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OCTOBER.22.2007
FEATURES
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ISSUE 878 OCTOBER 20 2008 CARDIFF’S STUDENT WEEKLY free word - EST. 1972
INSIDE...NEWS/OPINION/FEATURES/SPORT/LISTINGS
NO MEAT NO FISH NO DAIRY PRODUCTS
LIFE AFTER DEATH
Two red-blooded carnivores go vegan for a week - Features, p. 14
Should a widow still have the right to her husband's sperm? Opinion, p. 9
LETTING THE THIEVES STROLL IN 1 in 4 students are putting themselves at risk by leaving houses insecure
Sarah Powell News Editor A gair rhydd investigation has found that students are putting themselves at risk of burglary by failing to ensure that their homes are secure. The investigation, which is regularly carried out by the South Wales Police, involved Student Liaison Officer PC Bob Keohane testing doors on student houses in the Cathays area to check if they were sufficiently secure. After only an hour he found that a quarter of the properties tested had unlocked doors, and in more than one instance he was able to enter houses and had to shout “hello” four times in order to get the residents attention. As part of the investigation, PC Bob Keohane was keen to raise awareness of security risks caused by having unlocked doors and informed residents of the danger of robberies. He warned that thieves walk around the Cathays area trying doors of houses with the aim of stealing property, which can then be sold to fund drug addictions. Student homes in particular are targeted because of their multi-occupancy capacity, PC Bob Keohane said; “In residential homes thieves can steal maybe one laptop, but in student houses you have say, 4-7 of each item, which means thieves can get enough property to sell from just one house.” Gair rhydd interviewed the resi-
dents of one unlocked house who said; “Repeatedly locking and unlocking our door is such an inconvenience when there are so many of us living in a house. We do think about security, but it’s easy to forget to lock it.” PC Bob was keen to stress the impact that such investigations have had on the amount of crime in the area, “Last year, over 300 students had their houses broken into during the academic year. But after we performed a similar investigation, checking the amount of unlocked doors, the number of burglaries in the area decreased, which must mean that people are listening to us.” Gair rhydd spoke to some students from Cardiff University to get their opinions on student security after the investigation. Clare Davies and Beth Taylor, two second year students said: “We use a deadlock at night which makes us feel safer, but some of our bedroom doors don’t have locks, so if someone left the front door open it’d be easy for our property to be stolen.” Another student Vikki Ware said “I do think about security, so we always lock our house, otherwise we’ll get robbed.” PC Bob urges students to remain vigilant in areas of student security, and reminds students to use the immobilise website to register their property as this helps police to trace stolen items: http://www.immobilise.com
02 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20SS.2008
NEWS
NEWS@gairrhydd.COM
this week in gair rhydd: The week in pictures:
Features: Does positive discrimination promote equality?
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Students protest fees rise
Opinion: Should religious beliefs influence the provision of birth control?
07 In numbers : David Miliband drops by the Union: Exclusive interview next week
visit the gairrhydd website and have your say at
>>
www.gairrhydd.com
1/4
9.7%
12
of Cardiff students leave their front doors unlocked
Rise in undergrad applications
People on average at the fees protest
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
NEWS
NEWS@gairrhydd.COM
Cardiff students look to Einstein in Telescope project
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Socialist students stage fees protest
Cardiff Uni head to Hong Kong
Sian Symons News Editor Cardiff University students take part in the Einstein Telescope project. Scientists from the school of Physics and Astronomy will coordinate Work Package 4, which will make up part of the worldwide project. Professor Sathyaprakash, who is heavily involved with the project explained: “ The Einstein Telescope will help us explore geometry of space time near black holes, solve the enigma of gamma-ray bursts and provide insight into the problem of dark matter and dark energy – believed to make up most of the mass in the Universe.” The students involved in Work package 4 deals with the working out of different geometric, mechanical and optical configurations of the Einstein telescope. The professor congratulated Cardiff students, he said: “It is incredibly exciting that Wales-based physicists will play such a central role in bringing Europe to the forefront of the most promising new development.”
Katy Gorman Reporter
Emma Jones News Editor Cardiff University’s Socialist Students staged a protest outside the Student’s Union as part of the campaign to defeat fees. 40 different universities all over the country hosted protests on October 16 to campaign against all top up and tuition fees. The campaign, with the tagline ‘because education is a right, not a privilege’, stresses that everybody has the right to a free education.
Funny books proven to develop creative thinking Charlie Anderson Reporter A study by Cardiff University has shown that parents who read humorous books to their children could help them become better readers in the future. Research by the School of Psychology, on parents and children aged 1826 months, found that funny books tend to make parents engage in the story and talk about it to their children, more than they would if they were reading a non-humorous story to their toddlers. When the parents were asked to read a popular children’s book to their child, the researchers noticed that parents made more engaging comments on the funnier pages. The team then compared the parents reading two separate books to their toddlers. One was a humorous story and the other a 'sweet' story.
The parents continued to make more abstract comments to their toddlers while reading the funny story, which included phrases like "ducks said moo". Dr Meredith Gattis, who led the research, stated that funnier books give parents the opportunity to "develop their child’s creative thinking skills and introduce them to new vocabulary, helping them to be good readers in the future".
Mia Holsing, President of Socialist Students Cardiff, told gair rhydd: “We’re organising the campaign against tuition fees, and today we’re protesting against fees in general and the increase in fees as well, if they’re going to scrap the cap or if the Welsh Assembly grant is going to go, that means students will have to pay a lot more than they’re already doing. Holsing said: “We want to raise awareness about what fees do to students both by protesting on our own like we’re doing today and also pushing the NUS into being more active,
because obviously the NUS is where students are organised. “We want free education for everyone. Britain had it until 1998 and we’re not any poorer than we were then,” she added. When asked whether their aim was realistic, Ms Holsing replied: “I hope this is achievable, and I think it will be if people mobilise across the country and organise and campaign, possibly even linking up with trade unions in the future.”
Cardiff students give organs generously Sian Symons News Editor A Cardiff University student has recently become the 800,000th person to join the organ donor register in Wales. The Donate Wales- Tell a Loved One campaign, funded by the Welsh Assembly government has begun an organ donation campaign in Wales. The drive for more organ donors begins with a student campaign in Welsh Universities. Students make up around 30% of those on those on the register, joining when aged 16-30. Leni Hatcher Campaign and Communication Officer for the charity says: “We hope to set up student led campaign teams in each university who will provide students with further opportunities to join the Register. We’ve had a fantastic response from the guys at Cardiff with a record breaking 322 of the students there joining the reg-
ister during the fresher’s fair alone. Cardiff have set a great benchmark for other Universities to follow” James Herbert of Cardiff University became the 800,000th person in Wales to join the Organ Donor Register. When asked about his reason for becoming a member of the register he said “I used to work in Specsavers in Neath and I remember how one of the people who used to work there had been given a second chance by a kidney transplant. Knowing the importance of organ donation is what made me sign-up when I saw the Donate Wales leaflet.” Edwina Heart, the Health Minister for Wales said, “Since the launch of the campaign in May more than 20,000 people have joined the Organ Donor Register. There is still a desperate shortage of donors though with more than 500 people in Wales relying upon the generosity of a donor to change their life”.
A group of representatives from Cardiff University travelled to Hong Kong last week to build and strengthen relationships with universities and businesses in the area. The team included ViceChancellor Dr David Grant and Nobel laureate Professor Sir Martin Evans. The trip’s main purpose was to promote new opportunities for research collaboration and special attention was directed towards the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). A highlight of the tour was Sir Martin, winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, giving a lecture on his field at the institution, forming part of the University’s series of Nobel Laureate Distinguished Lectures. The visit reflects already strong relations between Cardiff University and institutions of higher education in Hong Kong. Last year Cardiff University signed a memorandum between its Department of Primary Care and Public Health and that of CUHK. There have been numerous successful exchanges between the institutions and Cardiff University welcomes many students from Hong Kong. Sandra Elliot, director of the University’s International Development Division, supports the growing relationship. She states “Cardiff University has a long history of welcoming students from Hong Kong and one of the aims of this visit has been to increase awareness of Cardiff and ensure that we continue to attract quality students. One of the ways we can achieve this is by building on our current strong links with institutions in Hong Kong and developing further opportunities for worldleading collaborative work, and a very strong association of Cardiff alumni”.
04 gairrhydd
NEWS Centerprise attracts student tycoons
OCTOBER.20.2008 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM
Undergraduate applications reach all-time high Emma Jones News Editor
Emma Jones News Editor Cardiff University’s new Student Enterprise initiative ‘Centerprise’ opened this week in the Students' Union. Centerprise is a programme aimed at young entrepreneurs attending the University. Centerprise helps students set up their businesses by giving them exclusive access to a facility where they can run their business. Students’ business ideas must be approved by the Student Enterprise Centre and by the Union before they are accepted onto the programme. So far, two budding entrepreneurs have been accepted onto the programme. Nick Cottrell was successful in pitching his business idea producing software for sufferers of dyslexia, and TJ Wheeler's venture organising sponsored skydives for charity was also successful. TJ, a third year business management student told gair rhydd: "I've set up a sole trader business named JumpMAD - Jump to Make a Difference, whose mission is 'to facilitate fundraising for charities by organising skydiving opportunities combined with the provision of a high quality, personalised and flexible service'." "It was set up with the intention of seeing charities benefit in a simple and practical way," he added. TJ said, "The process to gain access to Centerprise was simple and quick and the Union and the Student Enterprise Centre has been helpful and supportive throughout." The Centerprise facility will provide a space for businesses to hold meetings with clients and employees. JumpMAD is currently looking for representatives or volunteers to help take on new potential skydivers who want to raise money for a good cause. For more information go to www. jumpmad.co.uk
Recent figures show that the number of students beginning full-time undergraduate courses has risen this year by 9.7%. According to the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), 5,826,576 students applied to university this year, compared to only 531,898 in 2007. But these high figures may be misleading. They included more than 13,000 nursing and midwifery applications, which, in previous years, would have gone through a different system, NMAS.
Even without them, though, there was a 6.3% increase in the number of students accepted onto Higher Education courses this year. "Last year saw a rise of 5.4% in the number of applicants, so this is the second year of very strong growth”, said UCAS. "These final provisional figures make 2008 a record-breaking year in terms both of those applying and those being accepted to full-time higher education courses," it added. Chief executive of UCAS, Anthony McClaran, said that this has been a remarkable year for undergraduate applications. "Demand has not simply remained
steady – it has increased very significantly on top of last year's strong growth," he said. The number of male applicants has increased by 7.3%, although women continue to outnumber men 249,294 to 202,577. Applications from Eastern Europe, Singapore, China and India were higher this year than ever before, with applications from Bulgaria and Romania up by more than 100%. Higher Education Minister, David Lammy, said: "It is also good to see that the proportion of 18-year-olds and under from families on lower incomes has increased, although there remains more to do.
"This is at a time when the government has introduced an improved student financial support package, and spending on higher education stands at more than £7 billion a year, an increase of 23% in real terms since 1997." Lammy added that he was encouraged by the increase in people applying for foundation degrees, up 17% on this time last year. "We are well on track to meet our target of 100,000 enrolments by 2010," he said. The final figures for 2008 entry are due in January 2009.
Tragedy for Cardiff choir The Game of Life Agent to winners of BBC1's Last Choir Standing dies suddenly after suffering heart attack Eleanor Joslin Reporter A successful agent and publicist to the stars of Welsh classical singing sadly died last Friday. Joe O’Neil was only in his fifties and is believed to have suffered a heart attack. He collapsed suddenly after leaving Air Studios in London, where he had been working with the winners of the BBC’s Last Choir Standing competition. The 18-strong choir from Cardiff, Only Men Aloud!, plan to finish recording their first album as a tribute to their publicist. The choir members feel that this would honour Mr. O’Neil the most as he had supported the choir with dedication for the past five years, often unpaid. Choir master and musical director Tim Rhys-Evans said: “When someone of that stature takes an interest in you, you feel really lucky. It’s been very harrowing for us. To witness Joe’s death was a huge shock.”
Mr. O’Neil’s professional achievements are evident in the success of the Welsh artists he guided which included opera sensation Bryn Terfel. The Welsh star paid tribute to him and said: “He was just a really nice guy and it's a tremendous loss to everyone who knew him.” He also helped guide the careers of Aled Jones, Katherine Jenkins and composer Karl Jenkins. At their family home in Carmarthenshire, his wife Sian described him as a kind and thoughtful man. The family will be holding a private funeral before organising a celebration of his life, which was so sadly and suddenly cut short.
Steve Wright Reporter Foreign students coming to study in the UK will now be able to experience British life without leaving home, thanks to a new computer game. The game, known as ‘C-Shock’, was created by Nipan Maniar, a senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, based on his experiences of his difficulty to adjust to British life following his arrival from India eight years ago. It aims to ‘combat culture shock for international students arriving in the UK for the first time’, according to the game’s website. ‘C-Shock’ follows the various trials and tribulations apparently faced by foreign students upon arriving here. This involves travelling through a virtual campus, where explanations are given for potentially surprising sights such as kissing couples and alcohol consumption, as well as details about the law involving littering, smoking and cycling on the pavement, with the aim of the game being to reduce the player’s ‘culture shock’ rating from 100 to zero.
To date ‘C-Shock’ has gained an impressive rating of 16,000, but many students appear to be settling in okay without its help: ‘‘I’m having a great time. I expected lots of drinking and that’s what I’m doing. I’m meeting a very eclectic crowd,’’ says Ishaan Saxena, 22, from India and studying in the UKwho also points out that many foreign students are familiar with the culture through the media. Nipan Maniar, the game’s creator, said he hoped the game would help for new arrivals. "I came here as a student back in 2000. It was my first trip out of my country, the first time I had left my family", Maniar said. "There was no-one I knew, I was in an alien world where people react differently and the whole culture is different."
Engineering over at UWIC? Eleanor Smith Reporter
The future of the Engineering and Technology department at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff is hanging in the balance as crisis talks over the declining number of enrolments and high drop out rate take place. Recruitment for 12 engineering courses at UWIC has been frozen for September 2009 as bosses discuss whether to scrap the programme or
to try and salvage it by rolling out a campaign to boost the number of applications. The news was announced to hundreds of students as a new campaign, which is being piloted in Wales, entitled ‘The Engineers Make It Happen’. The campaign was launched to encourage A-level students to study engineering and go on to work in the industry. The number of students accepted on engineering HND programmes
across the UK has drastically declined by 50% over the past six years and only 590 HND students were accepted in 2007. A report commissioned by the Vice Chancellor’s Board this year speculated that the courses’ low entry requirements - only 140 UCAS points, which is the equivalent of a C/D at A-level - could be one of the reasons for the decline in interest in the courses. It stated that changes such as developing higher level qualifications to appeal to top level students and developing new
programmes to better meet the needs of a changing industry are in order. Richard Moreman, UWIC’s director of Marketing and Communications, said: “All universities from time to time have to adjust their courses to changing patterns of student demand. If the conclusion of this review process is that our engineering programmes cannot be justified for academic reasons then, of course, we will have to look at the options”.
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM
THE WEEK IN STUDENT MEDIA
A round-up of national student news by Emma Barlow
EXETER " This case is a behind-the-scenes look at the sentiments, omissions and failures of senior members at Exeter" Quote: Paul Jones Reported in Exeposé on Monday 13th October 2008
Former student sues Uni for "negligence" An former Exeter University student is suing the University after alleging that the demands placed on him meant that he was forced to neglect his work. Paul Jones, a 26-year-old who registered at the University for postgraduate study in 2004, received a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Scholarship that required him to teach a third year module. In return for his participation, Jones received a fee waiver and an annual stipend. However, Jones claims that this scholarship was a significant demand on top of his PhD on the political eco-
nomics of dystopian literature, acting as a significant and unfair distraction from his own study. Jones also claims that he was required to re-write and administer, as well as actually teach, a specialist module in which he had little experience, exceeding his own perception of his duties as a GTA. In addition, Jones's PhD supervisor was granted sabbatical leave in the first semester of Jones's final year of research, which Jones felt compromised the level of supervision he received. In a written statement, Jones said
that his case was a "behind-the-scenes look at the sentiments, omissions and failures of senior members at Exeter." The Stage 3 complaint hearing, chaired by a University Deputy ViceChancellor, concluded that "[the hearing] did not accept that unreasonable teaching demands were placed on Mr Jones." It went on, "It was not unreasonable for a GTA to be asked to teach an entire module and it was not in breach of the University's code of practice". The complaints process is ongoing.
CAMBRIDGE Condom controversy sparks mass debate
Quote: Cambridge Union President Adam Bott Reported in Varsity on Friday 10 October 2008
A publicity stunt has backfired after hundreds of promotional condoms have been recalled. The condoms which sported the rather bizarre slogan ‘For a more perfect Union’ were given out by Camridge Union Society and were then recalled by the CUSU because the packets did not have the kite mark, which stands for the British Standards Institution approval. Hugo Gye, news editor of Varsity, Cambridge university’s independent newspaper reported last week that the bitter dispute between Student Union members over the decision to warn students and tutors appeared to be
BRISTOL
Beer goggles: no longer a myth?
“We have no higher priority than our members’ continued enjoyment of a safe and satisfying sex life.”
“Alcohol can increase perceived attractiveness by up to 10% so potentially verifying the age-old excuse for embarassing sexual escapades”
Reported in Epigram on Wednesday 1 October 2008
Breakthrough research from a Bristol University psychologist has found ‘definitive scientific proof’ that beer goggles exist. Jon Wiltshire from Epigram, Bristol University’s independent newspaper, reports: Research led by Marcus Munafò from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol shows that alcohol consumption and the level of attractiveness of other people are directly correlated; alcohol can increase perceived attractiveness by up to 10%, so potentially verifying the age old excuse of alcohol excess as an excuse for embarrassing sexual escapades.
raging on. An email sent out by CUSU Welfare Offcier Andrea Walko said, in capital latters "PLEASE DO NOT USE THESE CONDOMS." It went on to explain that the condoms were unsafe, and therefore it was not recommended that they were used. Union President Adam Bott said in a message to all Union members that he “would have expected better from the body charged with the welfare of Cambridge students. We have no higher priority than our members’ continued enjoyment of a safe and satisfying sex life.” He expressed particular annoyance
The test showed that after consuming alcohol, heterosexuals rated both the same and opposite sexes as more attractive in comparison to a control group who had not consumed any alcohol.
that CUSU did not speak to any Union Society officers before contacting the Colleges. Bott denied that the publicity stunt had backfired. “I deeply regret any confusion caused to members by this misinformation,” he told Varsity; “but it makes CUSU look like meddling and officious fools once again.” However, Andrea Walko strongly insists that the condoms should not be used by students. She also denies that CUSU is meddling unnecessarily, saying “I just want to look after students’ welfare. It’s what I was elected to do.”
The tests also showed that the subjects not only found the opposite sex more attractive, but also found their own gender better looking. Professor Munafò wished to take the experiment further by seeing how people rated attractiveness when they were no longer able to focus on a face, but was limited by study ethics. Yet, despite these widely respected results, the debate is not entirely over. Robert Leeman, from Yale University, argues that alcohol consumption often provides those who drink with an acceptable social situation, and therefore an excuse, to indulge in risky and normally unacceptable sexual behaviour.
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NEWS NUS LATEST Sian Symons News Editor
NUS in second attempt at governance reform The NUS has once again called for an extraordinary conference in an attempt to overhaul of the structures that run the institution. Initial proposals for a governance reform were passed at the Extraordinary Conference in December 2007, but failed to secure enough votes at the Annual Conference 2008. As a result of this a revised set of reform proposals has been set up. Some of the proposed changes include; more postgraduate representation, a more accountable trustee board and a clearer policy making process, enabling the NUS to be a truly student run, student led union. The last serious reform was in 1980, however times have changed and new proposals are needed to accurately reflect the make-up of today’s student body. The new proposals hope to correct the current flawed system by providing better funding, staff support and a new full time officer representing international students. The detailed proposals were agreed by the NEC on Monday 6 October.
Calls for inquiry into maintenance payment 'shambles' NUS has written a letter to the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee to call for an inquiry into delays in education maintenance allowance (EMA) payments. Beth Walker, NUS Vice President (Further Education), said: "NUS is fully behind these calls for an inquiry into the EMA shambles. More than 110,000 young people are still waiting for a decision on their applications over a month after the start of the academic year. This money very often makes the difference between participating in education and being forced to drop out and enter low paid work. "NUS has written to the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, requesting that it use its full powers of scrutiny to examine the root causes of these failures, in order to ensure that such a situation never arises again."
06 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
WORLD NEWS Also in the news...
NEWS@gairrhydd.COM
Bad news for arachnophobics
Sarah Powell News Editor
“Only a matter of time” before poisonous spiders become the norm in the UK.
Thieves go nuts
Rachel Sutcliffe Reporter
Police have warned a group of German thieves who stole 660 pounds of hazelnuts not to eat them as they are poisonous. A spokesman from the Hamburg police said that the sacks of hazelnuts contain a poisonous hydrogen phosphate gas which is used in production to extend the shelf life of the nuts. However, they must be treated before they can be eaten.
Sex on the beach
Two Britons are facing three months in prison and a £160 fine for having sex on a beach in Dubai. The couple were caught by police on a popular beach having sex on a sun lounger whilst drunk. Both have been found guilty of public indecency and being drunk in a public place and will be deported after they have served their three month imprisonment. Dubai has strict Islamic laws about sex outside marriage and excessive alcohol consumption.
