reuse recycle. (Photographer: Kevin Dooley)
ADVICE 11
SU politics: What is it like to run in the election?
George Watkins
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You could fundamentally restructure a part of the university you feel isn’t working well.
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George gives an insight into what he learned during his experience
can understand why a lot of students see there being no point in elections for positions within the Student Union every year. A common misconception is that it’s a space for uppity Politics students to have something to boost their CV with to satisfy their ego trip. The problem with stereotypes is that there is usually an element of truth which it is based on. I won’t argue that some students have, maybe, in the past used the election system to promote their own interests rather than those of the students they actually represent. Honestly though, having experienced the week for myself, you’re missing the reason that most students stand. Before you jump on the bandwagon of the people that think they’re brave slagging off people who put themselves out there in the hope of making a difference, let me take you on a tour of what it means to go for a position and maybe you’ll be able to make up your own mind instead of listening to rumours. The starting place is to think of a problem with the university. In my instance, standing for Students with Disabilities’ Officer, it was that Student Support services are overwhelmed with far too high a demand, and how you could fix it. This is so exciting. You
could fundamentally restructure a part of the university you feel isn’t working well or you could put a cookie dispenser in the SU. Next, think of which category that would fall under. For me it was clearly Disabilities Officer, as I wasn’t too keen on taking a year out for a Vice President position. For your cookies it could be VP Welfare if you were deadly serious. Nominating yourself is easy. There’s been posters everywhere in the university buildings. They give you guidance on how to do it, and will answer your questions if you do feel like you need convincing. So you’ve nominated yourself. Then what? You’ll attend some candidate briefings to learn more about the process and how straightforward it actually is, and then all of a sudden you’ll find yourself having to create a manifesto. Say you’re standing for VP Welfare. Apart from your cookie dispenser, you aren’t sure what to fill the other spaces. Try talking to other students, and have a brainstorm, because you’ll probably overlooking an obvious problem if you try to do it by yourself. Make a list and test it out with people. They need to be popular ideas or you won’t get elected. That’s how democracy works. I’m still a strong believer that if any candidate for SU President had demanded better WiFi they would
have been elected straight away. Then there’s designing posters, aka the fun bit. Want your face taking up the whole sheet? Go for it? If you fancy trying to be arty and represent the stigma surrounding disabilities using a marker pen, a lemon and a group of smug looking oranges then go ahead. Make sure it represents your message or nobody will care. Campaign week. You pick up your fliers and posters. You have your special coloured t shirt and you’re pushed out into the world, terrified by the scary students walking past you whom you need to convince to vote for you. There has to be a plan. What are you good at? My skill was talking to people and explaining my ideas in person to little groups instead of lecture shout outs. Be creative too. If you’re keen to do a video, then go ahead, but remember that spray painting your name on public property isn’t the smartest move for a potential student representative. It flies by, and before you know it, you’re at the results ceremony, wondering if you’ve done enough. Maybe you have, but it doesn’t end there if you don’t. I learned a huge amount from election week. I didn’t get into office, but I realised how receptive people are to an idea if you sell it with the passion you
have for it, so I’ve taken that on board to use for promoting my personal mental health campaign on campus. It’s amazing what a leap of faith can give you. If nothing else, you’ve had a mad week of free breakfasts and the chance to talk to that girl you liked off your course with the pretence of the election. It’ll vary from candidate to candidate obviously. Defeat is the best measure of character, and will teach you more about yourself than any lecture or seminar you ever attend. Victory is wonderful, and will give you the chance to see your ideas become fleshed out, but sometimes not winning is more important. Around 50 candidates, and about ten positions. The maths isn’t hard. I had a crisis for the subsequent days after my loss, wondering what I would do with myself, because as part of the election you believe your ideas are the best thing to ever exist. You have to, or you won’t convince people to vote. It’s spurred me on to push for my reforms I was keen on, and thankfully I know the people who have got into office, so they will help me make that happen. Don’t disregard something just because other people say it’s something it probably isn’t.
Pictured: Making a difference to students (Photographer: Simopala via flickr)
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I realised how receptive people are to an idea if you sell it with the passion you have for it.
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tickets on sale now cardiffstudents.com/varsity in association with
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comment
COMMENT 13 Editors: Em Gates Charley Griffiths David Williams @GairRhyddCom comment@gairrhydd.com gairrhydd.com/comment
Animal welfare is being sacrificed in the interest of entertainment
Elinor Craven
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The beachgoers were ignorant of the health and endangered nature of the dolphin, and prioritised the opportunity for selfgratification.
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e all know someone, or perhaps that particular someone, who likes to post pictures of their pets on social media for all to see and comment on, and for the most part, it is endearing. A recent case in Argentina, however, shows how some people will go to great lengths to get the novelty picture, which is guaranteed to get plenty of likes, whilst remaining seemingly unconcerned with the circumstances. A dolphin swimming close to the shore near a beach in Buenos Aires was plucked out of sea by beachgoers last month, and was passed around the gathering group, all pushing and shoving to take selfies with the animal. Removed from its natural habitat, the dolphin became dehydrated and died in the blistering sun, its skin too thick to cope with life out of water. After the happy snappers had got their novelty animal pictures, the dolphin was returned to the water dead, with little concern from the beachgoers as to its welfare. The dolphin was of the rare Franciscana breed, a breed only found in South American waters, of which only 30,000 remain. The beachgoers were ignorant of the health and endangered nature of the dolphin, and prioritised the opportunity for self-gratification in the form of pictures over the life of
a vulnerable animal. Their attitudes suggest that they consider animals as forms of entertainment, which reveals the desensitisation society is experiencing towards animal welfare. A spokeswoman for Australia’s World Animal Protection stated that the incident was “an example of the casual cruelty people can inflict when they use animals for entertainment purposes, without thinking of the animal’s needs”. We wouldn’t dare take selfies with a dying human, so why should animals be treated any differently? Society needs to be protecting endangered species, not using them for our own advantage. A similar disregard for animal welfare in favour of entertainment can be seen in the case of Sea World, which keeps, breeds and uses rare Orca whales for their water shows. The 2013 documentary Blackfish exposed the park’s mistreatment of the rare whales, by focusing on their stress caused by their difficult breeding conditions and exacerbated by their limited freedom within the tanks. Three trainers died as a result of the whales’ violent behaviour brought on by their mistreatment, the tragic deaths highlighting the extreme level of anxiety experienced by the whales in the confined setting. The animals were used in the park’s flagship entertainment show, which
attracted thousands of visitors every year. The revelations of the documentary, however, saw an 84 per cent drop in profits which led to the park’s claims that the Orca shows would be cancelled by 2017 and bigger tanks would be installed. The marked drop in profit showed the positive public reaction to the mistreatment, and confirmed that in this case, society realised the whales were not purely to provide entertainment and instead deserve to be treated fairly and humanely. In light of society’s reaction to this case, it surprises me that the Franciscana dolphin was deemed so unimportant by the public in Buenos Aires. It seems their excitement and the novelty of having a dolphin in such close proximity overrode their sense. Trophy hunters likewise seem to have few qualms about harming and killing endangered animals, exemplified by Walter Palmer, who paid $50,000 to wound and hunt a lion for 40 hours before killing, skinning and decapitating it, all in the name of sport. Fellow trophy hunters Melissa Bachman and Kendall Jones claim to hunt for conservation purposes, yet if this is the case, why do they think it necessary to pose for pictures with the dead animals? It implies that some members of society believe that the harming of vulnerable ani-
mals is a secondary concern only to the novelty photo opportunities and self-indulgent entertainment which it presents. Whose behaviour in your opinion is worse: those on the beach in Buenos Aires, whose complete lack of consideration saw a vulnerable animal die, or the likes of Walter Palmer, who freely kill endangered animals for sport? Either way, both parties are guilty of putting their own entertainment, vanity and selfie-obsessed nature before the welfare of animals, which are vital in maintaining the precarious balance of their ecosystems. No one desperately needs a selfie with a dolphin, and with such selfish actions, society is only adding to the rapid and unsustainable depletion of the animal kingdom. In all three cases discussed, animals have been mistreated and sacrificed for the sake of entertainment, showing how the inhumanity of the minority of society can have an alarming effect on all aspects of life. In these circumstances, certain members of society need to look in the mirror and realise that sacrificing a life for the sake of a novelty photo is deplorable, and that their increasingly self-indulgent behaviour presents a threat to animal welfare and the future of endangered species.
Pictured: Animal rights are constantly recognised as an important issue, but are often compromised. (Photographer: Nathan Rupert via Flickr)
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Sacrificing a life for the sake of a novelty photo is deplorable.
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14 COMMENT
Marianna Diaz
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Electoral campaigns are becoming more of a marketing campaign than a political one.
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The rise of gimmicks in politics
ccording to the Oxford dictionary, the word gimmick can be understood as ‘any trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or trade’. So, why would politicians, or any electoral campaigns, use this device to catch people’s attention? Donald Trump and his ‘freedom girls’ are a perfect example of gimmicks used in political campaigns. Trump’s electoral team authorised a ‘cute’ performance of three little girls dressed with the flag’s colours, singing about freedom, and about ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’, but mostly about how Donald Trump will ‘make the United States of America free and safe again’. At first sight, no one could think of any danger from having three little girls singing a catchy song favouring Trump’s campaign. That is what democracy is all about, right? We have the right to publicly express our opinion towards any political party. But the main issue here is Trump’s electoral team. His team authorised the cheerleader group to sing a song written by George M. Cohan in 1917, who wanted to inspire World War I American
soldiers. The young girls cheerleader group re-wrote the song, and added a catchy tune to encourage people to sing it. It could be said that in terms of marketing, this particular gimmick was a success from Trump’s electoral campaign, even though the lyrics were not entirely ethical for girls of that age to sing. Following cover songs, we find another example of catchy lyrics performed by right wing political parties. UKIP released a music video parody of Badiel & Skinner’s ‘Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home)’, where two woman, dressed again with the flag’s colours, ‘dance’ and sing with a big Union Flag waving behind them. They sing about ‘Britain coming home’ and how they will vote to leave the EU. Another clever move from the electoral team, who used a catchy song and changed the lyrics to spread the word. This way, people will remember the new lyrics, which reflect the party’s values, and probably gain more sympathisers. Gimmicks in politics are a very common tool used by any politician. Even Cardiff Student’s Union elections make
use of gimmicks in political campaigns. The reason why almost every political party, who want to stand out from the crowd and pull up the polls, make use of this tricky device is because they are very catchy. Our attention is easily attracted towards any bright colours we see. We are easily distracted by things that break the standard, and we do not have any trouble to remember any catchy song we randomly heard somewhere. It seems that politicians know their population so well that they successfully planned their next marketing campaign. However, I would not entirely agree with those measures. I recognize that in order to stand out from the crowd politicians need to be constantly reinventing themselves, and I would be in favour of any ethical trick they might want to use. But, when ethics in politics are less important than gaining sympathisers, gimmicks can be a problem. In this case, gimmicks start to undermine the seriousness of politics by treating the population as not very clever people who would follow any catchy song and any bright colour sign without
finding any fault in it. Unfortunately ethical or unethical gimmicks are useful to catch people’s attention. They will always succeed by gaining sympathisers, like Trump’s ‘freedom girls’ that succeeded by being on everyone’s lips. Donald Trump’s electoral team were smart enough to recognize a good gimmick and made use of it, despite it being unethical. They probably reach more people, although it is hard to think of anyone who does not know who Donald Trump is at this moment, I bet they gain at least one more sympathiser. Electoral campaigns are becoming more of a marketing campaign than a political one. Sadly, political parties will always use gimmicks on their campaigns, and the only power we, as free citizens, have over them, is to think twice before we start singing that catchy song we heard. We can stop for a minute and read through that bright sign we saw with their manifesto, and critically think if those lines really reflect our values. And never forget that everyday people are the primary source of political power.
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In this case, gimmicks start to undermine the seriousness of politics by treating the population as not very clever people who would follow any catchy song.
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Can the press ever be truly unbiased?
Charlie Knights
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So does a perception of media bias come from the change to representing both left and right wing sources?
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recent study released a few weeks ago by YouGov, which examined seven European countries, concluded that the United Kingdom press has been seen as the most likely to be right wing. YouGov’s investigation showed that when compared with Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, the United Kingdom is seen as the most right wing. This was after surveying members of the population of each of country about five key issues: health, crime, housing, the state of the economy, and immigration. Members of the British population left Britain as the most right wing in all categories apart from the economy, in which only Finland was voted higher. 29 per cent of all Britons voted that the media was too right wing on refugees and immigration, but that was the only category in which it was not considered to have ‘about the right balance’ as the majority answer. 32 per cent of Brits agreed that media had an equal balance on its approach to crime.
In terms of difference between who answered for left wing or right wing, then the British press is seen as rightwing on all five issues. Finland also showed a right wing bias, where as France, Germany, and Sweden have a perception of a more left-wing media. It also went on to examine how accurately the media was thought to be representing certain groups within society. Namely, refugees/asylum seekers, ethnic minorities, immigrants, women, nurses, politicians, celebrities, and young people. 45 per cent of the public said that the reporting of celebrities and politicians was inaccurate, and over half of the responses from Britain stated that the reports on minorities and immigrants was either fairly or very inaccurate. Previous analysis back in 2013 claimed to have found evidence for left wing bias at the BBC, saying that the BBC only qualified ten per cent of left wing think tank experiments with evidence, either through health warnings, ideological position, or connection to
a political figure. On the other hand it showed warnings for 25-60 per cent of reports from right wing sources and think tanks, if it gave them any coverage at all. So does a perception of media bias come from the change to representing both left and right wing sources? Or is it due to a more conservative shift over all in the media? This becomes more prevalent, when Trinity mirror, the collaborative group behind the Daily Mirror, launched another daily newspaper on the 29th February aiming to be the first standalone national daily in over 30 years. The aim behind it seems to spin off this previous research, as it aims to have an “optimistic approach” as well as being politically neutral, in an aim to snare those that don’t usually read newspapers. It also comes following Trinity reporting a £14.4 million fall in annual profit in what they describe as the “challenging” print market. They hope the paper to cost 50p within three weeks, and will aim to sell approximately 200,000 copies
a day. Chief executive Simon Fox said the new title “fills a gap in the market for a daily newspaper designed to co-exist in a digital age”, and as such current plans say it will not have a website, something rare for a news source nowadays. Media representation will always be seen as biased by someone though, it all depends on the reader’s perspective. There will be many people of every creed who think one thing or another about set issues, and may not think the media represents their views. Personally, I find that student media is often a good representation, as we have no ties to any particular organisation, and most of the rest of the press companies available give their view on the accounts. To what extent can the press have any kind of politically neutrality? They will always be guided in one way or another depending on their readership. Gair Rhydd itself won’t post things that aren’t relevant or interesting to students, and to some that could produce a certain political bias, and that might not necessarily be a bad thing.
Pictured: The Freedom Girls have split opnion in US politics (Source: Alan Cross)
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Media representation will always be seen as biased by someone though, it all depends on the reader’s perspective.
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COMMENT 15
Mark Chesson
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Paying bills and dealing with taxes once I have a job are going to be entirely alien to me, as they will be to a number of people in my generation.
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Kate Elswood
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Although the training drill involved many people, it is possible that the people working on the day of a real disaster may not be the ones involved in the drill.
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T
Schools need to do more to prepare us for adulthood
hroughout Britain, secondary schools appear to place a far greater emphasis on academic subjects than life skills. Whilst the national curriculum does contain subjects such as PSHE, it is often undermined and neglected by the schools themselves. In my experience, students often treated the subject as pointless, unimportant and a waste of time. They instead focused their entire energy upon studying for the academic aspect of school, as these were the subject for which they gained qualifications. English, Maths and Science all teach essential skills such as numeracy, literacy and analysis which are required in a broad range of jobs. They are also required if the student wants to continue their studies to university. However, as University applications appear to be dropping, as a result of increased tuition fees and the demise of the maintenance grant, perhaps more focus should be placed on skills that are required in order to function in the working world. These skills include knowledge of what makes a healthy relationship, how to vote in an election, how to carry out DIY, and personal finance. Are these skills neglected by schools, and should more be done to help students learn them? During my time at secondary
school, I was constantly aware of the lack of respect awarded to the life skills based subjects available. Albeit, one was paradoxically titled ‘Learning to Learn’, making it difficult to take seriously, but the lesson aimed to teach us essential skills. The syllabus included avoidance of drug abuse, animal cruelty and advice on safe sex, all of which would have been greatly beneficial to our developing minds. However, even the teachers and the schools itself refused to take the subject seriously. It was awarded a pathetic half an hour slot on a Monday morning, with the headmaster being fully aware that a group of lethargic 12 year olds were going to be in no mood to be lectured on relationship abuse. Yet the issues needed to be discussed. Secondary school children need to understand the criteria for a healthy relationship and the signs of abuse. Advice such as this could potentially save lives. Other essential skills such as DIY and personal finance are omitted from PSHE or any other lesson altogether. I, personally, have very little knowledge on either subject, and yet there are going to be many instances in my life where the skills are required. In the future I’m bound to need to repair a household item, and I have already had many dealings with personal finance that I was forced to struggle
through. Perhaps skills such as these are just common sense, something I am admittedly slightly lacking in, but I still believe schools should focus on them. Paying bills and dealing with taxes once I have a job are going to be entirely alien to me, as they will be to a number of people in my generation, because we have simply not been taught them. One of the most alarming things is the lack of awareness of general politics amongst teenagers. As last year’s general election drew close, whilst I was at college, it became ap-
parent that a staggering number of my fellow pupils had no intention of voting and had no idea how to vote. Since we are living in a highly democratic society, the teaching of basic politics is imperative and I find it greatly concerning that so few of us knew anything about it. Overall, with many young people showing little interest in attending university, it would be beneficial for schools to start focusing more on teaching them skills that will be essential for them to prosper in the working world.
Are we now prepared for a national disaster?
F
rom the 29th of February to the 3rd of March, London emergency services underwent the largest training exercise in its history. This project, called Exercise Unified Response, took place in four locations in central and south east London. A central part of the training involved the creation of a fake tube station, intended to replicate Waterloo Station. The event involved the simulation of the collapse of a building over this station. The fake disaster scene was located in a disused power station, near to the Dartford river crossing. Over 70 agencies were involved in this exercise, including the police, ambulance and fire services as well as Transport for London, London’s Air Ambulance and teams from outside London, such as Birmingham Resilience Team and specialist teams, including Disaster Victim Identification. Exercise Unified Response is funded by the EU, costing £770,000. This four-day project in London may not be considered a worthwhile cause for funding from the EU. However, the practice has been beneficial not only to emergency services in London, but has had an economic benefit, in the provision of jobs. The project took a year to plan and specialists from Hungary, Italy and Cyprus have assisted with the event. Moreover, jobs were created in London as the project involved hiring actors for the event, as well as providing jobs for those involved in the planning and construc-
tion of the event. However, the main intention of this was evidently not economic. The training project was intended to be beneficial to emergency services, as it provided a practice in emergency response. But this is perhaps where the project is weak, falling short of its intentions. The event may be useful, as the simulation of this high-pressure situation could help emergency services to be prepared for such a disaster, but the fact that they know it is not real means that they may respond differently to a real disaster. The simulation cannot prepare them for this. Furthermore, the fact that it was planned and so they were expecting the disaster means that it does not create a realistic experience. Moreover, although the training drill involved many people, it is possible that the people working on the day of a real disaster may not be the ones involved in the drill. It also appears that this experience is unlikely to be put into practice by those that attended the event. It should not change the way that they respond to a disaster as previous training should already provide them with the skills they will need. In addition, every disaster is different, the numbers of casualties and fatalities involved differ as well as the nature of the casualties, so it is impossible to be truly prepared. Thus, the aim of the exercise, to prepare London’s emergency services for a disaster,
was not an aim that could be achieved. Their existing training should already make them as prepared as they could possibly be. Despite this, a positive impact could be gained from this training exercise because it could make Londoners and those visiting London feel safer. The event could make the public more conscious of the fact that emergency
services are prepared to face massscale disasters. Therefore, it is a useful idea but it may not actually make a difference to the behaviour of emergency services in case of a disaster, due to it being unrealistic and the fact that emergency services should already as prepared as they can be from their training. It is impossible to be fully prepared for a mass-scale disaster.
Pictured: How much more should we be taught at school? (Source: Ilmicrofono Oggiono via Flickr)
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Students often treated the subject of PSHE as pointless, unimportant and a waste of time.
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Over 70 agencies were involved in this exercise, including the police, ambulance and fire services.
”
Pictured: Was the drill a great idea or a waste of money? (Photographer: Matt Beck)
16 COMMENT
Bradley Walker
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This expansion could be dire for smaller, local food stores which are already struggling... Amazon may further push the smaller stores to the brink of collapse.
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Madeleine Banfield
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This abuse exposes the police force’s attitude towards animals and the public criticism challenges the acceptance of this brutality.
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Could Amazon’s collaboration with Morrisons be detrimental?
