gair rhydd - Issue 925

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CARDIFF'S STUDENT WEEKLY

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ISSUE 925 MAY 24 2010

Photos bring you their expert guide to Photoshop Fashion meet Elle magazine's assistant stylist PHOTO: EMMA MCFARNON

Interviews chat to indie-rock favourites, Foals

FOALS

Plump Djs - Dot to dot festival

In gair rhydd this week...

Features We bring you our ultimate guide to filling the summer months >> pages 14-15

Opinion Sexist slur or harmless fun? Opinion debates the online phenomenon, Fitfinder >> page 8

Student assaulted in robbery

Sport

Suspect flees after attacking student in Cathays

Preview of the Ospreys critical clash with Leinster in the Magners League Final

Ceri Isfryn News Editor

>> page 26

South Wales Police are appealing for witnesses after a Cardiff student was the victim of a street robbery in Cathays.

The 27-year-old female’s handbag was stolen after a man, who is described as white and of a large build, assaulted her.

The incident occurred on the junction between Mundy Place and Woodville Road (pictured), by the popular

bar, Mr. Smith's.

It is believed that the perpetrator is approximately 25-years-old and 5' 7'' tall. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a grey hooded top, with the hood up, and dark trousers.

The suspect fled on foot down Mundy Place in the direction of the Mackintosh Pub. DC Michael Owens of Cathays CID said: “The incident occurred near closing time of pubs and bars in the area, and with it being a popular area to socialise, there may have been a number of potential witnesses stood

outside licensed premises finishing their drinks.”

Cardiff’s Community Safety Student Liaison Officer, PC Tim Davies, advised all students to take extra precautions to guarantee personal safety.

“Try and stay with friends or book taxis if you’re out and about late at night, and stick to well lit areas. It’s best to keep your personal possessions out of sight, but if you do have to use your phone in the street, stand with your back to a wall so that you can see what’s going on around you.”

Students’ Union President, Ed Car-

ey, said that the attack was extremely worrying: “I’d encourage the student community to be mindful and supportive of each other.

“It’s worth remembering, though, that on the whole, Cardiff’s crime rate is very low and Cathays police do a great job of keeping the student community safe.”

Anyone with information should contact Cathays CID on 029 20527267 or phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Politics Oliver Smith discusses possible resoluions to Thailand's troubles >> page 11

02 NEWS

gr gr EDITOR Emma Jones

DEPUTY EDITOR Simon Lucey

gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Sally Wood receives Honour Roll prize from Vice-Chancellor Students recognised for their valued contribution to University life in this year's Honour Roll

CO-ORDINATOR Elaine Morgan

Gareth Ludkin News Editor

SUB EDITOR Sarah Powell NEWS Ceri Isfryn Gareth Ludkin Emma McFarnon Jamie Thunder FEATURES Daniella Graham Robin Morgan OPINION Paul Stollery Oli Franklin POLITICS Damian Fantato COLUMNISTS Tim Hart Oli Franklin LISTINGS Sarah Powell TAF-OD Nia Gwawr Williams Branwen Mathias Cadi Mai SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT Amy Hall Priya Raj JOBS & MONEY Katie Greenway SPORT Jon Evans James Hinks Adam Horne Lucy Morgan Robbie Wells CONTRIBUTORS Zoe Bridger Laura Brunt Carys Cross Alina Dan James Dunn Alex Evans Karen Gregory Holly Howe Ayushman Jamwal Katie Murdoch Jack Parker Oliver Smith Miranda Atty

Got a story? Contact us

NEWSDESK 07908 551922 NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM gair rhydd has been Cardiff University's independent student newspaper since 1972

SUCCESS: Sally Wood with her awards

Third year Law and Criminology student, Sally Wood, has scooped this year's Cardiff University Honour Roll prize.

The prestigious award was open to candidates who have enhanced the lives of fellow students, contributed to the wider community in Cardiff and overcome challenges in their student lives.

The Students' Union have made a concerted effort to publicise the award this year, which in previous years has gone under the radar.

For the past seven years, this award has celebrated the most committed of Cardiff University students, and this year, Sally has been recognised for her dedication and commitment in various fields.

During her time at University, Sally has been involved with a number of student services. She has been the vice-president of ShAg, the main co-ordinator of Nightline, and captain of the ladies rugby team. She also became the youngest ever non-sabbatical officer elected within the Union as the LGBT officer. These things were all achieved alongside a number of other commitments to the University.

Sally was nominated by Grace Bradley, Charlotte Morris, Sophie Williams and Daniella Graham.

President of the RAG society, Dan-

iella Graham, was also nominated for the Honour Roll, alongside Matt Price, an SVC trustee; The President of the Malaysian student society, BinHau Lee; Dominic Stone, the Union’s disabilities officer and Ayushman Jamwal, who has been committed to the representation of international students at the University.

After winning the award, Sally said: “I feel really privileged. The things I do at University, I don’t do for thanks or praise, but it is so nice to be appreciated at the University.

“It is testament to what I have achieved and to our teams. I have met some incredible people – at Nightline, the rugby team and so many others.

“I feel really proud to be on the Honour Roll. I’ve been nominated the past two years so it’s just amazing.”

The Vice-Chancellor presented the award at last week’s Student Council, making his first appearance at the meeting.

Ed Carey, Students’ Union President, congratulated Sally on her success.

He said: “An excellent panel from the University, Union and local communities came to a consensus that Sally was without a doubt the deserving winner of the award.”

Ed was also quick to praise the efforts and quality of the other nominees: “All six nominations were of an extraordinarily high calibre and I thank them all for their contribution to the University.”

Union security heightened as anti-racist meeting takes place Jamie Thunder News Editor Threats to disrupt an anti-racist meeting led to security staff being deployed around the Students’ Union on Thursday.

Students entering the Union had to show their student ID between around 6.40pm and 8pm in an attempt to prevent members of the Welsh Defence League (WDL) gatecrashing the meeting, organised by Cardiff Communities Against Racism (CCAR).

However, despite threats from the WDL, the meeting passed without incident and no WDL members were seen.

The meeting was held to organise

a counter-protest against a planned WDL demonstration in Cardiff on June 5.

The WDL claims it is a non-racist organisation and is anti-extremism.

But Ross Saunders, chairing the CCAR meeting, said that it had previously protested against halal warehouses and the building of mosques, suggesting that it opposes all Islam, not just extremism.

Numerous community groups have raised their opposition to the proposed WDL protest and individuals continue to support for the anti-racist campaign group.

Another CCAR meeting will take place in the Gareth Edwards Room on the top floor of the Students’ Union next Thursday at 7pm.

NEWS 1 EDITORIAL & OPINION 8 POLITICS 10 FEATURES 12 COLUMNIST 17 LETTERS 19 TAF-OD 20 SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT 21 JOBS 22 FIVE MINUTE FUN 25 LISTINGS 25 SPORT 26

NEWS 03

gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

fall Business school shaken by Students for children sudden death of lecturer Ceri Isfryn Reporter Students and colleagues from the Cardiff Business School have paid tribute to popular lecturer, Mr. Martin Evans, who died suddenly last week.

His colleague, Professor Gordon Foxall, praised Mr. Evans, 60, as a friend and co-worker: “Martin was a friend and colleague of the highest integrity and industry. He made enormous contributions to Cardiff Business School, always willing to help and assume responsibilities, always supportive and caring.

“I shall not be alone in missing him beyond telling.”

He was a senior, teaching in Marketing at the school, and had also taught at institutions in Glamorgan, Portsmouth, Newcastle and the West of England.

Mr. Evans was due to retire at the end of this term after a prolific career, which included writing over 180 publications, case studies and reports, and eight books.

According to colleagues, he had plans to devote time to his wife after retiring, having devoted so much time and effort to his work over the years.

Mr. Evans was an academic prize winner at the International Conference

of Marketing Communication, the Institute of Direct Marketing, the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) and a multiple prize winner at the Academy of Marketing.

Mary Morgan, a co-worker at the Business School, said: “I cannot express my sadness at the news which broke on Monday. Martin was more than a colleague to us in Marketing and Strategy; he was a friend, a men-

tor and an advocate.”

An online book of condolences has received an overwhelming number of comments, from as far and wide as Pakistan, Moscow and China.

One ex-student wrote; “Martin Evans was undoubtedly a legend! He was an inspirational teacher and a lovely man. He had lots of time for his students, and not only about University work: he gave me all of his Beatles

music collection, and in return I gave him my Pink Floyd collection (he had very good music taste)!”

The majority of Mr. Evans’ research work was devoted to interactive and electronic marketing and he worked as a consultant to a variety of organisations on such matters for over thirty years.

Tributes go to http://www.cardiff. ac.uk/carbs/martinevans/index.php.

Cardiff hosts bike carnival

TRAGEDY: Mr. Evans (middle) at this year's postgraduate dinner

Cardiff celebrates Uni considers first ever Welsh blocking 'sexist' Sustainability Week Fitfinder site Holly Howe Reporter The first all-Wales Sustainability Week took place recently, with events and exhibitions around the country encouraging people to make Wales a more sustainable nation.

The Sustainability Week aims to make people more aware of environmental issues through lectures and hands-on events around the country.

The week also celebrates current environmental achievements throughout Wales.

Events at Cardiff University included a ‘Discovering Your Environment’ photography exhibition in the Main Building, and a Wales Sustainability Innovation Network event to understand how Welsh industry can benefit from a transition to a low carbon energy economy.

Techniquest, in Cardiff Bay, also

A charity that recently opened a home for abandoned babies in Uganda is holding an abseiling fundraising event.

The Child's i Foundation is giving people the chance to abseil down Guys Tower, Southwark. At a height of 450ft, Guys Tower is the tallest building that can be abseilled off in Britain.

Due to building work, this is the last chance to abseil down the Tower.

The event will take place on July 31. To register a place, students should email abseil@childsifoundation.org.

Participants will be charged a £30 registration fee, and there is a £200 minimum sponsorship.

took part, by offering a chance to attend laboratory workshops about solar energy. Participants had the chance to design and build a spinning fairground ride powered by sunlight.

The Chapter Arts Centre also launched the Sol Cinema event, in which ten minute films about the environment were shown in a recycled caravan powered by solar energy.

Other events included Medieval Costume Making in Merthyr Tydfil, and the ‘Biodiversity Blitz’ in Swansea, in which all of the flora and fauna of Bishops' wood seen in 24-hours was recorded by volunteers.

The Environment Minister, Jane Davidson, launched the Assembly Government’s new strategic energy performance programme, which will see £30m of Welsh Assembly Government funding invested into some of Wales’ most deprived communities.

By doing so, the programme hopes to create greener, more fuel efficient and sustainable housing.

Carys Cross Reporter Cardiff University has received complaints regarding the publication of discriminatory posts on Fitfinder, the growing internet phenomenon which has caught on in universities across the country.

Fitfinder, a website that allows students to anonymously advertise and contact their library crushes, has seen its popularity grow to nearly 50 universities nationwide.

In the face of criticism concerning matters of sexist and racist content, Union representatives discussed the matter and the possibility of a ban.

It is possible that Cardiff University will follow in the footsteps of other universities who have blocked the website on their networks.

Founder of the site, Rich Martell, a University College London computer science student, has previously

expressed how “stunned” he was by institutions taking action against the website.

He said that students have reacted angrily to universities blocking the site, because it “brings freedom of information into doubt”.

While Martell maintains that his website stands on non-offensive principles, students have been accused of using the site as an outlet for derogatory behaviour, with one user proclaiming it was a form of “anonymous bullying”.

One student in Julian Hodge described a “female, brunette hair, large girl just broke the floor. Try diet cola bottles next time”.

Another in the Arts and Social Studies Library reported a “male, black hair. Loud speccy little ****er with camp voice. Shut the **** you you opinionated ****”.

It remains to be seen whether Cardiff University students will be able to continue using the website.

As part of Bike Week 2010, the sustainable transport charity, Sustrans, is hosting an afternoon and evening of activities in partnership with ethical café Milgi and the Cardiff Arts Institute.

From 2pm on Sunday June 27, people can visit Milgi or Cardiff Arts Institute and fill their baskets with one-of-a-kind vintage and hand-crafted bargains, and enjoy healthy and natural treats.

From 6pm, there will be a one hour bike ride, open to all, which will leave from Milgi. Participants will pedal in colourful convoy towards the City Centre, and join the Taff Trail, taking in the sights of Bute Park, Sophia Gardens and Coopers Field.

The ride will be followed by a carnival, including live music, comedy and circus performers. The celebrations will continue until midnight.

Milgi is situated at 213 City Road, Cardiff, and Cardiff Arts Institute at 29 Park Place.

Schizophrenia sufferers for Cardiff study

Cardiff researchers are recruiting new participants to take part in a research project investigating the causes of major mental illnesses.

The study, funded by the Medical Research Council and the Welsh Assembly Government, aims to investigate both genetic and environmental causes of schizophrenia, and how the illness may affect a person’s thinking skills.

The project has already studied around 250 people but the group is looking to recruit others who have either had psychosis or have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

All participants who complete the full study will receive £15 for their time.

04 NEWS

gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Anger at plans for more student flats Cardiff residents meet to oppose plans Miranda Atty Reporter Plans to build a new block of student flats near Gabalfa have been met with anger from local residents.

Plans have been submitted to build 345 student flats on the patch of land behind Mynachdy Road in Gabalfa.

The plot, owned by a private contractor, will provide residences for students from Cardiff University and the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC). A spokesperson for Cardiff Council said that UWIC students are the preferred user group due to their proximity.

Scores of local residents attended a public meeting to talk about the plans last week, and many voiced their concerns about the strain the new flats will put on parking in the local area.

The proposals allocate just 27 spaces for parking.

Liberal Democrat Councillor, Ed Bridges, chaired the meeting, and said: “At halls like Allensbank House or Cambrian Point where halls have been built without sufficient car parking, it causes big problems and often means that students end up at odds with the local community.”

One resident said: “Our road is going to be turned into a car park. We’ve seen problems with parking in other areas when they build student flats.

No matter what they say, the students will bring their cars to university.”

Another local resident, Clive Hutchinson, said: “I think enough is enough. We’ve got student accommodation all the way up North Road. We don’t want anymore.”

Local resident, Pam Fitzpatrick, said she would prefer to see the site developed as a community space,

rather than have more student accommodation built. “I want to see a park, a green space and a skate park. We need a community park there for everyone to use,” she said.

Councillor Bridges said that he has submitted a proposal to the council that a footbridge be built, linking the new development on the land to the existing halls at Talybont. The planned site is just across the railway line from Talybont student residences, so this would make it easier to provide good transport links for the students, and it would improve access to local amenities.

“We will fight this. I don’t see how this development can go ahead with that level of car parking,” he said.