Dear Lord... A judge in America has thrown out a case against God due to the defendant having no address which meant legal papers could not be served. The defendant was seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the “death, destruction and terrorisation” caused by God. He sued God last year, saying that God had threatened him and inflicted “widespread death and terrorisation of millions upon millions of Earth’s inhabitants”. The judge said that in order to continue with the case, he must have access to the defendant, which in his view is impossible.
Poisonous spiders are being brought into the UK and thriving in the new warmer climate. Global warming hasn't just affected the icebergs but the UK's increasingly mild climate has also caused spiders to hitch a ride on the country's food and plant imports and manage to survive. Some new residents include the False Widow spider and scientists believe it's only a matter of time before the poisonous Black Widow spiders invade. Matt Shardlow, the director of Buglife, commented on the country's relaxed attitude to potential dangerous imports. He also compared the UK's trade laws to that of other countries, talking about how they 'take great care about what biological material they allow in, because it can contain pests that can damage our goods, our livelihoods, our health and our biodiversity.' Despite the previous consensus that the False Widow spider, native to Southern Europe, West Asia and North Africa, had not created colonies in the UK, new evidence suggests the contrary. Stuart Hine, manager of the Insect Identification Service at the Natural
History Museum, stated that it was no longer the case that the spider has not settled in, with masses of colonies found in Plymouth which now look like they are here to stay. This is believed to be due to climate change, now species that once only existed in pockets and were unable to survive the harsh winters now have the opportunity to both spread and flourish. Another spider on the move about the country is the Tube Web spider, described by Hine as 'an aggressive spider.' The Tube Web spiders is steadily moving further north, and are unlike other spiders in that when approached they will attack rather than back away as the majority of other spiders do. A spokesperson from DEFRA, the company responsible for monitoring imports, stated: “We work to minimize the risk of exotic animal and plant pests and diseases from entering the country and threatening public health, livestock, agriculture, horticulture and the environment.” However, Hine commented that, despite DEFRA and the governments’ best attempts, it is “really only a matter of time” before these poisonous and terrifying spiders simply fade into the norm of the UK's specie's of spiders.
Author on the hit list Prostitutes bribed Author in danger after book ex- with couch vouchers poses Naples mafia Charlotte Laken Reporter Police in Italy say they have uncovered a plot by the Camorra, the Naples Mafia, to murder the author of the best-selling book Gomorra, Roberto Saviano, ‘before Christmas’. Information of the plot, which planned to blow up Mr Saviano and his guards while travelling by car on the motorway, was provided by a Camorra informer. Mr Saviano, 29, has been under 24 hour police protection since his book which details the Camorra’s extensive hold on daily life in Naples, from the protection racket to waste disposal, was published two years ago. Gomorra, has sold 1.2 million copies in Italy and translated into 42 languages. The book has also been made into an acclaimed film, which is now a contender for an Oscar. Yet the worldwide publicity of Mr Saviano’s investigation into the brutality of the Camorra has caused alarm for the gang’s bosses, who have apparently said the book is ‘creating
too much noise’. Last seen in public a year ago at an anti-Camorra rally, Mr Saviano said: “Life under siege has changed me for the worse, turning me into a suspicious and taciturn recluse. He added that if he could turn back the clock he was not sure he would write the book again, “knowing what I know now”
Sarah Powell News Editor The Dutch city of Eindhoven is set to pioneer a controversial scheme aimed at encouraging prostitutes to find alternative forms of work. The scheme involves rewarding participation in incentives such as assertiveness classes and workshops on alternative jobs with vouchers which can then be exchanged for items such as furniture or clothing. This voucher scheme has prompted strong reaction from the Dutch media, who have labeled the scheme ‘whore miles’.
Holland has an infamously liberal attitude towards prostitution; however, this is set to change as several Dutch cities are planning to close down their red light districts. The city of Eindhoven plans to close the zone for street prostitutes by 2011. Veronique Beurskens, a member of the city council said: “We needed to come up with incentives that these women might latch on to.” The council is also looking at plans for a fashion label designed exclusively by prostitutes as another scheme to encourage a reduction in prostitution.
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
OPINION
OPINION@gairrhydd.COM
freewords Est. 1972
Students stage a (pitiful) protest
C
ardiff University Students' Union is renowned nationally for its facilities, support services and nightlife. Likewise, Cardiff students, who live in halls and the heavily studentified communities of Cathays, Roath and Whitchurch, are often percieved as having active, exciting social lives. Students at Cardiff University clearly aren't timid: we throw ourselves into all kinds of activities, whether we're involved in the Athletic Union, Student Media or the Student Volunteering Centre. We aren't afraid of putting ourselves out there and testing our boundaries. Why is it, then, that despite having such strong, active participation in some areas, students at Cardiff University seem to be some of the most apathetic in the country? When Cardiff Socialist Students staged a protest last week to tie in with a national day of action against fees, the turnout was abysmal. Fewer than twenty students were present on the stand at any one time. In a somewhat ironic twist, the Flashmob society's Protest About Nothing which occurred earlier this year managed to attract significantly more activists to follow its campaign (which was, incidentally, nothing). So are students at Cardiff just here to have a good time? Or is the student movement as a whole suffering from a wave of apathy? Perhaps not. Cardiff's dearth of activism is inexplicable when you compare it to universities with extremely effficient, effective student movements, such as those at Imperial, Leeds and Sheffield. A mobilised student body can be an extremely powerful and effective force for change, and Cardiff students have already shown that they're not afraid of being pro-active when it comes to socialising. Perhaps the right cause could smash the apathy that seems to have set in. Ben Bryant
Miliband pops in It was with enormous pride that Cardiff Student Media played host to David Miliband last Friday. We secured an exclusive interview which you will be able to read in next week's gair rhydd. Don't miss it! Editor Ben Bryant Deputy Editor Hazel Plush Co-ordinator Elaine Morgan News Emma Barlow Emma Jones Sarah Powell Sian Symons Editorial and Opinion Jamie Thunder Emma Davies
07
A bitter pill to swallow
Ben Reynolds and Shalini Ganasan tackle the question of pharmaceutical ethics
A
mother of two was recently denied the morning-after pill by a locum pharmacist at a Tesco dispensary in Lincolnshire. Outraged by the decision of the pharmacist, Ruth Johnson came forward to express her horror at the role of a pharmacist in society. According to the guidelines of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain’s (RPSGB) ethical code, the refusal of patient care by a pharmacist on grounds of religious beliefs is condoned. The code allows a pharmacist to refuse to sell or dispense drugs because of their religious or moral beliefs. Pharmacists’ religious rights shouldn’t supercede your rights. They end where yours begin. For example, if a Hindu employee at a grocery store refused to let a customer buy beef, he would be out of work in a matter of seconds. How different is this situation?
Refusing the morning-after pill forces women into traditional roles This whole brouhaha stems from the ‘moral’ limits associated with the oral contraceptive and the morningafter pill. Is there any certainty, then, that tomorrow’s limitations may not be on antiviral medication? It's a horrible precedent and needs to be stopped. There is no difference between refusing service on religious grounds and refusing it due to racist or sexist beliefs. It all boils down to blatant discrimination. The growing numbers of pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception argue that the pills may ‘terminate pregnancy’ and they don’t want to be complicit in abortion. At which point conception begins and how we define contraception are issues that have been debated extensively. Some argue that preventing a fertilized egg from implanting is a form of abortion. Medically, however, it’s not. An abortion only involves removal of an implanted embryo because pregnancy does not start until the egg is implanted. Pregnancy typically begins
Politics Gareth Ludkin Sport Scott D’Arcy Rhona Morris Josh Pettitt Richard Williams Liz Wray Letters Laurel Burn Features Ceri Isfryn Aimee Steen Listings
sions about their care and must provide information in a way in which it can be understood.
Religious rights don't supercede the customers'
FREE FOR ALL?: Is the morning-after pill moral or murder? about 12 days after conception. Since about a patient’s treatment. Hepler and emergency contraception is taken Strand defined the term ‘pharmaceutiwithin three days of intercourse before cal care’, focusing on pharmacists acconception has taken place, it cannot cepting broader responsibility for the results of patient care they directed or be considered as an abortifacient. Most modern religions allow some delivered. Yes, there is a clause in the RPSGB form of contraception. If the pharmacist in question denied the morning- code that can be used to a pharmaafter pill to Miss Johnson but allowed cist’s defence. But it becomes gross the sale of condoms on a regular basis, negligence in conduct if the pharmacist then denies the patient the right the hypocrisy would be blatant. or access to purchase the medication elsewhere. The revised code of ethics is based on seven principles. The essence of this debate revolves around four main principles: making the care of patients your first concern; exercising your professional judgement in the On a balance of probabilities, interests of patients and the public; vouching for unwanted pregnancies showing respect for others; and taking should take precedence over any form responsibility for your working pracof hesitation in dispensing emergency tices. So if the patient walks in with contraception. Men have always been a valid prescription, the pharmacist is able to have sex without childbearing. obligated to dispense the medication. Emergency contraception now gives If, however, the patient walks in withwomen that right. Taking it away from out a prescription and the pharmacist them is forcing them into their tradi- finds it offensive to his moral beliefs, he should advise the patient on the tional gender roles. Pharmacists owe a duty of care nearest pharmacy where it would be to the public and should never be al- available. Pharmacists must respect lowed to make moral judgements patient’s rights to participate in deci-
Pharmacists should never make moral judgements about treatment
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What puzzles me is how the pharmacist could have used his personal beliefs as a moral justification for not giving essential contraception. What did he honestly hope to achieve by playing by the letter of the law? The pharmacist’s religion isn’t known, but a common facet of most world religions is the ability to discern between ethical choices that will lead to a better moral outcome. Of course there is no easy way to judge what is more ethical, but rather than get into the details, I’ll follow the ‘lesser of two evils’ argument. He might disagree with extramarital sex or convince himself that the point of conception follows immediately from procreation, but by denying Johnson the morning-after pill, he has now potentially failed to prevent Johnson from becoming pregnant. I can’t think of a morality that could justify using one’s own religious beliefs as a trump card against unwanted pregnancy and, as a consequence, abortion. Now imagine if Johnson had been a rape victim and went to the same pharmacist asking for Levonelle, (the commercial name for the morningafter pill); it would be appalling if he had refused to sell the pill under these circumstances. Essentially, there is a conflict of belief systems between the pharmacist and their customer that make the pharmacist’s decision to refuse selling the pill a cause for justified concern. Who takes priority in this situation, the pharmacist or the customer? The RPSGB guidelines imply that the patient’s interests should take priority over the pharmacist's beliefs. The pharmacist who disagreed with providing the morning-after pill cannot claim to be standing on the moral high ground, since most religions would treasure the sanctity of life above any means of abortion. His form of morality is contradictory. Yes, we all differ in how we interpret ethical codes, but there has to be some consistency in justifying moral claims.
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OPINION Canuck in Cardiff Corey Shefman talks politics
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few years ago, after 11 years in power, the Prime Minister announced his resignation after finally giving in to the pressure from his arch-rival – a man who had harboured leadership ambitions for years after losing the race to become Party leader while serving as the Cabinet Minister responsible for the government budget and finances. After ‘encouraging’ the Prime Minister to step down, the former Finance Minister became Party leader at a veritable coronation after all serious competition dropped out of the race. At last Prime Minister, he held on to power for two miserable years. Two years marked with scandal, political misstep and, worst of all, “dithering”. After winning a minority Government (the first time in 11 years the party hadn’t won a large majority), in 2006, Paul Martin’s Liberal Party of Canada lost to Stephen Harper’s Tories. Bet you thought I was talking about now-former Prime Minister Tony Blair and his long-time Chancellor Gordon Brown. Reading newspapers in this country has given me an intense sensation of déjà-vu, as Britain relives nearly the exact same situation that Canada did after Prime Minister Jean Chretien gave up power to his longtime Finance Minister, Paul Martin. But it’s not just the intrigue that’s the same – how the public feels about the Labour Party is nearly exactly the same to how Canadians felt about the Liberal Party after Paul Martin took power. It’s time to stop kidding yourselves: I know you all dislike Tony Blair and I know that Gordon Brown really is kind of dull, not to mention a huge let down, but after 10 years of hype you really shouldn’t blame him for not living up to your obviously unrealistic expectations. But ask yourselves, does being pissed off at the Labour institution really warrant giving David Cameron’s Tories a chance to further privatize the NHS, raise tuition fees and herald a return to the oh-so-fun days of Thatcherism? Now there are likely those of you who remain loyal to Labour, despite the ID cards and their mismanagement of the economy. I admit that Labour does sound like a good party to support – after all who doesn’t love the war in Iraq. I’m fully aware that many, if not most, in this country vote for a particular party more out of habit than as a true reflection of their support for that party’s policies. This is a call for all you Labour voters to take a good look at both Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Look at their policies and ask yourself which party is a true reflection of your values. My guess is if you go beyond the party rhetoric and partisan dogma, most progressive British voters will realize that the LibDems are their best choice for whenever Gordo gets around to calling an election
OCTOBER.20.2008 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM
Going for gold? Hannah Gurney
wonders if the British public should really be footing the Olympic Village bill
J
ust as the Olympic Games 2008 is finally put to rest, 2012 rears its ugly head and this time it’s Britain’s turn to pick up the tab. Unfortunately for Britain, the standard set by China was not only extraordinarily high but also caused a severe blow to the ego for those countries who doubted China. Granted, their bumpy start allowed questions to arise about whether China was really in a position to host the Olympics, but with a few villages destroyed to make way for empty skyscrapers, a few Tibetan protesters thrown out of the way and a few thousand drums drummed, the Chinese have successfully proven their superpower status against the West and, quite frankly, Britain needs to prove they’re still in a position to compete.
79.9% disagreed with the use of taxes on the Games So let’s think of this as a competition of nationalistic pride, because ultimately that’s what it is. We’re technically already failing, considering the apparent £20 billion spent on the 2008 Olympic Games, with our budget only stretching to £9 billion. Then,
that they had asked for £500 million from the government. Surely this is a better way to spend our money? The credit crunch has led to mounting concerns over mortgages, and people do not have money to buy houses leading to British real estate being in dire straits. Perhaps a closer look should be taken at the stability of Britain’s financial status before trying to compete with rapidly expanding superpowers?
OLYMPIC VILLAGE: £1 billion potential cost to taxpayers of course, came the credit crunch and the next thing we know the Olympic Delivery Authority have lost our main supporters, Lend Lease, and guess who will be left to pay the bill? Of course it’s the British taxpayer. This week John Armitt, director of ODA, said that a 3,000-unit development on the Olympic campus in east London may have to be entirely funded by the taxpayer at a cost of £1 billion. This is because the credit crunch has meant the funding has fallen through from private banks and developers. The expenditure of the opening ceremony in China alone cost £50 million. Now without intentionally missing the point of the Olympic
Games opening ceremony, I am. Yes, China’s display of fireworks going off all through Beijing was outstanding and I especially enjoyed the computer-generated script telling the tale of Chinese paper making, but I cannot see how a performance which lasts three and a half hours and costs that much money really makes that much difference to the world? After all, the Olympic Games are supposed to celebrate the achievements of great sporting heroes, not simply a chance for countries to flex their economic muscles in the direction of the rest of the world. Last week it was made clear how much difficulty charities like Oxfam were having gathering funding, and
This is a competition of nationalistic pride In a survey carried out by The Guardian online, 79.9% of people disagreed with the suggestion of using our taxes on the Olympic Games. Maybe this should be seen as an indication to the general consensus surrounding the games. Taxes keep increasing but what have we to show for it? The NHS is under-funded and oversubscribed, people cannot afford roofs over their heads and banks need more and more injections of capital. I think there are obviously more pressing matters in Britain requiring attention, before spending all this effort and time on a superficial display of unneessary extravagance.
Notes on a scandal Should sixth-formers and teachers be allowed to conduct relationships? Katy Gorman thinks not
I
t is a sad fact of modern society that teachers often find themselves trapped in a corner of political correctness and bureaucratic fear. Forget teachers’ authority – students need only mention ‘abuse’ in order for supposed heads of power to run a mile, cowering behind a classroom of unruly little brats. We hear tragic stories of teachers’ helplines failing to support the enormous number of desperate callers, or primary school teachers unable to comfort crying children for fear of being branded child molesters, leaving us with images of a sorry, downtrodden profession. So surely we should be happy that on ITV’s Tonight programme the General Secretary of the Teachers’ Union, Chris Keates, has recently been loudly voicing a call for an increase in teachers’ rights. Except, in this instance, as in many sensitive topics, the issue has been swung all the way from one end of the spectrum to the other. Rather than concentrating on the many teachers on the verge of a ner-
vous breakdown, the General Secretary has emphasized just how unfair it is that teachers are unable to engage in relationships with their sixth-form pupils.
Imagine the potetntial for ensuing bribery This is obviously absurd. In 2001 the law was changed to make it illegal for teachers to engage in sexual relationships with pupils at their school under the age of 18. I can only guess what the proper decorum was before that time. Imagine the potential for the ensuing bribery: ‘I’ll give you a blow job, Sir, if you’ll just give me an A in that paper.’ Or from the other angle, ‘Would Dave Jenkins please stay behind for detention. Now Dave, you’ve been a very, very bad boy..’ Actually, forget bribery – if it was perfectly legal then surely there would be fully-fledged teacher-student couples walking around the school
grounds. Where then would that leave other teachers and prefects in their grand attacks on public displays of affection? ‘Um, Sir, would you mind possibly stepping away from little Amanda? It’s just that you’re breaking the three feet of distance rule… of course you can shag her senseless as soon as you’re in the privacy of your own classroom.’ Although clearly this wasn’t quite the case before 2001, Miss Keates’ proposal nevertheless brings with it some extremely large questions. If teachers were allowed to embark on relationships with pupils it blurs entirely the boundaries of their professional relationship. Teachers may potentially be looking at students in a sexual way or vice versa, and how exactly is the possibility of a relationship to be broached? By asking them out in the playground? Or perhaps by getting it on behind the bike sheds? There is no avoiding it; a person who is professionally involved in childcare engaging in a relationship with someone who is not far off hav-
ing been a child themselves is wholly and utterly unprofessional. Not to mention creepy. It is exactly this sense of discomfort and taboo which led to the immense influx of political correctness and restriction imposed on teachers in the first place. This of course is the real tragedy here. I can only imagine the frustration felt by thousands of hard-working teachers around the country, happily attracted to people their own age, when they heard their spokesperson fighting their ‘cause’. It seems to me that Miss Keates has adopted a popular political strategy: attempting to distract attention from more pressing issues within her Union – an epidemic of depressed teachers, perhaps. She has given the media exactly what they want – a sex story – while providing some instant spotlight for herself. The law in 2001 was implemented, quite rightly, to protect children. Now all we need is for people like Chris Keates to pipe down and start protecting our teachers.
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
09
OPINION
OPINION@gairrhydd.COM
Politics 2.0 Life after death How vital is technology Robbie Wells won't mind if you use his to modern politics? Tom sperm once he's dead. Just ask first. Whitehurst discusses
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N
ot content with instilling both hope and the ability to dream into 45-52% of likely American voters, presidential candidate and double spellcheck error Barack Obama, has turned an elegant hand to the formerly indoorsy art of computer programming. His application for Apple’s iPhone scours the owner’s contacts for people who live in crucial swing states and sends them messages in the run-up to polling day reminding them to get out and vote. As you would expect, the programme has drawn nothing but favourable criticism from the notoriously left-leaning gadget review media. In part of an effort to cast himself as an agent of change, Obama has crammed his campaign with many such gestures towards innovation. After the long and highly secretive search for a running mate, Obama announced his choice to 3 million supporters via text message (at 3.a.m.!). In June, his team organised a “national day of house parties” to unite the party after the defeat of Hillary Clinton. A thousand supporters were emailed and encouraged to entertain their friends with a 10-minute DVD about Barack and his vision for America.
Social network sites have been used to rally student voters
Every election politicians try and court the 'youth vote' with oftencringe-inducing consequences. In Britain in 2001, William Hague, the then Tory leader, showed he was young-at-heart by misguidedly covering his expansive and shimmering pate with a now infamous baseballcap. The result was another landslide defeat for a hopeless Conservative Party. One of the most interesting features of Obama’s presidential bid has been his ability to engage younger voters through clever use of the Internet. MySpace and Facebook have been used to rally college students who are registering to vote in higher numbers than ever before. These new-found activists are playing an important role as footsoldiers in Obama’s operations in the battleground states this autumn. There is no doubting the huge contribution internet fundraising has made to Obama’s wallet. Since his campaign began, he has amassed more than $450 million, much of which has come from small donors through his website. McCain, who broke ground in 2000 by becoming the first presidential candidate to raise serious amounts of money via the Internet, has found it more difficult in 2008. He
WEBCAMERON: the future? hasn’t been able to raise even half of Obama’s total and has been forced to accept federal funding, with the many strings that come attached, in order to compete. This gives Obama a huge advantage in ability to afford the TV advertising that is needed to win over undecided voters in the final stages. One such advert released this month claimed that McCain 'still doesn’t know how to use computers' and 'can’t send an email'. The idea was to depict him as out of touch and therefore unable to deal with complex modern problems such as the Wall Street crisis. A recent poll showing that Obama leads McCain by double digits on the question of who would better deal with the USA’s economic woes suggest that the electorate agrees with this portrayal. Ironically, the heroic exploits in Vietnam that have won McCain so much respect and popularity caused injuries that make typing painful and so led to the technological illiteracy that now disadvantages him.