T
he new partnership between Amazon and Morrisons has the right to startle competitors. Amazon already dominates the online shopping market, and has its foot in many doors; providing next day delivery and an online streaming service through Amazon Prime, creating their own tablets and e-readers and offering an alternative online music service. The service however has struggled to provide a consistent grocery delivery service that would allow them to deliver perishable goods. By teaming up with Morrisons, Amazon avoids this challenge completely as the supermarket chain already have an established business, producing a variety of their own products; farming their own meat and dairy and already having shares in the online shopping market in the form of Ocado. Is Amazon becoming too much of a superpower? The online giant is established across many forms; is stepping into another domain just too much? In the past ten years Amazon has gone from an online retailer to providing a variety of products, even going so far as creating their own. This expansion however could be dire for smaller stores, in particular smaller, local food stores which are already struggling due to the popularity and
expansion of supermarkets. Amazon may further push the smaller stores to the brink of collapse and further eradicate the individuality of smaller markets by bringing the largest online competitor to another market. The monopoly being created by Amazon raises a key question: should this kind of business be limited? With a foray into the grocery market Amazon is still growing, should this growth be limited slightly to stop the domination of one business over all others? Amazon has already been the source of controversy for many reasons, the business only just started paying sales taxes to the UK in May of last year and have also been under fire for the treatment of their employees. Should such a controversial company be allowed to expand at the rapid rate that it is? Surely the implications of this partnership should be explored before it is allowed to go forward. The partnership may also undermine the power of other businesses. Within hours of the news breaking Ocado’s stocks dropped by eight per cent. It may also spell trouble for other online retailers. With Amazon finally taking online shopping in the UK seriously, other supermarkets may feel the effects of Amazon’s foray into the grocery market. Many will choose to shop
with Amazon due to the convenience of being able to buy all of your goods from one place. This may take customers from other supermarket chains such as Tesco and Asda who, while having an easy to use and convenient shopping service, do not offer the diversity of products offered by Amazon already. It does however have some benefits. The move will further expand Morrisons as a business, and finally allow them to compete on the same level as other supermarkets in the online shopping market. The move will be beneficial for the
supermarket and give people in secluded communities a convenient and more cost efficient way of bulk buying their shopping and other goods. These benefits however are overshadowed by the sheer force that would be carried by Amazon if they step into this market. They may just bulldoze the competition. It’s tough to say what the effects of this partnership will have on the stock market and businesses in general, however it does show that Amazon is massive force to be reckoned with and it is only a matter of time before it steps into more unique territories.
Pictured: Is going online the new fresh choice? (Photographer: Graham Richardson)
Barking up the wrong tree?
N
The alleged mistreatment of dogs by police forces has made headlines in recent weeks, but can it ever be justified?
orth Wales Police have faced heavy criticism following publicity and the release of a video which showed their officers running over a loose dog which was disrupting traffic. The police feared it would cause a serious crash. The incident took place on the A55 in Conwy at around 3am on Monday 22nd February. A petition on change.org has been created in an attempt to gain justice for the dog, and has already passed 7,700 signatures. It is clear that if the police did everything in their power to pursue an alternative method and still could not regain control, then something had to be done. Indeed, this can be compared to the three cars that crashed in Wales just days later, on the 26th February, after two dogs ran onto the A4232. This accident led to one woman receiving minor injuries, but realistically, both of these incidents could have ended in fatalities. Police in this situation, when there are risks to life, have to effectively maintain control. The North Wales Police in their statement claimed that there were “several attempts to catch the dog”. But surely as dog owners themselves they should have been aware that the foxhound would have been anxious and excited. Running after a dog, trying to capture it, is surely not an appropriate way to handle the
situation? Instead coaxing the dog towards the side of the road with food, or an even better option would be to raise an alert to the RSPCA, or vets with tranquillisers. The police claim that they were forced to take action because the dog was causing vehicles to swerve, and there was a very real threat of a collision. One of the main things I have a difficulty in accepting is the fact that there was no road closure in an attempt to provide the police with additional time to react to the situation. This road acts as a gateway to Holyhead Docks and so there is a constant stream of traffic. Although this is reduced at 3am, surely this is all the more reason to close it. In these situations I would expect that the police immediately would want to reduce the risk to lives, whether human or animal. So why did they not stop the traffic or close the lane? The mistreatment of dogs by the police force is becoming a very real debate. Stella, a pitbull-type dog had been judged as a ‘dangerous dog’ by Devon and Cornwall Police. She has been locked up in a kennel since 2014, and denied any exercise, supposedly in accordance with being under the Dangerous Dog Act. It is only on the 8th February 2016 that a court has ordered for the dog’s destruction, but there has
not been any attempt in reducing the suffering of this dog throughout this process. This abuse exposes the police force’s attitude towards animals and the public criticism actively challenges the acceptance of this brutality. Running over this dog can also be perceived as an act of mistreatment. It would have been safer for not only the dog, but the drivers too, if the road was closed until they had regained com-
plete control. This was a major fault and they have received complaints from vast amounts of people because of it. The IPCC have ‘after careful consideration of a referral from North Wales Police, […] determined that the force should continue with its own investigation.’ Of course we will have to wait for the outcome of this to know the full extent of the story, but it does suggest an error in their conduct.
Pictured: North Wales Police have received complaints about their conduct (Photographer: Chris Sampson)
COMMENT 17
Sports: focus on ability, not appearances!
Charley Griffiths
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It isn’t just about appearances here either. Coverage of female sport is seriously lagging behind.. only seven per cent of all sports coverage is dedicated to women’s sports.
”
Pictured: Serena Williams was victim last year to negative comments about her appearance, despite her success. (Photographer: Yann Caradec)
B
y no means would I call myself a sport expert, I will say that now. I usually never read or click on a sports article purely because I don’t really support any particular teams, and sport headlines just read to me as “Look, sport happened! People scored points!” There just isn’t anything in it for me. But after a friend pointed out to me recently that sexism in sport is still massively a thing, it got me wondering whether that was some kind of subconscious reason for my lack of interest. Then, when I opened up the news app on my phone, I decided to browse the sport section for the first time ever. I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with a female face. Until I read the headline. Brazilian surfer Silvana Lima wasn’t deemed “pretty enough” for sponsorship. Now even I can see how bloody ridiculous that is. Essentially, sport should be about your ability as an athlete. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet Silvana Lima, eight times best surfer in Brazil, twice second in the world, is obviously very good at what she does, but this wasn’t acknowledged for the first 13 years of her career. Lima, talking to the BBC, acknowledged how “I don’t look like a model. I’m a surfer, a professional one. The surf-wear brands, when it comes to women, they want both models and surfers. So if you don’t look like a model, you end up without a sponsor, which is what happened to me… men don’t have these problems”. Why is it that women are unfortunately pressured into focussing on their looks to advance in their athletic careers? Thankfully, Lima didn’t let this stop her. She explained how “I could get breast implants, dye my hair… but it would be so weird, nobody would recognise me. It wouldn’t be me”. After facing these obstacles, it made her “want to get better at the sport”, and thankfully her hard work has paid off, with important brands now giving her
the backing she deserves. But successful female athletes are still repeatedly judged on their appearances, and not their athletic accomplishments. In fact, in a survey conducted by BBS Sport in 2015, almost 50 elite sportswomen said they had been criticised via social media about their looks. Think back to last year, when Serena Williams was dubbed as ‘manly’ by pathetic trolls on social media. I think with her five Wimbledon championships, 21 Grand Slam singles and four Olympic gold medals, she isn’t at all bothered by what you have to say, but the point still stands. Tennis is one of the key offenders here. While the pay gap has been addressed, with male and female tennis players earning equal prize money at Wimbledon, it is not a coincidence that the women seen as more attractive get more media attention, I mean just look at Maria Sharapova. Talented athlete, but with her looks receiving greater attention. The All England Club actually admitted that “good looks are a factor” in choosing which players are selected to play on the high-profile courts. Comedian Amy Schumer does a great parody video of how sexy tennis players are treated, I suggest you YouTube that if you don’t want to read more of my ramblings, as she pretty much hits the nail on the head. Alternatively, you could look at the video made by ‘Cover the Athlete’, an online campaign exploring sexism in sport. It highlights how ridiculous sports coverage is of women, by using clever editing to highlight how male athletes would not be asked the sort of questions addressed to female athletes, such as questions about their love life, hair or weight. Cover the Athlete’s YouTube page addresses how “inappropriate interview questions, and articles commenting on physical appearance not only trivialises a woman’s accomplishments, but also sends a message that a woman’s value is based on her
looks, not her ability”. Considering the related videos bar on the right had videos titled “Top 10 Hottest Female Athletes” etc, I would agree with this statement. Yes, male athletes often crop up on these sorts of lists too, and looks are acknowledged, but their appearance never has a detrimental effect on their career in the way it so often does for women. Men are also victims to these pressures, and that is wrong. But there are literally endless examples of this happening to women all the time. It isn’t even just about appearances here either. Coverage of female sport is seriously lagging behind. According to the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF), only seven per cent of all sports coverage is dedicated to women’s sport. Look at the rugby and football; not only do they get much less focus in the media, but they get paid significantly less. The WSFF also pointed out how a mere 0.5 per cent of
all sponsorship money in the whole of UK sport goes to women. Add this to the fact that on average, a female England international only earns around £16,000 a year. I am pretty sure male footballers make that in a day, or even a few hours. Don’t believe me? Forbes list of highest paid athletes of 2015 featured only two women. I could go on and on. An athlete’s appearance has absolutely no impact on their sporting ability, male or female. If we are still in a position where only the attractive athletes are getting major sponsorship deals, I am seriously questioning the integrity of the sport industry in general. If we want to get more women interested in sport, both watching and participating, perhaps sending out a positive message that our abilities are actually valued might be the trick. Get it together. Support achievement, not aesthetics.
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If only the attractive athletes, male or female, are getting sponsorship, I am seriously questioning the integrity of the sporting industry.
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Are social experiments just click-bait or do they show genuine concern?
Eleanor Prescott
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As for awareness, it is an effective way of highlighting an underdiscussed issue.
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Y
ouTube ‘social experiments’ are on the rise of late, and these types of videos mean different things to different people. For some, they’re an effective way to bring to light inequalities and double standards within society. To the more cynical amongst us, they’re sometimes biased, possibly exploitative ways of making money from views, or even backpedalling excuses for a prank gone awry. Coby Persin is one such YouTuber who’s had viral success in the past with social experiments, and added to that this week with a video raising awareness of child brides married off across the globe. To achieve this he filmed New Yorkers reacting to a 12-year-old in a wedding dress posing with a 65-year-old groom. The couple were of course actors, presumably unbeknownst to the public
who are quick to speak out, horrified, against a child getting married. Is this in itself shocking or surprising? Not really. Is it exploitative of the public for viral video views? Perhaps. In this case, it may come from a genuine, philanthropic concern. A common criticism of “social experiments” is bias, altering footage to suit the filmmaker’s agenda – or even fakery. It’s also worth pointing out this is a copycat video of a campaign run by the charity KAFA in Lebanon, and not the first social experiment Persin has copied. But when the video only reiterates what is surely the natural reaction of most people witnessing a child being married, bias isn’t the problem. As for awareness – as long as Persin is factual, it’s an effective way of highlighting an under-discussed issue, even if it copies a charity campaign more likely to
be genuine. Is awareness enough though? And should we be sceptical of Coby Persin considering the money he stands to gain through video views? I’d say so – he doesn’t offer to donate the money from the video to a charity that would help, nor points the viewer in the direction of doing so themselves. He does suggest you share the video though. And truthfully, the only thing that guarantees is more money in his pocket. That’s not factoring in Persin’s reputation either, or the frequency with which ‘social experiments’ are lumped in with ‘prank’ videos as a way of negating any blame for sleazy behaviour within the video. This has become such a regular occurrence, with high-profile cases such as Sam Pepper, Simple Pickup or SoFloAntonio, that much of the community
view pranksters or ‘social experimenters’ as the bottom feeding scum of YouTube. Persin isn’t exempt from this criticism. As a brief example, his video on “The Dangers of Social Media”, where he pretends to groom children to highlight how often children will talk to strangers on the internet, is fairly morally questionable. It’s also been criticised for not proving anything significant – simply talking to your kids about internet ‘stranger danger’ should suffice – not shaming them online. Nestled in amongst ‘prank’ videos about ‘serenading hot girls’, he doesn’t come off that well either. Ultimately with certain YouTubers, it’s best to be aware of their motives. There’s no denying raising awareness is a good thing, but we’re better off going to the trustworthy sources than the Facebook clickbait.
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To the more cynical amongst us, they are explotative ways of making money from views, or excuses for a prank gone awry.
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18 COMMENT
New problems face our LGBT+ youth LGBT+ rights and acceptance have come a long way in recent decades. David Williams discusses how going forward a different focus is needed to support the youth of today.
David Williams
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There is a common misconception that ‘coming out’ is a quick announcement of someone’s sexuality.
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L
ast month was LGBT history month, following this I feel there is no better time to discuss the problems LGBT+ youths face in society today, and the next set of issues that need to be addressed. Often LGBT+ celebrities feel they have a duty, to step out into the open about their sexuality, as ambassadors and role models to their fans. There is no question that they do this with the best intentions, to try and promote acceptance and change in a world where the concept of sexuality and gender itself, are constantly changing. LGBT+ acceptance has come a long way in recent years, though a lot faster for lesbian, gay and bi people than transgender people. The problem is, that some celebrity figures, the media and even the LGBT+ community itself, may be holding on to the past and hindering progression. Is it time we finally attempt to ‘normalise’ homosexuality, bisexuality, transgender and other identities within society rather than repeated discourses of LGBT+ being a separate community? That being said there are celebrities that are doing amazing things for the acceptance and ‘normalisation’ of being LGBT+. Last week Sam Smith was slammed by many for claiming that he was possibly the first openly gay Oscar winner. He could not have been more wrong, many openly gay men have won Oscar’s, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, musician Elton John and composer Stephen Sondheim being just a few. Sam Smith’s comments were misinformed, and he definitely meant well, but he just ended up making a complete balls up of the entire situation. Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (fiancé of diver Tom Daley) was quick to call Smith out on his mistake on Twitter and also suggested he stop texting his fiancé. Evidently Sam’s night did not
go smoothly by no means. The way that he also decided to dedicate the award to the LGBT community was shoddy. How are you supposed to make being gay ‘normal’ in a world where at every given chance you are highlighting the LGBT+ community as a separate community? The fact that Sam Smith won the award is a great achievement and something that should be celebrated, without him feeling the need to fly the multicoloured flag. Next, is the whole idea of ‘coming out’. It is a phrase I absolutely detest that the media hooked onto when Tom Daley uploaded a video to YouTube back in December 2013, announcing that he was dating a guy. Tom raised the issue that he made the video because he did not want his words to get misconstrued by the media. ‘Coming out’ is a difficult process for anyone, and it is certainly not something that happens over night. It is a process that can take, weeks, months or even years. There is a common misconception that ‘coming out’ is a quick announcement of someone’s sexuality. And the truth of the matter is no individual in this day and age should feel like they have to ‘come out’. You don’t see straight people coming out. I know being heterosexual is the majority, but why as a society should we place such emphasis on gay individuals having to announce to their family, friends, the world, that they are gay? There is a massive pressure on young gay people to ‘come out’. I like to think it is something that should just casually come up in conversations or something people just come learn one day and accept. It doesn’t need to be a big deal. Union J’s George Shelley also recently uploaded a video to YouTube regarding his sexuality. And quite frankly it was brilliant. He com-
pletely dismissed the labels ‘gay’, ‘straight’ and ‘bi’, stating they were old fashioned. He expressed his view that the whole thing shouldn’t be a big deal. Many young people don’t feel like they can identify with these labels, and why should you have to compartmentalise your sexuality in a box? After all, sexuality is arguably a spectrum. George’s video was very progressive in my opinion, and I don’t think he had enough credit for the statements he made. Many gay people on Twitter, and in particular Instagram frequently hashtag their photos with #gay, #gayuk, #gayboy, #Instagay and various other tags. Gay people are constantly fighting not to be labelled, not to be defined by their sexuality yet you have people quite blatantly labelling themselves. Yes, I understand that people are proud of who they are, but if you want to be accepted as ‘normal’ why label yourself? You don’t see straight people using the hashtags #straight, #straightuk and #Instastraight? There is more to you than your sexuality, it does not define you. For many the struggles of identifying with sexuality often come with mental health issues. Frontman of electronic-pop band Years & Years, Olly Alexander, has recently spoken out about his experiences of mental health as a youngster. He voiced the struggle many face with finding their identity amongst peers who criticise them for being different. In an interview with Owen Smith from The Guardian, Olly explained “growing up in a straight world is difficult, once you kind of admit to yourself and to the world that you’re gay there’s kind of an expectation you put on yourself in a way, that you’re fine now”. He goes on to talk about how it’s not all fine afterwards, and that many still face a battle. There
has been lots of attention in the news about the lack of support for people experiencing mental health issues and the stigma attached to them. He has been very open about his experiences. What Olly has done is courageous and this is the type of role model LGBT+ people need today. Finally, I think it is important to mention Jordan Gray who is a transgender woman appearing on this series of The Voice UK. There is no denying she is an incredible vocalist; all you need to do is a quick search of her battle performance of ‘This Woman’s Work’ with Theo Llewellyn to see this. The performance was absolutely remarkable, the fact she, a transgender woman, performed this song on stage with a black man, from a historical and cultural perspective, is almost symbolic of how times are changing. It is definitely worth a watch. But what is important here is the visibility she is giving to transgender people in the UK. The Voice has provided an amazing platform here and it is warming to watch how the coaches and audience respond so admirably towards her. More transgender people need visibility to encourage acceptance, just like gay role models have over the last few decades. LGBT+ issues have come a long way, and it is so refreshing and encouraging to see that there are more really positive role models coming through in celebrity culture. Though, it is important that issues such a labeling and mental health issues are addressed. Transgender people also need a lot more visibility and more celebrity role models. The youth of today, and LGBT+ people in general, face new challenges in further ‘normalising’ different sexualities. The only way to do this is to fly that multi-coloured flag a little bit lower, but still, fly it with pride.
Pictured: Olly Alexander has recetly opened up about his experiences growing up in a ‘straight world’ as well as his mental health issues. (Source: Years and Years Vevo)
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More transgender people need visibility to encourage acceptance just like gay role models have over the last few decades.
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XPRESS RADIO PRESENTS
THE GAIR RHYDD COLUMN 21
Labour pains
Helena Hanson
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The reality is that the further into your degree you get, the more challenging it is to balance the things you do.
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I’ve got 99 problems... but I think they’re all insignificant
couple of weeks ago, I got a job. After avoiding doing so for a year and a half, I finally had to cave. I needed a job for several reasons, the majority of which revolve around the simple fact that I just love spending money. The first entity that I just love to binge my limited cash on is clothing in Zara. Zara is to me what soft blue tint glasses are to Elton John and what shouting at the working class is to Jeremy Kyle. It is an erotic wonderland of European-chic elegance and the only shop in the world that doesn’t make me want to strangle myself after trying on a few pairs of jeans. At least once a week I find myself dancing around the store with my left arm burning under the weight of nine hundred pairs of brightly coloured, floral print trousers and my right heaped with neutral toned jumpers baring bizarre foreign expressions on, that translate to something random like ‘it is summer’ or ‘beautiful, sunset, life’. My second weakness is food. There is nothing better than spending money on food. It is both the most disgusting and satisfying way to easily blow twenty quid. The fundamental problem is that I hate doing a weekly shop. I despise it. Hiking to Lidl in the Antarctic blizzards to do an absolutely necessary food shop is quite literally, in my mind, worse than starving to death. Not only do my hands burn for the following 48 hours from having my indestructible bag for life cutting into the flesh of my skin (your hands will disintegrate before the bag does), but having an argument with a mum of nine with two trolleys and a knife in her back pocket over the last bakery donut and then getting to the till to have all
your shopping thrown back at you at the speed of light is just NOT my idea of a good time. Lidl makes me a nervous, quivering wreck. Queue the beauty of the take away, the café, the restaurant. It’s so easy. You have your dinner cooked for you, unless you’re super keen then there’s nothing to carry home, and most importantly you don’t even have to do any washing up. Finally, and perhaps most imperatively, I felt obliged to get a job this term because my best friend and I blew £600 on a flight to Vietnam on an impulse a few weeks ago. The time between the outbound and inbound flights is five weeks. Five weeks during which we will require food, shelter, transport and money for activities. Following this, I was left with only £8 (and four beautiful Zara coats) to my name. I knew something needed to change. So, I got a job. Truthfully, thus far my job has been a breeze. The work is straightforward, the people are lovely, the pay is fair, there is little to complain about. But, my GOD, I’m exhausted. It’s seldom said that being a student is hard work. All we do is lounge around in our underwear eating week-old pasta and fried chicken and watching repeats of Family Guy and nursing our VK hangovers right? The reality is that the further into your degree you get, the more challenging it is to balance the things you do. For me, attempting to juggle a combination of lectures, seminars, reading and essays, alongside having a job, volunteering, organising work experience, student media, having a social life and attempting to remember to eat and sleep and shit is a challenge. So is it that I am left with an ul-
timatum? I either sacrifice my future job prospects by forfeiting work experience or my degree, or give up the things that I love like Gair Rhydd or volunteering with animals, or do I quit my job and stop being able to buy things that are absolutely essential to my university survival, like VK’s and Zara shoes and you know… dinner? None of the above seem attractive to me. I sit here on a Tuesday night, shovelling macaroni cheese into my mouth, moaning to my flat mates about how the kitchen is untidy and I haven’t got a dress for the Journalism ball next week, and how I have a column, presentation and literature review due in tomorrow that I haven’t started and that I am still yet to discover what the actual fuck a literature review is. As I whine my attention is stolen by the television. A programme is beginning called “Born to be Different”. Suddenly I feel like the world’s biggest moron. The show has been airing for thirteen years, annually documenting the lives of severely disabled children as they grow older. The episode I’m watching focuses on William Davies, who has Tuberous Sclerosis, a condition that causes tumours to grow everywhere on his body. His anxious looking mother stands in her kitchen and tells the camera that William has recently been diagnosed with a lifethreatening tumour on his kidney, that without treatment, will cause him to suffer a ‘catastrophic bleed’ and that will take his life. The family are awaiting the call that will tell them whether the NHS deem his condition unique enough to warrant giving him the life-saving drug that he needs, at the cost of £30,000. Per year.