In 2006, similar proposals for the development of houses on the site was rejected, after a successful campaign against the plans by local residents and councillors.

Taxpayers oppose free Tesco bus for UWIC students Emma McFarnon News Editor A bus that takes UWIC students to do their shopping at Tesco for free has been criticised by a Cardiff councillor.

The bus, funded by local taxpayers, takes students from UWIC halls and campuses to the giant Tesco Extra store, on Western Avenue, for free.

Richard Cook, a councillor for Canton, said: “It is appalling. Cardiff residents are effectively subsidising Tesco. I have written to Tesco about it but I haven’t had a reply.”

The bus runs on two separate routes four times on Tuesday evenings, stopping at halls of residence, UWIC campuses, and areas where students live.

The service was organised by UWIC and was funded with the help of a £5,400 grant from Cardiff council through its “Get Cardiff Moving” sustainable travel city grants scheme.

The scheme is joint-funded by the

Assembly Government.

A spokesman for the council said: “The new schemes follow complaints from residents regarding student parking, and a UWIC travel survey that highlighted extensive student car use for shopping.”

A spokesman for the University said: “UWIC is committed to helping to give the city a greener future, so it is important that we continue to explore initiatives that encourage our students to consider changing their mode of transport to more sustainable alternatives such as public transport, cycling and walking.

“Research has illustrated that onein-four students in Cardiff are car owners and that one of the main reasons they bring their car to university is to assist with their weekly shopping.

By giving them the opportunity to do their weekly shop through providing convenient and safe public transport, we are hoping to encourage more students to leave their cars at home before they arrive in Cardiff,” they said.

NEWS 05

gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Uni daycare is best in Wales Alina Dan Reporter

SUCCESS: Daycare centre rated nursery of the year

Russell Group proposes large fee increases Katie Murdoch Reporter The Russell Group has revealed proposals to lift the £3,290 cap on university tuition fees.

The organisation, which represents the top 20 universities in the UK, submitted a statement to Lord Browne’s funding review setting out plans to “increase graduate contributions” in order to deal with the university funding deficit.

The plans have proved unpopular with students and lecturers alike.

Sally Hunt, General Secretary of the University and College Union (UCU) said that the move would be “the most regressive policy since WWII”.

Concerns that tuition fees in leading universities could be raised to as high as £9,000 have been heightened by this recent news.

The Russell Group claims that the abolition of caps on fees will ensure that top universities in Britain will uphold their world-class reputations.

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary in the new coalition cabinet, has the responsibility of dealing with university funding and has previously signed a pledge that he will vote against raising tuition fees - an issue which the Liberal Democrats have campaigned strongly against in recent years.

NUS President, Wes Streeting, claims that the review could force students into further debt and suggests

that it is likely to lead to the marketisation of universities in Britain.

Cardiff University is a member of the elite Russell Group, and if these plans come into effect, Cardiff could end up charging students these rocketing tuition fees for the privilege of studying here.

Katie Dalton, President of NUS Wales, said: "If the Russell Group get their way, then future students could be graduating with debts of £40,000, repaying their student loans sooner, and accruing more loan interest than ever before.”

Students from less well-off backgrounds could suffer as a result if they are forced to attend cheaper universities, or study courses that may not be suited to their intelligence or career prospects.

If they cannot afford to pay the high costs of tuition fees at more prestigious universities, this will become a reality.

Dalton furthers this by arguing that poorer prospective students may simply decide that higher education is too expensive for them, resulting in only the affluent few gaining more opportunities than the working class.

Although the Browne review deals with higher education funding in England, if fees in England go up, the funding gap between England and Wales will be increased and may put pressure on the Welsh Assembly to follow suit.

Cardiff University’s daycare centre has been named Welsh nursery of the year by the National Day Nurseries Association.

Two centres were shortlisted for the prize based on parents’ feedback, and a panel awarded Cardiff’s Park Place centre the accolade.

Maria Davies, deputy manager of the daycare centre, said that the nursery is valuable as it offers on-site care from 8am to 6pm, and is only closed on Bank Holidays and during University holidays.

Jessica Reeves, a student that uses the facility praised staff for their caring manner.

"I am 100% confident that my children are happy when I leave them at the daycare centre," added Ms. Reeves.

Mature Students’ Officer, Edmund Schluessel, said that student parents urgently needed facilities like the Cardiff University daycare centre because they are generally commuters, coming from areas as far away as Swansea and Merthyr Tydfil.

However, he added that other Welsh universities’ childcare centres have more emphasis on bilingual learning, and are open for more of the year.

The centre provides facilities for up to 64 children aged between ten weeks to five years, and will now be entered for the national competition. The winner will be announced on June 10.

06 NEWS

gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Ninjas come I, robot to mugged student's aid You'll never guess what...

A Japanese couple have been married by a robot.

The newly-weds were hitched by the i-fairy - a robot which they proclaimed brought them together. The groom met the bride through the business that developed the robot.

The robot had been previously developed to guide tourists through museums and exhibitions.

This was the first marriage of its kind and was fittingly performed in Tokyo, Japan, which is known for its obsession with developing robots and gadgets.

Jamie Thunder News Editor A student in Australia got help from an unlikely source when he was mugged – a group of passing ninjas.

Muggers attacked the 27-year-old German medical student as he got off a train, but a student leaving a class at the nearby Ninja Senshi Ryu martial arts school saw what was happening.

Five ninjas in full ninja gear ran to

help the student, at which point the muggers ran off.

Police have since arrested two man on suspicion of the robbery and are looking for a third. The student’s mobile phone and iPod were stolen in the incident.

Ninja sensei Kaylan Soto said: "We started running towards them and they took off. They would have seen five of us in ninja gear all in black with our belts on, running toward them.

"I think they're probably still running if I'm not mistaken," he added.

GRADUATE: Hazel Soares celebrates her success

Gareth Ludkin News Editor

Coffin escape A 19-year-old woman has escaped custody by hiding in a coffin at a central Pennsylvanian funeral home.

April Kelly escaped from officers in the coffin, causing a two hour search.

Police said that the 19-year-old Kelly was being transported to jail by Juniata County deputies on Thursday to await extradition to another county on other charges.

Kelly hid in the coffin in her attempt to escape these charges.

Pillow talk

A Japanese man has married his favourite pillow.

Lee Jin-gyu who fell in love with his ‘dakimakura’ - a large huggable pillow, which often has an anime character’s image on the front – has bizarrely decided to wed the inanimate object.

The pillow was adorned in a wedding dress for the ceremony.

The 28-year-old was not ashamed of his love for his pillow. One friend said: “They go out to the park or the funfair where it will go on all the rides with him.

"Then, when he goes out to eat, he takes it with him and it gets its own seat and its own meal."

Graduate grandma

NINJA: Intimidating

A 94-year-old Californian woman has become the second-oldest person to earn a degree.

As a mature student, Hazel Soares has juggled a busy life as a grandmother to 40 grand- and great-grandchildren with her all-important studies.

Studying art history, Ms. Soares achieved a lifelong dream in completing her degree.

Throughout her life, her desire to attend college remained strong and she was determined to complete a degree regardless of what stood in her way.

“Unless you had some help, it would have been impossible to go.

However, I never lost the desire,” said Ms. Soares.

“It's taken me quite a long time because I've had a busy life. I'm finally achieving it, and it makes me feel really good.”

Ms. Soares does not want to stop here. She intends to put her degree to use by working as a museum guide in the local San Francisco Bay area.

US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who delivered the keynote speech at Mills College, an all-women's school in Oakland, congratulated Ms Soares on her degree.

Insisting that you can never be too old to study, Ms. Soares believes that being a mature student should never hold you back.

“Some people do give up the idea or postpone the idea. 'It's too late, it's too much work.' They may not realise that, once you try it, it's exciting to go to school.”

In 2007, Nola Ochs, of Kansas, became the world's oldest graduate when she received her honours from Fort Hays State University, aged 95.

Now 98, she proved last week she is in a class of her own and pushed the academic age bar higher by collecting a master's degree in liberal studies.

All fingers and thumbs Gareth Ludkin News Editor A young Chinese boy who was born with 15 fingers and 16 toes recently under-went five hours of surgery to remove his extra digits.

Li Jinpeng was, remarkably, born with seven fingers on his left hand, eight on his right and eight toes on each foot.

Surgeons were confident that they could remove the extra fingers and toes, and after five hours in surgery, Li Jinpeng returned with five less fingers and six less toes.

Surgeon Tian Lijie said: “We have

successfully completed the operation as anticipated.

"The shape of Li's fingers and toes improved greatly."

It is thought that the extra digits emerged as a result of genetic mutations, which could have occurred due to problems during pregnancy.

Although advised by doctors to wait until he was older, Li Jinpeng’s parents decided that it was time for him to have surgery after other kids, who branded him as a monster, had bullied him at school.

Dr Lijie said that the Li would begin rehabilitation in a month.

His parents say that he is looking forward to fitting his feet into a pair of shoes.

TOE-RIFIC: That's a lot of toes...

LETTERS 19

gairrhydd | LETTERS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

the Comments from the week’s news, opinion, features and sport at www.gairrhydd.com JOMEC students unhappy with module cancellation JOMess One issue that has been forgotten here is how the cancellation benefits those who received a good mark for their 1st assignment. Because only one essay mark counts for the whole module, those who did well (got 2:1 or 1st) have seen their average rise a noticeable amount. Now, you won’t hear them complaining, and why would you.

What gets me, being a 2nd year JOMEC student, is that these people are now on par/soaring above other students who have had to put in more work, on other modules, to get a good average.

Furthermore, it is no secret in the department that the module ‘Cinema & Place’ wasn’t the most challenging known to man, thus, not only have students been rewarded for taking an easy-than-average module in the first place, they had only to do one essay!

Ridiculous.

Having spoken to a figure in JOMEC one thing mentioned was to get those ‘not happy’ with their mark to re-do the essay! This is ludicrous.

How can they possibly allow people to re-do an essay if they aren’t pleased with their mark? This is totally unfair. I, like many other people I’m sure, have had essays back where I have not been happy with the mark, but I can’t re-do it because I’m not happy with it! This is university, where everyone should be able to write a decent piece of work.

It’s not school where we can do draft after draft… It is clear that JOMEC are

only considering those in the module, rather then everyone else who are also affected.

As a JOMEC student, I am wholly disappointed with the school because I feel that they fail to meet the needs of the students and can be very uncooperative.

had to just say this is one of the worse articles I have read in the newspaper, ever.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Exams: surviving the nightmare

Kieran McCann

Amanda

Join the campaign.

Free head shave on Thursday the 27th at Michael Johnson of Johnson’s Barbers on 64, Cathays Terrace. Please contact me (Kieran) on kmccann@ cardiff.gov.uk if you are interested.

Although it is obvious this is a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek look at the difficulties of revision, I think the final ‘24 hours of fun’ section illustrates exactly why I think the university should not be providing 24 hour study spaces.

As a PhD student, I have done my fair share of coursework and exams at Cardiff. How many times have I stayed up all night doing work?

None. The idea that the university should facilitate students staying up all night, cramming or frantically finishing essays because they couldn’t be bothered to organise themselves in time strikes me as ridiculous. Not only is it not what learning should be about, it is unhealthy.

The money spent on security for such spaces would be better spent elsewhere, in my opinion, and students should not be encouraged to think that staying up all night is a viable alternative to actually studying throughout the year.

Teachers learn their lesson Kevin I applaud the way that you have ignored being in Wales where these tests do not have to take place, and where there are also no league tables (without the world ending). It fits nicely into the piece of work that ignores the reasons to abolish these tests which are rooted firmly in education theory.

That said I am sure you did well at all of your tests. Of course they test your training in passing tests, not your ability to research and learn for yourself.

Luke I haven’t commented before but I

Emma Glad you know better than teachers.

forum

Nice piece.

Actually, Facebook has more than 400 million users now. And I like your approach on education and privacy settings. common sense = cybersense!

I'll be watching you...

Parry Aftab

Away on a placement?

Heading abroad?

Stay in touch with

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08 OPINION

gairrhydd | OPINION@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

'Embrace your inner slaaaag' Female. Red hair. Anyone else think all this fuss about Fitfinder is silly?

Elizabeth Blockley Opinion Writer Fitfinder: a fun pastime for procrastination and, er, ‘romance’, or a force of evil that encourages bullying and wasted time during the crucial summer exam period?

Anyone who is at university and hasn’t been living under a rock for the past few weeks will know that Fitfinder is a website that implores you to ‘Witness the Fitness’ and then post it online so that others will know where to find a fitty.

The brainchild of UCL computer studies student Rich Martell, Fitfinder has invited controversy because it is being used not only as a dubious way of complimenting the other sex, but also as a forum for public humiliation. Comments such as ‘Female.

Blonde hair. Glasses, near reception.

Ughhhh’ do somewhat support the view that Martell’s innovative idea is not being used quite as intended. For this reason, several universities have enforced temporary bans on Fitfinder, most of which have been lifted after outraged protests from sex-starved

students.

But are the comments found on Fitfinder really offensively sexist, as argued by its opponents, or are they a bit of fun that their detractors are jealous of? Admittedly, the majority of comments on Fitfinder depict the object of attraction as little more than a slab of meat.

If someone was so moved by my bum to put it on a website, I might be flattered Take this example of Fitfinder wooing: ‘Female, Black hair. Looking very nice and highly squirtable, nice bum!’

Aside from the fact that I’m extremely worried by the inclusion of the word ‘squirtable’, if this was directed at me I doubt I would take offence. In fact, if someone was so moved by my bum as to take the time to point others in its direction on a website, I hesitantly suggest I might be flattered.

Accusations of sexism are fairly unfounded when the girls are at it so

prolifically too. For instance: ‘Spiky gelled hair in house B, think I’ve seen this one somewhere before, maybe nude? Would love to feel his spikes…’. There’s no denying the class and affection in that sentiment.

Not to say that I wouldn’t be capable of creating some myself. That’s the fun of Fitfinder; it is unapologetically politically incorrect and overtly sexual. If you don’t like it, don’t go on it. If the thought of bored and sexually deprived students appeals, get on there and embrace your inner slaaaag.

I can’t lie, after several hours of cheap energy drink-fuelled philosophy, any alternative activity holds a certain allure. Particularly crude flirtation with random strangers.

As for universities banning Fitfinder, the prospect of Cardiff doing so makes my blood boil. The point is not that I go into the library primarily to hook-up online, but that I want my right to do so to be respected if I so choose. After three years and approximately £10,000 in tuition fees for a degree of only eight hours contact time a week, I feel as though I should be able to go into the library and download some hardcore bestiality porn if

the mood takes me. And until other sites such as Facebook or Youtube, which can also be used as forums for cruel jokes, are disabled by universities, they have little justification for a blanket ban on Fitfinder. The internet will sadly always be abused by nasty people with too much time on their hands, and the banning of one site will make no difference.