Courting the 'youth vote' is often cringe-worthy Of course it is not only this that causes Obama to be viewed as the more assured of the two candidates on economic issues. McCain has been behind ever since his admission that he knows nothing of how the economy works. His strange decision to suspend his campaign in order to stamp into Washington and try to fix the economy with his bare fists as the talks over the first bailout proposal looked promising was viewed as at best unhelpful and at worst reckless. Although McCain is certainly viewed as a hero, he is not one for the 21st century. Obama’s hi-tech campaign has shown voters that he is every bit as up to speed with a fastchanging world as the next president needs to be.
aving a baby is a beautiful experience between two people who love each other very much and are in a long-term committed relationship. This is a fairly traditional and commonly accepted notion of parenthood. Boringly enough, that was the case for two people who can only be named as L and, her husband, H. When it came to thinking about a second child, things became a little more complicated. During what was supposed to be a routine operation, H died. Clearly not one to wallow in what could have been, L pounced on this opportunity and decided to steal sperm before his body became too cold, in the hope of IVF treatment. This has effectively opened the largest can of worms since Mary claimed to be pregnant with the son of God. While that didn’t settle well with the Romans, this hasn’t settled too well with the courts and various other evangelical committees. Apparently what L did was immoral in the eyes of the religious and legal types, on the grounds that there was no written consent, in the eyes of the law.
If he'd died after insemination, there would be no issue at all It seems extremely petty to suggest that she shouldn’t have the child just because her husband has died. It was apparently agreed that the couple were to have another child, so there is no dispute that it would be against H’s wishes. Is anyone going to suggest that her husband would have ever denied L another child? He’d surely welcome the situation (except the part where he dies). What is more, had L become pregnant naturally and then had her husband die during her pregnancy, would there be any uproar for her to extinguish the child’s life? Not likely. So, essentially, what I’m suggesting is that the child’s life begun the moment that the couple began agreed upon bringing it into the world. In my view, it is entirely up to the parents whether to keep it or not during any
His last known stance was that he wanted his wife to have a baby stage of the pregnancy. What harm has she done to anyone, seriously? If anyone says the child, then either go back to the part in this article where the husband dies in midpregnancy, or just take a moment to consider the number of children who are brought up by single mothers to-
LAST WILLY AND TESTESMENT: I can't believe I just typed that day, by the choice of the mother. It happens, and unless you live in an ultra-conservative, nuclear family
I doubt H has many opinions anymore. world, it works just as well. What about the dead husband? Can H really be outraged that his rights have been impeded, without that signature on a written form of consent? I’m going to take a wild guess and say that H doesn’t have many opinions any more, let alone any notion of rights. And if he didn’t want this to happen in the case of his death, maybe he should have written it into a nonconsent form. After all, since his last known stance was that he wanted his wife to have a baby, surely we should be taking that as a given until anything states otherwise.
Who, when deciding to have a child, thinks, “we’d best cover ourselves just in case one of us dies. Let’s write a couple of consent forms, honey”? It’s a sign of where we are as a country right now. I’m not stupid; if it was a case of a woman who was desperate to have a child, even though her husband, who mysteriously dies later, does not, simply handing over his gametes (sperm to you and me) would probably be the wrong thing to do. But, when a couple who were happy and did both want another child but couldn’t because of an accidental death, then it is merely a case of common sense. Not to get crude, but his sperm was going to be used, and if he had died after she had been inseminated, would I really be writing an article on it? Common sense suggests no. I can’t see common sense prevailing. I can’t see L winning her case. I can’t see much for the red tape.
10 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
OPINION
OPINION@gairrhydd.COM
ILLUSTRATION: Nathan Hughes
Mind your language “S
oz cnt 2moz hv staff meeting but cud do evenin?” – when faced with a message like this, I always have to fight the rising temptation to reply “I’m sorry, could you possibly rephrase that in English? I didn’t quite catch your meaning”. I don’t reply with that obviously, because I do technically understand what’s being conveyed, even if I don’t quite understand why it’s being conveyed in such a bizarre fashion. Call me old-fashioned if you wish (and doubtless many people will) but I just don’t see what’s wrong with spelling and even – God forbid! - punctuating properly in text messages and e-mails. If you can manage to write out “Sorry, can’t tomorrow (have staff meeting) but could do the evening?” with pen and paper, it surely stands to reason that you can manage the same feat when faced with some handily labelled little buttons. There’s even predictive text, for God’s sake. You’ve not even saved yourself
John Wells, President of The Spelling Society, feels we ought to be accepting the more informal language commonly found in text messages and e-mails as the ‘way forward’. Sorry, John: I beg to differ. I don’t see how bad spelling is a move forward at all: if anything, it’s a move
Every word processing programme has a spellcheck
backward as far as I’m concerned. Then again, he does also think that we should abolish the apostrophe because it places too much of a burden on school-children, but more on that absurd idea later. I understand that language is a form of communication, and as such needs to be in a constant state of evolution. As new technologies and products develop, we need new words and phrases to cope with this. That’s the handy thing about language – it’s a form of communication between people. Isn’t that more reason than ever to
that many characters – there’s a poxy 20 characters’ difference. It’s not as if you’re struggling for space in your 160 allotted characters with a message that short. And the shortening of some words but not of other seems haphazard and random to say the least.
I
keep language fairly standardised? If you’re misusing “your” and “you’re” (or any other homophones, for that matter) then you’re not communicating what you mean to. COMMUNICATION FAIL, as I believe they might put it on the Internet. “Your an idiot” – I’m sorry? I own an idiot?
might not be the best place for you. I didn’t go to a fancy school, just the bog-standard local comprehensive (or “community college” as they now prefer to be known), but I did learn my basic punctuation. On an even more ridiculous level, a primary school in Gloucestershire
If you're misusing "your" and "you're" then you're not communicating what you intend to
SCRABBLE: is this the end? Well where the hell is he, then?! Ah, but using “you’re” would mean that an apostrophe is necessary. And, as previously mentioned, John Wells isn’t too keen on those; They might stress out the children. Not if we teach children to use them properly! I took AS level English Language and was one of the few people who actually knew the difference between “its” and “it’s”. Yes, I may be being pedantic, but if you don’t know your arse from your elbow grammatically then perhaps an A level course on English Language
recently scrapped the humble spelling test, as they felt it was too distressing for pupils. I really don’t see how it’s that much of an issue: I’d guess that at least 90% of my generation (oh, how old I sound now!) had regular lists of spellings to take home and learn and I’ve yet to meet anyone with any lasting scars from the experience. I’ve still met a fair few with atrocious spelling, though. But imagine how much worse spelling would be on average if we hadn’t had to learn our weekly words! It seems more than slightly contradictory to claim that education standards are falling, while schools are simultaneously turning away from the basic building blocks of writing and literacy. Some even believe that lecturers should accept common spelling errors in university students’ assessed essays. To me, this just doesn’t follow. It’s a formal piece of assessed academic work, written in order to
show off your intellectual capabilities. Given that essays have to be word processed, and that damn nigh every word processing programme in common usage has a spellcheck function, there’s really no excuse for it. The whole point of being at university, aside from learning exactly what percentage of your own body weight you can consume in vodka before vomiting and/or falling unconscious, is to learn things, one would assume. If you’re willing to learn all about advanced astrophysics or how to deliver a baby, is it really so difficult to learn that there is “truely” no such thing as an “arguement”? I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that no, it isn’t. Other people go out on limbs of their own and point out that bad spell-
I don't see how bad spelling is a move forward at all
ing isn’t something to get het up over. So what if people spell “through” as “thru”? Aren’t there bigger things to worry about? In a word: yes. I’ll happily “except” that war, death and The X Factor are far more pressing concerns in the eyes of the vast majority of people, so I’ll have to make peace with my minority stance. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s definitely the end of something. The “i before e” rule, perhaps. All I need now is a secret bunker so that I can train up a crack squad of super spellers to take over the world, one written faux pas at a time.
He r o es a n d V i l l a i n s
f a drug dealer were to offer crack to Amy Winehouse, nobody would be very impressed with them; people would be scandalised that they were taking advantage of somebody in such a vulnerable situation. I’m not sure who I’m kidding – people would just accept it as the usual. But still, the metaphor almost fits. As an English Literature student with a mere seven hours a week of contact
time, I feel I’m in a pretty vulnerable situation when it comes to the advances of Harmonix. You see, I’ve really started to worry about how much Rock Band I play. Not the singing; not the guitar; not the bass: just the drums. You know you’ve reached a bad point when you no longer get songs stuck in your head – you get drum beats instead. Especially when they come accompanied by a mental pic-
HARMONIX: villains ture of a sequence of handily colourcoded blocks scrolling along. Mental drumming action? Not even Keith Moon gets as much as me.
I started this year with what a friend honestly did once term “a sense of rhythm comparable to Meg White”. A bit of a harsh judgement, but not necessarily an inaccurate one. Now? Well, I’m maybe on a par with someone slightly better than that. I have at least graduated to the ‘medium’ drumming level as opposed to ‘easy’, but I dread to think how many hours I’ve sacrificed to make it this far. Hours of my life that I’ll never get
back. Ever. I may fail my degree, but maybe by the end of the year I’ll be able to complete Iron Maiden’s Run to the Hills. So, Harmonix, if I do fail my final year I may be tempted to sue. It’s not fair to launch something so compulsive (I swear, it really is worse than crack) upon such a delicate psyche – especially without a warning on the box. I even tried cold turkey...and lasted approximately 60 hours. Oh dear.
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
11
POLITICS
POLITICS@gairrhydd.COM
SUDANESE PRESIDENT ON THE ROPES?
The indictment of Omar Al-Bashir may be a step in the right direction but will the ICC do anymore than that? Aleksandra Klosinska investigates
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resident of Sudan, Omar AlBashir, has claimed that life in Darfur is simply “normal life”, but this ‘normality’ is barely life as we know it. It is astounding how little action has been taken in Darfur by governments across the world. In the fractured villages and refugee camps, citizens are faced daily with death, rape, murder and violence. Thousands have been left to starve in inhospitable environments. It is plain to see why so many attempt to flee the country, endangering their lives simply to find a better existence somewhere else. Omar Bashir has been condemned by the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICC) for his wanton disregard for human life and the genocide he has presided over. In July, the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accused the Sudanese President of contributing to the bloodshed which, according to UN statistics, has cost the lives of more than 300.000 Africans. This accusation is the first ever made against a sitting head of state. Bashir has been in power ever since a military coup in 1989, and in 1993 he appointed himself Civilian President. Conflict in Darfur began in 2003
when the black population rebelled against the government’s favouring of Arabs. Since then, Bashir has been repeatedly accused of directing the socalled Janjaweed Militia against black Darfurians, leaving millions of people devoid of support, food and aid. The UN are not able to move freely around the region, and countless people have died at the hands of Bashir’s brutal regime. The world's inaction over the atrocities in Darfur has been highlighted by the ridiculously slim chance of Bashir ever being taken to the Hague
and charged for the war crimes which have been brought against him. The ICC has indicted Omar Al Bashir with ten counts of war crimes, but for anything to happen an arrest warrant must be issued by the ICC or from within the country itself. However, with such a fractured and tiny opposition the chance of action being taken from within is negligible. Speaking to a UN general assembly, Sudan’s Vice President Ali Osman Taha declared that an arrest warrant would be viewed as a declaration of war by western powers.
Bashir’s spokesman Mahfuz Faidul said that it would lead to the end of all agreements between Sudan and the UN, which could mean removal of UN peacekeeping missions and NGOs. This would result in even more deaths. Jean Ping, the chairman of the African Union commission has not denied the prospect of African states freezing their cooperation with the International Court of Justice, as it is felt that the ICC has double standards. African States have claimed that the Haguebased Court has been focusing on Africa rather than dealing with breaches in human rights in countries such as Sri Lanka and Iraq. On behalf of the African Union, Ping has called for the freezing of the accusation against Bashir. Under Article 16 of the ICC statute, UN security council has the power to suspend ICC proceedings for 12 months without any need to provide a justification. In the 5 years of the ICC's existence, Article 16 has never been activated. Omar Al-Bashir denies any involvement in the Darfur genocide, and claims that the official number of deaths has been overstated by the international community. Bashir stated: "If those figures were accurate, there
needs to be mass graves. Where are those graves?”. On a visit to the Darfur region, Bashir commented "We're people of peace, we want peace. We're the ones who make peace.” It is expected that ICC judges will make a decision on whether an arrest warrant should be issued in the next two months, although the international community is divided on the ideal outcome of this decision. For Britain and France, there is no easy solution to the situation. They do not want the ICC to lose the support of African countries, but it is feared that the freezing of the arrest might create a hazardous precedent. Nevertheless, Britain has backed Libya, The Arab League, China and some African countries in their efforts to block the prosecution, saying that it would lead to a deterioration of the situation in Darfur. This move has been widely criticized by human rights activists. Steve Crawshaw of Human Rights Watch said: “The idea that you can do deals on justice is both short-sighted and a shocking moral abdication on Britain's part. It can only be damaging to the ICC. To think that Sudan is likely to act in good faith is either naive or cynical.”
MUGABE'S POWER GRAB
Alice Leonard considers the state of Zimbabwe's fragile power-sharing agreement. Can it ever work?
Z
imbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe pressed ahead with his imposition of a new government on Monday by swearing in two new vice-presidents, defying a power-sharing deal with Morgan Tsvangirai. Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, met with Mugabe and Tsvangirai on Tuesday in Harare to try and salvage the situation. Mugabe is the leader of the nationalist Zanu-PF party which has been in power for twenty-eight years. Morgan Tsvangirai is the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), who helped bring the worlds attention to Mugabe’s crumbling regime which has abused human rights for years. In the March elections, Tsvangirai narrowly gained more votes than Mugabe despite a climate of violence and intimidation towards MDC supporters and in September the two parties signed a power-sharing agreement. However, these current activites appear to pose a threat to that agreement, provoking accusations that Mugabe has been trying to snatch back power. A spokesperson for Mbeki remained confident that the deal could be rescued. "We are convinced that no
matter how long it takes, we will reach a conclusion," he said. But they could be there a while, if Mugabe’s former intransigence is anything to go by. In a move of equal immaturity, Tsvangiri threatened to pull out of negotiations, which is exactly what Mugabe wants. Without participation from both sides there is little chance of a government being recognised outside Zimbabwe. Maybe the wobbly power-sharing agreement is too much of a big ask, but Zanu-PF militia have waged a bloody campaign against opposition supporters and activists over recent months. Their attempt to overturn Tsvangirai’s election victory in March left hundreds dead and thousands badly injured. In reaction, Foreign secretary David Miliband said, "The results of the elections need to be respected and a power grab will not be respected." A brilliantly insipid statement from the Brits in the face of a true modern-day tyrant. When Mugabe came to power in 1980, the talk was of peace and co-operation. The swearing in of Mugabe’s former vice-presidents Joyce Mujuru and Joseph Msika harks back to his broken regime. After his description
of the power sharing with Tsvangirai as “a humiliation”, everyone was waiting for something to go wrong. Mugabe has taken control of defence, foreign affairs, justice, and local government, leaving the MDC with
finance – is up for discussion. Mugabe and Tsvangirai’s bickering over cabinet positions simply suggests that the politicians of the country are more interested in their own party snatching little pockets of power here and there,
ministries like sport, arts and culture, and labour. Not a fair split it seems. Mugabe has grabbed the tools to govern the country to take back power for himself. Tsvangirai wants these decisions reassessed in talks with Mbeki but Zanu-PF say only one ministry –
leaving the starving people of Zimbabwe forgotten once again. It has been announced that Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate has soared to 231,000,000% - by far the highest in the world. Unemployment stands at 80%, and the average life expec-
tancy is 43 and 44 for women and men respectively. Critics of Mugabe say he triggered the economic crisis when he began seizing white-owned farms for land redistribution ahead of parliamentary elections in 2000. But Mugabe blames Western sanctions for wrecking Zimbabwe's economy. There are serious food shortages, and the UN states that two million people are in need of food aid. Tragically, this year’s harvest has failed, so that figure may rise to 5.1 million – or 45% of the population – by early 2009. As Mugabe’s autocracy has become more and more entrenched, calls have become increasingly vociferous for him to be removed from power of the formerly affluent country he has destroyed. External trade and investment are needed to restart the country’s crippled economy, and outsiders are watching carefully to see if Mugabe’s team still pulls the levers of power. If they do, Zimbabwe will continue to sink without much help from abroad. The more Tsvangirai can deliver, the faster the world will come to the country’s aid. But from recent events it looks all too clear which way Zimbabwe is going.
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.13.2008
13
LETTERS
LETTERS@gairrhydd.COM
letters@gairrhydd.com This week, your Elves Wrote My ed 8.30am roads, but who are we really kidding that humanities degrees are likely to bring us employment. letters on slow Timetable Regards service in Solus I'M JUST WRITING to say how Jenny, who wants a lie-in. much I really don't like my 9am and declarations seminar. I only have one seminar in the day, so why can't it be later? I would like to demand Kitchen Klutter of love? that all timetables begin at If you have some- 10am, not at 9am. DOES ANYONE ELSE really like I know its not just me. My lecturer The Kitchen in Solus but find thing to get off commented to me that the timetable the staff behind the counter re'must have been designed by elves, ally hopeless? your chest, write because everything seems to be be- Last Saturday I asked for a coffee. Just fore 11am'. an ordinary black coffee. That's cofto Letters today! Yeah, after university we'll have to fee in water. One guy just stood there
the
commute to work everyday on crowd
completely blank while the panini
oven bleeped away, while the other started filling up a large coffee cup with 8 espresso shots. Meanwhile, the third guy was rushed off his feet trying to make 4 jacket potatoes, a panini, two hot chocolates, a cappucino... and then my coffee. The hopeless second guy was then asked to get two glasses of tap water. He came back with one. I've worked in a coffee shop before. It's not hard. Its actually kind of pleasant. So please, if you're looking for kitchen staff, could you hire me? I'm looking for work, I'm a poor student, and I know how to make coffee. With concern and coffee skills. Catriona, 2nd year.
Comments from the week’s news, opinion, features and sport at www.gairrhydd.com Rank Injustice Jongle 123 ------It happens when there's such a terrible funding gap, and despite notable achievements Cardiff University aren't keeping up the pace. To experience a slight fall is understandable, but 34 places? Jamie ----34 places is a lot, but remember that from 2006-2007 Cardiff jumped 42 places. You can only really measure
changes in these sorts of things over time, not just from one year to the next. Paul ----In fairness these lists are more for show than anything. For me, being a 2nd year BSc student, all I care about when I sit down in an interview is how much clout a degree from Cardiff Uni will have. And if you look at the rankings in detail, you'll see that, in that category, Cardiff is far higher than 133, and I'm pretty sure it's in the top ten in the UK. It also goes on factors such as staff
to student ratio etc, which, to be honest, doesn't bother me.
Proposed fee shake up may leave the Welsh worse off Mark ----Actually the full cost of a year's study in a UK institution is around £10,000. So even when a student, or their family, pay £3000 or thereabouts they're still paying less than a third of the total cost with the remainder being borne by the taxpayer, so it's a pretty sweet deal. Only non-EU students pay
Love in the Lecture Theatre
MY PERSONAL TUTOR is so hot. I can't stop thinking about him. I swear, I see him everywhere, and I wish I had more lectures with him, or more excuses to visit him in his office hours. I want to do every module he teaches, even though I don't like the topic. I don't like having to share him either. He has a huge tutor group and I can hear him laughing or chatting away with other students. I'm jealous... Anonymous 3rd year
forum
the full £10,000 of the fees. I think that this proposal is long overdue, it's unrealistic and unfair to expect English taxpayers to pay more to send their kids to university than Welsh taxpayers considering the money to subsidise higher education mainly comes from the former.
The Filth and the Facebook Vanessa ----My squirrelmail account never worked properly, all i ever got were blank emails. Good riddance to it.
It says something about our time when 15-30 seconds is slow! While we’re at it, i don’t much like this redesign of Gair Rhydd.
Softly, Softly Thomas Carroll -----
It’s wrong to blacklist subjects, because teenagers have to make the decision on what A-levels to do when they’re really young. ...Oh no wait, I was 16 when I chose my A-levels and knew that a degree in Law or medicine would require a little more than a dancing qualification…
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14 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
FEATURES
FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM
COULD YOU GO VEG
With World Vegan Day on the horizon, gair rhydd challenges Lloyd Lloyd's story...