I stare at this lady on television, discussing how her son will die without this drug, as she implies that they will not be able to afford the medication without the NHS. I wonder how it must feel to be that helpless, to know that your child’s life depends on somebody else’s decision. I wonder how it must feel to have to get up every morning and know that might be the day you get the call that says they cannot afford to keep your son alive. Suddenly my own worries become overwhelmingly insignificant. If problems were measured by spherical objects, William and his family would have a solar system, and I’d have a few grapes. Amongst the flurry of university life, with deadlines and schedules, I have forgotten how incredibly fortunate and blessed I am. Although I accept that just because somebody else in the world has bigger problems, it doesn’t render mine irrelevant, I think the key concept is perspective. Yes, it sucks that I have to write a 1,000 word lit review in 24 hours, and yes, it sucks that I have so much to do that I forget to eat and sleep sometimes, but I would rather write a hundred, million, billion lit reviews and columns and work sweeping popcorn from the floor every day for the next hundred years, than have to worry about finding £30,000 (per year) to keep somebody I love alive. So, from now on, I’m actively abstaining from complaining. When I fuck up my poached egg, or get rained on when I walk to uni, or when I am too fat to fit in any ball dress that I like, or don’t get a text back from that fitty from Revs that I had visualised marrying, I’m already over it.
Pictured: So much to do, so little time (Photographer: via Flickr)
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Although I accept that just because somebody else in the world has bigger problems, it doesn’t render mine irrelevant, I think the key concept is perspective.
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22 POLITICS
politics
Editors: Carwyn Williams Sam Patterson @GairRhyddPol politics@gairrhydd.com gairrhydd.com/politics
Trump and Clinton triumph on Super Tuesday • Super Tuesday saw several states all hold their primaries or caucuses on the same day • On the Democratic side, Clinton won seven states, Sanders took four • For the Republicans, Trump won seven states, Ted Cruz won three and Rubio one • BUT the majority of states are still to vote
Rhys Thomas
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These results underline that Ted Cruz has the best chance of beating Donald Trump - Marco Rubio and other winless candidates are splitting the anti-Trump vote.
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uper Tuesday is one of the biggest dates in the US political calendar - it is when several states all hold their primaries or caucuses on the same day. Both parties held primaries in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia. Caucuses were held in Colorado and Minnesota - the Republicans held additional caucuses in Alaska, North Dakota and Wyoming with the Democrats having one more in the territory of American Samoa (there is also a primary for Democrats Abroad with US Citizens in countries all over the globe including the United Kingdom casting their primary votes). This was the first day in the electoral cycle where multiple votes had occurred on one day - until now we only had individual votes in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Bernie Sanders had come out of those first four contests very much still in touch with Hillary Clinton, their delegate counts were practically even. Despite this the mainstream press have been quick to bury Sanders’ campaign and at every opportunity proclaim him a loser who doesn’t have a chance. They’ve done it throughout the campaign and the media reaction after Super Tuesday
was no different. Clinton won seven states with Sanders taking four - Clinton had a key advantage with these primaries in that was most of them were Southern states with large numbers of black voters who are generally strong Clinton supporters. The Southern states for Clinton and Vermont for Sanders were both forgone conclusions, however the other four (Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Oklahoma) were genuinely up in the air and could’ve gone either way - it is a hugely positive sign for the Sanders campaign that they won three out of those four states, Massachusetts the only one going to Clinton and that was by less than two percentage points. Sanders goes forward into more favourable territory in the forthcoming weeks and months, and a crucial factor for the road ahead is money - an area where many pundits before the campaigns thought Sanders would be weak. In fact, he has rewritten the rulebook on campaign finance taking over four million individual contributions at an average of $27 a go. This cash inflow is more that enough to sustain a long campaign, and small donations keep coming in as Sanders stays in the fight and shows that he can potentially win. In February alone he raised $42m from small donors
compared to Clinton who received most of her $30 from corporations and Super PACS (groups set up to support a candidate that aren’t ‘officially’ linked to the campaign, meaning they don’t have to abide by certain campaign laws). In the ironically nicknamed ‘Grand Old Party,’ Donald Trump was predicted to sweep all before him in the Republican race with the real-estate mogul being predicted by some to take ten out of eleven states up for grabs. He didn’t have it all go his way though - he led the pack with seven states, with Ted Cruz taking three and Marco Rubio taking one. These results underline that Ted Cruz has the best chance of beating Donald Trump - Marco Rubio and the other winless candidates (John Kasich and Ben Carson) are simply splitting the anti-Trump vote. It just shows what a sorry state the Republicans are in that Trump and Cruz are the top two candidates - mad, bad and dangerous doesn’t even cover it! Despite Cruz doing better than expected, Trump is still in the box seat and it would take something special for anyone else to win the popular Republican nomination. Rubio is all but out - looking at the delegates remaining he would need to average 50% in all the remaining
primaries, a number he is nowhere near even in his home state of Florida or the other states which are more favourable for him than those gone by. As Republican Senator for South Carolina Lindsey Graham said on the prospect of a Trump v Cruz battle for the nomination “It’s like being shot or poisoned”. What a fall from grace for the party of Abraham Lincoln, reduced to a couple of bickering egotists with extreme views and agendas of self-promotion, especially with Trump’s recent refusal to distance himself from the endorsement of David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Unfortunately, the moderates have themselves to blame for underestimating the insurgent mood and people being sick of politics as usual - the weakness and duplicity of figures like Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush have paved the way for these extremists to take over the party and, whisper it quietly, perhaps the country. The majority of primary and caucuses are still yet to come, with the final contests being held in June. March 15th is the next really significant day in the calendar with five states in play including Ohio and Florida - two crucial swing states come the time of the general election in November.
Pictured: Right: Atlantic Council Distinguished Leadership Awards 2013. (Photographer: Paul Morse.) Left: Donald Trump (Photographer: Michael Vadon)
POLITICS 23
Jamie McKay
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Ireland was forced to take multiple bailouts from the EU, a humiliation after the economic miracle, which saw Ireland experience rapid economic growth.
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Jamie McKay
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Uncertainty as Irish election results are counted
olitical media in the UK seems to have been dominated by events across the Atlantic in recent weeks and months, so much so that readers may have missed an election far closer to our shores. Ireland held a General Election on the 27th February with the counting of votes taking place over the weekend. Incumbent Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael Enda Kenny has been defending a period of five years in government in coalition with the centre-left Labour party. Ireland is Britain’s fifth largest exports market, and imports more from us than any other nation. Kenny is also one of David Cameron’s few allies in the European Union, despite being strongly against the UK turning away from the Union. Perhaps not unusually for a nation with close historic ties to the UK, some parallels can be drawn between our two political systems. Fine Gael and Irish Labour formed a coalition government soon after the 2011 elections. In the post crash crisis Ireland was forced to take multiple bailouts from the EU, a humiliation after the economic miracle, which saw Ireland experience rapid economic growth. Mr Kenny’s government implemented harsh austerity measures in an effort to save the Irish economy. With falling unemployment rates and GDP growth of five per cent Fine Gael were hoping for a surprise win similar to David Cameron’s last year. Towards the end of 2015 a delegation of advisers to the Taoiseach travelled to London and met with senior Conservative figures to study techniques for the upcoming vote. Fine Gael even went so far as to hire the same campaign managers
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who had sent the Conservatives back to number ten. It’s easy to notice this in campaign literature, focus on the governments’ ‘long-term economic plan’ and attempting to scare voters with the prospect of Sinn Féin holding sway over a government led by Fianna Fáil. Cameron is said to have sent Kenny a handwritten note wishing him luck. However, whilst British voters felt confident in the Tories’ ability to manage the economy, Irish citizens haven’t benefitted from the return to economic growth. Though they remain the largest party in Parliament Fine Gael have seen a dramatic drop in their overall vote share. In scenes familiar to those who remember last years junior coalition
member Labour fell victim to the Clegg effect and lost 31 of their 37 seats in Parliament, Kenny himself admits the next government is unlikely to include Labour. As parties negotiate through potential coalition deals, one interesting aspect has been in the realignment of Irish politics. Whilst most countries are divided among left-right lines, the animosity between Ireland”s leading parties originates in the civil war of 1922-1923. The Anglo-Irish Treaty allowed the formation of the Irish Free State and Civil War. Pro treaty forces formed Fine Gael while those opposed to the settlement formed Fianna Fáil. This election has seen the introduction of new parties,
Renua hopes to represent those on the centre-right with the Social Democrats looking to Scandinavian social democracy for inspiration. The far-left represented by an electoral alliance between the Anti Austerity Alliance and People before Profit look for more radical changes seeking to reverse austerity measures introduced in recent years. This year marked the first time the two main parties failed to gain 50 per cent of the national vote, with pundits speculating some reconciliation between the two rivals in the form of a national government. With this year marking the centenary of the 1916 Easter rising Irish voters may wonder what relevance the two parties have today.
Pictured: In what is an important year for Ireland as it marks a century since the 1916 Easter rising, what will the future look like? Below: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (Photographer: Loey Felipe)
‘Moderates’ succeed in Iranian election
ran recently held elections for both the Parliament and the Assembly of Experts, a body of eighty-eight theologians responsible for both selecting and supervising the Supreme Leader. Pundits have lauded the results as a victory for the country’s more moderate voices. Current President Hassan Rouhani will be pleased to see candidates from the coalition referred to as the “list of hope”, who have been endorsed by reformist voices, make sweeping
gains across the country. However, Iran banned the last three serious opposition parties in 1983, just four years after the revolution that first brought them to power. Since then politicians have been split between the conservative and reformist camps, both of which trace their roots to the now defunct Islamic Republic Party. It is worth remembering that the Iranian state is a theocracy with the Twelver school of thought of Shia
Islam declared the official state religion. The constitution insists that the Guardian Council must first vet all candidates running for Parliament or the Assembly and ensure they meet all criteria outlined by Islamic law and the constitution. This means that the vast majority of progressive candidates were barred from running earlier this year, reformists made up around one per cent of the six thousand Legislative candidates who remained after the governments strict vetting procedure. Similarly, authorities disqualified over six hundred of the original eight hundred candidates standing for the Assembly of Experts. Those ‘reformist’ candidates who survived certainly don’t appear all too moderate. They include former Intelligence Ministers Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi and Mohammad Reyshahri, who have both been accused of orchestrating assassinations and other attacks on the regimes opponents both at home and abroad. It would be easy to attack Rouhani alone but he isn’t the leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ai Khamenei is. As Supreme Leader all sovereign and executive decisions are left to him, Rouhani would not stand in his current role if the leadership didn’t believe him to be trustworthy. Even if a relatively moderate candidate were to be elected, they wouldn’t last long when set against the ‘Deep State’. The ‘Deep State’ is a term coined by
Middle Eastern pundits to describe a state within a state, which ensures the status quo is maintained. Khamenei uses elements of the state, such as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, who answer directly to him with no oversight from the few electable institutions in the Iranian political system. The Iranian people have no leverage over the real power, as mentioned before real moderate forces in Iran have little chance to achieve real change. After the failed Green revolution, which took after the 2009 Presidential elections, the state has been guarded with dissidents and opponents of the government jailed or worse. According to Amnesty International, Iran has severely restricted freedom of expression and has displayed a worrying lack of concern for human rights. Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karoubi have been placed under house arrest without charge or trial. Other opposition activists and trade unionists have seen similar treatment. Prisoners and detainees have reported the use of torture by authorities in order to gain ‘confessions’. Worryingly, these human rights abuses and clamp downs on opponents have only intensified since the beginning of Rouhani’s term in office. Despite the gains made by ‘reformist’ candidates readers shouldn’t expect to see any major progressive changes in Iran any time soon.
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Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Medhi Karoubi have been placed under house arrest without charage or trial.
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24 POLITICS
Tory party split over Europe
Outcome of referendum could decide future ministers
Conor Holohan
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This is Cameron’s third referendum, and thus fur he’s got a perfect record – AV wasn’t introduced and Scotland didn’t leave the Union.
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Carwyn Williams
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avid Cameron has been less than pleased with those pesky eurosceptic ministerial colleagues of his. He and his two most likely successors as the Tory party leader, Theresa May and George Osbourne, are in favour of the UK remaining in the EU like he is, but the third oft mentioned candidate for next leader, Boris Johnson, spoke out louder than before over the past two weeks about his feelings on the EU. Though it had always been known that Boris – excuse the use of his first name, but I think we’re all on first name terms with Boris, in a way – was adverse to the UK’s current state of membership of the EU by his articles in the Mail on Sunday pouring scorn on legislations passed down from Brussels. Why was there such a sensational reaction to such an established and known fact – the fact that Boris will vote to leave on June 23rd? It can surely only be down to two things: Either there was very little to print in the various faecal tabloid rags on that given day, or perhaps Boris has been more vocal recently as to tactically position himself against his two most high-profile and likely challengers for the Tory leadership and so to be the Eurosceptic candidate, whilst May and Osbourne linger in no-to-Brexit Cameronism. The idea of Boris as PM may send shivers down your spine – the whole country in blond wigs riding cheap
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bicycles as to not look too screamingly Etonian – but his competence is not to be questioned, especially when positioned against Theresa May whose performance in the Home Office was entertaining to watch if not slightly worrying that a woman of such poor competence can hold such an office for such a long time. Especially when competent politicians such as Michael Gove and Boris Johnson are often laughed down because of their toxicity or personality and most likely wouldn’t make it into the Home Office Job – apart from maybe Boris for his personality, but nobody actually knows what he believes or thinks about any sort policy unless they really read into him; they only care about his hair and the sheer elegance at which he can body-slam a Japanese child at a photo opportunity - smooth. If Michael Gove had not made such a catastrophic blunder by tarring himself as a proletariat-hating, snow leopard skin wearing toff whilst filling the role of education secretary, he could have been a contender with Johnson, May and Osbourne. Gove’s very unpopular with the Blairite crowd (of which every party currently wants a piece) due to his traditional conservative views which happened to include, at least at one point,a sympathetic view to the death penalty. The issue is that Cameron would prefer to whip his dogs into that Blairite
line. That line is the one Cameron himself has had since the beginning – the soft Tory, in reality it’s more like ‘soppy liberal’. It’s what allows him to sweep up those that would have voted for Toby Blair: The fairly central, but left leaning, and probably not too shabby in the fiscal department white middle classes. I must say, though, watching Michael Gove as justice secretary say at the last Conservative conference that reform should be at the heart of the prison system was nothing short of amusing – seeing him surely almost vomit as he had to read such leftist, vegan, pantry owning Eurosocialism (this was still when the ministers could not campaign for an exit from the EU and so each minister made passing comments in their speeches about unity within the party). The more shameless (not that they should be ashamed, but stigma has risen to the level at which you will actually hear people accusing the Tory party of being directly responsible for the poor dying) Conservatives such David Davis, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, are not the kind of graze box liberals David Cameron would like to have in his cabinet.Unfortunately for them, their views are of the old kind of Conservatism; the one that came before Thatcher. That new kind of Conservatism that somehow makes David Cameron its party leader. That’s not conservatism, it’s a
PM who has no socially conservative beliefs and a chancellor who studied modern history and has very little views on anything as far as I can make out other than more cuts, more Blair socially and more Maggie economically. Since Tony Blair’s genius but Machiavellian New Labour fell, the space has always been filled with exactly the same thing – it’s just blue now instead of red. However, now the date is set, and the cracks in Tory ministerial solidarity we have witnessed over the past few months have been intricately outlined. Luckily, the Tories will still probably get away with their shambolic fragmented charade whilst Jeremy Corbyn hoovers up the headlines as he continues to try and play the man of the people by wearing cheap suits constantly promising a ‘new kind of politics’ which is increasingly turning out to have been a load of hot air. This is Cameron’s third referendum, and thus fur he’s got a perfect record – AV wasn’t introduced, Scotland didn’t leave the Union, and now, during his last spell as prime minister he will hope for the hat-trick and Britain will continue to take orders from unelected dish cloths who get paid more than the President of America. The outcome of the referendum could well be a deciding factor in the composition of Tory cabinets before and after 2020.
Left-wing union bosses readmitted to Labour
trade union boss who was declined the right to vote in the Labour Party’s leader election last year because he “did not share the aims and values” of the party has been readmitted. Mark Serwotka is the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), who have been at the forefront of strikes against Tory
cuts to the public sector since 2010. He was expelled by Labour over 25 years ago. Most recently disruption has been caused in Cardiff as staff at National Museum Wales went on strike, causing the museum to close on several occasions over the past year. Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, has also
been allowed to rejoin, and is seen as a big step in making the Labour Party align better with trade union values. They have both been long supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, and are seen as an essential part of his leadership campaign as they mobilised the unions to his support. Talking to the Huffington Post, Serwotka said: “I have joined to support
Jeremy in transforming the party. And I want as many people as possible to join Labour, and to get involved in the fight against cuts where they live. “This is our chance to build a social movement and form a government that can offer hope to the millions of people that deserve so much better than these contemptible Tories.”
Pictured: PM and Boris Johnson visit London cab makers (Source: Number 10, via Flickr)
Register to vote online: hwww.gov. uk/registerto-vote
POLITICS 25
Tories’ disability benefit cut opposed by Lords
Sam Patterson
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A group of student lawyers from Bristol were able to overturn over 90% of the decisions made by the DWP, deeming people “fit for work”.
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Jamie McKay
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he Conservatives have attempted to cut disability benefits by £30 a week, The law, which effects only new ESA claimants, has been sent back to the House of Lords for the third time, having been previously rebuffed. Not only this, the Conservatives have refused a plan to examine the effects of these cuts. Under the new proposal, claimants would receive only £71 a month, instead of £102. This is expected to save up to £1.3 billion over the next four years. This is not the first time that the disabled have been the victims of austerity. Last year we saw the “fit for work” scandal emerge in the headlines, in which thousands of people were incorrectly deemed “fit for work”, resulting in increased instances of mental illness, suicides, and even cases of starvation. The tests which decide whether or not one qualifies for the “unfit for work” status were made stricter, resulting in, again, increased instances of mental illness and increased dependence of prescription drugs. Presiding over this scandal, was the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Conservative politician Iain Duncan Smith. Remarkably, yet perhaps unsurprisingly, a group of student lawyers from Bristol were able to overturn over 90% of the decisions made by the DWP, deeming people “fit for work”. This shows the extent to which the deci-
sions were ill-researched, and signifies the immense harm that probably resulted across the country as a result of these decisions. It was even reported that one women, Sheila Holt, was in a coma when she was deemed “fit for work”. Following the scandal, a number of popular petitions called for the resignation of Ian Duncan Smith, head of the DWP then and now, but these petitions did not amount to anything. The cuts that the Conservatives are currently trying to push through, have come under intense criticism from numerable relevantly concerned charities and NGOs, but also from the DWP’s own watchdog. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission said: “The Commission welcomes the aim of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill to encourage and help more people to work, where they are able to,” it said. “However, we have concerns that some of the measures in the Bill could exacerbate, rather than reduce, existing inequalities and that they may undermine progress towards fulfilment of the UK’s obligations under national and international human rights laws.” Iain Duncan Smith, “Britain’s most influential Catholic”, has urged Conservative MPs to push through the law in spite of opposition from Lords. In a letter to Conservative MPs he wrote: “The Commons as the elected chamber must now have the final say, particu-
larly over matters that have substantial financial implications.” “The Lords’ amendments are clearly designed to prevent the Government from implementing the proposed changes, which provide savings of up to £1.3bn up to 2020-21.” A parliamentary review by crossbench peers and disability charities effectively rejected the government’s claim that the cuts will encourage the affected to find work. The report found that the proposed cuts will most likely inhibit those effected from being able to find work, because of the disastrous impact the cut will have on their quality of life.
Don’t be fooled, this is not an honest attempt to help the disabled into work, evidenced by the wide ranging criticisms from charities and watchdogs, and by the Government’s refusal to investigate the effects of the proposed cuts This is merely a manifestation of the Conservative’s policy of austerity. The proposal aims to save a relatively small amount of money, “up to £1.3 billion” to the detriment of the many thousands of those who are to be affected. Iain Duncan Smith’s record as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is deplorable, and his reputation only stands to be solidified by this abhorrent proposal by the Conservatives.
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Don’t be fooled, this is not an honest attempt to help the disabled into work.
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Llandudno hosts UKIP conference
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he end of February marked UKIPs Spring conference, held this year in Llandudno and taking place over the course of a day. On their first meeting since the date of the upcoming referendum was announced, spirits among attendees were high despite recent controversies amongst the Welsh leadership. Nathan Gill, UKIP leader in Wales, has been at odds with the party’s National Executive Committee in recent months as they refuse to approve his choice of candidates for the upcoming Welsh Assembly elections. Gill and UKIP Wales want to ensure local Welsh members are selected but the NEC is keen to see former MPs Neil Hamilton and Mark Reckless stand. Hamilton was embroiled in a major corruption scandal whilst Conservative MP for Tatton in the 1990s. The Welsh arm of the party worry Hamilton’s past record will taint them and
worry that candidates from outside of Wales will fail to connect with voters given their lack of knowledge surrounding Welsh issues. In a recent interview with BBC Wales Nigel Farage played down this argument stating that “the messages” not “the messenger” were what really mattered. In spite of recent controversies UKIP are looking forward to May the fifth, which marks not just the Welsh elections but also elections to the Scottish Parliament, London Assembly and thousands of local councils across England. Farage went so far as to joke that the date marked the British equivalent of Super Tuesday. Such is the confidence within the party right now that UKIP have stated that they expect to see their “first ever stronghold of elected politicians” in Cardiff Bay. Current polls suggest UKIP will gain nine Assembly Members in the Senedd as the three main parties see
their support dive in the years since the last election to the Assembly. Though the party was previously against the devolution of powers to Wales it has since reversed its position, although their current manifesto opposed the introduction of new tax powers for the Assembly without a referendum. Other policies include the reintroduction of grammar schools and ‘university technical colleges’ for 14-19 year olds, making local health boards electable and devolving economic development powers to local authorities. In his speech to delegates Gill argued that an exit from the EU would amount to “real devolution” as powers were taken back from Brussels. Not everyone was convinced however; Plaid Cymru and Wales Stronger in Europe spokesman Rhodri Glyn Thomas went on the offensive. “Given that UKIP spent years opposing devolution altogether, their
apparent conversion to giving the assembly more powers rings hollow indeed” he stated, also drawing attention to the funding Welsh business receives from the EU. The conference wasn’t just focused on the party’s ambitious plans for this years elections, but on their hopes for June as well. Towards the end of the day Richard Murphy, head of field campaigning for Grassroots Out, garnered cheers from his audience as he outlined the campaign plan GO hope will see the UK leave the European Union. By the time you read this a major operation will have swept across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom with 500 street stalls planned. UKIP members at conference were urged to take part in this cross party appeal to British voters. Expect to see much more from UKIP and the Grassroots Out campaign as the June referendum fast approaches.
