gair rhydd - Issue 870

gair rhydd

FREE

ISSUE 870 MAY 19 2008 CARDIFF’S STUDENT WEEKLY free word - EST. 1972

INSIDE...NEWS/JOBS&MONEY/FEATURES/TAF-OD/OPINION

THE FUTURE OF

YOUR UNION? + MORE SPACE FOR SOCIETIES, AU, SVC & MEDIA + NEW GYM

- NO TAF - NO CF10 - NO GAMES ROOM - SMALLER SOLUS

PLANS FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENTS’ UNION HAVE BEEN UNVEILED THIS WEEK ON CARDIFFSTUDENTS.COM FULL STORY PAGE 3 GAIR RHYDD’S ANALYSIS AND OPINION PAGE 9 - 14

SPORT/POLITICS/SCIENCE&ENVIRONMENT/LISTINGS/TV

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MAY.19.2008

NEWS

NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

this week in gair rhydd:

44

News: Smoking study

04

Science: Wind turbines

Sport: Sailors qualify for National Development Squad

Sudoku

21 Opinion: Music piracy

Go on... ease yourself into your Monday morning. You know what to do!

18 Features: Drinking games

Media Awards winners

24

read more, interact with others and have your say at

>>

22

www.gairrhydd.com

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

03

NEWS

NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

UNION REVAMP REVEALED Samantha Shillabeer and Corinne Rhoades News Editors

Last week plans were unveiled for a complete overhaul of the entire Students’ Union (SU).

The plans, which have been in the pipeline for the last five years, are aimed at reviving the Union and making it suitable for students at Cardiff in the next 20 years.

The most significant changes on the plans are the increased spaces for student activities and a new gym.

Some aspects of the redevelopment have already stirred up controversy.

The proposals reveal a downsized Solus, the introduction of “social learning and network space” and the loss of the current SU bar the Taf. The current bar space will be incorporated into “social learning and network space” that, according to the overview on cardiffstudents.com, “can be used by any students for any

purpose.”

Students’ Union President Jonny Cox spoke to gair rhydd about the benefits these changes will bring.

He said: “Currently the Union has no life during the day, no colour, no vibrancy.

“By creating areas for students to come and relax, work, or socialise in we will attract more people,” he added.

The plans have been overseen by panels that consisted of five years of sabbatical officers, the SU General Manager, the University Finance Manager, and architects.

Cardiff University will finance the redesign, but Cox was keen to dismiss claims that the University is encroaching upon Union space.

He said: “This is a Students’ Union and that’s the way it will stay. We will never lose our autonomy.”

Other revisions include moving the sabbatical officers offices to the second floor in an effort to make the SU Executive Team more accessible

to students.

Despite the proposed redevelopment forming a response to students’ wants and needs, many of which were expressed in the recent Student Satisfaction Survey, ongoing calls for quiet room provision have so far gone unanswered.

But in the summary of the plans, cardiffstudents.com states that as soon as a “policy” on religious provision is developed and accepted by the University, “space will be allocated”.

Furthermore, Cox stressed that “these plans are not set in stone” and emphasised that the project is ongoing and open to review.

He stated: “The plans are in the hands of the students.

“The SUBuildingDevelopment@ cardiff.ac.uk e-mail address is where people can ask questions and provide us with feedback. I would recommend that people use it if they are confused or concerned.”

View the new Union plans at www.cardiffstudents.com/your_union/building-plans Email your comments to SUBuildingDevelopment@cardiff.ac.uk Have your say at www.gairrhydd.com

What a mess

Cardiff students allegedly involved in trashing of Blackweir fields Emma Jones Reporter Cardiff University students are among those allegedly responsible for a mess that was found at Blackweir fields last Sunday May 11.

Tonnes of rubbish, including rotting meat, glass bottles and disposable barbecues, was left at one of Cardiff’s most popular parks after a party that started on Saturday night.

Tyres and rubbish bins were set alight and around 15 bonfires, many of which were still smouldering on Sunday morning, were started using tree

branches.

Some of those involved are believed to have come from the nearby Talybont halls of residence.

Local residents have been left infuriated by the “carnage” that was caused.

Glyn Lloyd, 69, who has walked through the park every day for the last 50 years, said: “These people should be shown up for what they have done and for the utter carnage they have caused.”

Park staff spent five-and-a-halfhours clearing up hundreds of glass bottles, cans and half-eaten packets of meat in the blistering heat the next morning.

Richard Collins, of the city’s park ranger service, said: “I have been with the ranger service for five years and I have never seen anything like it.

“We picked up seven tonnes of rubbish.”

Students told Mr Lloyd that the event had been organised by a city club and advertised on a student website.

But one student, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “I reckon it’s important to point out that it wasn’t only students there, but a lot of underage and older people who seemed to be creating a bad atmosphere.”

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MAY.19.2008

NEWS

NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Offensive image is cause for concern Students’ Union President hits out at University for “stereotypical” representation of African people Corinne Rhoades News Editor Concerns have been raised about an “extremely offensive” image released in Cardiff University’s monthly newsletter.

After reading the April 2008 issue of Cardiff News, Students’ Union President Jonny Cox was shocked by a “stock” image of a tribal African woman that accompanied the story ‘Africa gains from University’s “active role”’.

Cox said that he had received a few “little” complaints from students and staff who took offence at the picture and the way it depicted Africans as “indigenous tribal people”.

He also claimed that when he ap-

proached the University about “this awful stereotyping”, a spokesperson dismissed the complaints as “oversensitive”.

But the University’s public relations department said that, apart from the President’s concern, no formal complaints had been made to them.

Brian Richardson, Director of Public Relations and Communications and the editor of Cardiff News, expressed regret that the image had caused unintended offence.

He said: “The front page of Cardiff News (Vol. 14 No. 7) reflected the University’s local, national and international work. I selected a set of three photographs of faces of roughly similar size and prominence so as to give the

page visual interest and human reference.

“In each case the visual link to the item was vague – the policewoman for an award for a collaborative partnership project, a nurse for the announcement of an innovative new dental course, and a tribal African for recognition of work in supporting development in sub-Saharan Africa.”

While students and staff are being reassured that the incident will not be repeated in the future, Cox is now pushing for a formal apology to be made.

PHOTO: Natalia Popova

Duke of Edinburgh Society gets gold

Say no to smoking Award recipients: Sarah Tadman, Kirsty Witchell, Zoe Seymour, Edward Wallace, Nicola Hughes and Amelia Reed. Last year’s group leaders (either side of group): Dave Churchman and Ross Borkett.

Kirsty Witchell Reporter Six members of Cardiff University’s Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) Award Society attended St James Palace on May 7 to recognise their achievement in gaining the Gold level of the award.

The students met the Duke of Edinburgh and were then presented with certificates by Tori James, the youngest British female and first Welsh woman to climb Mount Everest in 2007.

The Gold level DofE award consists of five sections, each lasting up to 18

months.

Participants need to learn a skill, play sport, and give service to the community.

Competitors must also complete a five-day residential trip which could involve sailing in the Tall Ships races or working on a National Trust holiday.

To complete the award, participants are then required to complete a fourday/three-night expedition.

A DofE spokesperson said: “Our Cardiff University society organise practice and qualifying expeditions along with all the necessary training.

“In weekly meetings our expedition

team covers everything from basic navigation to emergency procedures on a mountain.

The spokesperson added: “Expeditions give students a chance to see parts of the country they might not otherwise have visited. Over the last 10 years the society has been to Snowdonia, Scotland and Norway.”

For more information students can visit www.gohike.co.uk and www. theaward.org.

The society’s Lake District trip in June 2007 won the Societies Award for Best Activity.

Emma Barlow Reporter A scheme developed by Cardiff University could reduce smoking among school pupils by up to 25%.

The ASSIST (A Stop Smoking In Schools Trial) programme, run by Cardiff’s Institute of Society, Health and Ethics (CISHE) and Bristol University, operates in 59 schools across England and Wales.

It involves 11,000 children aged 1213 and works by encouraging “popular” students to spread the message among their peers that “smoking isn’t cool”.

Professor Laurence Moore, Director of CISHE, said: “A lot of time and effort goes into encouraging children not to take up regular smoking but is generally ineffective as often kids will do the opposite of what their teachers

tell them.”

He added: “With the rise in social networking websites we know that kids are much more responsive to messages they get from their peers.”

Young people were asked to nominate influential students in their year group.

The most popular nominees were then trained as peer supporters, encouraging others not to start smoking.

Over a 10-week period after their training, these newly trained peer supporters were asked to have conversations with other students about the benefits of not smoking.

If implemented on a UK-wide basis, it is estimated that ASSIST could reduce the number of 14-15 year-old school students taking up regular smoking by around 43,000 a year.

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

A walk in the park

05

NEWS Search for this year’s Honour Roll student

PHOTO: Becca Murphy

Samantha Shillabeer News Editor

Ruth Smith Reporter Four Cardiff University students successfully completed a 40 mile sponsored walk last weekend.

Megan Cumberlidge, Jonny Falkus, Penny Gilg and Aneurin Rainbird have raised approximately £150 for a range of charities.

The walk led the group from the

north of the Lake District, just south of the town Keswick, to Barrow in Furness at the south of the Lakes.

The distance equates to that of walking from Leeds to Manchester.

The team completed the trip in less than 10 hours, with the boys taking eight hours and 22 minutes, and the girls nine hours and 11 minutes.

The gruelling trek left team members with blisters and patches of sunburn.

Megan Cumberlidge said: “I didn’t

realise how much pain I would be in by the end, but I felt the experience was definitely worth it and I want to go back and beat my time again next year.”

The event had a total of 1,997 starters, out of which 1,824 people finished,.

The fastest walker finished at 10.45am, having begun at 5.30am.

Organisers of the 42nd event hope to raise £250,000 for charity, with this year’s event having the biggest turnout

Praise for Cardiff Law School The University Law School has beat off competition from across the UK to be highly commended by the Attorney General in a prestigious ceremony at the House of Lords

Corinne Rhoades News Editor The Attorney General has praised Cardiff University Law School for the community work of its legal clinic.

The clinic, which was established in conjunction with Hugh James solicitors in 2007, was highly commended by the Attorney General for its advice on continuing healthcare (nursing care) cases.

In a ceremony at the House of Lords, Cardiff Law School was recognised in

the Best New Pro Bono Activity category in the Student and Law School Pro Bono Awards 2008.

Hugh James specialises in continuing healthcare, which is nursing care where the NHS is responsible for, and provides full funding for, the care of often elderly or very ill patients.

Malcolm Evans, a partner with Hugh James, said: “I am confident that the clinic has made a valuable contribution by making legal services available to those who might not otherwise have benefitted from them.”

More than 80 Law students embarked upon a training programme for the venture, which was run voluntarily to benefit the community.

Professor Gillian Douglas, Head of Cardiff Law School, was delighted by the clinic’s success.

She said: “We are committed to continuing to develop our Pro Bono Clinic to support the community and allow our students to gain exposure to the law in action and learn valuable skills that will prepare them for legal practice.”

of competitors yet.

The walk originated in 1966 after the late US President John F Kennedy claimed that “every American should be capable of walking 50 miles a day”.

The annual hike came about in this location because at the time some American experts were building a submarine there.

Nominations for this year’s Honour Roll are now open.

The award was created to celebrate an individual who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in their contribution to student life, or who has overcome personal difficulties.

The person who wins will have increased the quality of life for fellow students and/or the community of Cardiff.

He or she may have been heavily involved in the running of a club or society or have greatly participated in Student Volunteering, for example.

The winner will have their name placed on the Honour Roll board within the Students’ Union as well as being presented with a pin at their graduation ceremony.

Other rewards will include free VIP access into the Summer Ball and a letter of recognition signed by the University Vice-Chancellor.

Students may nominate someone they know by visiting www.cardiffstudents.com or collecting a form from the third floor of the Students’ Union.

The deadline for all entries is 1pm on Friday May 30.

Last year’s winner James Wheeler was given the award for setting up the student business TWO distribute, which raised substantial funds for clean water supplies in Africa through its distribution of ONE water.

Links to Africa Jonathan Evans Reporter Welsh university and NHS links with areas of sub-Saharan Africa are to be bolstered by £50,000 of government funding.

The Wales for Africa framework highlights the importance of continuing to support and develop new links with NHS Wales and projects in subSaharan countries.

One project, a partnership involving Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, aims to reduce maternal mortality and perinatal mortality in Africa.

Welsh Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan said: “By sharing their skills, health professionals from Wales can develop their experiences.”

Chair of the Wales for Africa Health Links group Biku Ghosh said: “If Wales is to be truly effective in tackling global health inequalities we must continue to work together and increase the impact

of the many health links in Wales.”

As part of the University link, Cardiff University’s School of Medicine is currently working with health professionals in Mauritius to reduce blindness caused by diabetes.

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MAY.19.2008

NEWS

NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Maths:

Your Uni: your words

too “geeky” for students

Joy Harding asks Cardiff students how useful they think mathematical ability will be to them in later life

The “geeky” image of Maths is deterring people from studying it for fear of gaining a similar reputation, research published last week found.

Many students are reportedly unable to see past the stereotype of mathematicians as “old, white, middle-class men” and as a result do not want to be associated with the field.

The study, conducted by the British Economic and Social Research Council, found that the number of people in England and Wales opting to take their Maths studies beyond GCSE has been declining for the last decade.

Researchers involved in the study included Dr Heather Mendick, of the London Metropolitan University, and Debbie Epstein, from Cardiff University.

Both blame popular culture for the negative image surrounding Mathematics.

Mendick said: “Images are mainly of white, middle-class men and so may discourage other groups disproportionately.”

PHOTOS: Jake Yorath

Joy Harding Reporter

Charlotte Read First Year History

“I don’t really know what careers you could go into with a Maths degree, but I can see how it’s useful.

I don’t think it’s geeky though.”

Alice Asbury First Year Chemistry

“It gives you good analytical skills and opens up loads of employment prospects.

You’re virtually guaranteed a job if you’ve got a Maths degree.”

Fahad Masodd Fazal Final Year Engineering

“For me maths is very important because I do Engineering so I need to have a good knowledge of the subject for the job I’ll go into.”

Megan Cumberlidge First Year Maths

“I’m switching from Maths to Engineering as I think applied maths is more useful than pure maths. I think it’s important to have basic mathematical ability.”

Pressurised students Students forced into giving love ‘Coming false feedback to Cardiff’ The National Student Survey comes under scrutiny after staff are caught influencing students’ responses Samantha Shillabeer News Editor Students across the country have complained that they are being pressured to falsely rate their universities in the official National Student Survey.

This comes after staff at Kingston University were recorded instructing students how to respond to the questions, encouraging them to promote a positive image of the University instead of providing honest opinions.

The BBC News website has now received “hundreds” of e-mails from other university students and academics, indicating that this is a widespread problem.

Complaints include students claim-

ing that lecturers held “special talks” telling them to only submit positive responses.

The National Student Survey, set up by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), provides a league table of student satisfaction which is intended to be useful for pupils choosing a university.

It is endorsed by the government and funded by taxpayers.

A HEFCE spokesperson said: “Apart from Kingston, a very small number of cases have been brought directly to our attention. Again, each of these has been or is being investigated.”

He added: “We do not consider that the cases that have come to light call into question the robustness of the survey and believe that the great majority of students will take the opportunity

to provide accurate feedback on their experiences.”

No complaints against Cardiff University have been registered.

A University Spokesperson said: “Cardiff University encourages as many students as possible to take part in the National Student Survey. However, the content of responses made to the Survey is entirely a matter for students themselves.”

It was added: “It is vital that the Survey provides an accurate picture of student opinion to help the University identify areas for further improvement through its comprehensive enhancement programme.

“The University, therefore, does not try to influence students’ feedback to the Survey in any way.”

Cardiff rated highly by freshers in Universitywide satisfaction survey Elle Smith Reporter

First-year students rate their overall experience at Cardiff University as positive.

The news comes after the release of responses to the ‘Coming to Cardiff’ survey, which took place in November 2007.

Students were asked to comment on aspects of applying to the University and their first few weeks of study.

The survey is the University’s main method of gathering information on students’ views and is part of Project Q, the joint Students’ Union and Univer-

sity student feedback initiative that has now been in operation for three years.

The feedback from 2007 has been analysed by researchers within the School of Social Sciences and has been described as “very positive”.

Students spoke highly of their experiences in lectures and seminars, but some criticised the online enrolment process.

The results have already been reviewed by the University and have contributed to plans for improvements in the coming year.

A report on the survey can be viewed on the University’s Student Survey web page at: http://www.cf.ac.uk/studx/cardiffresponds/index.html.

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

07

WORLD NEWS

NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Bottom photographer arrested

World News in brief Ruth Smith Reporter

Stripping off

Elle Smith Reporter A 38-year-old Italian man was stopped and arrested recently after police became suspicious that he was secretly filming females in Venice’s St Mark’s Square.

The officers on patrol said the male was closely following a young woman while carrying a large bag on his

shoulder.

It is thought that the man was trying to photograph her bottom through a small hole in the side of his bag.

A police video shows the Italian, who was dressed in jeans and a hooded top, walking behind women and positioning his black holdall close to their legs.

The police officers became suspicious when they realised he was only following women with short

skirts.

Inspection of the bag revealed a sophisticated camera and DVDs, which contained more than 3,000 images of female bottoms.

He confessed that he had been filming in and around St Mark’s Square for nearly two years.

The voyeur has been charged with infringement of privacy, which could earn him four years in jail.

Mario Marina of Venice’s police force caught the man, who was described as “very well dressed”, and reported that “he followed women and when they bent over to pick up something he tried to place the tip of the bag under their skirts”.

Police have refused to name him but it is thought he is married with two young children and has a professional job in the nearby town of Padua.

On a budget Smokers to Plans have been announced for the world’s cheapest car which is expected to be on sale by 2011 Abigail Whittaker News Editor A joint venture between RenaultNissan and the Indian firm Bajaj Auto looks set to produce the world’s cheapest car at just $2,500 (£1,276).

Last Monday the firms announced plans to make the budget car, which is expected to cost 100,000 rupees in India, by early 2011.

Bajaj’s managing director Rajiv Bajaj said: “The car will offer twice the fuel economy of the existing products in the market.”

His firm, which will own 50% of the venture, are aiming to achieve 34 kilometres (21 miles) per litre of fuel.

The main market for the car, known only as Codename ULC, will be in India.

The ULC will be produced in a factory that is set to be built in Chakan, western India, and will eventually manufacture 400,000 units a year.

For Bajaj, the Renault-Nisan partnership represents a turn into new territory.

The company is India’s second largest motorbike maker and the leading manufacturer of three-wheelers, but is yet to build a passenger car.

T h e venture is expected to rival Tata Motor ’s Nano, which

was unveiled earlier this year and billed at the time as the world’s cheapest car.

Tata said that their car could be ready for sale by September and plans to market it for around $2,500.

The Nano has made purchasing a vehicle in the country a realistic prospect for many people who had previously not been able to afford one.

The four-door five-seater car has no air conditioning or electric windows, though deluxe models will be on offer.

But environmental critics have expressed concerns that the car will lead to mounting air and pollution problems on what are already clogged roads.

Domestic and international car manufacturers are now racing to corner India’s small-car market, which accounts for over two-thirds of domestic sales in the country of 1.1 billion people.

Experts have pointed out that India could serve as an Asian export base for small cars and car sales there are predicted to more than quadruple to $145bn by 2016.

This is the second effort to make a cheap car for South Asia’s rapidly growing middle class.

face age test

Sarah Powell Reporter A Japanese company is pioneering a high-tech vending machine in an effort to curb underage smoking.

The Fujitaka company plans to use face recognition technology that counts wrinkles, crows feet and sagging skin to check the smoker’s age.

It is hoped that this will prevent anyone under the legal age, which is 20 in Japan, from buying cigarettes.

The vending machines will compare the smoker’s face against a record of more than 100,000 people to ensure that underage smokers cannot purchase cigarettes.

A Fujitaka spokesperson claimed that this will combat the rise of underage smokers who are using false identities to illegally purchase cigarettes.

In a 2004 survey it was reported that 14% of boys and 4% of girls aged 17 and 18 smoke everyday.

By introducing these new vending machines it is hoped that this statistic

will decrease.

But the company does claim that the technology will not affect adult smokers.

The spokesperson said: “With face recognition, so long as you’ve got some change and you are an adult, you can buy cigarettes like before.”

The Japanese Finance Ministry has given permission for the company to use an age-identifying smart card, and a system to read the age from driving licences in the vending machines.

But it has so far refused to allow the face identification technology to be installed due to concerns about its accuracy.

The company claims that this technology has a 90% success rate, and the remaining 10% are sent to a ‘grey zone’ where they are asked to insert identification into the machine to prove their age.

This initiative has been developed ahead of the July threshold, where vending machine companies can be prosecuted for supplying underage smokers with cigarettes.

In Vienna hundreds of people have stripped for a naked photo shoot.

Spencer Tunick, the photographer, asked that people wore no sunglasses, did not smile and had on no underwear.

Tunick attracted 1,840 people to his shoot in Austria’s Happel Stadium.

Some of the people involved took it in turns to hold a football as a pictorial prelude to the Euro 2008 soccer championships, seven of which will be staged by Austria.

Finally paid

An anonymous woman has paid off a parking ticket that was issued to her more than 30 years ago.

The ticket was issued in the Upper Peninsula town of Calumet, Michigan, in 1976.

Police had forgotten about the $1 fine.

But they were reminded when the ticket arrived at their headquarters along with a $20 bill and a note which carried no return address.

The note read: “I always had good intentions of paying it. I put it aside and every once in a while I would come across it and say ‘someday I'm going to pay it’. Now I think it's time.”

Under the sea

An artificial reef near Miami has become a rather unconventional attraction – it is both a cemetery and a diving area.

The Neptune Memorial Reef allows remains of the dead to be placed in one of the reef’s structures by mixing their ashes with cement designed for underwater use.

The cemetery is even styled with gates, pathways, plaques and benches .

It is approximately 45 feet beneath the water surface and is hoped to one day cover an area of 16 acres, enough to hold 160,000 remains.

MAY.19.2008 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

gairrhydd

09

NEWS FEATURE

OUR NEW UNION?

YOU DECIDE.

