Every vote counted
Oliver Smith Editor
Last week saw the culmination of the Students’ Union elections with a lower than expected turnout of 4478 votes cast, compared to the record high turnout last year of 5429 votes.
On the subject of the lower turnout Chris Davies, current Welfare and Communications Officer commented: “Every year Elections are different to the last. We wanted this year to be the biggest in terms of votes but alas it was not. The candidates and their teams worked very hard and we will be evaluating the lower turnout as part of the annual review of the Elections process.”
The elections also passed with considerably fewer complaints made during the seven-days of campaigning. Only seven formal complaints were received by the election officials administering the Union elections, and of these only two were found to be in breach of the rules.
Last year’s elections finished with various disputes between candidates ranging from allegations of candidates setting up alternative polling stations, to claims that candidates had abused loopholes in the rules to acquire significant numbers of t-shirts to boost their campaigns. This year’s elections saw a number of new rules introduced to prevent similar abuses occurring.
While the elections passed without complaint, they were not without incident. One candidate for the position of AU President was forced to withdraw from the election process on Thursday March 15, a mere day into campaigning, after an incident at The Lash caused his Union membership to be revoked
Candidates have also criticised the introduction of complex rules with regards to new rules on elections t-shirts, which this year could only be purchased from the Union directly. One candidate stated: “calling these new rules ‘overly complex’ would be an understatement.”
Tur nout down by 18%
Indeed the uptake of the new rules seems lower than even the Union expected, of the 1000 campaign t-shirts sourced by the Union at a cost of over £2,000, only 177 were actually used by candidates.
Chris Davies explained, “The take up on Elections T-shirts, whilst being lower than expected, did mean that campaign ‘armies’ were avoided and complaints on this issue reduced to zero. As they were intentionally undated, the shirts
Elections round up
will serve in future elections.”
A number of candidates, including one successful one, have voiced concern about the student awareness of the elections process, and specifically student understanding of the voting system which seemed lower than expected. Chris Williams, Head of Student Media-elect told gair rhydd: “Many candidates, myself included, had to tell people what the elections were, why we needed to vote and what our roles
were. I spent a lot of time with potential voters talking about all of these things before I could start discussing my policies… simply because we didn’t feel enough people knew or understood the process.”
Some of the notable results included the election of Cari Davies, AU President Elect, the first female AU President Elect for six years since Lisa Gwinett in 2006. Winning her position by the tightest of the results, just a mere 50 votes stood
between her and her nearest competitor, Larry Hunt. Following the announcement, Cari told gair rhydd: “I’m completely numb, it’s been a week of madness, such a rollercoaster.” Current AU President Ollie Devon added: “Cari campaigned really hard throughout the week. She had a great campaign, she had a great campaign team behind her.”
continued on page 4...
Above: The candidates of Cardiff Students’ Union elections 2012
Oliver Smith
Elaine Morgan
Chris Williams
Sheri Hall
Henry McMorrow
Matt Jones
Laura Evans
OPINION
Izzy Voss
Libby van den Bosch
COLUMNIST
Daisy Esther Payne
POLITICS
Luke Slade
Sophie Gidley
Ellen Atkinson
Ali Ishaq
Jenny Kendall
Jenny Lambourne
Natalie Healey
Isabelle Roberts
LISTINGS
Gareth Johnston
Caio Iwan
Osian Gruffydd
SPORT
Jamie Evans
Zac Cole
Jonathan Frank
CONTRIBUTORS
Kendal Archer
Alex Greig
Liam McNeilly
Yasmine Canga-Valles
Thom Hollick
Joanne Faulkner
Hugh Rodger
Agnieszka Miszczuk
Charlotte Wace
Juliette Nicholls
Rhys Clayton
Alexey Underwood
Paul Wilkinson
Anna Hickman
Katie Dowling
Amy Harding
Cerith Rhys Jones
George Dugdale
Laura Harman
Nick Evans
Tom Parry-Jones
Viktor Tsevatanov
Pavel Pyszko
Louise Bungay
Uni watch.
Toilet instructions
Bristol students strip down
Kayleigh Chan News Reporter
Medical students at Bristol University have raised over £10,000 from a charity strip show.
The society, Galenicals, were fundraisingfor the leading children’s cancer charity, CLIC Sargent. The event, CLICendales, has been put on annually for the last six years and was a sold outsuccess at the Bristol O2 Academy.
The night included a mixture of full, semi and non-strip performances from student volunteers with an ‘around the world’ theme. Music groups Flu Fighters and Scarlet Fever opened the show, preceding acts influenced by a range of different styles from Bollywood to Japanese and balletto hip-hop.
The event culminated in a fullstrip performance by male performers to the sound of LMFAO’s ‘Sexy and I Know It’.
Alice Marriott News Reporter
Posters have been put up around the Swansea University Campus displaying instructions on the correct way to use a toilet. Using clear diagrams, the posters indicate the art of sitting on the toilet seat as opposed to the crossed out diagram of a student squatting above it whilst standing on the seat.
A university spokeswoman has
told the BBC: ‘Swansea University is a multi-cultural campus community and the informational posters were produced, for use in both male and female facilities, to help address cultural differences that were unfortunately causing damage and hygiene issues.’
There have been no subsequent statements documenting the progress the posters have made on the students treatment of the toilets. We can only assume the posters have had a beneficial impact.
04News
continued from page 1...
The of ficer team-elect will contain an equal number of male and female of ficers, with Me gan Eleri David in the role of Welfare and Community Of ficer, Hannah Pask in the role of Heath Park Campus Of ficer and Beth Button in the role of Education and University Affairs Of ficer
After winning by the highest majority of 835 votes, Beth told gair rhydd that her week had been “bloody tiring, so many highs, so many lows.
"I’ve made so many good friends with these guys and everyone deserves it, it’s just a shame that there are only eight positions available.”
Cur rent Academic and University Af fairs Of ficer Samantha Reid reacted with excitement to the news that next year’s team would be an evenly balanced male to female one:
“There are four girls on the of ficer team, I’m so happy!” Indeed the last two years of of ficer teams have been heavily dominated by male of ficers, the change next year has been welcomed by some The position of Head of Student Media was the second closest result of the night after that of AU President.
Winning candidate, Chris Williams won with a 113 vote majority, only closely beating George Dugdale George told gairrhyddthat the closeness of the result was “a testament to the quality candidates from the media department this year.”
Chris Williams on his campaign experiences told us: “This week has been my best week of University so far, it has been the purest of University experiences.”
He added that on the feeling of winning: “It hasn’t sunk in at all yet.”
more moder n, prog ressive organisation,
The newly created position of Union Development and Inter nal Af fairs Of ficer was the most heavily contested of the elections this year, with eight candidates campaigning for the role
Successful candidate Kieran Gandhi said that his plans next year are to “do things dif ferently I’m a bit of a maverick, I hope that will go down well next year.”
Nick Matthew, the cur rent and last Finance and Commercial Of ficer once replaced by Kiran Gandhi in his new role next year, told us: “This new role is going to be very unique and very dynamic I’m going to lead Kieran down the financial and commercial path, and then, as a collective we’re going to lead him down the charity path.
"At the end of the handover month we want to give him a real picture of what he can do with this role.”
Adam Curtis and Har ry Newman were elected Societies Of ficer and President of the Students’ Union respectively
On his success Har ry Newman explained to gair rhydd that it had been due to “my top three campaigners that I had, being my girlfriend, Kimberly, and my two very good friends, Tim and Steph.”
He also attributed some of his success to his dog Loui, who joined Har ry for much of the campaign week: “He was a very good dog!”
Cur rent President Marcus Coates-Walker cong ratulated the success of the newly elected team and added: “It’s going to be a very interesting year next year, the new team will have 9K fees to deal with, a new Vice-Chancellor, it’s a new world and they are going to have a massive task on their hands, but I’m confident they will do it.”
from massive changes in University's management. more accessible, more opportunities society have improved communication with the Union, coaching courses, Cardif f brand.
Xpress exposure, in the union,ness of student union's activities and services, your union. issues faced by students,
voice and engage the student body,tation. feature of the SU,
on housing, finance and clinics, with the police and local councillors
The election of the eight elected officers was preceded by the election of eight part-time elected of ficers who work to represent minority g roups and interests at Cardif f Students’ Union.