Pictured: (Above) Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: Iain Duncan Smith (Photograph: Cabinet Office via Flickr) (Below) UKIP activists with UKIP Bus. Euro Realist Newsletter. (2009)
26 POLITICS
Syria ceasefire in effect since last Saturday • Assad, Russia, and coalition rebels all report breaches of ceasefire
Sam Patterson
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Israel accused Syrian government forces of having used chemical weapons on civilians since the start of the ceasefire.
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ceasefire has been in effect in Syria since last Saturday, the agreement was reached in Munich last month by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). The ceasefire allows that all parties concerned are allowed to continue to conduct military exercises against ISIS, and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhab al-Nusra, indeed, it is the case that the objective of the peace talks is to establish a peace between government forces and the opposition, and to allow to the delivery of aid to besieged areas, whilst continuing to ensure that, mainly ISIS but other groups also, are not enabled to consolidate the ground that they have acquired in the course of the conflict. The peace talks, which were originally planned for the 7th of March, were pushed forward to the 9th of March by the UN, in the hopes that breaches of the ceasefire will have reduced. Although violence has decreased dramatically since the implementation of the ceasefire last Saturday, both sides (Assad + Putin, and the Syrian opposition) cite evidence that the other party has broken the ceasefire, and there are no grounds on which to disbelieve claims from either side. Both the US and Russia have set up hotlines and websites, by which groups on the ground can report breaches of
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the ceasefire. It has been claimed by various Syrian activists that the hotline operators of the US service had an inadequate Arabic language skills, and were not sufficiently knowledgeable about Syria to effectively fulfil their duty. There have been numerous reports of breaches of the ceasefire by both Russia, and Assad’s forces. Neal Keny-Guyer, chief executive of Mercy Corps, a notable humanitarian agency active in Syria, said at a briefing in New York: “There were five suspected Russian and Syrian airstrikes at the entrance to Aleppo city. Since Monday there has been fighting and shelling in and around Aleppo city, and the main road has been subject to intermittent closure. Yesterday, it was closed completely.” Last Tuesday, Israel accused Syrian government forces of having used chemical weapons on civilians since the implementation of the ceasefire. “The Syrians used military grade chemical weapons and lately have been using materials, chlorine, against civilians, including in these very days, after the supposed cease-fire, dropping barrels of chlorine on civilians”, said Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon in Tel Aviv. Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has denied that there have been any breaches of the ceasefire on the part of
Honduran environmental rights campaigner shot dead
his armed forces. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed the Syria ceasefire, but has insisted that the March 9th peace talks must take Israel’s needs into account. He said that any peace agreement must include a halt to “Iranian aggression against Israel from Syrian territory. It is generally understood that by this he means that Israel will not accept any agreement that installs into power a pro-Iranian regime in Syria. Israel has said that it will continue with military activates in spite of the ceasefire if they are deemed necessary to prevent the transfer of arms to Hezbollah. PM David Cameron, German Chancellor Angele Merkel and French President Francois Hollande conducted a conference call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, in an attempt to urge him to stop his breaches of the ceasefire. Both Assad and Putin use the term “terrorist” flippantly to refer to differing anti-government rebel groups as a means of legitimising their destructive military campaigns. Although it is true that there are anti-government rebel groups who display Islamist tendencies, it is not the case that vaguely defined “moderate” groups such as the FSA are outnumbered by so called “hardline”
Tusk: “Do not come to Europe”
Berta Caceres, who was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize, was shot dead at her home at 1am last Thursday morning. Her mother said: “I hold the government responsible.” Caceres previously stated that she would be murdered if she continued her campaigns, but felt obliged to continue. Honduras is seeing a growing number of campaigners being murdered, 101 between 2010 and 2014.
President of the European Council Donald Tusk warned potential economic migrants not to undertake the life-threatening journey to Europe. After the meeting with the Greek Prime Minister, he added that “Do not risk your lives and your money. It is all for nothing.” The news comes as it was revealed that the number of migrants crossing the Med has spiralled this year.
Romney calls Trump a “phony”
Aid slow after Nepal quake
After Donald Trump won Super Tuesday almost by a landslide, the Republican establishment continues to try and break him. Failed 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney launched a scathing attack on Trump, adding that: “His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He’s playing members of the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat.”
Residents in Nepal are hopeful for aid to finally reach them in coming weeks after a long winter following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the nation last April. Foreign donors pledged more than $4.1 billion in aid, but most of it remians unspent. Residents blame the government’s top-down approach for the slow process in receiving the aid donated, and are even sceptical they will receive enough to reconstruct their homes and lives.
groups on the Syrian opposition. Terrorism, properly defined, is the use of violence against civilians as a means of pushing an ideological agenda, political, religious or social, on a group/governing body. Assad’s initial response to the 2011 anti-government protestors, along with Assad and Putin’s ongoing targeting of civilians, satisfies this definition. Assad and Putin’s use of the term “terrorism” is totally dishonest. It is merely an attempt to legitimise their relentlessly destructive and misguided military campaigns, which, up until Saturday, were causing the vast majority of civilian casualties in this conflict, by associating anti-government rebel groups with groups such as Al-Nusra and ISIS. It applies, perhaps more accurately, to themselves. It is true that there have been reports of breaches of the ceasefire by all parties in, and bordering Syria, but in contrast to the Western powers who have stuck to the ceasefire, Russia is the only major world power to have broken the agreement. This, along with Russia’s previous behaviour in the conflict, is not something that should go unnoticed. Hopefully by the time you are reading this, all sides involved will have reduced their breaches of the ceasefire, and the March 9th peace talks will not have been further delayed.
Pictured: March 3rd meeting of the International Surpport Syria Group (ISSG) (Photograph: U.S. Mission Group/Eric Bridiers
50,000 die in South Sudan
Ukranian goes on hunger strike
The UN has revealed that as many as 50,000 people have been killed in South Sudan’s civil war, that has been going on for two years. Fighting is still ongoing in the country, despite a peace agreement between the President and his former deputy, which was signed last August. Al Jazeera report that the battle for control of the country has repeatedly pushed the country to the brink of famine, with millions of people dependent on aid agencies.
A Ukranian pilot accused of killing two Russian journalists has vowed to go on hunger strike, after she was denied the opportunity to give a closing statement at her trial. Nadia Savchenko has become a symbol of the country’s resistance to Russia. Her lawyers have called her case a show trial, as they claim she was captured by proRussian seperatists before the journalists were killed. She faces 23 years in prison if found guilty.
Photography by Saman Izadyar
28 SCIENCE
science
Editors: Maria Mellor Lizzie Harrett @GairRhyddSci science@gairrhydd.com gairrhydd.com/science
Student Science: Options for giving blood
Gwen Williams
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Despite our phobias blood donation is becoming increasingly vital as the global population grows.
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Pakinee Pooprasert
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It may be possible to forgo complex cocktails and use single antibodies to treat the Ebola.
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n 2015 the American company Tasso invented Hemolink, a method of extracting blood for medical testing without having to come into contact with needles. The device works by using a capillary action process and makes use of natural breaks in the skin. When the invention comes into contact with patches of skin it uses a vacuum to draw a sample of blood. Although it takes a couple of minutes longer than a traditional blood test it is painless and advantageous to those who have a needle phobia. Currently it is designed to draw a very small amount of blood (I.e 0.15 cc) however it’s just enough to test patients for high cholesterol, diabetes and cancer. Arguably, if researchers could develop a method of drawing larger volumes of blood, it would encourage more of us to donate regularly and would eradicate the need for bio-hazard waste disposal of used needles. However despite our phobias, blood donation is becoming increasingly vital as the global population grows. With more people now also living longer, the likelihood that you will undergo a medical procedure is quite high. In major surgical procedures, difficult childbirth and after severe accidents you may require a blood transfusion, depending on the
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level of blood loss. Alternatively, there are others who may have a low count of red blood cells, for example people with malaria or, more commonly in Britain, types of anaemia. Also, components within donated blood can be extracted and transfused. For example, platelet transfusions after some chemotherapy treatments and white blood cell transfusions, which are rare, but may be necessary to fight of severe infections where antibiotics fail. Your blood plays an incredibly important role within your body as it is both an efficient transport and defence system. Blood consists of four main compartments. Firstly, your blood is made up predominantly of plasma and is the fluid that carries compounds around the body. These include nutrients absorbed from food, waste products such as urea to the kidneys and carbon dioxide to the lungs for disposal, hormones and antibodies. The red blood cells carry oxygen that binds with haemoglobin around the body for cellular respiration. Then there are the white blood cells. They produce antibodies to fend off and fight infections. Finally, platelets are key in clotting and prevent you from bleeding to death. The process of donating blood is easy and takes between five and ten
minutes. But what happens after you leave the clinic? Your blood is sent for laboratory screening to ensure it is infection free. All suitable blood bags are broken down into the four components allowing one donation to help multiple patients. The components are then sent to blood banks where they are stored until requested. However, certain components only last for a
short period so it is vital that people continue to donate. As students, we rarely think about undergoing a procedure that may require a blood transfusion, but the hard truth is that anyone could find themselves in that situation. There are plenty of opportunities to donate blood around Cardiff. It’s a great way to get involved in science and give something back to the NHS.
Pictured: Blood donations may soon be without needles (Source: MamaYe Africa)
Ebola treatment trials are a success
new treatment for Ebola has been proven to protect monkeys several days after infection. The therapy uses an antibody that the United States government collected from the blood of an Ebola patient more than a decade after their recovery. The early stage trials are promising, showing that macaques treated with the antibody developed almost complete protection against a lethal dose of Ebola up to five days after injection. The antibody, known as mAB114, can now advance to human trials as a potential treatment for Ebola, which killed more than 10,000 people in the recent outbreak in Africa. Currently, there is no licensed treatment or vaccine against Ebola, and while a cocktail of different antibodies, such as ZMapp and MIL-77 have been used, the effectiveness is unclear. With no reliable therapy, the disease still has a poor prognosis, killing 25-90% of the infected. A team led by Nancy Sullivan at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Maryland took blood from a survivor of the 1995 Kikwit Ebola outbreak in Congo and obtained antibodies that stuck to and neutralized the Ebola virus. Put simply, the person’s immune system re-
tained memory for the virus 11 years after infection. During the test, the scientists administered the two most potent antibodies, mAB100 and mAB114, to the macaques. Three monkeys that received injections showed no signs of Ebola symptoms. An untreated macaque given the same dose of Ebola, however, succumbed to the disease after 10 days. The researchers then tried the most potent antibody, mAB114 on its own, and to their surprise, it protected monkeys to the same extent as the dual therapy, even when administered five days after infection. Such finding suggest that it may be possible to forgo complex cocktails and use single antibodies to treat the Ebola. The significance of this is explained by Sullivan, who described how “there are two reasons we wanted to look at single antibodies. If you have one antibody that gives you protection, it will be far easier to make available in an emergency. But we also wanted to find the virus’s point of vulnerability and with single antibodies, you can home in on the mechanisms for protection.” Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at Nottingham University said anecdotal evidence that
Pictured: Ebola is a highly contagious virus (Source: CDC Global)
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ZMapp and MIL-77 can help Ebola patients has generated widespread interest. However, while cocktails of antibodies can be effective for longer, they are more complicated to manufacture. Further, he described how “the antibody cocktails can protect monkeys even when they are given after symptoms develop. This is really important because humans usually only get diagnosed after symptoms appear. So if the virus doesn’t mutate to stop the antibody working and it
works after symptoms develop then its truly a big step forward.” Additionally, Sullivan said that with chronic infections, such as HIV, there is a danger of the virus becoming resistant through mutations, but with an acute infection such a s Ebola, resistance may be less of a problem However she stated how “the virus could mutate to resist inactivation by that antibody. But it’s still nice to know that we could possible protect with a single antibody if we need to.”
The antibody cocktails can protect monkeys even when they are given after symptoms develop. Jonathan Ball
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SCIENCE 29
Lab-grown sperm could be the answer to male infertility However, ethical issues prevent science from moving forward
Lisa Carr
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Not only is this a landmark achievement for male infertility, this is the latest of a number of breakthroughs in embryonic stem cell therapy developments.
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ale and female infertility is a great focus for research in the scientific world. Research centering on the direct causes of male fertility has seen some landmark breakthroughs in the last decade, with causes being attributed to both genetic and environmental origins. In 2003, US researchers proposed that environmental lead could be leading to cases of male infertility. 2001 saw German scientists linking adeno-associated virus (AAV) to cases of male infertility by examining the semen of men both healthy and infertile men. These are just two cases in the ongoing unraveling of the mysterious condition that is male infertility. The cellular basis of male infertility is due to cells in the testes being unable to divide to provide fully functioning sperm. Alongside all this root cause research, there are constant advances in reversal of this fertility state, focusing on how to create functioning sperm. However, these advances are bound by ethical and legal standards. Concerns over safety and welfare of participants mean that many of these studies have not crossed the threshold into human trials and so far many of the miraculous infertility cures have only been seen in mice subjects. One of the more recent breakthroughs has seen artificial sperm being used to create viable offspring in the lab environment. A number of healthy mice offspring were created in Chinese labs by fertilizing normal mouse eggs with early stage sperm cells created using embryonic stem cells from the mice. Not only is this a landmark achievement for male infertility, this is the latest of a number of breakthroughs in embryonic stem cell therapy developments. To create the sperm cells from the embryonic stem cells, scientists induced a process known as meiosis in the stem cells. From this, early-stage stem cells – round, tailless cells known as spermatids were injected into
mouse egg cells. The fertilized embryos were subsequently transferred to females who gave birth to at least six healthy mice. These mice were then able to produce viable children of their own, a second generation of healthy offspring. This study provides fresh hope in the ongoing research to reverse male fertility. But not only does this pose ethical concerns due to the research needing to be done on infertile males, studies with human embryonic stem cells are similarly wrought with legality with many groups opposing the use of embryonic stem cells in research due to blastocyst’s being destroyed in the process. These are early-stage human embryos and opposition groups often argue that destroying a blastocyst is destroying a potential human life and this debate is ongoing. Therefore, despite the years of work that has gone into creating artificial sperm for reproductive purposes. It could be a long time before these sorts of studies can be translated to human studies, for technical and ethical reasons. “Despite years of work, scientists have never managed to pull of the same trick with human stem cells, but the latest study could provide fresh impetus to the effort,” said Jiahao Sha, director of the Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine at Nanjing Medical University in China. “If it works, human germ cells could possibly be produced. However, in the current stage, ethics should be concerned and any possible risks ruled out.” Current IVF technologies already face a number of ethical concerns despite this practice being undertaken in many countries around the world. IVF is the process by which eggs are removed from the ovaries of a female and mixed with sperm in a laboratory culture dish. Fertilization takes place outside the body in a culture dish before the embryo is introduced back into the body. Despite thousands of
IVF babies being born since the late 1970’s, many people still claim that the process is wasteful as many fertilized embryos are destroyed and people accuse the process of being ‘unnatural’. Many IVF processes take place with viable sperm and eggs from both parent donors. However, in a case where the male’s sperm aren’t viable, where he is infertile, artificial sperm created by scientists in the lab such as in China could be the next answer. Many couples aren’t necessarily comfortable with accepting sperm from a male donor, instead wishing that the child has genetic material from both parents. By cultivating artificial sperm from pluripotent stem cells, this might allow many couples to have children who weren’t able to in the past. Infertility affects up to 15% of couples. Males are solely responsible for 20 to 30% of infertility cases. Fertility clinics in the UK are banned from using artificial sperm or eggs to treat infertile couples - a stark reminder that this is still a sensitive process bound by ethics and legalities. However, if scientists are able to perfect the process of creating sperm from stem cells in a harmless and efficacious manner, MP’s may be forced to revise the existing laws around this practice. Honing in the scientific process further, more promising approaches could use adult skin cells or adult pluripotent stem cells to make viable sperm and eggs – avoiding the ethical concerns surrounding the use of blastocyst embryos. This has been a major breakthrough in a series of advances in reproductive medicine. But it could still be a long time until this research can be put into practice. Mary Ann Handel, a scientist at the Jackson Laboratory in Maine said: “The implications for managing human infertility are there, but I think they are considerably further off in the future.”
Pictured: Above: Healthy sperm seek an egg (Illustrated by Maria Mellor) Left: More information about fertility (Designed by Maria Mellor)
30 SCIENCE
Molecular link found between sleep and mood
Natasha Fiera
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Sleep can affect mood but mental states also have the ability to affect sleep – such as stress or anxiety.
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ave you ever heard the phrase ‘someone’s got out of the wrong side of the bed’? For years it has been believed that there is a link between the duration of sleep and mood. Studies have indicated that even partial sleep deprivation has a significant effect on mood – showing individuals to be more stressed, angry, sad and mentally exhausted when lacking sleep. On a molecular level, recent research has identified several rare genetic mutations on the gene associated with both sleep and mood. In general, people who often have disruptive sleep patterns are those suffering from mania, depression or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It is unclear exactly why sleep is altered in these individuals; however, it is clear that the two are correlated. Sleep can affect mood but mental states also have the ability to affect sleep – such as stress or anxiety. In addition changes in light exposure have been found to influence sufferers of SAD, so it is uncertain whether mood
causes poor sleep, poor sleep affects mood or whether there is a third influential factor. According to Michael McCarthy a neurobiologist at the San Diego Veterans’ Affair Medical Centre and the University of California (UC), San Diego states there is “no definitive factor that proves causality or indicates the direction of the relationship.” This is despite the enticing factors associated with sleeping patterns and mood. A study looked at the genetics of a family suffering from mood disorders (including SAD and advanced sleep phase) and abnormal sleep patterns. This aimed to identify whether a link could be discovered between mood, sleep and the circadian clock. After screening for mutations in the key genes in the family, two rare variants of the PERIOD3 (PER3) gene were identified in the family members who suffered from SAD and abnormal sleep phase. Lead Researcher, YingHui Fu at UC San Francisco stated, “we found a genetic change in people
who have both season affective disorder and the morning lark trait.” These mutations were then tested for in the general population by the research team and were identified in less than one per cent of samples – indicating them as extremely rare. The research team at UC San Francisco genetically modified mice so that they carried the specific PER3 gene mutation. The transgenic mice portrayed abnormal sleeping patterns with regarding their sleep-wake cycles and were less resistant when being handled by the researchers – displaying signs of depression. The circadian clock exists in most living things which makes it possible for organisms to coordinate their biology and behaviour with daily environmental changes in the day-night cycle. Lower levels of a circadian rhythm protein, PER2 were also found in the transgenic mice when compared with the normal, unchanged mice – possibly giving an explanation for the unusual sleeping patterns in the family. This re-
search supports the link between the PER3 mutations, sleep and mood. The research team explored further and looked at mice lacking the PER3 gene. These mice had symptoms of SAD and when the amount of daylight was reduced in the laboratory, the mice portrayed more severe depression. Both these investigations indicate that the PERIOD3 has a likely role in regulation of the sleep-wake cycle. In particular, this gene has an influence on mood and the relationship between depression and seasonal changes in light availability - reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by the research team. In order to apply this to the general population, further research will need to be carried out to see how well these results coincide with individuals suffering from mood and sleep disorders. If the results obtained are consistent this could potentially lead to new strategies in the production of new drugs for treating sleep and mood disorders.
Pictured: The way these lions sleep could affect their mood in the morning (Souce: Tambako The Jaguar via flickr)
Competition aimed at getting girls into science won by a boy
Tanya Harrington
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To promise a femaleonly space for growth and development to young girls, only to later go on and take it away, is cruel.
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orresponding with a notice on their website which states, “In the UK, only 1 in every 7 people who work in science, technology, engineering and maths is female,” EDF energy opened a competition marketed as encouraging girls between the ages of 11-16 to enter STEM fields later on in life. The catch? EDF’s competition was not as exclusively female as their marketing would lead us to believe. Instead, whilst continuing with their narrative from the previous year about hoping to create environments which let girls specifically learn about STEM fields, EDF made the competition open to both girls and boys. A boy then went on to win the competition. It is important not to treat this winning in itself as an act of sexism – a boy did not win the competition because of his gender, as the ideas of the competition finalists (three female and
two male) were shown anonymously to judges and were judged purely by their merit. Rather, it is the laziness of marketing and advertising staff, who failed to follow through with their promise of an area for young femaleonly discourse in STEM fields, which should be scrutinised. A career area so vastly underpopulated by women can appear as intimidating to young girls looking to join the field – with less encouragement from others to do so, and with fewer same-sex role models to look up to. For EDF energy to promise a femaleonly space for growth and development to young girls, only to later go on and take it away, is cruel. As well as this, this result also reflects an increasingly popular trend of companies marketing themselves as endorsing female empowerment without actually following through, leading to an overall
harmful view of feminism as something “trendy” and watered down. Computer scientist Dr Sue Black OBE commented, “It is taking me a bit of time to work out how this result will change girls’ perceptions of STEM.” Of course, girls cannot expect to win competitions such as this due to their gender alone. Ciara Judge, winner of the Google Global Science Fair 2014, noted that feeling like “the
token girl,” is often much worse than losing fair and square. However, the issue here is not that a boy won the competition, but rather that this false encouragement of girls as a marketing technique is reflective of a market in which women are viewed as less valuable, and more easily pushed aside, than men. Honest advertising, and more importantly, honest feminism, from companies can help to prevent this from happening in future.