Finally, the journalist who reported on the Fitfinder phenomenon for the

Guardian website spoke to Rich Martell and asked him if he could see this latest internet fad becoming a fulltime profession. His response? ‘No, I’ve got a job in the city lined-up for me. This is only a joke.’ Fitfinder: fun library pastime or the creation of an evil genius, using the average twentyyear-old’s hormones against them to ensure the downfall of students everywhere? Well played, Martell. Well played.

FitFinder: funny or f***** up? You decide...

Julian Hodge (24 Hours)Female, Other hair. White soft cub with paws sitting in the middle of the room. Very very cute and tiny and soft.

Biosciences Building (IT Room) Male, Redhead hair. Ginger pubes sat next to the bearded Mann. Phwoar.

ASSL (Law Window by Railway) Female, Brunette hair. ridiculously fit girl by the blokes toilet.... its almost embarrassing to have a boner in the library Trevithick (Study Area) Male, Brunette hair. SUPER HOTTIE in grey cardi and brown/pink shirt. you are FITT. Number please? Meet me in the toilets in 5? ;) xx www.thefitfinder.co.uk

OPINION 09

gairrhydd | OPINION@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Osborne's first mistake Our new Chancellor is already scaring off much-needed investment Paul Stollery Opinion Editor It's been a little over a week since the Lib Dem-Tory government took office and, as far as I can tell, our country hasn't fallen apart. The hung parliament hasn't led to a run on the pound, David Cameron hasn't given all of the money earmarked 'benefits' to his Etonian friends, and the universe hasn't folded in on itself in a state of shock after the Lib Dems managed to actually manoeuvre themselves into a position of power.

No, it's all been rather positive. I'm still waiting to pick up a paper with the headline 'Everything is fine' plastered across the front page.

Don't worry, however, if you're like me – a pessimistic Labour supporter waiting for some bad news – there's one man in government that always has our backs. There's always one man capable of making the Tories look every bit as incompetent the Guardian made them out. Whoever had money on George Osborne being the first cabinet member to say something incredibly stupid, please step forward to collect your winnings now.

The Chancellor was guilty last week of making some very foolish and politically motivated comments.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Os-

are somewhat short of right now. But don't worry, here comes George Osborne, the man who is supposed to be in charge of our economy, to reassure investors. Here he comes on his metaphorical steed to save the day. Oh no wait, he's actually carrying a sign that says 'Investors: please come back later.'

Following the Chancellor's comments, sterling tumbled against the dollar to a 14-month low, with investors fearing a repeat performance of Greece. It may not have been a drop significant of carrying any long-term consequences, but it was a drop nonetheless.

It is perhaps what these comments signify that is more worrying than their actual effects; the one man in the country who is supposed to be looking after our economy is currently the one man who is scaring investors away.

The left-wing media gave Osborne a hard time and, as a result, David Cameron hid him away for the last couple of weeks of the election. Just as I have decided to stop complaining about the Tories, I have decided to give Mr Osborne a chance. Maybe he had just been the victim of a poor image. Maybe he had just been unlucky.

Or maybe he was just as naive as we all feared.

Keep up the good work, George, we're all rooting for you.

borne spoke of the mess that Labour ministers had apparently left the Treasury in.

“We are finding all sorts of skeletons in various cupboards and all sorts of decisions taken at the last minute,” claimed Osborne. “By the end, the previous government was totally irresponsible and has left this country with absolutely terrible public finance.”

The one man supposed to be looking after our economy is scaring investors away These comments, under normal circumstances, would not be anything out of the ordinary; a government criticising the past decisions of the opposition is simply politics. However, these comments came just weeks after Greece admitted to the world that it had essentially lied about the size of its public debt and deficit. Given the uncertainty that these comments were bound to bring to an already less-thancertain global economy, these words were nothing short of idiotic.

A healthy investor market, and therefore a healthy economy, runs on confidence – something markets

Guns don't kill people, games do It is simply ridiculous the way the Government treats video games Alex Evans Opinion Writer Have you ever wanted to stab a man? Maybe you’re not a blade sort of fella; perhaps gunning down a group of helpless pedestrians on your nearest pavement just because you can, just to see quite what this murder lark is all about, before you hurtle your Ferrari, new car smell still lingering, into the nearest wall/river/yawning chasm is more your thing.

Games are not real, despite what Jack Thomas, Barack Obama and the BBFC say Probably not, though. Most of us would be horrified at the thought of such monstrous, inhuman behaviour.

It just wouldn’t be polite, frankly. But more importantly, because we know there are consequences. That man had a wife and kids. He had dreams,

ambitions. He was scared of bees.

Similarly, that Ferrari took a group of underpaid Italians weeks to watch the automated machines to make, cog by cog. Wrecking it would be like licking the Mona Lisa clean – tragic, inexplicable and pointless.

That’s real life, though. What about in games?

Games are not real. Regardless of what Jack Thompson (that guy who hates GTA), Barack Obama or the BBFC (those stiffs who slap 18 symbols on our games here in the UK, along with PEGI) might have told you, the guy you just ran over on Liberty City’s grimy ‘street’ isn’t real.

He didn’t have thoughts, feelings or a family to go home to. In fact, he’s the same guy who was in the gun shop a minute ago – and I swear he just came back from the dead and is now walking around the park without a care. In short, he was a just a bunch of polygons, duplicated ad nauseam.

It doesn’t matter that you just checked your tyre pressure on his legs.

But that’s not how the government, angry mothers and the media seem to see it. Games, to these groups, are sick, depraved filth causing our youth

to turn into violent yobs, stabbing everyone because they saw it in Call of Auto 6: Generic Subtitle.

Parents shouldn't be letting their children play these violent games anyway It is, quite simply, ridiculous. As a society, we’ve gone – in just a few hundred years – from ‘children’ marrying at ten, being industrial slaves by 12 and fighting wars by 16, to a bunch of mollycoddled fatties who might be influenced by the ‘horrific’ scenes in the latest shooter – so terrible that they’ll obviously cause an entire generation to run into the streets and overthrow society, one pistol round at a time. By that logic, the 1980s should have seen a sudden uprising of sickening turtle stampings, ghost persecution and Italian U-bend menders eyeing apes suspiciously. Violent games don’t modify children’s behaviour any more than watching darts makes us all fat beer drinkers.

Games are an arena in which we can live out our wildest fantasies; driving obscene race cars, saving the hot girl and shooting the bad guy. But they are also – and this is something that some people will simply never grasp – consequence-free simulations in which we can let our darkest curiosities play out; stealing a cop car, causing a ten-car pile-up and yes, mowing down every Tom, Dick and Harry in the latest ‘sandbox’ city, just because.

After all, better that than on a real street; with real people, with real families. We can’t hide away our healthy desires any easier

than we can our slightly psychotic thoughts (“let’s see what happens when I minigun that helicopter”), but we can at least have a place that we can explore both sides of our psyche without causing problems.

Parents shouldn’t be letting their children play these games anyway. They’re sick, violent, and they’re all mine.

The difference is – I’m over 18.

I understand where gaming ends and reality begins. Parents need to understand that they have the responsibility to protect their kids until they are old enough to realise, too – whatever age that is in each case.

Now pass me the pad; I’ve got this sick idea.

10 POLITICS

gairrhydd | POLITICS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Cameron plays the Field With the coalition government getting to work, James Dunn explains why it might yet fracture

T

he historical and controversial coalition agreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats is already starting to experience fractures and tensions.

Indeed, the division seems to be caused by both sides of the coalition.

David Cameron started to worry some Conservatives last week with his announcement of his new cabinet. With five Liberal Democrats in positions of authority – notably Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister – and a number of junior ministerial positions to be filled by other members of Clegg’s party, the Conservatives are right to be concerned about who has the real power.

Cameron only enhanced this mood when he announced his plan at the weekend to form a truly representative government - which isn’t really a bad thing, any way you slice it. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives combined represent over 50% of the electorate. With a Prime Minister planning to incorporate people into his government based on merit, not party sympathies, then Britain really could have the first government that is actually made for the people, by the people.

The Conservatives' fear was compounded this week with the announce-

ment that Cameron is considering asking Frank Field to act as `Poverty Tsar`. The Labour MP, well known for his reputation for being an `Honourable Member`, would work alongside the new Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith.

Frank Field is a controversial figure in the Labour ranks. He has previously hailed Margaret Thatcher as a `hero`, as well as supporting the return of National Service in a bid to instil a sense of patriotism in the youth of to-

day. He has previously been in Cabinet as Minister for Welfare Reform in 1997. His task then was to `think the unthinkable` in a bid to restore public faith in the welfare system. Is he now thinking the unthinkable in becoming the first Labour minister to sit on a Conservative-Liberal Democrat Cabinet?

The last time he was in power, Field left in acrimonious circumstances. Having been involved in a series of intense arguments with his supe-

CLEGG & CAMERON: Match made in heaven?

rior, the Social Security Minister – a certain Harriet Harman – Field quit, while Blair fired Harman. Cameron has also offered roles to Will Hutton, the Labour-supporting former newspaper editor, and Lord Browne, the former BP chief executive. Conservative supporters seem to be worried that Cameron is trying to be too accommodating to those who have already had their chance in power.

This is supported from the Liberal Democrat ranks. In The Observer this week, the former Lib Dem leader, Charles Kennedy, revealed how he was morally forced to abstain from the vote endorsing a Conservative venture. While worried that the formal alliance would destroy forever plans for a progressive centre-left alliance in politics, and that the party would be swallowed up by the Tories, his declaration had no impact upon the vote in Birmingham. Kennedy, however, is still an influential figure in the Liberal ranks, and his abstention is a cause of concern for Clegg.

Both parties, however, have managed to survive their first tensions together. This should prepare them for the intense criticism and scrutiny that neither of them have experienced as opposition leaders. Now, no doubt, the Clegg-Cameron partnership will be subject to intense media pressure.

Miliband versus Miliband As the Labour leadership battle begins to heat up, Katie Murdoch has a look through the contenders

F

ollowing Gordon Brown’s resignation as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, the question of who will succeed him has sparked great curiosity within the party and the media.

Rumours that the Miliband brothers would run against one another have turned into reality, and some of the favourites to stand as candidates have announced that they won’t. Harriet Harman, though acting leader since Brown’s resignation, was the first to rule herself out in an e-mail to all party members. Jack Straw, Alistair Darling and Alan Johnson followed in her footsteps, counting themselves out.

Though these high-profile party members have not given explicit reasons for not putting themselves forward, it is thought that the Labour Party is hoping for a younger, fresher leader to replace Brown, so that the party can “rebuild itself”, as David Miliband said in declaring his candidacy. Brown’s difficulty in presenting himself as a spokesman in front of the camera (his attempts at smiling always appeared more like grimaces) has left Labour with an image crisis, wors-

MILIBANDS: Brothers in arms? ened by the contrast to Nick Clegg’s youthful looks and David Cameron’s salesman-like exterior. The ability to present the party well has, therefore, become imperative in the choice of runners for the leadership.

So far, only the Milibands and Ed Balls have formally announced their bids to become the next leader, with other candidates likely to include Andy Burnham. It seems that David’s good looks and popularity inside and outside the party have set him at an advantage to his brother. He also has more experience within the cabinet, but is often identified as a Blair-ite: his use of soundbites and his overall speaking style are particularly comparable to the now unpopular Tony Blair.

His close association with the first New Labour leader while working as Head of Policy in Blair’s government has given him the reputation as the more right-wing of the two brothers.

Ed, in comparison, is likely to receive backing from trade unions like Unite (the biggest union in Britain), and is more closely affiliated to Brown’s government. Though he does not seem as natural as his brother in front of the camera, former Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain, has praised him for his ‘dynamic personality’, and has said he believes Ed can help revive the Labour Party without resorting to the New Labour tactics of the 1990s. If either wins this leader-

ship, both have declared that they will strongly support their sibling in working under them as leader.

The lack of other candidates so far in the campaign for the leadership may be detrimental to the overall winner. A more varied candidature would give party members more options in their vote, giving more credibility to the overall campaign. The lack of women in the race to the leadership also hinders the contest. The middleaged, white, middle class image of politics is reinforced not only in the new Tory-Lib Dem coalition cabinet, but also in the Labour leadership bid.

Ultimately, what the Labour party need to do now is to wait for the new coalition government to make its first steps and figure out what it stands for from there. This could take years, but there is no hurry.

Nick Clegg recently stated that the Labour Party is no longer relevant.

Perhaps its loss of seats and support in the general election shows its need for revival to gain appeal, but the party’s gain in new membership as a result of the new government demonstrates that the party is relevant, and may do well from being in opposition.

This world, this week Time for tea?

R

and Paul, member of the recently established Tea Party, won the Republican Senate primary in Kentucky this week.

Formed last year, the party aims at forming a truly conservative Senate. Angry at the lack of conservative legislation from the Obama administration, Mr Paul managed to beat the Republican candidate Trey Grayson with 60% of the vote.

It is now easy to see the frustration that the American electorate has against the Washington institution.

Mr Paul attributes this to the people `wanting something new`.

Bombs away!

A

n alleged al-Qaeda suspect has been detained in Iraq following his revelation that he planned to bomb this South Africa World Cup. Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani told reporters this week that he had plans and designs to bomb the Danish and Dutch football teams in revenge for their cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.

The plans for the attack had not yet been put in motion and the al-Qaeda leadership had not been informed about it. The cartoons sparked massive controversy in 2006 when launched in a Danish journal.

Taliban attack

S

uspected Taliban insurgents have attacked one of the largest US air bases in Afghanistan, injuring seven Americans.

The attack, at Bagram air base, pictured, happened at 3am local time, using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

The US soldiers retaliated in kind, starting a running gun battle. While seven Americans were injured, there were no fatalities. The insurgents, however, lost ten men. Bagram is one of the most heavily fortified American positions in the country.

The attack came a day after a suicide bomb in Kabul killed 18 people.

POLITICS 11

gairrhydd | POLITICS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Some big trouble in little Thailand

As the crisis in Thailand draws to its close, Oliver Smith takes a look at how it started, and if a peaceful resolution was possible

T

en years ago Thailand stood as a democratic jewel in Southeast Asia, sandwiched between the military junta in Burma and the Communist state of Laos.

Thailand was more than a mere tourist’s hotspot; it enjoyed the second

largest economy in Southeast Asia, and became romanticised through backpacker’s literature.

But ten years on, Thailand, last week, teetered on the brink of civil war; a country divided by a military coup d’état and radicalised into opposing factions.

The violence between the so-called ‘red shirts’ (the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship), supported by Thaksin Shinawatra, and the Thai national government, led by Abhisit Vejjajiva, stems back to 2006.