The part-time roles received a total of 1093 votes and ran a largely uncontested election. Only the role of LGBT+ Of ficer had more than one candidate running in the process, Jack Oakley was elected into this position with 548 votes to Sarah Lynn’s 470 votes
The Mature Students Of ficer Nick Holbrook was re-elected into his position and will continue to serve for his second academic year in of fice
Other results included the election of Sam Hickman into the role of Woman’s Of ficer; Gerallt Rhys Roberts into the role of Welsh Students Of ficer, Paul Wilkinson into the role of Students with Disabilities Of ficer; Abdulla Sheikh into the role of Inter national Students Of ficer and Jack Parker into the role of Environmental and Ethical Of ficer
Alec Care, cur rent Ethical and Environmental Of ficer told gair rhydd : “I wish Jack all the best, I’ve already started preparing some handover documents
"I think the newly elected team are going to have an uphill battle with the challenges faced by higher fees But if their enthusiasm during the election period is anything to judge them on, I’m sure they will do a stirling job.”
Lastly Rounack Chowdury was elected Student Council Chair with 730 votes and will succeed Sarah Smith cur rently in the role
NUS dele g ates
NUS dele gates were also selected for both the NUS National Conference and NUS Wales Conference For NUS National Conference Faraz Aladdin, Har ry Newman, Saeed Kidwai, Chris Davies, Ed Mason, Marcus Coates-Walker, Samantha Reid and Sarah Halpin were elected to represent Cardif f Students For NUS Wales Conference Har ry Newman, Ed Mason, Samantha Reid and Sarah Halpin were elected to represent Cardif f Students
Oliver Smith Editor
Har ry Newman Cari Davies
Hannah Pask -
Kieran Ghandi Chris Williams
Beth Button
Me gan Eleri David
Adam Curtis
Environmental and Ethical Officer
International Students Officer LGBT+ Officer Mature Students Officer Students with Disabilities Officer Welsh Students Officer Women's Officer
06News
Kendal Archer News Reporter
On March 7, councillors unanimously voted in favour of the construction of a state of the art postgraduate centre for Cardiff University students. The centre is set to be a landmark piece of architecture, with striking exterior features.
These will include a terracotta rain screen, made of vertically stacked tiles of five colours, buff brick cladding and powder coated aluminium doors and windows. This striking building will be built on about 1.4 acres of land, which is currently in use as the car park inbetween the Julian Hodge and Humanities buildings.
The aim of the building is to provide a landmark new teaching facility for postgraduates. The centrepiece will be its Harvard style elliptical lecture theatre, which will
seat up to 250 students.
The building will also contain a two storey teaching wing, an office and administration wing, and a central communal area. This provides various flexible teaching spaces so the building can be adapted to the changing requirements of the university.
Postgraduate students will also be able to relax in the common room, and will have access to an external roof patio. Also, on the roof of the building will be a house plant space and area of biodiversity. This is in accordance with their aim to make the building sustainable and achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘excellent’.
As a further part of this aim, the building will also feature sustainable design elements such as a solar thermal heating system, photovoltaic for renewable electricity, and rain water harvesting equipment.
Matt Jones News Editor
The Students’ Union has received Gold status from an awards scheme for its environmental efforts during the last year.
The Green Impact Award acknowledges sustainability and environmental work in universities and colleges, in categories such as
recycling, Fairtrade and biodiversity.
The award continues the success of the previous year when the Union also received a Gold status, after receiving Silver in 2010.
Green Impact aim to provide a framework of measurable criteria to help institutions to continue and improve their efforts at being green.
This is particularly in aid of Unions, who have an annual change of sabbatical officers.
The University enters a separate award scheme for environmental and sustainability effort independently from the Students’ Union called the People and Planet Green League.
Last year Cardiff did exceptionally badly, coming 130th out of the
138 institutions that took part, receiving a ‘failed’ rating.
Alec Care, Ethical and Environmental Officer, said: “It’s great to see the Students’ Union keeping up its commitment to improving the Union as a whole and I hope that the University does the same for the Green League submission which will be happening in the next few weeks.”
Police are appealing for witnesses after a student was found with serious head injuries in Cathays earlier this month.
The 21-year-old was found at the bottom of stone steps linking Cranbrook Street and Lowther Road around 5.30pm on Saturday, March 17.
Police say that at this stage it looks as though his injuries were the result of a fall, but enquiries are still on going.
Sheri Hall News Editor
Glee comedy club has taken Twentieth Century Fox to court for trademark infringement over their American high school TV series, ‘Glee’.
Comic Enterprises Limited, which has a venue in Cardiff Bay, is starting legal action against the film and television company for “trademark infringement and passing off” the sign ‘Glee’.
Mark Tughan, the director of Comic Enterprises, fears the success of the world-famous American
TV series has lead to confusion, with people assuming a link between his business and the programme.
Last week Judge Colin Birss QC, at Patents County Court in London, transferred the case to the High Court given the “financial significance” for the defendant.
The first Glee Club comedy venue was set up in Birmingham in 1994 and in 2001 opened a venue in Cardiff Bay. Clubs in Oxford and Nottingham were set up in 2010.
Fox first piloted the TV programme, Glee, in the UK in 2009 and became the top ranked series on UK satellite channels by the end of its
second season.
Mr Tughan did not begin the proceedings until September 2011 because he believed the programme would flop and therefore not affect his business.
Judge Birss said that if Comic Enterprises is successful in its claim “the television programme at least in its current form would have to be taken off the air.”
Fox has launched a counterclaim which challenges the validity of Comic Enterprises’ registered trademark, partly based on the ground that ‘glee club’ is dictionarydefined as a choral singing group.
The student is described as being 6’1”ft with ‘messy’ brown hair and facial stubble He was wearing a dark brown leather jacket, a navy blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans
A woman has contacted police in connection with the incident, but police are urging any students who saw the man or witnessed what happened to come forward.
The student was in a critical condition when he was taken to the University Hospital of Wales, but he is now stable
Anyone with any infor mation re garding this incident is asked to contact Rumney CID on 029 20774233 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111
South Wales Police advise students to Lock It, Hide It and Keep It.
Laura Evans News Editor
South Wales Police have issued a warning to students after a number of burglaries have taken place in and around Cathays in the past three weeks.
Cardiff University students have been warned, prior to going home for the Easter holidays, to take extra precaution when leaving their student houses unattended.
Since March 1, there have been 16 student burglaries in Cathays of which 11 were insecure properties where windows or doors had been left unlocked. During the Easter holidays alone last year, 13 burglaries were reported, seven of which were via insecure doors and windows.
Laptops remain the most common item stolen with 15 being taken during this period.
Student Liaison Officer PC Tim
ing to steal and external doors, bedroom doors and windows are locked, then there is far less chance of you becoming a victim of burglary.”
Officers are also particularly keen for students to make the most of technology to ensure their laptops, computers and smart phones are secure.
Applications to trace or track an owner's phone via GPS can be downloaded, in the event that devices are lost or stolen.
Students with Apple products can activate the built-in tracking software. Students with other devices may look into 'preyproject. com', a free piece of software, which can be installed onto laptops and smart phones.
Last year, one man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a burglary in Roath after he was tracked using a previously downloaded application on the iPhone he stole.
The 28-year-old stole a Black-
contacted straight away.
Officers monitored the movement of the victim’s iPhone on the computer until the suspect was located with the items.
He was convicted at Cardiff Crown Court and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.
PC Davies continued: "Unfortunately burglars target the Cathays and Roath area as they know there is an abundance of valuable property such as iPhones and iPads in multi-occupancy homes.
"As always, we focus our patrols in the area and carry out spot checks to combat this trend.
"But we also need students' help to keep the burglars away. We advise them to install existing and freely available software such as GPS tracking and location apps to help us find their stolen property, as well as arresting the person who stole it.”
Davies said: “The good news is that by simply taking your valuables home for the Easter break and ensuring doors and windows are locked then you can prevent your accommodation being burgled.
“Burglars are aware that student homes may be unoccupied over the coming weeks, but if there is noth-
berry, an iPad and iPhone from a multi-occupancy house on Richmond Road. As soon as the owner realised the items had been stolen, he logged onto the internet to locate his iPhone using the tracking mechanism.
It showed the phone was in the Elm Street area and the police were
Chris Davies, Welfare and Communications Officer for Cardiff Students’ Union, told gair rhydd: “The holiday period is a chance for students to prepare upcoming assessments, but don't forget about security! Nobody wants to return to his or her house to start revising and discover it's been broken into. Take heed of the advice and if you are staying in Cardiff look out for each other; we are all part of the bigger Cardiff community.”
gair rhydd spoke to some Cardiff students who have experienced burglaries in the past weeks.