Pictured: The attempt to get girls into science fell flat (Source: SJF via Flickr)
SCIENCE 31
Life may have begun in cold waters
Lizzie Harrett
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“Key organic compounds thought to be important in the origin of life are more stable at lower temperatures.” Jeffrey Bada
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ver 4 billion years ago the rocks that formed the planet we call home began to cool down. It was a volatile habitat; with regular meteorite bombardments, an atmosphere thick with toxic gas and volcanic explosions. In spite of these harsh conditions, when pools of water began to emerge, molecules that could replicate themselves also arose. The origins of life on Earth had been formed. Billions of years later the ancestors of these simple molecules have evolved into sentient beings that question how their simple molecular forefathers emerged. This is a question that has puzzled many researchers. However, recent work on 3.5-billion-year old South African rocks has indicated that life may have begun on Earth under chilly temperatures, with our planet potentially being in a deep ice age when life originated. This rock formation came in an age known as the Archean period which is widely recognised as the era that life began in. This is contrary to previous analysis which suggested that the rocks were formed in an Ocean with warm temperatures – perhaps at around 85°C. They previously measured the temperature of the oceans in which these rocks were formed by deducing the balance of different oxygen isotopes, which are chemical variants of the oxygen element. However, this past analysis looked at rock that had been subject to ancient hydrothermal activity, which would render the isotope technique useless at evidenc-
Science questions: Answered Why do bruises change colour? We’ve all managed to sport an absolute corker after a clumsy fall, with these bruises changing colour over time. A bruise is is where blood vessels break due to a blow to the skin , with the leakage causing the mark,Haemoglobin in the blood is broken down and loses it’s oxygen, creating the purple bruise colour.. Haemoglobin is then broken down into a product called biliverdin which provides a greenish tint. Biliverdin is then converted to a yellow molecule called bilirubin, this can take days to weeks, depending on the bruise size,
ing the temperatures. Researchers Maarten de Wit and Harald Furnes alternatively examined rocks that were formed out of ocean sediments that had not been exposed to hydrothermal activity. Within this sediment they found evidence of a gypsum, a mineral that can only grow in deep-sea environments where very cold water is present. These cold temperatures may be ideal for supporting burgeoning life. Jeffrey Bada at the University of California at San Diego argues, “Key organic compounds thought to be important in the origin of life are more stable at lower temperatures.” Previous work by researchers has also explored the possibility of whether cold temperatures were important in the generation of life. A key idea is that the first replicating molecules consisted of ribonucleic acid (RNA), a close relation to DNA which is involved in protein production. Biologists term this the RNA World Hypothesis, and is currently the most widely supported theory when attempting to work out the origins of life. RNA is a molecular jack of trades, with RNA enzymes that would allow it self replicate found across all living organisms. James Attwater and Philipp Holliger have explored the possibility of ice facilitating an RNA world, with Hollinger stating, “Studies from our laboratory and others have shown how frozen conditions could benefit the emergence of an RNA world. Ice
enhances the synthesis of some important molecules, and it slows the breakdown of fragile molecules once they do form.” They interestingly demonstrated this with an enzyme that allows RNA to self-replicate being more efficient in ice temperature than at room temperature. However, this research merely supports a hypothesis and does not confirm anything. Indeed, there is a contrasting argument that suggests that hydrothermal activity is responsible for providing the conditions for the origins of life. Nick Lane of University College London and William Martin of Heinrich Heine University argue that the environmental conditions in porous hydrothermal vents helped drive the origins of life. These are cracks in the ocean crusts that gush out mineral sweater, and could create a gradient of charged protons that would act as a battery to power the creation of replicating organic molecules. Around 3.5 billion years ago the ocean was acidic and consequently was full of positively charged protons. The fluid spewed out by the vents was alkali due to the iron and sulphur-rich walls surrounding the pores. The interface where the alkali mineral water and acidic seawater met resulted in the formation of a natural gradient of charged molecules, which as Lane would act “a little bit like a battery.” The battery could drive the chemical production of carbon-based molecules such
as amino acids from molecules like carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Eventually the battery could power the production of more complex compounds, such as RNA. In order to leave the area surrounding the vent, these basic molecules would have to take their battery with them. To understand how this may have occurred Lane and his team studied bacteria that currently live around deep sea vents. These primitive life forms use a simple cellular battery-style pump that pushes negatively charged sodium ions out of the cell while drawing in positively charged molecules. The research team have proposed that the prehistoric primitive life forms used a precursor to this cellular pump evolved in present day bacteria. This would have evolved within the membranes of these cells, allowing them to leave the vents with their own portable battery. However, testing this hypothesis in hydrothermal conditions will be tricky. Jan Amend, a University of Southern California researcher says, “Mimicking the natural conditions in the lab is a lot more difficult than it sounds.” Moreover, we have no real confirmation of the cold water hypothesis either, despite de Wit and Furnes’ work supporting the theory that waters may have been cold around the time. 3.5 billion years ago is a very long throwback and hypothetical theories relating to the origins of life currently remain just that at present.
Why do non-ginger men have ginger Why does milk form a skin when heated beards? up? It’s easy to spot a hipster beard on campus, and you’ll often see non-ginger men sporting spectacular ginger beards. This is due to the MC1R-gene. Multiple genes code for hair colour and can be expressed differently in different hairy areas of the body. Hair colour is determined by the levels of black pigment and red pigment. MCR-1 produces a protein which converts the black pigment into red pigment. If someone inherits two copies of the MCR-1, less black pigment will be converted. The increased red pigment will be reflected with red hair and fair skin. If a person inherits just one copy of the gene red hair can appear in sporadic places - like the beard area.
As it turns out, there is a scientific reason as to why that horrid skin you have to scrape off the top of your milk forms. When heat is applied to milk, the proteins in it, specifically casein and beta-lactoglobulin start to coagulate. As water evaporates from the surface of the milk, this causes the skin to form as the milk dries. Pressure builds up under this skin, hence why milk has a tendency to boil over very easily when it is put in the microwave. You can actually stop a skin from forming by whisking the milk a bit before heating, as foam will create a barrier against its formation.
Pictured: The origins of life have puzzled many (Photographer: Veronique Debord-Lazaro)
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Hydrothermal vents could create a gradient of charged protons that would act as a battery to power the creation of replicating organic molecules.
How do coconuts get water in them?
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Water found in coconuts have not got in from the outside. The coconut creates this fluid itself, and it is known as the endosperm. It provides nutritution for the growing coconut seed. As the coconut continues to ripen the water will get converted into the solid fruit that is found in there.
32 SCIENCE
Mid-Wales based firm taking on Toyota with hydrogen powered car The Riversimple Rasa will be on UK roads from 2018
Dan Heard
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An eight and a half kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell is used, ten times less than the conventional eighty five kilowatt fuel cell used by the likes of Toyota and Nissan in their vehicles.
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here are high hopes for not only the Welsh automotive industry but for the future of hydrogen powered vehicles altogether with the unveiling of the Rasa, by Riversimple, a Mid-Wales based firm, last week. The Rasa is a twoseater, hydrogen powered car, and will be on the roads across the UK later this year, with a range that the company claim will allow the car to travel up to three hundred miles on a single tank of hydrogen. Designed purposefully from the ground up, and built with what the designers refer to as “ultimate vehicle efficiency” in mind, an eight and a half kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell is used, ten times less than the conventional eighty five kilowatt fuel cell used by the likes of Toyota and Nissan in their vehicles. The cell itself is lifted from a forklift truck, and generates eleven break horsepower. With fibre-glass body panels and a lightweight carbon composite chassis, the Rasa weighs only five hundred and eighty kilograms and is capable, officially, of being able to cover two hundred and fifty miles per gallon on what is deemed the “urban cycle”. A combination of sourcing and using lightweight materials and a process of designing and testing through advanced aerodynamics is deployed to achieve these impressive levels of efficiency. The curved underbody of the Rasa, coupled with its slippery bodywork help to create a drag co-efficiency of just 0.224cd, lower than any other production car on sale today. The company claims that early pro-
totype versions of the Rasa are capable of hitting sixty miles an hour in ten seconds (which, admittedly, when compared to the nine seconds it would take the Toyota Mirai to do the same, is impressive nonetheless), with a top speed of just that, sixty miles an hour. A twelve month public trial will take place at the end of the year, with twenty prototypes of the Rasa hitting UK roads ahead of a full production vehicle arriving in two years’ time. A hydrogen fuelling station, in an as-yet undisclosed location, will be used by the initial batch of vehicles. One of the more innovative parts of the operation is that the Rasa will only be leased to its owners on a monthly fixed-fee basis, which will cover the costs of things like repairs, insurance, fuel expenses and maintenance. The Rasa, Riversimple claim, will cost roughly the same on a monthly basis as that of a standard-priced base model Volkswagen Golf. Riversimple have argued that it would not be possible by simply offering the car for sale. So it will offer mobile phone-style contracts, a flat monthly fee for the car plus a mileage tariff that will run typically for one to three years. The Rasa, however, projects a fifteen year lifetime, and sees the company taking potentially all of the revenues, because the service contracts include fuel, insurance and maintenance. Riversimple is now talking to the Welsh government about building a small factory capable of five thousand units a year, which would make it one-hundredth
the size of the UK’s biggest plant, Nissan in Sunderland. Named for the blank-slate approach the company says it is taking to car-making, parts for the Rasa are chosen not on the basis of how cheap, light or powerful they are but how they will affect the business model. This includes the carbon fibre shell, which may make the car expensive to produce but results in a lighter product, meaning a smaller fuel stack with less fuel demand. The Riversimple design team said: “We are working with a number of very innovative companies, all pioneers in their own sphere of technology. For instance, we’re in a partnership with KS Composites are experts in carbon fibre, they make the indestructible parts of Formula One. We’re on the same wavelength as Michelin, who’ve have been focusing on mobility for over a hundred years. They have supplied our tyres and we will be testing with them in France in the New Year.” “The fuel cell comes from Hydrogenics in Canada, via Germany. It’s the size they normally supply to forklift trucks, but it’s plenty big enough for our car. The Seat Design Company have worked on a super lightweight seat especially for us. Printed Motor Works have co-designed and built our in-wheel motors. They’ve made an extra one, to put on display in their HQ. Hella are working with us on headlights. Interestingly, we have the first pair in the country of their latest LED designs. JSR Micro in Japan are the world’s frontrunners in lithium ion
capacitors. We are pioneering their use in road-going cars. We are very proud to have received a substantial grant from the Welsh Government of £2m for Research, Development and Innovation. We have also been awarded a European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking grant (SWARM) of €2m towards the 12 month market trial and Beta test. Innovate UK have awarded us a grant for a Circular Economy feasibility project on taking the sale of service upstream into the supply chain.” “Most importantly, we feel, is that the venture is one to involve local business and facilities as much as possible. The Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells have given us free access to their road network for vehicle testing. Our test vehicles have achieved over 50 per cent regenerative braking on their hills. Also, the Welsh Automotive Forum and the Mid Wales Manufacturing Group have given us lots of contacts with other Welsh companies who have collaborated with us on the build of the prototype. We were also recently very honoured to have received the Judge’s Special Award at the Powys Business Awards 2015. In order to match the grants and further fund the build of the twenty cars for the trial, we will be looking to crowdfund in the early part of 2016. This will be an opportunity for investors to be part of the Riversimple journey and help pursue our goal, and mobility at zero cost to the planet. We are proud to be pushing to boundaries of hydrogen car innovation.”
“
We’re on the same wavelength as Michelin, who’ve have been focusing on mobility for over a hundred years. They have supplied our tyres and we will be testing with them in France in the New Year. Riversimple design team
” Pictured: Lightweight and environmentally friendly (Source: Riversimple via YouTube)
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34 SOCIETIES
societies
Editor: Aletheia Nutt @GairRhyddSoc societies@gairrhydd.com gairrhydd.com/societies
Hannah’s Note:
Hannah Sterritt VP Societies
H
There’s a lot going on in Societies!
i all, hope you’ve had a great week and are looking forward to the penultimate week of this term next week! As ever for this week in Societies, there’s been a lot going on. This has been a great week for the Guild with a lot of fun event organisation, one of which is the release of the Societies Ball tickets and nomination form. The Societies Ball will be held on Friday 29th April this year in the Great Hall. Early Bird tickets are being sold for just £25, most of which
are almost sold out! The form for nominating an individual or a Society for the 17 awards is available on cardiffstudents.com/ societies, as is the link to buy your Ball ticket. On another note, Cardiff Fringe and Go Global week is upon us! Beginning this Sunday 6th March with the Music Showcase and ending on the 16th March with the Inner Child Day, there are so many events on next week and so much effort has been put into the organisation by so many different Societies – please
come along, spread the word and support our wonderful Societies! If you’re interested in attending a Variety Performance, Comedy Awards, Food Festival, Short Film Screening, Musical, Art Exhibition, Battle of the Bands, Opera, Open Mic or celebration of cultural and international performances, then this week is for you! The full list of events is available at cardiffstudents.com/fringe and you can still purchase tickets for Saturday 12th’s Go Global evening for just £4 at cardiffstudents.com/goglobal.
inner footballer, on top of bragging rights the winning team will earn a free session for 15 with Footbubble at the end of the exam period! With such a great way to let off some steam in store, what are you waiting for? Great Hall CUSU, 17:00-20:00. GIAG are holding a film night showing The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. What’s the plan? Bring yourself and some friends, though remember to sign up online. Bring any drinks, snacks and/or ice cream you want. Tell me about The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. When seven cash-strapped Brits journey to a retirement resort in India, friendship and romance blossom as they touch each other’s hearts in the most unexpected ways. In the end, they will all discover that life and love can begin again when you embrace today and let go of the past. Free admission, The Lounge, 3rd Floor CUSU, 20:00-23:00. Thursday 10th March Monday 7th March Grimsoc are going to a Pirate Metal/Battle Metal show. The last time Sabaton played in the UK, they took a tank onstage. Now they’re playing with pirate metal band Alestorm. Rum is optional. Buy your ticket from The Tramshed for £19 or use the code battle50 for half price tickets on Tramshed’s website. For further information contact GRIMsoc@cardiff.ac.uk. The Tramshed, Cardiff, 19:00-23:00. Tuesday 8th March Law Society are hosting an ‘Aspiring Solicitors’ Talk as a Give It A Go event. This is a great opportunity to hear from Chris White, the founder of the diversity organisation ‘Aspiring Solicitors’. This event will allow students to listen to Chris White (ex Norton Rose Fulbright lawyer) discuss how they can succeed as a lawyer, no matter of their background. This event will be helpful for students who wish to ask Chris questions about Vacation Scheme and Training Contract applications. £1 general admission and free for members, 1.30, Law School, 13:00-14:00. For further information contact lawsociety@cardiff.ac.uk.
Give It A Go are holding a cheese tasting night. Do you know your Brie from your Camembert, or your Cheddar from your Gouda? Whatever your cheese knowledge, come along to Cheese Tasting on Thursday 11th February in The Lodge CUSU. This is your chance to indulge in an hour of all things cheese, with a wonderful spread put on by our Give It A Go team. Join in for just £5, Room 4G, CUSU, 18:00-19:00. Wednesday 9th March Give it a go presents Bubble Football! Grab yourself a team and enter Cardiff University Students’ Union’s Bubble Football tournament. We have space for a limited number of teams, so get in there fast before we sell out! Each team is guaranteed at least 4 individual tournament games. 1. Get yourself a team of at least 5 friends and up to 3 free substitutes. One person can register all five main players, or they can register each other. You’ll need their student numbers, email addresses and phone numbers. 2. Choose yourself a fantastic team name. 3. Get yourself Registered. It costs £5 per person. 4. You have a team, you’ve registered, then wait for us to email you your team colour, turn up and play. To help you all release your
Join SSAGS for some casual observance of distant fiery balls of gas, stargazing and snacks! Point out constellations and enjoy contemplating life, the universe and everything. Roasting marshmallows over tea lights will occur. Popcorn is also a possibility. This is dependent on weather. Updates will be posted as to where the alternative will be held in inclement weather. Remember warm clothing and waterproof clothing if necessary. Feel free to bring something to sit on. £2 admission, Alexandra Gardens, 19:00-22:00. For further information contact ssags@cardiff. ac.uk. Saturday 12th March CURFC, a club offering rugby at all levels of playing ability, are holding a mixed touch rugby tournament. Go along and try your hand at the noncontact version of the game; to provide a basic understanding of the sport for beginners, and an experience of the high quality of coaching and fantastic facilities made available to members. Wear appropriate clothing including studded boots. £2 admission, Talybont 3G, 12:00-14:00.
Have a day out in Swansea or Mumbles with Cardiff Students’ Union. They have two wonderful options for you with this trip. You can either spend the day in Cardiff ’s nearest city - Swansea - or you can carry on to one of the most iconic waterfront towns of South Wales - Mumbles! The trip will run with a 10am departure from the front of the Students’ Union on Saturday 12th March. You’ll be picked up at 5pm (Mumbles) and 5.30pm (Swansea) and brought straight back to Cardiff Students’ Union. The trip will cost £15 for non-students and £10 for students. For more information go to http://www.cardiffstudents. com/events/11505/7434/ Sunday 13th March Go and visit one of the UK’s most popular and iconic monuments with Cardiff Students’ Union. Shrouded in mystery, Stonehenge is one the UK’s most recognizable and famous monuments. Whether you want to explore the stones themselves, learn about them in the museum or simply relax with a cup of tea, you’ll have a wonderful day for just £15. In the afternoon we will also be visiting the city of Salisbury that is home to the tallest cathedral spire in the country. The trip will run with a 9am departure from the front of the Students’ Union on Sunday 13th March. You’ll be picked up from Salisbury at 5pm and brought straight back to Cardiff Students’ Union. £15 admission for students and £20 for non-students, 09:0019:00. For more information visit http://www. cardiffstudents.com/events/11505/7394/ Join Give It A Go for a day out at West Midland Safari Park! West Midland Safari Park is home to some of the world’s most beautiful and endangered exotic animal species. Are you ready to go on Safari and come face to face with some of the fastest, tallest and cutest animals around? Then grab your ticket to the West Midland Safari Park and get ready for some encounters you will never forget… £19 admission for students and £25 for non-students, 9:00-19:00. For more information visit http://www.cardiffstudents. com/events/11505/7448/ For further information contact stitchsoc@ cardiff.ac.uk.
SOCIETIES 35
Cardiff Marrow Society:
Cardiff Student Vithiya Alphons’ makes a nationwide appeal!
Eleanor Philpotts
“
The Asian demographic is severely unrepresented on the stem cell register.
”
Pictured: Above Vithiya Alphons and below a spit donation tube.
S
ocial media. Everyone’s got their opinions on it, whether it’s your sweet little elderly neighbour back home who doesn’t understand why kids these days are constantly attached to their phones; or your JOMEC lecturer who thinks it’s productively changing the face of journalism. Whichever way you look at it, yes it has its downsides, but there are also plenty of advantages, and one of these has been especially clear to see in recent weeks. Thanks to the power of digital, Match 4 Vithiya has accelerated into a bit of a global campaign this week. Vithiya Alphons is an Optometry student here at Cardiff. Now in her final year, she’d been looking forward to starting her graduate job at Specsavers. Friend Vikoban Sachchi said, ‘Vithiya’s one the most kind-hearted people I know. She’s always looking out for others – she volunteered last summer, her team providing eye tests and glasses to 1,700 people in Moldova – but now she’s in need of help herself.’ 24-year-old Vithiya was recently diagnosed with blood cancer Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), and needs a bone marrow transplant within two months. However, her Sri Lankan heritage means she’s struggling to find a donor, as they must be genetic matches, but the Asian demographic is severely unrepresented on the stem cell register. Vithiya told the BBC, ‘It was only five days between my first symptom and being diagnosed. My life changed in less than a week.’ After suffering sickness, fever and leg pains, she underwent chemo in Cardiff, before transferring back home to London. However, the leukaemia remained and she was told she’d relapse within a year without a transplant. As her brother Clime is only a 50% match, Vithiya’s best chance of survival will come from an unrelated donor. But there lies the problem – BritishAsians form just 6% of the Anthony Nolan register. White Europeans have a 90% chance of finding a matching donor, while ethnic minorities’ stands at just 40%. So, Vithiya’s launched an awareness campaign. Although particularly aimed at those from Asian backgrounds, Vithiya and other patients of blood cancer, which is diagnosed every 20 minutes in the UK, are desperate for everyone to get involved. Vithiya’s campaign, found at https:// twitter.com/match4vithiya and https://www.facebook.com/SaveVsLife, has amassed some serious attention. Far from being confined to the Cardiff student community, links to its articles have gained tens of thousands of retweets, including from big names like J.K. Rowling, and it’s even spread worldwide. But how can you help here in Cardiff? Cardiff Marrow has the answer! Marrow is the student branch of Anthony Nolan, the UK’s main bone marrow register, providing lifesaving transplants for patients of blood cancer – leukaemia; lymphoma and myeloma. Marrow’s found in around 40 unis across the country, and the Cardiff society are especially getting behind
Vithiya. As well as fundraising and myth-busting, they run regular clinics around uni, where you can take matters into your own hands and join the bone marrow register there and then. I’m Cardiff Marrow’s Media Coordinator, and was encouraged to start volunteering with them following my own blood cancer diagnosis. While I’m well now, I realised how much patients can struggle to find matches. Anthony Nolan’s national database connects potential donors to patients, by analysing DNA then helping the transplant process to run smoothly if a match is found. But they can’t do this to everyone, unless more people are on the register. At these frequent recruitment drives, all you have to do to sign up is spit in a tube and complete a form, the criteria being to be 16-30; over 8 stone; and generally healthy. Cardiff Marrow then send off the saliva sample to Anthony Nolan. There’s only a 1 in 1000 chance of you being needed again – but you can’t potentially save someone’s life if you’re not even signed up. And what happens if you are a match? 90% of cases are peripheral blood stem cell donation, which only takes about 4 hours and is just a bit more advanced than giving blood. It’s a common myth that donating means removing a chunk of your bone – you won’t even need general anaesthetic or an overnight hospital stay, and the only after-effects are flu-like symptoms for a few days. Not bad, knowing you’ve just given someone the chance of life. 10% of the time sees bone marrow extracted from the pelvis, but again you’ll be feeling right as rain before the week’s up. Cardiff Marrow are always looking for students to sign up. Joining the register only takes 10 minutes, while actually donating is one of the most rewarding things you can do. Marrow are currently working on a project called Tackling Inequalities. You might also know about Match 4 Lara – the recent campaign of Lara Casalotti, who, like Vithiya, is a 24-year-old student and AML patient struggling find a transplant donor thanks to her ethnic background, until over 10,000 more people were promoted to join the register, meaning she eventually found a match. This further highlighted the Asian population’s unrepresentation on the register, so Cardiff Marrow are teaming up with the Asian Society; Go Global and Sikh Soc. Last Saturday, they ran a clinic at Elements – the Asian Soc’s annual show, which Vithiya herself has performed in - where they were also the official charity. We’re also liaising with Tamil Soc, which Vithiya was on the committee of, with a clinic at the Go Global showcase on Saturday 12th March, 6:30 in the Great Hall, and Sikh Soc, with bake sales at the Heath this week. Our next big clinic is on Monday 14th March, 10-5 in Main Building, so come along and give a spit. That is really is all it takes to sign up to potentially save the life of someone like Vithiya.