Shinawatra is a hero to many Thai citizens. Back in 2001, he led his po-

BANGKOK'S SHOPPING DISTRICT IN RUINS: The 'red shirts' aren't here to shop

We've got 55 problems Jamie Thunder News Editor

T

he Lib-Con coalition has been together for less than a fortnight, but already it’s generated a blaze of bad publicity over plans to change the rules for dissolving Parliament and calling an election. Oops.

Currently the Prime Minister can call an election at any time in the five years after the last one; after five years an election must be held. The timing can be because it suits their party or because they have lost a ‘vote of confidence’, when a majority of MPs say they have no confidence in the government.

The coalition has proposed fixedterm parliaments, meaning the next election would be five years after the last one. This would remove the advantage the Prime Minister has when calling an election.

If a majority of MPs said they had no confidence in the government, it would still have to step down. But there would be no election before the five years were up unless 358 MPs (55%) voted for one.

So, if a government lost a vote of confidence and didn’t want an election, and its opponents couldn’t reach the 55% threshold, a new coalition

would have to be formed. If none were formed, the old government would remain in power without Parliament’s confidence.

There are ways round this. For example, an election could be forced if no government is formed within a set time period. But this allows the government to force an election anyway by just refusing to join any coalition – exactly what fixed-term Parliaments are supposed to prevent.

And unless the threshold was very high, a government with a large majority could vote to dissolve itself anyway.

Yes, the proposal gives the Commons, not the PM, the power to call an election. But at the same time it weakens that power by requiring more than a simple majority to use it.

The 55% figure seems to have been chosen to encourage the coalition to work – if the coalition breaks up, neither the Conservatives (with 47%) nor the other parties combined (53%) can force an election. I’ll leave the last word on that to Tory MP Charles Walker: “It is not the duty of Parliament to prop up this coalition. That is the duty of the coalition partners, and if they can’t make it work and if they lose the confidence of Parliament then we must have a general election. It is as simple as that.”

litical party (Thai Rak Thai) to a massive election victory, described as the most open, corruption-free election in Thailand’s history. Shinawatra championed radical policies for reducing rural poverty and introducing universal healthcare in Thailand. He was not an uncontroversial figure (allegedly involving himself in policy corruption), but he did appear to be taking Thailand in a new direction.

After completing his first full term in office (the first full term in Thailand’s history), Shinawatra faced an onslaught of corruption charges, as well as allegations over the sale of his family-owned business, Shin Corporation. This culminated in a military coup d’état in 2006 which saw Shinawatra removed from power and his political party was disbanded. A military junta ruled Thailand for the next year until the government called democratic elections.

Now Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Democrat Party govern Thailand, but many of Shinawatra’s old supporters do not recognise this new government and believe that Vejjajiva used the military junta to obtain an advantage in the elections. Because of this, they formed the ‘red shirt’ group in protest at his government and to demand that Shinawatra be reinstated as prime minister.

The ‘red shirts’ have been around since the 2006 coup, however it is only since March 2009 that they have

become increasingly active in their protests. Fast-forward to April and the protests have escalated, as has the violence. The ‘red shirts’ occupied Bangkok’s shopping district and the government failed in its attempts to drive them out with the use of lethal force. Forty protesters were killed in the violence and the Thai government designated the shopping district as a ‘live fire’ zone, urging the protesters to leave the shopping district in fear of more bloodshed.

Then, last Wednesday, the government forces stormed the ‘red shirts’ camp, subsequently forcing their leaders to surrender for fear of mass loss of life.

Thailand last week teetered on the brink of total civil war

Hopes of a peaceful resolution to the conflict always seemed farfetched; indeed, one was never likely to come. In the end, the government’s attempts at peace talks failed long ago - a result that many believe was intended as a means to justify the ultimate crackdown.

Democracy in Thailand has always been a fleeting ideal - a once in a lifetime opportunity. Now it appears the chance has been lost once again.

Karzai talks with the enemy Ayushman Jamwal Politics Writer

T

he Afghanistan war was successful in quickly overthrowing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, but the fight to subdue the guerrilla militancy is now in its ninth year.

The various operations of the coalition forces, which were aimed to dismantle Taliban strongholds, the drug trade hubs and supply lines, only weakened the militants for limited periods of time, after which they would re-emerge in the vacuum created by the ineffective and corrupt Afghan authori-

HAMID KARZAI: Not quite Sir Alan...

ties and police forces.

Compounded by the immense civilian casualties at the hands of coalition forces, the Afghan public resents foreign intervention and the complacent domestic government, making the process of nation building more difficult.

In the light of this, the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, plans to initiate a peace process with the Taliban. Many former Taliban militants have relocated to the border town of Jalalabad. His current initiative involves gaining the support of tribal leaders in order to reach out to militants, offering them exile overseas, and, controversially, offering Taliban leaders the opportunity

to participate in the political process.

In return, the Taliban must give up the insurgency and cut ties with Al-Qaeda.

Karzai visited Washington earlier this month to gain support from Barack Obama before he convenes a Jirga, or tribal council meeting. The aim of the Jirga is to improve tribal cohesion and gain a consensus on dealing with the Taliban.

Coalition leaders see the peace initiative as strong step towards taking control. However, some US officials in Kabul feel that the Taliban will not come to the negotiating table unless coalition forces withdraw. Moreover, the Taliban have recently unleashed violent attacks against NATO convoys.

This will constrain the success of the peace plan as the Taliban becomes more determined.

The peace process is the right step forward. Nine years of war have left the public and governments weary, and they would welcome the end of hostilities. Karzai must focus on gaining the confidence of the Afghan public by strengthening his government’s role in administering the country. Only domestic strength behind Karzai’s government can empower the peace initiative at a time next year when coalition forces are scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan.

12 FEATURES

gairrhydd | FEATURES@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Is Spotify killing th

They have been called the saviour of music, but strea Oliver Franklin Columnist The music industry is in dire straights. If the last fifty years have been a party - through the early evening heydays of rock n’ roll, to the alcohol fuelled carnage of punk, to the glitz, glamour and debauchery of 80s pop, to the often painful comedown of 90s Britpop - then the past few years have been the morning after. In fact, scratch that – the last few years have been the early hours of the morning, curled up in front of the toilet bowl.

Last year, global music sales again fell – this time by a massive seven percent, according to statistics from the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry). It hasn’t been a slow decline so much as a massive engine failure, a fatal impact by the explosion of internet file-sharing.

And it is a freefall in which the record labels are still scrambling around in hope of a parachute, as digital sales from services like iTunes fail to fill the void. For some, this parachute appears to have appeared in the form of the streaming services: ad-funded web companies like Last.fm and Spotify, who have ridden in on a white horse drowned head-to-toe in brand slogans and company livery. But are they actually a saviour, or a devil in disguise?

Last year, global music sales again fell - this time by a massive seven percent The business model seems fairly simple. As the Pirate Bay and other illegal file-sharing websites have demonstrated, many people are no longer willing to pay for music in an age where everything can be cracked and obtained for free online. So why not offer them free music legally? The ad-based model works on the assumption that, every few songs, the service inserts an advert, the revenue from which is, in turn, distributed among the record companies whose songs are being played.

But then, earlier this year, a claim emerged from songwriters in Sweden (the STIM) that the pop-phenomenon Lady Gaga was only paid $167 (£108) for a million plays of her smash-hit ‘Poker Face’ on Spotify. This figure was later proven false – the figure didn’t represent the entire sum, only a part of the share given to the song’s Swedish co-writer.

However, despite whatever discrepancies there may have been, the

figure remains shockingly low. This is one parachute starting to show a few holes.

In the subsequent weeks, conjecture started to fly around on the internet (as it does) surrounding these figures and how close they are to the real numbers. A Billboard analysis of revenue from recording royalties from noninteractive streaming services (such as internet radio services, as offered

by Last.fm), revealed that in the US in 2009, only ten artists made more than $2,000. For on-demand services like Spotify and We7, only 25 artists made more than $1,000 – Michael Jackson posthumously taking the top spot with $10,000.

That report was not based on complete information (where individual data was not available, industry standards where used), but when you compare that with the $800,000 of digital download sales for Michael Jackson last year… well, I don’t need to point out the obvious.

So, while the popularity of internet streaming sites soars, and superlatives are thrown around on press releases and in internet forums, a bitter taste remains. Utterly limitless, free music, with only a few adverts here and there? Some things are just too good to be true.

To shed some light on the subject, I first go to perhaps the world’s biggest provider of music streaming, Last.fm.

The once small, internet-radio based phenomenon exploded onto the music scene in 2003 and now boasts over 40 million users listening to a library of over 70 million songs. In 2007, the website made headlines when it was bought by CBS Interactive for a mindnumbing $280million dollars.

Last.fm is a service that tracks the music that users listen to through a technology known as ‘scrobbling’ – a system of music analysis that recommends users other music they might like based on what they are listening to at that moment in time. So what are they like as a business?

“Our goal is to have Last.fm scrobbling integrated into every music service that’s available,” says Fred McIntyre, Last.fm’s Vice President of Product.

“As an example, when Spotify rolled out their client in the UK, the most requested user feature was Last. fm scrobbling integration. So what we know is that this is something that users want, and something they are starting to expect as part of their music experience.”

It’s a very unspecific response and, as the conversation develops, I start to see a pattern. There is a lot to talk about in terms of “goals”, “expanding” and “integration”, but little in terms of whether it is actually working.

“The area that we are most focused on from an investment perspective, and

from the perspective of how we scale the business, is in the area of engaging users with scrobbling and collecting that information,” Mr McIntrye says.

There is a dearth of information on whether the ad-funded model is economically viable Collecting that information is some task – Last.fm estimates that, at peak times, they record 800 ‘scrobbles’ a second – the same rate as new tweets on the social networking site, Twitter.

The growth, then, of Last.fm is staggering, but the question remains: how do these ‘scrobbles’ benefit the artists in real, financial terms? Once again,

McIntyre dodges the question sharply and continues in his North California drawl.

“Our goal is helping people build businesses around music, and to help users have the best experience they can possibly have with music,” is the closest he gets to answering the question in a meandering four-minute answer. He is unwilling to release any financial information, or to talk about licensing deals with artists.

In the long shadow of Last.fm’s monolithic rise, there remains, hidden by the PR, an elephant in the darkness: the economics. Among all the talk of “aggressively scaling” and “goals”, there is a dearth of information on whether the ad-funded model is yet an economically viable alternative with a real hope of saving the industry. And since the allegations against Spotify emerged from Sweden, the demand across the industry remains the same.

To quote Jerry Maguire: “Show me the money.”

Spotify launched in its native Sweden in 2008, and in the UK last February. The somewhat peculiar name (which, it must be said, evokes images of a skin product for adolescents rather than the future of music) they tell me is a combination of ‘spot’ and ‘identify’.

Their great intention is “To help people to listen to whatever music they want, whenever they want, wherever they want.” While that statement may be a nightmare for the industries' accountants, it is nirvana for music fans. Over seven million people currently use the ad-funded streaming application in the UK – so many that a new user trying to access it now needs an invitation from a current user. Get one of those sought-after invitations though, and you are welcomed into a veritable musical heaven, with tens of

FEATURES 13

gairrhydd | FEATURES@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

he music industry?

aming services are yet to prove that they can work

Spotify founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon (LEFT) have come under fire for their payments to artists such as Lady Gaga (ABOVE) and the late Michael Jackon (BELOW). But are they the heroes or villains?

millions of songs playable at the click of a button – albeit with an advert bursting your bubble every twenty-orso minutes of playback.

For those who want to listen adfree, an upgrade to the Premium service is available. For £9.99 a month, Premium users get ad-free access to a wider range of songs, and the odd exclusive here and there. What’s more, they can use Spotify’s mobile applications, including the much-hyped iPhone App, giving users access to their music wherever they may be.

Users of the free service are bombarded with reminders of this from Spotify’s staff (such as the overly cheery ‘Roberta’, whose continual droning is doing for her name what Hitler did to Adolf). Despite these attempts, though, so far only 320,000 (less than five percent) have signed up to the Premium model. Spotify have just launched a new version of their

application which incorporates users’ own mp3 libraries, as well as integration with a host of social networking websites, including Facebook, which places it in direct competition with Apple’s iTunes. This new strategy comes ahead of the much-anticipated US launch of the service later this summer.

Only 320,000 users (less than five percent) have signed up to Spotify Premium On the surface, Spotify is a huge success story, and has gained vocal support from music fans across the UK. In addition, it has been touted as the Holy Grail for the label executives: a service that converts illegal down-

loaders into legal, money-providing sources of revenue. According to a report by www.moneysupermarket.com, printed in the Daily Telegraph, nearly two-thirds of illegal downloaders said using Spotify encouraged them to reduce the amount they used pirate sites – or stop altogether. Whoosh: parachute open. And with the Digital Economy Bill rushed through parliament prior to the election, hopes are high that streaming services like Spotify can tempt the pirates from the dark side and keep the industry afloat.

But those hopes may be sorely misguided. While supposedly being a step in the right direction, the ad-funded model remains unviable for many within the industry. Although the £108 figure was proven to be wrong, the numbers remain a real concern.

“Free streaming services are clearly not net positive for the industry, and as far as Warner Music is concerned, will

not be licensed,” Warner Music Group Chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. stated bluntly in February. He was adamant that Spotify’s ‘freemium’ business model “is not the kind of approach to business that we will be supporting in the future.” Spotify co-founder, Daniel Ek, was quick to defend his business from the volleys of emerging criticism.

“The truth is that the amount of money an artist makes per stream is increasing because we’re getting more and more people to become subscribers. Our advertising revenue is growing month-on-month. So the revenue that comes in is greater now than obviously it was 12 months ago. And that affects the payout we make to artists too,” he says.

Does that imply that Spotify makes deals on percentages of revenue rather than a fixed per-play basis, which would explain the disproportionately low figures reported during Spotify’s early months? They aren’t willing to tell me – or anyone else for that matter, with their licensing deals subjected to strict Non-Disclosure Agreements.

It’s a murky business that no one at the company will talk about, and there are no actual numbers beyond those aggregated by bodies such as Billboard – which don’t look good.

But if it isn’t working for artists, is it working as a business? “For us, it’s not really about being a profitable business,” says Ek. “For us, we want it to work for artists and labels out there, and composers. And I’m pretty sure that once we start paying out a lot of money for artists, the money for Spotify itself will come.”

How soon that day will come is the question on everybody’s lips. So far, Spotify have yet to reach a sustainable model that can provide a true revenue stream for the industry – and now, as they launch in America trying to reach that elusive point, many are still questioning whether the ad-based model can ever really work.