A student living in a house of five boys on Cathays Terrace said: “We came home to discover the back door open (which we endeavour to lock every time we go out) and four laptops and their chargers were stolen from rooms that were left unlocked.
"Nothing else but an electric shaver was stolen, even though there were plenty of valuable things in sight. The most worrying thing, however, was the fact that someone had been into our home and had
when you leave
ders that could be used to force entryed neighbour to keep an eye on your house during the holidays and ask them to push through any mail left hanging from letter boxes and bring in your bins
timers to come on while you are away and close curtains in ground floor bedrooms.
it’s a student house e.g. posters
each day to prevent pipes from freezing
expensive purchases or gifts on display or in bins as burglars know the packaging relates to items worth stealing
been through our things.”
Another student, living in a house of six on Rhymney Street recalled their experience: “What surprised us all the most was that three people had come into our house after we had been burgled and nobody had noticed! Before it happens, you don't realise how easy you're making it for people to come in and take whatever they want.
"A PlayStation 3 and iPod dock were taken from our living room and both were in plain view as soon as you walked in the room, so it's
not like the burglars had to look very hard.
"I never used to lock my bedroom door when I went out and I usually left my window open too. Nothing of mine was taken in the burglary, which was so lucky as my door wasn't locked.
"Now we all make a conscious effort to lock our doors and shut all the windows whenever we leave and I usually pull my blinds down too as you can see into my room from the main street.”
Emmeline Pankhurst, Germaine Greer and...Rihanna?
Alex Greig Opinion Writer
Rihanna, feminists would be proud. You’ve become one of the biggest superstars on the planet. You publicly shamed and walked away from the boyfriend who harmed and belittled you. Moreover, and perhaps most significantly, you’ve taken modern female sexuality and boosted it to a whole new level, empowering women everywhere, influencing them to take sexual power into their own hands. But hold the praises, because the latter of these things was done in rather an odd manner, at the very least, so a feminist would say. Here is one way to view Rihanna’s sexuality – it’s as if she’s allowed herself to be exploited, or even has exploited herself, in some strange form of female empowerment. But this is such a magnificent contradiction that I’m not sure that it works. Allow me to demonstrate: Rihanna has a great bum. It’s a fact, it was voted second best bum in the world by Zoo readers. She knows she has a great bum, of course she does, it’s a selling point for her, which is where the issue lies. When it comes down to it, surely, as a musician, she should want less attention on her bum and more on her music. Why then, does she continue to do steamy magazine
shoots, for FHM in France, Germany and England to name but a few?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a prude, I just think Rihanna is inappropriate considering so many of her fans are so young. The first time I remember seeing Rihanna was in the video for her single SOS from her second album. Whilst it was clear that she was brimming with sexual energy, the video is quite restrained. She is, largely speaking, covered up and the lyrics speak of a difficult love. Yes there is some gyrating, but nothing compared to her more recent work. I feel a little that we were lured in by this image, only to have an oversexed image thrust upon us - look to the lyrics of her imaginatively titled song S&M and you’ll see my issue. And if you don’t see my issue, try typing ‘Kid sings S&M’ into Youtube, and your jaw will drop at the sight of seven year olds singing about ‘whips and chains’. It’s not so much her image which is the problem, it’s who her image is projected upon, and that is certainly not an attribute many feminists would be proud of. Now has come the news that she’s collaborating musically with Chris Brown, the ex-boyfriend who famously beat her. There has been outcry about this and I can see why. For the sake of giving strength and belief to women who have been
victim to domestic abuse, one can’t help feeling that Rihanna, with her exposure and superstardom should steer completely clear of Brown in the name of setting a good example and demonstrating female independence. The rumours are starting to fly that they are getting back together, and for the sake not only of feminists, but for her fans and for her dignity, I hope that they’re false. So yes, she’s a powerful woman, but on a basic level, men will still ogle at her bum, children will still learn inappropriate songs and she’s working again with the man who once took too many liberties. An icon yes, but certainly not a feminist one.
“
Plan B thinks the 'chav' label is Ill Manors
Liam McNeilly Opinion Writer
Class prejudice is alive and well in Britain today, and Plan B has used his latest project as a platform to launch an attack on it. His new single and video, Ill Manors is sure to draw criticism from certain groups, however it’s being championed as the "greatest British protest song in years" by The Guardian In a frank interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra’s MistaJam, Plan B, aka Ben Drew, took the opportunity to criticise class prejudice, cit-
ing it as the inspiration behind his latest album and film. Drew talked about how the prejudice shown by "certain ignorant sectors of middle class people" towards those less well off is only serving to divide society.
The use of the word ‘chav’ is a stereotype which concerns Drew, referencing the meaning in his single as: ‘council-housed and violent’. The term is used shamelessly and without consideration to label certain sectors of society who dress and speak in a certain way, or just more generally to stereotype the working class. It’s become acceptable and is
regularly used in the press but not enough people seem to care about the connotations or the effects. It’s something we see on a daily basis. Over the past week the Paddy Power Chav Tranquiliser advert has become a point of debate, with many rubbishing criticism by claiming that it’s just a joke. But this class division is inherent. Would it be laughed off as a joke if the tranquiliser were for black people or gay people? It seems many are happy to poke fun at those less fortunate, i.e. those who are labelled as chavs.
This isn’t the first time that the word ‘chav’ has been explored in recent times. Owen Jones' 2011 book, Chavs: The Demonizaton of the Working Class explores the issue in great depth with significant authority, evidenced by its recent shortlisting for an inaugural 'radical publishing award'. ‘Chav’ may have started out meaning something quite different, but now it has reached a point where it’s more than just a word, it’s a derogatory term used blindly to look down on people.
This message is not something that Drew wants listeners to overlook. “I wanna make people aware of the hypocrisy of it… People need to...stop ridiculing the poor and less fortunate… You make them feel alienated and like they’re not part of society…
People won’t care about soci-
ety because society’s made it very clear they don’t care about them.”
The lyrical content clearly puts this message across. “As an artist trying to convey a message, I need to get under peoples’ skin”. I think it’s important for those images to enhance that political message and not be used to criticise Plan B for condoning the riots, something that he has made very clear he is not.
“What happened during the riots, it disgusted me, it made me sick but it saddened me more than anything,” he told MistaJam.
“ The term is used shamelessly and without consideration to label certain sectors
Responding to those who suggest class prejudice is rooted by the reality, Drew said “When we’re backed in to a corner we lash out, and it’s got nothing to do with class”.
The new single sees a shift back to what his early fans are more accustomed too. A hip-hop inspired sound, with this single sampling Peter Fox’s Alles Neu, incorporated with brutally honest lyrical content. His previous album, The Defamation of Strickland Banks, was a soul inspired record through which
a narrative tells the story of an artist wrongly accused of rape through the eyes of character Strickland Banks, gained him widespread mainstream success. Fans of that record are likely to be the sorts of people Drew is reaching out to, and trying to "wake up." Only time will tell how willing they are to listen. It’s massively refreshing to see someone who’s gained mainstream success, to the extent of winning Best British Male at last year’s Brits, revert back to his roots to put his message out to the masses. It would have been safe to produce another record that kept that new fan base happy. Instead he’s made an album on his own label and a film to accompany it and is tackling subjects that others don’t want to talk about. Even if you don’t share Plan B’s legitimate concerns, it is impossible not to respect him for pushing the boundaries and bringing issues that are important to him in to the public eye. It’s something that is swept aside by those lucky enough not to be born in to it and it’s that ignorance that his latest project addresses.
Should the UK relax its drug laws?
Yasmine Canga-Valles Opinion Writer
European countries are slowly moving towards a decriminalisation of drugs. The Netherlands and Portugal were among the first to experiment with this new policy and observed a decline of drug use. In 2011, the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto supported a policy based on Portugal’s model. So should the UK move towards decriminalisation or not?
In my opinion, the UK should follow in Portugal and the Netherlands’ footsteps. After reading the reasons why governments are changing their policies and talking with friends about what they thought of it, I realised that there is more of a misunderstanding of what cannabis is, rather than a real danger.
The Netherlands makes a differentiation between hard and soft drugs. Portugal on the other hand was the first European country to end criminal penalties for personal possession in 2001, and instead offer therapies for users, rather than prison sentences. In other words, they are helping the users instead of punishing them. Studies have shown that five years after the introduction of their policy, Portugal observed a decline in teenagers’ illegal use of drugs, a drop in the rate of HIV infections among drug users, a 50 per cent decrease in heroin users and of similar drugs, and finally that the number of people seeking treatment for addiction had doubled. Restriction often simply serves to heighten appeal. The element of rebellion associated with drug use is often very attractive for teenagers. However, instead of trying to understand the psychological reasons why people take drugs, most European governments tend to respond with punishment, thus failing to tackle the root cause.