After several weeks of rumours, the official plans for the long term future of the Students’ Union are now online at www.cardiffstudents.com. The SU has stated that these are not the final blueprints, and that they are open to students’ feedback and comments

Turn over for a detailed, floor by floor examination of the new plans and comments from students > > > > >

10 gairrhydd

NEWS FEATURE

MAY.19.2008 FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

the ground floor...

The ground floor of the Students’ Union is currently home to the Letting Agency, Job Shop, Endsleigh Insurance and Blackwells book shop.

In the new plans the corridor which runs through the present mall will be removed and the retail units will be expanded and extended up to the pavement.

The new entrance will provide a single access point to the Union from Sengenhydd Road. In the consultations with the architects, the Sabbatical Officers were keen to create an SU that was not laid out in such a confusing way. This single entrance from Sengenhydd Road is part of the plan to overcome this.

The plan also suggests the development of the SU on the ground floor of Park Place, where there will be new retail space in this area and Cardiff Information Direct. This will be a ‘one stop shop’ concept where students can go when they are in need of information about the University or Students’ Union.

Students may be concerned over the increase in retail units as the union currently has several empty retail units in the mall.

SU President, Jonny Cox commented: “The only reason we have empty retail space is because of the uncertainty around the building redevelopment. In recent years we have only been able to offer those wanting retail space two year contracts. Obviously people aren’t willing to do this as refitting retail space can be expensive. Therefore retailers have been wanting 5-10 years worth of commitment which we haven’t been able to give. Once we are able to give this commitment we will have no trouble attracting retailers.”

The glass fronted foyer will revamp the front of the SU. The foyer will become much brighter and will open up the current ‘70s brick design.

+ more retail space

the first floor...

The most dramatic change to the first floor is the removal of CF10, the Union Shop and the IT Shop.

These areas will be replaced with ‘social learning and network space’.

The removal of CF10 as we know it will not mean that there will be no food provision in the new SU. The ‘social learning and network spaces’ will have food and drink services available. There are also plans to include a staircase from Blackwells to the ‘social learning and network space’ on this floor.

The Union Shop and IT Shop will continue to operate in the new SU, but will move to one of the new retail units in another part of the SU. On the Park Place side of the building there will be more retail space and another area for ‘social learning and network space’.

+ ‘social learning and network space’ - CF10

Have your say... email your comments to

MAY.19.2008 FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

gairrhydd

11

NEWS FEATURE

the second floor...

Currently the second floor is home to the Taf, Solus, Reception and SU staff offices. This will change significantly in the new plans.

The main reception area for the SU will remain where it is at present. The Taf will be replaced with an open plan office for the sabbatical officers and will also house an area for societies, AU and SVC. By moving the sabbatical officers to this location the SU hopes the officers will be more accessible to students. The AU, SVC and societies will gain a great deal of space to operate from in this area, which will benefit these student activities greatly. Jonny Cox is keen to make clear that although the Taf will cease to exist as we know it “there will be plenty of bar provision for our students.” gair rhydd reported two weeks ago about the commercial development of the Junction Bar into a multi-purpose venue that can be utilised both day and night. These plans reveal that the area will become ‘social learning and network space’ which is in line with the recent commercial developments. This space will extend onto a sun deck which will be open for students. Further ‘social learning and network space’ will be included behind reception also.

As the plans show, Solus will decrease in size significantly. The club will also be a bar and conference facility. The decrease in size can be attributed to the declining numbers at Union club nights. Jonny Cox commented on the decline in attendance: “It’s a national problem that is getting worse and worse and there is no prediction for the situation to recover.” The Union will never be able to compete with the clubs in town that invest millions into their establishments as the Union does not have the finances to do so. But Cox explained that there are other reasons for making Solus smaller: “We need to match what we provide as a Union to the requirements of the different demographics of our students. That was the driving factor behind the changes. We need to remember that this Union is going to take eight years to redevelop and it will then have to be suitable for students 20 years on.”

the third floor...

+ ‘social learning and network space’, more student activity space, sabbatical offices - Taf, smaller Solus

The third floor is going to receive quite a revamp, with these plans making the Advice and Representation Centre (ARC), Student Development Unit (SDU) and Student Media Centre more accessible and larger.

These three services are particularly key services offered by the SU and the Students’ Union are committed to promoting these services so as to benefit students. All of these services will be more visible for students and will make them more approachable and able to be utilised to their maximum potential.

The Games Room will be replaced by new staff offices that have been moved because of the developments on the second floor. By bringing all the SU staff together in one area, the Union hopes to improve communication and become more effective.

The loss of the Games Room will affect the Snooker Club who run their tournaments from the current facility. Cox stated to gair rhydd that although there will not be snooker tables, there will be pool tables in ‘social learning and network spaces’ and that the SU will work with clubs to ensure they “can continue with their good work.”

The Graduate Centre will also see developments into a ‘graduate social learning and network centre’ similar to those in the rest of the Students’ Union.

More ‘social learning and network space’ will be incorporated into the third floor plans where the TV lounge is currently located.

+ more space for ARC, SDU, Student Media - Games Room

o SUBuildingDevelopment@cardiff.ac.uk

12 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

NEWS FEATURE

NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

the fourth floor...

The fourth floor currently houses Student Media and meeting rooms.

The new plans will see greater space on the fourth floor devoted to meeting rooms. These meeting rooms will be available to use by all students involved with societies and clubs.

The current provision is insufficient for the student needs and so this is a much needed addition to the Union.

The inclusion of the larger gym will utilise the currently empty roof space and will provide greater gym facilities on campus. It is currently uncertain as to who will run the gym – the University or external sources.

+ more meeting rooms, gym

The new plans in numbers ‘Social learning and network space’

2,291.6m

Solus

2

59% meeting 10 rooms of current size

910m

2

retail space

0

1gym

What is ‘social learning and network space’?

The term ‘social learning and network space’ has been bandied around on these pages, but what exactly will the space involve? Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Do people want this sort of space? And will it really bring in a more diverse variety of students to the SU? Social learning and networking environments will make up about 2.3 square kilometres of the new building, which accounts for somewhere between 15-20% of usable floor space.

According to cardiffstudents.com, “A social learning environment is a flexible space that can be used by any of our students throughout the day for any purpose, whether it be working, socialising or just relaxing!”

SU President Jonny Cox has commented on the Facebook group ‘Our Union, Our Vote’ that these spaces would be “light,

clean environments with big sofas, tables, pool tables, food and drink provision, wi-fi, big bean bags (sounds mad, but they have them in Edinburgh and they’re awesome!)”

“This space could then be used as a social space, a learning space, a networking space, a relaxing space... whatever you so wish (within the law).”

So to clarify, these spaces could include desks, large sofas, tables, bean bags, laptop plug-in points, coffee shops and bars serving alcohol, but not necessarily all of these at the same time. As a result, they will provide a flexible space for students who wish to socialise, work, drink, or do all three at the same time.

Critics of these spaces may ask whether they will actually be used. Will people want to read and study in what could essentially be another bar? It could also be argued that

the criteria are very vague at present, and there are no concrete proposals for what they actually will include (as opposed to what they could include) if they’re introduced.

As there have been no trials of these spaces in the Union, some might suggest that to allocate so much space for this is overly ambitious at this point.

Particular issues have been raised with regard to the ‘social learning’ aspect of these spaces. Jonny Cox stressed to gair rhydd that these spaces are not just for learning: “In retrospect we should have chosen a more appropriate title for these spaces that was more representative of what these spaces could be.”

Share your opinions on the ‘social learning and network space’ by emailing SUBuildingDevelopment@cardiff.ac.uk

prayer rooms

0 Taf

Inevitably a facebook group has been formed to debate the plans. Join the forum and discussion by joining the Our Union, Our Vote group

Have your say... email your comments to

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

free words...

The new plans for the development of Cardiff University Students’ Union have caused quite a stir in the gair rhydd office this week. As students of Cardiff University and members of Cardiff University Students’ Union, they share their opinions on the proposals Solus by Jamie Thunder Ah, Solus. I remember you. I know I don’t visit you much now, but I could never forget you. Your sticky floors, drunken buffoons and semiironic dirges (Sum 41, anyone?) entertained me sporadically for a while before I tired of your delights. Crucially, you provided my flatmates and me with a cheap and tolerable night out as we were getting to know each other, without which we’d probably still be sat around Senghennydd Court wondering whether the girl in Room 5 was German or not.

If you’re reduced to 59% of your

current size you’ll eventually be phased out altogether because you won’t be making any money – largely due to being 41% smaller – and that would be wrong. Especially if you become a conference theatre instead (the plans seems very keen to use Union space for non-Union activity, don’t you think?).

Also, if you’re smaller, you’ll be no use as a gig venue. Combined with the recent, er, “treatment” meted out to the Great Hall, it’s conceivable that there’ll be no venues in the Union in a few years. Besides, you’re still packed on Mondays and Fridays, and if the Taf’s bulldozed then that means a Union

with no gig venue, no pub, and a tiny bar that’ll probably be closed down eventually. And really, what sort of a Students’ Union is that?

Barring repeated failings, none of us will know a Solus-less Cardiff University. But just because we won’t be around doesn’t mean we don’t care or shouldn’t be consulted; how much do they expect students’ wants to change in six years? They’ll still want cheap, decent and safe nights out, which the Union currently provides. But if Solus is cut down then such provision will be depleted, and no amount of “learning space” can excuse it.

‘Social learning and network space’

by Jamie Thunder

Social learning space. A lovely phrase, don’t you think? It conjures up images of sixth form common rooms á la Grange Hill or Hollyoaks, with slightly-too-attractive people being slightly-too-spontaneously witty. It’s also what we have to look forward to if the Union plans go ahead.

If the proposed changes are implemented, roughly 22% of the Students’

Union will be taken up by sofas and network points, ostensibly so people can work in the comfort of their own, uh, Union. But is it really necessary?

Everyone I know at uni works from their rooms. If that’s too hot or too loud (flatmates with boyfriends lose), they go to the library. No-one wants to lug their laptop over to the Union; it’s just not practical. Either you’ll need a power source with you or you’ll manage a couple of hours at best until

your battery collapses. There are better places to work already available, and they don’t take up Union space.

The idea of social learning space is a fine one, and would probably look quite nice on the University’s website.

But the reality is it’s just not needed. If the University really wants more space for people to sit, chat and occasionally work, it should find its own space for it rather than trying to take over the Union.

NEWS FEATURE The Games Room

Retail space

The plans to scrap the Students’ Union Games Room are misguided.

Sure, its closure won’t be labelled by most as anywhere near as despicable as the closure of the Taf, CF10 or 41% of Solus, but the Games Room provides an excellent service for its patrons – who, by the way, can be just about anyone.

The problem is lack of information; if the Games Room’s not operating at maximum profit, it’s because people don’t know about it. If more students knew there was a room in which you could have a cheap drink, play pool for half the price of a pub game without ever having to queue, watch a giant screen showing live sport on Sky (or whatever programme you want) and try their hand at snooker, table football, video arcades and more, they would use it. But it’s not publicised – even the sign above the door has been changed, for absolutely no reason at all, so it no longer advertises: SNOOKER – POOL – BAR – TV. Just ‘Games Room’.

Helpful.

When I first heard that plans to dramatically transform the Union included expanding the amount of retail space, I couldn’t help but worry someone was making a terrible mistake. And, to be honest, now I’ve had time to consider the pros and cons, I’ve reached the very same conclusion.

Before I put forward my case, I’d firstly like to state that I am not against change at the Union. For me, there are several elements of the plans which sound highly beneficial to Cardiff students, particularly the relocation of the Sabbatical Officers and societies to a more prominent position in a (muchneeded) attempt to improve integration. Other aspects, such as the closure of the Taf and the high priority given to ‘social learning’ space, I am less convinced by, but I can see the financial reasoning. The expansion of retail units, however, is one move in which I see neither student gain, nor logic.

The major doubt I have regarding this issue is the type of shops which are likely to buy into this venture. No deals are yet on the table, and this is not the space for speculation as to which businesses may or may not sign up. This said, it only takes an educated guess and a little research into other student unions around the country to foresee chain coffee shops, booze franchises, stationers, and other such high street brands.

And in some scenarios (your opinions on chain companies aside), such retailers might be of great convenience to the student body. I have a friend studying at Warwick University. Anyone who has been there will know that, unlike Cardiff’s dispersed university, this is a ‘campus’ in the most traditional sense; that is, the nearest town is a 30-minute bus ride away. Therefore, accommodation, subject departments, the Union, an arts centre (complete with its own cinema), a mini-mart and cafeteria are all located side by side. In the basement level of the Union is a selection of shops, including two banks,

by Huw Davies

No longer will students be able to play snooker on wellmaintained tables The odd pool table in all the ‘Social Learning Space’ has been rumoured for appeasement reasons, but no longer will students be able to play snooker on well-maintained tables (hard to find in Cardiff). But it’s OK – neither will the Cardiff University Snooker Club. No venue = no club. We can’t afford to host tournaments at Riley’s, we’d be forced to drop out of the league and we’d have no members anyway (we’d also have to shove our privately-owned club table somewhere, but I have an idea where).

These plans effectively sign the Snooker Club’s death warrant – 3rd in BUSA this year and the only university snooker club in the country. Without us, no Welsh international team. So, apart from anything else, these plans will wreck international university snooker tournaments.

Societies, AU, SVC and Student Media by Abigail Whittaker More space for societies. More space for AU clubs. More space for student media. I think it’s fair to say it would be an unenviable task to argue that the above was in any way of direct detriment to students, especially as a student media devotee myself.

CUTV currently produces impressive output considering it operates out of what could only be described as a broom cupboard. Expansion in the future would surely allow for increased productivity and improved output.

Similarly, according to the results of the student satisfaction survey, “sev-

eral respondents requested more space for societies to meet”, though whether you can class the responses of 9.8% of the target population as representative is debatable. The new building does indeed provide a wealth of meeting rooms for this purpose.

But while it is arguable that this is what students want, could the move also be a bid to attract the support of several

sabbatical officers who have a vested interest in these areas? The plans for the new building see the current location of the Taf replaced with open-plan offices housing the sabbatical officers and a student activities centre. This is presumably to make the sabbatical officers more available to students on a day to day basis. However, it strikes me that if you are the sort of person who

I seriously question whether these changes will be of detriment to other services

13

would want the sabbatical team to address a particular issue, then you too are the sort of person who would take the time to find out where they are located, be this at the front of the Union or elsewhere. This observation aside, I do not see this as a poor location choice for the sabbatical officers, but I question what space is being stolen away from other aspects of the Union to facilitate it.

While beneficial to students involved with societies, AU clubs, SVC and student media, I seriously question whether indirectly these changes will be of detriment to other services the Union should continue to provide.

by Adam Millward

The expansion of retail units is a move in which I see neither student gain, nor logic an STA Travel branch, a chemist and a hairdresser to name a few. According to my friend they are all very popular, and this is not difficult to believe, considering the campus’ position.

Cardiff’s Students’ Union does not share such a situation. With Queen Street and much more just a five minutes’ walk away, there is no demand for shopping premises on Park Place. What unique, student-orientated retailers the Union can provide, such as Blackwells, Endsleigh Insurance, the Job Centre, the general shop, property service and IT Shop are already established.

o SUBuildingDevelopment@cardiff.ac.uk

14 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

OPINION

RASPUTIN@gairrhydd.COM

R A S P U T I N Bland designs

Multi-awardwinning stand-in for Chin & Tonic

H

ear that rumbling through the Students’ Union building?

No, it’s not from the train line. It’s the sound of change, and soon it will be the sound of a bulldozer. Plans are afoot to renovate the Union, and – ironically, given their focus on aesthetics – they’re not pretty.

They’re big plans. So big I almost feel obligated to say, “I’m gonna blow this shit wide open”, but seeing as the plans went online last Monday, I won’t.

For those of you who haven’t seen them yet, here’s the lowdown.

No Taf. No Games Room.

No CF10.

Solus will be made 40% smaller.

2.3 square kilometres of the Union – around a fifth of it – will become ‘Social Learning Space’.

Wow. Firstly, I apologise for any errors, but it’s easy to be accused of misreading parts of the proposal when we’re now being ‘assured’ that a lot of the features haven’t been finally decided upon (which smacks of backpedalling to me) – for example, that areas of this Social Learning Space will feature bars and pool tables if that’s what students want. It’s a very real possibility that the original plan was not to ask for feedback from the student body – the decision to make the Great Hall a lecture theatre for two-and-a-half days per week was pushed through without consultation even at Student Council or the AGM – but in the interest of fairness, we should look at the plans and not rumours.

So, in the interest of fairness, we should question 2.3 squared kilometres of Students’ Union becoming Social Learning Space. It’s a clever term, this, designed to represent whatever you want it to, but its basis is sofas. And the odd bean bag. One or two rooms dedicated to ‘chilling out’ and/or working isn’t a bad idea, but a fifth of the Union, at the expense of a bar, a café, a Games Room and nearly half of a club? Excessive – especially when you consider that NO ONE WILL USE IT. ‘Social Learning’ is arguably an oxymoron. Whether or not you think combining sociability and effective learning is possible, not everyone can do it, and to that end, putting bars and pool tables in these areas – if these aren’t just empty promises to win approval and compensate for the removal of the Taf and Games Room – is incredibly stupid. We are constantly being reassured (see the Facebook group ‘Our Union, Our Vote’ for proof) that these rooms will be available for people to do whatever they want within reason, but you simply can’t give everyone what they want in one room and you certainly can’t persuade people to work in a drinking environment. There’s a reason

The Union?

...is PLANS: Don’t be fooled by the trees people don’t do coursework in the Taf, and it’s not a lack of plug sockets.

So why can’t we keep our bars and have somewhere separate to work (in the Union if necessary) rather than amalgamate the two into a horrible mess? Because our bars are empty in the day, apparently. But if you think they’re dead now, just wait until they’re combined with ‘Social Learning’.

Besides, with Junction’s tables, open space and Wi-Fi access, you can do ‘Social Learning’ in Solus now, during the day when the bar’s shut – it’s just that nobody does, because it’s a hole.

Make it nicer – hell, throw some bean

It’s hard not to become paranoid about the whole affair, especially when you consider the implication of bribery in sabbatical officers being sweetened by more room for student media, societies and the AU. Greasing the wheels or just plain greasy? More suspicions arise over whether the re-jig is really for students: the plan claims “the [3rd floor] bar and games room areas could provide better use of the views over the city”, which is a fair point, so enjoying these views will now be inhabitants of staff offices. Uh…huh.

But to be fair, these plans aren’t selfish. Just stupid. The instigators of this

Find me one person applying to Cardiff for its Social Learning Space and I’ll find you 20 turned off by the lack of bar, cafe, Games Room and sizeable nightclub bags in – and people will use it. The same goes for it as a nightclub, actually.

In fact, just CLEAN Solus and you can abandon the whole pointless project.

But why do that when you can sabotage it? A strong word, perhaps, but making Solus much smaller so it cannot compete with other nightclubs and consequently has to be scrapped altogether for being unprofitable is a big step towards the all-hallowed goal of eventually phasing out all drinking of alcohol in the Union (just a rumour, this). This is all impossible to prove, of course, so I’ll just say this: at such a smaller size Solus WILL falter, it WILL die and it WILL have to be removed.

plan don’t seem to realise – and this is probably the most important point in this column – that these changes will result in a massively reduced interest in Cardiff University. Applications will fall. When looking at universities, nobody looks for Social Learning (waste of) Space in their Students’ Union.

They know they have libraries for that, and that the Union is for recreation.

Find me one person keen to apply to Cardiff University for the Social Learning Space in its Union and I’ll find you 20 turned off by the lack of Taf, Games Room and sizeable nightclub.

Sure, there are some positive changes. Sabbatical officers will be feng shu-

ied into areas less hidden from students who need them, and the ground floor area behind the steps, currently used only as a urinal by Solus-leavers, will be better utilised. Plus it’s all so darn pretty. Look, there’s glass and trees and everything. But none of this makes up for replacing CF10 with a generic coffee chain with a celestial money-grabbing name (which, being independent of the Union, will be able to flaunt policy and sell supposedly boycotted Nestlé products), the Taf with an AU and societies area, and the Games Room – and with it, not only a superb universal facility but a historic snooker club – with Social bloody Learning Space.

Why is it up to the Students’ Union to provide University facilities anyway? They are separate entities – and yet the University has already taken the Great Hall for lectures and more space before it for the thriving hub of activity that is the Graduate Centre.

Cardiff University owns 10 unused acres of land on Maindy Road. That is a fact. But rather than use this space to build whatever it wants, it is encroaching on Union soil. The University is funding this renovation so it can get something back, but for the Union to give up space for ‘Social Learning’ is like selling your soul for Ryvita. The money’s being waved under its nose and yes, it’s tempting to revamp everything so you can say it was you who did it, but since the renovation will only make the Union building considerably less appealing, considerably less popular and considerably less useful, can’t the Union just see sense and tell the University to sod off?

what people will be saying in years to come if these plans go ahead. But by now you’ve probably made up your mind that either a) it’s the end of the world as we know it (and you feel fine), b) it’s the end of the world as we know it (and you want to kill someone), or c) you couldn’t care less.

So I’ll get off my soapbox and instead look at some of the plans’ more bizarre suggestions. Those of you in the a) and b) categories might find them mildly diverting, and those of you in the c) category will just have to comfort yourselves with the fact that I haven’t just quoted an entire song by The Thrills again.

I’m immediately impressed by the plan’s use of the phrase ‘street scene’, which I can only hope is a reference to visuals rather than a desperate attempt to get down with the kids.

Still, the 26-page document’s best moment is the observation, “vertical circulation disorientating”, which describes everyone’s apparently inexorable need to vomit when ascending or descending that oh-so-winding staircase. It’s just so disorientating. I don’t know how we cope with it. I suppose we’re just lucky we have the handrails, because without them we might just die. Brilliantly, the suggested replacement appears to rely upon the advent of jetpacks in the next few years.

I’m also worried about the plans to make the train line “more legible” and allow natural light into the Union through giant skylights, not because they’re bad ideas but because I’m concerned they’re based on Folsom Prison Blues (“I hear the train acomin’, it’s rollin’ round the bend, and I ain’t seen the sun shine since I don’t know when…”).

All in all, the Union should base major renovation policies more on common sense and less on Johnny Cash lyrics.

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

EDITORIAL & OPINION

OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

freewords Est. 1972

The New Students’ Union Plans Some readers will view this week’s lead story as a tabloid-esque tale that employs shock tactics to grab readers’ attention.