One promising example looking to buck the trend is We7.com, a British streaming service established by Steve Purdham and industry stalwart and exGenesis rocker, Peter Gabriel. Rather than an application-based system like Spotify, We7 is browser-based, but similarly works along an ad-based business model. And being web-based, We7 can be incorporated into websites such as GQ and NME. It’s a slightly different product, but with an entirely different approach: get the money right, then grow later.

“We’re not profitable yet, but what we’ve done now is actually created the economic model that allows advertising to work with music,” says Purdham.

“Music matters, and if you value music you know that, even though it’s free for the consumers to listen to, it

should be paid for.” It’s difficult not to imagine that Spotify is one of the companies this criticism is aimed at.

But while that may seem like a noble and significant achievement, the numbers still make less than heartening reading. We7, Purdham says, goes beyond this: “On We7 we pay [the artist], for about a million listens, between £2000 to £4000 [reportedly between 0.2-0.5p per listen]. The big thing is that the artists and the writers get a reasonable amount of money every time the song is actually played, rather getting a ‘you might get some money in the future.’”

"Investment in new areas of music could get biased towards safer bets" Geoff Taylor, BPI

Purdham and We7 do seem to be pursuing a more viable approach, and their cynicism for Spotify and other competitors is thinly veiled. Yet it is not much of a victory. Half a penny is a paltry amount for what would have been, in the traditional system, a platinum-selling record.

The traditional music industry has hit an iceberg in the shape of file sharing, and so far it is sinking, fast. What’s worse is that there is a real danger that this trend is killing innovation and making it harder for new bands, with labels sticking to safe-bet pop acts like Lady GaGa and Justin Bieber.

I put this to Geoff Taylor, Chairman of the BPI: “I don’t know if one can say that has happened yet, it certainly is a risk, but I think it would be a tragedy,” he responds, with real worry in his voice.

“Investment in new areas of music could get biased towards safer bets. It is too early to say if that’s happening.

What I do know is that bands which were selling 200,000-300,000 on their first album are now struggling to sell 150,000 – that’s a good performance for any new artist now.”

Beyond all of the PR spouted by the companies, I try and get him to level with me. Are streaming services really the future – can they really save the music industry?

“What is essential is that we do everything we can to innovate and to provide music fans with as many ways of getting music online as we can,” says Geoff. “Obviously there has to be some fundamental economics behind it - the models have to work.”

For Taylor and the BPI then, as for many, the jury is still out – but what is certain is that one of these new models must work in order for music as we know it to survive. It’s a solemn thought.

14 FEATURES

gairrhydd | FEATURES@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

We're all going on a

As term ends, we're soon due to depart for the summer months. Featu

The days are getting warmer, the dresses are getting shorter, the brilliantly named 'Mario's Super Soft' ice cream van is lurking outside the Woodville and those pesky flip-flops can be heard flipping and flopping their way through libraries all over campus. This can mean only one thing… summer is once again upon us!

But once the post-exam celebrations, the leaving parties and the general debauchery are all over, what are we actually going to do for the next three months? Fear not, your trusty little helpers here at gair rhydd are here to guide you. There’s not many

times in your life when you will be allowed to do whatever you want for three-and-a-half months, so let's make this a summer to remember.

For those of you who don’t have daddy’s credit card to hand, the prospect of festivals, travelling, holidays, and general splash-your-cash fun might seem a bit far-fetched. But we’re here to show you that there are plenty of opportunities for you to enjoy yourself without breaking the bank, and who knows, you might even get something impressive to put on your CV. So here it is, in one simple plan: go for a camping trip in the Brecon

Beacons, while there learn something new, maybe guitar round a campfire (kum by yah and all that...), go home and sell all the stuff in your bedroom that you no longer want, use the money to get an Easyjet flight somewhere, read a book on the journey, check out volunteering abroad prospects while in said country, go home and get a job to pay for the duty-free items you tried not to buy, then go to a festival to remind yourself that you are young and that working is for losers.

Excellent: job done. Now it’s time to go back to uni again… fressssshers.

? s r u o Y r o My Tent

. als this summer me great festiv so r s. ht fo e lig bl gh la hi ai av year ’s t some are still e links for this ng out fast, bu ide you with th Man Festival in ov pr en re ill G w d ch Tickets are selli an hi n w vo , A m nco al po e. is -U w rd w.gig Stratfo for Exit Festiv Check out ww bal Gathering in are still tickets lo e G er ak th of re d, B ok el lo ch afi e ea for B Features likes th u fancy taking yourself further e still available in If yo udent tickets ar St Country Park n. ey ai br Sp m in Pe Glanusk Park. al in iv d st te Fe , ca es m Lo si te . as enic bass devo up the road in Serbia and B r you drum and r us, it’s only fo Fo g. ily in ck ld lu ou k! d, G ic an Ellie ere qu Live this year es Plan B and s off. Get in th e line up includ knock your sock to t en es pr be South Wales, th will and Sub Focus High Contrast

Happy Camping

Need to get aw ay? We’re not all lucky enough ing around for to have disposab a grand holiday le cash lyin Barbados, bu to stay in and w t that doesn’t m atch Cash in th ean we have e Attic re-runs With the sun sh for a form of en ining (okay, a tertainment. little optimistic beers in the co ), meat on the ol box, a campi ba rbeque and ng holiday might can be cheap to be right up your o. There are so me beautiful de street. It so why not grab stinations in G a few mates an reat Britain, d steal away a day? Newquay few days for a is always a favo camping holiurite and the B larly gorgeous recon Beacons . If the idea of are particucamping doesn’ caravanning an t inspire you, ch d hostels are al eap deals on ways available will provide yo too. www.cam u with some us p-sites.co.uk eful info… happ y camping!

Come fly with me Apparently this summer is going to be a scorcher. But if it turns out to be a disappointment, like last year (and the year before that), then why not browse the deals on Easyjet or Ryanair? For under £50, you could be in Barcelona before you can say the words ‘volcanic ash.’ Stay in a hostel to save the pennies and, if you’re lucky, you might even find yourself drinking cheap wine with a bunch of German travellers (we’ve all been there). Strolling around the cities of Europe, you can take advantage of free art galleries, museums, and general sunny days. So leave the gap yahs to the toffs, this summer is all about budget city culture.

gairrhydd | FEATURES@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

FEATURES 15

a summer holiday...

ures is here to help you make sure it is a summer to remember gue? n a L e n U e r d Appren

ug to return ldn’t you feel sm ou w ; er m m su over ntastic on your few months off es not it look fa do ly poron ot You’ve a got a N ly boost your op under your belt? ge, you will real ua sky pe ng e la with a new skill os w th ne a of mplete one cide to learn co de u lly yo na if fi t ill bu rs w CV, , you ardiff Unive ity l. And of course lf years ago. C se ur yo time ed tunities for trave is om w is as good a solutions you pr y price, and no ar ses. on si ur es co New Year’s re nc er co m to find sum t courses for a long Learning eted fe pl Li m offer some grea r co fo be tre n en ca and Cardiff C s, which is £73 s aren't as any. Look up ch for beginner en by. If language Fr ab e sh ud o cl to in t no … ly inting, Ju Examples pa or ce origami, fa o weeks in June itar, practising gu s...) ap ay over one or tw pl rh pe to r ng fa ni about lear y, a little too w ka ho (o g, in y… th rm ur de yo taxi rse back riding, free running, ho

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ut Features are finding one. B sy ea s covay w al t s no ck-ass CV and Need a job? It’ rstly, write a ki Fi cies s. en tip ag e m ng so pi u local tem here to give yo with gn up to your si al , de ly to nd ve co ha Se ill ering letter. kids, but they w ts the ays like us uni e one who wan th re u’ yo (they don’t alw r be em are em es R ci . en ss ag le nt . A few us!) and be rele s, to call you back el le ng op A pe ce r ffi fo t O ai d, as Hays, Ree job so don’t w ch su s , e’ ps er m Th te le with st a few. pretty favourab . And that’s ju ow If rr A y! e vv lu sa B d be , an t and Fresh Recruits . Keep an eye ou e tre Plus website rience to improv en pe bc Jo ex e k th or w so s al ay w al s ho e’ w er s beaver k out, th ploying eager that doesn’t wor es just love em ni pa m co …

V your C ee! will work for fr

A Date With Dickens You know that amaaaaaaazing bit in Great Expectations where Pip steals food from his sister’s house? No? Oh… this is awkward. Eliminate those embarrassing moments of intellectual rejection and render yourself cultured this summer. That’s right kids… read a book. And I don’t mean the complete series of Sweet Valley High. Three months without essays, revision or lectures surely gives you enough time to read something you’ve always wanted to; and you never know, you might just enjoy it. Start off with something small… Ernest Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is a brilliant, short book. AND he’s the kind of author who will impress those literature crusties. Geek-tastic.

Car Boo ty

Forget e B you wil ay, this summe l stumb r is all a le a bout ca teddies, r boot s jigsaw p cross all sorts ale of junk uzzles w of ‘Girl that use s. Have a rum Talk’ m ith a few mage th d a to fulfil g Sunday pieces m azine (m rough y you m is aybe ju our ro st me th sing (no one w r childhood dr weather orning shoppe r e eams. B om and s il is n? . l know) attered port and n’t too miserab Entry to car bo ) are just wait a n d thos old in le, they o those 50 usually t sales is norm g to be snappe e limited editio ps will d up by turn out ally only n be rollin some ha s to be pr g in bef ppy etty fun about £5 and, ore you . p B r know it ov ring a fr . iend alo ided the ng for s up-

22 LETTERS

gairrhydd | LETTERS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MARCH 01 2010

COLUMNIST 17

gairrhydd | OPINION@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

e b o T . . . .

K N A R F r a n k li o f O li F s g in s mu Or, the

n

It's all over...

The end of the year is almost here. So now comes the question: was it worth it?

Well this is it, isn’t it? The end of the year. It’s approaching ever more expediently – even as I write this I’m sure some unlucky group of people with a valuable degree (read: non-Humanties, but we’ll get onto that later) are crammed into the Great Hall, most likely jacked up on Lidl Red Bull-equivalent, scratching their future in biro marks, on lined paper, with the corner folded down.

As for me, I’m already done. That’s right, finito. Last Monday I strolled directly from the Julian Hodge 24hour library into Humanities at approximately a handful of minutes past ten and handed the culmination of the last three years of my life, wrapped in a couple of clear document pockets, to a nice administrator lady.

No, it has been in halls, drunk in the kitchens of acquaintances. It has been on the dancefloors of the Union, Oceana, Revs, Tiger, Welsh Club and Metros. It has come during those intense conversations over 2-for-1 cocktails in 10 Feet Tall, Milgis and Mr Smiths. It has come during Carnage and Pub Golf, fancy dress and formals. Or it’s come in pyjamas the morning after, in your housemates bedrooms, as hearts were poured out and hangovers tenderly nursed.

The majority of what you learn at Cardiff takes place outside of lecture theatres

She voiced the exact thing I was thinking. "Do you think we learned anything?"

When I left, someone said “well done,” in an unconvincing voice to my already turned back; I left the building with the sun cautiously shining and, beyond a few chirping birds, very little in the way of fanfare. Behind me, two female coursemates (for those of you who don’t remember, that means English Lit students) emerged from the automatic doors, and voiced the exact thing I was thinking at that moment. “Do you think we learned anything?”

I smiled a little as she said it. But that weary smile burst into a full-on grin after the response: “Well, I’m not sure really. I feel like I’ve learnt a lot of big words, how to write essays and stuff, but that’s it really.” Brilliant.

Honestly, the sheer amusement of that moment overwhelmed me, and I forgot that I was eavesdropping – the height of rudeness – and turned around, grinning. “I know exactly what you mean,” I said. Despite the

The University will be soon empty as we all leave to face the terrifying future ensuing embarrassment (if either of those girls are reading this, sorry about that), the little scene did strike a rather deep chord.

So, I’ll put it to you – not only the final years, but every single student who is undergoing the stress of exams and that strange moment of emptiness that comes with finishing. Do you think we learned anything?

A couple of nights later, I was sat in the Vulcan Lounge with a group of friends doing the pub quiz (I know this is a bit of a personal column this week, but stick with me. There’s a point, honest.) (Oh, and by the way, the Disney round was awesome.

Cheers, Vulcan staff) and a similar conversation was struck up by a

friend. It seems she too, like a lot of us, had been asking herself the same question. And when she voiced this to the group, you could see the look in people’s eyes as they looked back over their life at University and tried to grapple with the question. Do you think we learned anything?

Now, at this point I think it is clearly necessary to differentiate between those on practical courses (hello medics, engineers, scientists in general) and those of us who invested the last third-of-a-decade (and tens of thousands of pounds) in a humanities degree. But that doesn’t mean the question doesn’t apply to you too.

While some of you might have the practical knowledge of a few text-

books, most of you will be about to embark on real life from the same naïve, vulnerable position as the rest of us. When we arrived in Cardiff, the majority of us were only 18-years-old.

Now we are expected to be capable, mature young adults with the capacity to contribute to a workplace, to the economy, and to society. See? Now you’re shitting yourself too.

Something joins all students at Cardiff together: we are all learning, not only academically, but something more than that. University is perhaps the most intense few years of personal growth beyond that directly after birth. And for most of us, the majority of that learning has been outside of the lecture theatres.

You may have noticed that a lot of those involve copious amounts of alcohol, and, well, it’s true. While University is a period of intense growth, it is also a period of intense liver damage – and you don’t need the Daily Mail or some other sardonic, halfracist press outlet to tell you that. But it has also, I’m sure, been deeper, less stereotypical than that.

So, before you try and answer the question, I suggest this. And it may seem counterintuitive, but ultimately, this is what counts. What have you learned without the academics, without the overpriced textbooks, without the patronising seminars and lecture handouts? It may sound ridiculous, but trust me, in ten years time it won’t be the lecture notes you remember. I mean honestly, how much do you remember of your GSCEs? No, it will be the memories, the friends, the banter. It will be the society socials, the birthdays, the fancy dress. It will be, in short, everything that has made you the multifaceted, complicated, flawed, brilliant person you are today. You will look back on the three years that shaped your future.

So go on, do it. I’m going to shut up now. Have a think. What did you learn?

22 LETTERS

gairrhydd | LETTERS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MARCH 01 2010

LETTERS 19

gairrhydd | LETTERS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

the Comments from the week’s news, opinion, features and sport at www.gairrhydd.com JOMEC students unhappy with module cancellation JOMess

One issue that has been forgotten here is how the cancellation benefits those who received a good mark for their 1st assignment.

Because only one essay mark counts for the whole module, those who did well (got 2:1 or 1st) have seen their average rise a noticeable amount.

Now, you won’t hear them complaining, and why would you.

What gets me, being a 2nd year JOMEC student, is that these people are now on par/ soaring above other students who have had to put in more work, on other modules, to get a good average.