In conclusion, I am not for a complete legalisation of drugs but instead for a policy controlling our consumption of soft drugs. The UK’s government should consider that there is a difference between soft and hard drugs and regulate cannabis consumption. Through legalising cannabis, governments will be able to control it more closely. However, this should be implemented only in conjunction with measures that prevent the consequences of abusive consumption and help users with therapy.
The alternative campaign awards...
The campaign teams worked tirelessly to win your votes last week, but unfortunately there could only be 8 full-time officers elected.
Luckily Opinion are on hand to present the alternative awards...
BEST RECYCLING OF CAMPAIGN MATERIAL - Harry-Bo Newman
Nice to know our future president is doing his bit for the environment...
MOST FLIRTATIOUS CANDIDATE - Beth Buttons
Quite impressive considering the hairiness of her costume...
MOST INHIBITING COSTUME - Megan 'Megatron' David
Spotted: attempting to drink from the water fountain with a box on her head - it didn't look easy...
BIGGEST WILLY - Adam 'BFG' Curtis
According to his campaign team anyway...
STRANGEST PARODY - Emma Jarrett 'the parrot'
'She's a little bit nutty, she's a little bit sane' - is Emma the next Eminem?
SUFFERED MOST IN THE COLD - George 'of the jungle' Dugdale
Authentic costume, George, but not quite suited to our chilly South Wales climate
MOST PREDICTABLE SLOGAN - Cari Davies with 'Keep Calm and Cari On'
This slogan was so good (or bad?) it was used twice...
WORST PUNS - Larry 'Potter' Hunt
Highlights include : 'Larry Potter won't be Slytherin past any AU issues' and 'has he Gringott your vote?'
BEST CROSSROAD ANTICS - Kieran Gandhi
Students loved seeing Gandhi play cricket on the crossroads - waiting motorists weren't so keen...
My life was taken from me last week. “Why?”
I hear you cry. Well here’s why: the elections.
It all started on the Wednesday. I felt so fresh, so excited, so pleased to be a part of a campaign team. For the first time in my Cardiff career, I felt like I was doing something worthwhile. I felt I had a smidgen of a chance to make things better for everyone, or at least to be a part of something good.
I showered, I had a good breakfast of Frosties (other cereals are available, but none are quite so grrrreat) and I even had time for a cup of tea and a moment of pause before heading out to the dreaded crossroads.
I arrived at Camp Captain Chris and felt immediately taken over by the drive to persuade every single living creature to vote. We stood for hours, giving out biscuits, talking to people, many of whom were unsure what the elections even were; a little frustrating, given all the time and effort and energy the candidates for all the positions were giving to every minute of every day throughout the campaigning.
The moment in between lectures, when all goes quiet was a time to re-
ally reflect on the events of each day, and to consider tactics for later, for tomorrow and more importantly, for that night.
I have absolutely no idea how the candidates managed to keep going. I for one was exhausted by Friday. There were some real highs throughout the week. The Lash on the first night was nothing short of superb. The camaraderie between all of the teams and the candidates was something they all can be proud of. So, The Lash: full of a bunch of ridiculous outfits, lots of Zwack bombs and plenty of awful dance moves. I even spotted gairrhydd’s own Oliver
“ I even wore a Welsh rugby shirt. I later admitted this to my parents, and they asked if I could send them a written apology. Sorry Mum, sorry Dad.
Smith up with the DJ pulling some epic shapes. Now that is when you know it’s a good night.
I managed to stumble home and grab a few hours sleep before the next day, Thursday. I was already tired and
I already wanted to catch up with sleep, watch endless rubbish television shows and eat a lot of bacon. But no! This was election week at Cardiff, and I had a role to fulfil. Note that on Thursday no shower was had, and the hair remained unbrushed until the evening.
I arrived at the cross-roads ready for another day of hardcore campaigning and persuading. I got my banner out, jumped around, jumped on a few people, gave out some leaflets – it really was fun. Honestly! Here on paper it sounds like a bore, but when you care so much about the outcome, it becomes more important than anything else in that moment.
I barely ate the whole week, which for those of you who are avid readers of this column will know, is virtually unheard of, unless I am riddled with a sickness bug and/or have food poisioning. (Even then I persuade those nursing me to feed me. This always ends badly.)
Thursday night was hustings. Cardiff Student Union's very own ‘Question Time’. I’ll be honest with you all, the turnout was disappointing. Next year, all of you reading this – get off your bums, cease pre-drinks for a couple of hours and really get involved in your University experience. I would imagine that many of you
voted for reasons that did not reflect manifestos. I implore you, next year, if you’re around – attend. It is mighty insightful. I even asked a question, taking my public speaking career to the next step. Paxman, you might be sitting comfortably in your job for now, but just you wait.
Then it was Friday. It was yet another day, plodding around the whole of Cardiff’s campus. By walking around so much and also eating considerably less than usual, I may have even lost a pound or two. Oh no, wait! I drank a horrendous amount of alcohol which means that, if anything, I have probably gained a stone.
Oh Tulisa, what are you like?
“ I even spotted gair rhydd's own Oliver Smith up with the DJ pulling some epic shapes. Now that is when you know it's a good night.
Saturday saw the biggest day of the year for Wales. It was certainly a mighty day. I even wore a Welsh rugby shirt. I later admitted this to my parents, and they asked if I could send them a written apology. Sorry Mum, sorry Dad. I’m not sure what came over me, the Welsh are very persuasive. I did however, thoroughly enjoy the friendliness of the Welsh when they think you’re a fellow Welshie. It certainly has been the week for feeling a part of something.
Saturday night was a cracker in the Union. I sure did go and I sure did play. I danced my feet off, and suffered the consequences on Sunday morning. To tell you the honest truth, I don’t think I have fully recovered. Then Monday and Tuesday flew by and before I knew it, I was sitting in the Union yet again, but this time awaiting the results to the elections. Boy, was I nervous.
The Union put on an excellent spread. It was a great evening, made greater by the success of the candidate I had campaigned for. But do you know what? I say this genuinely, it was the taking part that counted. Win, or lose, every candidate and
every campaigner put their lives on hold for elections week. I have really felt as though Cardiff students did our Union proud. We came together, we took part and we had a great time doing it. What more could I have asked for? It was a great week and a brilliant experience.
Next year, instead of about 4,000 votes though, how about we double that? There are, after all, about 28,000 students at Cardiff. Wouldn’t it be brilliant to encourage further involvement and a bigger vote?
By the way, could someone please inform me what has been going on outside of the Cathays area of Cardiff? With all this time spent involved in the elections, I have absolutely no idea what is going on in the wider world. I’m off to read the other sections to get a grip on what’s been going down.
The only slice of news I have managed to pick up on this week is that our blessed Tulisa, angel of the XFactor, role model to many a young lady made a sex tape. PER-LEASE! Why Tulz, why? There you were, making a name for yourself, and boom! Someone takes you down.
As much as I feel for her, and I know she has been betrayed by someone she once trusted, I just thinkcome on? Where are your brain cells? There must be a point at which, when you get slightly famous you think "THIS MIGHT COME BACK TO HAUNT ME". Oh and would you look at that - it did. So predictable, but slightly hilarious. Tulz, you'll bounce back.
Death of the NHS?
Saturday 17 2012 marked the day when a funeral procession made its way through the centre of Cardiff. Unfortunately it was also the day that Wales played France for the Grand Slam so the protest was somewhat enveloped by the most French people I’ve ever seen - and I’ve been to France!
That said, it does not mean that the protest went unnoticed or should have any less press time. It is too easy to walk past and block the placards from your mind on a normal day. Often this is due to the fact that they say “Socialist Party” at the top. There seem to be many misconceptions among people’s opinions of this party. Even I have been known to simply ignore them because they are sometimes too anti-government for my tastes.
The fact of the matter, however, is that these are the people who stand up for real change. Not the empty change that politicians try to implement. They are the people who simply notice what is actually happening.
The protest, therefore, needs to be taken notice of. It seems to me that, although the propaganda grates with me, that they are right on the mark. There are too many professionals working in the NHS who oppose the new bill for opposition to be ignored.
it promises efficiency by removing 2 levels of bureaucracy but then imposes 4) and a calculated desire to erode the very foundations of the NHS cannot in good conscience be supported.”