At a time of year when it is highly likely that you will have your mind on other things, however, it is very important that you do not let the plans for the new SU pass you by.

With deadlines to meet and exams to pass for the majority of students, the publication of these redevelopments could not have come at a worse time.

Most people simply do not have time to analyse all of the data and understand what it means. With that in mind, gair rhydd has attempted to present all of the facts to you in the simplest possible terms.

The Students’ Union is currently pushing the plans on the official Union website cardiffstudents.com. But who is pushing students towards the website to view these new plans? It seems that word of mouth is the driving force for spreading awareness of these plans, and with everyone immersed in their coursework and revision, word is not spreading very fast.

As the editor of a newspaper that represents ‘free words’, I believe it is vital that as many students as possible are given the opportunity to see these new plans and to voice their opinions.

It is important to point out that the plans are not polished, and some of the vague terms used in them mean that no one really knows what the final details will entail. This is another reason why student consultation is so vital at this stage.

Some of you will think that all the ideas are great, some of you will think some of the ideas are great, and some of you will disagree with the proposals in their entirety. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on these plans, whatever they are.

But whatever your opinion, it is absolutely vital that you not only voice it through gair rhydd, but that you make that voice heard by the Students’ Union by emailing them your thoughts.

The window for this consultation period is unspecified. It may be brief; it may be lengthy. At this stage, it is difficult to ascertain exactly how things will proceed.

Everyone accepts that the Union needs change, but any concerns voiced over these plans need to be raised quickly.

I therefore cannot urge you enough to make your voices heard by emailing your concerns, comments or praise to SUBuildingDevelopment@cardiff. ac.uk.

Stubbing it out?

With controversial new plans to reclassify cannabis back up to class B on the horizon, Sarah Powell weighs up whether this will make any difference

G

anja, marijuana, weed, puff, smoke, pot, herb, dope, resin, grass; these are just a few of the various names used to describe the drug cannabis. Everyone is familiar with it in some form or another; you’ve either done it, or know someone who has. However, the downgrading of its classification from a class C to a class B drug was aimed at combating this.

Did this really work?

In 2004, Tony Blair downgraded the drug to class C because of “uncertainty” over its impact on mental health. The drug will now been reclassified as class B, following the concern that increased use of cannabis has led to a proliferation of the use of other cannabis varieties such as ‘skunk’, a type that is 3 times stronger than other forms of the drug. In order to try and deter users, the reclassification of the drug will mean that the maximum prison sentence for cannabis possession rises from two years to five years. This news comes despite government ministers recommending that the drug remains classified as class C.

“There is no evidence that reclassifying cannabis will reduce levels of use” Jacqui Smith, the Home Office Secretary, has said that this reclassification has come alongside a “relentless drive” to try and decrease the amount of young Cannabis users. Her policy is particularly aimed at new users. However, it is difficult to know whether this will have any effect.

For consistent users the reclassification, in my view, is not going to have any effect on the amount of usage.

Regular users will, in some cases, have been smoking it since before its downgrading to class C, and so will be fully aware of the consequences of their drug use.

At the end of the day, if they want to smoke it, the reclassification is not likely to prevent them from doing so.

If older users have been smoking con-

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17

sistently for a prolonged period they will most probably know how to avoid being caught with the drug, will know where to buy it and will understand the risks involved. In such cases I doubt that the reclassification will have any effect on the practices of more experienced users.

In the case of young, or new users, I think that the reclassification may have a limited effect. For the more unsure users, the heavy penalty for possession of cannabis may be enough to deter them.

For those who are determined to use cannabis, however, I believe that the fact that the drug wills soon be class B (the same category as substances such

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LIGHTING UP: possession could soon land you a 5-year sentence as amphetamines) will not really have that reclassifying cannabis to Class B a great impact on encouraging young will reduce levels of use, levels of harm or the availability of the drug." adults not to use it.

For what it’s worth, I do agree with Despite Jacqui Smith’s decision to him. However, I do think that the reclassification is a good thing. Even though it may only have a very limited effect, it may be the type of deterrent needed to help some younger users to stop using the drug, or to refrain from starting in the first place.

I doubt that it will have the effects that the Home Office Secretary is hoping for, but it might make some people “err on the side of caution and protect think twice before lighting up. Or perthe public” by reclassifying the drug, haps not!

Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope, said: "There is no evidence

If they want to smoke it, the reclassification is not going to prevent them doing so

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18 gairrhydd

OPINION Cardiff, Disability and Me Ted Shiress discusses arrangements for exams

S

o, it’s that time of year again; the time when even the humanities students are in the library preparing for those two-hour slogs in a sweaty hall known as ‘exams’. The time of year when the Taf and Solus are empty and even the nicest of us come over as short-fused stressheads. However, for some of us (like me), sitting in a silent hall with a pen in their hand for two hours may not be practical. Therefore, some may wonder how the exam system treats us students with disabilities.

From my experience, exams are not quite as rigid as one would imagine.

The process of applying for extra time is relatively painless for those with disabilities that impede their ability to complete an exam. I do believe that many dyslexic students have an almost automatic entitlement to 25% extra time. Depending on the course and the thoughtfulness of its staff, these students may do their papers in a smaller alternative venue. This way, the massive rush as everyone runs out of the room clutching their private parts on a life-or-death mission to the toilet will not disturb them.

Those who need arrangements that are more specialised, like myself, are usually given a venue of their own with just an invigilator there to monitor you. Sometimes the invigilator’s role may double up; you may require an amanuensis (someone writing what you speak) or a casual page-turner, and in these cases they will provide the assistance required.

From my experience this often proves a well thought-out alternative as long as, if you do decide to dictate, your invigilator is efficient at scribing and does not ask for repeated clarification of whatever you say.

Although this varies person to person, I am entitled to double time, which means a two hour exam for my course-mates is a four hour exam for me. Now, I have many peers who are particularly verbal in the thoughts of what a “jammy git” I am to get double the amount of time they do to complete an exam. However, one should remember that this is there because I need it, and is not purely advantageous. This is double the amount of time to forget key facts, double the amount of time to sweat and double the amount of time to panic.

So, is the exam system fair for those with disabilities? I will no doubt see you on gairrhydd.com to discuss!

MAY.19.2008 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

To p2p or not p2p?

Is music piracy as much of a threat to the survival of the industry as the major record labels would have us believe? Jamie Thunder gives his opinion

I

do it. You do it. Some people’s grandparents do it, though they’d never admit to it. Everyone does it, unless they’re real hardliners or they’re getting plenty from elsewhere.

What am I talking about? Music piracy, of course. The British Music Rights group, which claims to represent over 50,000 music publishers, songwriters and composers, recently revealed the results of a study that concludes over 90% of “young people” (how patronisingly vague) engage in some sort of illegal music copying.

Well duh. While this has sparked outrage from the usual quarters, I’ve been left wondering quite why anyone’s surprised by this. I’ve certainly never known anyone, for example, turn down the offer of a burnt CD of a new band. In reality, this sort of piracy has ceased to seem illegal or exceptional; it’s just Something That Happens, it’s been normalised. It’s seen as acceptable because there are no ulterior motives. If you lend someone a CD, it’s for their enjoyment. There’s no profit there, distinguishing it from film piracy where people can make vast amounts of money. People subconsciously know it’s illegal, but when you’re copying an album for someone it just doesn’t register.

As unfashionable as it might be to say, record labels are still necessary Aside from the bizarre reaction of the industry to this report (surely they’ve realised by now the extent of the thievery?), the media are bound to weigh in on the debate again. There’ll be some hip, young, trendy haircut spouting lines like “it’s stealing, but, like, the record companies steal from our soul”, and a representative of The Man advocating the sending of offenders to Guantanamo Bay, or else talking some PR nonsense designed to make the record companies seem all cuddly and nice. D’aww. The reality, however, is a little different from either of these takes.

Yes, this sort of copying and lending is stealing, and stealing is naughty.

That’s the uncomfortable hypocrisy of anyone with any experience of this trying to write about this subject. I know I’ve copied music before, lent people albums, and even in a moment of youthful folly used the virus-ridden p2p software Limewire (don’t do it, kids.

And definitely don’t download the .exe files). But were it not for the illicit joys of file-sharing there are countless bands I’d never have heard of and so would never have spent money on anyway, and therein lies in the paradox. Had a friend (thanks Sam!) not copied me Radiohead’s The Bends on his newfangled

THE COMPUTER ROOM: A den of iniquity? techmalology machine all those years ago, I’d probably never have bought the £40 In Rainbows discobox or a £50 ticket to see them this summer. That’s £90 that would otherwise not have gone to the band, and it far outstrips the cost of the three studio albums I don’t own hard copies of.

There’s a risk that acknowledging the benefits of illegal downloading will breed only vacant anti-capitalism and rubbish about fighting the system. You know, the idea that if we don’t have to buy music, then what use are the corporate vultures at EMI at all? Well for a start, they allow that music to be recorded and distributed. Sure, the record companies are evil, but they’re allowed to be because bands keep signing to them. Dribble all you want about Myspace and the myriad of new ways to get music out there, but we still rely on the labels to cut through the abysmal swarms of sub-Doherty songsters to The Kooks for us. Okay, bad example.

But you see my point.

As unfashionable as it might be to say, record labels are still necessary.

Big acts like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails might be able to play the system a little, but smaller bands need that support. The music industry is doing what any industry does: try to make money.

And it does it very well. Yet because there’s this idea that music should be free, that it’s somehow a necessity, it’s demonised for it in ways that, say, food companies aren’t. These protestors really should get their priorities straight.

Advertising-funded downloads could revive the industry and allow it to continue Part of the problem lies in the industry’s baffling choice of targets in the war on filesharing. Grandmothers, single mothers and students have all been strong-armed into massive showpiece lawsuits, leading to parody news site The Onion running a disturbingly plausible story claiming their next target was to be radio stations for “giving away free music”. Whilst the BMR claims to protect artists, some aren’t impressed, as a few recent high-profile new distribution methods have shown (although the physical copies of In Rainbows are still fully RIAA-protected). They also don’t seem to realise that the vast

majority of bands form through shared music – I doubt Keith Richards forced Mick Jagger to buy his own John Lee Hooker records.

Despite this seemingly inexorable trend towards illegal fileswapping, there is hope. Feargal Sharkey, former lead singer of The Undertones and now the BMR’s chief executive, is looking at new ways of music distribution, such as advertising-funded downloads that rely on users clicking on adverts to “earn” downloads, to fit the behavioural patterns of “young people” (that’s you!). If he wants, he can call it Teenage Clicks. I’ll let him have that for free. Such services could revive the industry and allow it to continue with a less acrimonious relationship with their customers (who, after all, provide it with its massive revenues), and really cut down the illegal activity. It’s so easy to acquire free music that the record companies have to find ways of providing music that’s equally as easy; relying on morality of consumers alone to get you profits rarely works.

Oh, and they really should stop calling it “piracy”, because that makes it sound amazing. I definitely want to be a pirate. Yaargh.

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

19

OPINION

OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

Con-pensation culture

Joy Harding is concerned about the rise of absurd compensation claims and wonders just how far it will go

W

e’ve all laughed about the fact that nowadays, it’s not uncommon to see a bag of Pistachio Nuts with a bold print warning that the bag, funnily enough, may contain nuts. It’s also a long running joke that when you buy a takeaway coffee you’ll probably find a “CAUTION: HOT” notice somewhere on the cup. But, laughable as these forewarnings are, they are actually just some of the gloomy consequences to have arisen from what has become known as Britain’s “Compensation Culture.”

It’s common knowledge that accidents can, and probably will, happen.

So why does contemporary society seem to be constantly seeking someone to blame? Do people who will take any opportunity to sue genuinely need the compensation money to get by in life, or are they just testing the limits of Britain’s legal system?

When researching this topic, there seemed to be no end to the seemingly ridiculous cases which not only made it to court, but often won!

For instance, last year, a primary school teacher was awarded £14,000 after she fell off a toilet and dislocated her hip. Firstly, I’m not quite sure how falling off a toilet can be classed as someone else’s fault, but as if that’s not aggravating enough, it was actually one of the children’s toilets, designed for under 11s! As you can imagine, this case didn’t go down well with locals, so in an attempt to justify the compensation the council “reassured” members of the public that this money would not be taken from council funds, but the individual school’s budget. Oh right, so that’s OK then, never mind the poor children who were probably banned from going to the toilet for some time on “health and safety” grounds and are now losing out on resources because of the stupid woman!

DEADLY: A bouncy castle yesterday Next came the person who received a mighty £195,000 after her employer apparently “wrecked her job prospects” by refusing to supply a reference. Well she’ll never need to worry about her failing career again, will she?

Every year a reported £10 billion in compensation is paid out in Britain, which averages at £500 per year for every household. When you think what such a phenomenal amount of money would mean to any charity, you start to realise that this is a joke, but not a very funny one.

It really does seem that nowadays people are refusing to take responsibility for their own actions, or even just accept that in life, many situations are unavoidable. Britain’s ‘compensation culture’ is now apparently so out of hand that ‘ambulance chasers’ exist.

This is a group of ‘professionals’ who seek out people who have had an accident and persuade them that they should and could win compensation.

So perhaps it’s not entirely down to us being greedy individuals, but more to do with the fact that nowadays it’s

almost impossible to go a day without being asked “Have you had an accident in the last five years?”

Every year a reported £10 billion in compensation is paid out in Britain, amounting to £500 per household per year When you think about it, how many of those ridiculous, staged adverts are there nowadays? You know the ones, where some random talks about how their life was turned upside down when they fell in work because the floor was too slippery, but now it’s all fine because “injury-lawyers-4-u” helped them win enough money to take early retirement and buy a house in Spain, where they can recuperate from now on.

You’ve only got to look at all the

spoof insurance adverts there are on YouTube to realise how ridiculous most find these people. But at the same time, they must be doing something right, because suddenly people are remembering the time something just as ‘unreasonable’ happened to them.

It’s now got to the point where all compensation claims are treated as a source of ridicule in the media. Most of us probably remember laughing at the woman in America who sued McDonalds because her coffee was too hot. But what most newspapers failed to mention was that 79 year old Stella Liebeck suffered third degree burns and did need extensive hospital treatment.

After McDonalds admitted being aware that its coffee was sold at a temperature 20 degrees higher than other retailers, Liebeck was reportedly awarded over $600,000.

Now this is one instance in which I can see that some compensation was deserved, but surely she didn’t need that much to pay for her treatments?

But when you hear about cases like this you start to understand why the com-

pensation craze kicked off; because if money is that easy to come by, who wouldn’t try their luck?

Only last week, a teenage boy won £1,000,000 after suing the parents who organised a party he attended because he was kicked in the head on the bouncy castle and left permanently brain damaged. Tragic as this situation was, I can’t help but feel sorry for the parents being sued, especially since the judge dismissed claims that the boy’s father should have been keeping an eye on his son at the time. To me, there is absolutely no sense in that, because surely any caring parent would be constantly aware of what their child was doing, and would be vigilant to any possible risks. But then again, since when have bouncy castles been a high danger zone?

These cases are just a few of the constantly growing amount of compensation cases occurring every day in Britain. It begs the question when will it end? What is it going to take for people to come to terms with the fact that sometimes, accidents are nothing more than ‘acts of God,’ and that bad luck does not deserve a damages payment?

I do acknowledge the need for such companies to assist people who really need compensation, and understand that for many people the money can help rebuild their lives following a serious injury. What I’m saying is that the greed of some people in this country has turned compensation laws into a laughing stock, and I think it’s about time someone put a stop to it.

Saying that, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read about Jean Gratton, the woman who sued Airtours because whilst sunbathing on one of their holidays, a coconut fell on her chest.

Claiming this could definitely have been fatal, Ms. Gratton was eventually ‘rewarded’ £1,700 in an out of court settlement. I mean seriously, where’s the sense in that?

Faithbook?

The Pope wants to reach out to younger audiences through new technology. Lucy Thackray is not convinced

A

t this year’s World Youth Day in Australia, the Pope will be texting ‘inspirational messages’ to young Catholics.

Well, probably not the big cheese himself, but certainly some church lackeys (the image of Benedict XVI brandishing a pimped-out Samsung is fairly bizarre). I have my issues with the Pope anyway - not with Catholicism as a whole - mainly to do with the fact that he looks like the Demon Headmaster.

What grates on me most about this story, however, is the ‘getting down with the kids’ aspect. There will also be online ‘prayer walls’ (what a hoot) and a Catholic social networking site

(Faithbook? Could be confusing for the lispers.)

Christianity seems increasingly desperate to ‘recruit’ a younger crowd As an atheist, I’m clearly not rushing to Mass each Sunday - which instead, of course, is devoted to the ancient rite of T4 and bacon sandwiches - but I do have a sort of awestruck respect for the

Catholics. I once went to a Catholic funeral, and was really moved by the grandeur and solemnity of it all: the stained glass, the resounding organ, the dramatic iconography, the absolute faith in the hereafter.

My pet hate, incidentally, is the happy-clappy, JC-wants-to-be-yourmain-man, grab-a-tambourine-andwe’ll-sing-about-love-while-secretlycondemning-everyone Christians. A cringeworthy display largely avoided by the Catholics.

Christianity seems increasingly desperate to ‘recruit’ a younger crowd, and if the techno-culture we live in is the route they need to take, it seems that even the Vatican will get online. There

is something vaguely creepy about this need to infuse religion into adolescent life; generally speaking most people who were brought up with some form of religion or faith have become a little agnostic (dare I say open-minded) in adolescence, and then will either return to their faith or abandon it in adulthood.

Is there really any need for this ‘get them while they’re young’ initiative?

Apparently the Pope needs to ‘make contact’ with his Australian followers. Apart from this sounding like he’s an extra-terrestrial (check the eyes) few churches, make a few sermons, compliment their kangaroo burgers or whatever diplomatic duties Popes usu-

ally have?

My only real fondness for the Catholics is that they do religion properly: fire and brimstone, blood of Christ, restricted lifestyle and unrestricted confession time. If the Pope creates a MySpace, then I’m pretty sure that centuries of solemn, ancient faith will become a bit of a joke.

My advice to the Catholic Church?

Stay out of cyberspace and get back to what you’re good at: vowing not to do anything and then confessing to it with the absolute certainty of forgiveness.

With a belief system like that, who needs inspirational texts?

20 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

LETTERS

LETTERS@gairrhydd.COM

letters@gairrhydd.com

Dear gair rhydd,

Eagerly, I picked up a copy of this week’s Gair Rhydd and turned to the back page. I did this in expectation of a reasonably sized piece about Cardiff’s University Ultimate Frisbee team, NoFrills, and their victory last weekend, especially considering NoFrills are now UK and Ireland National Champions.

On viewing the back page, I was highly disappointed to see nothing but a large picture of a snooker table, with a relatively small article about Cardiff’s snooker club win.

Now, I’m sure this is fantastic news for the snooker club, and I obviously

the

don’t want to take their glory away, but was there no way the space on the back page could have been used more wisely and shared between both clubs?

My disappointment increased with each page I turned until I eventually found the article three pages from the back. The title of ‘Bridging the gap’ and the photo are uninspired and unrelated – the photo is not of the Cardiff team.

The Ultimate tournament, that Cardiff won, was a BUSA tournament which earned the University many valuable points, leaving aside the fact that winning Nationals is a first in the history of NoFrills.

Armed with this information, did you not think it important enough to put it on the back page? Isn’t that where such good news goes?

I understand that the running of Gair Rhydd is soon to change, and will have an induction of new editing/writing

teams, but I felt I needed to express my opinion on this matter.

The university football and rugby seasons may be over, but many minority sports are yet to complete some of the most important tournaments of their sporting year. Therefore, I would highly advise you to be more diligent in your choices for the back page article in future.

Melanie Biggs

Argumentative As Always Dear gair rhydd, I am writing in response to the many recent comments and letters that have been published, both online

and in the paper, between students arguing over the ‘status’ of their courses. It is driving me insane.

I know that a massive part of getting into university in the first place takes an element of competition. I am not stupid, there are a lot of students competing for few places and you have to have a bit of a competitive nature to succeed. But really, this is taking it too far!

Why do the students need to argue about who’s course is more esteemed, greater appreciated, helps the Uni out more? All this talk about graduation, and instead of focusing on the ceremony itself, everyone has been arguing about whether medics think they are greater than everyone else!

Clearly anyone with any sense in the first place (of which you also need much of to get into uni), will realise that we’re all pretty much integral to the university society. Without such

Last week’s opinions got everyone talking again, here are some of the highlights...

Prison pedal power · Issue 867 - by Sam Hubble

John D. P. Jones : May 13, 03:37 pm

I was delighted to see that Sam Hubble had reinvented the wheel in his article entitled “Prison Pedal Power” in Issue 867 of Gair Rhydd.

Hard labour was abolished with the introduction of the Criminal Justice Act 1949 and so we have missed out on nearly fifty years of valuable energy production; carbon dioxide emissions have doubtless increased as a result. We should reintroduce hard labour in our prisons so that inmates can make a valuable contribution to society, simply making prisons self-sustaining and carbon neutral would be a step in the right direction. I disagree that inmates are given an energy quota rather than a definite term; they have been put in prison for a reason. What better way to celebrate the golden anniversary of the abolishment of hard labour than to reinstate it; New Labour, New Hard Labour.

Thomas Carroll : May 13, 03:44 pm

There’s a reason gyms aren’t hooked up to the national grid. If prisons gyms were hooked up to generators they could just about power the prison and thats it.

“This could supply huge amounts of extra energy”.

Any proof on that?

“Moreover, it could help reduce boredom in jails”.

God forbid criminals aren’t enjoying their time in jail…

Rasputin : May 13, 11:06 pm “God forbid criminals aren’t enjoying their time in jail…”

Anything that keeps them off the – no, wait.

Gwilym Conran : May 14, 02:40 pm It would be exceptionally expensive, and moreover pointless to hook gyms up to the National Grid.

Firstly its not practical with the small amounts of energy being produced. The transformers that would be required to step up the power would be the size of my house.

Secondly you must remember that a lot of machines in a gym are actually powered (i.e. a Treadmill) so you instantly limit the power output etc etc. Realistically its a ‘nice’ idea, but something that could not and will not ever happen!

Tazed and confused · Issue 869 - by Georgia Burdett John D. P. Jones : May 13, 03:14 pm I was horrified to read the article

by Georgia Burdett entitled, “Tazed and confused” in Issue 869 regarding the implications of giving tasers to trained firearms officers in the British Police. I have no doubt that the questions raised were intended to be rhetorical, but I feel compelled to answer them. Firstly I wish to point out that British Police currently use the Attenuating Energy Projectile (AEP), a form of non-lethal firearm.