Furthermore, it is no secret in the department that the module ‘Cinema & Place’ wasn’t the most challenging known to man, thus, not only have students been rewarded for taking an easy-

than-average module in the first place, they had only to do one essay! Ridiculous.

Having spoken to a figure in JOMEC one thing mentioned was to get those ‘not happy’ with their mark to re-do the essay!

This is ludicrous. How can they possibly allow people to re-do an essay if they aren’t pleased with their mark? This is totally unfair.

I, like many other people I’m sure, have had essays back where I have not been happy with the mark, but I can’t re-do it because I’m not happy with it! This is university, where everyone should be able to write a decent piece of work. It’s not school where we can do draft after draft… It is clear that JOMEC are only considering those in the module, rather then everyone else who are also affected.

As a JOMEC student, I am wholly disappointed with the school because I feel that they fail to meet the needs of the students and can be very uncooperative.

forum

Hair today, gone tomorrow

research and learn for yourself.

Kieran McCann

Luke

Join the campaign.

Free head shave on Thursday the 27th at Michael Johnson of Johnson’s Barbers on 64, Cathays Terrace. Please contact me (Kieran) on kmccann@cardiff. gov.uk if you are interested.

I haven’t commented before but I had to just say this is one of the worse articles I have read in the newspaper, ever.

Teachers learn their lesson

Glad you know better than teachers.

Kevin

Exams: surviving the nightmare

I applaud the way that you have ignored being in Wales where these tests do not have to take place, and where there are also no league tables (without the world ending). It fits nicely into the piece of work that ignores the reasons to abolish these tests which are rooted firmly in education theory.

That said I am sure you did well at all of your tests. Of course they test your training in passing tests, not your ability to

Emma

Amanda

Although it is obvious this is a light-hearted, tongue-incheek look at the difficulties of revision, I think the final ‘24 hours of fun’ section illustrates exactly why I think the university should not be providing 24 hour study spaces.

As a PhD student, I have done my fair share of coursework and exams at Cardiff. How many

times have I stayed up all night doing work? None. The idea that the university should facilitate students staying up all night, cramming or frantically finishing essays because they couldn’t be bothered to organise themselves in time strikes me as ridiculous.

Not only is it not what learning should be about, it is unhealthy.

The money spent on security for such spaces would be better spent elsewhere, in my opinion, and students should not be encouraged to think that staying up all night is a viable alternative to actually studying throughout the year.

I'll be watching you...

Parry Aftab

Nice piece.

Actually, Facebook has more than 400 million users now. And I like your approach on education and privacy settings. common sense = cybersense!

Away on a placement?

Heading abroad?

In bed with a hangover?

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20 TAF-OD

gairrhydd | TAFOD@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Blwyddyn flinedig, ond blwyddyn fendigedig!

Karen Gregory

Taf-od Writer

Dyna au revoir i gaeau llawn buchod a phobl mewn du a chroeso cynnes ‘nôl i’r cymoedd a ffrindiau da. Bues i’n Ffrainc am saith mis fel athrawes ar fy mlwyddyn dramor rhwng astudio Ffrangeg a Chymraeg, a chofiaf gyrraedd mis Medi diwethaf yn dda iawn.

Ces i ffliw gwaethaf fy mywyd, chwifio ffarwel i Mam a Dad a ‘nôl i’m gwely yn dioddef gyda hiraeth arnaf i fynd allan, gwneud ffrindiau a darganfod y dre, Laval, Pays de La Loire. ‘Swn i byth yn dweud yr oedd yn hawdd i siarad gydag annwyd arnaf yn Gymraeg heb sôn am ffrangeg, ond, ‘c’est la vie!’

Dysgais mewn ysgolion uwchradd “College Jules Renard” a “College Jaques Monod”. Ces i lawer o ryddhad wrth ddysgu’r plant oedran 11 i 14, a oedd yn hyfryd oherwydd, wrth gwrs, siawns mawr i mi ddysgu cymaint ag y gallwn i am Gymru! Hynny yw, os oedden nhw’n ymwybodol o beth a lle yn union oedd Cymru! Ac yr oeddwn yn synnu faint o ddisgyblion oedd heb syniad. Un peth arall sy ‘di synnu fi oedd cyngor L’Academie de Nantes cyn dysgu, i siarad ‘dim ond yn Saesneg’…ie, paratoi i glywed cnecu, taflu awyrenau papur a sgrechian drostoch fel canlyniad. Felly,

roedd yn hanfodol siarad ychydig o Ffrangeg gyda’r Saesneg i gadw eu diddordeb.

Wrth i mi adael ysgol am y tro olaf, gwelais pa mor werthfawr yw bod yn athrawes dramor jyst i weld sut mae rhai disgyblion wedi datblygu eu sgiliau o’ch herwydd. Mae’n deimlad annwyl na allwch ddisgrifio. Heb anghofio y twf o gardiau, tediau a diolchgarwch y derbyniais; sydd wedi dangos eu bod nhw wedi gwerthfawrogi y Gymraes fach a ranodd darn o’i diwylliant gyda nhw.

A’r athrawon, roedden nhw’n groesawgar iawn. Yn anffodus, er bod cynathrawon tramor wedi dweud y bydd yr athrawon yn mynd a chi ar dripiau a’ch gwahodd chi am bryd o fwyd ac yn y blaen, chefais i ddim byd fel hynny. Fodd bynnag, un athrawes, Clara Mai oedd yn hynnod o garedig, a yrrai ni’n dwy yn y car yn ystod y gaeaf rhewllyd a gafodd Ewrop y llynedd, a mynd i’r bar i gael diod (na, yfais i mo alcohol cyn mynd i’r ysgol, ond roedden nhw’n arfer gwerthu cwrw yn y ffreutur!).

Roeddwn i’n byw mewn ‘studio’ sy’n ystafell fel mewn llety myfyrwyr, yr oedd pobl o bob man: o Chili, Colombia, Yr Unol Daleithiau, Lloegr, Yr Alban, Yr Almaen, Ffrainc… mae’r rhestr yn rhy hir! Y peth gorau oedd mai ein hiaith gyffredin oedd Ffrangeg, felly nid oedd diwrnod heb osgoi siarad yr iaith. Roedd y mwya-

frif ohonon nhw wedi dod yn ffrindiau agos i mi, ac yn awr mae gen i’r cyfle i deithio dros y byd i gyd gyda’r cysylltiadau yna!

Ac wedyn y teithio. Mae’n ddrwg gen i Trenau Arriva Cymru, ond dim siawns wrth gymharu chi a’r TGV yn Ffrainc. Y cyswllt uniongyrchol i

chwe chornel y “hexagone”. Dyma sut y gwelais cymaint o lefydd o Mont St Michel i Bordeaux, o Nice i Lyon…

Ac fe gymrais fantais yn llwyr oherwydd es i i wlad Pwyl a’r Almaen hefyd; mewn chwe diwrnod!

Rwy’n falch nad yw hyn o fewn cyfyngiadau fel ein traethodau confensiynol ni neu faswn i byth yn stopio

ysgrifennu, ac nid ydw i o dan straen i esbonio popeth yn y clo! Ond, rhaid i mi orffen rhywle, felly, un peth y dywedaf yw hyn: os ydych yn astudio cydanrhydedd gydag iaith estron arall, mae bod yn athrawes neu athro yn brofiad gwerthfawr, heriol a byth-gofiadwy. Ond y peth pwysicaf, a mwy na thebyg y peth mwyaf cawslyd yw, nad oes dim byd tebyg i adre.

SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT 21

gairrhydd | SCIENCE@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Why to go meat free

Science & Environment explores the health and environmental reasons why people go vegetarian Jack Parker Science Writer Events will be taking place up and down the country this week with the aim of promoting vegetarian food and the benefits of a meatfree diet.

Cardiff will be playing its part by offering food, live music and an information stall at Mackintosh Hall for the Cardiff Vegetarian Festival on Saturday.

The more familiar and popular reasons for becoming vegetarian, or vegan, revolve around the moral implications of meat production or the health benefits. The internet has an ample supply of footage of farm animals being routinely slaughtered, and the wider media has recently highlighted the conditions of chickens and other birds in large factory farms, jammed into their sheds until their bones break and limbs deform.

figure could be as high as 51%. The new report highlighted that the UN underestimated the number of animals worldwide, as well as the effects of methane in comparison to CO2. The newer report also included factors such as the extra refrigeration required for meat, and the potential CO2 reduction caused by returning farmed land back to its original forest or grasslands.

Opponents of the newer report argue that farmed animals provide other useful materials such as leather and

same process requires approximately 900 litres of water for a kilogram of corn, and for a kilogram of beef, it takes a substantially higher 15,000 litres of water.

Even worse is the fact that a lot of the imbedded water is in the form of imported food, which comes from countries that are already suffering from water shortages.

Seen from a logical step-by-step process, these statistics are no surprise. Water is inevitably required to

Bacteria appear to become immune to the antibiotics, creating the threat of epidemics

Global meat production has been linked to many of our environmental problems The reduced fat in a vegetarian diet is often seen as the cause of some interesting statistics: both cancer and heart disease are between 25-50% less common in vegetarians than meat eaters.

Less well known are the environmental benefits of vegetarianism.

Global meat production has been linked to many, if not most, of our current environmental problems.

Livestock grazing is blamed for being a major cause of desertification, oceans are suffering from over fishing and much of Britain’s land - which could be used more efficiently to feed a lot more people - is being used for meat production. In fact, if all of Britain went vegetarian, less than half of our farmland would be needed. However, the environmental effects of meat production are more significant than even these issues.

We are all aware of the impact of livestock on our greenhouse gas emissions, with cows - and other animals giving out methane through both ends of their bodies. The scale of this problem, however, is still hotly debated.

As methane has a warming effect of at least 20 times that of CO2, the combined effects of all emitted greenhouse gases are often represented in ‘carbon dioxide equivalents’, or CO2e.

A landmark report by the UN in 2006 concluded that 18% of CO2e emissions were produced by farmed animals. Yet a more recent report in November 2009 suggested that this

sustain their lifestyles.

A third major issue, which is frequently debated, is the use of antibiotics within the food industry. Animals are fed huge quantities of drugs to help them grow and to keep them from becoming ill, but their use is often under recorded. The overuse of such antibiotics gives bacteria unnecessary exposure to them, and accelerates their mutations in order to deal with its presence.

In short, bacteria appear to gradually become immune to the antibiotics, creating the threat of regional or worldwide epidemics.

NATIONAL VEGGIE WEEK: Because vegetarians need fun too wool, and that their manure improves soil fertility.

Despite these arguments, global awareness of the impact of meat production is spreading among international organisations, and many renowned experts consider reducing the world’s meat consumption to be one of the quickest and most efficient ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Another major environmental issue that is significantly affected by meat is that of efficient water usage. It is estimated that around 70 litres of water are used to grow, harvest and transport an apple to your kitchen table. The

grow crops or plants of any kind, yet it is grass and crops that farmed animals are consuming in order to grow to become tasty meat.

In order for a meat diet to be as sustainable as a vegetarian diet, animals must convert their inputs of water and energy into meat with absolute efficiency. This is clearly not the case, however. Sweating, breathing, the heat from digestion and other necessary processes make meat consumption terribly inefficient.

As 70% of global water supplies are used for irrigation, it is no surprise that meat eaters consume hundreds of extra litres of water a day in order to

As far back as the 1980s, some doctors were finding that a strong antibiotic, Vancomycin, was not working as well as it should. It was quickly discovered that, despite its rare use within the medical profession, a similar drug was being used regularly within the meat industry.

There have been other reports that have included evidence of resistant bacteria being present in meat served to hospital patients. In 1996, Denmark enforced a ban on a growth-promoting drug, which resulted in a noticeable decrease in the concentrations of resistant bacteria in animals - and meat - across the country.

However, opponents of the reports have argued that there was never any conclusive evidence that the bacteria were causing any harm to the animals or to the humans eating them.

The environmental impact of the meat industry is always going to be a controversial topic. As with any environmental issue, the statistics are always doubted; but the general consensus from international organisations is that meat production is causing significant amounts of greenhouse gas, is inefficiently using increasingly scarce water supplies, and is providing a breeding ground for potentially hazardous bacteria.

As vegetarian week begins, these effects are an extra factor to be taken into consideration by anyone contemplating a change of diet and a change to a more sustainable lifestyle. It seems that there will be a meat-eating majority for the foreseeable future, but as the effects of climate change and the cost of imbedded water predictably rise in the decades to come, experts foresee that the habits of the western world will have to change before long.

More information about National Vegetarian Week can be found at www.nationalvegetarianweek.org.

News in brief Third runway scrapped Plans for the creation of a third runway at Heathrow have been cancelled by the new coalition government, who have said they will also refuse any new runways at Gatwick and Stansted.

Along with the environmental consequences of more aviation, the runway would have meant the destruction of the village of Sipson.

The British Airports Authority (BAA) had argued that a third runway was needed to make sure that the UK did not lose out on business to other European countries.

The announcement is being celebrated by campaigners, including 90,000 people who signed up to own a plot of land on the site through the Airplot campaign.

Soy linked to sperm production New research published in the Asian Journal of Andrology suggests a link between soy products and male sperm production.

The natural chemical, genistein, found in soy beans, could mimic the effect of female sex hormones and interact with 'receptor' molecules on cells designed to respond to oestrogen, interfering with the production of enzymes vital for producing sperm.

The study, based at the Wenzhou Medical College in China, counteracts other research from the University of Cambridge into oestrogenic chemicals, which found that their presence in soy and other foods does not have adverse effects on male reproductive health.

No 'cosying' up to oil companies President Obama has vowed to end the 'cosy' relationship between oil companies and the Mineral Management Serice (MMS), which permits oil companies to drill.

He has said that there would be an extensive reform of the service after the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

The President has criticised oil executives of the companies involved for blaming each other for the spill and said that permits to drill seemed to have been issued without enough proof of safety.

Obama declared that the system had 'failed' and that everybody involved should accept responsibility, including federal government.

He promised that the administration would hold BP to their commitment to pay for the response effort.

24-hour protection for wild flower An example of Britain's rarest flower, the Lady's Skipper orchid, is being fiercely protected on a golf course in Carnforth, Lancashire.

It is one of less than twelve examples of the flower left in the wild.

Police tape surrounds it and there are regular patrols by police on foot.

Special CCTV cameras may be used around the site in future which will relay footage directly back to police headquarters.

The flower is so precious that a special licence is needed from Natural England to even touch it.

22 JOBS & MONEY

gairrhydd | JOBS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Is your CV ready for the graduate market?

Katie Greenway Jobs & Money Editor

Some of you may not be looking into graduate schemes as of yet; you may be going travelling or going back into education. However, the vast majority will be looking to get a job. This may not be your dream job; chances are it is a job for the meantime, to pay off the overdraft, the student loan, or to save for travelling.