It seems that when trust has eroded so far it becomes about initiating the need for what so many have deemed ‘real change’. And why not? The government need to prove to us that the NHS is safe and the current plans do not seem to suggest this. Public perception is just as important as the bill being proved to work.
We need reassurance, which is something, I fear, most people do not have. Mr Hamblin continued by saying he would be open to NHS reform with a bill “which resolves to remove the costly and unnecessary PFI and replacing it with real investment, a bill which removes the large number of privately contracted consultative managers, a bill which asserts that the public health service will be truly that instead of parcelled out to 'Any willing [private] provider'.”
The protest was designed to be a spectacle, and it certainly was. Before the coffin was taken through the high street, there were a couple of speeches outlining the apparent inequality in the bill. I cannot say whether or not it was falling on deaf ears but it certainly deserved to be listened to.
The one troubling thing is whether the bill has come to a point where it will not be accepted simply on principle. After all, it has undergone, what appears to be, major changes since it was first conceived.
I put this to David Hamlin, a Socialist Coalition council election candidate, and he said that in “all likelihood [we wouldn’t accept a revamped bill]. A bill with this level of hypocrisy (as has been observed,
No society mately call lised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.
I refuse to believe that the government is a malign force out to privatise the NHS and I do not think they are ‘the same old Tories’. The fact that the lib-dems are hanging in the background needs to count for something. But I do think that this needs to be an example of little student action. I commend all those at the protest on Saturday but it baffles me why more students were not there.
The Socialists might not be your cup of teabut it's not about them. It is about helping people stand up for what you believe in. Mr Hamblin ended with: “If someone is bleeding at the side of the road you go over and help them, you give whatever medical aid is required. You don't wait to see if their insurance details check out and you certainly don't put out the task to private tender. We live in the nation that founded the NHS. The only difference is that we see that the road's bigger; the Socialist reaction is the same. We believe in a national health system in the hands of the public giving free at the point of use healthcare to all.”
Aneurin Bevan Photographs
Thom Hollick Politics Reporter
Tory Sell-out, Pledge-breaker, Calamity, Born-to-be-a-SupermarketManager; Nick Clegg has picked up a number of unpleasant nicknames in his 22 months as deputy prime minister, but aside from all the personal attacks, the media is beginning to ask serious questions about his political capacity to remain on as the leader of Britain’s least popular third party.
His position is of course really dire; he daren’t pull out of the coalition prematurely lest it trigger a General Election, which polls suggest the Lib Dems would suffer badly in, so he is being held to ransom by David Cameron and the Conservative leadership, forced to approve their distinctly ‘un-liberal democrat’ policies. But it could yet get worse; as Lib Dem goals such as Lords reform, progressive taxation and European integration are trampled all over by their coalition partners, there is growing discontent within the Lib Dem rank and file over Clegg himself as leader.
The turning point may well have been the recent spring conference of the Lib Dems, a rare opportunity for the parliamentary party to meet up with their ever dwindling group of supporters, and take stock of their performance over the last year. On the face of things the mood was not that different to
Health and Social Care Bill, which has just been passed. This paper and others have gone into great deal of the many issues that surround this Bill, but it seems to have really teared the junior coalition party apart as some members supported it, some were principally in favour but still wanted to substantially alter it, and others were hoping to abandon it completely. Nick Clegg and his inner circle fall into the first of these groups, but unfortunately the spring conference made clear that the majority of his members fall into the latter groups.
“ It is difficult to say which line the Lib Dems in Government will take
Despite all this, it is difficult to say which line the Lib Dems in government will take. They appear to be of the belief that if they support some of the Conservatives' key policies they will be able trade this off in exchange for the implementation of some of their policies, but so far this has not happened. Clegg believes that if his party allows the NHS bill to pass, they will be allowed to create an elected House of Lords. There may have been an agreement that if the Lib Dems were allowed the referendum on the voting system, they would in turn support the Conservatives constituency boundary changes (which would almost definitely benefit the Tories at the expense of the other two main parties); AV failed to get off the ground, but the boundary changes look to go
Joanne Faulkner Politics Reporter
David Cameron has announced plans in which Britain will lease chunks of its roads to private companies in what is proposed as an ‘innovative’ attempt to raise funds and boost the economy.
The government is looking for ways to fund much needed improvements and repairs on some of the country's busiest routes.
Mr Cameron fears Britain’s roads are falling behind its competitors and states that this move will allow Britain to “build for the future” in a time “where gridlock holds the economy back.”
The aim is that handing over responsibility of the road network to private companies, will increase the money available to enable the improvement of some of the busiest routes whilst decreasing congestion. The bankers, NM Rothschild, suggested in a report in 2010 that privatising the road network could raise £100 billion. The ultimate goal is that well-designed contracts with private companies and good regulation could cut costs and improve services. However, the M6 toll road ,which opened in 2003, is the current main example of private investments, and it has only just broken even. The existence of free routes around the M6 also make substantial profit difficult.
involved, but due to tight restrictions imposed on the investors, it has ultimately culminated in overcrowding and increasing fares for the public.
The plans to privatise parts of the road network have also sparked concerns from motoring groups such as the AA. Fears have been raised not only over total privatisation, but also increased and more expensive road tolls.
Although successful bidders will not be allowed to levy tolls on existing roads, there are no restrictions on charges for new roads. If companies
One of the biggest disagreements be-
Critics of these new plans were also quick to highlight the less than successful privatisation of the rail networks. The rail privatisation may have resulted in profit for the private companies
cerning that the plans have been proposed during a period of increasingly rising fuel and living costs. There are also concerns that the tolling of major roads may just drive traffic onto smaller and local roads, simply moving congestion and pollution. This would not solve the problem of congestion and would simply drive up the cost of commuting, resulting in no real real improvement for Britain’s major road problems.
The Department for Transport and the Treasury will carry out a feasibility study with the aim of releasing a report in Autumn.
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tween the coalition parties is over taxation. The Lib Dems want to raise the income tax threshold, something that is happening gradually (although not paying income tax is hardly a positive if the reason is that you are unemployed) but they also want to increase the tax burden on the rich.
“Clegg's ability to assert himself is understandably being questioned
This looks increasingly unlikely with the announcement of the recent budget. Ed Miliband has said: “after this budget millions will be paying more while millionaires pay less.” It is completely understandable that serious questions are being asked about Clegg’s ability to assert himself within the Conservative party’s inner circle.
So what is the future for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats?
Perhaps they might hold a coup and oust Clegg from the leadership, but who would want to take over as captain of this apparently sinking ship? With Chris Huhne out of the picture for the duration of his court appearance, we are left with deputy leader Simon Hughes and maybe President Tim Farron, both described as on the left of the party, but still outwardly supportive of the current leader. Of course there are three years left before the next general election is scheduled, and while I wouldn’t bet against the party being able to rehabilitate their image a little in that time, nor would I bet against a coup removing Nick Clegg, particularly if he continues to face future challenges with this current level of ineptitude.
So are there any green shoots for the party? Just because the party is becoming discredited, it doesn’t mean there aren’t still millions of liberals across the country who feel unable to support either Labour or the Tories. I guess the main upside is that if people everywhere expect the party to get crushed at the next
elections, they can only exceed these expectations. The way the electoral system in this country is structured, it would take a really dramatic swing away from the Lib Dems for them to be replaced as the third party by the Greens or maybe UKIP, but with the boundary changes, who knows what could happen?
“ The party as it stands is probably in terminal decline
Would any future Labour minority wish to negotiate with Nick Clegg to form another coalition, whilst he remains such a toxic brand? The party as it stands at the moment is probably in terminal decline, but I doubt it will be eradicated to the point of no return. One thing is for certain though: the days of heady optimism and ‘Clegg-mania’ in the spring of 2010 are long gone, and all that’s left is a leader who will be remembered only for that one infamous broken pledge.
Politics Reporter HughRodger reflects on the PM's official visit to the United States which not only showcased their strengthened partnership, but has also raised issues over the release of oil reserves
David Cameron’s three-day official trip to the United States marked the latest in a series of diplomatic efforts by British Prime Ministers to uphold the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and the US. The trip was marked by glitzy Hollywood dinners, more Falklands debate, and Cameron’s surprise ride in Air Force One, which stirred up some controversy in the British press.