The point of these ‘safe’ firearms is blatantly obvious, to bring extremely dangerous individuals to justice hu-

manely, and in so doing reassuring the public at large. The largest independent study (nearly 1,000 cases) into the health implications of using tasers was conducted in the United States by Dr. William Bozeman. The study found that 99.7% of those hit by the taser were either unharmed or sustained mild injuries such as scrapes and bruises. Only three people were hospitalised, two with head injuries caused by falling over, and the third had a very rare medical condition. No one in the study died as a result of being tasered. I am personally reassured that some of our highly trained firearms officers have access to tasers, and that as a result, the UK is safer. Let us not forget that British policing methods and justice system are used worldwide.

Rasputin : May 13, 11:04 pm But is there any confirmation made before these tazers are used that the recipient doesn’t have this “very rare medical condition”? I can think of other considerably less rare conditions that could react badly to the effects of a tazer.

John D. P. Jones : May 13, 11:24 pm When an individual threatens violence, or indeed is violent, the first thought through the police officers minds must be the safety of the general public and themselves, not that of the aggressor. It is unfortunate that some people have conditions which render them less fit than others, but the law must be observed.

Jon : May 14, 11:13 am

a diverse range of courses, our establishment would not be what it is, just as in greater society, every element is needed, from the ‘esteemed’ doctors of this world, right through to the men and women who remove their waste.

We may all have our own different and individual merits, but not one is more important than another in a world where we depend so heavily on other people, Why not quit the arguing, and focus on a community spirit. Cardiff Uni is a fabulous place to be, and we all worked bloody hard to get here.

Disgruntled Geology Student Correction Last week’s article ‘No money for the midwives’ on page 4 was written

by Emma Jones, not Hazel Plush as it was incorrectly printed.

forum

I think that if a police officer is in a dangerous situation and needs to take immediate action, but you want them to first go through a checklist, including finding out an assailant’s medical history, then you are quite frankly stupid.

The use of firearms is left to the judgement of the police officer and I would assume used only as a last case scenario. The tazer is a means for instantly incapacitating an assailant in a way that is safe to both the officers involved and the public at large, and in the high majority of cases without also injuring the assailant. Yes it is unfortunate that in a miniscule of cases the tazer might cause damage, but highlighting them in the press is just an attempt to distort the actual high success rate of the tazer. As is the way of the press, they only report about it when it goes wrong and not about the presumably thousands of cases when it has gone right.

Back to the medical side of it, would you also want a police officer to check if someone had brittle bones whilst they were chasing the assailant just so that they knew whether they could tackle them and then handcuff them without accidently breaking the assailant’s bones? Or if an officer was being attacked by someone high on drugs with a gun or another weapon, would you want them to first have to get a blood test from the attacker to confirm drug use before they could take any action? The notion of it is absurd!

As long as the police officer follows protocol and sticks to the law then they can do whatever they want, by whatever means necessary, to help protect both themselves and the public in general.

gair rhydd

FREE

ISSUE 869 MAY 12 2008 CARDIFF’S STUDENT WEEKLY free word - EST. 1972

INSIDE...NEWS/JOBS&MONEY/FEATURES/TAF-OD/OPINION

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Opinion consider the increasing use of tazers by the police

inside your student magazine: stress less with Quench :: how gay are you? :: reviews :: fashion shoot :: travel hitch-hike to Morocco

DIAGNOSIS: CHANGE PHOTOS: Matt Horwood

No Frills Attached

William Taylor News Editor This Friday sees the launch of a new Heath Park campus survey to discover the consensus of student views towards the current provisions on campus.

The results of the survey will be used by the Students’ Union Executive to mandate the University and the Students’ Union on how to re-model the current Heath provisions.

Heath students will be asked their

opinions on food outlets, bars and MedClub, and Students’ Union services.

In January 2008 the Students’ Union held an open forum at MedClub.

50 students, five members of the Students’ Union Executive, including the Heath Park Officer and the General Manager of the Students’ Union, attended the forum.

It was a chance for all attending to comment on the current food and bar provision at the Heath, the Students’ Union representation, and the proposals for a University development of MedClub.

The forum was the fourth consultation with healthcare students since the 2004 merger of the University of Wales College of Medicine and the University of Cardiff.

In February 2008, gair rhydd reported that Heath students had voiced concerns in the forum that their requests for a CF10-style café and bar had been ignored.

A need for increased food provision for students, an area separate from patients and members of staff, and increased food provision for students on-site were just some of the requests

that arose from the forum.

Education and Welfare Officer Jo Plummer said: “There are 4,200 students based at the Heath, and the outcome of the development will affect them all.

“Given the contentious nature of the issue, it was felt that the only thing to do was to conduct a mass survey of Heath students, so that the Union would have a clear idea of what the majority of students want.

“I cannot stress enough how important it is for Heath students to complete this survey.”

Results published last week in the Student Satisfaction Survey revealed that 47.1% of respondents based at the Heath expressed satisfaction over the Med Club as it currently stands.

The results also showed that 36.7% of respondents had never used MedClub and nearly all respondents from the Heath called for MedClub to be turned into a facility which would provide hot drinks and food during the day and have a bar in the evening.

Continued on page 4

SPORT/POLITICS/SCIENCE&ENVIRONMENT/LISTINGS/TV

Got something you would like to say?

Log on to gairrhydd.com or email: letters @gairrhydd.com

MAY.19.2008 SCIENCE@gairrhydd.COM

gairrhydd

21

SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT

THE WIND OF CHANGE

Sophie Cole reviews the impact of rejecting of renewable energy and the future consequences that it could have on the planet

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s the students of today and the leaders of tomorrow, we are saturated in the most environmentally conscious of eras. Living among the green discourse, everywhere we turn there is an advert, a product or an individual mentioning global warming, climate change and carbon foot prints, encouraging us to adapt our lives to the needs of the planet for future generations to come.

With Cardiff University services including fair-trade produce, recycling facilities within home schools and the union, and energy efficient computers, it is pertinent to acknowledge the appeal and commitment of many students to sustainable living.

Nevertheless, recent public rejections to wind farms suggests that living daily life through the green lens is not so enthusiastically accepted by all within society. The capacity for wind power to produce a clean, renewable source of energy that creates no carbon dioxide emissions or waste products is undisputed.

Statistics show that the United King-

The United Kingdom generates 40% of Europe’s total wind energy yet only 0.5% of it is used dom generates 40% of Europe’s total wind energy. However, the majority of this resource remains untapped, with only 0.5% contributing towards the

electricity requirements of the nation.

The government has set targets for 20% of Britain’s energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, yet with only 2% of the country’s energy, derived from wind power, this target seems particularly ambitious. The latest set back to this goal came last month when the bid to build the biggest wind farm in Europe was thrown out by planners.

The Barvas Moor area at the Lewis farm, based in the Western Isles, has the potential to construct 181 turbines, which collectively, would have produced 650 megawatts, enough electricity for up to a million people. But the project was discarded for the threat it presented for endangered birds.

Due to the terrain which is deemed ideal for wind turbines, they often inhabit areas which are renowned for natural beauty and or rare species of wildlife.

Even Wales has set up its opposition to such developments, with slogans demanding the ‘Protection of our Welsh mountain landscapes’. As the power company Lewis Wind Power said: “The wind farm would have contributed renewable energy to help the fight against climate change. This presents a missed opportunity.”

The 11,000 complaints which protested against the Lewis wind farm demonstrate the resilience towards the success of natural energy source available to the British nation. It illustrates the NIMBY (Not in my back yard) attitude which accepts the presence of global warming yet fails to do their bit to combat the effects of this process.

Similarly to the wildlife issues surrounding the developments of the Severn Estuary, there is an insufficient review of the wider benefits that these

developments will bring to wider society.

Although the pressure group ‘Moor lands without Turbines’ suggested that

The Lewis farm had the potential to produce 650 megawatts; enough electricity for up to a million people

the wind farm would drastically reduce the population of rare and endangered birds through their collision with the rotors, other pressure groups, of the clean and green energy calibre, state otherwise.

Studies show that for every 10,000 bird fatalities, less than one is caused by wind turbines. By comparison it has been claimed that cats cause about 10% of bird deaths while nearly half are a result of collisions with buildings or windows.

In overlooking issues which are embroidered into the larger context, individuals ignore the most potentially damaging facts. For example, a recent study showed that 40% of species could face extinction because of global warming. It is believed that the monitoring of existing farms has highlighted that with proper location and construction, there is no adverse impact on bird populations.

This notion is further emphasised when wind turbines are rejected by communities because of their aesthetic affect to the landscape. This is a mentality reflected in the Welsh’s ‘save our mountains’ campaign. Again, there is a lack of logical analysis of this energy resource in comparison to other generators of electricity and energy which, by definition, have the power to have a more detrimental impact on the surrounding environment.

For example, it is argued that compared to mountain top removal from coal mining, oil extraction, nuclear power plants and other energy developers, wind farms are quite elegant. It seems that if an active switch to cleaner forms of energy does not occur it is not only governmental targets that will not be reached. Indeed, the future of the planet that will be jeopardised. It is alleged that climate change will severely

and irrevocably alter much of our landscape as well as the animal and plant life it supports.

So, what do the future generation think of these attitudes towards such resources of energy? Natalia Ortiz, a second year Physical Geography student said: “We should exploit the natural resources of the earth as they provide almost carbon free renewable energy; windfarms should be everywhere.”

She continued to state that renewable energy in every form holds a far greater

We should exploit the resources of the earth as they provide almost carbon free renewable energy benefit than the generation of electricity through the burning of fossil fuels.

The priming of young people to endorse environmental consciousness seems unnecessary. It is those from the current generation who seem reluctant to review wind turbines positively, particularly in comparison to the energy resources which have created much of the damage surrounding the warming of the earth.

As Richard Jones, PHD Theology student and practising Minister asserted, “We are aware of the sacrifices which need to be made for the health of the planet and its preservation for the people to come. It is just a shame that this is not reflected within our elders, within our peers who so encourage us to live on the green side of life.”

22 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

FEATURES

FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

DRINKING DANGERS: DROWNING INTO OBLIVION

‘Boat races’, ‘golf’ and ‘doubles’ are all student games, but none of them are played anywhere near a sports pitch. Ceri Isfryn explores what competitive drinking is doing to the student body...

M

y belly feeling like a washing machine - I can handle. Feeling like someone’s taking a sledgehammer to my head - I can just about handle. But the Red Bull jitters, I simply cannot.

Don’t get me wrong, I love pound a pint night at the Woody as much as the next Cathays resident, but one too many Tuesday morning has gone by where I’ve been confined to my bed with the J word following a night at Vodka Island.

sponsible drinking at times of stress is surely unacceptable. Tiger Tiger claimed it was company policy not to comment on such matters, but did want to emphasise that the club closes at 2am, not 3am. Won’t this just encourage us to cram in a few more before closing time?

Binge drinking is 8 or more units in any drinking session for men and 6 or more units for women

Whose fault is it if we end up saving a few quid but seriously damaging our health by bingeing?

I don’t even like Vodka Red Bull and yet as the cheapest drink on offer, any half decent student is going to opt for it. With 479 appreciation societies on Facebook and over 3 billion cans of Red Bull sold around the world in 2006 it can’t be denied that we’re embroiled in a love affair with the stuff.

Everyone knows the dangers of student offer nights, in particular those involving Vodka Red Bull, but ultimately whose fault is it if we end up saving a few quid but seriously damaging our health by bingeing?

Binge drinking is classified as anything over 8 or more units in any drinking session for men and 6 or more units for women. That’s as little as two pints and a measure of spirit for men, or three small glasses of wine for women. 2 days of binge drinking is thought to cause irreversible damage to the olfactory bulb and long-term loss of smell.

The big companies seem to be manipulating students into buying certain drinks, For example, at Oceana on a Wednesday, the cheapest drink is Vodka Red Bull, with any other mixer costing far more. Norway, France, Uruguay and Iceland have all banned the energy drink because of concerns over high levels of caffeine. A 250 ml can of Red Bull has about the same amount of caffeine as one would find in a 250 ml cup of coffee - about double what you would consume if you had a 330 ml can of Coke. Surely it’s irresponsible on behalf of the big three clubs who do offers on Vodka Red Bull to make them so cheap?

Don Serratt, founder of British drug treatment centre Life Works, said mixing extreme quantities of the stimulant caffeine with the depressant alcohol was ‘like mixing cocaine with heroin.’

He was responding to a study which found young adults were twice as likely to be hurt and require medical attention and twice as likely to travel with a drunk driver if they had the cocktail, than those who did not mix their drinks.

Mixing the stimulant caffeine with the depressant alcohol is ‘like mixing cocaine with heroin’ They found, compared to those who did not mix caffeine and alcohol they had almost double the risk of being taken advantage of sexually.

Initially Red Bull claimed that the drink improved sexual stamina but was forced to remove this unfounded claim in 2001.

Study leader Dr Mary Claire O’Brien, from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Centre in New Carolina, said: “ we were surprised that the risk of serious and potentially deadly consequences is so much higher for those who mixed energy drinks with alcohol, even when we adjusted for the amount of alcohol.”

Mixing caffeine with alcohol was like “getting into a car and stepping on the gas pedal and the brake at the same time”, said Dr O’Brien.

Increasing drink offers during exam times is also something that worries fourth year Cardiff medic and BMA Medical Students Committee Deputy Chairperson, Daniel Samuels : “I think it is extremely irresponsible for students unions in particular to be promoting drinks offers, especially those that reward students for proving they have just sat an exam to receive a promotional offer price on alcohol.

Stress is never easily relieved, but drinking only exacerbates the problem and can lead to long term health problems.”

Tiger Tiger’s planned event this week, ‘Give the Exams the V sign’, smacks of exploitation of stress. I’m not saying we need the clubs to make sure we get early nights and read us bedtime stories, but promoting irre-

Yet another Carnage event has been arranged for the end of May, a time when many of us are still chained to the desk. Obviously there is no law does not forcing us to go, but is it right to arrange an event with an unofficial binge-based ethos right in the middle of exams? If not from the drinking point of view, the racket caused on Carnage nights are enough to drive any student trying to get an early night up the wall.

Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said any drink promotions were highly irresponsible: “Although alcohol is legal, it is still a drug. It should not be used as a loss-leader like soap powder.” He said the university culture of bingeing could lead to violence, date rape, unwanted pregnancies and serious injuries. Of course we are aware of all of this, but one student who overlooked the dangers was Gavin Britton of Exeter University.

In 2006, an inquest heard how the student drank himself to death after an initiation into the golf society. Gavin Britton, 18, was violently sick after downing a cocktail of shots, cider and wine in November 2006. Students who failed to down their drinks in 30 seconds were being asked to finish a ‘penalty shot’ it emerged.

Gavin’s father warned, “I thought I knew the son I lost, but he obviously was totally different to what I knew.

No parent is going to know totally and fully what their offspring are up to at university. I do not suppose he was any different from thousands of others. He was going along with university life.” This is precisely the problem: it’s natural for students to binge. But as proven by Gavin’s death, it’s a problem which needs addressing, fast.

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

23

FEATURES

FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

University: Brainy bargain or reality rip off?

As the cost of a degree leaves an ever-damaging dent in the student bank balance, Christofer LLoyd investigates whether university is still a valuable life experience or just an expensive waste of time

U

niversity. Home to all things outlandish, everything amoral and an overriding sense that if it feels good, do it.

Sex, drugs, rock and roll, Funky Ass Disco Dancing, Custard Wrestling: You name it, it’s all here. Uni is a place of infinite opportunities to take advantage of and countless black holes for less wary students to disappear into, all hidden under a blanket title of “education”.

Yet no one seems to question the superficialities of 21st century British students, seeing university as a default stepping stone between school and er, honest employment, whatever that is. You know, that bit between being young and dying.

And now that we are being charged extortionate amounts to receive incredibly long reading lists and massive library fines and yet have fewer and fewer lectures, university is less focused on education than ever before. Instead it is an easy come easy go haze of booze, birds and bingeing, with Freshers’ Week and even Freshers’ Fortnight at some campuses threatening to devour livers at a rate not even George Best could match.

So, is university worth the expense, effort and time? Obviously all of you reading this must think so to a certain extent…otherwise you wouldn’t be here. But, is a university degree as valuable as it used to be, back in the olden days when our parents were young?

The government obviously thinks so, having set itself an ambitious target of getting 50% of young people into university by 2010, (regardless of whether 50% of 18 year olds actually

want to go to uni). However, instead of providing incentives for eager students, the government has inflicted exorbitant top-up fees, presumably to fund its war-waging habit and to ensure that every MP can have at least four houses and 17 cars.

Deciding whether to go to uni or not is a much harder decision than before, with students starting in 2008 having to foot the bill of up to £3,145 (in England), or any seemingly random amount depending on which side of the borders they live and want to study. Because of this, cheaper, distance-learning options like The Open University noted a distinct increase in applications in 2006, when top-up fees were introduced.

Along with top-up fees, there is also the expense of accommodation and bills and everyday living costs.

Thus, for a three-year degree with

Uni is a place of infinite opportunities and countless black holes over £3,000 in tuition fees, approx. £3,000 for rent and bills and around £2,000 per annum for living costs would total £24,500. Even including working over the summers at minimum wage, debts would still reach £18,000. Someone who didn’t go to university and worked at minimum wage for three years would have earned at least £30,000 by this stage.

Thus, there is a potential £50,000 disparity between students at gradua-

tion and those who went straight from school to paid employment.

The question is, would you pay £50,000, if not more to go to uni?

The effective cost of Medicine, for instance as a six year degree, is nigh on £100,000…and at graduation, students would be at least 25 before entering the world of work. How many years would it take before graduates have earned £50,000 or even £100,000 more than a non-graduate? Decades?

Interestingly, the average UK salary is approximately £22,000 per year, whilst mean graduate salary is only £23,000, which is food for thought.

Another issue with the whole university system is, especially in the humanities, lectures are few and far between, despite the increase in fees.

In my course for instance (English Language and Communication), I have just six hours 40 minutes of lectures and seminars every week.

Over the three years of the degree this equates to just 10 working weeks’ worth of contact time, with students more often being directed to the library rather than actually being taught or discussing anything.

Additionally, with fees having spiralled to £3,145, each hour of lectures for my course costs £23.59.

So, I’d have to work over five hours at minimum wage to pay off just one hour of lectures. Therefore, on a financial scale, going to university seems like a fiscal liability, at least in the short term. Thus, it can seem that university merely serves as a platform to fund lecturers’ research, rather than actively teach students new skills and topics.

However, university does obviously have its own advantages. For

a start, it provides a level of educa-

University fees and living costs for a three year degree total a scary £24,500. tion above and beyond that of school and college, promoting independent study and research skills. University additionally offers the chance to live away from home, which is a significant learning experience for many students, as the first time that most people will have lived away from friends and family.

Also, it is an opportunity for socialising and enjoyment, with the chance to join numerous different clubs and societies helping people to meet like-minded individuals and to make friends from many different social circles. However, the key advantage of going to university is that it gives greater job prospects and opens many different doors that would not be available otherwise. The primary issue is that job seekers will be disadvantaged if they have not chosen to go to university, especially as more and more jobs specifically seek a degree education as a requirement.

University is definitely not what it used to be. It has become a consumer commodity in the 21st century, something that many people enrol in because they feel that is what they are expected to do, whether they want to or not, unlike a few decades ago, when only a tiny minority of people chose to enter higher education, be-

cause of a desire to learn.

And because university has become commodified, the government can get away with charging a ridiculous amount of money for it, as it is still an enticing prospect for potential students. Now a degree appears as a basic standard and it feels like students need at least a Masters degree, or even a PhD. to get ahead and that without a degree, career options are strictly limited.

I see university as a great learning experience, as valuable now as it ever has been, though its emphasis has definitely shifted over the years, from pure education, to an (increasingly expensive) experience to buy into. It is not only beneficial in terms of academia and social elements, but also as a short cut into many jobs which would otherwise be inaccessible to non-graduates.

However, I feel that the recent changes the government has made over fees are unforgivable, both divisive and money spinning, charging students for a service that once was free, whilst not working to improve the service that we do receive.

But, crucially, regardless of the cost, the experience and qualifications university can provide are vital in maximising students’ career potential.

I had no qualms about coming to uni and I’d do it again given the chance.

In fact I’m already planning a Masters and have been since before I started my current degree.

24 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

FEATURES

FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

CARDIFF STUDENT

MEDIA

AWARDS

2008 T

year in a row that a gair rhydd writer has taken home the prize.

Other big winners at the awards included gair rhydd Sport section which won best gair rhydd section for the second year running.

Xpress Radio news reporter Corinne Rhoades who took home both Xpress Radio news prizes for best news reporter and newsreader.

Jody Tozer also took away two of the inaugural CUTV awards winning best editor and most dedicated CUTV member.

Finally, one person was awarded for his outstanding work for all of Cardiff Student Media.

Paul Springett has been intergral in the creating the online presence for every branch of Cardiff Student Media and he deservedly walked away with an outstanding contribution to Cardiff Student Media.

PHOTOS: FAB IAN HOELZEN BEIN

he best and the brightest of Cardiff’s student media gathered at the Park Place Hilton Hotel last weekend for the Cardiff Student Media Award 2008.

This year’s awards ceremony was bigger than ever with 39 awards in total.

The ceremony also saw the first awards for new student television station, CUTV, as well as established categories for contributors from gair rhydd and Quench, Xpress Radio, Film Society and Photography Society.

Amongst the talented winners, Huw Davies, third year English Literature, picked up two awards, for best opinion writer and best long feature.

He won the second accolade for a piece on living with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Huw was also named Mind Student Journalist of the Year 2008 for his feature, the second

And the winners are . . .