Ideally, you need to create a different CV for each type of job you apply for, unless, of course, you are looking for a similar role with each application you submit.

The basics: layout and content

Layout is usually personal and contact details; name, address, telephone number, email address, and date of birth.

Qualifications – you should put your GCSEs, A Levels and your degree classification here, including grades, dates achieved and at which institutions.

Layout should be in chronological order for qualifications, employment and work experience.

I am pretty confident that you won’t need any advice on your personal de-

tails section, so we will leave that to you.

Employment/work experience This is usually the section upon which you get offered interviews. You need to list, in reverse chronological order, the employment you have done and the work experience you have secured. I usually split the employment and work experience into two separate lists, but it's fine to combine them and list them in reverse chronological order too. You need to include dates of employment, by which company you were employed, and your job title. Briefly include a description of your role and duties and focus on what skills you have acquired, and how those skills will make you good at whatever job it is you are applying for.

Additional information This is where you list your interests and what you do in your spare time.

It could be volunteering, societal or sporting activities or just general hobbies. Your employers want a bit of foresight into the sort of person you are and the kind of things you do.

Don’t forget that they are looking for someone, not only that can do the job, but someone who they think will fit in to the company; who they are happy

to spend eight hours a day with.

However, don’t worry if you don’t have many extra-cirricular interests. If you have family commitments or you have needed to work part-time during your studies and have not had the

time to enjoy such activities, simply say, for example, “Despite the pressures of university life and working part time, I have still found the time to pursue…”

Don’t forget that the Careers Ser-

vice is happy to look over your CV for free and to offer you advice on how you can improve it. A CV is essential for any job that you apply for; it is important to get it right, so invest a little time and effort into perfecting yours.

LETTERS 19

gairrhydd | LETTERS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

the Comments from the week’s news, opinion, features and sport at www.gairrhydd.com JOMEC students unhappy with module cancellation JOMess One issue that has been forgotten here is how the cancellation benefits those who received a good mark for their 1st assignment. Because only one essay mark counts for the whole module, those who did well (got 2:1 or 1st) have seen their average rise a noticeable amount. Now, you won’t hear them complaining, and why would you.

What gets me, being a 2nd year JOMEC student, is that these people are now on par/soaring above other students who have had to put in more work, on other modules, to get a good average.

Furthermore, it is no secret in the department that the module ‘Cinema & Place’ wasn’t the most challenging known to man, thus, not only have students been rewarded for taking an easy-than-average module in the first place, they had only to do one essay!

Ridiculous.

Having spoken to a figure in JOMEC one thing mentioned was to get those ‘not happy’ with their mark to re-do the essay! This is ludicrous.

How can they possibly allow people to re-do an essay if they aren’t pleased with their mark? This is totally unfair. I, like many other people I’m sure, have had essays back where I have not been happy with the mark, but I can’t re-do it because I’m not happy with it! This is university, where everyone should be able to write a decent piece of work.

It’s not school where we can do draft after draft… It is clear that JOMEC are

only considering those in the module, rather then everyone else who are also affected.

As a JOMEC student, I am wholly disappointed with the school because I feel that they fail to meet the needs of the students and can be very uncooperative.

had to just say this is one of the worse articles I have read in the newspaper, ever.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Exams: surviving the nightmare

Kieran McCann

Amanda

Join the campaign.

Free head shave on Thursday the 27th at Michael Johnson of Johnson’s Barbers on 64, Cathays Terrace. Please contact me (Kieran) on kmccann@ cardiff.gov.uk if you are interested.

Although it is obvious this is a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek look at the difficulties of revision, I think the final ‘24 hours of fun’ section illustrates exactly why I think the university should not be providing 24 hour study spaces.

As a PhD student, I have done my fair share of coursework and exams at Cardiff. How many times have I stayed up all night doing work?

None. The idea that the university should facilitate students staying up all night, cramming or frantically finishing essays because they couldn’t be bothered to organise themselves in time strikes me as ridiculous. Not only is it not what learning should be about, it is unhealthy.

The money spent on security for such spaces would be better spent elsewhere, in my opinion, and students should not be encouraged to think that staying up all night is a viable alternative to actually studying throughout the year.

Teachers learn their lesson Kevin I applaud the way that you have ignored being in Wales where these tests do not have to take place, and where there are also no league tables (without the world ending). It fits nicely into the piece of work that ignores the reasons to abolish these tests which are rooted firmly in education theory.

That said I am sure you did well at all of your tests. Of course they test your training in passing tests, not your ability to research and learn for yourself.

Luke I haven’t commented before but I

Emma Glad you know better than teachers.

forum

Nice piece.

Actually, Facebook has more than 400 million users now. And I like your approach on education and privacy settings. common sense = cybersense!

I'll be watching you...

Parry Aftab

Away on a placement?

Heading abroad?

Stay in touch with

www.gairrhydd.com NEWS, LIVE DEBATE, FEATURES, SPORT, QUENCH, EXCLUSIVE CONTENT AND MORE

24 FIVE MINUTE FUN

gairrhydd | FMF@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

HARD

MEDIUM

crossword.

Across

Down

9. Make bigger (7) 10. Stammer (7) 11. One who wrongfully seizes power (7) 12. Use (7) 13. Self-employed (9) 15. A type of dog (5) 16. Patella (7) 19. Because of that (7) 20. Mischievous (5) 21. Dusk (9) 25. Feed (7) 26. Deprive of priestly office (7) 28. It's caused by excessive sun exposure (7) 29. Extremely cold (7)

1. Reject outright and bluntly (6) 2. Charm (6) 3. Harvest (4) 4. Nerve (6) 5. Suitable for eating (8) 6. Infliction of a penalty (10) 7. Mentality (8) 8. Genial (8) 14. Lacking moral discipline (10) 16. Avidness (8) 17. Sewer water (8) 18. A strong liking (8) 22. Harbor ill feelings (6) 23. Nuclear (6) 24. Probable (6) 27. Chafe (4)

LISTINGS 25

gairrhydd | LISTINGS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Monday 24th May

FUN FACT TREE, Solus, FREE Fun Factory is still producing cheap entertainment for those too stingy to splurge their student loans. Free entry and super cheap drinks are a perfect way to enjoy yourself while keeping an eye on the purse-strings. Dubstep, DnB, Electro... it's got everything. Don't even question it, just go for it.

LATE NIGHT LIVE, Ten Feet Tall, FREE, 9pm Every week, 10 Feet Tall selects the finest in local, new and up-and-coming bands to perform in the Rock Room, with 50s and 60s garage rock in the bar.

SALON#3 -MUSIC/MEDIA/EXPERIMENTS AND IDEAS, CAI, £1, 8pm Salon is a space run by Creative Sound and Music students from Newport School of Art Media & Design to explore and try out their latest ideas, develop creative networks and kickstart new projects DIANA VICKERS, Millennium Music Hall, £12.50, 7.30pm Her music is rather vacuous, but, then again, she is pretty. Swings and roundabouts. I probably won't see you there.

Friday

28th May BOOMBOX, Solus, £3.50 Get your weekend off to a good start, with cheap drinks and lots of good music. You can't help but have a good night at the Union, with 99p drinks, and the high probability of bumping into everyone you know. Do it, boom your box.

HELL'S BENT, Barfly, £4, 10.30pm Hell's Bent is Cardiff's only alternative gay night and everyone is welcome. It's a fun, relaxed night where you can hang out with your friends and maybe meet some new ones. When it comes to Hell’s Bent you can be guaranteed to hear at least one song you’ll want to dance to! The DJs play a range of genres from electro, pop to indie, guilty pleasures to rock.

NEUROPOL - ROSKA, Clwb, £5/£7, 11pm Get ready for a funky carnival special... Clwb pride themselves on their ability to promote new music and Roska's productions are leading the way into the the future. If heavy bass music is your thing, then Neuropol is the night for you.

BLOCK PARTY WEEKENDER, CAI, 11pm 'Traffic' antics reconvene with the Block Party Weekender. With a plethora of imaginative activities occurring throughout the night, you'll never quite know what to expect.

Tuesday 25th May

THE ROCKET SUMMER, Clwb, £11/13, 7.30pm The Rocket Summer is the rock solo-project of Bryce Avary, and is based in Texas. Avary is known for his unique talents as he plays every instrument on his records as well as produces them. The Rocket Summer's live shows are uplifting, energetic and emotionally charged and their music has unique emotional qualities that has created a loyal and rabid following of fans around the world. Don't even think about it- just do it.

JUST DANCE, Clwb, £3, 10pm Cardiff's hottest music venue just got a little hotter. JUST DANCE! returns every Tuesday night at Clwb Ifor Bach with one simple mission...to get you dancing all night long. A mixture of modern day pop, rock and R&B, thrown together with some cracking blasts from the past. No gimmicks, no false promises... just cheap entry, cheap drinks prices and great GREAT tunes.

DEAD MEADOWS, Barfly, £10, 7.30pm "Dead Meadows music is a lot of things: heavy, dreamy, trippy, expansive, reflective and evocative". To be honest, Listings have never heard of this band. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Saturday 29th May

COME PLAY, Solus, £3.50 A safe bet for a Saturday night. If none of the other events do it for you, head to the Union for guaranteed good music and cheap drinks.

Not the most imaginative of nights out, but you'll be sure to have a good time. And who said that being able to predict the playlist down to the very last minute was a bad thing?

BANK HOLIDAY SMALL WEEKEND FUN, Milgi, FREE, 8.30pm Head down to Milgi this Bank Holiday for a chilled out weekend in the yurt. On Saturday there's an all day outdoor veggie kitchen and Ripefruit recording live stage. Good food, good music, GO FOR IT. DIRTY POP / VINYL VENDETTAS / MR POTTER, Clwb, £5, 10pm Saturday night at clwb is probably the longest running DJ night in Cardiff, clocking up 25 years in 2008, and it just keeps on getting better. Offering three floors of the best tracks from a variety of genres Clwb has picked the best DJs currently gracing the decks in Cardiff and put them all on the same night.

Expect an eclectic mix of funk, soul, indie, and dirty pop. What more coud you ask for from a Saturday night?

Wednesday 26th May

THE LASH, Solus, £3.50 The Lash promises 'all the best in chart and cheese', which doesn't really sound all that tempting, to be honest. But, if you're a sporting LAD then it's most definitely the place to be.

LISTEN UP, Clwb, £3 Listen Up has become an institution within an institution. Everybody loves Clwb. Everybody loves Listen Up. Playing a mix of motown, funk, indie and pop amoung three floors of cheap bars and trendy kids, this is the place to be every Wednesday.

BOGOF Orange Wednesdays There's so much good stuff on this week.

There's the apparently hilarious Hot Tub Time Machine, Robin Hood, and not to mention the terrifying re-make of Nightmare on Elm Street.

Take a friend and have a chilled night out away from exam stress.

PEOPLE IN PLANES, Barfly, £7, 7.30pm People in Planes recorded their debut album, As Far as the Eye Can See, with producer Sam Williams -- who, incidentally, also produced the Supergrass album that had such a heavy influence on the band. This looks set to be the only Welsh date for the band, so if it sounds like your kind of thing definitely go for it.

Sunday 30th May

TAKE A REVISION BREAK The exam season is well and truly upon us, and I'm sure many of you will be feeling pretty stressed right now. But remember, it's important to take regular breaks from all the revision/Facebook procrastination to recharge those brain cells. Take a walk in Bute Park, or head to the pub for a drink. Relax, Listings endorses it.

HAVE A SUNDAY ROAST The Taf do a wicked, and cheap Sunday roast as do the CAI. Have a lie in, and then get some classic comfort food to help beat Saturday night's hangover, the end of weekend blues, or general essay/exam hell. Keep going. I'm sending you virtual hugs as you read.

MILGI RETREAT, Milgi, FREE, from 12pm To continue with the Bank Holiday weekend fun, Milgi hosts a relaxed Sunday session. Expect massage, hot tub meditations, laughing yoga and an all day outdoor veggie kitchen.

ALL TIME TOP 100 PRESENTS ALLSTARS TOP 100, CAI, FREE, 3pm ATT100 is a year old and to celebrate CAI invite guests from past and present to showcase their fave tunes. Its a May bank holiday mash up with many tunes and many smiling faces.

Thursday 27th May

LIGHTS, Barfly, £6.50, 7.30pm Lights is a fairly small-sized, Canadian girl who makes intergalactic-electro music. What do I mean by intergalactic? Well, she defines it as music that sounds as if it could have been "plucked from Saturn's rings or a meteor belt".

I've heard from a friend that she's pretty good, and his music taste isn't completely reprehensible. So that's endorsement enough. And apparently she's hot.

THE SUPPER CLUB, Milgi, £25, 7pm It’s the launch of Milgi's first monthly Supper Club. This month they are offering a five course vegetarian feast and live jazz to celebrate becoming a 100% veggie late night cafe.

The menu will be released on the night and expect a alternative dining experience. Call 02920 473150 to book.

C.Y.N.T: RUSKO PRESENTS O.M.G, Clwb, £7, 10pm The human bass tornado, and current reigning champ of the dubstep scene is Rusko and we're happy to finally be bringing him to Clwb. His huge hit "Cockney Thug" has been played by everyone from Pete Tong, Switch, Diplo and Santogold.

Venues Students’ Union, Park Place, 02920 387421 www.cardiffstudents.com ! IV Lounge, Neuadd Meirionydd, Heath Park 02920 744948 ! Clwb Ifor Bach 11 Womanby Street 02920 232199 www.clwb.net ! Barfly, Kingsway, Tickets: 08709070999 www.barflyclub.com/cardiff !

Metros, Bakers Row 02920 399939 www.clubmetropolitan. com ! CAI, Park Place 02920 412190 ! Buffalo Bar, 11 Windsor Place www.myspace.com/ wearebuffalobar ! Chapter Arts Centre, Market Road, Canton 02920 304400 www.chapter.org !

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay 0870 0402000 www.wmc.org. uk ! The New Theatre, Park Place 02920 878889 www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk ! The Sherman Theatre, Senghennydd Road 02920 646900 www. shermantheatre.co.uk ! Cardiff International Arena, Mary Ann Street 02920 224488 !

26 SPORT - WARM UP Previews in Lucy Morgan predicts a tough battle for the Ospreys

gairrhydd | SPORT@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

brief

as they take on Leinster in the Magners League Final

Jon Evans Sports Editor

This weekend sees the Ospreys travel to Dublin to take on Leinster in the inaugural Magners League Grand Final.

The match looks to be a thrilling encounter and a fitting end to an exciting Magners season, which arguably owes a lot to the introduction of the Play-Off system. The Play-Offs have not only brought added excitement to the tournament, but have also significantly aided the Welsh finalists.

International Friendly England v Mexico A packed Wembley plays host to Monday night's friendly between Mexico and England. The match provides a stern test for Fabio Capello’s side as the World Cup rapidly approaches.