36 SOCIETIES
Cardiff Volunteering:
The round up of Student Volunteering Week 2016
Chloe Lavington
C
ardiff Volunteering would like to thank everyone who got involved with National Student Volunteering Week 2016! We had 14 students participate in our STUDENT SLEEPOUT. It was a chilly night but most people managed to get a couple hours kip, and everyone took away something valuable from the experience! In addition, we raised over £700 for our projects working with homeless charities in Cardiff which is absolutely phenomenal! A huge congratulations to everyone that took part, and thanks to those who sponsored/ donated to the cause! Some of our lovely students also enjoyed a day at Amelia Trust Farm! Everyone got stuck in, doing a bit of everything from gardening, visiting the animals and making stylish bug hotels for a Grangetown community garden project! We think all students would agree that it was a fun day, and our staff were happy to get out of the city and breathe that fresh, countryside air! All whilst providing valuable support to the farm workers – thanks
for having us, Amelia Trust Farm! Thursday brought our Blind Bowling event. This is where students meet members of Cardiff Institute for the Blind and get to chat about living with a visual impairment. The students got a lesson in how to be a sighted guide and assisted members walking to the bowling alley. Once there, students wore sim-specs to simulate various eye conditions so there was an even playing field between students and members! An enjoyable evening was had by all who attended! Finally, on Saturday we ran another hugely popular Puppy Power session! These are always a massive hit with the students and dogs alike. Our students enjoyed a fabulous, albeit freezing day walking lots of the current residents of Cardiff Dog’s Home – a huge well done for keeping going despite the cold, the dogs are definitely thankful for it! Overall, the week was a resounding success and we have learned lots to make it bigger and better next year, so keep your eyes peeled…
Jazz Society: The last Jam Night before Easter is this week!
Aletheia Nutt
C
ardiff University Jazz Society is a gold tier society and is one of the university’s leading musical societies. The society has nearly 100 active members and has four core society run ensembles and many smaller member run ensembles. The society run ensembles offer something for everyone; Jazz Choir, Sax Ensemble and Jazz Orchestra welcome all members to play in a friendly encouraging environment whether you are a beginner or experienced player, or just looking to keep music up as a hobby. The society also supports an auditioned award winning 18 piece Big Band. The Big Band is regarded as one of the leading ensembles in the university, specialising in both contemporary big band repertoire, and some innovative new arrangements, as well as playing the classics of Miller, Basie and Ellington. Throughout the year the society runs a number of concerts and socials. The society hold regular Jam Nights at various venues across Cardiff, these nights offer a relaxed environment for members of the society to play alongside like-minded musicians of varying standard. The Jam Nights have proved to be very popular not just among members of Jazz Society, but also members of the general public who have heard the sound of the music and come in to take a closer look. The intimate settings of the Jam Nights allow the audience to be up close to the performance and mean that
the musicians are able to interact with the people watching; encouraging them to clap and dance along to the music. The Jazz Society always come armed with numerous music books you can use with many jazz standards, so there’s always a wide range of repertoire available to play. There are no constraints and anyone is free to play whatever they fancy. The best thing about these nights is that you don’t have to be a hardened performer to go up and play. You don’t even have to be a music student; everyone is encouraged to get involved and perform, it’s good to gain experience in such an informal atmosphere. Jazz Society are a friendly crowd, so for many, performing in front of them can be a great confidence boost, all members will cheer you along and encourage you to have a go. Come down to our next monthly Jam Night! We’re back again at 10 Feet Tall onj 15th March for another night of excellent jamming, so bring all your friends down and enjoy the music, drinks and awesome atmosphere and we’d love to see as many of you there as possible, whether you are a musician or just someone who loves listening to live music you’re bound to enjoy it. It’s sure to be a fabulous night and a great opportunity to mingle with people who share the same passion for Jazz as you. For more information email Jazz Society at jazzsociety@cardiff.ac.uk and find the event at https://www.facebook. com/events/190871774615012/
Pictured: Two of the Student Volunteer Week 2016 activities.
“
Overall, the week was a success and we have learned lots to make it bigger and better next year.
”
SOCIETIES 37
Act One presents... The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Emily Cully
T
he 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee follows the story of six eclectic spellers as they vie for the title of champion of the Putman County Spelling Bee. Sweet and shy Olive, with her absent parents, arrives alone with only her dictionary for a friend. Bizarre and bold William Barfee hopes that his “magic foot” will help him to win after his tragic loss last year. Former champion Chip Tolentino struggles with his burgeoning puberty and the effect it will have on his perfection. Politically aware Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre only wants to please her gay dads. Overachieving Marcy Parke is dissatisfied by how easy success comes to her and homeschooled Leaf Coneybear believes he is a dumb kid, as he is constantly told by his smarter siblings. These zany spellers are watched over by Rona Lisa Peretti, who loves the spelling bee more than anything, having won the 3rd annual bee; Vice Principle
Douglas Panch, the irritable and childhating word announcer who yearns for the love of Rona; and Michelle Mahoney, the comfort counselor, who seems to be the only one who understands the triviality of the spelling bee in the grand scheme of life. While sharing heartfelt and humorous tidbits from their home life, the contestants navigate through the competition, spelling (potentially made-up) words praying that they never hear the ‘ding’ of the bitter, demeaning bell that marks their failure. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves! Well, at least the losers get a juice box. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee causes audiences to fall in love with both the show and the cast of sagacious, facetious, and copacetic spellers. Directed by Cardiff University’s Margaret Graham, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” presented by Act One promises to be hilarious from start to finish and will run from 8th to 11th
March in the Cardiff Medical Centre Sports and Social Club, doors opening at 7pm. Tickets are £8 general and £7
student and are available from http:// buytickets.at/actone1/46450 or Cardiff University Students Union website.
Wednesday 9th March This year, Fringe is holding its first ever Art Exhibition, hosted by Cardiff Isoc! Come and have a look at the diverse range of Art created by local Cardiff Students and beyond. It’s free to enter so come and pop in and have a look around! The art exhibition will be held in Y Stiwdio from 11:00-15:00. Act One presents “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, a musical comedy about growing up, finding yourself and loving to spell. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll not have a clue how to spell the words. The production will be in Cardiff Medical Centre Sports and Social Club at 19:30-22:00 and will cost £8 for general admission and £7 for students. Thursday 10th March
Monday 7th March Cardiff Fringe plays host for this round of the Chortle Student Comedy Award, the search for up and coming student comedians. The Chortle Student Comedy Award is a nationwide search for up-and-coming student comedians. For the first year Cardiff is hosting a heat of this competition and it promises to be a real fun night with some hilarious new comics battling it out. The wonderful Sally Anne Hayward will host the night. This event is free and will be in Y Stiwdio, 19:30-22:30, for more information go to https://www. facebook.com/events/1522834251343440/ Tuesday 8th March Want to have a taste at what our societies here at Cardiff University are capable of? Then come along to the Enactus Food Festival where you will be able to try food made by the societies and athletic clubs. You can look forward to a great variety of food, as each society will have their own stall for the afternoon! Entrance is free but you will have to pay a small amount for the food. Don’t worry though, all proceeds will either go towards the Societies or towards the social side of the Enactus society where we work with the Huggard Centre to help the
homeless is Cardiff. The doors of Y Plas will open at 12pm and will close at 4pm. If you have any questions or want to set up your own stall please contact us at EnactusSociety@ cardiff.ac.uk. We look forward to hosting you all for a fun afternoon! Join FilmSoc for an evening of short films, some famous and others premiering for the first time on the night! Grab a seat from 7PM. There will also be opportunities for networking with some of the crew from Diff Films! The list of films for the night: 1. A Trip to the Moon 2. The Missing Scarf 3. The Bust 4. Watch Towers of Turkey 5. Blind Eyes 6. One Minute Time Machine 7. Dark Places -- Interval – 8. Copycat 9. Vincent 10. Delani 11. Miss Todd 12. Dust 13. The Tannery 14. La Luna. For more information go to https://www.facebook.com/ events/474484396092380/ Act One presents “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, a musical comedy about growing up, finding yourself and loving to spell. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll not have a clue how to spell the words. The production will be in Cardiff Medical Centre Sports and Social Club at 19:30-22:00 and will cost £8 for general admission and £7 for students.
Calling all band members and fans of live music! Help the homeless and enjoy a night of live music, as bands battle it out to be crowned winner of Clash of Sound 2016. All proceeds will go towards the social side of the Enactus Society where we work with the Huggard Centre to help the homeless. Any and all bands welcome. No entry fee for joint and non-students are welcome too. We are hosting this event as part of Fringe week and it will be held in Y Plas Nightclub in the SU. Get in touch if you’re interested in playing by emailing EnactusSociety@cardiff.ac.uk. Tickets are £3 for students and £4 for nonstudents. Doors will open at 7pm on the 10th of March 2016. We look forward to seeing you there! Act One presents “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, a musical comedy about growing up, finding yourself and loving to spell. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll not have a clue how to spell the words. The production will be in Cardiff Medical Centre Sports and Social Club at 19:30-22:00 and will cost £8 for general admission and £7 for students. Friday 11th March Cardiff University Operatic Society are proud to present their fifth production, ‘Patience’, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta centered around the mockery of the aesthetic craze in
the 19th century! Two poets, Bunthorne ‘the fleshy’ and Grosvenor ‘the idyllic’, are adored by lovesick maidens rapturously captivated by their aestheticism, much to the dismay of the dragoons, their ex-sweethearts! However, the two poets are both in love with Patience, a simple milkmaid who cares nothing for poetry and comes to believe that love should be unselfish. With the two poets now competing to win the heart of Patience, who will be the victor? And who will be Bunthorne’s bride? With a young and enthusiastic cast, this production offers a fresh; entertaining and ridiculous take on this less known but wonderful G&S operetta! More information can be found at http://www.cardiffstudents.com/ events/6762/7354/ Come and join the Live Music Society’s Open Mic night in the Taf. No tickets needed, come to watch, play or both! The event will run from 19:30-22:30. Act One presents “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, a musical comedy about growing up, finding yourself and loving to spell. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll not have a clue how to spell the words. The production will be in Cardiff Medical Centre Sports and Social Club at 19:30-22:00 and will cost £8 for general admission and £7 for students. Saturday 12th March Go Global is a celebration of our Cultural and International Societies and the diversity that they bring to our Students’ Union and the University experience. Our students come from all corners of the globe and will take you on an incredible, unforgettable journey around the world. Go Global will be taking place on Saturday 12th March 2016 at 18:30 in the Great Hall. We’re very excited for performances from some of our most vibrant, exciting societies over the two acts in the show. They’ve absolutely blown us away in previous years and we can’t wait to see what they will offer on the Great Hall stage this year. Some of the societies taking to the stage are; Malaysian Students Society, Broadway Dance, Tamil Society, Asian Society and Capoeira Society.
06/03/16
10/03/16
12/03/16
Music Showcase
clash of sound
blank verse concert
07/03/16
creative writing class
go global
MUSIC SOCIETY
Variety Performance THE GUILD OF SOCIETIES
Chortle Student Comedy Awards COMEDY SOCIETY
08/03/16 Food festival ENACTUS SOCIETY
short film screening
ENACTUS SOCIETY
ENGLISH LITERATURE SOCIETY
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ACT ONE
jamnesty 2016
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY
11/03/16
FILM SOCIETY
welshcake making
09/03/16
open mic jam
giant art attack ART SOCIETY
art exhibition ISLAMIC SOCIETY
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ACT ONE
BAKING SOCIETY
LIVE MUSIC SOCIETY
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ACT ONE
patience
OPERATIC SOCIETY
BLANK VERSE
THE GUILD OF SOCIETIES
patience
OPERATIC SOCIETY
16/03/16 inner child day STUDENT MINDS
TAF-OD 39
taf-od
Golygydd: Rhian Floyd @Taf_od tafod@gairrhydd.com gairrhydd.com/tafod
Swyddog Y Gymraeg 2016-17
Beth sydd gan Osian i’w gynnig i siaradwyr Cymraeg y Brifysgol?
Osian Morgan
“
Yn wir, gwerthfawrogaf bob un bleidlais, ac mae cael cymaint o gefnogaeth yn fy ngwneud yn fwy penderfynol fyth o beidio eich siomi.
”
W
edi holl gyffro’r Eisteddfod Ryng-golegol y penwythnos diwethaf, hoffwn gyflwyno fy hun yn swyddogol i chi fel Swyddog y Gymraeg ar gyfer y flwyddyn academaidd 2016-2017. Hoffwn ddiolch o galon i bob un ohonoch am eich cefnogaeth yn ystod yr etholiad. Cefais oddeutu 2300 pleidlais, nifer llawer uwch nag yr oeddwn yn ei ddisgwyl, a braf yw gweld cynifer o fyfyrwyr Cymraeg, yn ogystal â myfyrwyr di-gymraeg, yn cymryd diddordeb ym materion yr Undeb, ac yng nghyfrifoldebau Swyddog y Gymraeg. Yn wir, gwerthfawrogaf bob un bleidlais, ac mae cael cymaint o gefnogaeth yn fy ngwneud i yn fwy penderfynol fyth o beidio eich siomi, ac i ennill hawliau a chynrychiolaeth deg i fyfyrwyr Cymraeg Caerdydd yn gymharol i fyfyrwyr Bangor ac Aberystwyth. Fel prifysgol prifddinas Cymru, a’r brifysgol gyda’r nifer fwyaf o fyfyrwyr Cymraeg eu hiaith, ni all y brifysgol na’r undeb gyfiawnhau peidio â chynnig yr un hawliau a chynrychiolaeth i ni yng Nghaerdydd ac a dderbynia myfyrwyr Aberystwyth a Bangor. Un o’r prif wahaniaethau ym mywydau myfyrwyr Cymraeg Caerdydd a phrifysgolion eraill Cymru yw sefyllfa’r llety Cymraeg. Mae Llys Senghennydd yn gartref i lawer o’r Cymry Cymraeg, gydag “ambell fflat wedi’u cadw i rai sy’n siarad Cymraeg”, yn ôl y Brifysgol. O’i gymharu â hyn, ym Mhrifysgol Bangor, saif dau adeilad JMJ yn dal,
fel preswyl penodedig i oddeutu 135 o fyfyrwyr Cymraeg, ac yn Aberystwyth, ceir blociau penodedig Cymraeg ym Mhenbryn a Fferm Penglais, tra adnewyddir Neuadd Pantycelyn. Pe caem un neuadd cyfrwng Gymraeg yn Senghennydd, yn hytrach nag ‘ambell fflat’ wedi eu gwasgaru o amgylch y lle, byddai’r gymdeithas Gymraeg yno yn gryfach, ac yn fwy unedig o lawer. Yn ogystal â gwahanu a gwasgaru’r Cymry, mae diffygion a gwendidau annerbyniol ym mholisïau Swyddfa Preswylfeydd y brifysgol ynglŷn â darparu llety Cymraeg i’w myfyrwyr. Mae llawer o’r Cymry sy’n ceisio am lety cyfrwng Cymraeg yn methu allan ar y cyfle hwn, gan na ddarperir digon o lety Cymraeg gan y Brifysgol. Oni ddylai pob unigolyn sy’n ymgeisio am lety Cymraeg ym mhrifysgol prifddinas Cymru gael ei roi mewn fflat Cymraeg? Nid oes gan y Brifysgol unrhyw resymeg na chyfiawnhad dros gyfyngu’r nifer o fflatiau Cymraeg a ddarperir. Er nad wyf yn ymgymryd â fy nyletswyddau fel Swyddog y Gymraeg yn swyddogol tan fis Gorffennaf, rwyf yn edrych ymlaen yn arw i weithio gyda’r Swyddog Presennol, Steffan Bryn, dros y misoedd nesaf i wella’r sefyllfa ynglŷn â llety cyfrwng Cymraeg erbyn mis Medi 2016. Gwahaniaeth arall yng nghynrychiolaeth myfyrwyr Cymraeg Caerdydd o fewn Undeb y Myfyrwyr i gymharu â phrifysgolion eraill, yw diffyg swyddog llawn amser dros y Gymraeg. Yn 1973, sefydlwyd Undeb
Myfyrwyr Cymraeg Aberystwyth, sef undeb Cymraeg o fewn Undeb y Myfyrwyr. Mae gan UMCA lywydd etholedig llawn amser sydd yn gyfrifol am “warchod hawliau a buddiannau, ac ymgyrchu dros fyfyrwyr Cymraeg yn y Brifysgol, a chynrychioli ei haelodau o safbwynt cymdeithasol, ieithyddol ac addysgol”. Tair blynedd yn ddiweddarach, sefydlwyd Undeb Myfyrwyr Cymraeg Bangor, a chanddo hefyd lywydd etholedig llawn amser. Gwarthus yw’r ffaith fod bellach deugain o flynyddoedd wedi mynd heibio ers sefydlu’r Undebau rhain, ac rydym yn parhau i fod heb yr un gynrychiolaeth yn ein Prifysgol ni. Dros y flwyddyn nesaf, byddaf yn rhoi pwysau ar yr Undeb i sefydlu Undeb Myfyrwyr Cymraeg Caerdydd (UMCC) a fydd yn gydradd ag UMCB ac UMCA, gyda llywydd etholedig llawn amser yn gyfrifol amdano. Bydd UMCC yn gweithredu fel corff cadarn o fewn yr Undeb i gynrychioli myfyrwyr israddedig, ôl-raddedig a myfyrwyr gofal iechyd Cymraeg eu hiaith yn gymdeithasol, yn academaidd, yn wleidyddol, ac mewn materion lles o fewn yr Undeb a’r Brifysgol. Hoffwn ddiolch, ar ran holl siaradwyr a dysgwyr Cymraeg y Brifysgol, i’r Swyddog presennol, Steffan Bryn, am ei waith angerddol ac egnïol dros y ddwy flynedd diwethaf. Fel y gwyddoch, mae Steffan wedi rhoi cant y cant i mewn i’w gyfrifoldebau fel y Swyddog, ac mae’r undeb yn sicr yn le Cymreicach o lawer nag yr oedd
pan gychwynnodd fel Swyddog yn 2014. Rydym oll yn hynod falch a gwerthfawrogol o ymroddiad Steffan yn ystod ei gyfnod fel swyddog, ac yn sicr, mae gennyf ‘sgidiau mawr i’w llenwi. Yn ogystal, hoffwn ddiolch yn bersonol i Steffan am y cymorth a’r gefnogaeth a roddodd i mi yn ystod yr etholiad. Wrth weithio gydag ef yn yr wythnosau diwethaf rwyf wedi magu llawer o hyder, ac wedi dysgu llawer am sefyllfa’r Gymraeg yn yr Undeb a’r Brifysgol, ac mae fy nyled iddo yn fawr am hynny. Hoffwn gloi’r erthygl hwn gydag addewid i chi y byddaf yn ymroi yn llwyr i’m gwaith a’m cyfrifoldebau fel Swyddog y Gymraeg dros y flwyddyn nesaf. Rwy’n benderfynol o gyflawni’r hyn a addewais yn fy maniffesto, gan weithio i sicrhau fod ein hawliau a’n cynrychiolaeth ni yn gydradd â myfyrwyr Cymraeg Prifysgolion Bangor ac Aberystwyth. Gobeithiaf y byddwch yn ymddiried ynof, ac yn fy nghynorthwyo i gyflawni hyn. Os down at ein gilydd i ymgyrchu dros ein gweledigaeth ar gyfer y brifysgol a’r undeb, hyderaf pan ddaw ein tro ni unwaith eto i gynnal yr Eisteddfod Ryng-golegol yn 2021, a chroesawn fyfyrwyr o ledled Cymru i’n dinas, y gallwn ymfalchïo mewn prifysgol ac undeb a fydd yn Gymreicach o lawer. Ac i’r rai ohonoch a oedd yn bloeddio canu yng nghôr SATB yr Eisteddfod Ryng-golegol, cofiwch arwyddocâd teitl y gân, ‘mae’r dyfodol yn ein dwylo ni’...