“Details have emerged of a possible oil reserve release
Most notable of all however, was on the final day, when details emerged of a possible emergency oil reserve release during talks in Washington between the Prime Minister and US President, Barack Obama. The discussion was apparently held in response to rising oil prices due to political uprisings and instability in three oil rich countries - Syria, Sudan and Iran. The possibility of war between Israel and Iran could drive costs even higher, with serious consequences for the global economic recovery. The price rises threaten to stall economic recovery as families and businesses in Britain and the US
struggle to cope. Mr Obama’s reelection hopes rest on his country’s fragile economic recovery. Escalating oil prices could spell disaster
for the economy, and his campaign. The UK has released oil from its reserves in the past to combat rising fuel costs. No final agreement
was reached, but Mr Cameron emphasised the need to combat rising costs amid pressure from motorists and consumers: “We are all facing the problem of higher oil prices and that translates into the cost of filling up the family car, which is very high here in the US, but frankly even higher in the UK.”
Britain appears open to the idea of releasing oil reserves primarily to be seen as wanting to trade political favours with the US. However, without significant oil production, there is much doubt on whether
“Obama's re-election hopes rest on his country's economic recovery
both countries can have much long term impact on fuel costs.
The discussions also followed another spat between Britain and Argentina over exploration off the Falklands Islands. Mr Obama told the Prime Minister his government would avoid pressing the two countries to hold negotiations and said he would remain neutral on the dispute as the US always has. Argentina threatened legal action against companies involved in energy exploration around the Falklands. Argentine foreign minister, Hector Timmerman, claimed the offshore oil exploration activities were ille-
gal. A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: “Hydrocarbon exploration is a legitimate commercial venture and the British government supports the rights of the Falkland Islanders to develop their hydrocarbons sector.” Britain emphasised that no negotiations over the sovereignty of the islands could occur unless the 3000 islanders wanted them, despite the US State Department’s wish for the two countries to accept UN mediation.
Bringing down the price of oil will take more than a short term release of reserves. One source said: “You need to increase the supply, which at the end of the day is down to the OPEC producing countries. Saudi Arabia has already increased production. You also need a fall in demand. But that is not going to happen because there is a structural change in demand – that is, 8% annual growth in China.” US officials confirmed the talks had taken place, but said no concrete deals had been made. British sources have said a plan is expected to emerge in the summer detailing the timing and volume of reserve releases. A long term solution is still a long way off, and tensions in the Middle East will easily throw any potential plan off course, but David Cameron emphasised the issue’s importance due to its impact on the economy, families and budgets as soaring fuel prices threaten to bring the global economic recovery to a halt.
Agnieszka Miszczuk Politics Reporter
A week after hostilities broke out, life in Israel and Gaza is reported to have returned back to normality. Since last week, no more rockets have been fired into Israel. The schools in Southern Israel have also been reopened. The tension between Gaza and Israel began a week earlier when hundreds of rockets were fired into Southern Israel. Israel has an iron-dome missile defence system which shot down rockets fired to the southern cities including Ashdod. The Israeli response to this rocket fire was a Gaza airstrike with at least 25 people killed. According to humanitarian organisations, people in Gaza slept with open windows not to be injured by broken glass. Many victims were civilians who were, according to Israel, used by terrorists as ‘human shields’.
Israel targeted the leaders of rocket attacks. IDF, the Is-
raeli Army, killed Zuhair al-Qaissi, the head of the Gaza Popular Resistance Committee. According to Israel, al-Qaissi was responsible for terrorist attacks north of Eilat in August 2011, when terrorists attacked buses and private cars from the Sinai.
After five days of the Israeli air strike of Gaza, the Islamic Jihad, which governs in Gaza, asked Egypt to mediate in order to bring about a ceasefire. Simultaneously, Jihad threatened Israel with the claim that the rockets may reach Tel Aviv, which has so far been safe. One of the rockets exploded just 40 km from Tel Aviv. Egypt, weakened by the revolution, still has a huge influence in Gaza. The agreement on ceasefire was reached after a couple of days of fire attacks. Egypt, as the mediator, tried to reach the agreement as quickly as possible. However, both sides kept fighting till Tuesday.
Egypt, however, is not the only player in Gaza. Iran still has influence on Gaza
politics and encouraged Gaza leaders to escalate the conflict by supplying regular weapons to the Gaza Strip as it was hoped that conflict with Gaza would weaken Israel and reduce the risk of intervention in Iran.
Nonetheless, both Israeli and Gaza leaders know that the escalating conflict is in neither party's influence. The question of Palestinian states has never been so highly discussed on international forums. The Gaza Strip is usually considered more radical than the Palestinian Autonomy. However, this time it was Hamas who tried to agree ceasefire earlier than Israel. Israel are wary of IDF tactics.
Hamas political leaders also realise that international support for the Palestine state is the key issue and every terrorist attacks weaken Palestinian’s position in negotiations. That is why both sides try to present themselves as victims. Moreover, Israel tries to create the impression that it does not want to injure civilians, just terrorists, so the decision was made to ensure the Israeli-Gaza border remained open to enable humanitarian organisations to deliver goods and aid to
Gaza, despite the airstrike. However, the reality is more complicated. Israeli citizens in the south suffer from regular rocket attacks from Gaza, especially in the city of Beersheva. Simultaneously, the Gaza residents suffer from poverty and a severe lack of quick medical aid (it takes a lot of time for an ambulance to cross the Israeli-Gaza border). Israel does not allow it enough time to build new houses and
under the guise of fighting against terrorism, also destroys power plants. However, Gaza is still a good environment for terrorism.
During the last Gaza conflict, the Israeli government declared a special situation in southern Israel, so the citizens are entitled to receive compensation for disruption of their daily lives. Controversially, no-one will declare the same for Gaza civilians who suffer too.
What could you live without?
Features writer, Charlotte Wace talks about the challenges faced by those who attempt Lent
Despite its religious significance, Lent has become another tradition alongside Christmas, Easter, Pancake Day, Valentines Day and Halloween, which people participate in, regardless of whether they are aware of its origin or significance.
I for one wouldn’t call myself religious, but Lent gives me an excuse to test my willpower, or limit unhealthy habits – and depending on what I give up, save some money. I tried the most standard sin last year: chocolate, the guilty pleasure every female seems to have given up at some point. Day one and two were far less traumatic than I thought, (with a little help from the happy world of Haribo). But by the third day, my definition of ‘chocolate’ began to diversify. Hot chocolate became acceptable, as did chocolate ice cream – that’s just chocolate flavouring… right?
Two days later, the big, fat, chocolate cake my friend had for her birthday was surely ok too, as it wasn’t, well, chocolate in its solid form. Yes, there were Smarties on it, but that was technically just… decorative. I ROCK at this whole Lent thing. However, on the 7th day, my friend gave me a chocolate cow. White chocolate...my favourite. As a present, surely it wouldn’t matter if I had a tiny bite of chocolate cow? Her feelings would surely be dented if I didn’t at least sample it, and white chocolate isn’t really proper chocolate. And did it really count if it was in the shape of a cow? The cow was just sitting there on the windowsill, its foil face smiling at me: "go on, eat me", it seemed to moo.
After the cow had been decapitated, I accepted that my attempt to curb my chocolate consumption was an abysmal fail. I thought that the cow had been a symbolic sign that success was doomed, and promptly decided it looked pretty stupid with no head, so put it out of its misery.
This year I was not so foolish. Just as a maths degree would be a preposterous goal for someone who couldn’t count, forfeiting chocolate was never a realistic goal for the girl who could probably keep Galaxy in business singlehandedly. My mum said I should give up alcohol, but I shook my head knowledgeably, picturing myself in Revs, solemnly nodding as the barman repeated: “Really? JUST A COKE? ARE YOU SURE?” Not going to happen. My friend said I should join her in giving up chocolate. Again, I shook my head, like a wise old man.
I needed something sacrificial, but not something that would turn my nights into solemn sobriety or my days an abundance of sugardeprived gloom. I settled on giving up lying in; the quintessence of
student culture. I am queen of lieins, with "be there at 9 am" a phrase that makes my soul wither in pain. For motivation, my super-fit friend suggested an early gym session at her usual time: 7.15 (am). I woke up at 6.45 with the same feeling I get if I’m waking up really early to go on holiday. Then reality sunk in, and I realised no, just an hour of pain instead. And it was an hour of pain; my poor legs didn’t know what had
hit them as I pounded that treadmill. It felt like lunchtime when I got back, but it was only about 8.45. Knackered, I procrastinated the next hour on Facebook– but when I glanced at the clock it wasn’t even ten. I’d never realised how long the day was before. I managed to do two hours of work, have a half hour phone call and go to Tesco. All before 1pm. A week later, I got my best mark yet on an essay, and had gone
cohol, chocolate, swearing, Twitter and Facebook. Perhaps Lent, rather than selfless deprivation, has become an excuse for a diet, or a means of time and money saving. Other ‘sacrifices’ were nail biting, virginity, and church, - as well as ‘Lent’ itself.