Best Quench designer FRANCESCA JARVIS

Best photographer ED SALTER

Best Xpress Radio newsreader CORINNE RHOADES

Best Xpress Radio interview RICHARD WILLIAMS, SAM KING AND GREG HOWARD

Best film review FRANKIE GRIFFITHS

Best short feature TOM WOODS

Best CUTV editor JODY TOZER (JUJITSU)

Best advert PAVEL PETCHKO (DON'T DREAM IT, DO IT)

Best gair rhydd designer EMMA THOMAS Best critic TASHA PREST-SMITH Best Xpress Radio news report CORINNE RHOADES Best CUTV CU-tube HENRY BURTON (EVERYONE LIKES LOST)

Best interview DAVE EVANS Best Xpress Radio newcomer STEPHEN O'NEILL AND ALEX YOUNG Best illustrator ROSANNA EASTOE Best Xpress Radio producer MARK FABIAN AND ANDREA BROWN

Best digitally manipulated image ED SALTER Best CUTV male HUW THOMAS Best long feature (and 2008 MIND student jounalist of the year) HUW DAVIES Best film script SAM DAVIES (CRIMINALITY)

Best sport writer GEORGE PAWLEY Best CUTV female EMMA THOMAS Best news writer WILL TAYLOR Best Xpress Radio mainstream show FOR YOUR EARS ONLY Best colour photo CHRIS LEIGH

Best Xpress Radio mainstream presenter RICHARD COLLINS Best Quench section GAY Best gair rhydd section SPORT Most dedicated CUTV member JODY TOZER Most dedicated Xpress Radio member GARETH REES

Best opinion writer HUW DAVIES

Best film SAM DAVIES (BONUS)

Best Xpress Radio speech show BEAT IT!

Best CUTV programme HOUSING INVESTIGATION

Most dedicated Quench member SIM ECKSTEIN

Best Xpress Radio specialist presenter MATT HITT

Most dedicated gair rhydd member GEORGE PAWLEY

Best Xpress Radio specialist show THE CLASSROOM

Outstanding contribution to Cardiff Student Media PAUL SPRINGETT

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008 POLITICS@gairrhydd.COM

Gordon gets Writer’s Block

POLITICS

Gareth Ludkin asks whether the

growing number of political autobiographies mounting attacks on Gordon Brown are effective or just yesterday’s news?

G

ordon Brown’s personality and leadership has received a serious battering in the last couple of weeks, all at a time when Labour has suffered a serious downturn in the polls and suggestions have been banded about that Brown may not even make it as leader of the Labour Party to the next general election, or indeed this summer.

As Brown reveals a £2.7bn tax cut to help clear up the mess after the 10p tax debacle, Gordon is almost stepping into his last chance saloon in which he must reinstate faith in a weak and bitter looking Labour Party.

This task has not been helped by the gossiping new memoirs released by Lord Levy, John Prescott and the latest from Cherie Blair, all which take fairly damaging pot shots at the current Prime Minister.

In her memoirs, Speaking For Myself Cherie Blair paints a picture of financial insecurity, complaining about the mortgage on their £3.6m Connaught Square house, which she describes as ‘the size of Mount Snowdon.’

“Whatever happened, we had to meet the monthly payment and it was down to me. Because no one else was going to meet it were they?”

Poor old Cherie having to scrabble around for monthly payments on their luxury home with a prime minister for a husband and the wage packet of a successful barrister.

The reality is, of course, starkly different, with the Blairs having recently spent a whopping £4m on a new country retreat, which Mrs Blair defends with the fact that Tony has recently come into a bit of money: “Tony has been lucky enough to get a job which means we can afford a country house.”

At last Cherie can live in comfort, because of course the Blair’s have been living on peanuts until recently. With an estimated £1.5m advance on her book, £4.6m on her husband’s and a reported £100,000 for the serialisation of her book in the The Sun and The Times. This is hardly the story of a woman who is struggling to pay the monthly bills.

The claims made in the book are certainly thought provoking and create questions over the true character of Gordon Brown, who we already know is a gloomy character.

However, they hardly present the scandal that the newspapers were looking for. The character assassination is still very worrying for Brown, who is in a very shaky position ahead of the Crewe by-elections on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the PM spoke of “bafflement” at the claims made in the

AN UNWARRANTED EMBRACE book.

Ed Balls also came to the aid of Brown, defending the claim that Brown leaked the news of Cherie’s pregnancy in 1999, suggesting that “anyone who knows Gordon Brown knows that is total nonsense,” and condemned the use of memoirs for making personal attacks

Blunkett revealed that meetings had to be abandoned because of Gordon’s frustrating behaviour and settling old scores.

It has also been claimed that the book itself is an attempt to destabilise the Labour leadership, ironically something which Cherie accuses Gordon of doing, by notably ‘rattling the keys’ of No 10 over Tony Blair’s head.

Cherie also states in her book that if Gordon Brown was willing to accept Tony Blair’s policies he would have willingly stepped down, and that Gordon was impatient about Tony moving on.

However, the fact that Cherie and Gordon had a fraught relationship is old news. Cherie suggests that: “The problem between Gordon and me is not personal. It is because I thought my husband was the best person for the job.”

The book continues in a similar snivelling way, claiming that she did not have as much support as Sarah Brown in Downing Street, when in fact she had more.

Attacks made by Lord Levy and John Prescott in their memoirs could be considered more damaging. Levy’s belief that there is a lack of strong leadership in the Labour Party has been well documented.

While Prescott’s attack on Brown’s personality claimed that: “Gordon could go off like a bloody volcano,” and that he told Tony Blair to sack Brown: “When he was moaning on about Gordon’s behaviour - I’d say sack him.”

He also revealed that meetings had to be abandoned because of Gordon’s behaviour, which was “frustrating, annoying, bewildering and prickly.”

All these attacks do not prove happy reading for Brown, but this is certainly nothing new. Political biographies, memoirs and diaries have been used throughout history to settle scores and blight others.

Paul Routledge’s book about Peter Mandleson and Robert Peston’s Biography of Brown paint very different pictures to Cherie Blair’s memoirs, instead attempting to destabilise the Blair government.

How far we can trust these memoirs is very debatable. Of the three recent memoirs Julian Glover in The Guardian states that: “What really unites all three of the latest books is an aura of pettiness.” and that, “all three books are instant and shallow and will soon be forgotten”.

What these books do is provide short sharp shocks of sensation craved by the national papers. Anything to rock the political boat is most welcome.

In the long term, however, these books have little in the way of staying power. All we need to do is look back at the history of political memoirs to see how they have often suffered at the checkouts.

Although Thatcher’s ‘Downing Street Years sold what is a comparatively massive 500,000 copies, Blunkett’s book after serialisation sold only 4,000.

Cherie Blair can expect better sales than Blunkett, but the fact still remains that political memoirs are read then pushed down the side of armchairs or into second hand bookshops and car boot sales.

25

The Advice & Representation Centre offers confidential and non-judgemental advice from trained advisers.

We are always available for a friendly chat and a sympathetic ear.

We open weekdays, 9.30am- 4pm 3rd Floor in the SU Email: advice@cardiff.ac.uk

26 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

JOBS & MONEY

JOBS@gairrhydd.COM

I know what you did...

Fed up of doing the same old bar/shop/office work during the long summer months? Christofer Lloyd talks to Jobs and Money about doing something a little bit different

Graduate

R

hiannon Price Jones, 22 graduated with a BMus in 2007. She now works as a personal administrator.

What is your job title?

I’m a Personnel Administrator for Waitrose Ltd Where are you based?

Bracknell, Berkshire After university did you complete any further study/qualifications?

I have accepted a place at The College of Law in Guildford to complete the Graduate Diploma in Law (law conversion course) beginning September 2008.

T

hree months, fifteen weeks, 105 days; a big void in the student calendar.

Respite between semesters of intense work. Well, for the liver at least.

Simple.

However, making the most of summer isn’t so straightforward. As the now obligatory student loan (thank you top-up fees) is already parched by the expense of books and booze, honest employment is a sad necessity for most students.

This leaves three options; work, travel or frittering away the time at someone else’s charity.

For once in my life, I chose the former in 2007, having been attracted by the relentlessly enthusiastic Susie Barlow talking about job opportunities in America before one of my lectures.

This was my introduction to The Southwestern Company. So what did I do? Work in a shop? Restaurant? Summer Camp?

Along with 3,000 other students,I sold kids’ educational books and software across suburban America Nope. Along with 3,000 other students from 400 universities in 57 coun-

tries, I sold kids’ educational books and software across suburban America.

Door-to-door.

Am I crazy? Maybe. But having been bored into a coma working at Next for summer 2006, I wanted to do something new, something different and to push my boundaries.

And with the chance to set myself a challenge, travel the world, add something distinctive to my CV and earn money, Southwestern was the choice for me.

Having heard about the company in lectures, I went to a meeting in October to find out more.

The Southwestern Company, which has trained students to work in the States since 1868, publishes books and CD-ROMs helping children through preschool up to university.

It is students’ job over the summer to sell these, earning commission from each sale.

Throughout the year, I received training from my manager about what to expect and was prepared mentally and emotionally.

Plus there were some legendary socials: fun opportunities to get to know the team I’d be working with.

As summer approached, I had a Visa appointment at the London US Embassy.

In mid-June we set off for Nashville, Tennessee where my team had a week receiving comprehensive training about the products we’d be selling, learning

sales talks (no hard-sell here) and being enthused by some fantastic speakers.

All fired up, we finally set off for Colorado where we lived in twos and threes around Denver, renting out rooms cheaply from local families.

Working 6 days a week, we had a diner breakfast each morning with our housemates, planning where to work that day before going our separate ways to demonstrate the books to, on average, 30 families/day.

In my best day I made $424 in profit, which equates to more cash than a 40 hour week on minimum wage would provide.

Some families slammed the door in your face whilst others would happily chat all day and buy everything you had.

In my best day I made $424 in profit, which equates to more cash than a 40 hour week on minimum wage would provide.

The top person in my team made over £11 000 gross profit, as earning potential is unlimited.

On Sundays the whole team met up for training, team-building and

fun activities including white water rafting and a journey into the Rocky Mountains.

We spent the last week delivering the books we’d sold over the summer before returning to Nashville to sort out admin.

Finally, we went on a roadtrip to the Smoky Mountains which was a chance to catch up on any drinking we’d missed out on and to meet other students who had been working in different states.

This job is hard work, physically, emotionally and mentally. The hours are long, the weather can be challenging and the whole experience quite intimidating initially.

However, because of this, I learnt a huge amount about myself and am much more confident and competent than I ever was before.

I spoke to around 3000 families over the summer and have met lots of like-minded students through the programme, many of whom have become great friends.

Am I a salesman? No. Did I enjoy the experience? Yes, massively. Would I recommend it? Yes. If you yearn to do something exciting with your summer and leave your comfort zone behind, this is it.

However, if you want to spend the summer lazing, the TV awaits.

To find out more contact Susie Barlow on 07813 133140, Adam Evans on 07908 787054 or visit www.southwestern.com.

Southwestern summer in numbers... $2700 Average earnings per month £900 Cost of flights and visa $4000 My total earnings £1000 Living expenses for the summer £11,001.53 Top US profit £39 000 Top international profit

Briefly describe what your job involves e.g. your day to day responsibilties.

I work in the head office of the John Lewis Partnership so we process paperwork and queries for all partners of every branch, for example maternity leave, jury service, ticket subsidies, references - you name it, we deal with it in personnel!

I also take calls from partners relating to a variety of queries as well as calls from other companies such as chasing up references.

I also help with general office tasks such as opening post and scanning.

How did you apply for your job?

Briefly describe any interview/ assessment process that you went through.

I randomly fired off my CV to large local companies in my first summer from uni, and was lucky enough that Waitrose wanted a couple of students to scan for the summer.

I kept returning each holiday and was fortunate enough to be offered a full time position with more responsibilities after I graduated.

What is the best/worst thing about your job?

Other than the £20 bonus and other benefits...The company is very well respected and my department is friendly and professional.

I always have a variety of work to keep me occupied.

However, in this department there isn’t much scope for promotion to a more senior position.

I would have to look elsewhere in the company and probably take on a very different role.

What advice would you give to students thinking of entering a similar field?

If you definitely want to work in HR/admin definitely try to get any holiday experience, in any company, even if it isn’t your ideal choice.

Some of my friends found it hard to get a job in this area at all. Most companies ask for at least a year’s experience, so it is helpful to have even a small amount of experience behind you.

Expect to start at the bottom of the pile too .

I spent my first summer scanning, so expect data inputting, photocopying, and general small office tasks for a while, especially if it is a holiday job.

Cleaner Ref: 075 A children’s nursery is looking for a hardworking and reliable cleaner to work from 6pm - 7pm Monday - Friday, with the possibility of extra hours. Your duties will be to ensure that all areas of the nursery are maintained to a high standard of cleanliness. £5.52 p/h Nursery Assistant Ref: 070 Private day care nursery for children aged 6 weeks - 5 years requires professional, patient and friendly staff who love working with children to assist in the nursery, encourage their learning, talk to parents and assist with feeds and changing. Driving licence an advantage, various shifts available. £5.52 p/h Helpline Advisor Ref: 067 National claims management company is looking for people with a superb standard of customer care and service to join its Cardiff team. You will be taking calls on behalf of various insurance companies from customers with a diverse range of claims, so you will need to be able to be calm and empathetic at all times. £11,700 pro rata Event Assistant Ref: 072 Friendly and outgoing people needed to help out with the organisation of a two day Electronics conference being held in Cardiff.

You will be registering delegates, setting up stands and acting as a general guide and must be organised, friendly and able to work well under your own initiative. £5.60 p/h

28 gairrhydd

MAI.19.2008

TAF-OD

TAF-OD@gairrhydd.COM

Gigs y Steddfod “Ma’i’n Braf!”

Gwilym Dwyfor Golygydd TafOd

G

yda’r flwyddyn brifysgol yn brysur ddod i ben does dim llawer o amser i fynd tan yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol sydd wrth gwrs eleni yn cael ei chynnal yma yng Nghaerdydd.

Wythnos ryfedd iawn yw hon i unrhyw ddilynwr o’r Sîn Roc Gymraeg.

Trwy’r flwyddyn mae gigs o safon yn gallu bod yn bethau prin. Ond yn yr Eisteddfod weithiau rhaid dewis rhwng dwy neu dair o gigs da sy’n digwydd yr un noson. Felly, os am osgoi penbleth ar y maes yn y prynhawn, mae misoedd o waith paratoi yn allweddol! Nid yw rhestr gigs Cymdeithas yr Iaith wedi ei gwblhau eto ond gellir taro golwg ar arlwy Maes B.

Wythnos ryfedd iawn yw hon i unrhyw ddilynwr o’r Sîn Roc Gymraeg Brwydr y bandiau fydd yn cael

llawer o sylw ar ddechrau’r wythnos fel pob blwyddyn arall, ac mae ambell ‘lein yp’ go addawol ar gael hefyd, mae nos Sul gyda Youcatan a Pwsi Meri Mew yn edrych yn reit dda.

Ond at ail hanner yr wythnos y bydd pethau’n poethi. Cerys Mathews yw’r enw mwyaf fydd yn perfformio trwy’r wythnos a bydd hynny ar y nos Fercher.

O ran y penwythnos mae nos Sadwrn yn argoeli i fod yn dipyn o noson gyda Jen Jeniro, Cowbois, Gwibdaith, Swci, Derwyddon, a Genod Droog i gyd yn perfformio. Siomedig ar y llaw arall yw rhestr Nos Wener gyda dim ond y Sibrydion yn tynnu sylw.

Fydd dim angen llawer ar Gymdeithas yr Iaith i ddenu’r niferoedd ar y nos Wener felly, a bydd edrych ymlaen mawr nawr i weld yr hyn a gynigir ganddynt hwy drwy gydol yr wythnos. Ond fydd dim rhaid disgwyl mor hir â hynny, achos mae’r nesaf yn eu cyfres o gigs sy’n arwain at y ‘Sdeddfod (gigs stafell fyw) yn cael ei chynnal nos Iau yma. Bydd DJ Dyl Mei, Sweet Baboo, Al Lewis, a Heather Jones i gyd ym Mar Buffalo o wyth o gloch ymlaen. Cyfle gwych i unrhyw un sydd yn methu aros tan y ‘Sdeddfod i gael rhyw damaid bach i aros pryd felly!

Gwilym Dwyfor Golygydd TafOd

M

Cerys Mathews

ae rhai pobl yn dueddol o siarad am y tywydd pan nad oes ganddynt ddim byd arall i siarad amdano.

Mae arna’i ofn fy mod i’n euog o hynny’r wythnos yma!

Bydd pawb wedi sylwi bod y tywydd wedi bod yn anarferol o braf yn ddiweddar, os fydd hynny’n wir o hyd erbyn i hwn gael ei argraffu sy’n gwestiwn arall! Efallai mai fi sy’n dechrau drysu ond mae hi fel pe bai’r haf yn dod yn gynt bob blwyddyn! Ymddengys bellach fod hi’n ddisgwyliadwy bron iddi fod yn haul poeth trwy’r cyfnod arholiadau gan wneud adolygu ar eu cyfer yn orchwyl gymaint anoddach.

Ac yna, wedi’r arholiadau orffen fe ddiflanna’r haul i rywle am flwyddyn arall, gan fod yn ddigon digywilydd i beidio gwneud ymddangosiad yn y ‘Steddfod hyd yn oed!

Ar un wedd, ein bai ni fel dynoliaeth yw’r newid hwn yn yr hinsawdd a dylem fod yn barod i dderbyn canlyniadau ein difrod. Ar y llaw arall, os yw’r hinsawdd yn

newid pam na allwn ni addasu hefyd?

Pwy sy’n dweud y dylai gwyliau haf pawb fod yn ystod mis Gorffennaf ag Awst? Pam na ellir newid yr amserlen addysgol rhyw fymryn fel bod y gwyliau yn disgyn ar gyfnod sy’n teimlo fwy fel haf y dyddiau yma, sef Gorffennaf a Mehefin, hyd yn oed Mai! Wedi’r cwbl, nid myfyrwyr Prifysgol yw’r unig rai a effeithir.

Nawr yw cyfnod arholi T.G.A.U. a Lefel A hefyd ‘Dwn i ddim am bawb arall, ond fyddai ddim ots gen i ddechrau’r flwyddyn rhyw dair wythnos neu fis ynghynt, pe bawn i bellach wedi gorffen ac yn gallu cael barbiciw bob nos yn yr ardd gefn.

Efallai nad ydw i wirioneddol o ddifrif yn dweud hyn, achos dyw newid o’r fath ddim yn beth realistig iawn. Wedi’r cwbl, mae gan Mr Brown bethau llawer pwysicach ar ei blât na rant gan fyfyriwr bach blin yng Nghaerdydd! Felly beth am y Cynulliad, tydi nhw ddim yn gwneud llawer o ddim byd ar y funud, byddai hwn yn brosiect bach iawn iddynt!

Efallai yr a’i am dro bach i’r Bae i awgrymu’r peth ar ôl yr arholiadau… os fydd hi’n braf.

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008 TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM .

HOT

Iggy Pop’s voice innit

!TELLY!

Peep Show is back! Yay! Are you excited? I was and after watching the last couple of episodes I still am.

Jeremy’s hair is thinning and Mark seems to have lost a bit of chub but they still bring all sorts of awkward to the new series. This series proves to be a whole lot darker but is just as hilarious. Naysayers would suggest that its become too gag heavy and is trying to hard to court controversy. I would say these naysayers are simpletons as Peep Show has always been a bit dark and a bit controversial, we all remember when Mark and Jeremy set fire to a cat and ate it. That’s the beauty of Peep Show, its a chance to snigger at seeing the things we all secretly thinking about. Well I am anyway...

The show retains much of its humour which is derived from the internal monologue of Mark and Jeremy.

Mark is still an all time favourite but Jeremy has his charm. The return of old favourites such as Super Hans and Johnson keep old fans such as myself happy and new characters such as Dobby just add more hilarity to the already jam

We Prefer Films

packed script. Just three shows in and we already have some classic scenes. I will happily admit that I did a little wee when Dobby and Mark had their stationary cupboard moment. Not a love wee mind just a

TELLY

NOT

Mixed reviews innit

spread new colloquialisms. I feel like a bastion for new language.

Anyway, for those of you slow pokes who failed to note the arrival of the new series you can catch up, on the best invention of the 21st century, 4OD. 4OD not only has the latest episodes but the last three series. You’ll have to pay a wee bit for the last three series but it is worth it.

The only thing I worry about is the inevitable downfall of this loveable program, the point where it will become a stale shell of its former self. I fear this point will come the moment the let David Mitchell and Robert Webb get anywhere near a pen to help write the series. We all know about the debacle that is That Mitchell and Webb Look, imagine that being transplanted into Peep Show. It would be a crime against comedy. Worse still, Peep Show could fall victim to the self indulgent too-cool-for-school syndrome that claimed the last series of The Mighty Boosh.

For now I had best keep my paranoia at bay and just enjoy this amazing (so far) new series.

SOAPS

!"#$% #!$$!&#$'%( Fuck TV, the internet is where it’s at now.

Nobody watches television any more. What are you, some kind of caveman? Why don’t you just go and kill yourself right now, you will not be missed. Seriously, everybody is all about the internet right now. There’s this thing right, where there’s this panda, yeah? And the panda’s all like not doing anything, right? And then this little panda and he is all like sneezing and stuff and it’s well funny. Plus there’s this chipmunk, right? and he’s all like boring and stuff, but then there’s these trumpets and he looks round like he’s a real badman. it’s well bum.

There’s also loads of videos of like people falling off bikes and breaking their arms and shit, but it’s well good because it has all this angry guitar music and shit. There’s

normal one. I would like to introduce the phrase ‘Doing a Dobby’ to all you lovely readers. It can be used to describe any awkward sexual moment that occurs in a non-sexual environment. Go forth and

29

loads of well good stuff, yeah? Because there’s loads of people who post videos of themselves beating up weak kids and shit, and so it’s well safe to watch some little kid getting his nose all broken and shit. TV’s all boring and shit, and so I think that the web is well good and shit. Everyone hates TV, and so by extension, the TV pages. Done.

Oh the Soaps are bubblling with delight this week Telly readers, and even Emmerdale’s getting good...it has a sub-title on Tuesday - Emmerdale: Affairs of the Heart!

Well, who would have thought it?! This week in the dales, Viv confronts a woman who apparently witnessed her naughty shenanigans with Freddie and Gray pays Perdy a visit with regards to the custody petition.

OK, I agree it;s not setting the world alight, but it’s worth a watch.

In Hollyoaks, Max sheds a tear when he sees Steph and Niall smooching. Plus Niall gets more acting time than usual (gosh, ‘Oaks producers must have been feeling generous) when he is let in on vicar Kieron and John Paul’s dirty little secret... oh I say!