Yn y llun: Chwith: Osian Morgan Swyddog Y Gymraeg 201617. (Tarddiad: gwefan Undeb Myfyrwyr Prifysgol Caerdydd) Dde: Logo Undeb Myfyrwyr Caerdydd. (Tarddiad: Trydar @ cardiffstudents)
40 TAF-OD
Dathliadau Gŵyl Ddewi yng Nghaerdydd
Liam Ketcher
“
Pleser oedd gweld niferoedd mawr o Gymry, hen ac ifanc, yn medru siarad yr iaith neu beidio, yn ymuno i ganu’r anthem.
”
Carwyn Williams
“
Os mae’r llywodraeth nesaf yn ceisio gymaint i osgoi fod yn tryloyw, mi fydd mwy o bobl fyth yn colli hyder yn y broses datganoli.
”
B
raf oedd cael dathlu Dydd Gŵyl Dewi yng Nghaerdydd eleni, er nad oedd y tywydd o’n plaid. Dyma oedd fy nhro cyntaf yn dathlu Gŵyl Ddewi yn y brifddinas felly roeddwn yn hynod gyffrous. Cyrhaeddom Stryd y Frenhines am hanner dydd er mwyn paratoi ein hunain am y cyffro oedd i ddod. Nid oedd llawer o bobl o gwmpas bryd hynny ac nid oeddwn i’n sicr beth yn union i’w ddisgwyl o’r orymdaith a oedd ar ei ffordd i Gaerdydd Canolog. Pan oeddwn yn iau ac yn yr ysgol gynradd, traddodiad oedd cynnal Eisteddfod ysgol ar Ddydd Gŵyl Dewi, gyda’r merched yn gwisgo gwisg draddodiadol fenywaidd gyda’r cennin Pedr, a’r bechgyn yn gwisgo’u crysau rygbi Cymru a chennin wedi’u pinio i’n crysau. Roeddwn yn mwynhau’r Eisteddfod ysgol bob blwyddyn, ac yn joio bod yn rhan o’r cystadlu. Byddwn bob amser yn ei fwynhau ac yn cofleidio i’r awyrgylch a’n diwylliant. Erbyn diwedd y dydd byddwn yn ysu am gael cyrraedd adref i lenwi fy mol gyda phicau ar y maen. Rhaid imi ddweud, roedd sgiliau coginio Mamgu’r gorau dwi erioed wedi blasu, ond rhaid i mi gyfaddef, roedd y picau ar y maen y prynais yn y farchnad ddydd Mawrth diwethaf yn fendigedig. Roedd atmosffer y dathlu yn anhygoel- teimlad tebyg i ddiwrnod rygbi
B
rhyngwladol yn ystod cyfnod y chwe gwlad – a gan ein bod yng nghanol un o’r twrnameintiau chwe gwlad gorau ers blynyddoedd, roedd y teimlad hwnnw yn gryfach fyth. Gwelwyd baneri’r ddraig goch, Owain Glyndŵr a Dewi Sant yn hedfan yn y gwynt. Roedd cannoedd o bobl yn rhan o’r orymdaith, gyda chi hyd yn oed wedi’i wisgo fel cennin Pedr (rhaid i mi ddweud mai dyma un o uchafbwyntiau fy nghyfnod yn y Brifysgol hyd yn hyn). Roedd yna hefyd gennin Pedr fwy o faint yn dawnsio wrth ddilyn yr orymdaith trwy’r ddinas i gerddoriaeth y band pres a oedd yn codi calonnau’r Cymry ff yddlon a ddaeth i ddathlu yn y glaw. I orffen, ymgynullodd bawb yn yr Aes i ganu’n hanthem Genedlaethol. Pleser oedd gweld niferoedd mawr o Gymry, hen ac ifanc, yn medru siarad yr iaith neu beidio, yn ymuno i ganu’r anthem. Erbyn i ni ddechrau canu, roedd y tywydd wedi gwella tipyn, bron petai’n canu wedi neilltuo’r glaw. Mae’r orymdaith Gŵyl Ddewi yn brofiad yr wyf wir yn meddwl y dylai pob Cymro a Chymraes gael profiad ohono. Gobeithiaf y bydd llawer mwy o bobl yn ymddangos blwyddyn nesaf er mwyn ymhelaethu llwyddiant y dathliad, ac yn sicr, rwy’n gobeithio y bydd y tywydd ychydig yn well yn 2017!
Yn y llun: Uchod: baneri’r
ddraig goch, Owain Glyndŵr a Dewi Sant. (Tarddiad: National Assembly for Wales, Flickr)
Isod: Plentyn yn cael ei wyneb wedi’i baentio. (Tarddiad: National Assembly for Wales, Flickr)
Diwedd Byw Celwydd, neu dechrau byw celwydd?
yw Celwydd, ond eto yn byw yn ein breuddwydiau ni, dyna beth gymres i allan o’r rhaglen deledu diweddar. Roedd y byd a chreuwyd yn y rhaglen yn dangos byd lle gaiff y Senedd a Llywodraeth Cymru ei sgrwtineiddio’n gyflawn gan y wasg a gan pobl Cymru. Senedd prysur ydyw, gyda gwleidyddion a’r wasg yn gwrthdaro’n aml, gyda’r newyddiadurwr Angharad Wynne o hyd yn chwilio am stori mawr y dydd erbyn newyddion amser cinio. Byd lle mae ‘Llywodraeth Cymru Gyfan’ wedi ei sefydlu i atal y sosialwyr cipio rym eto, gyda’r cenedlaetholwyr, y democratiaid a’r cei-
dwadwyr yn cyd-weithio, ac hynny’n eithaf effeithiol ar adegau. Mae’n atgoffa ni bod gwleidyddion yn bobl hefyd, pob un gyda stori ei hun, pob un gydag agenda ei hun, pob un yn byw celwydd ar y wyneb. Mae’r prif weinidog Meirion Llywelyn erbyn diwedd y gyfres yn ymweld i adael gwleidyddiaeth cael y mwyaf ohono, ac yn chwarae’n beryglus. Mae pwynt ehangach yma. Beth bynnag eich pwysiad gwleidyddol, rhaid cyfaddef y mae’n grêt gweld gwleidyddiaeth Cymru yn cael y sylw mae’n haeddu. Yn realiti, nid yw Llywodraeth Cymru yn cael ei sgrwtineiddio gan y wasg yn ddigonol, nac mewn etholiadau i dweud y gwir.
Gyda ychydig dros 40 y cant yn troi allan i bleidleisio yn etholiadau’r cynulliad yn 2011, mae’n amlwg dyw pobl ddim yn cymryd y cynulliad o ddifrif, ac yn sicr dyw’r wasg ddim yn rhoi digon o sylw iddo. Y reality yw nid yw pobl Cymru yn ymwybodol o beth sydd wedi ei ddatganoli i Bae Caerdydd. Mewn arolwg diweddar, dim ond hanner o’r hynny a ofynnwyd oedd yn ymwybodol bod gwasanaeth iechyd Cymru yn cael ei rholi gan Llywodraeth Cymru. Yn sicr mae bai ar y wasg Prydeinig yma, gyda nifer o fobl yn derbyn ei newyddion o Lundain, o newyddiadurwyr sydd ddim yn deall yr anheddiad datganoli digon da.
Ond mae bai hefyd ar wleidyddion, ac mae Byw Celwydd yn gwneud hyn yn amlwg hefyd. Rhaid i wleidyddion y Senedd cynnig mth newydd o wleidyddiaeth i San Steffan, math heb gwleidyddieth ofn, ac yn fwy pwysig na unrhywbeth, gwleidyddiaeth tryloyw. Mae’r llywodraeth bresennol wedi bod yn y llywodraeth wrth-tryloyw na unrhyw lywodraeth ers 1999, ac rydym yn troedio ar dwr peryglus. Os mae’r llywodraeth nesaf yn ceisio gymaint i osgoi fod yn tryloyw, mi fydd mwy o bobl fyth yn colli hyder yn y broses datganoli, ac mi fydd hi’n dod yn amlwg bod ein gwleidyddion ni hefyd yn byw celwydd.
“
Y reality yw nid yw pobl Cymru yn ymwybodol o beth sydd wedi ei ddatganoli i Bae Caerdydd.
”
42 SPORT
BUCS Results: Wednesday 2nd March Presented by:
H/A
Sport
Cardiff Team
Opposition
Result
W/L/D
H
American Football
Mixed 1st
University of Sussex 1st
26-6
W
A
Badminton
Mens 3rd
University of the West of England 3rd
7-1
L
H
Basketball
Womens 1st
Southampton Solent 1st
61-74
L
H
Fencing
Womens 1st
University of Bristol 1st
135-92
W
H
Football
Womens 1st
University of Exeter 1st
3-2
W
H
Football
Womens 2nd
University of St Mark and St John 1st
1-2
L
A
Football
Mens 6th
Bath Spa University 2nd
0-8
W
H
Futsal
Mens 1st
University of Bath 1st
8-2
W
H
Futsal
Mens 2nd
University of Bath 2nd
1-10
L
H
Hockey
Mens 4th (Medics)
University of Southampton 1st
4-1
W
H
Hockey
Mens 5th
University of Bristol 5th
w/o
W
H
Hockey
Womens 5th
University of Bristol 5th
1-0
W
H
Lacrosse
Mens 2nd
Trinity St David 1st
4-2
W
H
Netball
Womens 2nd
University of Bristol 1st
29-42
L
A
Netball
Womens 8th (Medics)
Trinity St David 1st
2-112
W
H
Rugby Union
Mens 1st
University of Nottingham 1st
15-5
W
H
Rugby Union
Mens 6th
University of Exeter 7th
21-0
W
A
Squash
Mens 2nd
University of South Wales 1st
1-4
W
A
Squash
Womens 2nd
University of Exeter 2nd
4-0
L
A
Table Tennis
Mens 2nd
Aberystwyth University 1st
9-8
L
H
Tennis
Mens 2nd
University of Gloucestershire 1st
8-4
W
A
Tennis
Womens 2nd
Cardiff Metropolitan 2nd
10-2
L
A
Ultimate (Outdoor)
Mens 2nd
Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union 1st
15-0
L
A
Volleyball
Mens 1st
University of Plymouth 1st
1-3
W
H
Volleyball
Womens 1st
University of Bristol 1st
0-3
L
20
th
Wins
Draws
Losses
20
3
26
SPORT 43
England are back... Back to their arrogant best
In the run-up to England’s crunch Six Nations clash with Wales in London this weekend, Jason Roberts examines how there’s never been a better time to hate the English
Jason Roberts
“
England have started behaving like England again: total, unapologetic bastards
”
E
ngland are back! You might think that’s an awfully premature statement, considering that so far, they’ve played Scotland, Italy and a sub-par Ireland side and haven’t beaten them by a billion points combined. Which, I suppose, is fair enough. In terms of the actual rugby they’re producing, England are most definitely not at the heights to which they aspire or have been previously. But when I say that England are back, I don’t mean that they’d win a World Cup tomorrow, or even that they’d come close. I mean that after what seems like an eternity, England have started behaving like England again: total, unapologetic bastards. Consider this scene in the aftermath of the Ireland game. After winning his first home game in charge of England, Eddie Jones sat down to attend to his media obligations, and was eventually asked by an Irish journalist about the legality of an incident in which England fullback Mike Brown - in an apparent attempt to kick the ball loose from a ruck – instead connected with Irish scrum-half Conor Murray’s face. The damage left Murray requiring stitches above his eye, but neither the referee on the day, Romain Poite, or the citing officers retrospectively took action against Brown. Now before this question was posed to him, the England coach had been in a fairly upbeat mood, as you might ex-
pect from a man yet to lose a game in charge of his new side. You might even have gone so far as to say he was jovial. But upon facing this line of inquiry, his face changed almost immediately. His eyes widened slightly, his mouth dropped not so far as to be agape, but it was most certainly ajar. His eyebrows, in particular, arched so viciously that it seemed any further upward movement would cause them to fall off his face entirely. He looked like an extremely pissed off mother eagle. For a brief, glorious moment in time, it appeared that Eddie Jones, in the wake of just his third game in charge of England, was literally going fight a journalist to defend Mike Brown’s right to kick people in the head. Which made what happened next all the more surprising. Instead of vaulting over the table and reaching for the nearest steel chair, he leaned forward slightly, cracked the faintest of smiles, and flat-out mocked the reporter. He smirkingly asked him whether Brown’s kick was actually illegal, a question the reporter avoided. Undeterred, he asked him again. Yet another clumsy deflection. Again Jones asked him, refusing to let up, like a cat toying with a dying mouse. This cycle carried on for about thirty seconds, the journalist growing increasingly more frustrated upon realising not only would he not get any answer to his question, but that Jones was sat on his
podium, gleefully basking in the knowledge that this was an argument he wasn’t going to lose. It almost appeared that rather than a rugby game, Jones had spent the last two weeks planning for this very moment instead. Let’s just take a minute to imagine how Stuart Lancaster would have responded, had he been in Jones’s place. He would have a launched into a stern two-minute soliloquy about integrity and character, explaining that England players just don’t do that sort of thing, finally finishing off with a sombre, heartfelt apology to Conor Murray’s face. This would have been a perfectly fine response. It would have been the response of a nice man. But the England team have been nice men for too long, and their record as nice men stands as follows: four times runners-up at the Six Nations, three wins in fifteen attempts against the big three Southern Hemisphere sides, and a World Cup performance that everyone’s still drinking to forget. This was Lancaster’s biggest flaw, not that he wasn’t a good enough coach or that he didn’t pick the right players, but that he wasn’t enough of a bastard. Being nice is an admirable quality, and will serve you well in a variety of professions. But if you want to be in charge of the England rugby team, you’ve resigned yourself to a lifetime of almost universal revulsion. Being nice is nothing short of a character flaw, as far as the England rugby team is concerned. If you weren’t able to tell that Eddie Jones doesn’t care about being a bastard, just look at his decision to name Dylan Hartley his captain. Here’s a man so volatile, he’d stamp on the head of his own mum if he thought she was killing the ball at ruck time. And consider Mike Brown, Owen Farrell and Joe Marler - players who’ve inspired enough hatred to last several lifetimes - have all been given key roles to play in the new regime. There’s also Manu
Tuilagi, he of policewoman-punching fame, who could also return to the squad soon. Make no mistake, this is a thoroughly detestable team. England have never exactly inspired support from outside their borders, but this current group are approaching almost cartoonish levels of villainy. And you know what? This is fantastic news for everyone who cares about rugby. For too long, England have been the team everyone have hated, but they’ve rarely had the bite to inspire genuine loathing. Now, their coach is mocking journalists in defence of his incredibly obnoxious full-back, their captain is literally one more red card away from significant prison time, and unless Wales or France can stop them, Owen Farrell will never stop telling people that he’s won a Grand Slam. If you don’t like England, you will LOVE watching this team lose. Every post-loss press conference will become appointment television. But this is also great news for England fans too. Slowly but surely, Eddie Jones is using every piece of outside hostility to mould his team into the GloboGym Purple Cobras. We’re better than you, and we know it. Now, are they actually better than anyone? No. But part of what made the vaunted 2003 side great was their mindset; the expectation that victory was nothing more than a matter of formality, so confident were they in their superiority. The current England side are a long way from that, but it starts with attitude, and although it’s only three games in, England look to be fostering a culture that is fuelled by hate. Could it all blow up in their face when they lose a couple of games? Sure, but it can’t be any worse than going out of the pool stage at your own World Cup. It’s been a while coming, but England finally have someone in charge who understands that sometimes, it’s good to be the bad guys.
Pictured: Above: A stern look on the face of Eddie Jones in a recent press conference. (Photographer: Huffington Post) Below left: A passionate look on the face of Mike Brown, who celebrates after England’s win against Italy last month.
“
Slowly but surely, Eddie Jones is using every piece of outside hostility to mould his team into the GloboGym Purple Cobras.
”
44 SPORT
Dancesport finish third at Blackpool Ballroom event
Sophie Barnes
“
The annual tournament featured over 1000 dancers going head-to-head against one another to be crowned the best university dancers in the country.
”
Rich Jones
“
Rookie running-back Chamberlain punched in his first touchdown to cap off a sensational 99-yard scoring drive early in the fourth quarter.
”
O
n Saturday 27th February 2016, nearly 100 members of Cardiff University’s Ballroom and Latin dancers competed in the toughest competition on the University circuit – the Inter-Varsity Dance Competition 2016. The annual tournament held in Blackpool featured over 1000 dancers from universities across the UK, going head to head against one another to be crowned the best university dancers in the country. For the Cardiff University Dancesport team, the long trip to Blackpool required a two night’s stay in the seaside town with over 80 dancers taking up three entire hotels! They left Cardiff on the Friday, making the six-hour journey up north all tanned, gelled and sequinned-upready to take on their most strenuous competition yet. “The Las Vegas of the north”, as Blackpool is often referred to, is the home of Ballroom dancing. So for any Ballroom dancer, heading to the Mecca of the dance style is a unique and very special experience. The competition was held in the prestigious, world famous Winter Gardens, with the competitive events held in
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both the ‘Empress Ballroom’ and the beautiful ‘Spanish Hall’. Laurence Lovell is one of Cardiff University Dancesport’s regulars on the University Ballroom and Latin circuit, having competed at seven IVDC’s. He said: “This year was one of the highest standards of IVDC’s we have ever seen. Everyone on the circuit had upped their game! “Thankfully, the Cardiff team were prepared and ready to hit the dancefloor hard thanks to the coaching from Sean Perry, Amy Booth, Samantha Howells and the team from New Cottage Dance Centre. We had couples in team match finals and we are continuing to make a statement on the University circuit. We are here to stay!” This year’s competition was hosted by Southampton University and featured a Ballroom demo from Andrey Sirbu and Alexandra Hixson, as well as an Acrobatic Rock ‘n’ Roll demo from Adrian Potter and Amy Welmers. Mrs Marsh was watching her granddaughter dance in the 16 hour competition live in Blackpool and said of the event that “it was a huge spectacle that I always enjoy coming to watch. The standard of
dancing is always impressively high and the team spirit from the Cardiff Dragons always stands out in the huge Ballroom. “The atmosphere at competitions on the University circuit is always the best – the team spirit, entertainment and family vibe makes the day thoroughly enjoyable.” The lights of Blackpool welcomed the Cardiff team home with couples representing Wales in the intermediate Ballroom final as well as the beginner, same sex, advanced and ex-student advanced Latin finals. Overall, Cardiff finished third out of over 22 UK Universities. Cardiff University Dancesport Club President Niko Ciecierski-Holmes was elated with the efforts: “We
work all year for this weekend and to see the club turn up in such large numbers, dance so well and enjoy themselves with so much team spirit is why my committee and I do what we do. I couldn’t be prouder of the whole team.” The Cardiff team spent the Sunday recovering by hitting Blackpool’s world famous beach, the amusements in Coral Island and the glorious Blackpool Tower Ballroom before heading back to sunny Wales. The team are now preparing for their final competition of the year in Bristol later this month. For more information on Cardiff University Dancesport Club you can find them on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook or visit their website.
Pictured: Cardiff Dancesport members in Blackpool. (Photographer: Sophie Barnes)
Cobras bounce back from successive Swansea defeats
he Cardiff Cobras claimed their first play-off victory since 2012 as they stormed to a 26-6 triumph over the Sussex Saxons last Sunday. The Cobras bounced back from successive defeats against arch rivals Swansea to keep their historic season alive and setup a mouth-watering post-season showdown with the Titans a week later. Touchdowns from Scott Higgins, Ronan Patterson, Dan Stewart and Carwyn Chamberlain, combined with a dominant defensive effort, ensured Cardiff emerged with a comfortable win to advance to the next stage of the BUCS Division 1A Southern play-offs. Once again playing at Bristol’s Filton WISE campus, and wearing the unfamiliar black and gold colours of the Bristol Aztecs due to a colour clash, the Cobras took to the field having been left wounded by their two losses to end the regular season. However, they got off to a flying start to take the game by the scruff of the neck and quickly restore their confidence. An early interception from linebacker Toby Lock set up a 30-yard touchdown pass from returning quarterback Chris Brinkworth to Higgins on their first offensive play of
the game. Another Saxons turnover on their next offensive play gave the Cobras excellent field position, which they duly took advantage of with running-back Patterson finishing off a composed drive with a short touchdown run. When Brinkworth found wide receiver Stewart in the corner of the endzone and kicker James Lloyd slotted over the extra point just a few minutes later, the Cobras had a 19-0 lead before the first quarter had even come to an end. Sussex came into the game somewhat from that point on and were able to contain the Cardiff offense. However, the Cobras defense stood firm, with a Marcus Isaac interception helping ensure the Saxons remained scoreless at half-time. A gutsy goal-line stand in the third quarter to snuff out the visitors saw Cardiff take over on downs on their own one-yard line as they aimed to extinguish any hopes the visitors had of launching a comeback. With a number of rookies gaining reps as the game progressed, first year wide receiver, Ali Yavuncu, hauled in two long passes in quick succession before rookie running-back Chamberlain punched in his first touchdown to cap off a sensational 99-yard scoring drive early in
the fourth quarter. Sussex did hit back and claim a consolation score in the closing stages, but it was not enough to prevent the Cobras from heading to the next round and claiming their first post-season victory in four years. They did leave with some headaches regarding injuries as Stewart left the
game with a suspected concussion in the third quarter, whilst fellow touchdown scorer Patterson was taken off as a precaution with a recurrence of his long-standing ankle injury. However, it was nonetheless an afternoon to remember for the Cobras as they kept their promotion hopes alive with a confidence-boosting victory.
Pictured: Corner-back Alex Fitzpatrick (53) in action for Cobras. (Photographer: Jason Jardine)
SPORT 45
Cont’d: Taekwondo excel at National Champs Continued from back page
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We were thrilled to hear that we achieved first place and were granted with both trophies making us overall ITF Champions for a third year in a row!