I
would love to say that Simon and I took up the mildly foolhardy task of going one week without the smallest smidgeon of animal products near them from a moral perspective. Sadly, the idea that it might be a laugh plus the mental challenge appealed to me more than the moral concerns you may think pretentious Philosophy student/ Guardian reader would harbour. However, the weight of our meteoric task ahead was visible enough when we skipped naively through the doors of the world’s biggest Tescos to discover that they had about 3 things which were marked with the vegan stamp. You know you are up against it when you read that Quorn (that vegetarian meat substitute we all so love) is not suitable for vegans. Although there are only around 250,000 vegans in Britain, it’s still quite extraordinary that such a large Tesco would not have a wider
Livestock farming accounts for 18% of all CO2 emissions
range of choice for vegans and the lack of choice would be a continuing theme throughout my week. It was my second day when I first tried to buy a meal from a store, braving the Humanities shop to substitute my meatly desires for a refreshing yet not so filling fruit salad. It was quite hard to fill up with little snacks throughout the day, as you can’t eat many snacks or crisps because they usually have the ghastly E numbers which tend to come from some random part of an animal. The Talybont shop had no sweets I could eat whatsoever which was a grave disappointment at two days in, and as for alcohol, cans were a nono due to being ‘clarified’ by isinglass, which comes bizarrely from the swim bladders of fish, and bitters were also out of the question. On the plus side, with less sugar it was generally good for a student lifestyle with small amounts of sleep and I felt much healthier earlier in the week, with lots of fruit being consumed. Another major benefit is for the environment. With the climate change movement becoming larger and larger, many green self-help books will tell you that going meat free is the quickest way to cut your carbon footprint. A study from the University of Chicago found that a person switching from the average American diet
to a vegan diet would reduce CO2 emissions by 1,485 kg per year. Livestock farming accounts for 18% of all CO2 emissions whereas transport accounts for just 13%. It also scared me slightly when I read a report by Cornell University scientists saying “if all the grain currently fed to livestock in the United States were consumed directly by peo-
I worried that I'd turn into a tree hugging hippy ple, the number of people who could be fed would be nearly 800 million”. With this pseudo-apocalyptic vision in my head, the week rode onwards. Wednesday morning’s traditional walk home from Welsh Club was unique due to a distinct lack of chips and kebab, making the meander through Park Place somewhat less stodgy than usual. By the third day, my admiration for committed vegans was nurturing into a kinship bordering on brotherhood, as I was finding it difficult to think up interesting meals, never mind make them! Vegetable stir fry and cous cous (no pasta, it’s got eggs) was the order of the day and if feeling ambitious, maybe tofu as well, but only if I could stand the surreal mixture of its vaguely chicken-y taste, and its jelly like texture. It might not have slipped through my system quite as pleasantly as chicken, but there is every reason to consider how the animals you eat have got to the plate. Animal rights is now a massive issue in this country and there are so many reasons why. Opposing eating any animal products has many obvious reasons. The sanctity of an animal’s life is the primary reason, but more and more philosophers are starting to argue that ‘sentient’ animals should be treated more equally. Clearly a pig isn’t going to defend itself in court or demand an education, but the idea that we shouldn't kill animals when we might be able to avoid doing so seems fair. Some scientists have even begun to show how many livestock animals develop what appears to be a consciousness and even emotions. One paper showed that sheep could recognise an owner up to three years after seeing them, and become so attached that they may become depressed. The cost of cheaper meat is often in the suffering of the livestock, in cramped conditions and slaughter houses. All of these facts are difficult to avoid and certainly made me think about Morrissey’s accusation that ‘meat is murder’. My weekend was spent in Lon-
don, presenting a whole new multitude of difficulties. I foolishly hadn’t thought about the fact that the people I was staying with would be eating ‘normal’ food and subsequently was forced to eat a vegetable Thai curry on Friday which was scrumptious, but dubiously coloured bright green and probably stacked with various animal based E numbers, a concern I chose in desperate hunger to ignore. Despite being near Camden, the most pretentious part of the world’s most cosmopolitan city, it was far from simple to find vegan goodies. There was one ‘organic cafe’ close by, but it wasn’t open and I had to stick to marmite sandwiches for Sunday breakfast, which hardly satisfied my stomach for the bus journey home. By the time Tuesday came and a week had passed, I must admit I was rather keen on splurging on meat and eggs. However, the disappointment of a crusty fried egg and soggy ham toastie didn’t really con-
My admiration for vegans was nurturing into a kinship bordering on brotherhood vince me that meat is so essential. Being a vegan was hard and slightly torturous at times, but I think being vegetarian would be quite easy to even the most carnivorous students among us, and almost certainly will save you a bundle of cash, not to mention healthier for you and the environment as well.
Simon's story...
W
hen starting this challenge I had some of the common preconceptions about vegans. I worried that after a week without any animal related products I would turn into a tree hugging hippy, or worse, a pretentious Guardian reader! I tried to think of inspirational vegan figures that would rid my mind of the stereotype that I associate with them; unfortunately, since the only vegan symbol I could think of was Heather Mills, Paul McCartney’s estranged ex-wife, I was worried. I could only compare going vegan with trying to speak without using vowels; it just seemed impossible and didn’t make sense.
After one quick, late night fry up in which I probably consumed a week's worth of sausages, eggs and bacon we were ready to change our ways, and embrace our inner flower children. Ironically, we began our ethical consumerism in Tesco’s, by managing to fit a quick shop into almost three hours. Armed with a long list of the forbidden and a particularly short list of what was legit, we took to the aisles. I naïvely asked the information desk for some help, but alas Mr Tesco had hardly heard of a vegan and pointed me towards the vegetarian section. The process was not made easier by
There is every reason to consider how the animals you eat get on the plate
the packaging; on most foods a vegan symbol was obvious but on drinks there was no hint bar a list of E numbers. A few tedious hours later I had an (almost fully) vegan
weekly shop done, consisting mainly of couscous and carrots. I did not kick off the task well. On day one, when offered an all day breakfast in town for only £2
It's harsh to write that vegan food is disgusting (practically stealing) I was forced under the influence of my friends to be unfaithful to my new found diet. Dejected and slightly embarrassed at my lack of dedication, I decided I had to make up for my mistake and the easiest and most logical way was, in my eyes, to make lentil soup, from scratch. It also provided an amazing distraction from that essay hanging over my head. In a moment of madness I had associated lentils with vegans in Tesco’s and invested in a pack. If there is one thing anyone learns from this article it should be this: lentils expand when heated in water. Naïvely I assumed the more lentils the better and ended up with about twenty pints of sewage-like sludge.
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
15
FEATURES
FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM
GAN FOR A WEEK?
d Griffiths and Simon Lucey to go vegan for a week...
Vegan trivia...
This proved beneficial financially, as every time I wandered into the kitchen peckish, and saw the litres of soup perspiring on the windowsill I quickly turned around not feeling hungry! Instead of the disgusting mixture I turned largely to banana sandwiches, not the varied diet doctors would advise. One reason I was interested in taking on such a challenge was to explore the claimed health benefits, or depending on who you believe, costs. It seems obvious that with a vegan diet of reduced animal fat the chances of heart disease will decrease, but what of those who claim vegans cannot get the required proteins and other necessites found in meat? I certainly felt less energetic and generally unwell after a few days eating only vegan food, however I had not lived on a varied diet; it mainly consisted of banana sandwiches. However, after I ran out of bananas and had to cast my eye around my fridge, I began to feel much better. Some attribute health benefits to the reduction of growth hormones and antibiotics which are found in a lot meat from outside the European Union and USA. Generally doctors advise that with a varied diet incorporating plenty of nuts and seeds, and possibly dietary supplements, there is no reason why a vegan should be any less healthy than someone on a normal diet. Indeed, there is evidence
If there's one thing you can learn from this article: lentils expand when heated that it can prevent prostate cancer. One major problem I have with veganism is breakfast. I confess, if I miss breakfast I get an unattractive mix of stomach grumbling and crankiness, not what is needed when trying to behave intellectually in seminars to impress a) tutors and b) that girl that sits across from me (you know who you are). I’m a Weetabix man, and I experimented with soya milk on my daily dose of rocket fuel but it was so revolting (apparently due to the sweetened nature of the milk) that I had to dispose of it in the bin, and as usual substitute for the reliable banana sandwiches It is harsh to write of vegan food as disgusting; some of the best food I’ve had since coming to univer-
sity has been vegan. It is possible for huge variations if you use you initiative, from mushroom burgers to tofu curries, there are many options, and due to the nature of the ingredients are very quick to cook. It is also unfair to class all vegans as free range Communists as well.
Some notable exceptions include Bryan Adams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Pamela Anderson (shock), and Barry White. The process of becoming a vegan for a week has made me aware of just how much meat I eat, and how it is widely unnecessary. Although I believe becoming a vegan is probably too tough for the average student, I would certainly not write of a move to a vegetarian diet. The process of walking around Tesco’s reading all the labels is also a worthwhile exercise; it is flabbergasting how many ‘E’ numbers are included in everything we eat. Above all I now a lot more respect for those fair-trade hippies I was before so sceptical about. Now where’s my bacon sarny…?"
For more information, visit www.vegansociety.com
Incredibly, in a country with a waistline as big as its mouth, America has more vegans than ‘liberal’ Britain. Up to 1.3% of the US population is vegan, whereas in Britian it is between 0.25% and 0.4%. In 2005, The Times estimated those figures to amount to 250,000 people. Vegan diets are credited with lowering cancer, heart attacks, cholesterol and strokes but you may miss out on calcium, iodine and Vitamin B12 and D. Egg hens are kept in battery cages, 4 or 6 to each pen, which gives them about the same area to stand on as a 12” record cover. The plot of land needed to produce food for one person on a meatbased diet would feed 12 vegetarians, or 20 vegans. One acre of land can produce 165 pounds of beef, or 20,000 pounds of potatoes. A website told me vegans are better in bed, but that doesn’t explain Morrissey, so it might not be a fact- sorry. Animal production requires 8 times as many fossil fuels and is only 1.4 times as nutritious Beef requires 54 times as much energy than vegetables to get 1 unit of protein output.
Lloyd and Simon's Confession Box... Lloyd: Day 1, 10:00am: 1x All Day Breakfast Day 4, 2:00am: 1x slice of grated cheese Day 4, 2:02am: 3x Shreddies (dry) Day 5, 3:00pm: 1x Mum's roast dinner
Simon: Day 3, 9:00 am: 1 x Pint of Brains Bitter... (just kidding) Day 4, 2:02 am: 4x Shreddies (dry) & honey, several times Day 5, 10:15am: white bread
16 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2007
FEATURES
FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM
EQUALITY, EQUALITY, EQUALITY?
With changes in the pipeline to legislation regarding equality at work, Ceri Isfryn asks whether positive discrimination is making the workplace more unfair than ever...
S
ometimes I really do wish I was a black lesbian. There, said it. A century ago, the chances of hearing someone make such a statement would have been slimmer than Dita Von Teese’s waist. But in what’s become a box-ticking culture, suddenly, being part of a minority group is the better thing to be. Over the summer, Equalities Minister Harriet Harman set out plans on equality to the House of Commons. She proposed that a single bill will replace the 116 different pieces of equality legislation in force, including 35 acts, 52 statutory instruments, 13 codes of practice and 16 European Commission directives.
The straight jacket of political correctness restricts companies But is it really realistic to think that a one-size fits all bill will alleviate the problems in workplaces? Creating a blanket set of rules will only open the floodgates to a wave of lawsuits from members of majority groups being unfairly judged due to discrimination on the grounds of their ethnicity, sex or sexual orientation etc. Looking at the positives however, the bill is far more wide-ranging than the legislation that came before it. It now covers issues of gender, race, age, sexuality, disabilities, religion and belief. Currently the Race Relations Act only protects Jewish and Sikh people. The new bill will make it illegal for anyone to be treated unfairly based upon their religious beliefs and also protect those who don't believe in a religion. The bill is set to allow companies to discriminate in favour of female and ethnic minority candidates of equal ability. Despite companies not being legally obliged to enforce the law, the straight jacket of political correctness will make any company not seen to be doing ‘the right thing’ seem like the bad guys. The government website claims that the purpose of the Bill is “to make Britain a fairer place, where people have the opportunity to succeed whatever their race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or beliefs. Fairness and an absence of discrimi-
nation are the hallmarks of a modern, decent society, with a strong economy, which draws on the talents of all.” Of course, there is no denying that discrimination still prevails in the workplace. To this day, part time working women get paid 40% less per hour than full time working men. Similarly, the latest unemployment figures released from the Office of National Statistics showed that the unemployment rate for ethnic minorities is over 11 per cent - twice the national average. They also showed that a black person is three times more likely to be out of work than a white person. The stark reality then seems to be that the only way to solve inequality is to positively discriminate in favour of the minorities. The Cabinet Office refers to it as “positive action” rather than discrimination. A rather shoddy attempt comparable to decorating a
dead Christmas tree, I’m sure you’d agree. I’m not in any way underestimating the magnitude of the problems, and something has to be done to reverse it. But political correctness seems to have lost the plot, making the future seem bleak for any job seeking white male. Sam Knight, chairman of Cardiff University’s Labour Society commented: “we need strong measures for a very serious problem. If we truly believe in equality, then this is the only way that is fair to solve a systemic problem in society. I think this bill can only enhance the equality of all citizens in this country. This is not some form of tokenism by the government but a comprehensive overhaul of unconnected and ineffective legislation” So how does the bill affect graduates looking for their first job? Doesn’t the equality bill make a mockery of the
degree systems? Graduates who spent just as many late nights crash-coursing essays as their minority group counterparts can now expect to be told that they haven’t got the job, because they’re the wrong sex or race.
The equality bill makes a mockery of degree systems What does the government class as a minority group? To make the bill work, the government will have to divide the public into groups. Distinguishing between majority and minority groups like this can inevitably only make the problems worse. Granted, if the bill worked as a kickstart to close the gap of inequality, then that’s all very well. But the reality is
that even if the bill worked temporarily, eventually we would only find ourselves having gone full circle. Positive discrimination and the competitiveness that derives from it could prove very beneficial to employers. Majority group candidates would have to work that bit harder to impress, whereas minority groups are given the jobs on a plate thus have less incentive to work hard. I am sad to say that I, like the government and employers, am speaking using gross stereotypes. To categorize people and create divisions is, in effect, the greatest form of discrimination possible. The problem is like a dog chasing its tail: and positively discriminating by giving smaller dogs longer tails, Mrs Harman, is not going to help.
18 gairrhydd
SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT
OCTOBER.20.2008 SCIENCE@gairrhydd.COM
Studying Schizophrenia: In the UK, the prevalence of schizophrenia is increasing and there is, as yet, no cure. Priya Raj investigates
S
chizophrenia is a debilitating mental illness that affects one percent of the population in all cultures. It is found in equal numbers of men and women, but often has a much later onset in women. The condition is described as having both negative and positive symptoms, with 'positive' effects including hallucinations, voices that converse with or without the patient, and delusions are commonly paranoid. Negative symptoms include loss of sense of pleasure, loss of will or drive, and social withdrawal. There are five types of schizophrenia: paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual. Paranoid schizophrenia is characterized by a preoccupation with one or more delusions, or frequent auditory hallucinations. Cognitive function remains relatively well preserved. Disorganized schizophrenia causes haphazard speech and behaviour, whereas the Catatonic strain is characterised by immobility, excessive purposeless motor activity or peculiarities of voluntary movement (e.g., posturing, prominent mannerisms, grimacing). A patient is said to have undifferentiated schizophrenia if none of the criteria for paranoid, disorganized, or catatonic types are met. Residual schizophrenia is characterized by the continued presence of negative symptoms and at least two attenuated positive symptoms. A patient is diagnosed with residual type if he or she has no significant positive psychotic features. It is widely thought that the development of schizophrenia is influenced by a chemical in the brain, the neurotransmitter dopamine. This substance is also a hormone, responsible for activating the five types of dopamine receptors. Dopamine has many functions in the brain, including important roles in behavior and cognition, mo-
O’Donovan, Nick Craddock, and Michael Owen examined DNA samples from over 7,000 individuals with schizophrenia, and almost 13,000 people without the disorder. Their findings, which are reported in the Nature Genetics journal, show that DNA variants which are common in the general population also contribute to some individuals developing schizophrenia. The researchers believe the risk genes may offer advantages in the brain function of unaffected people, which is why they can be found in the population at large. Among the genes reported, one ap-
Life stresses may trigger schizophrenia in people whose genetics leave them susceptible
tor activity, motivation and reward, sleep, mood, attention, and learning. Dopaminergic neurons (i.e. neurons whose primary neurotransmitter is
Schizophrenia is influenced by a chemical in the brain dopamine) are present chiefly in key areas of the brain. In such affected individuals there is commonly an increased dopaminergic
activity in the mesolimbic pathway, the area involved in creating pleasurable feelings, which is often associated with feelings of reward and desire. The Finnish Adoptive society of Schizophrenia has confirmed that genetics plays a large role in the development of the condition. Now, scientists from Cardiff University have identified a risk gene associated with the mental health disorder schizophrenia. An international group of researchers, led by professors Michael
pears to act by switching other genes on and off. Professor O’Donovan stated: “We looked for common changes in the genetic code that were more frequent in people with schizophrenia than people without it. Among the genes we found, the evidence for the ZNF804A gene was particularly strong. We now need to determine the identity of the genes that it can switch on and off. Finding out which ones are regulated should tell us a lot about what biochemical disturbances result in disease, and provide further vital clues into the origins of schizophrenia and, hopefully, new ways of treating it.” The group also found that the gene influences risk of the major mood disorder known as bipolar disorder or manic-depression. Researchers from the UK, Germany, Japan, China, Israel, America and Australia were recruited, funded by the Medical Research Council and
colleagues at Duke University explored this question by using a line of mice genetically engineered to lack a functional receptor essential for detecting the taste of sweetness. In these mice, any change in reward behaviour cannot be due to food palatability or the sensation of sweetness. If these mice prefer sweetness, it is because sweeter foods have more calories, implying that there is something inherently rewarding about the consump-
tion of calories. Although the genetically altered mice couldn’t taste the sweetness, they learned to prefer the sweeter foods. This finding suggests that mice without functional sweet taste receptors were able to detect the reinforcing caloric properties of sucrose in the absence of sweet taste receptors. Science aside, there appears to be something inherently pleasurable about food that contains calories.
Wellcome Trust. The group’s results are one of three breakthrough findings in schizophrenia research which are being published in scientific journals Nature and Nature Genetics. Two of these findings involve the work of the Cardiff University team. In the paper published in Nature, Cardiff scientists involved in The International Schizophrenia Consortium found that people with schizophrenia are more likely to have an excess of rare mutations in the form of deletions and duplications of large segments of genetic material. Environmental factors have also been linked to increases in the risk of developing schizophrenia. Studies of such environmental influences indicate a number of prenatal complications. Rhesus incompatibility (a blood protein incompatibility), maternal influenza infections, and maternal malnutrition are being investigated as potential sources of increased schizophrenia risk. Life stressors may trigger schizophrenia in people whose genetics leave them susceptible to the illness. Ending relationships, leaving home, and other life stressors have been linked to the onset of schizophrenia in some cases. There are various treatments available to relieve some of the symptoms suffered. Individual, group, and family treatments have been developed as therapies for persons with schizophrenia. These interventions offer support, education, and options for reducing critical and emotionally-involved attitudes and behaviours towards patients. Antipsychotic drugs are available, but they are often associated with various side effects, for example slowness of movement, tremors and muscle spasms. It's clear that everyday new discoveries are being made; perhaps one such discovery will lead to a cure.
Strange but true Why Calories Taste Delicious: Eating and the Brain
T
he obesity epidemic has led to increased scientific interest in how the brain controls human feeding behaviour. Why do we get hungry? What biological mechanisms tell us what to eat and when to stop eating? It’s long been assumed that two neurobiological mechanisms largely govern food intake: one that controls the need to eat and one that controls the desire to eat.
The hypothalamus of the brain directs food intake based on its metabolic value—when you’re very hungry, you are drawn to food with lots of calories. This is thought to be controlled by the dopamine reward system which may also sense a food’s energy content. In other words, does the dopamine system care about calories, or is it just concerned with taste and pleasure? Neuroscientist Ivan de Araujo and
Brain cake, anyone?
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
19
TAF-OD
TAFOD@gairrhydd.COM
Paris, Milan, New York... Caerdydd?