Mexico, who are currently ranked 17th in the world, will also feature in South Africa - therefore one would expect to see a hard fought game with players desperate to impress under the watchful eye of Fabio Capello. The England manager will soon cut his squad down to 23 players from the current 30.

Mexico have been drawn against the hosts South Africa, Raymond Domenech’s France and Uruguay.

This tough group will provide even more reason for Mexico to go into the World Cup with a good run of form.

The Central American side looked as

if World Cup qualification was out of their reach as ex-England boss SvenGoran Eriksson’s short tenure as head coach brought little success. This resulted in him leaving the position with the former manager of Atletico Madrid, Javier Aguirre, taking over the job. His appointment proved to be a master class as he guided the Mexicans to important victories over the USA and El Salvador, which, in turn, booked their place on the plane to South Africa.

Manchester United fans will be eager to see how young striker Javier Herandez fares, as he will link up with Alex Ferguson’s side at the start of next season. Capello, however, will be looking to see how fringe players like Wright-Phillips, Joe Cole and Theo Walcott perform before he cuts his squad down.

Premiership fans will also recognise the likes of Gio Dos Santos and Carlos Vela as a young, talented Mexico side will ask questions of the England back four.

However, I feel England will come through unscathed with a 2-0 victory.

The Ospreys have shown glimpses all season of the team they are aiming to become The Ospreys were a long way behind top-finishing side Leinster for a large part of the season and under the old, straight-league system, their goal of claiming the Magners title could have been lost long ago. However, the Ospreys fought their way back in to the competition, reaching the Play-Off semi-finals last weekend. Their 20-5 semi-final victory against Glasgow was certainly a hard fought encounter and, despite the Ospreys not quite being at their fluent best, there was no doubt that it was a special occasion.

As Ospreys captain Ryan Jones stated, “That is what Play-Off finals are all about. There are swings in the way it was going. I’d guess it made for a

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC: Ryan Jones

Leinster will be hoping to celebrate a hat-trick of Magners victories this weekend great spectacle.”

They now face a tough trip to Dublin to take on Leinster - who beat Munster in a bruising battle at the RDS last weekend - and Jones is hoping for another superb clash this weekend: “I’m sure that the final will be a great spectacle and a real advert for the Magners League,” he said.

The Ospreys have shown glimpses all season of the team they are aiming to be and there is no doubt that they are a squad of immense talent – consistently making up the majority of Warren Gatland’s Wales selections. An impressive 14 Ospreys have made the selection for the Summer Tour to New Zealand this year. However, the side has suffered a lot of disappointment this season - most notably missing out on Heineken Cup success once again after defeat to Biarritz in the quarterfinal stages – and they are desperate to take home some silverware.

However, Leinster are a side who aren’t short of any talent either, with the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, Rob Kearney and Gordon D’Arcy among their ranks. Furthermore, Leinster have won their last six matches against the Ospreys. They also have the added

advantage of playing at home - a fact which may be something of a worry to Ospreys supporters, as the Welshmen’s last win on Leinster soil took place way back in 2005. The atmosphere will, no doubt, be electric and the final looks sure to be a sell-out, with a crowd of 18,500 set to fill the RDS - the large majority of whom will be wearing Leinster colours.

Despite Leinster’s home advantage, the Ospreys did have a good few weeks in Ireland last month – winning in Ulster and Munster and narrowly losing to Leinster - so they will have no reason not to be confident going into the match this weekend.

Leinster are a formidable side, especially when playing at home James Hook – whose brilliant solo try was pivotal in the victory over Glasgow – has urged his side to build on these performances. “We need to take confidence from the way we played in those games now, as we rea-

lise we can perform against anyone,” he said.

The Ospreys will also be looking to prove themselves in the Magners League after making something of a bad name for themselves this season.

“We go to the final with very little credit,” admitted Coach Sean Holley. It was recently announced that the club would be fined £100,000 and docked four points for next season’s tournament for postponing the March 19 game against Ulster after citing a lack of front row cover. The Ospreys have since emphasised how they hope to use this punishment as motivation for success in this weekend’s final.

Both sides have won this tournament twice in its history – Leinster in 2002 and 2008 and the Ospreys in 2005 and 2007 – so the final is looking to be a hard fought encounter with both teams out to claim the hat-trick.

However, despite the Welshmen’s confidence and determination in the pursuit of some silverware this season, Leinster are a formidable side especially when playing at home, and I can’t see the Ospreys winning this one. Leinster to win but not without a tough fight from the Ospreys.

Leinster vs Ospreys: Editors' Predictions Adam Horne: As this is the first time the Magners League has taken a play off style format, I predict an upset and go for the Ospreys. Similar to the Guinness Premiership in England, it is not always the side finishing top that claims the trophy. Despite the Ospreys' shocking recent record in Ireland, they are a team that can perform brilliantly on the day and anything is possible. An attacking back three of Shane Williams, Lee Byrne and Tommy Bowe can produce a miracle; something that may be needed to conquor Leinster in their own back yard.

James Hinks: This looks like it will be a great match, between two quality teams that play attacking rugby.

One for the neutral.

Leinster are probably favourites as they have the home advantage. Although, it could go either way. As I am on a losing streak with these predictions I am going to predict Ospreys, why not? Plus Ospreys are full of good Welsh players and have had a very strong finish to the season, so not such a throw-away guess after all.

Jon Evans: Leinster are a real European powerhouse these days, and with perhaps one of the rugby world's most talented players in Brian O'Driscoll, are sure favourites to win this one. The home advantage will prove key as I'm sure the crowd will be a massive boost for Leinster.

The Ospreys haven't won at the RDS arena for some time now and I can't see them winning this one. With the bags of talent that they possess, they are still gross under-achievers. The Ospreys should be a force to be reckoned with, but perhaps like Welsh sport in general, they can't win the big games.

Alex Bywater: It has got to be Leinster.

Although the Ospreys are a wonderful attacking team, they have been inconsistent this season, much like the Welsh national team. Leinster's unbelievable recent record against the Ospreys and their brilliant Heineken Cup run merely strengthens their case. Brian O'Driscoll has, again, had another consistent season and is the key to their dangerous backline. Although this will undoubtedly be a tight game, I can see Leinster sneaking this one with their powerful forward pack coming to the fore.

THE WORD ON - SPORT 27

gairrhydd | SPORT@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY MAY 24 2010

Adam Horne gives The Word On... football's latest loss, Besian Idrizaj "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." Famous words from the great George Best, and it was Paul Gascoigne who once claimed that, should he not have a weekend game, he would drink through Saturday, Sunday and Monday. If he then failed to make training, he would drink again to help pass the time.

But gone are the days when footballers such as Best and Gascoigne are able to live such lifestyles.

Modern sportsmen are the perfect picture of health. At the peak of their careers, they take part in daily exercise, have a healthy diet, and are mostly banned from any heavy consumption of alcohol. It comes as a massive surprise, therefore, whenever any of these modern stars unexpectedly pass away at the hands of natural causes.

Idrizaj won Austria's young player of the year in 2005 However, this seems to be happening more and more frequently in recent years. Only two weeks ago, 22-year-old Swansea striker, Besian Idrizaj, died in his sleep, with doctors looking at a possible heart attack as the cause.

Idrizaj joins a host of other players who have unexpectedly died in years gone by: Espanyol captain, Daniel

BEST: Beer battered liver

IDRIZAJ: A sad loss to the beautiful game Jarque, suffered cardiac arrest after a training session in 2009, Motherwell captain, Phil O’Donnell, died near the end of one of his matches in 2007, while Spanish international, Antonio Puerta, died in the same year, again from a heart attack.

Back in June 2003, some of you may remember Cameroonian midfielder, Marc-Vivien Foe, who collapsed on international duty, suffering from, guess what: a heart attack. Fair enough, deaths aren’t in their hundreds, or thousands, but it is baffling to hear that someone in such peak physical condition could suffer from a heart attack at any given time.

Ill health cannot surely be blamed for these great losses, which begs the question, how are such healthy individuals collapsing in front of millions of viewers, or after training sessions, or indeed, in their sleep, if they are at the pinnacle of fitness?

It raises questions in my mind as to whether modern footballers are putting too much strain and stress on their bodies. Fixture lists are becoming ever more congested; Fulham played 64 competitive matches this season in the space of 50 weeks, averaging out at over a game a week. Over such a long period, that’s a very strenuous and demanding schedule, no matter how much an individual is being paid.

Training most days of the week when not playing matches means that players often have very little time to rest, and for those teams who possess smaller squads, rotation becomes

harder, putting more stress on players' bodies. We’ve seen it in teams such as Aston Villa. Martin O’Neill has done wonders at the Midlands club, but the squad is very small, and despite fantastic starts to the previous few seasons, they have struggled greatly during run-ins due to player fatigue. This suggests to me that, no matter how physically fit a player may be, and no matter how good their diet may be, there is only so much the human body can take.

But can fixture congestion really be blamed for recent players deaths?

Idrizaj only made three appearances for Swansea in the 2009/10 season, so in this case it seems difficult to blame over-exertion for his death. The youngster won Austria’s young player of the year in 2005 before signing on at Liverpool. However, he ultimately failed to make the cut, and had short spells at various lower league clubs, including Luton Town and Crystal Palace, before Paolo Souza made him one of his first signings in 2009.

Gone are the days when footballers such as Best and Gascoigne can live the life of Riley His death did occur at the end of a busy season for Swansea, as they pushed for promotion, but yet again, he was not a regular in the side. How-

ever, Motherwell captain O’Donnell died during a match in December 2007. He was 35 - so admittedly no spring chicken - and as captain of his side, you can guarantee he would have been giving his all for the cause. At the peak of the season, the manager substituted O’Donnell with the next match in mind. He could therefore have already been showing signs of fatigue. It’s quite possible that overexertion, coupled with his age, could have led to the seizure, which eventually led to his death.

Foe, similarly, collapsed during a match for Cameroon. He had just completed a season on loan at Manchester City, before going straight into the Confederations Cup for his country. He made it all the way to the semi-final before tragically collapsing and dying. Unlike O’Donnell, he was not old; only 28 in fact. So can age really be blamed for such an untimely death? A lengthy season followed by a summer competition could possibly be responsible for tiring out a player, yet so often players participate in these competitions and come out unscathed.

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars.

The rest I just squandered" Espanyol captain, Jarque, aged 26, died at the end of a training session with his club - hardly the rigorous levels of exertion reached during a match. It was also pre-season, so he was undoubtedly well-rested following a short summer break. It’s hard to make a case here for death-by-fatigue, as it is for the tragic case of Idrizaj.

There have been numerous complaints from managers and players over the years regarding congested fixture lists, and it is clearly having an adverse effect upon certain squads.

However, it is impossible from these inconsistent examples to blame fixture congestion. Could it be that these few, who were tragically taken from the game at such a young age, were just unlucky? More than likely, and it seems that no matter how physically fit you are, or how good your diet is, death can come knocking at any given time.

Who knows, perhaps George Best did have the right idea?

Top Five Sporting Tragedies

1.

A loss that sent tremors throughout the football world. On February 6 1958, the flight that the Manchester United side, nicknamed 'The Busby Babes' were on, crashed on take off.

Eleven staff and players died.

2.

Dale Earnhardt was at the pinnacle of NASCAR racing when he tragically died in 2001. He clipped the back of an opponent's vehicle, causing his car to lose control, sending him into the barriers at 180mph.

3.

Darryl Kile failed to turn up at a game for the St. Louis Cardinals on June 22 2002. Hotel staff later entered his room to find him passed away in bed. He had suffered a fatal heart attack.

4.

Georgian luge competitor, Nodar Kumaritashvili, tragically died earlier this year. He lost control during a training run at the 2010 Winter Olympics and was thrown to his death

5.

Athlete Florence Griffith-Joyner sadly died in September 1998 three months before her 39th birthday.

Coroners reports suggested that she died in her sleep after suffering a seizure and suffocating on her pillow.

Sport gairrhydd

INSIDE: The Word On...Football's Latest Loss, plus Preview of Ospreys vs Leinster in the Inaugral Magners League Final

Our Twenty20 vision

Alex Bywater Sports Writer When England and One Day cricket are mentioned, what springs to mind first? Inconsistency? Naive team selection? Or just a poor standard of play? Arguably, England’s One Day performances have been dominated by these characteristics for the last decade or so.

The occasional uplifting success, such as the Commonwealth Bank One Day Series in Australia in 2006/07, has been swiftly followed by more disappointment.

As a result, England went into the World Twenty20 in the West Indies with hope, but little expectation of winning their first One Day World Cup. Having lost three World Cup finals

previously, as well as the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in 2004. England were looking to win their first ever piece of international silverware. The fact that the nation who invented Twenty20 had not got past the Super Eights in the two previous tournaments was a statistic that had to be rectified - and England certainly did that!

England, starting off the tournament with a loss to the West Indies, and a rain-affected no-result against Ireland, scraped into the Super Eights on a superior run rate.

This did not tell the full story, however, as England piled up 191-5 against the West Indies before the limitations of the Duckworth-Lewis system set the hosts a nonchalant target.

It was the latter stages of the tour-

nament, though, where England really fired. They were unbeaten from this point onwards, with clinical victories over Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. In a remarkable turnaround, England’s play was in complete contrast to that which has plagued them in the past.

Questions of nationality were put to one side as England’s opening pair of Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter consistently provided a platform for the innings with open, aggressive and bold stroke play. Though left field selections, this was the first time since the retirement of Marcus Trescothick that England openers were able to smash the ball out of the park.

England’s batting fired not only up top but also all the way down the order. New dad, Kevin Pietersen,

dominated opposition attacks and was named man of the tournament for his 533 runs at 62. His inside out six over extra cover off Shaun Tait in the final will be long-remembered.

Eoin Morgan also had a sensationally consistent tournament.

The aggressive nature of England’s batting was complemented by the tight nature of England’s bowling.

At the outset of the tournament, the omission of James Anderson, the most consistent English seamer in recent times, raised questions about the team’s selection. But this decision proved inspired as Sidebottom, Broad and Bresnan kept tabs on the opposition’s run rate, the first two mastering the act of the ‘slower ball bouncer.’

Complemented by spinners Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy,

England’s attack had a brilliant allround field to it. The consistency of selection was also a key factor. Indeed, England only changed their team once, when Pietersen returned home for the birth of his first child.

England continued this magnificent form in the final and were always on top after reducing the Australians to 8-3.

Australia fought back to post a competitive total, but, the result never really looked in doubt when Kieswetter and Pietersen shared a century partnership.

Despite the loss of these two batsmen, Captain Collingwood led England to victory and the possible hope of more One Day success in the future now looks likely. However, to suggest England are the finished article is far from the truth.

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