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training two days before. However, we still had a very strong presence, entering five teams who had worked hard on their routines in training prior to the competition. First up were the Black-Belt team patterns. CUTKD entered two teams for this event with three competitors in each team. Both teams got through the qualifying rounds and then performed their pattern of choice. Looking sharp and professional, a high standard was set by, as was to be expected. We were the only teams to perform splits (which is where the pattern is performed with the movements being carefully selected to be performed in cannon with varied timing, making the patterns look particularly impressive). Both teams medalled in this event, with one team taking the gold medals and the other team taking the bronze medals. Their fantastic performance was eye opening for all and had other universities approaching our coach, Dean Matthews (6th Dan), to praise him. Next up were the Green and Blue-belt Team Patterns. We had two teams for this event. Once again, our performance was incredible with one team achieving gold medals and the other team winning bronze medals. Finally, it was our Yellowbelt team’s chance to take the stage. They joined CUTKD this academic year and were complete novices to taekwondo. Despite this, the team impressively took the gold medals for Team Patterns and it is safe to say these members will continue to strive for the best. After the fantastic morning, CUTKD were confident that we had performed well in our pattern events but now concentration was switched to preparing to spar. We knew we needed to perform maximally to hold our title as ITF British Student National Champions and that other universities were going to fight for the title. We desperately wanted to keep our title to secure a third successive ITF National Student Championships. ITF sparring is highly technique-
based, where excessive contact is often penalised. The competitors spar continuously for a set period of time; for this competition, all belts were required to have two 90 second rounds with a 30 second break per fight. The fight is based on a scoring system where one point is awarded for a punch to the body or the head, two points for a jumping kick to the body or a kick to the head and three points for a jumping kick to the head. The categories are gender specific and depicted by both belt classes and weight- resulting in light, mid and heavy weight categories. Lots of our members were merged with the weight categories above them, which meant our members were sometimes against a competitor 10kgs above them! This did not make it easy, but CUTKD was not fazed! What an afternoon it was. For our female Black-Belt competitors we achieved one Gold medal. Sparring at this level is incredibly intense and the fights were very close. This was great for our beginners to watch with CUTKD’s consistent support throughout being a particular highlight of the day. CUTKD’s female competitors gave it their all and it was clear they had been training hard. Each Sparring competitor required a coach and our instructor, Mr Matthews, as always, did an incredible job of supporting our members. Our male Black-Belts achieved a gold, silver, and bronze; a very impressive performance by all. But the sparring was not without its injuries. One of our black belts, Xavier Taylor, was concussed and taken to hospitalaccompanied by another member for precautions halfway through a fierce fight. His bravery was admirable. Once again CUTKD demonstrated team spirit and collaboration. Taylor was assessed and then later discharged- making it back in time for the medal ceremony. Moving onto our Green-Belt female competitors, another spectacular performance by CUTKD. We took a gold, silver, and two bronze medals. Our male Green-Belt com-
petitors also took a silver and bronze medal. Our Yellow-belt competitors showed their developing skills in sparring achieving two golds and one bronze. One of our members, Zak Halabi, achieved a gold medal and showed perseverance and integrity as he was merged into a far more daunting open weight category. As sparring drew to a close, the finals were observed by many, with CUTKD being in the majority of the fights. After sparring our competitors, we anxiously gathered wondering whether we had done enough to secure the title. We were then instructed to gather for the medal ceremony. The medals were given out for the events with CUTKD being one of the highest medal receivers. It was a great feeling hearing them announce “another medal for Cardiff University!” After the medals for the events were given out, they announced the overall trophies for ITF Patterns and ITF Sparring. We were thrilled to hear that we achieved first place and were granted with both these trophies- making us overall ITF Champions for a third year in a row! We were personally congratulated by many of the leaders of the event and had our team photos taken with our trophies and medals. Following a successful day, we left Worcester and, to the sound of snoring, we returned to Cardiff at 8pm in time for a much-needed celebratory buffet! On Sunday, the BSTF continued the competition with the WTF discipline events. Cardiff University is an ITF club and this year we did not enter any competitors for the WTF events. Every year, there is a trophy given out for the overall champions of both styles with the intention being to reward universities that enter their members for both disciplines. Ceri Morgan, the Club President, was thrilled to receive an email announcing that Cardiff achieved the
title of British Student National Federation 2016 Champions for both ITF and WTF events. This highlights just how well CUTKD performed on the Saturday. We have taken the title that was held by Southampton University for over ten years and can now look forward to receiving our fourth trophy from the event in the post. Sam Parsons, the Vice President of the Athletic Union, also posted on social media to say how proud he is of CUTKD’s achievements and highlighted that CUTKD were ‘flying the #TeamCardiff flag this weekend!’. We are very proud to spread the news that we took 40 medals back home from this event and took every trophy going! As a university squad, we are incredibly privileged to be coached by the Welsh International Coach Dean Matthews (6th Dan). From teaching beginners who have never tried martial arts before, to helping our black belts achieve gold medals in international competitions, he really pushes us to achieve and we couldn’t do it without him. Not only do we achieve success at competitions and have regular opportunities to grade and move up belts, we also learn essential selfdefence and discipline, which are all fundamental parts of Taekwondo. Mr Matthews is an incredible coach and instructor and we would not be able to achieve such success without him. We intend to keep this momentum going for the future, and are already planning and looking ahead to our next events, such as the English Open and the 2016 Welsh Varsity against rivals Swansea. This competition has been a fantastic highlight of our academic year; we can’t wait for the next opportunity to compete and continue to uphold the excellent name that Cardiff University Sport has made for itself over recent years.
Pictured: Above: Members of the CUTKD team pictured with their awards. (Photographer: CUTKD) Below left: CUTKD in action during the 2015 Welsh Varsity (Photographer: Taliesin Coombes)
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We are very proud to spread the news that we took 40 medals back home from this event and took every trophy going!
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46 SPORT
James Lloyd
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I love sledging, absolutely love it. I love receiving it, I love giving it, I think it really makes cricket.
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Rhys Thomas Cardiff Blues Columnist
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Red and yellow cards? It’s just not cricket!
arylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owner of the Laws of Cricket, have recently announced there will be a trial to test out the use of red and yellow cards in the sport. The trial will begin between MCC University fixtures in the hope that clubs and schools can join in with the trial. Cards will be dished out for sledging and violent or threatening behaviour as well as other infringements in the game. It all just seems utterly ludicrous. Since when did the gracious, English, gentlemanly game become so violent and thuggish? It’s deeply saddening to read that five village cricket fixtures in 2015 were ultimately abandoned due to punch-ups. Village cricket is about the freshly cut grass, picnics, light-hearted chat and the joy of spending the afternoon with your friends, not knocking somebody’s block off. If this is the direction that the game is heading then we should all retire our bats and hang our heads in shame. Now, I totally agree that violent and threatening behaviour should be eradicated from our beloved sport, I just hope that sledging, albeit controlled and in reason, can stay in the game and go unpunished. As a keen cricketer, I love sledging, absolutely love it. I love receiving it, I love giving it, I think it really makes cricket. I admit, I have taken it too far on occasions and there was one Sunday fixture a couple of years ago when a bats-
The Blues bounced back from losses against Zebre and Leinster with a surprise win against Ulster at Cardiff Arms Park. The Irish side are in the play-off positions and for much of the game in Cardiff they were in the lead. The first half was dire though with no points scored until half an hour in, with a whistle-happy referee and two sides unwilling to play expansively. Thankfully this didn’t last for the whole match, and the last twenty minutes saw the best rugby that the Blues have played this season, throwing the ball around with
man actually threatened me with his bat – where were the cards to save me on that day?! According to the Daily Telegraph, who interviewed a representative of the MCC, such an incident would warrant some kind of sin-bin for the batsman, a level three offence, and a sharp ticking off for me, for the awful chat. Lesser offences, such as time-wasting and minor physical contact like a shoulder barge would see a five run penalty given to the offending team. The idea of a card system in cricket is an intriguing one which leaves me scratching my head. I like the idea as it will attempt to banish the types of behaviour that plagues our eloquent game. Scratching my head even harder, it begs the question: how has it come to this so soon though? Why is there the need to send people off on a sunny, Sunday afternoon? This is cricket. Not football. What ever happened to abiding to that thing we know as “the spirit of cricket”? In the 1990s former England captains and MCC members, Ted Dexter and Lord Colin Cowdrey wanted to introduce the “Spirit of Cricket” into the Laws to “remind players of their responsibility for ensuring that cricket is always played in a truly sportsmanlike manner”. The Law was made official by the MCC in 2000 and was then promoted both across Britain and cricketing strongholds such as the Caribbean and Australia. How on earth has it come
confidence and punching holes in the Ulster defence. Two late tries secured a 23-13 win, with outside-half Rhys Patchell rightfully earning plaudits for his dominant performance. The match at Glasgow Warriors will have taken place by the time this is published, and the Scottish side are certainly there for the taking with the gap between the two teams at just six points: a deficit the Blues will need to make up to have any chance of qualifying for the European Champions Cup next season. There is a fortnight break after
to this after 16 years? Anyone partaking in a game of cricket shouldn’t have to be reminded of what is expected of them – it should just happen, it should be second nature. Does this signal the end for the “Spirit of Cricket”? I’d hope not, that’s for sure. If a card system is introduced, does this make the “Spirit of Cricket” redundant? Well, perhaps, there probably isn’t enough room for both. If anything it devalues Dexter and Cowdrey’s notion of what is right and what is wrong and the cards system would therefore carry a little more force. I think a classic example of “spirit” would be that of, Mr Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff. Known for his bigmatch heroics, hard hitting and the ability to swing the ball like-a-banana, Flintoff was never far from the headlines. However, one of his finest hours came on the 8th August 2005 – a moment that should never, ever be forgotten in the world of sport – not just cricket. England edged Australia to win the thrilling test match by two runs with Flintoff playing his part in the historic victory. The Lancashire giant used to sledge opposing players continuously and no doubt gave some chat to the Aussies throughout that second Test. But, instead of joining in the immediate celebrations with his teammates following the winning dismissal, Freddie immediately sought out Aussie
Brett Lee, who was on his knees in disbelief, to consoled him, producing one of the most iconic photos of that 2005 Series. It was a remarkable show of sportsmanship and camaraderie. Where have the days of this type of sportsmanship gone? It seems utterly bonkers that cricket has transformed so much in just an eleven year period. I’m not sure anyone could put a finger on why it has changed so drastically and why illtempered types of behaviour are filtering through to village level, even where levels of competitiveness and pressure are at its lowest. It’s hard to work out whether or not a cards system would work and I am very much split as to whether I want it in the sport - even though I only play at village level, where it would be at its most prevalent. New Zealand tested the system last year and the trial was deemed a “useful deterrent which led to significantly reduced instances of bad behaviour”. If the system can eradicate violence from the English game then great, but as I eluded to earlier, it’s sad that it’s needed anyway. I pray that one of Britain’s greatest sports can remain as it has been for the past 100 years and that I can enjoy the game and enjoy the sledging without being carded. Long live the “Spirit of Cricket” and please, play with your bat, not with your fists - it’s just not cricket.
the next match, with Munster the next visitors to the Arms Park. Until then, all eyes will be on Wales as they face off against England and Italy in the Six Nations. There will be Blues representation in the starting fifteen and on the bench with one of the most controversial starters being Alex Cuthbert. The Gloucester-born wing has come in for a lot of criticism over the last couple of seasons - his perceived poor attitude as well as a string of belowpar performances for club and country have made him an easy target, especially with Tom James in good form as well.
James hasn’t been given nearly enough game-time for Wales, and to drop him after two games for Cuthbert appears a clear error. Warren Gatland always puts a lot of faith in certain players even when there is a clear detriment to the team. James is the better of the two wingers - he is faster, more aggressive and has a better eye for the try line. Cuthbert should be with the region instead of the national squad to see if he can see an upturn in his performances, instead of throwing him in at the deep end on the international scene.
Pictured: Above: A typical village cricket scene (Photographer: John Garghan) Below left: Andrew Flintoff consoles Brett Lee after England’s Test win at Edgbaston in 2005 (Photographer: ESPN)
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It all seems utterly ludicrous. Since when did the gracious, English, gentlemanly game become so violent and thuggish?
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SPORT 47
Cardiff blow away Bristol in knockout boxing night
Dan Heard
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The night itself I feel went very well. It took a lot of preparation. We’ve had boxing nights before in places like Oceania, but this was our first “home” show in the Union. Jordan Daruvalla
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Dan Heard Cardiff City Columnist
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ardiff University’s Amateur Boxing Club put on their first home Fight Night last Monday in Y Plas, with an excellent turnout to watch eight bouts between some of the finest fighters the club had to offer. They squared off against opposition in rival clubs from Bristol and Worcester University, losing only once against such tough opposing boxers. The night featured two excellent sparring matches between fighters from within the Cardiff club- and began with Jack Levy taking on Alex Tennyson Mackay. Levy, from Cape Town in South Africa originally and studying Ethical Hacking, squared up to Tottenham born Maths student Tennyson Mackay as the first bell rang. In what was a pulsating opening bout of the night, the three rounds flew by, as did the punches. Both put absolutely everything into each round, and gave the crowd exactly what they wanted to see- passion, hunger and determination, something the remaining fighters thankfully showed in abundance all night long. Next up, the first competitive matchup between Matt McFerran of Cardiff and Bristol University’s Reece Cammock. McFerran, who attended Whitchurch High School, famed for producing talented sports stars, was looking to dismantle Engineering student Cammock from the off. After walking out to a bit of ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ by the Arctic Monkeys to get the eager crowd
going, McFerran produced an excellent display in what was a tightly contested bout. Cammock, clearly a skilled fighter, pushed him all the way, with both landing precise jabs throughout the rounds, before McFerran was announced as the winner in the first of many for Cardiff on the night. Then it was the turn of Jordan Daruvalla, a real driving force behind not only the club but the night itself. Originally from Truro, Cornwall, Daruvalla entered with much of the same fanfare and excitement from the pumped-up crowd as McFerran before him, ready to take on opponent Alex Maguire. In what was arguably one of the more one-sided bouts of the night, Daruvalla was dominant from the first bell to the last, applying an unrelenting pressure to Maguire, who for the most fought back well before the towel was eventually thrown in. Daruvalla, in an exclusive interview with Gair Rhydd, said of the fight afterwards: “I feel it went really well. I came out quite strong, and my opponent was strong to begin with, but I think, over the three rounds, as it progressed, he started dropping his hands, and as you saw, it was called in the third round. I didn’t expect the towel to get thrown inI wasn’t really sure what happened there, as it was thrown out, then thrown back in, but overall I think it was the right decision from the referee to stop the fight there. The night itself I feel went very well. It took a lot of preparation. We’ve
Cardiff face a string of tough games during what is often one of the toughest months in the Championship calendar. After impressing in back-to-back home wins against promotion-chasers Brighton (who City stuck four goals past in what was surely their best performance of the season to date), which was followed by a somewhat scrappier affair against surprise play-off contenders Preston North End, the Bluebirds will take much comfort from their form at the Cardiff City Stadium looking at the run of games coming
thick and fast. City have often struggled to see off games against teams around them in the league - a frustrating feature for which Russell Slade must address if he wants any chance of reaching the playoffs. Two consecutive home games against another old rival in Leeds United (who earlier this season actually defeated Cardiff in the league for the first time in over thirty years), and the always impressive Ipswich Town are next up for the Bluebirds, who played Bristol City on Saturday. March is capped off with a trip
had boxing nights before in places like Oceania, but this was our first “home” show in the Union. We want this to become a centrepiece in the AU’s calendar, and hopefully it’ll be an event which will continue next year and in years to come.” He was joined for an interview, and in picking up a victory, by fellow Cardiff fighter Jack Pattison, who beat Bristol’s Ben Rose in the last fight before the break. Entering to the tune of the Rolling Stone’s Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Pattison, an experienced boxer, was equally as thrilled as Daruvalla following the win: “It was a tough fight. It gave me a lot to think about, but once you start analysing your opponents’ weaknesses and start picking them apart, it gets easier. First round, it was quite tough, but in the second and third round, I started getting a measure of him, managed to get a few more heavy shots off of him, and then got a standard eight-count in the third.” “It was a fantastic night- we’d been training so hard, doing extra sessions in our coach’s gym, and it’s all been worth it, it really came together nicely tonight.” Both agreed that the night provided an excellent springboard towards the Welsh Varsity in just over a month’s time. “We’ll have a couple of weeks resting after tonight, before we head back into training” Jordan said, while Jack added: “The Swansea crowd got on our backs last year and gave us some stick! But it’s all good fun!” Following an energetic performance from Cardiff’s Fitness and Dance squad at the break, the action resumed with the second sparring bout of the night, and the only all-female bout also, as Cardiff club members Alice Gillman and Zara Siddique produced an excellent display. Both were arguably evenly matched, with the pair displaying a key combination of quick, high jabs and an impressive accuracy in their shots. Much as the first fight, they gave as good as they got,
and fired up the crowd once again for the remainder of the night’s action. It was the turn of Politics and Economics student Dan Barratt to enter the ring, up against Bristol’s Ben Nicholls. Clearly confident ahead of the bout, as proceedings got underway, Barratt appeared not to acknowledge the sportsman-like offer of touching gloves extended by Nicholls, before proceedings quickly took a sharp turn in favour of the visitor. Nicholls was relentless, in one instance even forcing Barratt onto the ropes on the near side of the ring, battering his opponent about throughout the pulsating first round. It became apparent that as the second round progressed, Barrett could not, as the towel was thrown in shortly after in Cardiff’s first defeat of the evening. Stepping into the home corner next was Ian Williams, the Nairobi-born powerhouse who, almost immediately, you could sense was the favourite for the fight. He was head and shoulders above his opponent Sam Bernard, both literally and, as it turned out, in ability also. Though Bernard did offer some good counter-attacking moves, it was clear who the victor would be, as Williams was in control of the bout from the first minute, A unanimous decision from the judges saw Cardiff pick up yet another victory heading into the final fight, which featured a competitor who had travelled all the way from Worcester for the event. Crispin Boden-Tebbet, who lives in Swansea, was pitted against Cardiff’s Brad Meddings in the last bout of the evening, with the pair pushing each other to the limit throughout. BodenTebbet was perhaps the most equallymatched fighter in terms of ability and skill when compared with Meddings, though it was the home fighter who triumphed, rounding off an excellent night for the club and for the University..
down the M4 to face Reading, who, while not troubling the chasing pack nor flirting with the drop zone, could prove to be yet another potential stumbling block. Russell Slade picked up important wins against these three sides early on in his tenure at City, and will be looking to do the same this time around. Cardiff picked themselves back up from the away loss to automatic promotion favourites Middlesbrough at the end of February, and will be looking to keep their play-off hopes, which once seemed slim, just about still alive.
At least one thing is guaranteed (for next season at least) with the release of Season Tickets for the 2016/17 campaign on St. David’s Day, coupled with the announcement of a £20 reduction in the price of the most expensive option, as well as a newly introduced Student Season Ticket for under £100. With the hope that the drop in price will mean a chance to capitalise on a potential new fan-base next season is now on the cards, hopefully City can replicate the good news off the field with some good form and even better results on it this month.
Pictured: Above: Jordan Daruvalla shows his game-face during his bout. (Photographer: Chris Priestley) Below Left: The night was a huge success in front of a vocal Cardiff crowd. (Photographer: Chris Priestley)
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Nicholls was relentless, in one instance even forcing Barratt onto the ropes on the near side of the ring, battering his opponent about throughout the pulsating first round.
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sport
Editors: Jim Harris James Lloyd Jamie Smith @GairRhyddSport sport@gairrhydd.com gairrhydd.com/sport
Also this week
Boxing: Y Plas hosts epic night of amateur boxing P47>>
Taekwondo claim third successive title at British Student National Championships
American Football: Cobras cruise past Saxons in play-offs P44>>
400 competitors from 45 universities descended upon the University of Worcester to compete at the prestigious martial arts event last week, with Cardiff claiming the top prize Ceri Mogan & Patrick Osborne
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n Saturday 27th February, martial artists from Cardiff University Taekwondo competed in the British Student National Championships held at Worcester University Sports Arena. Taekwondo University clubs from across the UK came together with over 400 competitors from 45 universities involved. The events on Saturday included Individual Patterns (technical routines), Team Patterns (routines in a team with chosen split movements for extra effect) and Sparring (Contact fighting). On the Friday evening, 25 students from Cardiff University travelled to a hotel near the arena to build our team spirit and ensure good rest for our early start on Saturday. After waking up at 5am, the bus headed to the arena for a 7am weigh-in. After-
wards, we all piled into the arena and began rehearsing as the other universities swanned in at later times. The competition started with Individual Patterns. These are prearranged sequences which include defensive and attacking movements. In doing them, one demonstrates technical ability, posture, precision and discipline. In this competition members were required to perform a qualifying pattern on their own. After all the competitors performed their qualifying pattern the bottom 50 per cent was eliminated- leaving the rest of the team to compete with a pattern of their choice followed by a further 50 per cent elimination to continue until the four medalists were decided. Up first for Cardiff Uni were the Female Black-Belt Patterns – this category contained very experienced international competitors, yet CUTKD still walked away with
75 per cent of the medals, one each for our three female competitors. The next category to compete were the male Red and Black-belt participants. This was a huge category and Cardiff performed fantastically to achieve two medals. Our green and blue belt male competitors achieved one bronze, one silver and one gold medal- again three quarters of the prizes available. Our female green belt competitors were in a large category but still took one bronze medal. Finally, our male yellow belt competitors also took one of the medals on offer. Our competitors performed their patterns at an incredibly high standard, and we were very proud. After a successful morning, it was time for Team Patterns and this is where the club demonstrated how dedicated and committed they had been in training for this event. CUTKD had to withdraw one of the six teams we entered due to an injury in
Pictured:
Cardiff University Taekwondo Club at the recent Championships at the University of Worcester. (Photographer: Cardiff University Taekwondo Club)
Continued on page 45
Dancesport: CUDC take third in Blackpool competition P44>>
Cricket: MCC to trial use of red and yellow cards P46>>