Beth ydy’ch barn chi am ffasiwn Caerdydd? Yw hi’n ddinas sy’n dilyn ffasiwn y stryd fawr neu’n ffindio ffordd ei hun? Neu yw hi’n hollol an-ffasiynol? Sara Orwig a Elin Gwyn Taf-od Editors
W
rth gerdded i lawr Stryd y Frenhines mae pob math o ffasiynau i’w gweld – o’r topshop-holics i’r Mods a’r hippies. Er hyn mae nifer o’r trigolion i weld yn byw mewn hoodies a boots Ugg. O ran ffasiwn Prydain, mae dillad mwy alternative yn dod i’r fei. Erbyn hyn mae pobl yn gweld yr ochr ddrwg i ffasiwn y stryd fawr, bod hynny’r pris neu’r ffaith bod nifer o’r siopau yma’n defnyddio sweatshops. Neu efallai fod pobl wedi syrffedu ar wisgo ‘run peth a phobl eraill. Mae dillad vintage wedi dod yn beth ffasiynnol iawn, ac erbyn hyn mae hi’n fwy derbynniol i chi siopa mewn siopau elysen. Mae gan Gaerdydd lawer i’w gynnig os mae ffasiwn y stryd fawr sy’n mynd a’ch pryd. Mae Stryd y Frenhines yn llawn enwau mawr sy’n edrych i ddenu myfyrwyr, gyda rhai siopau’n cynnig gostyngiadau pris i fyfyrwyr, fel arfer o 10%. Yn ogystal a hyn mae Topshop yn cynnal nosweithau lle mae’r gostyngiad yn
20% ar ddechrau tymor yr hydref – i’r rhai wnaeth ei fethu wythnos dwytha, rhowch o’n eich dyddiadur at flwyddyn nesa! Mae na hefyd ffair ffasiwn vintage yn cael ei chynnal ar Ddydd Sul yr 30fed o Dachwedd yn Neuadd y Ddinas, o 10yb tan 5yh. Mae’n rhaid talu i fynd i mewn, ond os mai’r math yma o ffasiwn sy’n mynd a’ch bryd, mae’n siwr ei fod o werth y pres! Am fwy o wybodaeth ewch i www.blindlemonvintage.co.uk. Mae rhai siopau anibynnol hefyd yn gwerthu ffaswin vintage, fel Hobos yn yr High Street Arcade. Os mai siopau elysen sy’n mynd a’ch pryd, bydd rhaid mentro’n bellach na’r stryd fawr. Mae nifer i’w cael ar Albany Road a Whitchurch Road, ac mae nifer yn llechu mewn strydoedd bach Caerdydd. Er bod angen mynedd â siopa elysen, mae’r holl dwrio yn gwneud ffindio dilledyn da yn gymaint mwy buddiol – heb sôn am fod llawer rhatach! Mae rhai pobl hefyd wedi dechrau addasu dillad y maent yn eu prynu o siop elysen a rhoi gwedd newydd iddynt, er bod angen dipyn o sgil gwnïo ar gyfer gwneud hynny. Hyd yn oed os nad ydych eisiau prynu popeth o siop elysen, mae
nhw’n le gwych i edrych am ddillad fancy dress, sy’n beth da i’w gofio o feddwl bod nifer uchel o socials a phartis yn rhai gwisg ffansi. Prin y gellir fynd allan yng Nghaerdydd heb weld rhywun mewn gwisg wallgof! Mae un lle arall ar gyfer darganfod dillad alternative; y rhyngrwyd. Os ydych yn ‘siopwr cydwybodol’ – sef ethical shopper - ewch i www.alotoforganics.co.uk i gael rhestr hirfaith o wefannau sy’n gwerthu pob math o ddillad – rhai masnach deg, rhai organig, rhai wedi ei hailgylchu. I’r rhai sy’n meddwl mai dillad hemp di-siap fydd rhain i gyd, mae pethau wedi newid cryn dipyn erbyn hyn! Mae rhai o’r dillad braidd yn rhy ddrud at budget stiwdant gan ei bod nhw wedi ei gwneud â llaw, ond mae nifer o’r dillad yn rhesymol iawn – yn enwedig pan mae nhw’n cael sêl neu gynnig arbennig, fel mae nifer o’r gwefannau’n dueddol o’i wneud. Yn ogystal â’r gwefannau yma, mae e-bay dal yn cael ei gysidro fel un o’r llefydd gorau i brynu dillad vintage yn rhad ac yn hawdd. Felly, ffasiwn Caerdydd? Gyda’r holl ffyrdd yma o brynu dillad gwreiddiol yn hawdd, fydd dim esgys bellach i fyw yn eich hoodie!
20 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
JOBS AND MONEY
JOBS@gairrhydd.COM
Crunch? What crunch? As banks cut interest rates and governments hatch various plans for financial recovery, what does the economical turmoil actually mean for the average student? Magdalene Quartey Jobs and Money Editor
A
re we even aware that there is a financial regression and if so how is the student coping in what looks to be an economic armageddon. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) warned that Britain was already in a recession, which could see unemployment rise by 350,000 by next year. According to the BBC news, unemployment has reached an all time high at 5.5%, so if you are having a hard time finding something in the job market, it is very likely that your fortune is not about to change anytime soon because redundancies are rising and number of vacancies on the drop. A trend that is ‘firmly upwards and will probably continue until the economy starts to pick up again’, according to the BBC. The facts and figures suggest an economic recession on the horizon, but the key question is that, how does this financial crisis affect the average student? You are being made aware of all these facts and figures but you begin to question what this recession has to do with you, a reflection of the mood of the entire student body?
How does this financial crisis affect the average student? Looking around at Cardiff University, it is hard to imagine that this buoyant, stagnant mass of students are aware of the ‘beginning of the end’ of the economy that is looming. Is this a wrong perception though? One does have to wonder at all if the financial pinch that governments of the world and economical experts are raving about is indeed something that students should be wary about. The question of course is how do you worry about a force you have no control over or one that has not yet infused into your world, or has it? If you are now seriously in thought about the economy, you should be because of course the economy does have an effect on you as well. Have you thought about what an economical regression would mean. What is apparent is that you will have by now
heard of the credit crunch but perhaps you do not really understand its consequences. Let's review a few details. 1. The high street, apparently our first stop for affordable ‘designer’ wear is beginning to feel the pinch. This pinch has already had its impact on the US high street, with shops like Saks, JC Penny and Gap experiencing falls in sales. And as we know, what America experiences, Britain is apt to endure as well. 2. Perhaps you might have caught wind of it in the last few days but if you haven’t, pay attention. It would seem that a lot of local councils around the country are panicking about their investments that is now frozen up in collapsed Icelandic banks. What this might possibly mean for you is higher expenses in terms of things like local transports, or not getting certain amenities you feel should be provided by the council due to shortage of funds. 3. Banks in Britain are not fairing that much better. What this could mean is that you might have a harder time trying to increase your overdraft limit as banks are very wary now of lending money which quite frankly they don’t have. Simply put, banks are now focused more on their own interests than yours. All this summed up just equates
to one little phrase, ‘living costs’. If you’ve found that rent, food, travel, jobs, etcetera, are becoming harder to acquire and maintain, the suggestion is that, the current financial panic is behind it. It may not have hit you just yet and maybe it will not affect students at all. Truth is if it is as bad as the financial experts are making it out to be, sooner or later, as we always are, students will be on the receiving end of
One does have to wonder at all if the financial pinch is indeed something that students should be wary about. it. Maybe the truth is we don't actually care that much about it, but if the efforts by the government to save the banks falls through or there are further unstabilities in the stock market, students will get hit. Think of it this way, what is to say that the government wouldn't increase tuition fees again next year in order to get extra money in its coffers. The website yougofurther has suggested that right now
what students are most worried about is 'the rising cost of oil, gas, electricity and food'. ''The rising cost of oil puts travel costs up which raises food costs. All this puts strain on a student’s restricted budget. Food costs are rising all the time, which means students need to be careful what and where they buy their food. Asda is still by far the cheapest supermarket." A few suggestions to help reduce your food bill. - Make a list before you go shopping to stop impulse buys. - Check the ‘use by date’ before putting it in your trolley so you don’t have to buy new food when yours goes off. - Try own brand food, in most cases it tastes the same as the brand name. - Shop later in the day to see more reduced offers in store. Freeze this food to eat later in the week. Remeber the bank of mum and dad? According to the NUS, your parents' income may be affected by the economic crisis. ''With the effects of the credit crisis increasing mortgage interest, students may find that less of their parental income than before is available to them'', it's been said. For the majority of you, things are beginnng to make more sense.
STUDENT ENTERPRISE: Could it be you?
E
ver wondered what it would be like to own a business? Yes, then you might like to hear about student Enterprise, a free service for Cardiff University students and alumni offering skills development, events, competitions and business support. The service has a variety of parts to it focusing on different areas in business, with events running throughout the year. The idea behind Student Enterprise is, of course, to help young people develop their potential as entrepreneurs and learn how to start and run a successful business. Now, there are two new programs that are being introduced this week which are really fun and of course rewarding. The first is Npower Innovation Challenge, which is open to teams of students from all Societies and AU Clubs in the Cardiff University Students’ Union. Teams compete to win prize money of up to £1000 for their AU Club or Society. To enter your team, you send an email (stating ‘Innovation Challenge’) to Antonia in Student Enterprise at Enterprise@Cardiff.ac.uk to request an application form. The second is SPARK Business Idea Competition 2009. This works along the lines of Dragon’s Den (with slightly less money and more smiles from the judges), where a shortlist of candidates will be invited to submit a detailed business plan and pitch their business idea to a panel of judges at the Spark final. Best idea wins £1000, with two runners up collecting £500 each. SPARK 2009 will be launching October 2008, so keep a look out and start bullet pointing those genius ideas now. Student Enterprise has an events calendar that lets you know what events are being held and when. This can be found either on the student enterprise website at www.cardiff. ac.uk/enterprise or by going to the third floor of the SU. If you are ready to give it a go now, the next event is Enterprise Discovery, on Tuesday, 21 October, 6.30– 7.30pm. Visit www.surveys. cardiff.ac.uk/enterpriseautumn08 to book your place. Here are a few ideas of the different programs: Enterprise Skills - Add another dimension to your degree and enhance your career prospects. Business Support - Gain advice and resources to develop your own business or social enterprise. Centreprise - Student business incubation unit. If you already run a business or have a venture you want to develop or you need a professional office premise to work in and hold business meetings.
XFMDPNF!UP!TXBOTFBÖT! OFXFTU!EFTUJOBUJPO/ Kvtu!ßojtijoh!zpvs!efhsff@! Xpvme!zpv!mjlf!up!ufbdi!bu!qsjnbsz!ps!tfdpoebsz!mfwfm@ Xiz!opu!tuvez!gps!b!QHDF!boe!hbjo!rvbmjßfe!ufbdifs!tubuvt@ Usbjo!jo!Xbmft!boe!zpv!dpvme!fbso!xijmtu!tuvezjoh
QHDF!Tfdpoebsz!Jogpsnbujpo!Npsojoh! Tuesday, 11th November 2008 The Swansea School of Education Secondary subjects:
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For these subjects above you will receive a Training Grant of £7,200 and a Teaching Grant of £5,000*
Xfmti!
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For these subjects above you will receive a Training Grant of £7,200 and a Teaching Grant of £2,500*
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For these subjects above you will receive a Training Grant of £4,200* For all Primary PGCE courses, you receive a Training Grant of £2,200*
If you would like to attend, please register by contacting Kelly Harsant on 01792 482105 or email kelly.harsant@smu.ac.uk *Training grant figures are subject to review for 2009 entry.
“I don’t want to spend my entire graduate scheme staring at the same four walls.” Bring your aspirations to LIFE. KPMG LIFE is our on-campus event. It’s your chance to learn the facts about who we are, what we do and how we offer an exciting range of graduate opportunities across Audit, Tax and Advisory. Discover the true meaning of LIFE. Come and see us on 29th October in the Julian Hodge Building between 6.30-8.30pm. Pre-register at kpmg.co.uk/life for fast-track entry.
© 2008 KPMG Europe LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, is a holding company of a number of members of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International, a Swiss cooperative. KPMG Europe LLP and KPMG International provide no client services.
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gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008 TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM .
HOT
!TELLY!
23
TELLY
NOT
Better Than Egg In Soup.
A
fter last week's international break, which forced us to use tea and monotonous conversation - rather than beer and football - to get through the week, it's back to normal with the return of the Champions League. Not only that, ladies and gentlemen, but it's the biggie this week: Manchester United versus Celtic. We can expect a veritable feast (is that phrase ever used in reference to anything besides football?) of attacking prowess, with the triumverate of Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov taking on the defensive duo of Gary Caldwell and Stephen McManus. I mean no disrespect to the Celtic pair when I say it will be like trying to block the path of a tank by putting Vanessa Feltz in the way - the arbitrary resistance will only encourage the United players to attack with even more vigour and do as much damage as possible. Equally, I can't imagine Georgios Samaras, a striker who played for Manchester City for two years but only found the back of the net eight times causing Vidic and Ferdinand any problems.
The more alert of you may have realised that, since Liverpool are not the feature match on ITV1 for the first time in approximately 89 years, David Pleat will be unable to treat us with his bizarre pronunciations of the likes of Ben-Yanoon and Masker-Rhino (Yossi Benayoun and Javier Maschera-
extra-terrestrial If like me, you are party to the delights of Virgin Media TV, then please treat yourself to a daily dose of The Ninja Warrior on Challenge. Although it presents the mature older brother as Takeshi's Castle’s hyperactive younger sibling, The Ninja Warrior is effectively the deformed offspring of Gladiators and You’ve Been Framed. Although the greatest ‘ninjas’ are impressive, the early rounds invite amateurs to participate, and anyone who doesn’t laugh at them falling from obstacles and possibly suffering serious injuries has a heart of stone. For those of you amazed or appalled by the craptitude of Craig Charles’ commentary on Takeshi’s Castle (adjective invented to aid alliteration), wait until you hear Stuart Hall. Taking
a break from his worryingly homoerotic descriptions of premiership footballers on Radio 5, Hall brings The Mighty Boosh’s Dixon Bainbridge to life in his pronunciations of events like the ‘jump hang’. If by the end of the show you are not filled with a mixture of admiration and sadistic laughter then I will be surprised.
no, if you were wondering), and will be forced to turn his attention to some different names. I for one am looking forward to the audible panic when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink takes to the field, although knowing Pleat he will probably struggle with the likes of Robson and Brown.
You have probably realised by now that ITV doesn't show the London teams unless they absolutely have to, so we can expect Arsenal's trip to Fenerbahce to be given the usual tenminute slot in the late-night highlights programme, along with the goals from the other six matches and extended highlights of the live game including 'expert' analysis from such wellrespected figures as Andy Townsend and Robbie Earle. Because we need to rewatch the match we saw a mere four hours earlier, which had analysis at half-time and full-time, and was SHOWN ON THE SAME CHANNEL! Don't get me wrong, I'll still be watching, although my living room will be peppered with abuse aimed at Pleat and his partner-in-crime Clive Tyldesley. Pleat's idiocy seemed to rub off on Tyldesley recently, when the ITV commentator came up with the unintentionally hilarious 'Scholes is now on his feet in front of us, but very gingerly'.
SOAPS My, Hollyoaks’ producers aren’t holding back are they, what's with the recent turn-over of scripts this week?! With Niall finally reaching his deserved end (or has he?) and the McQueens keeping Kleenex in profit, as from Monday this weekly helping looks set to be a corker! Furthermore, continuing in old dramatic ‘Oaks’ fashion, Jack faces the police interrogation about his faked death, whilst The Dog continues to crumble away around a rather distraught and inconsolable Frankie . Corrie’s residents are in an equal state of grief following on from last week’s events as they all mourn the death of Liam, with preparations for his funeral now under-
way. In other Weatherfield news, in an attic far, far away, Rosie continues to be held hostage and this week demands her captor to tell her when she will be released. Keep her there I say! Hell, lock her in and throw away the key if need be...it keeps the storylines coming and I prefer this helpless and hard-done-by version of the teen!
FILM
GALAXY QUEST, BBC1, FRIDAY )))) When Tim Allen was famous he made this hilarious film about an actor mistaken by aliens to be a real space commander. Alan Rickman completely steals the show as a bitter co-star and the whole thing is just plain enjoyable. I like nothing better than Hollywood poking fun at itself. SAW, CH4, SATURDAY )) If you like nothing more than seeing some people be horrifically tortured then this is probably one of your all time faves. For some it's all too much, but personally I enjoy the suprisingly twisty plot and cringe my way through the bloodier parts.
FUDGE TUNNEL
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, CH4, SUNDAY ))) Ah, the sweet innocence of childhood. There's nothing better to watch on a Sunday afternoon than a stop-motion animation about an orphan taking a journey to New York in a giant peach. Gotta love that Roald Dahl.
24 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
TELEVISION
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
MONDAY Breakfast BBC1 6.00am
Have I Got News For You BBC2 10.00pm
BBC 1
Violent Women: Tonight ITV1 8.00pm
BBC 2
20th October Dannii Minogue's Birthday
Extraordinary Animals In The Womb C4 12.35pm
ITV 1
Channel 4 6:10am Kids TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am US Sitcoms 9:30am Empire 10:20am Get Me The Producer 11:10am Sex, Lies and Soaps 11:35pmThe KNTV Show 12:00pm News At Noon 12:30pm Supernanny US
Unbreakable five 9.00pm Five 6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Grey's Anatomy 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Going For Gold
6:00am Breakfast 9:30am Real Rescues 10:00am Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 11:00am Open House 11:30am Cash in the Attic 12:15pm Bargain Hunt
6:00am CBeebies 12:00pm The Daily Politics 12:30 Working Lunch
6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 8:35am LK Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:15am ITV News and Weather 11:20am ITV Wales News and Weather 11:25am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women
1:00pm BBC News 1:30pm BBC Wales Today 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 Animal Park: Wild In Africa 2:15pm Market Kitchen 3:00pm Murder, She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It 4:00pm Are You An Egghead?
1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weath- 1:25pm Distant Drums 3:25pm Countdown er 4:15pm Deal or No Deal 2:00pm 60 Minute Makeover 3:00pm The Alan Titchmarsh Show 4:00pm Midsomer Murders
5:15pm The Weakest Link
5:15pm Escape to the Country
5:00pm Britain’s Best Dish
5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show
5:00pm Five News 5:30pm Neighbours
6:00pm BBC News and BBC Wales Today 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm Watchdog 7:57pm BBC News and Regional News 8:00pm EastEnders 8:30pm Panorama 9:00pm Crimewatch
6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two 7:00pm Legends: The Chieftans 8:00pm University Challenge 8:30pm What To Eat Now
6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale 7:30pm Coronation Street 8:00pm Violent Women: Tonight 8:30pm Coronation Street
6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 8:00pm Dispatches: The Truth About Your Energy Bill
6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Lights, Camera, Animals 7:00pm Five News 7:30pm Top Trumps: Rescue Rigs 8:00pm The Gadget Show
9:00pm Amazon with Bruce Parry
9:00pm Wired
9:00pm Extraordinary Animals In The Womb
9:00pm Unbreakable
10:00pm BBC News, BBC Wales Today and BBC Weather 10:35pm The Dark Side of Fame With Piers Morgan 11:20pm Inside Sport 11:50am Mistaken Identity
10:00pm Have I Got News For You 10:30pm Newsnight
10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:35pm Real Crime: Killer On The Run
10:35 Men Of Honor
10:00pm Paul Merton in India
11:20am Price Of Vice 12:20am Ellery Queen
1:05am: Coming Up: And Kill Them 11:35pm Police, Camera, Action 12:40am UEFA Champions League Weekly
PICK OF THE DAY Just Shoot Me, C4, 8.00am
Unless you have a 9 o’clock lecture, you shouldn’t be up at this hour! However, if you’re one of those lucky few about to engage in an early morning stroll to the Bute building then give this programme a go to prepare yourself for the day ahead! With overseas offerings in the form of Friends and That 70’s Show, this American sitcom never got much of a look in. However, after watching just a few episodes in the mornings back in my schooldays, I began to realise the brilliance of the characters and was instantly hooked. Girl-About-town 80’s model Nina Van Horn and camp, straight-talking assistant Dennis Finch are the unanimous stars of the show! Yet, if you think you’ve seen the main character Maya Gallo, played by Laura San Giacomo, somewhere before, you would be right in thinking so; she was Julia Roberts’ prossy friend in Pretty Woman…now there’s a fact for you!
1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Going For Gold Extra 3:05pm Loving Evangeline
11:05pm Chinatown 1:20 NFL
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
TELEVISION
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
TUESDAY Imagine...A Love Story BBC1 10.35am
All Over The Shop BBC2 7.30pm
BBC 1
BBC 2
60 Minute Makeover ITV1 2.00pm
21st October Apple Day
Texas Lady C4 1.45pm
ITV
Channel 4
Going For Gold five 2.50pm Five
6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 8:35am LK Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:15am ITV News and Weather 11:20am ITV Wales News and Weather 11:25am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women
6:00am Kids TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am US Sitcoms 9.30am Empire 10.20am Get Me The Producer 11:10am Sex, Lies and Soaps 11.35am The KNTV Show 12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm Come Dine With Me
6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Grey's Anatomy 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Going For Gold
1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm 60 Minute Makeover 3:00pm The Alan Titchmarsh Show 4:00pm Midsomer Murders
1:45pm Texas Lady 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal
1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Going For Gold 3:10pm A Child's Cry For Help
5:00pm Britain’s Best Dish
5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show
5:00pm Five News 5:30pm Neighbours
5:15pm Escape to the Country 6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two 7:00pm Elephant's Of Samburu 7.30pm All Over The Shop 8:00pm Twiggy's Frock Swap 9:00pm British Style Genius
6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale 8:00pm UEFA Champions League: Manchester Utd. V Celtic
6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 8:00pm Miss Naked Beauty
6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Lights, Camera, Animals 7:00pm Five News 7:30pm Highland Emergency 8:00pm Nature Shock
9:00pm Jamie’s Ministry of Food
9:00pm CSI: Miami
10:00pm BBC News, BBC Wales Today 10:00pm Later Live...with Jools Holland 10.30pm Newsnight and BBC Weather 10:35pm Imagine...A Love Story
10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:45pm: UEFA Champions League Highlights
10:00pm Dawn Porter: The Polygamist's Wife
10:00pm CSI: NY
11:35pm Film 2008 with Jonathan 11:20pm Later Live...with Jools Holland 12:20am Savile Row Ross 1:20am Joins BBC News 11:55pm White Sands
12:05am: Goodwood Revival 1:00am Quincy ME
11:05pm The Family 12:10am Party Poker Nations Cup 2008
11:00pm Law and Order: SVU 12:00am The FBI Files 1:00am Disorderly Conduct
6:00am CBeebies 6:00am Breakfast 12:00pm The Daily Politics 9:15am Real Rescues 10:00am Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 11:00am Open House 11:30am Cash in the Attic 12:15pm Bargain Hunt
1:00pm BBC News 1:30pm BBC Wales Today 1:45pm Doctors 2:15pm Diagnosis Murder 3:00pm BBC News 3:05pm CBBC
1:00pm Out of the Blue 1:30pm Wild In Africa 2.15pm Market Kitchen 3:00pm Murder She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It! 4:30pm Are You An Egghead?