Lent was originally an opportunity for society to prove their faith and gratefulness to God, and understand sacrifices made for us. Religious websites suggest that true Christians take Lent much more seriously. Some give up sleeping in a bed as a reminder they are lucky to have one, some fast and others have given up knives and forks – their motive was somewhat unclear. Warm showers, meat eating and all forms of transport other than walking, were others. Suddenly my change of sleeping patterns seemed a bit pathetic. However, religious or not, Lent can help us appreciate what we have. One friend made the decision to give up meat and junk food, and said “although it sounds cliché, it has made me feel grateful for being able to eat what I want and have treats.” Another gave up drinking, and said they realised the amount of money spent on nights out was “shameful”.
As for my Lent experience, I would love to say: ‘I felt a spring in my step, invigorated, born again and I spent time I would have spent in bed making cakes for charity.’ But I didn’t. Some mornings I’ve felt like shit, and my moodiness has been more than enough to scare my flatmates into hiding my alarm clock. However, more time in the morning has meant fewer days when my hair resembles a hedgehog caught in a plug socket and my work output has definitely increased. It did remind me that I’m university to get a degree and to moderate how much I go out.
to the gym before lectures, twice. But did this really count as ‘giving something up’? According to a poll, 60% of people disagreed with taking part in Lent for nonreligious purposes. It does appear people only give up what will actually benefit their own lives somehow. Twitter revealed the most popular 100 things people are giving up this year, with a few surprises. Top of the list, naturally, were al-
But at the end of the day we live in a society where we are made to feel guilty so much of the time: every food seems to be unhealthy, we waste too much time on the Internet when we could be doing exercise, drinking x amount gives us liver failure and we could always be doing something more constructive with our lives. Lent can potentially turn into another massive guilt trip. Yes it's good to appreciate what we have. But I don’t believe that 40 days of self-denying is necessarily the way to prove this. I completely understand it from a religious perspective, but for the rest of us, a bit more all-round moderation is surely the way forward. University is a social as well as an academic experience – and no one ever said students have to be perfect. My goal for university was not to ensure I go to bed and get up early every dayand so, on that note – I’m off to reac quaint myself with my pillow.
In this issue, Features writer Juliette Nicholls writes about real life graduates who turned into CEOs because of their keen entrepreneurial skills...
As students, we are constantly looking towards, avoiding or worrying about life after university. What will we do, where will we be, how much will we earn? But what if you could control and have an influence on all of these factors?
We’ve probably all toyed with the idea of entrepreneurship and realised its benefits - start a business you are interested in and run it how you want to, with who you want, where you want. But I have always wondered how realistic a prospect this really is - how do you go from university graduate to CEO? This week I was lucky enough to meet a couple of successful, inspirational and recently graduated entrepreneurs who told me how they got to where they are now.
Alex Kavel is co-founder of Graduly, a Facebook app linking graduates to employers in a few simple clicks. The business recently won the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Award for Best Start-up in Wales and is now in the running for the national prize of £10,000, so they must be doing something right. You input your information and what industry you want to work in and wait for businesses to search for and find you. Why not?!
Alex started off in recruitment. A client asked him to find a specific graduate; someone with a 2:1 in a particular field, from a particular university. Alex might have expected to get 20 to 30 applications but instead received 500 in the first
couple of hours, most of which didn’t actually fit the job spec. His challenge was to find the right person in a sea of wrong people and it was no easy task. Through dealing with this problem and researching and working with university students, the concept of Graduly was born. Alex realised that job searching sometimes gets put on the back burner during third year, so a simple app which allowed us to input our data and let employers find us would work. Especially since we spend half our lives on Facebook! In fact, Alex emphasised socialising, Facebook and going out as the central obstacles to job-hunting, “in that order.”
Alex’s research showed that 40% of Cardiff students, (and students across the country), don’t graduate with a finished CV. Many people included photos of themselves on their application and details like their date of birth. However, Alex highlights that this could actually “negate your opportunity” because of the 2010 Equalities Act. He took his findings to an old university friend, now his business partner, who suggested that it would make a perfect Facebook app, since 9/10 students have Facebook and 85% use those apps.
Graduly asks the questions employers really want to know, giving helpful information along the way. For example, Alex says that to ace an interview you should “find out who’s interviewing you, find out a bit about them as a person and go the extra mile in terms of research.” Use LinkedIn and Twitter. If your interviewer went to Cardiff
University it may well be worth mentioning! Apparently, "clients seem to opt with something they know". The 'Halo Effect' suggests that if interviewer has two potential candidates, they will be more likely to hire the one they makes the best connection with.
Alex actually went to Cardiff University, where he studied Computer Science and got involved with Xpress radio. But he “had always had that want to start a business,” after creating his first website production company at 15. He chose to leave this and come to Cardiff,
which he believes was a fundamental decision in getting him to where he is now. It not only provided him with the skills he uses day-to-day but was also a foundation for the team he now works with and the inspiration for the business. This, he believes, is central to entrepreneurship; building a strong team with someone with a finance background, someone in law, “a geek” and having a “great black book.” Networking skills and “putting yourself out there” as well as communicating and listening well are also essential to creating and managing your own business. Alex has a clear vision; to be the "dominant player in the graduate recruitment market" and to improve employability for graduates. Sign up at Graduly.com or facebook.com/Graduly.
Veritas Language Solutions, the Swansea-based translation and interpreting company, won the Best Enterprise in Wales award at the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards and will now also compete in the grand final on March 13. Founder Rachel Brian said: “As graduates, setting up a company can be quite a daunting task, and winning this award is encouraging to people out there in a similar position, so we would say: get prepared and set up your own business because the rewards are fantastic! You have to work very hard, but it is possible to make it, and it is hugely rewarding.”
The Safe Foundation was also nominated for the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards as they have been running a successful charity based in Cardiff since 2007. Lucy Dickenson moved to Uganda when she was 18 and set up her own charity to counter the corrupt and ineffective charities already operating. It
didn’t work out, but she picked herself up, came home and started researching. She travelled with other charities to see if what she had seen in Uganda trended across the world, whilst completing four different courses through the Open University, which Lucy believes were “absolutely instrumental” in creating the charity. When she started The Safe Foundation, she was still studying. It can be done!
The premise is that local people, in areas of the world without government support, set up their own sustainable projects. If they need skills, resources, money or manpower, The Safe Foundation makes that happen. They also link a need in the UK with needs abroad, training disadvantaged people from the UK in peer-to-peer education on nutrition, HIV, AIDS and physical activity. They are currently using these skills in Sierra Leone. The key is responsible volunteering with local people who know what they wantthe complete opposite to the voluntourism so widely marketed to gap year students and graduates.
Lucy established her business on paper, and agreed a partnership with their first project in India, all whilst she was still studying. But she needed more: a logo, marketing, a team. So she got her friends involved, who she says were inspirational. Lucy believes that embracing change and being passionate about what you do are integral to success in business, particularly when travelling across the world and into new communities. “Passion is what qualifies me!” says Lucy, and although she says that business every day is “wicked scary”, she clearly loves her job, with all the challenges and changes it brings. It’s easy to see why.
20Science
Science Editor Natalie Healey sector in light of a keynote address by Professor Harries
On March 15, at a public keynote address at Cardiff University, Professor John Harries, Chief Scientific Advisor for Wales and Professor of Earth Observation at Imperial College London, unveiled his vision for the future of science in Wales.
Harries’ lecture, entitled “A Strategic Agenda for Science in Wales”, was introduced by David Grant, the current Vice-Chancellor for Cardiff University, who commented that “science in Wales has undergone a huge transformation over the last 18 months and has risen up the agenda.”
John Harries, who was “amazed to see so many people” attending the lecture, said it was “a privilege to do these things” before beginning the talk with a two-minute introduction to the radioactive balance of the earth and climate: his speciality. He described science and physics in particular as “beautiful”.
2010 saw major changes for science in Wales, with the first Chief Scientific Advisor being appointed along with a Scientific Advisory Council for Wales. Harries’ first major task was to compile a new science strategy.