Easties is equally scandalous, as Tanya and Jack begin to realise their true feelings for each other...it’s a bit incestuous if you ask me! Minty and Heather finally get it on infront of the viewers at home (and yes, ‘Enders should seriously consider issuing a warning before such tantalising treats are broadcast), whilst Jean gives Sean advice regarding the baby - he’s inevitably doomed!

FILM BE COOL, ITV1, SATURDAY This weeks weak sequel is the follow up to Get Shorty which seems to think that merely reuniting John Travolta and Uma Thurman for a boogie is enough to save a film; it really isn’t.

MEAN GIRLS, CH4, SATURDAY It has taken me a while to figure out why I find a film starring Lindsay Lohan so amusing until I realised it was written by the wonderful Tina Fey (30 Rock) who also plays a teacher in the film. Filled with surprisingly dark and funny humour this is a film not to be ignored just for it’s lead.

FUDGE TUNNEL

SUPERMAN II, FIVE, SATURDAY Christopher Reeve flies again as Superman in a film that, while probably horrific for him to watched post paralysis, is a fun bit of cinema. Smallville just doesn’t cut it for me; if you want a genuine piece of the worlds favourite alien this is the place to get it.

30 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

TELLY

TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM

MONDAY Chelsea Flower Show BBC1 12.30pm

Working Lunch BBC2 12.30pm

BBC 1

BBC 2

Pulling Power ITV1 12.10am

The Doctor Who Hears Voices C4 1.50am

ITV 1

6:00am Breakfast 9:15am To Buy or Not to Buy 10:00am Homes Under the Hammer 11:00am Open House 11:30am Cash in the Attic 12:30pm Chelsea Flower Show

6:00am CBeebies 7:00am CBBC 8:30am CBeebies 12:00pm The Daily Politics 12:30pm Working Lunch

6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am Dickinson’s Real Deal 11:30am 60 Minute Makeover 12:30pm Loose Women

1:00pm BBC News 1:30pm Wales Today; Weather 1:45pm Doctors 2:15pm Diagnosis Murder 3:00pm BBC News 3:05pm CBBC

1:00pm Science Clips Investigates 1:10pm Science Clips Investigates 1:20pm Primary Geography 1:30pm Animal Park 2:30pm Murder, She Wrote 3:15pm Through the Keyhole 3:45pm Flog It!

1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News Weather 2:00pm Agatha Christie’s Poirot 3:00pm Midsomer Murders

5:15pm The Weakest Link

4:30pm Ready Steady Cook 5:15pm Escape to the Country

6:00pm BBC News 6:30pm Wales Today; Weather 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm Chelsea Flower Show 7:57pm BBC News and Regional News 8:00pm EastEnders 8:30pm Panorama 9:00pm Waking the Dead

6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Great British Menu 8:00pm The Truth about Property

10:00pm BBC News 10:25pm Wales Today; Weather 10:35pm Belonging

10:00pm Have I Got News for You 10:30pm Newsnight

11:05pm Meet the Immigrants 11:35pm Inside Sport 12:15am K2 2:00am Weatherview 2:05am Sign Zone: Across The Andes: Beyond Boundaries 3:05am Sign Zone: Animal 24:7

11:20pm Parallel Worlds: A User’s Guide 12:00am Joins BBC News 4:00am Further Education: Skills for Life in Context

9:00pm Teen Mum High

19th May Lily Cole’s Birthday

Channel 4

Dangerous Minds five 11.05pm Five

6:10am Kids TV 6:45am Freshly Squeezed 7:15am Everybody Loves Raymond 8:10am Just Shoot Me 8:40am Frasier 9:10am Will and Grace 10:10am Friends 11:10am Mariah Carey 11:40am Duffy

6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Breaking into Tesco 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Law and Order: Criminal Intent

12:10pm Escape to Victory 2:20pm A Place in the Sun: Home or Away 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal

1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm The Hallelujah Trail

5:00pm Goldenballs

5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show

5:00pm Five News 5:30pm Neighbours

6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:15pm ITV Evening News and Weather 6:30pm You’ve Been Framed!

7:00pm Emmerdale 7:30pm Coronation Street 8:00pm Wales This Week 8:30pm Coronation Street 9:00pm Flood

6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:25pm 3 Minute Wonder 7:30pm A Time Team Special: Britain’s Drowned World

6:00pm Airplane II: The Sequel 7:30pm How Do They Do It? 8:00pm The Gadget Show

9:00pm Grand Designs Live

9:00pm Paul Merton in China

10:00pm Hostage

10:00pm Dom Joly’s Complainers

12:55am Who Dares Wins 1:20am Ibiza Rocks with Sony Ericsson 1:45am 3 Minute Wonder: The Gathering 1:50am The Doctor Who Hears Voices 3:00am I’m All Shook Up: Parkinson’s at 25

11:05pm Dangerous Minds 12:55am NASCAR: The Sprint Cup 1:45am USPGA Golf 2:35am NHL Ice Hockey 5:10am House Doctor 5:35am Neighbourss

and

11:00pm Late News and Weather 11:15pm The Adventures of Pluto Nash 12:10am Pulling Power 12:25am UEFA Champions League Weekly 12:55am British Touring Car Championship Highlights

PICK OF THE DAY Meet the Immigrants, BBC1, 11.05pm I really hope this is not what I think this is, another BBC program which shows some immigrants in the most patronisingly stereotypical format which makes middle England nice and comfortable knowing they are all loveable people who mean no harm but have kooky odd clothes...’look mam, that man has a dress on!’

The fact that it is co-produced by the Open University doesn’t fill me with confidence, actually now I feel bad. They do some stellar books, the Open University, helped me with all my essays and with revision.

With this in mind, maybe this program will be amazing and will actual be a realistic portrayal of immigrant life that isn’t too Daily Mail, but at the same time isn’t a patronising look at the ‘other’. There seems to be a lot of rage trapped in the TV pages this weeks. Heres a joke...actually I don’t feel like it, deal with my rage.

32 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

TELLY

WEDNESDAY Someone to Watch Over Me BBC1 11.55pm BBC 1

Visions of the Future Secret Diary of BBC2 11.20pm a Call Girl ITV1 12.10am BBC 2

TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM

21st May Kano’s Birthday

The World’s Tallest Woman and Me C4 11.05pm

Monkey Life five 6.30pm

ITV 1

Channel 4

Five

6:00am Breakfast 9:15am To Buy or Not to Buy 10:00am Homes under the Hammer 11:00am Open House 11:30am Cash in the Attic 12:30pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show

6:00am CBBC 10:30am A Picture of Britain 11:30am am.pm

6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 8:35am LK Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:10am ITV News 11:15am ITV Wales News and Weather 11:20am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women

6:00am Kids TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am Everybody Loves Raymond 8:00am Just Shoot Me 8:30am Frasier 9:00am Will and Grace 9:30am The Deadly Knowledge Show 10:00am The Deadly Knowledge Show 10:30am Castle 11:25am My Crazy Media Life

6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Put Your Money Where Your House Is 12:00pm House Doctor 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Law and Order

1:00pm BBC News 1:30pm Wales Today; Weather 1:45pm Doctors 2:15pm Diagnosis Murder 3:00pm BBC News 3:05pm CBBC

1:00pm See Hear 1:30pm Working Lunch 2:00pm Lifeline 2:10pm Coast: NATO Exercise 2:30pm Through the Keyhole 3:00pm Murder, She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It!

1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News Weather 2:00pm Dickinson’s Real Deal 3:00pm House Guest 3:30pm Taggart

12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm Designers Under Pressure 12:50pm Bugles in the Afternoon 2:25pm A Place in the Sun: Home or Away 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal

1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Animal Rescue Squad 3:05pm Five News Update 3:10pm Life on Liberty Street

5:15pm The Weakest Link

4:30pm Ready Steady Cook 5:15pm Escape to the Country

5:00pm Goldenballs

5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show

5:00pm Five News Kaplinsky 5:30pm Neighbours

6:00pm BBC News 6:30pm Wales Today; Weather 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show 7:57pm BBC News and Regional News 8:00pm Child of Our Time

6:00pm Great British Menu 7:00pm Mountain 8:00pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show

6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm UEFA Champions League Final: Manchester United v Chelsea

6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:55pm 3 Minute Wonder: Straight Eight in 2008 8:00pm Property Ladder

6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Monkey Life 7:00pm Five News with Kaplinsky 7:30pm It Pays to Watch 8:00pm Britain’s Bravest

9:00pm The Apprentice

9:00pm Dan Cruickshank’s Adventures in Architecture

9:00pm Secrets of the Austrian Cellar

9:00pm The Hotel Inspector Revisits

10:00pm BBC News 10:25pm Wales Today; Weather 10:33pm BBC Weather 10:35pm The National Lottery Draws 10:40pm X-Ray 11:10pm Comedy Sketchbook 11:55pm Someone to Watch Over Me 1:35am Weatherview 1:40am Sign Zone: Meet the Immigrants 2:10am Sign Zone: Island Parish 2:40am Sign Zone: Ben Fogle’s Extreme Dreams 3:10am Sign Zone:Animal 24:7 3:55am Joins BBC News

and

with

Natasha

Natasha

10:00pm The Apprentice: You’re Fired 10:30pm Newsnight

10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:40pm Welsh In The West End

10:00pm Desperate Housewives

10:00pm Viagra: Ten Years on the Rise

11:20pm Visions of the Future 12:20am Joins BBC News 4:00am i-Maths 1 5:00am Space Files

11:10pm Never To Be Forgotten 11:40pm Unsigned 12:10am Secret Diary of a Call Girl 12:35am Secret Diary of a Call Girl 1:00am Quincy, ME 1:55am Loose Women 2:40am The Jeremy Kyle Show

11:05pm The World’s Tallest Woman and Me 12:05am 4 Music: What About Me? 12:40am 4 Music: The Nokia Green Room 1:10am Bremner, Bird and Fortune 2:10am Stargate SG-1

11:00pm Dark Secrets: To Hell and Back: Tanjas’s Story 12:00am PartyPoker.com European Open IV 1:30am Major League Baseball 4:40am V8 Supercars 5:10am House Doctor

PICK OF THE DAY

Secret Diary of a Call Girl, ITV1, 12.10am Billie Piper has come a long way since since her bubble gum pop days as a bushy-browed, buck-toothed teen. A few years along the line and she’s been married to carrot-top Chris Evans, starred in Christopher Hampton’s play Treats in the West End and played David Tennant’s sidekick Rose in Doctor Who. But still, people move onto bigger and better things and the Pied Piper is no exception, fronting this ITV drama. Billie stars as Hannah who leads a double life as high-class prostitute Belle, in London.

Encountering several men along the way is inevitably going to happen...but falling for them is another matter completely and maybe a step too far! This show’s pretty good and definitely worth a giimpse. In my opinion Billie’s like marmite, you know the theory...you either love her or hate her. But despite this fact...for such a lack of talent, the girl done good!

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

TELLY

TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM

THURSDAY Open House BBC1 11.00am

Heroes BBC2 9.00pm

BBC 1

BBC 2

Frontline Fire and Rescue ITV1 10.35pm

33

22nd May World Biodiversity Day

13 Kids and Wanting Wedding Addicts: More Hidden Lives C4 9.00pm five 11.00pm

ITV 1

Channel 4

Five

6:00am Breakfast 9:15am To Buy or Not to Buy 10:00am Homes under the Hammer 11:00am Open House 11:30am Cash in the Attic 12:30pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show

6:00am CBeebies 12:00pm The Daily Politics 12:30pm Working Lunch

6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 8:35am LK Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:10am ITV News 11:15am ITV Wales News and Weather 11:20am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women

6:10am Kids TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am Everybody Loves Raymond 8:00am Just Shoot Me 8:30am Frasier 9:00am Will and Grace 9:30am The Deadly Knowledge Show 10:00am The Deadly Knowledge Show 10:30am Castle 11:25am My Crazy Media Life

6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Put Your Money Where Your House Is 12:00pm House Doctor 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Law and Order

1:00pm BBC News 1:30pm Wales Today; Weather 1:45pm Doctors 2:15pm Diagnosis Murder 3:00pm BBC News 3:05pm CBBC

1:00pm Out of the Blue 1:25pm Golf: PGA

1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm Dickinson’s Real Deal 3:00pm House Guest 3:30pm Taggart

12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm Rescue Remedies 12:40pm Dakota Incident 2:25pm A Place in the Sun: Home or Away 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal

1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Animal Rescue Squad 3:05pm Five News Update 3:10pm Raising Waylon

5:00pm Goldenballs

5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show

5:00pm Five News Kaplinsky 5:30pm Neighbours

6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Monkey Life 7:00pm Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky 7:30pm Rough Guide to Urban Adventures 8:00pm I Own Britain’s Best Home 9:00pm House

5:15pm The Weakest Link

with

Natasha

6:00pm BBC News 6:30pm Wales Today; Weather 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm EastEnders 7:57pm BBC News and Regional News 8:00pm Holby Blue

6:00pm Great British Menu 7:00pm Jonathan Meades: Magnetic North 7:30pm Big Country 8:00pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show

6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale 8:00pm The Bill: Lucky, Lucky, Lucky

6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:55pm 3 Minute Wonder: Straight Eight in 2008 8:00pm Come Dine with Me

9:00pm The Invisibles

9:00pm Heroes 9:45pm The Graham Norton Show

9:00pm Midnight Man

9:00pm 13 Kids and Wanting More

10:00pm BBC News 10:25pm Wales Today; Weather 10:33pm BBC Weather 10:35pm Dragon’s Eye

10:30pm Newsnight

10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:35pm Frontline Fire and Rescue

10:00pm My Name Is Earl 10:30pm Big Bang Theory

10:00pm Grey’s Anatomy

11:05pm Question Time 12:05am This Week 12:50am Holiday Weather 12:55am Sign Zone: Johnny’s New Kingdom 1:25am Sign Zone: Ben Fogle’s Extreme Dreams

11:20pm Heroes Unmasked 11:40pm Women in Black 12:10am Malcolm in the Middle 12:30am Malcolm in the Middle 12:50am BBC News: By-Election Special 2:40am Meerkat Manor

11:05pm Sharp End 11:40pm Star Bites 11:45pm Police Camera Action!

12:10am Motorsport UK 12:35am Nightwatch with Steve Scott: Crime 2:20am Loose Women

11:00pm Derren Brown: Trick or Treat 11:30pm Peep Show 12:05am 4 Music: Kaiser Chiefs vs Kaizer Chiefs 12:35am 4 Music: The Shockwaves Album Chart Show: Hot Chip Special 1:05am 4 Music: Ibiza Rocks with Sony

11:00pm Wedding Addicts: Hidden Lives 12:00am Quiz Call 4:00am Major League Soccer 4:20am Dutch Football 5:10am House Doctor 5:35am Neighbours

PICK OF THE DAY Countdown, Ch4, 3.25pm “A vowel please Carol”...ooo the excitement’s almost uncontainable and yes, you may label me a dweeb for thinking so, but I love this programme like a fat kid loves battered Mars bars! I like to think of this show as not a distraction from my busy revision schedule, but a study aid, enhancing my linguistic and numeral skills in the space of 45 minutes. And the thought of obtaining the number target, a seven letter word or the closing Countdown conundrum? Well, it sends my senses into a bit of a frenzy to say the least! Although not quite the same without the late Richard Whitely, Des ‘O Connor does his best with a few comedic quips here and there. Besides, Cazza Vorderman remains strong as ever as the mathematical whizz-kid delivering us with some frankly remarkable additions and subtractions. Give it a go and behold your intellect soar my friends!

34 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

TELLY

TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM

FRIDAY Open House BBC1 11.00pm

Out of the Blue BBC2 1.00pm

BBC 1

BBC 2

23rd May World Turtle Day

The Real Hell’s Kitchen ITV1 8.00pm

Channel 4

Five

6:00am Kid’s TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am Everybody Loves Raymond 8:00am Just Shoot Me 8:30am Frasier 9:00am Will and Grace 9:30am The Deadly Knowledge Show 10:20am Castle 12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm Rescue Remedies 12:40pm True Story of Jesse James 2:25pm A Place in the Sun: Home or Away 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal

6:00am Kid’s TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Put Your Money Where Your House Is 12:00pm House Doctor 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Law and Order

5:00pm Goldenballs

5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show

5:00pm Five News 5:30pm Neighbours

6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale 7:30pm Coronation Street 8:00pm The Real Hell’s Kitchen: Tonight 8:30pm Coronation Street 9:00pm Britain’s Best 2008

6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:55pm 3 Minute Wonder: An Eye for an Eye 8:00pm Deadliest Catch

6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Monkey Life 7:00pm Five News 7:15pm Cricket on five 8:00pm Police Interceptors

9:00pm Dirty Sexy Money

9:00pm NCIS

10:30pm Benidorm

10:00pm Derren Brown: Trick or Treat 10:30pm Peep Show

10:00pm Shark

11:00pm The Late News and Weather 11:45pm Raines 12:35am Nightwatch with Steve Scott: Emergency 2:20am A Perfect Murder 4:10am ITV Nightscreen 5:30am ITV Early Morning News

11:05pm Gordon Ramsay’s F Word 12:10am Big Bang Theory 12:40am Duffy 1:10am Ting Tings 1:25am JD Set Presents Delays 1:35am Afterworld 2:05am Covert 2:10am Goalissimo!

11:00pm Law and Order: Special Victims Unit 12:00am Quiz Call 4:45am Out of Practice 5:10am House Doctor 5:35am Neighbours

6:00am CBBC 10:45am The Way Things Work 11:00am The Way Things Work 11:15am Tales from Europe 11:30am Watch 11:45am Something Special 12:00pm The Daily Politics 12:30pm Working Lunch

6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 8:35am Entertainment Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:10am ITV News 11:15am ITV Wales News and Weather 11:20am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women

1:00pm BBC News 1:45pm Doctors 2:15pm Diagnosis Murder 3:00pm BBC News 3:05pm CBBC

1:00pm Out of the Blue 1:25pm Golf: PGA

1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm Dickinson’s Real Deal 3:00pm House Guest 3:30pm Taggart

6:00pm BBC News 6:30pm Wales Today; Weather 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show 7:57pm BBC News and Regional News 8:00pm EastEnders 8:30pm A Question of Sport 9:00pm Have I Got News for You 9:30pm My Family 10:00pm BBC News 10:35pm Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

6:00pm Great British Menu 6:30pm Eggheads 7:00pm Wainwright’s Walks 7:30pm The Trees That Made Britain 8:00pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show

11:35pm National Lottery EuroMillions Draw 11:40pm Starship Troopers 1:40am Weatherview 1:45am Sign Zone: Dan Cruickshank’s Adventures in Architecture 2:45am Joins BBC News

11:00pm Newsnight Review 11:40pm Later...with Jools Holland 12:45am Kyle XY 1:30am Star Trek: The Next Generation 3:00am Grip of the Strangler 4:15am Malcolm in the Middle

9:00pm Across The Andes: Beyond Boundaries 10:00pm QI 10:30pm Newsnight

Profoundly Normal five 3.10pm

ITV 1

6:00am Breakfast 9:15am To Buy or Not to Buy 10:00am Homes under the Hammer 11:00am Open House 11:30am Cash in the Attic 12:30pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show

5:00pm Newsround 5:15pm The Weakest Link

True Story of Jesse James C4 12.40pm

PICK OF THE DAY My Family, BBC1, 9.30pm If Skins represents my crazy uni lifestyle, My Family is the on screen adaptation of my home life. It’s all full of witty one-liners, hilarious highjinks and crazy characters (especially the new Welsh one). Oh wait, that’s actually my family! Zing! I am amazed each year when I see ads on the telly box for yet more new episodes of My Family; it has reached a staggering eight series now! As the years roll by this show gets weaker and weaker and the younger cast members leave, get replaced and then return with flagging careers. I will admit that when the series started I found it funny, and even laughed out loud but to be fair I must have been twelve then. As I have grown to be the wise telly scribe I now embody this mediocre sitcom has languished in a cesspit filled with predictable humour, boring characters and clichéd situations. Not so much a pick of the day really, Peep Show’s on later and they have jokes!

1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Animal Rescue Squad 3:10pm Profoundly Normal

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

TELLY

TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM

SATURDAY I’d Do Anything BBC1 6.50pm

Blind Flight BBC2 12.05am

BBC 1

Be Cool ITV1 10.00am

BBC 2

35

24th May Dermot O’Leary’s Birthday

ER C4 8.00pm

ITV 1

Channel 4

They Were Expendable five 2.25 pm Five

6:00am Breakfast 10:00am Saturday Kitchen 11:30am Great British Menu 12:00pm BBC News 12:10pm Football Focus

6:00am CBBC 12:00pm Kyle XY 12:45pm Class of 2008

6:00am CITV 12:00pm ITV News and Weather 12:05pm ITV Wales News and Weather 12:10pm F1: Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying

6:10am The Hoobs 7:00am Goalissimo!

8:00am The Morning Line 8:55am The Nokia Green Room 9:30am Shipwrecked 2008: Battle of the Islands 11:10am Friends 11:50am Shipwrecked 2008: The Hutcam Diaries 12:25pm T4:4Music Presents... Usher

6:00am Sunrise 7:00am Kid’s TV 9:40am Mist: Sheepdog Tales 10:00am Football Italiano Highlights 10:30am Neighbours 12:40pm Animal Rescue Squad 12:55pm Ten Wanted Men

1:00pm Golf: PGA

1:15pm Sound 1:45pm The Surgery 2:05pm Revealed 2:20pm The Prince and the Showgirl 4:15pm Monk

2:35pm The Secret of My Success 4:30pm Best Ever Worst Auditions

1:00pm T4:Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious 2:00pm Channel 4 Racing 4:15pm Deal or No Deal

2:25pm They Were Expendable 4:55pm Superman II

5:30pm BBC News 5:45pm Regional News 5:50pm Weakest Link Paranormal Special 6:50pm I’d Do Anything 7:50pm The National Lottery Draws 8:00pm Eurovision Song Contest Final 2008

5:00pm Wild China

5:30pm ITV Wales News and Weather 5:45pm ITV News and Weather

5:00pm Jamie at Home 5:35pm Come Dine with Me

6:00pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show 7:00pm The Supersizers Go... Wartime 8:00pm Andrew Marr’s History of Modern Britain

6:00pm Best Ever You’ve Been Framed!