5:15pm The Weakest Link
6:00pm BBC News 6:30pm BBC Wales Today 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm EastEnders 7:57pm BBC News and Regional News 8:00pm Holby City 9:00pm Sunshine
25
PICK OF THE DAY Twiggy's Frock Swap, BBC2, 8.00pm The sixties style icon fronts yet another media ploy to get the ‘older woman’ interested in fashion. Not content with her regular appearance in the Marks and Spencer ad campaigns and voicing her foreverneutral opinions as a fourth judge on America’s Next Top Model, Twiggy hosts this clothes swapping extravaganza, which sees a hundred women exchanging their vintage pieces with each other for a whole new look. Assisting the one-time cover girl in the Beeb’s equivalent to Trinny and Susannah Undress The Nation, are Lauren Laverne and Grazia style director, Paula Reid, on hand to dish out their advice and transform the normal folk into relatively ‘acceptable’citizens. Personally, I’d steer clear of this show unless you’re over 40 and appreciate Cliff Richard; but I like Twiggy, so do the good thing and recommend it to your mum instead!
26 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
WEDNESDAY
X-Ray BBC1 7.30pm BBC 1
Lifeline BBC2 2.00pm BBC 2
60 Minute Makeover ITV1 2.00pm ITV 1
22nd October Arsene Wenger's Birthday
At Gunpoint C4 1.50pm Channel 4 6:10am Kids TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am US Sitcoms 9:30am Empire 10:20am Get Me the Producer 11:10am Sex, Lies and Soaps 11:35am The KNTV Show 12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm Come Dine with Me
Going For Gold five 12.45pm Five
6:00am Breakfast 9:15am Real Rescues 10:00am Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 11:00am Open House 11:30am Cash in the Attic 12:15pm Bargain Hunt
6:00am CBBC 10:00am Educational TV 11:00am am.pm
6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 8:35am LK Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:15am ITV News and Weather 11:20am The West Today 11:25am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women
1:00pm BBC News at One 1:30pm BBC Wales Today 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 2:15pm Market Kitchen 3:00pm Murder, She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It! 4:30pm Are You an Egghead?
1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and 1:50pm At Gunpoint 3:25pm Countdown Weather 4:15pm Deal or No Deal 2:00pm 60 Minute Makeover 3:00pm The Alan Titchmarsh Show 4:00pm Midsomer Murders
5:15pm The Weakest Link
5:15pm Escape to the Country
5:00pm Britain's Best Dish
5:00pm The Paul O'Grady Show
5:00pm Five News 5:30pm Neighbours
6:00pm BBC News at Six 6:30pm BBC Wales Today 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm X-Ray 8:00pm After You've Gone 8:30pm Coal House at War
6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two 7:00pm Who Do You Think You Are? 8:00pm The Restaurant
6:00pm The West Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale 7:30pm Coronation Street 8:00pm The Bill: The Rookie
6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:55pm 3 Minute Wonder: New Sensations 2008 8:00pm Supernanny US
6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Lights, Camera, Animals 7:00pm Five News 7:30pm It Pays to Watch 8:00pm Axe Men
9:00pm Silent Witness
9:00pm Heroes 9:45pm Heroes Unmasked
9:00pm Greatest Cities of the World 9:00pm The Family with Griff Rhys Jones
9:00pm Paul Merton in India
10:00pm BBC News at Ten 10:35pm The National Lottery Draws 10:45pm Wildlife Crime with Iolo Williams 11:15pm Medium 11:55pm Me without You 1:40am Weatherview 1:45am Sign Zone: See Hear
10:00pm Mock the Week 10:30pm Newsnight
10:00pm Desperate Housewives 10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:40pm Bond: The South Bank Show
10:00pm Banged Up Abroad
11:20pm The Electric Proms 2008: Burt Bacharach 12:05am Joins BBC News
11:40pm Numb3rs 12:40am Bingo Night Live 1:40am Raines
PICK OF THE DAY Heroes, BBC2, 9:00pm I've given into Heroes, and there's a little piece of my soul that feels dirty. It's not that good a programme, if you look at it objectively - everyone's too pretty, the dialogue is frankly unbelievable and the plots don't add up to much. But it's addictive. This series is promising - Nikki and Jessica have gone, to be replaced by some other personality who is hopefully less irritating. Mohinder's annoying moralising hasn't stopped, but his recent peeling skin may mean he's about to die. There also seems to be a worrying development with the Petrellis, though - in Heroes world, everyone with a power can be connected to them. They're worse than rabbits for procreating. It's all ok, though. Last week, Mr Bennett and Sylar teamed up for some awesome tag-team whoop-ass. In my dreams, they're going to take out all of the other Heroes and start a new order of wonder.
11:05pm Jamie's Ministry of Food 12:05am T-Mobile Transmission: Collaborations 12:25am 4 Music: JD Set Presents Dykeenies
6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Grey's Anatomy 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Going for Gold
1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Going for Gold Extra 3:05pm Separated by Murder
11:05pm Unbreakable 12:05am PartyPoker.com World Open IV 1:05am Major League Baseball
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
THURSDAY Holiday Weatherview BBC1 12.50pm
The Restaurant BBC2 8.00pm
BBC 1
The Bill: Fools Rush In ITV1 8.00pm
BBC 2
ITV 1
23rd October Hungary National Day
Mum, Heroin and Me C4 9.00pm Channel 4
Children Of My Heart five 3.00pm Five
6:00am Breakfast 9:15am Real Rescues 10:00am Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 11:00am Open House 11:30am Cash in the Attic 12:15pm Bargain Hunt
6:00am CBBC 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 11:15am ITV News and Weather 11:20am The West Today 11:25am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women
6:00am Kids' TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am US Sitcoms 9:30am Empire 10:20am Get Me the Producer 11:10am Sex, Lies and Soaps 11:35am The KNTV Show 12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm Come Dine with Me
6:00am Kids' TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Grey's Anatomy 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Going for Gold
1:00pm BBC News at One 1:30pm BBC Wales Today 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 Animal Park: Wild In Africa 2:15pm Market Kitchen 3:00pm Murder She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It! 4:30pm Are You an Egghead?
1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm 60 Minute Makeover 3:00pm The Alan Titchmarsh Show 4:00pm Midsomer Murders
1:50pm Face of a Fugitive 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal
1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Going for Gold Extra 3:00pm Children of My Heart
5:15pm The Weakest Link
5:15pm Escape to the Country
5:00pm Britain's Best Dish
5:00pm The Paul O'Grady Show
5:00pm Five News 5:30pm Neighbours
6:00pm BBC News at Six 6:30pm BBC Wales Today 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm EastEnders 8:00pm The Planners Are Coming 8:30pm Week In, Week Out Special
6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two 7:00pm The Real Monarch Of The Glen 7:30pm My Secret Wales 8:00pm The Restaurant
6:00pm The West Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale 8:00pm The Bill: Fools Rush In
6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:55pm 3 Minute Wonder: New Sensations 2008 8:00pm River Cottage Autumn
6:00pm UEFA Cup Football 8:10pm UEFA Cup Football
9:00pm Silent Witness
9:00pm Never Mind the Buzzcocks 9:30pm Beautiful People
9:00pm Real Crime: Death of a Hostess
9:00pm Mum, Heroin and Me
10:00pm BBC News at Ten 10:25pm BBC Wales Today 10:35pm Dragon's Eye
10:00pm Sport Wales 10:30pm Newsnight
10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:40pm Natural Born Sellers
10:00pm 8 Out of 10 Cats 10:35pm Star Stories
10:20pm The Glimmer Man
11:05pm Question Time 12:05am This Week 12:50am Holiday Weatherview 12:55am Sign Zone: Watchdog
11:20pm The Graham Norton Show 11:50am The Electric Proms: The Streets 12:35am Joins BBC News
11:40pm The West This Week 12:10am Bingo Night Live 1:15am Motorsport UK
11:10pm When Women Rule the World 12:10am 4 Music: 4 Music Presents: Sugababes 12:50am Paar
12:05am Quiz Call 1:00am Major League Baseball 4:20am Ironman Triathlon
PICK OF THE DAY Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two, BBC2, 6.30pm It may seem a tad obsessive to watch these daily updates on the dancers. And it probably is. Anything interesting that happens - suspend your disbelief, for this does occasionally occur - gets put onto the main show on Saturday anyway. But ITT is more than just mindless pap for those with nothing else to watch while having tea. Claudia Winkleman, not half as annoying as Tess Daly ('look! I have friends! We play on our DS together!'), gives more of an insight into everyone on the show. Yes, I do only generally watch the episodes with Anton Du Beke, but there's so much more, and I'm really just trying to justify watching a show with celebrities dancing. A show aimed, quite firmly, at the middle-aged bracket. But ITT means we get to see Craig being nice to people! We get to see Tom and Austin flirting and cuddling on the sofa! And we get to see Anton, cruelly ejected on week two!
27
28 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
FRIDAY
Little Britain USA BBC1 9.30pm BBC 1
Fossil Detective BBC2 1.00pm BBC 2
24th October United Nations Day
Public vs Police ITV1 8.00pm ITV 1
Empire C4 9.30am
Great Ocean Adventures five 4.25am
Channel 4
Five
6:00am Breakfast 9:15am Real Rescues 10:00am Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 11:00am Open House 11:30am Cash in the Attic 12:15pm Bargain Hunt
6:00am CBBC 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 This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women
6:00am Kids' TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am Everybody Loves Raymond 8:00am Just Shoot Me 9:00am Frasier 9:30am Empire 11:10am World of Difference 11:35am The KNTV Show 12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm Supernanny US
6:00am Kids' TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Grey's Anatomy 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Going for Gold
1:00pm BBC News 1:30pm BBC Wales Today 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 Animal Park: Wild in Africa 2:15pm Market Kitchen 3:00pm Murder, She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It! 4:30pm Are You An Egghead?
1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm 60 Minute Makeover 3:00pm The Alan Titchmarsh Show 4:00pm Midsomer Murders
1:25pm Only The Valiant 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal
1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Going for Gold Extra 3:10pm Five News Update 3:15pm LaVyrle Spencer's Home Song
5:00pm Newsround 5:15pm The Weakest Link
5:15pm Escape To The Country
5:00pm Britain's Best Dish
5:00pm The Paul O'Grady Show
5:00pm Five News 5:30pm Neighbours
6:00pm BBC News 6:30pm BBC Wales Today 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm A Question of Sport 8:00pm EastEnders 8:30pm After You've Gone
6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two 7:00pm Fossil Detective 7:30 An Island Parish 8:00pm Mastermind 8:30pm Gardeners' World 9:00pm The American Future: A History, by Simon Schama
6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale 7:30pm Coronation Street 8:00pm Public vs Police: Tonight 8:30pm Coronation Street
6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:35pm Unreported World 8:00pm A Place in the Sun: Home or Away
6:00pm Home and Away 7:00pm Five News 7:30pm Escape From... 8:00pm Police Interceptors
9:00pm Wire in the Blood
9:00pm Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live
9:00pm NCIS
10:00pm QI 10:30pm Newsnight
10:00pm Al Murray's Happy Hour
11:00pm Newsnight Review 11:35pm The Electric Proms 2008 12:35am Later...With Jools Holland 1:35am Star Trek: The Next Generation
11:00pm The Late News and Weather 11:45pm Bingo Night Live 12:55am Planet Rock Profiles 1:50am Red Skies
9:00pm Have I Got News For You 9:30pm Little Britain USA 10:00pm BBC News 10:33pm BBC Weather 10:35pm Friday Night with Jonathan Ross 11:35pm National Lottery EuroMillions Draw 11:40pm Galaxy Quest 1:20am Sign Zone: British Style Genius
10:00pm Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong 10:50pm Bill Bailey Live: Part Troll
PICK OF THE DAY Have I Got News For You, BBC1, 9.00pm While other comedy panel shows have come and gone (does anyone remember Best of the Worst or 29 Minutes of Fame?), Have I Got News For You stands firm. The topical news quiz is now in its 36th series and shows no signs of relenting. Still, while they don’t quite look disillusioned, messrs Merton and Hislop certainly seem to be missing the presence of Angus Deayton, and who can blame them given the paucity of some of his guest replacements. Jo Brand, for example, might be a good comedian (she's not, but she might be) but she's no TV presenter. Thankfully one of the better guests takes the hotseat tonight, and surely Alexander Armstrong (ironically one of those to blame for the aforementioned Best of the Worst) would rather take this job permanently than whore himself out for Pimms adverts and weak self-penned ‘comedies'. Come on BBC, pull your finger out and offer it to him.
12:30am 4Music Presents: Kaiser Chiefs 1:00am 4Music 4Play: Late of the Pier 1:15am 4Music: Rockfeedback
10:00pm Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
11:00pm Law and Order 12:00am Quiz Call 4:00am Wild Events 4:25am Great Ocean Adventures
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
SATURDAY Football Focus BBC1 5.35pm
Revealed BBC2 1.45pm
BBC 1
BBC 2
Babe: Pig in the City ITV1 1.45pm ITV 1
The Morning Line C4 8.00am Channel 4
Ike: Countdown To D-Day five 6.00pm Five 6:00am Sunrise 7:00am Kids' TV 10:00am The Gadget Show 11:00am Axe Men 12:00pm To Be Announced
6:15pm Totally You've Been Framed 7:15pm Harry Hill's TV Burp 7:45pm The X Factor
6:30pm Channel 4 News 7:00pm River Cottage Autumn 8:00pm Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live
6:00pm Ike: Countdown To D-Day 7:45pm Five News and Sport 8:00pm NCIS 8:55pm NCIS
9:00pm Have I Got a Bit More News for You 9:30pm To Be Announced 10:10pm To Be Announced
9:25pm All Star Family Fortunes
9:00pm The Secret Millionaire
9:55pm CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
10:10pm The X Factor Results 10:40pm ITV News and Weather 10:55pm To Be Announced
10:00pm Saw
10:55pm Law and Order: Criminal Intent
12:10am To Be Announced 1:50am To Be Announced
1:10am Nightwatch With Steve Scott 2:10am The Wicker Man 3:50am ITV Nightscreen
12:00am Copland 1:50am She's The One
11:55pm Quiz Call 1:00am Major League Baseball
6:00am CBBC 12:00pm Sound 12:30pm Mission Beach USA
6:00am Kids' TV 10:55am Coronation Street Omnibus
1:00pm Racing 2:20pm Rugby Union: Anglo-Welsh Cup 4:30pm Wales on Saturday
1:00pm Greek 1:45pm Revealed 2:00pm To Be Announced
1:30pm ITV News and Weather 1:45pm Babe: Pig in the City 3:25pm To Be Announced
5:10pm BBC News 5:25pm Hole in the Wall 5:55pm Strictly Come Dancing 7:20pm Merlin 8:05pm The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins 8:55pm Casualty
5:35pm Dad's Army 6:05pm Coast
5:45pm ITV News and Weather
7:05pm Stephen Fry's America 8:05pm Timewatch
9:45pm BBC News
12:00am Friday Night With Jonathan Ross 1:15am To Be Announced 2:30am Weatherview
25th October Katy Perry's Birthday
6:10am Kids' TV 7:00am Goalissimo! 8:00am The Morning Line 8:55am T4: Friends 9:25am T4: The Hills 9:55am T4: Friends 10:25am T4 Movie Special: Ghost Town 10:55am T4: Everybody Loves Lil Chris 11:25am T4: Reaper 12:25pm 4Music Presents: Kaiser Chiefs 12:55pm Red Bull Air Race 2008 2:00pm Channel 4 Racing 4:05pm To Be Announced 4:35pm The Addams Family
6:00am Breakfast 10:00am Saturday Kitchen 11:30am What To Eat Now 12:00pm BBC News 12:10pm Football Focus
10:00pm Little Britain USA 10:30pm Match of the Day
29
PICK OF THE DAY NCIS, five, 8.00pm Tired? Depressed? Sick of this world? Why not watch NCIS? One in a long line of indistinguishable American detective series, only this one works on the premise that naval crime is exciting. Well you can’t blame them for trying. All the usual ingredients are there: the father-figure chief with a ridiculous name (Leroy Jethro Gibbs), the young buck who dives face-first into a world of ethnic (in this case Italian-American) stereotype, and of course the token Brit (played by David McCallum of The Man From U.N.C.L.E fame). You know the rest. The storyline will be predictable, a murder that relates back to the navy in a contrived way, the ‘team’ taking just under an hour to find the ex-boyfriend who’s left a skin sample at the crime scene, and so on. Oh yeah, and they throw in the random storyline about one of the characters’ personal lives to make them seem more ‘real’. Well, at least it’s not The X Factor.
1:00pm To Be Announced 2:20pm Imaginary Crimes 4:10 The Canterville Ghost
30 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
SUNDAY 'Allo 'Allo! BBC1 4:25pm
Something For The Weekend BBC2 10.00am
BBC 1
BBC 2
26th October Clocks Change Today
Kindergarten Cop ITV1 3.55pm ITV
Transworld Sport C4 6.25am Channel 4
Disorderly Conduct five 12.10am Five
6:00am Breakfast 7:25am Match of the Day 9:00am The Andrew Marr Show 10:00am Sunday Life 11:00am Countryfile 12:00pm The Politics Show
6:00am Kids' TV 10:00am Something For The Weekend 11:30pm Film 2008 with Jonathan Ross 12:00pm To Be Announced 12:30pm Live MotoGP
6:00am Kids' TV 11:20am Home Alone 4 12:50pm ITV News and Weather
6:00am Planet Cook 6:25am Transworld Sport 7:20am The British GT Championship 7:50am Freesports on 4 8:45am T4:Friends 9:20am T4:Hollyoaks Omnibus 11:50am T4:Frock Me 12:40pm 4Music Presents: Pink
6:00am Kids' TV 10:00am Top Trumps: Rescue Rigs 10:30am The Great South Run 12:00am Austin Stevens' Adventure
1:00pm EastEnders 2:55pm Merlin 3:40pm The Sarah Jane Adventures 4:25pm 'Allo 'Allo! 4:55pm Points of View
2:00pm Racing from Aintree 3:30 Rugby League World Cup 4:30pm Live American Football
1:00pm FA Cup Draw 1:30pm The X Factor 3:10pm The X Factor Results 3:55pm Kindergarten Cop
2:20pm T4:When Women Rule the World 3:25pm 4Music Presents: Snow Patrol 4:00pm T4:The Simpsons 4:30pm T4:The Simpsons
1:00pm Zoo Days 1:30pm Lost and Found 3:35pm Five Easy Pieces
5:00pm Deal or No Deal 5:45pm Born Survivor: Bear Grylls
5:30pm Five News and Sport 5:45pm James and the Giant Peach
6:45pm Channel 4 News 7:10pm To Be Announced 8:05pm Monster-in-Law
7:15pm Fun With Dick and Jane
5:10pm Songs of Praise 5:50pm News and Weather 6:15pm Antiques Roadshow 7:15pm Strictly Come Dancing: Results 8:00pm Little Dorritt
7:00pm The American Future: A History, by Simon Schama 8:00pm Dragon's Den: Theo Paphitis' Story
6:00pm ITV Wales News and Weather 6:15pm ITV News and Weather 6:30pm You've Been Framed! 7:00pm Heartbeat 8:00pm Britannia High
9:00pm Stephen Fry in America
9:00pm Building 7 Update: Conspiracy Files
9:00pm A Touch of Frost
10:00pm BBC News 10:20pm Kylie's Body Double
10:00pm Match of the Day 2
11:20pm Celebrity Scissorhands 12:20am Xchange
11:10pm Electric Proms 2008: Oasis 12:10am American Football 12:40pm Graham Norton Uncut 1:25am Heroes
9:00pm Layer Cake
10:00pm Saw II
11:00pm ITV News and Weather 11:15pm The Vicar of Baghdad 12:15am It's My Life 1:15am Faith in the Frame
PICK OF THE DAY Stephen Fry in America, BBC1, 9.00pm When watching someone going on a road trip around America I can't help but get the urge to throw it all in and go do it myself, but then how would you know what was on TV? Instead I must live vicariously through TV and film so am glad to have someone like Stephen Fry to take the metaphorical trip with. There is no mind quite so inquisitive as Fry's so I imagine this series will be great fun as we watch him find out the truth as to what makes America tick. Let's face it, there is nothing else good on TV on a Sunday night unless you are a die-hard Dickens fan or have somehow managed not to tire of A Touch of Frost yet. All my dreams would come true if at some point on his travels Fry stumbled across his old partner Hugh Laurie. Much as I love House, Hugh Laurie was always at his best when partnered with England's biggest brain.
