4 ● News
Monday 11 February 2002, gairrhydd
gairrhydd Editorial The election season is now upon us, as you will probably have noticed with the appearance of posters around the Union and academic departments. It seems like it was only a few months ago when this years executive were elected in a flurry of publicity and tension, and here we are again looking forward to finding out who will be running the Union next year. However, it is a shame that not all the positions in the up-and-coming NonSabbatical elections are contested. The Non-Sabbatical’s play an important role in the Union, as they devote their time to campaigning on issues that matter to all students, such as LGB issues and Black and Ethnic Affairs. And even if there is only one candidiate running for the positions, it is still important that you vote in the elections, because if you feel that the candidate isn’t up to the job, you can use your right to RON the candidate and re-open the nominations to more candidates. It is especially important that you vote in these elections because the Union has invested in a new electronic voting system, that will hopefully make voting a lot easier and will hurry through the election results on polling night. Democracy is something that is very close to the heart of the Union, as we are represented by the executive and they have been chosen to speak on behalf of all students. It is vitally important that you choose YOUR representative for the following year, so therefore I am urging all students to exercise their right to vote and make that choice on polling day.
A good Blair day? by Mark Cobley
TONY BLAIR came to Cardiff on Sunday to deliver his message on the NHS and other public services. Addressing the party’s
spring conference at the Cardiff International Arena, Mr. Blair laid out Labour’s plans for the future. He said, ‘We have four main objectives. Firstly, to maintain economic stability with no return to Tory boom
BLAIR: Booed by members of Unison
and bust. Secondly, to combat social division and inequality. Thirdly, to invest in and reform our public services, and fourthly, engagement not isolationism with Europe and with the rest of the world.’ Blair launched attacks on the Conservatives over their policy of reducing public expenditure to 35 per cent of GDP. He said it would mean £60 billion worth of cuts to public services. He also accused the Tories of painting a false picture of the NHS. The Prime Minister said, “They are now mounting a campaign to denigrate, mock and belittle the NHS in the public’s eyes,until people give up on it altogether.” Blair set out his reforms for the public services, in
‘Rings’ piece of Welsh history by Charlotte Lyon A LITERARY debate has opened over the connections between Wales and The Lord of the Rings following the phenomenal success of the recent film adaptation. Actress Cate Blanchett was quoted this week admitting Elvish [the language spoken by the Elves in the epic novel] is “similar to Welsh”. She has raised the question of just how much of Tolkien’s masterpiece was inspired by his love of the country and and its language. Dr Carl Phelpstead, lecturer in English Literature at Cardiff,
admits there is an element of Wales in The Lord of the Rings. “Sindarin contains some features of Welsh in its phonology and mutations of the beginning of words. However the other Elvish language Quenya is much more influenced by Finnish.” He continues, “Tolkien was a professor of Anglo Saxon and Medieval English and there are hundreds of other influences in his work from Germanic and Spanish, to Scandinavian and Old English as well as Welsh.” Dr Phelpstead reveals, “His poetry especially was developed from an interest of Old English. It does not
rhyme but contained alliteration that was a characteristic of Medieval English poetry. The Ents, the name of a race of large talking trees in Tolkien’s books appropriately comes from the medieval word for ‘giant’. Tolkien, although a great novelist was first and foremost a linguist. Dr. Phelpstead explains “Tolkien even as a boy had a penchant for inventing languages. He would invent one, such as ‘Primitive Eldarin’, and then create characters to speak them and narratives to surround them”. It was exactly through this process that the great trilogy was born.
Film Club Last week’s premier of the Gair Rhydd film club was a great success, with more than 80 people turning up to see a special showing of Grosse Pointe Blank. This week, we are giving students the chance to see The Cider House Rules on the big screen. Just turn to the FILM pages in GRiP to find out how to take part in this exciting event. LORD OF THE RINGS: Similarities between Welsh and Elfish
some cases including publicprivate partnerships. “Values are timeless,” he said, “but means of achieving them are not. We are committed to a free health service. How we achieve that objective does not matter.” However Mr. Blair did not have it all his own way. When Charles Clarke, Chairman of the Labour Party, spoke about publicprivate partnerships, it attracted boos from some sections of the crowd. Unison members attended the conference under a campaign to Keep public services public. On the same day, a TUC and Plaid Cymru-sponsored rally in support of 87 Caernarfon strikers protesting over wage cuts made its way to the CIA. Plaid accuses Labour of failing workers.
New system is appealing by Dominic O’Neill THE BODY of university vicechancellors Universities UK has finally agreed to set up an independent complaints procedure for students. They said it was time students had a totally objective body to appeal to if they felt the university did not resolve their problems satisfactorily. The new scheme will deal with accusations of harassment, discrimination and every possible gripe against the university apart from those concerning academic judgement. The National Union of Students has welcomed the idea, urging it to be completely separate from the universities. NUS Vice-president Brooks Duke said they were looking for a “fairer, faster scheme which is publiclyfunded and accountable.” Cardiff Students Union Officer for Academic Affairs Ian Hibble commented, “The new system will create a level playing field, removing the ability of the university to use its strength and greater resources to overwhelm the student.” He continued, “It would put education on the same footing as the other public services and ensure malpractice is easily highlighted”. Together with last week’s decision to compile an annual national survey of students’ opinions of their teaching, the developments have been hailed as a huge step towards students having a greater say in their own education. The new annual teaching survey will mean students review the quality of their lectures and seminars, enabling prospective students to get the inside view of the individual institution. Chief Executive of the Quality Assurance Council Peter Williams said, “We are making excellent progress towards a sensible approach which will serve student’s needs better than the existing process”.