7:00pm All Star Mr and Mrs 8:00pm Britain’s Got Talent

6:40pm Channel 4 News 7:00pm Grand Designs Abroad 8:00pm ER

7:15pm Cricket on five 8:00pm Five News and Sport 8:15pm NCIS

9:00pm Have I Got News for You 9:40pm Comedy Map of Britain 10:40pm Da Kath and Kim Code

9:00pm Pushing Daisies

9:00pm Mean Girls

9:15pm CSI: NY

10:00pm Be Cool

10:50pm An Officer and a Gentleman

10:15pm Law and Order

12:05am Blind Flight 1:35am Mad Men 2:25am Monk 3:05am They Won’t Believe Me

11:00pm ITV News and Weather 11:15pm Be Cool 12:30am Championship Play-Off Final 1:00am Custer of the West 3:10am ITV Nightscreen 5:30am ITV Early Morning News

1:05am The Glow 2:40am This Is Civilisation 4:35am St Elsewhere 5:25am Countdown

11:15pm True CSI 12:15am Quiz Call 4:45am Out of Practice 5:10am Wildlife SOS 5:35am Wildlife SOS

11:15pm BBC News 11:35pm The Hard Way 1:20am Friday Night with Jonathan Ross 2:20am Weatherview 2:25am Joins BBC News

PICK OF THE DAY Eurovision Song Contest Final 2008, BBC1, 8:00pm Last year’s contest saw me cheering on the Ukraine with their flag plastered across my face enjoying Terry Wogan’s legendary commentary over the world’s biggest freak show. We Brits just don’t know how to create a Eurovision entry. We have very low impact song by an unimpressive, if skilled, musician.

What we needs is a troupe of dancing elephant and hordes of transvestites parading behind the singer who is themselves wearing as much glitter and as little clothing as possible. Eurovision is all about being European, which as everyone knows mean sex and extravagance. I’m tired of the endless excuses about political voting; this only works if we actually produce a good song and then get snubbed. Anyone not voting for a crappy song is hardly showing a bias just showing a bit of taste. This year I hope we do a truly epic song and then lose so we can all have a well justified moan. Lovely!

36 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

TELLY

TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM

SUNDAY Apprentice BBC1 10:00pm

Hider in the House BBC2 9.00am

BBC 1

BBC 2

25th May Towel Day

Down To Earth ITV1 5.45pm

Scrapheap Challenge C4 5.40pm

ITV 1

Channel 4

Megastructures five 10.00am

Five

6:00am Breakfast 9:00am The Andrew Marr Show 10:00am Sunday Life 11:00am Countryfile 12:00pm BBC News 12:10pm Keeping Up Appearances

6:00am CBBC 9:00am Hider in the House 10:00am Something for the Weekend 11:30am Animal Park 12:00pm Motorsport: NW 200 Highlights

6:00am The Sunday Programme 7:25am CITV 9:25am Coronation Street Omnibus 11:40am ITV News and Weather 11:55am F1: Monaco Grand Prix

6:10am The Hoobs 6:35am Trans World Sport 7:30am Bennetts British Superbike Championship 8:20am The Shooting Party 8:50am Shipwrecked 2008 9:20am Hollyoaks Omnibus 11:50am Shipwrecked 2008: Battle of the Islands

6:00am Kid’s TV 10:00am Megastructures 11:00am The Gadget Show 12:00pm Ice Road Truckers

1:00pm EastEnders 2:55pm The Return of Indiana Jones 3:20pm Seabiscuit 4:22pm Wales Today; Weather 4:28pm Seabiscuit

1:00pm Golf: PGA

3:15pm The Crocodile Hunter Diaries 3:45pm Britain’s Got Talent 4:45pm Pushing Daisies

1:00pm Shipwrecked 2008: The Third Island 1:35pm T4:The Nokia Green Room 2:10pm T4:Friends 2:45pm T4:Smallville: Superman the Early Years 3:45pm T4:The Simpsons 4:15pm T4:The Simpsons 4:45pm Time Team

1:00pm Animal Rescue Squad 1:15pm These Old Broads 3:05pm Marooned

5:30pm Points of View 5:45pm Songs of Praise

5:30pm Rugby Union: Twickenham 7s

5:45pm Down To Earth

5:40pm Scrapheap Challenge

5:30pm Five News Update 5:35pm The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

6:20pm BBC News 6:45pm Seaside Rescue 7:15pm I’d Do Anything Results 7:45pm My Family 8:15pm The Inspector Lynley Mysteries

7:40pm Wild West Country 7:50pm Meerkat Manor 8:15pm Ray Mears Goes Walkabout

6:15pm ITV Wales News and Weather 6:30pm ITV News and Weather 6:45pm Beat the Star 8:00pm Heartbeat

6:45pm Channel 4 News 7:00pm Bremner, Bird and Fortune 8:00pm Bear Grylls: Born Survivor

7:15pm Cricket on five 8:00pm Five News and Sport 8:15pm Extraordinary People: The Tiniest Boy in Britain

9:45pm BBC News

9:15pm Wild China

9:00pm Ultimate Force

9:00pm Brokeback Mountain

9:15pm Into the Blue

10:00pm The Apprentice

10:15pm Russia: A Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby

10:30pm ITV News and Weather 10:45pm Vicar of Baghdad

11:00pm Genesis in Concert 12:00am The Clandestine Marriage 1:30am Weatherview 1:35am Sign Zone: Wild China 2:35am Sign Zone: Holby City 3:35am Ben Fogle’s Extreme Dreams

11:15pm The Apprentice: You’re Fired 11:45pm The Graham Norton Show

11:45pm F1: Highlights

11:35pm Candy

11:25pm Buying the Cow 1:00am Major League Baseball 4:30am V8 Supercars 5:10am Wildlife SOS 5:35am Wildlife SOS

Monaco

Grand

Prix

PICK OF THE DAY Points of View, BBC1, 5.30pm Not exactly the wildest of shows is this, but amusing enough. I am always amazed at the inane complaints the viewers of the BBC feel the need to write in and share with the rest of us. It would be nice to feel a sort of smugness at the fact that I would never write in to the BBC but the mere fact that I am watching this very programme removes my right to gloat. On the odd occasion that I do tune in it is purely for a bit of Wogan love, and we all remember the time Wogan showed the audience a little bit too much love; priceless. I guess people need to vent their opinions on what’s on the telly somewhere, not everyone has the luxury of eight pages in gair rhydd to have a bitch and a moan. Tune in if you get really bored of revision, and I do mean really bored. For me Physics and Chemistry can become so dry that only a bit of Wogan can help.

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

37

FIVE MINUTE FUN

FMF@gairrhydd.COM

found on facebook Housemate done something stupid?

1. Log on to the book of face Send 2. Join the group ‘Found on Facebook’ more 3. Upload embarrassing photos oddities!

4. Pick up gair rhydd on Monday and laugh

Across

Down

9. Prevailing weather (7) 10. Raise up (7) 11. Emotionally excited (7) 12. An epoch dating back about 20 million years (7) 13. Survival (9) 15. An ancient city in Asia Minor (5) 16. Cutting tool (7) 19. Pioneer (7) 20. Sporting venue (5) 21. Betrayal (9) 25. Mediterranean sailing ship (7) 26. An annual physical examination (7) 28. Lack of attention (7) 29. Duo (7)

1. Found in gasoline (6) 2. Two-part doors that are hinged together (6) 3. Gentle blows (4) 4. Dampen (6) 5. Circular-knit (8) 6. Devoted to pleasure (10) 7. Fabric (8) 8. Savior (8) 14. Investigator (10) 16. Providing employees (8) 17. An orientation or philosophy (8) 18. Withdraws (8) 22. Hostility (6) 23. An agreement involving money in trust (6) 24. Screamed (6) 27. An unpleasant fate (4)

competition crossword

Sudok leaves u fo page 2 r

Exercise your mind...

WINonal ers ng p A aini tr sion ses

Then exercise your body at

Put your entries in the competitio

n box outside gair rhydd

Every week gair rhydd will be giving away a gym package to one lucky entrant who correctly completes the competition crossword, courtesy of Dave’s Gym.

Every winner will receive a free personal training session with one of our qualified instructors. This can be a gym workout, weight-training, boxing or Thai Boxing session. You will also receive a personalised gym programme and a free guest pass so you can come back for another workout or try one of our studio classes: choose from HipHop, Khai Bo, Bodypump and many more. This prize is worth approximately £35!

Conditions: Use of any of our facilities is subject to our terms and conditions and at the user’s own risk. An appointment must be made for the session. Prize must be claimed within four weeks of notification. It is not exchangeable for cash and is not transferable to any other party. Dave’s Gym: Tel: 029 2046 0232 E.mail: enquiries@daves-gym. co.uk Web: www.daves-gym.co.uk

NAME....

EMAIL....

How to enter: Simply complete the crossword opposite and drop it into the crossword competition box outside the gair rhydd office on the 4th floor of the Students’ Union. The first correct entrant to be plucked from the box every week will win the Dave’s Gym package.

38 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

LISTINGS

LISTINGS@gairrhydd.COM

This week: Scandal as one Listings Editor is forced to declare their un-

MUSIC MONDAY TIMES NEW VIKING+THREATMANTICS+FURRY SOUNDSYSTEM @ CLWB IFOR BACH - Times New Viking are a lo-fi indie rock band from Columbus, Ohio, and are currently signed to Matador Records and were formerly signed to Siltbreeze Records.

8pm. Check venue for prices.

THE THIRST @ BARFLY - With their truly unique brand of indie/soul/ rock expect the unexpected with The Thirst. 7.30pm. £6.

TUESDAY JOHNNY FLYNN & THE SUSSEX WIT+MUMFORD & SONS @ CLWB IFOR BACH - After a year writing up the listings pages, it’s suddenly struck me how rediculous band names are becomming. 8pm. £8.50/£7.00 adv.

MY AWESOME COMPILATION @ BARFLY This Leicester based band of brothers take influences from the likes of Sunny Day Real Estate, Jimmy Eat World and Red Animal War. 8pm. Check venue for prices.

WEDNESDAY THE WHIP @ BARFLY - Deliciously dark electro-pop from Manchester four piece, whose music is a heady mix of disco beats and eighties synths. 7.30pm. £7.

THE METROS @ CLWB IFOR BACH - Hotly tipped Londoners The Metros, fuse indie, pop and mod with a sprinkling of punk. 7pm. £7.

THURSDAY MARK KNOPFLER @ CIA - Legendary guitar supremo who founded Dire Straits in 1977 and subsequently led them to chart success across the world. Mark has also written several film scores including the evocative ‘Local Hero’. Check venue for ticket info.

Mark Knopfler: Ooh. STAFELL FYW @ BUFFALO - FYW is a monthly, bi-lingual night - a chance to hear some nice music, and meet some nice people. Expect sets by leading Welsh artists, new bands, DJs, and a great atmosphere. 8pm. £5.

FRIDAY THE STRANGE DEATH OF LIBERAL ENGLAND @ CLWB IFOR BACH - Experimental Portsmouth fivepiece The Strange Death Of Liberal England, making sparse lo-fi and simply sweet instrumentals. 8pm. £6.

SATURDAY UK GUNS N’ ROSES @ THE POINT - Cover band. ‘Nuff said. 7.30pm. £12/£10 adv.

SUNDAY TEEN SPIRIT @ BARFLY - Another cover band. ‘Nuff said.

DUFFY @

STUDENTS’ UNION 25/05/08 ! SOLD OUT

Listings Editor Josie Allchin Recommends

N

ew welsh singing sensation Duffy will be gracing the Great Hall this Sunday, with her soulful dulcet tones and catchy tunes.

Her last visit to Cardiff saw her play Buffalo – a true treat for anyone who managed to get tickets, as she must have booked this tiny venue before she knew she was going to get quite as famous as she did. The date of the Buffalo gig in question was the week she had claimed her first number one – she had just been flung into the limelight only to play a venue the size of living room. The managers must have looked like the cats who got the cream, and the audience, well, what lucky bastards.

Preferring to go by just her surname rather than her full name, Aimee Anne Duffy, she moved back to her hometown of Nefyn in North Wales at the age of 15 to do her GCSE’s, after living in Pembrokeshire with her Mother and Sisters. Oddly enough though, she left for Switzerland to pursue a largely unsuccessful music career, only to return in 2003 to take part in the Welsh equivalent of the

COMEDY MONDAY Fact: In Craig David’s popular hit single “Seven Days”, they didn’t actually do anything on Monday. He just sung the word “Monday”.

TUESDAY But then he took her for a drink on Tuesday...

WEDNESDAY ...And they were making love by Wednesday, and on Thursday, Friday AND Saturday.

FRIDAY MILES CRAWFORD+COLE PORTER+RON VAUDRY @ JONGLEURS - Comedy night with top names from the national circuit. Ticket includes free entry to Club Risa.

Cole Parker A very dark physical blend of satire and surreal observation, punctuated with topical comments.

Miles Crawford A talented comedian who appears regularly on the Jongleurs circuit. Ron Vaudry Hard-boiled New York comedian. From 8pm (doors 7pm) until 2am. £8.00 all tickets.

SATURDAY MILES CRAWFORD+COLE PORTER+RON VAUDRY @ JONGLEURS. SUNDAY RESURRECTED COMEDY CLUB: NICK REVELL+RON VAUDRY @ SMALL O’NEILS - One of the original alternative comedians of the early 1980s, Nick Revell was nominated for the Perrier award in 1987. He was the resident compere at The Comedy Store for 10 years and in 1989 he had a BBC Radio 4 show and BBC1 TV show, both called ‘Nick Revell’. He also wrote for BBC radio classics ‘Week Ending’ and ‘The News Huddlines’ along with a host of contributors who included Ged Parsons, Oleg Stepaniuk, Nick & Roger Saunders, Michael Dines and Bob & Barbara Boulton. In 1992 he retired from the comedy circuit, but now he’s back with the twin aims of bringing down the George W Bush administration, and paying his monthly mortgage bill. 8:30pm. £5.00 on the door.

SOAP BOX OPEN MIC COMEDY NIGHT @ GLO BAR - Fancy yourself a bit of a comic genius (we know we do)? If yes, then get yourself down to Glo Bar and show the world what your made of. Check venue for details.

SUNDAY But they chilled on Sunday.

THEATRE

TUESDAY SIWAN: THEATR GENEDLAETHOL C in the 13th century, this is the gri welyn Fawr, the Prince of Wales. 7 WEDNESDAY CIRCUS STARR BIG TOP TOUR @ - From the heart of British circus, show is celebrating its 21st Birthda of Big Top Stars. Including the hila Acrobatic Troupe and international her acclaimed Corde Lisse act hi claimed as the country’s favourite of top-flight acrobatics, breathtakin to delight audiences of all ages. Fo SIWAN: THEATR GENEDLAETHOL 7.30pm. £14 - £12/£8 under 19s THURSDAY BBC NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF W gramme of works by Michael Berke tact venue directly.

MACBETH: ROYAL WELSH COLLEG MAN THEATRE - A powerful and vis speare’s classic. Contains scene for under 16s. 8pm. Matinee 2.30 31st) SIWAN: THEATR GENEDLAETHOL 7.30pm. £14 - £12/£8 under 19s.

FRIDAY MACBETH: ROYAL WELSH COLLEG MAN THEATRE SIWAN: THEATR GENEDLAETHOL 7.30pm. £14 - £12/£8 under 19s.

SATURDAY MACBETH: ROYAL WELSH COLLEG MAN THEATRE

Pop Idol, “Wawffactor”, where she came runner up to one Lisa Pedrig. (And have we ever heard any more from her? Hell, I haven’t even heard of her.)

Undeterred, she went on to record a three-track-EP in Welsh in 2004, and also appeared on two tracks on the album See You in the Morning by Mint Royale while working as a waitress and in a fishery. After several lucky meetings with top music-media types, Duffy was moved to Crouch End in London where she met ex-Suede guitar player Bernard Butler. This meeting was to change Duffy’s musical career, as Butler was the one to give Duffy her “education in soul-music”, a sound that still penetrates her music and sets her apart from the pop-princesses that dominate the chart now.

With new influences like that of Anne Peebles, Burt Bacharach, Doris Day and even Beyonce, the pair went on to create Duffy’s undoubtedly individual retro sound.

In November 2007, Duffy signed a contract with A&M Records, alongside singer Adele on the very same day. Such a surge of new female singers prompted the music press to coin the phrase “The New Amy’s” – put off by the fact that she was already being compared to self-destructive Amy Winehouse, perhaps this was the real reason Duffy dropped her Christian name “Aimee”?

Her first proper single, Rockferry, was released to moderate radio-airplay and success, but without a doubt her breakthrough moment was Mercy, a chart-pleaser to say the least and if I’m being honest, I love it purely for the fact that it knocked that godforsaken Bass Hunter track of the top spot.

Students’ Union, Park Place, 02920 387421 www.cardiffstudents.com ! Med Club, Neuadd Meirionydd, Heath Park 02920 744948 ! Clwb Ifor Bach (The Wels 02920 399939 www.clubmetropolitan.com ! Dempseys, Castle Street 02920 252024 ! Iotas, 7 Mill Lane 02920 225592 ! Incognito, Park Place 02920 412 www.cafejazzcardiff.com ! The Riverbank Hotel, Despenser Street www.riverbankjazz.co.uk ! St. David’s Hall, The Hayes 02920 878444 www.stdavidshallcardif uk ! The New Theatre, Park Place 02920 878889 www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk ! The Sherman Theatre, Senghennydd Road 02920 646900 www.shermanthea Stadium Can’t miss it. www.millenniumstadium.com ! The Point, Cardiff Bay, 029 2046 0873 www.thepointcardiffbay.com ! Tommy’s Bar, Howard Gardens (off

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

39

LISTINGS

LISTINGS@gairrhydd.COM

-dying love for Mark Knopfler, after mention of the Sex God in meeting.

E & ARTS

MONDAY FUN FACTORY @ SOLUS, SU - Cardiff’s own alternative mu-

CYMRU @ SHERMAN THEATRE - Set ipping story of Siwan, the wife of Lly7.30pm. £14 - £12/£8 under 19s.

COOPER’S FIELD (CARDIFF CASTLE) the country’s favourite touring family ay season with a truly fantastic galaxy arious Peter Sandow & Co, The Julio aerial artiste Tracy Jones, presenting igh above the circus ring. Widely acfamily circus delivering a magical mix ng balancing and side-splitting comedy or more info contact venue directly.

L CYMRU @ SHERMAN THEATRE. s.

WALES @ ST DAVID’S HALL - A proeley and Sibelius. For ticket info con-

GE OF MUSIC AND DRAMA @ SHERsually striking performance of Shakees of a violent nature - not suitable 0pm Sat. £8/£6. (Running until sat

.

GOING OUT

CYMRU @ SHERMAN

THEATRE.

GE OF MUSIC AND DRAMA @ SHER-

L CYMRU @ SHERMAN THEATRE. .

GE OF MUSIC AND DRAMA @ SHER-

sic night. Also features DJing by Oddsoc and bands put on by LMS. I (Dan) went there last week and I very much enjoyed myself, desptie being harrassed by a woman dressed as ‘The Spirit of Jazz’ as there was a Mighty Boosh party. 10pm - 2am. Free entry with NUS. £3 otherwise.

TUESDAY

IF YOU’RE STILL HONESTLY looking at Tuesday night in the listings for a night out at this time of year then shame. On. You. Stay in with book, a journal, lecture notes - anything!

WEDNESDAY

SPIN @ THE UNION - Or as it used to be called, before all these freshers turned up and started shafting Oceana, Rubber Duck.

THURSDAY

BOUNCE @ WALKABOUT - I should probably make the most of this Alladdin’s Cave of cheap drinks, loose women and angry men but I think, finally, I may have grown out of it!

SOCIETIES WEDNESDAY

The KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS Society presents The History and Founder of the Krishna Consciousness movement. A short discussion and visual documentary on the founder AC Bhaktavidenta Srila Prabhupad. Arguably the most auspicious name to come out of eastern spirituality being bought to the west. Since the 1970’s he has travelled the world 12 times enlightening people from all over, forming groups of followers from countries across the globe and leading to the construction of 108 temples over the space of 12 years. This movement has progressed and digressed even after his death with his disciples still travelling the globe spreading the message he once set out and successfully founded. This movement teaches on all aspects of life, karma, spirituality, yoga, reincarnation, vegetarianism and is the cause for the rise of the society in Cardiff Uni. This event aims to give a brief insight into his life and views and reason for his success in the east and west.

RONA GRIFFITHS ROOM (4th FLOOR S.U) 21 may. FREE VEG MEAL. Everyone welcome!!

Westlife @ CIA

20/05/08 ! £32.50 Listings editor Dan Jones recommends

S

o, the media awards have come and gone and to everyone’s surprises and distress, Listings came away empty handed. So, seeing as there is absolutely no reason to write ‘credible’ stuff in this section any longer, please excuse us if the standard drops. Anyway, back to the reason why we’re all here.

‘A band that defined a generation’ – Westlife may not have quite done this but they came bloody close. There is a stigma attached to bands like Westlife, an unwritten rule of the unwritten student constitution saying that such bands have no place in the pages of the ‘cool’ student newspapers and magazines. Yet, I could almost guarantee that every student here at Cardiff has a place in there heart, a very small place but a place nonetheless, for at least one Westlife song. They may never have bought one, or even downloaded one, but there will be a track (mine is ‘Flying without wings’ if you’re interested) which pulls on the strings of the blackest, bleakest heart. Bands like Westlife, if purely taken for what they

ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD...

ALTON TOWERS Go to Alton Towers. Now. Do it. Before you’ve had a chance to think it through even; just remember to pack a toothbrush, you may feel the need to stay the night.

Sounds like a very forceful press release huh? Well its more like a bit of advice from a friend, a very strong bit of advice from a very strong friend, because Alton Towers is back baby! It’s back...from never really going away but there has never been a better time to go as revellers during the months of May and June can expect to queue for less time and thus enjoy more of the ever-expanding attractions. This year the introduction of the Cariba Creek Waterpark means that bringing your swimmers is a must. Once you’ve donned your flowery, waterfriendly, attire go and explore the Wacky Waterworks and Treehouse before relaxing in the Lazy River and don’t leave until you’ve been on the Masterblaster wet rollarcoaster. Other new areas of the park include Mutiny Bay and Extraordinary golf. The poor swans have unceremoniously been given the boot and made way for the swashbuckling, pirate themed water attraction (pictured) whilst the minigolf course consists of two 9-hole adventure golf courses themed around the park’s iconic rides and is well worth a round or two.