11:45pm T4 Movie Special: Ghost Town 12:20am Brothers and Sisters 1:10am Brothers and Sisters
11:10pm Police Interceptors 12:10am Disorderly Conduct 1:10am Major League Baseball
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
XPRESS RADIO
XPRESS@gairrhydd.COM
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream
9am-10:30am Alice and Mel Breakfast Show 10:30am-12:30pm Loud Noises 12:30pm-2pm Show and Tell with Amy 2.30pm-4:30pm Sports Show 4:30pm-6pm The Lee Macaulay Show
Specialist
9am-11am Three Girls & A Gay 11am-1pm Hilary and Heather Show 1pm-3pm Madame Audrey's Lunar Cake Shop & Delicatessen 3pm-4:30pm Rebekka & Mikey in the Afternoon 4:30pm-6pm Rich & Britt Afternoon Show
9am-11am Three Man Bundle 11am-1pm Gossip Girls with Seetal & Lily 1pm-2.30pm Point Blank with Adrian, Tom & James 2.30pm-4pm Louisa & Beth Afternoon Show 4pm-6pm Luke & Ed Show
Specialist
6pm-7pm Sam King Show 7pm-8pm Josh Morris Show 8pm-9pm Phil & Tom Show 9pm-10pm Holly & Carys Show 10pm-11pm William & Sam Show 11pm-12am Roddy & Scott Show 12am - 1am Richard Gale Show
Specialist
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream
9am-11am Filing the Gap with Emma & Alexis 11am-12:30pm Kat & Ash Show 12:30pm-2pm Star and Moo Show 2pm-4pm Sporties 4pm-6pm Sam & Greg Show
Specialist
7pm-8pm Calum & Lloyd Show 8pm-9pm Monique & Alice Show 9pm-10pm Ruari & Suzanne Show 10pm-11pm Scott & Natalia Show 11pm-12am Petros & Daniel Show 12am-1am Peter & Coralie Show
32
6pm-7pm Kat, Kimba & Ruth Show 7pm-8pm Tom & Billy Show 8pm-9pm Andrew Rhys Lewis Show 9pm-10pm Megan & Charlotte Show 10pm-11pm Hedonism 11pm -12am Pete Blackley Show
11am-1pm Al & Steve Show 1pm-2.30pm 2 Girls, 1 Mic with Sally & Susie 2.30pm-4:30pm TNT with Thomas and Ash 4:30pm-6pm Ben O'Clock Radio
Specialist
6pm-7pm Anja Bloom Show 7pm-8pm Rhys James Show 8pm-9pm Kyle & Ben Show 9pm-10pm Johnnu & Gareth Show 10pm-12am Flo Jam Sessions
7pm-8pm Thomas & Mo Show 8pm-9pm Lean Eyon Show 9pm-10pm Carli & Sarah Show 10pm-11pm Martin Sharpe Show 11pm-12am - Ollie Thomas
10am-12pm Wake Up with Henry & Oscar 12pm-2pm Jack and Tom Delusion
Specialist
2pm-3pm Francesca & Amy Show 3pm-4pm Naomi & Beth Show 4pm-5pm Phil Connely Show 5pm-6pm Milo Mitchem Show 6pm-7pm Frankie & Tegan Show 7pm-8pm Ruari & Liam Show 8pm-9pm Katrina & Mirada Show 9pm-10pm Amy & Steven Show 10pm-11pm Nick Dro Fiak Show 11pm-12am Edwina & Lais Show 12am-1am Ian Hall Show
What is Xpress Radio? Xpress Radio is Cardiff's award-winning student radio station, designed for Cardiff, defined by you. Mainstream DJs are on air during the week between 9am-6pm and at weekends 10am-2pm combine top new acts from in and around Cardiff with favorites in new music from around the globe. Evenings and weekends see Specialist DJs take to the decks to indulge your specialist musical tastes with everything from Hardcore Metal to Dance to Funk and Classic Soul.
Upcoming Events 16/10 - Specialists on air 17/10 - Interview with David Milliband 29/10 - Uni Hall social road show 26/10 - Kids In Glass Houses interview 01/11 - Talybont social road show
12:30pm-2pm Laura, Dora & Lucy Show 3pm-5pm The Student Radio Chart Show 5pm-6:30pm Crapbox
Specialist
6:30pm-7.30pm Rich Classical 7:30pm-9pm Jazz Society Show 9pm-10pm Daneka
DAVID MILIBAND: OCTOBER 17
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW!
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.13.2008
33
FIVE MINUTE FUN
FMF@gairrhydd.COM
found on facebook Housemate done something stupid?
sudoku.
1. Log on to the book of face 2. Join the group ‘Found on Facebook’ 3. Upload embarrassing photos 4. Pick up gair rhydd on Monday and laugh
EASY
Quick Crossword Across
Down
1. Carelessness, disregard (11) 9. Number Ten ____, famous address (7,6) 10. Religious dissenters of the 16th and 17th century (8) 12. Resort east of Llandudno (4) 14. Legal drama starring James Woods (5) 15. Johnny ____, star of Benidorm (5) 19. Flair (4) 20. 1982 Bruce Springsteen album (8) 22. Concern more for others (13) 24. Reduce distance, get nearer (5,3,3) 23. Practice of baring all (6)
2. I ____ Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, 2007 comedy film (3) 3. Nervous flutters (8) 4. Frill (6) 5. ____ bag, roomy shopping container (4) 6. Costs incurred when running a business (9) 7. Take up (5) 8. Wooden steps between fields (5) 11. Dry run (9) 13. I don't know! (6,2) 16. Costume (3-2) 17. James ___, former cavalry officer and lover of Princess Diana (6) 18. ____ Times, film starring Christian Bale as an unhinged war veteran (5) 21. Beers (4) 23. Notable age (3)
Send more oddities!
MEDIUM
1
2
3
HARD
4
5
this week's
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Our very own Ben Bryant posed for a pic with the smouldering star! Oh em gee. 23
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Spotted Glyn? Glyn, BB7 screen god is studying Welsh and Spanish at Cardiff University. Snap a picture
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of him and send us your sightings! Join the Gair Rhydd G-spot facebook group and upload!
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
35
LISTINGS
LISTINGS@gairrhydd.COM
enlighten you... Listen carefully, we've got lots of mischief up our sleeves!
Thursday 23/10/08
GLAMOURPUSS @ GLAM New club in town in competition with Walkabout, but is it any good? I guess we'll soon find out... 9pm - 4am, £3 NUS. THOSE DANCING DAYS @ BARFLY 7pm, £7.50/ £6.50 with flyer.
Friday
24/10/08 LUSH @ SOLUS R’n’B, poppy stuff, funky house & electro. Free entry 7-9pm, £3 after. VOODOO @ RISA Student night. 9pm-3am, £4.
LOUDER NOW @ METROS Brand spanking new monthly night at Metros - expect hardcore, punk, and metal... not for the faint hearted, obv. 10pm, £3/ £2 with flyer.
LIVE STAND-UP COMEDY @ GLEE CLUB Chris Corcoran, Tony Hendricks and Wilson Dixon entertain your comedy-starved selves with topical and irreverent jokes. Probably. 7.45pm, £7 NUS/£13.
CYNT @ CLWB IFOR BACH The nice chaps down at CYNT have found a girl DJ who's like, really good and stuff. And she's well fit. £3 with NUS, contact venue for details.
LIVE STAND-UP COMEDY @ JONGLEURS Martin Davis, Steve Hughes and Steve Best give the guys at Glee Club a run for their money. 8pm, £10.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST @ WMC Re-live your childhood with the ballet version of this classic story. Not quite the Disney version, but amazing nonetheless. Runs until Saturday. 2pm/7.30pm, £15-£30.
Saturday 25/10/08
COME PLAY @ SOLUS Possibly the best established night at the Union. Better music this year too. 9pm - 2am, £3. PETE & THE PIRATES @ BARFLY I hope there are actual pirates and this isn't just a hopeless pander to plosive alliteration. Ah, we're all slaves to phonetics. 7pm, £7. LIVE STAND-UP COMEDY @ GLEE CLUB Same as last night, but without the NUS discount. Beware. 7.45pm, £16.
Sunday
26/10/08
WE LOVE SUNDAES @ INNCOGNITOS A shiny new venue for Sundays, but these crazy cats will still be hanging out in the garden. Promises of "Sunday vibes", whatever they may be... See www.stusparty.com for details.
SLEEP @ YOUR BED Yeah, it's Sunday, and there's nothing much on. Live the dream and GO TO BED! Contact venue for details.
ENNIO MARCHETTO @ WMC ‘The living cartoon’ takes the art of mimicry into a whole new realm, transforming into characterisations of Mona Lisa, Britney Spears, Ozzie Osbourne, Amy Winehouse and the likes. Trippy. 8pm, £12.
MISCHIEF @ TIGER TIGER Another boring generic student night. 9pm - 2am, £4 - £5. UPRISING @ GLO BAR Reggae, dancehall, ska and a 12k soundsystem... This is one for the cool kids, so don a pair of those funny retro Rayban glasses. Ah, unique. 9pm - 3am, £3. ED BYRNE @ GLEE CLUB Yup, it's that chap off Mock The Week. He's a bit pikey, but we quite like him. He's in Cardiff for one night only, so tickets are pretty much guaranteed to sell out... 7.30pm, contact venue for details.
23/10
21/10
21/10
(The Welsh Club), 11 Womanby Street 02920 232199 www.clwb.net ! Barfly, Kingsway, Tickets: 08709070999 www.barflyclub.com/cardiff ! MetIncognito, Park Place 02920 412190 ! Liquid, St. Mary Street 02920645464 ! The Philharmonic, 76-77 St. Mary Street 02920 230678 ! Café The Hayes 02920 878444 www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk ! Chapter Arts Centre, Market Road, Canton 02920 304400 www.chapter.org ! Wales Sherman Theatre, Senghennydd Road 02920 646900 www.shermantheatre.co.uk ! The Glee Club, Mermaid Quay 0870 2415093 www.glee.co.uk ! Cardiff Bay, 02920 460873 www.thepointcardiffbay.com ! Tommy’s Bar, Howard Gardens (off Newport Road) 02920 416192 !
36 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
SPORT
SPORT@gairrhydd.COM
THE WORD ON... ...England's grumbling fans and their effect on the national team Alasdair Robertson Sports Editor
A
5-1 victory for England is hardly a regular occurrence these days so you could be forgiven for thinking that last weeks win over Kazakhstan would be synonymous with celebration and joy. However Wembley was rife with boos in the second half of the game as Ashley Cole gifted the visitors a route back into the game with a wayward pass that led to Kazakhstan’s only goal. With the score line poised at 2-1 the mistake was potentially far more serious than it was. The chorus of criticism that followed is not exactly something that we are unfamiliar with in English football, take for example the reception David Beckham received on his return to the Premiership after his red card in the 1998 World Cup. However, the Ashley Cole incident is different, of greater significance. First of all, he was wearing the white of his country,
not the blue of Chelsea. Also, if it were John Terry who made the mistake, would the dissent have been so vigorous? I think not.
Are they condemning the player's personality or his mistake? Personas off the field obviously lead to differing perceptions of players but does this justify booing a player wearing the national shirt? Are they condemning the player's personality or his mistake and are they tarnishing the nation as a whole in the process? Most importantly of all, is it constructive? Imagine then, that the game were a more crucial World Cup qualifier against the likes of Croatia. If Cole had made the mistake in that match at the same point the pressure on him would have been out of all proportion and the fact of the matter is that the boos simply do not help a player in that situation. As a national team we need Ashley Cole, arguably the world’s best left back, to be performing at 100% so when the home fans start berating a player during the game they lessen England’s chance of winning. They also boost the morale of the opposition in the process. Fortunately for Cole and England, Kazakhstan had neither the quality nor the fitness to upset the finely balanced apple cart that is England’s qualification bid. Croatia and Ukraine are a different kettle of fish. The issue of personality in the matter is also of importance. Cole has undoubtedly made more than his fair share of high profile public mistakes. Firstly there was the kiss with the hairdresser that led to the beloved Cheryl Cole’s heartache and then there was the transfer scandal between Arsenal
and Chelsea. These events have no doubt tainted certain fans’ views of the player in question, particularly as Cole’s wife is held so highly in the public’s affections due to her never-ending stream of tears and opposition to Simon Cowel on the X-Factor, but his ill treatment of her has nothing to do with his footballing ability. For all his frailties many others have been considered for selection after performing far worse. Jermaine Pennant ended up in prison for driving under the influence whilst banned. All of us make mistakes, albeit some more than others, but Cole has to be left to play when on England duty. Football is football, and it's played in a stadium - not a courtroom. Looking for examples of the ‘booboys’ negative effect the French national team is the standout candidate. Their home form highlights the problems that arise from poor support. The home crowd of 80,000 plus frequently hisses with disapproval if ‘Les Bleus’ falter in their performance. They currently lie third in their World Cup qualification group behind the likes of Lithuania and Serbia. This simply cannot be allowed to happen at Wembley if it is to become the fortress that the new stadium befits, if for nothing but the sake of actually reaching the next major tournament. Added to this is the fact that such actions are against our national mentality.
Football is football, it's played in a stadium, not a court room Booing is something that you expect of the French, a nation stereotyped for their laissez-faire attitude. An Englishman though is another matter. Wembley symbolises our nation, it’s
our global statement of success and needs to be kept that way, it cannot become the new Stade de France. Berating Cole belongs to the column inches of the next morning’s tabloids or the away stand at Stamford Bridge where it doesn’t rub off on our nation. I take no issue with away fans venting their anger at Cole when he wears the blue of Chelsea as that revolves around money, not pride, and doesn’t represent the population as a whole. The fans do unquestionably have the right to voice their opinion, especially having paid the astronomical ticket prices. Although football supporters are amongst the most passionate, booing is an unconstructive and ignorant manner in which to express such fervour. In contrast, Tennis fans offer a more positive and unifying chant, even after Murray inevitably rifles a forehand directly into the net. “Come on, Andy”
may be slightly inane but at least their allegiance is evident. The fans at Wembley need to be the twelfth man, not judge, jury and executioner as they were last week. However, last week’s events luckily coincided with England’s best run in form for many years as the Capello bandwagon has begun to roll. Cole will escape the limelight after consecutive wins that see England clearly top their qualification group. Yet the issue will remain unsolved and the next time someone takes to the hallowed turf and makes a costly error the crowd will again act in detriment to the nations interests. Everybody wants to see the England team winning and to do that we need a fully focused Ashley Cole no matter his actions off the field. Wembley is the home of football, not unconstructive booing.
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
SPORT
SPORT@gairrhydd.COM
The IMG Roundup
MOMED Reach The Promised Land Michael O'Brien IMG Reporter
MOMED 3 - 0 Cardiff Crusaders MOMED STARTED THEIR bid for the Premiership with a convincing win at Trelai Fields, the new home of IMG football. The initial exchanges saw the Cardiff Crusaders goalmouth being bombarded with wave after wave of MOMED attacks. The Crusaders managed to hold out for 32 minutes
before John Dovey slipped a perfect through ball to Sam Cockeram who rounded the stranded goalkeeper to give MOMED a deserved lead. Bob Hodson was narrowly denied a second goal for MOMED as the Crusaders' goalkeeper managed to fingertip his header and flick it over the bar. The end of the first half saw MOMED in the lead as the Crusaders failed to make any impact in the final third. The second half continued in the same fashion, with MOMED spurning chance after chance, epitomised
English Blown Away Megan Davies and Lucy O'Callaghan IMG Reporters English A Vs Cardiff Jets NEITHER TEAM KNEW what to expect from newcomers Cardiff Jets, as they took on English A, last year’s runners up. But after only their first game they are looking like a team to be feared as Jets broke onto the scene with both success and sheer determination. The Jets took first centre pass and scored an early goal, as English appeared to be struggling to create space and break out from behind their markers. Following the unanticipated early goal, both teams appeared to be evenly matched as English attempted a quick comeback only to experience some unlucky misses. Cardiff Jets managed to regain control of the ball, resulting almost immediately in their second goal of the game, as their attacking duo showed impressive precision within the ‘D’. English showed determination, trying to bring the game back into their own attacking third but repeatedly suffered unlucky attempts on goal. A combination of the English defense struggling to make full use of the rebound and the incredible accuracy of the Jets’ GS resulted in the next two goals being taken by the Jets.
Towards the end of the first half, both teams became less structured, and the need to slow down and play with accuracy was apparent. The slippery conditions of the court made it difficult for both teams to play at their best, but it appeared the Jets overcame this and rapidly scored their fifth and sixth goal to leave the half time score 6-0. The determination of English was unmistakable at the opening of the second half as they took first centre pass, and almost instantaneously scored their first goal of the game, followed closely by their second. A combination of good team work and accurate passing proved vital at this point, with English making full use of their space, showing resilience and putting up a more successful fight. With both teams playing at an incredibly fast pace, the Jets managed to regain possession and score another three successive goals. The Jets’ WA and GS proved to be crucial in their opening game, showcasing both excellent teamwork and communication. Although English finally managed to pick up their game and their GS seemed to find her form as she scored the last two goals of the game, there was unfortunately not enough time for them to fully recover from the Jets domination in the first half. The final score was 10-5 to Cardiff Jets as they begin to establish their position amongst the top teams in IMG.
by a guilt edge miss from Phil Pearcy from three yards out. The Crusaders' keeper was at this stage keeping his team in contention by pulling off an array of spectacular saves. It took a corner mid-way through the second half to double the advantage as Nathan Collicott headed home from an acute angle, opening his account for MOMED on his debut. Jon Dovey was brought down in the Crusaders' box after some neat ball control to give MOMED another chance to increase their lead. Captain Bob Hodson was denied from the spot after more goalkeeping heroics but was first to react and slotted home therebound with ease. At 3 - 0 with 20 minutes to go, the
game was virtually over. MOMED continued to squander a hatful of chances and by rights should have scored several more than three goals. The MOMED backline were rarely troubled but did well when called to action. All in all MOMED laid a solid foundation upon which to build throughout the season and put forward their credentials as title contenders. While the Crusaders' will surely be disappointed with their below par performance, they will be glad they managed to stem the tide and concede only three whilst man of the match went to Tim Moody for a determined and strong performance in central midfield.
FOOTBALL GROUPS Group A GYM GYM EARTH SOC ENGIN NUEMATICS PHARM AC OPSOCCER MAGNIFICENT XI REAL ALE MADRID PHILOSOPHY Group B AFC HISTORY SOCSI FC MOMED FC CARDIFF CRUSADERS SAWSA AFC CATHAYS CARBS PSYCHOLOGY Group C J-UNIT J-SOC LAW B EUROS FC ENGIN LOCOMOTIVE MEN UNITED FC INTER ME NAN FC SAMBA TIGERS Group D LAW A JOMEC FC ECONOMICS CLAW ENGIN AUOTOMOTIVE UNI HALL STARS FC LAW C LIABILITY FC
Four Star Engin Alex Prior and Toby Fairlamb IMG Reporters Uni Hallstars 2 – 4 Engin Automotive AFTER A TROUBLED summer, IMG football got back under way last Wednesday in muddy surroundings. One of two games played up at IMG’s old stomping ground Pontacanna, a fighting Uni Hallstars were narrowly beaten by a well organised Engin team in a hard fought match. An even start to the game with few chances for either team saw Engin grab the lead after a scrappy corner was well converted at the far post, nutmegging a helpless Alex Prior on the line. This lead was soon doubled in a similar fashion, with an Engin striker rising well to meet a corner, despite claims of a foul on Hallstars captain Mark Furnish. The Hallstars, still finding their feet after a frantic five-minute period, responded well and were unlucky not to be back in the game after some questionable decisions by the linesman. However, this spell of pressure led to them to getting a foot-hold back in the
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game, Adam Woodward darting round the back of the Engin defence and squaring for Rich Campbell to drill into the roof of the net. With confidence high, the Hallstars pressed for an equaliser and despite efforts from Chris Leigh and Woodward, the half ended 2 -1. The second half began as the first ended, with the Hallstars pressing for the equaliser, Leigh hitting the bar after a good move created in midfield. However it was Engin who got back on the score-sheet after a flowing move down the left flank saw a well struck shot find the far corner after Hallstars’ goalkeeper Rob Carslake misjudged the flight of the ball. Engin made the win comfortable with a surge through the Hallstars’ defence, their striker finishing cleverly, chipping the ball over the onrushing Carslake. The Hallstars weren’t finished though, and Woodward got the consolation goal he deserved after a well-steered pass from Furnish. Despite a spell of good play and a succession of corners almost converted by substitutes Jon Stevens and Alex Townsend respectively, the match finished with a convincing win for Engin, who will surely think Premiership football is a feasible goal.
NETBALL GROUPS Group A CARDIFF A NAVY (URNU) SOCSI B MEDICS B PHARMACY B LAW B DENTISTRY MEDICS A Group B ECONOMICS A C PLAN SOCSI A J-UNIT ENGLISH B CARDIFF IWC SAWSA PSYCHOLOGY Group C LAW A CHRISTIAN UNION JOMEC CARDIFF JETS B OPTOM CARDIFF B GYM GYM PSYCHOLOGY A Group D CARBS A EARTH SOC ENGIN NUEMATICS BIOLOGY PHARMACY A ENGIN AUOTOMOTIVE ECONOMICS B ENGLISH A CARDIFF JETS A
38 gairrhydd
Tom Houdmont Badminton Reporter CARDIFF Mens’ 1sts.................7 SWANSEA Mens’ 1sts...............1
SPORT@gairrhydd.COM
Cock Sure Crossed Out Susanna Byers Lacrosse Reporter
diff’s Captains, Lisa Paul and Sam Olney. But it was no walk in the park for Exeter, as the Cardiff defensive line up of Ellie Drury, Bridget TrevCARDIFF Ladies’ 1sts................8 or-Jones and Elly Morris all played a big part in stopping Exeter scoring on several occasions, as did Cardiff EXETER Ladies’ 1sts............13 goalie, Kelly Morshead. Unfortunately, Cardiff’s early spurt NERVES WERE HIGH this week as Cardiff University’s Ladies of goals came to an end as Exeter got Lacrosse prepared for their into their stride. However, despite a first match back in the premier brief lapse of concentration on the pitch, Cardiff clawed back a few inleague of BUCS Lacrosse. Exeter provided a stern first test credible goals, with the new Freshbut the teams were fairly even in the ers holding their own in attack. The early exchanges as Cardiff scored four freshers netted on the day were the first goal before Exeter swiftly Georgie Saunders, Philippa Tyler, equalized. In the first quarter the Anna Tomlinson, and Elly Morris, goals came thick and fast as Cardiff while several goals were scored by twice pulled ahead but were unable some of the more experienced playto distance themselves from their ers, including Lizzie Vernon and persistent rivals. At the end of the Cath Brookes. The match ended in a frustrating first quarter, however, Exeter held a narrow 4 – 3 lead. The score line was 13 – 8 defeat for Cardiff. However, less than Cardiff deserved though the team could take comfort from the and the Exeter girls appeared to be fact that, having only played together for a couple of weeks, the team getting frustrated with themselves. During the next two quarters, Ex- looked solid against strong opposieter woke up, and started a streak of tion. The next match is away against goals that left Cardiff trailing. The the renowned Oxford University away side managed to gain a lead of Lacrosse team, which highlights the a few goals, despite coming against strength of the opposition Cardiff brilliant defensive play from Car- will face in a tough season.
IT WAS AN EXCELLENT start to the new badminton season for Cardiff men’s first team as they overcame bitter rivals Swansea. The performance was exactly what new captain Matthew Phillips wanted to see after choosing four new faces to the first team, with only two players remaining from last years team. Swansea opted for unexpected tactics by placing their captain Barry Garnham, normally a strong doubles player, in singles. This opened the way for Cardiff to comfortably win all four singles games and open up a commanding lead. It was not until the final doubles game of the match that Swansea managed to scrape one win against new Cardiff doubles pair Rohit and Josh. CARDIFF Mens’ 2nds.................8
ABERYSTWYTH Mens' 2nds.......1
CARDIFF Ladies’ 1sts................5
EXETER Ladies' 1sts.................3
Unfortunately, Cardiff ladies’ lost 5-3 to a strong Exeter side. The premiership division contains some very strong opposition but Captain Tara Weir is confident this was just a blip and success will follow for the rest of the season.
PHOTO: NATALIA POPOVA
After the firsts success, Cardiff men’s second team convincingly beat Aberystwyth’s second string 8-0 at Talybont. The men’s 2nd team this year has a host of talent to choose from and will certainly be expecting to achieve promotion.
Staberystwyth Thomas Powell Fencing Reporter BADMINTON: More cock jokes?
All Grit No Glam Cassandra Fernandes Football Reporter CARDIFF Ladies’ 2nds...............4 GLAMORGAN Ladies' 1sts.........3 CARDIFF LADIES SECONDS got their league campaign off to a firing start, coming from behind twice at Glamorgan in a seven goal thriller. A brace from captain Sarah Stimpson, along with goals from playerof-the-match, Catia Duarte and new addition Hannah Bromley ensured a perfect start to the season in a difficult match. The game exploded into life with an early effort from Stimpson in the opening minutes. A subsequent Glamorgan counter-attack resulted in a free kick from the edge of the penalty box, which was expertly thwarted by the defensive partnership of Jayde Knowles and Anna Elliot. The pressure was mostly from Car-
diff but it was Glamorgan who scored first, when a quick throw-in found Larnie Ford, who left goalie Susanne Koecher with no chance. The pace of the match picked up even more as Cardiff produced three chances in quick succession. The equaliser came just past the half-hour mark when a strong piece of defending from Sabrina Marie Edwards set up Duarte, whose cross allowed Stimpson to power the equaliser home. Cardiff would have lost their advantage almost immediately were it not for the Glamorgan goal being correctly ruled offside. The visitors did go behind again, following a deflection after a free-kick by Cath Bancroft on 15minutes from just outside the penalty box. Cardiff went into the break on equal terms thanks to a superb lofted shot a few yards outside the penalty box from Catia Duarte just before half-time. Both teams exploded out of the blocks in the second half, with the visitors’ goalie having to produce a great diving save in the early minutes.
Having come so close to conceding again, Stimpson produced a powerful shot from the right to give Cardiff the lead for the first time and held for the remainder of the game. Cardiff then gave themselves a cushion, after a corner caused confusion in the Glamorgan box and Moore’s pass found an unmarked Bromley, who opened her scoring account with Cardiff’s fourth. Duarte, who shone throughout, was the victim of a dangerous tackle which saw the Glamorgan player enter the referee’s book. The home team were clearly desperate to score and they succeeded in the last 10 minutes, through Cath Bancroft. Both teams were clearly tired, but it was Cardiff who pushed forward incessantly, with late attempts from Knowles, Elliot, Duarte and the hardworking Jojo Rennie which, despite being unsuccessful, allowed Cardiff to ensure an impeccable start to the season.
CARDIFF Mens’ 1sts.............135 ABERYSTWYTH Mens' 2nds...101 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY MENS fencing team launched themselves into a new BUCS season against old rivals Aberystwyth men’s seconds and secured an impressive opening victory. First up Cardiff's foil team, led by last years captain Jon Harris, opened the season impressively and fought a tightly fought match with Cardiff finally scoring its first victory by a narrow, but well earned, score line of 45 - 43. Cardiff’s Captain, Thomas Powell,
led Cardiff’s new Sabre team into a furious action with remarkable skill displayed by both teams. However, Cardiff managed to quickly pull away, cut through the valiant Aberystwyth fencers and completed the rout with a final score of 45 - 31. The Epee team was next in line and, determined to continue the team’s success they quickly steamed into an early lead. Despite an heroic effort from the Aberystwyth fencers, the sheer skill of the Cardiff fencers put down any challenge and finished the match with a score of 45 - 27. As the dust settled, Cardiff were revealed as the winners with an overall final score of Cardiff 135, Aberystwyth 2nds 101. The team now look forward to taking the fight to Aberystwyth when they take on the Aberystwyth 1st Team next week. PHOTO: THOMAS POWELL
SPORT
OCTOBER.20.2008
FENCING: Electric Fencing
gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
SPORT
EX Factor Will Viles Hockey Reporter
CARDIFF Ladies' 1sts................0 EXETER Ladies' 1sts.................6 CARDIFF' LADIES season got off to the worst possible start with a comprehensive defeat at the hands of an impressive Exeter outfit. The away team’s superb cutting edge in attack proved the difference between the two sides; highlighted by four superb goals from the eye catching visiting attacker Amy Sheehan. Ironically, Cardiff started the stronger and could have taken the lead as early as the second minute had Pip Tanner’s rasping effort not been saved by the Exeter goalkeeper. However, following the home side’s initial pressure, the away team began to take a stranglehold on what had become a frustrating midfield battle. A warning shot came on the quarter hour mark when Natalie Blyth was dispossessed in a dangerous position by Sheehan. The striker rounded ‘keeper Sinead Roberts, but was denied by a terrific goal-line clearance from the scrambling Cardiff defence. Two minutes later and Sheehan again found herself round Roberts, but she somehow managed to strike the upright despite having the goal at her mercy. Cardiff were finding it difficult to get the ball to the forward line and this inability heaped more pressure upon their own rearguard. This was proven when Exeter finally took the lead midway through the first half. Cardiff’s defence became stretched following a stick-crunching tackle in the midfield. This allowed Sheehan a free passage to run into the box and the forward made no mistake with the finish; a sharp drive which flew under Roberts into the goal. The visitors could have doubled their lead a matter of seconds after the restart had it not have been for a point blank stop from Roberts at the far post. Despite Roberts’ best efforts, Exeter once again capitalised on indecision in the Cardiff defence to double
their tally just before the interval. A ball played into the Cardiff area was not dealt with, which allowed Emily Masson to fluff the ball into the net to increase the advantage. Cardiff reappeared for the second half with more endeavour, which paradoxically led to their downfall. During a spell of prolonged pressure, the home team was awarded a penalty corner, culminating in Blyth’s attempt from the set piece being expertly blocked by the away keeper. However, Exeter managed to immediately clear the ball out of danger in an incisive counter-attacking move. Tate Ohikumbirike found herself clean through on goal before rolling the ball calmly into Sheehan’s path to wrap up the game for the visitors with a simple tap in. After succumbing to a cruel sucker punch, Cardiff were despondent and in a five minute spell, went on to concede three additional goals. Sheehan completed her hat-trick in style as she burst away from the last defender and finished with power into the bottom corner. The striker was once again involved as her deflected cross set up Emily Masson for her second of the game to make it 5-0. Finally, Sheehan completed the rout with a deflected reverse stick shot, which tantalizingly evaded the grasp of the dejected Roberts in the Cardiff goal. Exeter could have added to the lead had it not been for the impressive Cardiff goalkeeper who saved a succession of penalty corners in the dying minutes. Following the match, captain Amy Bowing was under no illusion that her side had been beaten by the better team. “We started strong, so it was frustrating that our defensive errors let us down early on” explained Bowing. “Exeter played very well, but I feel that it was our own mistakes which contributed to our loss. “It’s the first game of the season, so there’s a long way to go and we’ve still got a lot to work on. Cardiff will certainly be relishing the chance to make amends against a tough Bath University side in their next Premiership fixture.
Double Gloucester Liz Wray IMG Editor
finally managed to find their form, taking the first two goals of this quarter, but Jo looked at ease in her new position and the score soon climbed CARDIFF Ladies' 1sts..............58 to 21-8. The fast tempo of the game was Glouster Ladies' 1sts...............29 down to long, powerful passes and little time was spent in the centre third CARDIFF NETBALL firsts looked as Centre Kylie Paynter showed safe in impressive form in their first hands and accurate passing under game of the season, leaving pressure. Equally good hands could Gloucester University struggling be seen on Gloucester’s GA but she to keep pace. The final score 58- struggled to shake off Jenkins, who 29 cements Cardiff’s place in the as always was proving integral to the team. Premiership A. Gloucester had many chances, Cardiff established an early lead, taking the first seven goals of the but struggled to capitalise and a few match within five minutes as last loopy balls allowed Cardiff to interyear’s GK, Jo Allen, showcased her cept with devastating consequences. versatility, proving just as vital to the team as GS. The position of GK is NETBALL: Ball watching now in the safe hands of freshers, Katie Lyons and Imogen Evans, who shared the role throughout the game and fitted well into the already established team. It was well into the first quarter before Gloucester managed to find the net and some fast-paced play in centre court saw the score-line reach 8-3. But Cardiff refused to relinquish their lead as Allan and Carly Allchurch looked to be formidable in attack, their accuracy disguising the inexperience of the partnership. Allchurch showed just as much precision as last season, scoring two goals in quick succession, and providing excellent support to Jo. Each of Gloucester’s attempts on goal were answered rapidly by Cardiff, as their attack struggled to get past Carys Jenkins at GD. Some impressive interceptions from the new GK saw Cardiff take 17 goals before the end of the first quarter. Cardiff’s experience in this wellestablished team looked to be paying off, as Gloucester seemed to still be finding their feet this season. They
PHOTO: NATALIA POPOVA
PHOTO: NATALIA POPOVA
SPORT@gairrhydd.COM HOCKEY: Six appeal
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Once Cardiff had the ball in attack, a goal was almost inevitable as they steadily increased their lead. Cardiff seemed to tease Gloucester, allowing them to take a few goals before placing them once again under attack. The half time score of 3214 reflected Cardiff’s effort. The second half saw a change in positions but still Cardiff looked to have the game under control. Gloucester returned with resilience and again took the first goal, followed quickly by a second, but Cardiff were never rattled. This half saw much more centre play, as Gloucester tried to slow down the game to their advantage. But they still lacked accuracy in their attack, something that Cardiff repeatedly capitalised on, returning the ball to their attack duo. Gloucester looked to be losing faith as more of their shots bounced off the rim. To compound their misery Gloucester’s GA suffered an injured ankle, removing their attacking threat from the game. Cardiff showed no sign of slowing as Allchurch and Allan shared the goals between them and Gloucester’s looked lost as they went into the final quarter. Showing no mercy, Cardiff increased their lead and some unlucky misses for Gloucester saw the final score reach 58-29, as Cardiff doubled the achievements of their visiting opponents. Captain, Carys Jenkins told the gair rhydd: “This was a good match for the start of the season with the freshers fitting in with the established players really well. All the girls are looking forward to next week’s game.’
Hart bury Cardiff
Cardiff 1sts 26 - 32 Hartpury 2nds Tomos Morgan Rugby Reporter THIS WEEK CARDIFF had the daunting task of facing league favorites Hartpury in their own back yard. That being said, after last week’s defeat to varsity rivals Swansea the firsts were prepared for the challenge and wanted to chalk up their first victory of this year’s campaign. It seemed that Hartpury were seeking an early psychological advantage when Cardiff were informed that the game was not to be played on the university’s luxurious grounds but on a less than savory local secondary school pitch.
The first half started well, despite the long grass and the slight uphill battle that came with the pitch, with fresher scrum-half Mark Schropfer bossing the forwards around the park. Some strong early carries from frontrow duo captain Aaron Fowler and Andrew Cassidy contributed to a confident and composed opening period. However the intense first quarter took its toll on Cardiff with fly-half Mike Schropfer and Mike Winter both lost to injury. Cardiff had to make do with three blind side flankers in the back row robbing the pack of muchneeded dynamism to counteract the athletic Hartpury pack. Despite two tries from the inspired second-row duo and precision kicking from fullback Jack Perkins, Cardiff
were ultimately undone by Hartpury’s physical dominance and an electric back three combination. Rugby club captain Aaron Fowler believes that honesty is the best policy: “No excuses, we were second best on the day as the result clearly indicates.” However he maintains that a sense of belief is building amongst the side: “This team is growing in confidence and stature week by week. Not only are the more established players putting in great performances but first years like Giancarlo Howfield, Jake Cooper and Bret Chatwin are also fronting up well to the challenge. It can only bode well for our next game”.
Sport SLAPSTICK UWIC gairrhydd
INSIDE: BUCS starts in earnest, the full IMG roundup and the injustices of booing
PHOTO: NATALIA POPOVA
PHOTO: Liz Wray
Cardiff 1sts 4 - 0 UWIC 1sts Philip Haynes Sports Reporter A COMPREHENSIVE DISPLAY by a rampant Cardiff side saw them earn bragging rights over their fierce local rivals UWIC. The victory was a perfect start to their 2008/2009 BUCS league campaign. Cardiff got off to the best possible start when good interlinking between Phil Wilkinson and Henry Cole was rewarded by UWIC giving away a penalty flick, which was duly dis-
patched neatly into the top corner by captain Billy Hughes. This was to spur the home side on throughout much of the first half, while a solid defence and careful retaining of possession limited UWIC’s chances to equalise. Cardiff could have added a second when a determined run by Wilkinson set up Gav Vollmer, who shot narrowly over. This near miss seamed to galvanise UWIC and for the remainder of the first half they enjoyed a spell of constant pressure, going close on a number of occasions; goalkeeper Ian Ferguson producing a couple of
high class saves from close range. Despite their consistent pressure, a lapse in concentration saw Felix Flower break clear of the baffled UWIC defence, culminating in him tucking the ball neatly past the ‘keeper. However, this hammer blow showed no signs of ill-effect amongst the UWIC players; they began the second half as they ended the first, applying pressure to the Cardiff backline. Their persistent threat almost paid off when Ferguson was adjudged to have impeded UWIC’s striker inside the area, giving away a penalty.
He made amends for this in the best way possible, producing a magnificent reaction stop to deny UWIC their best chance to claw their way back into the game. Shell-shocked by their misfortune, UWIC floundered as Cardiff took control of the game with quick, precise passing. Their spells of threatening possession paid off when another run from the lively Wilkinson resulted in him forcing a penalty corner, where Gav Needham and Jamie Longstreet combined for the former to smash the ball past the hapless UWIC ‘keeper. Brimming with confidence, Cardiff
pressed on; breaking away from their own half, Kieran Zeale found Tom Bacon, whose precise pass set up Huw Proctor to tap home, completing the scoreline. The final score may have somewhat flattered the home side, yet a solid defensive display and clinical finishing produced a victory which was thoroughly deserved. Cardiff will take huge confidence from this performance into their fixture in Gloucestershire next week.
-GAIR RHYDD AND QUENCH MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY UNIVERSITY UNION CARDIFF, PARK PLACE, CARDIFF CF10 3QN 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 ! WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A YORKSHIRE ACCENT OR DROWN IN A SEA OF BISTO? ! LIZ CRIPPLED BY HARROWING EVENING EXCURSIONS !DANCING DIVA D'ARCY ! 'WEETABIX AND LAGER...I'D DRINK THAT' ! HEAVY METAL LOSES XPRESS LISTENERS ! ALI "TIN-TIN" ROBERTSON SEEKS DOG ! WOOF
34 gairrhydd
OCTOBER.20.2008
LISTINGS
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All dressed up and nowhere to go? Get with the programme and let Listings e
The Listings Top Five...
Monday
20/10/08
Ways to save on Halloween Costumes
FUN FACTORY @ SOLUS Indie, alternative, old 90’s classics and ROCK!! 7pm-2am, free entry.
Halloween is by far one of the best nights of the year. You get to dress up go out and even scare people just for FUN! Plus think of all the free sweets ull get BONUS!
DIGITAL @ OCEANA Another student night with plenty of music to boogie the night away to. 9pm-3am
1. Skeleton
VODKA ISLAND @ TIGER TIGER Needing a break away from Uni already why not head to Tigers very own Island for the night? Free before 9pm, £3 after.
Wear a black leotard and paint yourself black. Use white paint to draw bones on for a skeleton effect. 2. The Mummy
Tuesday 21/10/08
AESTHETICS RELAUNCH @ BUFFALO Hurrah! It's back! Aesthetics is now at to Buffalo, but everything else is just as before. Oh yeah, we can't wait for some explosive hip hop! Contact venue for details. STRAVINSKY: A CELEBRATION @ WMC Ok, so maybe not the most rocking night out, but the Birmingham Royal Ballet and fantastic Stravinsky music will knock your socks off. Also on tomorrow. 2pm/7.30pm, £15-£30. NOISES OFF @ NEW THEATRE Multi-award winning comedy from Michael Frayn, with hi-jinx and hilarity all round. Maybe. Runs until Saturday. 7.30pm, £7.50-£26. GET LOST@ LIQUID Another of the predictable student nights with resident DJ's what more can you say. 9pm - 3am, £3.50
One of the most simple outfits and its one of the cheapest as well! What could be better! Get out the old loo roll and wrap yourself up in it! Simple and easy. 3. The Ghost Its time to strip that bed! But not for the conventional reasons. Get your white sheet and cut out eye holes and your done! Spooks don't come any better than that.
23/10
CHIC BEAT @ REVOLUTION The Rough Hill promotions team have probably already tried to persuade you to go there already but this is JUST another generic student night 9pm - 3am, £4 - £5
4. The Devil Just as simple as the ghost get a new bin liner! Don't think ull want to use an already used one! But if you do go for it! All you need to do is cut holes for the arms and head. There's nothing else to it. If you want to be evil get a red bin liner and your away! Devil or Witch which will it be?
Wednesday 22/10/08
THE ELECTRIC CWTCH @ GLO BAR What does Cwtch mean? What does Glo mean? Ah, who knows... 10pm - 3am, £3. SIN BIN @ SOLUS This is DEFINITELY the place to go girls if your're looking for a fit guy! Pop, chart, fitties and LAAAAAAAAADDDDDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Oi oi. Free entry 7-9, £3 after. COCK AND BULL @ TIGER TIGER This is one of those nights where you hope it doesn't do what it says on the tin... or maybe you do? Ah, you kinky sausage, you. Free, 8pm. SOS @ CALCUTTA Newest DJ's hottest tracks and apparently "The sound of the students". 9pm - 4am, £3. SHOTGUN RULES @ REVOLUTION Popular student night at Revolution battles with Sin Bin for the coveted AU crowd. 9pm - 2am, £2.50. TRAFFIC LIGHT PARTY @ OCEANA Not interested, could be persuaded or up for anything this is the place to be. Free glowsticks! BONUS! We students all love our freebies. 9pm - 3am, £2 NUS, £3 others.
pick of the 25/10 week
5. The Zombie Got old clothes that you never wear? Why not shred them up and become a zombie. Take a trip to Asda and get fake blood to plaster on yourself and your away! Dark make up on and under the eyes with red lipstick to make you even scarier. HALLOWEEN JOKE: When is a pumpkin not a pumpkin? When you drop it, then its a squash!
25/11
23/11
Students’ Union, Park Place, 02920 387421 www.cardiffstudents.com ! Med Club, Neuadd Meirionydd, Heath Park 02920 744948 ! Clwb Ifor Bach ros, Bakers Row 02920 399939 www.clubmetropolitan.com ! Dempseys, Castle Street 02920 252024 ! Move, 7 Mill Lane 02920 225592 ! Jazz, 21 St. Mary Street 02920 387026 www.cafejazzcardiff.com ! The Riverbank Hotel, Despenser Street www.riverbankjazz.co.uk ! St. David’s Hall, Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay 0870 0402000 www.wmc.org.uk ! The New Theatre, Park Place 02920 878889 www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk ! The Cardiff International Arena, Mary Ann Street 02920 224488 ! The Millennium Stadium Can’t miss it. www.millenniumstadium.com ! The Point,