If you do decide to go it would be a crying shame to miss out on the coolest ride within the park: Hex, not entirely thrill seeking but it does things to your head that no drug trial could ever do.

Tickets are available now online at www.altontowers.com or by phone 0871 222 9901.

are – cheesy/poppy/gushy/predictable – should just be enjoyed and congratulated on what we all know they can do best. Much like other groups such as, Boyzone and 911.

Anyway, like ‘em or not they’re bloody successful and have more money than all of us put together so I guess the joke is squarely on us, and this nationwide tour is another great way for them to make some more money. This band has produced some of THE best live/lip-synched performances since Milli Vanilli, along with producing some solid gold 1.55am anthems so that the drunk people can pull the ugly people (once again I remind you that we didn’t win anything for these pages), not to mention the countless number ones (well, 14 to be pathetically precise).

However, the greatest success of any of the band members was that of Brian McFadden when he finally decided to divorce that shit heap, pop gripper of a Z-list celebrity, Kerry Katona. Not even boobs that big can make up for the fact she is an absolute piece.

Finally, just a few thankyou’s which I didn’t get a chance to say at the awards – I’d like to thank my editor Amy for the opportunity and her boundless enthusiasm and generosity, my wonderful coeditor Josie for helping split the work load (70-30 in her favour), my parents Dave and Geraldine and finally our readers, the support from both of you this year has been amazing. Cheers. P.s.

Sport are a joke.

sh Club), 11 Womanby Street 02920 232199 www.clwb.net ! Barfly, Kingsway, Tickets: 08709070999 www.barflyclub.com/cardiff ! Metros, Bakers Row 2190 ! Liquid, St. Mary Street 02920645464 ! The Philharmonic, 76-77 St. Mary Street 02920 230678 ! Café Jazz, 21 St. Mary Street 02920 387026 ff.co.uk ! Chapter Arts Centre, Market Road, Canton 02920 304400 www.chapter.org ! Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay 0870 0402000 www.wmc.org. atre.co.uk ! The Glee Club, Mermaid Quay 0870 2415093 www.glee.co.uk ! Cardiff International Arena, Mary Ann Street 02920 224488 ! The Millennium Newport Road) 02920 416192 !

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

PROBLEM PAGE

PROBLEMPAGE@gairrhydd.COM

From the Desk of

D E T

41

e m so

d n Ha

He’s a ruddy good lad.

Ted Handsome’s Reviews The Ted Handsome Appreciation Society An Occasional Series

Well, it’s about fucking time, but your ol’ pal Ted Handsome has finally realised that he has somewhat of a fan club emerging on the internet. I have basically been avoiding this whole world wide web thing, as I am pretty sure that this is a fad which will blow over, much like yoyos and apartheid. However, once I had finally investigated this group of fine upstanding individuals I realised one thing; that what these guys really need is for their idol to pass judgement on all of them.

No. 1 - ‘Alex Hookway’

This foppish idiot has got the old smug look of undeserved self-satisfaction down to a tee, but major points loss for the inclusion of a white shirt. The only people that wear white shirts are school children or unimaginative dolts at the media awards. However, I award credit where credit is due and so on the whole I will give this effort a shoddy 6 at best. Must do better, dear boy.

No. 2 - ‘Tom McDonald’

Oh deary, deary me Tom McDonald. While I appreciate the effort toward spreading the good word of Ted Handsome, I simply cannot tolerate the fact that you are unable to spell the word ‘society.’ In fact, I am undecided as to whether I am willing to allow you to still be a member of my followers. In addition to this heinous act, you are wearing a white shirt as well. However, the lord loves a trier, or something to that effect, so I’ll let it slide for now. A lucky 4 out of 10.

No. 3 - ‘James Horsey’

Congratulations dear boy! Perhaps the only one out of this motley bunch of social rejects who actualy ‘gets’ it. What really clinches it is the relaxed, yet knowing smile of a man who realises that he should be making an honest living, but understands that he doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to. Marks off for the sloppy way that your tie is executed, and also the ‘trendy’ asymmetrical fringe that you have acquired in a bizarre attempt to look anything other than a chap. Chaps do not have asymmetrical fringes. They have their hair brylcreamed into submission. However, as an ensemble, I will award this young gentleman 8 out of 10.

If you wish to be a part of the ever-growing sensation that is the Ted Handsome Appreciation Society, then why not search on Facebook for ‘Ted Handsome Solves Your Problems.’ If you don’t, well then you can go and fuck yourselves, can’t you?

A letter about murder Dear Ted, I’ve actually killed someone. Really, I am not joking. I am currently wearing their skin and am sucking on their teeth. My freezer is rapidly filling up with the various eviscerated bowels and paraphanelia associated with the digestive system and its impeding on my Findus crispy pancakes. I often get the urge to go out and do a couple more murders, just to get it out of my system, but I’m pretty sure that it is wrong to kill people.

That said, God, Jesus and Elvis all have told me that what I’m doing is A-OK and I’m willing to accept those odds. Basically, what I would like to know is how you reckon I could sate my pointless

bloodlust, without crossing any dubious moral boundaries? I would really appreciate some advice on this matter Yours Prof. Steven Rectum Canton Steve, Finding a way to stop yourself murdering people is one of life’s great mysteries. For example I am currently sitting next to TV Tim, and it is taking all of my efforts to not stab him in the eye with a biro. That said, there are plenty of ways to silence the voices and convince the world that you are a normal, rounding individual.

Why not try a nice relaxing bath,

or even a nice bout of meditation? Sometimes when I get a bit stressed, I like to imagine that I am relaxing by the beach, listening to the waves crash down on the sands, and the ambient noises of the birds washing over me.

Then again, what you could also do is go out shooting birds, tearing fish from their natural environment or sending a pack of rapid dogs after a singular fox. These are all activities that are considered to be more normal than actual muder. Go figure.

Yours Ted

A letter about madness Dear Ted, Give me the sense to wonder, to wonder if I’m free./Give me the sense to wonder,/to know I can be me./Give me the strenght, to hold my head up,/spit back in their face./Don’t need no key, to unlock this door,/gonna break down the walls,/break out of this bad place./Can I play with Madness?/ The prophet stared at his crystal ball,/Can I play with Madness?/ There’s no vision there at all./Can I play with Madness?/The prophet looked and he laughed at me!/ Can I play with Madness?/He said you’re blind, too blind to see!/I screamed aloud to the old man,/I said don’t lie, don’t say you don’t

know!/I say you’ll pay for your mischief,/In this world, or the next!/ Oh then he fixed me with a freezing glance,/and the hellfires raged in his eyes,/He said do you want to know the truth son?/I’ll tell you the truth!/Your souls’ gonna burn, in a lake of fire!/Can I play with Madness?/The prophet stared at his crystal ball,/Can I play with Madness?/There’s no vision there at all./Can I play with Madness?/ The prophet looked and he laughed at me!/Can I play with Madness?/ He said you’re blind, too blind to see!/Can I play with Madness?/ The prophet stared at his crystal ball,/Can I play with Madness?/ There’s no vision there at all./Can

I play with Madness?/The prophet looked and he laughed at me!/ Can I play with Madness?/He said you’re blind, too blind to see.

Yours, B. Dickinson England Dear Mr. Dickinson No, no you cannot. Also, stop wearing such tight jeans, you are a grown man, for fucks sake.

Lots of Love Ted xxx

Dear lovely reader, this week, I have mainly been hanging around at Drayton Manor. This is not for the awful !ashing lights and garish rollercoasters, but rather the single mums forced into holding bags while little Darren is o" ruining someone elses day. Some forced bullshit about how hard it is to cope with kids these days, and a subtle mention of my vast gardens and extensive toys that I bought for my !own kids" that my !heartless wife stole from me and emigrated with."

An assertion that it would simply be a chance for little Darren to get some time away from the council !ats, and Bob#s your uncle, I have a date with an emotionally drained, $nancially crippled single mother.

Thank you, once again Drayton Manor, for this wonderful opportunity. Your candy !oss is overpriced, though. TH xxx

42 gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

GRAB!

COMPETITIONS@gairrhydd.COM

WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN!

Free Tickets to the Hay Festival 2008!

E

scape Into The Park is nationally recognised as being the biggest event in the Welsh clubbing calendar, attracting over 20,000 dance music fans to Swansea’s beautiful Singleton Park on Saturday June 14. Last year Escape Into The Park was another phenomenal, sold-out success where a selection of DJ demi-gods from all over the world turned the all-day festival into the country’s ultimate hot ticket.

The 11 hour dance marathon which starts at midday takes place across four arenas and a main outdoor stage, each of which are rigged with almighty sound systems and world class production.

This year, accomplished electronic music veterans Underworld will headline the main stage for one of their always storming live performances.

The British electronic music duo of Karl Hyde and Welshman Rick Smith have toured every corner of the globe and their seminal classic records such as Born Slippy and Dark & Long have been staple ingredients in every DJ’s record collection! Other DJs feature Tidy Boys, Lisa Lashes and Andy C. The VIP Arena will be hosted by glam house brand Hed Kandi for those who like their blissed-out sexy, soulful house sounds. They will be transforming the VIP room into a luxurious playpen with Hed Kandi décor and live percussion alongside their fine residents!

Tickets are £41.50 for this event; however, we have five pairs of tickets to give away for free! All you have to do is answer the question below and send your name and address to the email above: Fedde Le Grand will also be appearing at Escape into the Park, what dance tune is he famous for? a) Gimme More b) Put Your Hands Up For Detroit c) Glamorous

B

anco Santander, one of the largest banks in the world, created ‘Santander Universities’ in 1996 to support higher education across the world. The scheme now encompasses over 600 universities in Europe and the Americas.

For the very first time, 200 students from across the UK and Europe are invited to become Santander-Abbey ‘Scholars’ at The Hay Festival in Wales. The Festival, in its 21st year, is a carnival celebration of literature, food, comedy, debate, world music and performance. It brings over 130,000 people to Hay to experience the very best in modern culture.

Each ‘Scholar’ will receive five free tickets to the Hay Festival 2008 events which are running between May 22 and June 1. They will also be able to access The Hay Student Blog where photos and experiences can be documented and broadcast to the world.

To apply call 0870 990 1290 and quote: SANTANDER UNIVERSITIES For more information visit: http://www.hayfestival.com/wales/ students.aspx

WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN!

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

43

SPORT

SPORT@gairrhydd.COM

Charlie Woollcombe-Adams Rugby Reporter

Engin ...................................... 24 CARBS ...................................... 5 ENGIN CLINCHED the IMG Rugby Cup with an emphatic victory over a battling CARBS side.

The Tyn-y-Wern pitches played host to an intense game of rugby between two highly renowned IMG teams.

Missing their captain Karl de Gelas, ENGIN had a shaky and somewhat uninspired start. It was not long before the dangerous pace of CARBS’ backs began to threaten ENGIN in their lethargic state and they broke through to record an early try.

Staring to warm up, ENGIN showed their superiority rucking despite the apparent weight disadvantage. This allowed Richard Andrews to supply to his backs in style. Receiving the ball after some good play, winger Jonny Evans slipped behind the enemy’s line and ran beneath the posts to score ENGIN’s first try of the game. The mesmerising boot of Aki Davies duly converted.

The referee was professional and fair, quickly bringing some CARBS Neil Fairbrother Snooker Reporter Snooker Club ........................... 17 Pool Club .................................. 5 THE SNOOKER Club trounced the Pool Club in an exciting grudge match earlier this month.

The clubs were battling to determine who would be crowned Cardiff Cuesport champions.

Taking place at Rileys, City Road, the event comprised of fifteen snooker games and fifteen of pool. Each club fielded a team of 10.

players into order after some risky challenges. The CARBS defence responded to Engin’s period of attacking play by pushing their defence up. However, Harri Phillips thought quickly and chipped the ball over the advancing wall, scoring Engin’s second converted try in spectacular fashion.

It became apparent that CARBS were competing well in line outs as well as in the backs. Having been untouchable throughout the season, the technical qualities of ENGIN players Sam Jeffries, Tom McLintock and James Lander were being defeated by CARBS’ high flyers.

By the time half-time arrived the tally of injuries had risen after some strong challenges over the course of the game.

The ENGIN team continued their onslaught in the second half. Jack Bruce and Ollie Yaroshevych valiantly made them some ground with their straight angles of running.

And doing what he does best, James Chisholm crashed through to score a well-deserved third try for ENGIN. The relentless spirit and drive of ENGIN had grinded CARBS down, but some vengeful runs and stunning kicks from the CARBS fullback kept them afloat.

However, one such kick entered the

The Snooker Club took an early 7-3 lead in the singles snooker matches through Ben Davies, Dave Blake, Rupert Taylor, Dan Peacey, Neil Fairbrother, Dom Osborne and Dave Trebilcock. Andy Holman, Shaun Hill and Alun Edwards returned victories for the Pool team.

In the snooker doubles, the Snooker Club whitewashed the Pool Club 5-0. Wins from the pairings of Dave Blake/Dan Peacey, Jon Hillard/Richard Jones, Neil Fairbrother/James Channon, Dominic Osborne/Dave Trebilcock and Ben Davies/Rupert Taylor gave the Snooker Club a 12-3 half-time lead.

The Pool Club looked to hit back

PHOTO: CHARLIE WOOLCOMBE-ADAMS

ENGIN EAT THEIR CARBS

ENGINEERS: Nice nipples

safe hands of Dan Jones who challenged the full back with a mightier hoof. After a textbook run down from Jonny Evans, and a well organised overlap, James Beltrami glided over the try line. This was the final nail in the coffin for CARBS, and ENGIN secured a convincing 24 – 5 victory. in the 9 Ball singles, their favoured sport, but Taylor, Blake and Channon claimed impressive victories for Snooker. Holman scored the only win for Pool. The results left Snooker requiring one more point to win the match outright.

Snooker did far more than that.

In the 9-Ball doubles, the pairings of Hillard/Osborne and Fairbrother/ Jones pushed Snooker further ahead.

Shaun Hill and Mike Lloyd pulled one back for Pool but by now Snooker had cemented a 17-5 win with 8-Ball pool singles and doubles still to play.

Pool Club will be hoping to revenge the defeat when the teams meet again next year.

IMG Rugby Union league was unfortunately abolished this year. However, the players of the eight IMG teams have continued to pursue the sport that they love without the competition.

Their enthusiasm was rewarded with an end of season tournament in which the talent of the IMG players was on

show for all to see.

Praise must be given to all the captains and their committee members, whose perseverance has ensured a superb season, the survival of IMG Rugby Union, and hopefully many more superb seasons to come.

OLIVER BENNET’S GUIDE TO ALL THINGS SAILING

Simply apooling

SAILING: Nice ripples

Team Racing

SNOOKER: Cued up

The majority of university competitions are team racing events.

In this format, each team competes with 3 dinghies which have 2 sailors onboard.

For a team to win they must finish with the least number of points in the competition. Points are attributed in accordance with the place a boat finishes in. For example, if a team finishes with one first placed boat but two boats in the lower order they could still finish last, depending on how low down the other boats actually are.

A great deal of tactics are involved in ‘taking out’ (effectively slowing down) the opposition boats in order for your own team to sail through unhindered.

As a result, races are fast and often tense with positions changing a great deal.

Fleet Racing Fleet racing is the more prevalent form of racing in sailing competitions.

Each boat competes individually and as a result fleet races tend to be longer.

Match Racing Universities also compete in match racing as well as fleet racing. This consists of one-on-one sailing with only two boats on the course. This format involves keelboats and tends to feature larger crews.

Sport 14 gairrhydd

gairrhydd

FEATURES

OCTOBER.22.2007

INSIDE: The IMG Rugby Final, more Snooker and a.COM FEATURES@ gairrhydd brief introduction to Sailing

PLAIN SAILING

Cardiff sailors qualify for the RYA GB Development Squad Sophie Mear Sailing Reporter FOUR CARDIFF sailors, Mike Corney, Lara White, Maia Walsh and Eleanor Assinder, were among 120 sailors from across the UK, selected to attend the first RYA

Great Britain Team Racing Development Squad qualifying round.

The event, held at Bough Beach in Kent, was an opportunity for upcoming talent to fast track their progress and compete for the chance to represent Great Britain at the Team Racing World Championships.

The selection process for the squad

involved a preliminary round of trials for which participants were selected based on a sailing CV. The sailors endured two days of intensive racing in freezing conditions and strong winds under the watchful eyes of former world champions, who made up the selection committee.

Walsh and Assinder were amongst

-GAIR RHYDD AND QUENCH MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY UNIVERSITY UNION CARDIFF, PARK PLACE, CARDIFF CF10 3QN

30 sailors selected for the squad, which had its first training weekend during March. Once again, the weekend was plagued by gale force winds, rendering the first day unworkable. Despite the weather, which favoured the heavier all male teams, Walsh and Assinder successfully held their ground during the racing scenarios.

Walsh, Captain of the sailing team, remarked that she is greatly looking forward to using some of the exercises to help train the increasingly successful sailing team. Assinder commented afterwards: “ The training has hugely improved our sailing and enabled us to develop as a team”.

REGISTERED AS A NEWSPAPER AT THE POST OFFICE GAIR RHYDD RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT ALL CONTRIBUTIONS THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE PUBLISHERS THE GAIR RHYDD IS WRITTEN, DESIGNED, TYPESET AND OUTPUT BY STUDENTS OF CARDIFF UNIVERSITY ! AND THE WINNER IS.... ! GEORGE '3 TIMES A NIGHT' PAWLEY FEIGNS SURPRISE AT VICTORY ! THEN LEGS IT WITH THE SPORT BOYS' TROPHY ! ABBY AND RENNISON: ‘ASK THEM WHAT THEY GOT UP TO AT THE WEEKEND?’! BEN AND LEE GET KICKED OUT ! BEN MAKES IT BACK BUT LEE GOES MIA ! GR HUW: A BEAUTIFUL MIND ! CUTV HUW: A BORING VOICE ! SPORT: BEST SECTION 2008 ! JOB DONE ! OPINION AND FEATURES-GOOD GAME ! SALTER: ‘ZORAB ARE YOU GUNNA GET LAID TONIGHT?’ ! ZORAB: ‘DEFINITELY NOT’ ! ADAM IN BED BY 9

gairrhydd

MAY.19.2008

TELLY

TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM

TUESDAY Waking the Dead BBC1 9.00pm

Space Files: the Universe Unvieled BBC2 4.00am

BBC 1

BBC 2

Dexter ITV1 11.35pm

31

20th May Louis Theroux’s Birthday

My Crazy Media Life Extraordinary C4 11.25am Animals five 7.30pm

ITV

Channel 4

Five

6:00am Kids TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am Everybody Loves Raymond 8:00am Just Shoot Me 8:30am Frasier 9:00am Will and Grace 9:30am The Deadly Knowledge Show 10:30am Castle 11:25am My Crazy Media Life 12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm San Demetrio, London 2:25pm A Place in the Sun: Home or Away 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal

6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Put Your Money Where Your House Is 12:00pm House Doctor 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Law and Order

6:00am Breakfast 9:15am To Buy or Not to Buy 10:00am Homes under the Hammer 11:00am Open House 11:30am Cash in the Attic 12:30pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show

6:00am CBeebies 10:00am In the Night Garden 10:30am Let’s Write Poetry 10:50am Primary History 11:10am Timewatch 12:00pm The Daily Politics 12:30pm Working Lunch

6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 8:35am LK Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:10am ITV News 11:15am ITV Wales News and Weather 11:20am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women

1:00pm BBC News 1:30pm Wales Today; Weather 1:45pm Doctors 2:15pm Diagnosis Murder 3:00pm BBC News 3:05pm CBBC

1:00pm Out of the Blue 1:25pm Coast 1:30pm Through the Keyhole 2:00pm am.pm 3:00pm Murder, She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It! 4:30pm Ready Steady Cook

1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm Dickinson’s Real Deal 3:00pm House Guest 3:30pm Taggart

5:15pm The Weakest Link

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5:00pm Goldenballs

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5:00pm Five News Kaplinsky 5:30pm Neighbours

6:00pm BBC News 6:30pm Wales Today; Weather 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm EastEnders 7:57pm BBC News and Regional News 8:00pm Holby City

6:00pm Great British Menu 7:00pm Welsh Map Mystery 7:30pm Wild Provence 8:00pm RHS Chelsea Flower Show

6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale: Affairs of the Heart 8:00pm Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:55pm 3 Minute Wonder: Straight Eight in 2008 8:00pm How to Look Good Naked

9:00pm Waking the Dead

9:00pm The Supersizers Go...Wartime

9:00pm The Duchess in Hull

9:00pm Gordon Ramsay’s F Word

6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Monkey Life 7:00pm Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky 7:30pm Extraordinary Animals 8:00pm The Titanic Conspiracy: The True Story 9:00pm CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

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10:00pm Later Live...

Holland 10:30pm Newsnight

Jools

10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:35pm Manchester United v Chelsea: The Game of Games

10:00pm The World’s Smallest Man and Me

10:00pm CSI: Miami

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11:20pm Mad Men 12:10am Joins BBC News 4:00am Space Files: the Universe Unveiled

11:35pm Dexter 12:40am Nightwatch with Steve Scott: Emergency 1:30am Nightwatch with Steve Scott: Mystery 2:25am Loose Women 3:15am The Jeremy Kyle Show

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11:00pm Law and Order: Criminal Intent 12:00am The FBI Files 1:00am Football Italiano 1:25am NBA Basketball 4:20am French Football 5:10am House Doctor

with

PICK OF THE DAY The Supersizers Go...Wartime, BBC2, 9.00pm It’s a show with Giles Coren and Sue Perkins, that lady from Mel and Sue that comedy duo from ages ago and some random fella. Anyway they go abou town eating food from ration books from World War Two. This seems like a colossal waste of time: we are not in World War Two and we have Waitrose now ,plus you can get Tesco value balsamic vinegar. This is another chance for the bigwigs at the BBC to fob us good hearted licence-payers off with some shitting waste of time program that adds nothing to the great dynamic of society.

It’s no Big Brother, now that’s a show that actually adds to society....you may recoil in shock but at least it’s damn entertaining. A bunch of freaks in a room being made to dance and compete with each other is 10 times better than watching perky Sue starve herself for shits and giggles. I’d rather write an essay thanks.

1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Animal Rescue Squad 3:10pm Gracie’s Choice

with

Natasha