“Wales’ future lies in a knowledge economy”, which relies upon “scientific and engineering knowhow,” Harries explained. The major goal of this strategy is to build a strong and dynamic science base that supports the economics and national development of Wales.
Harries hopes the strategy will provide “a direction for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for the future”, with people free to “follow their minds and their hearts”.
Harries stated that “a good deal of research in Wales is excellent and some is truly world-class.” However, he was keen that this must be
It is hoped that the cream of the crop in the science world will be enticed to Wales to provide a boost to the Welsh economy
increased: “We need more!” he exclaimed.
Wales is currently underperforming in receiving research funding from the major competitive councils such as the UK Research Council. Consequently, Harries’ first aspiration is that, within five years, Wales shall increase the percentage it receives from the UK Research Council and other competitive funding bodies (currently 3.3%) to 5%. This will also improve the quality of research in universities. 1.7 may sound a small number, but this percentage of funding from various sources is worth a huge, extra £64 million each year. There are “precious few research institutes in Wales,” says Harries. “Why aren’t we actively seeking more?” Additionally, in order to increase the funding for Wales, Harries
stressed that Welsh professional scientists should be keener to sit on research boards. Harries also suggested that scientists’ chances of receiving research funding could be improved if their grant applications to funding bodies were submitted for internal peer review first, in order to improve the proposals before they are sent off externally.
In order to deliver this strategy, the current scientific strengths of Wales have been reviewed. A programme will be launched in Three Grand Challenge Priority areas. These are: Life sciences and Health; Low Carbon, Energy and Environment; and Advanced Engineering and Materials. These are areas where Wales already has a track record of excellence and where the route from research to commercialisation is relatively apparent. Consequently,
focusing on priority areas will theoretically increase the potential for scientific success in Wales.
In order to improve the chances of achieving the goals of the strategy, Harries was keen to stress that energies must also be focused through the Welsh education and business support systems: “It is vital to concentrate on key sectors to promote an economy where science is a major generator of wealth and prosperity.” The strategy also aims to increase the number of students who want to study science and progress into science-related careers. Harries also highlighted the importance of science outreach activities in order to increase confidence and trust in science for people of Wales. As a nation, we must be a “tad less suspicious,” he stated.
Harries went onto suggest that Wales should focus on its scientific strengths and priorities to “focus on excellence as our first criterion”, and that the country must not be afraid of blowing its own trumpet. “We actually must advertise. I want people abroad to know of the excellent work here.” However, he was also keen to emphasise that hyperbole must be avoided and to “not pretend work is world-class when it is not.”
The first changes from the strategy are already apparent and have been commented on in the national news. The Welsh government have set up a new initiative called ‘Sêr Cymru’. This will be comprised of two elements: setting up National Research Networks led by a specialist director for each of the three major Grand Challenge science activities and an attractive scheme (detailed further in this section) to bring new global science ‘stars’ to work in Wales.
The strategic agenda offers a constructive path for helping science thrive in Wales, but only time will tell if it will be successful.
Rhys Clayton Science Writer
A cool £50 million is to be pumped into the Welsh science sector by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG).
It is hoped that the cream of the crop in the science world will be enticed to Wales to enhance standards in universities, and provide an overall boost to the Welsh economy.
Branded as "Se^r Cymru” (Star of Wales), it should go some way to redressing the lack of funding and grants being received in Wales from The UK Research Councils.
The funding will be staggered, with £10m every year until 2017. At the end of this period, it is hoped that Wales’ share of the funding in Britain will be at 5%, which would represent a 1.7% increase from its current level, or a very achievable 0.34% per year. Should the 5% target be reached, Wales would then be at the level that its population commands. The £50m figure may seem a lot for the WAG to be splashing out on in times of austerity, but forecasts suggest that if 5% is reached, £27m would be brought into the Welsh economy. Wales currently receives £230m from research councils, the EU and
industry.
Although the news has been generally warmly received, some commentators have queried the unambitious target and actual figure. £50m stopped being a lot of money in investment terms a long time ago, and some question if the 0.34% target has been set artificially low to guarantee success. The more optimistic forecasters believe the money can lead to Wales reaching double the population quota, namely 10%, just like Scotland have almost twice their population share.
Cardiff University’s very own Professor Patrick Minford of Cardiff Business School is positive that
the scheme could work, despite his admittance that £50m is “not an awful lot of money”.
He went on to say, “they could spend a lot more and not do very much better. Spending a bit and seeing how it goes is not unreasonable, given that it’s the sort of thing Government can do and the private sector won’t do.”
If universities work closer with the industry, as has happened in Scotland, the £50m could be money very well spent. If it does nothing else, it has attracted much-needed publicity to the science and research sector in Wales, and long may that continue.
Alexey Underwood reports on the event with speakers Dr Sara Jaffee and Camila Batmanghelidjh
Cardif f University upheld its years-long tradition of participating in the British Science Association’s National Science & Engineering Week on March 9, as the School of Psycholog y hosted a number of educational activities throughout the day
The event culminated in a public lecture titled ‘Changing Lives’ delivered by keynote speakers Camila Batmanghelidjh, founder and director of the charity Kids Company, and Sara Jaf fee, a developmental psychopathologist and inter nationally renowned researcher, which examined the theme of child development in stressful environments from two contrasting perspectives
The annual event-led National Science & Engineering Week (NSEW) campaign is in its 18th iteration this year and aims to bring science and engineering topics to the masses through a series of public engagement activities. Cardif f University has long been a supporter of the initiative, having organised a wide assortment of intellectual events throughout the years
This March, the university’s month-long ‘Big Ideas’ prog ramme continues the trend, supporting both the National Science and Engineering Week (March 9-18) and the Brain Awareness Week (March 12-18). Highlights of the Big Ideas campaign include a public lecture on the potential future benefits of the electric automobile and a street exhibition in Cardif f city centre of striking brain images captured by University researchers:
Professor Dylan Jones, the head of the School of Psycholog y and host of the ‘Changing Lives’ event, was extremely positive about the impact of such initiatives on society
“This is an excellent way of broadening the audience […] for our work and for us to ponder the meaning of our work for the everyday lives of the public,” he told gair rhydd. “It also serves as a means of drawing the public into our buildings […] and to be gin to engage with us on a whole range of activities,” he added.
I attended the first of the Big Ideas talks, which focused on the needs of vulnerable and damaged children in Britain, and on what could be done to address these needs
Camila Batmanghelidjh was the first of the two speakers to step up the Stanley Par ris Lecture Theatre’s pedestal. Colourful and ef fervescent, it was immediately clear how she became such an inter nationally recognisable media darling. During her delivery, Batmanghelidjh discussed a number of important points relating to the demonisation
of youngsters in the UK, the necessity of addressing their needs in order to reduce criminality, and the importance of compassion.
Sara Jaf fee called upon her years of experience in inter national research to describe the stresses and psychopathologies experienced by children g rowing up in troubled households Jaf fee’s on-stage demeanour was as noticeably dif ferent to her peer’s as her research backg round – reserved and sanguine in comparison, yet still approachable and pensive
Batmanghelidjh emphasised the physiological basis of behaviour, in particular the importance of the antagonising properties of the limbic and frontal areas of the brain.
It is well known that the frontal area helps re gulate behaviour; Batmanghelidjh postulated that, due to overexposure to fear hor mones in early childhood, the emotional limbic system can become overdeveloped and over power the re gulatory frontal area – the resulting hypervigilance and agg ression being a necessary adaptation to survive in a threatening environment.
The field needs to move forward in translating these findings into interventions that help vulnerable children
Thus, the frontal-limbic counteraction was thrown out of balance, leading to unchecked impulsive and socially inappropriate behaviour in “challenging” children. She followed on to say that, in most cases, challenging behaviour wasn’t due to absent morality. The behavioural dif ficulties in fact stemmed from physiological complaints, and that, therefore, traditional for ms of punishment (taking away a child’s playtime, for example) weren’t appropriate or useful as a means of re-
ducing dif ficult behaviour. Instead, she argued that profound biological changes had to take place Jaffee supported the argument with evidence from animal trials which revealed that the biological changes brought about by parenting - or lack thereof - can be reversed in later stages of development.
The speakers emphasised the beneficial impacts of ‘re-mothering’, even going as far as to suggest that psychiatrists weren’t necessary in the rehabilitation of a troubled child. Instead, Batmanghelidjh explained that consistent exposure to love and care was all that was required – she theorised that the removal of threatening stimuli by placing a child into a safe and loving environment could cause cells responsible for hypervigilance and violence to atrophy, seeing as they no longer of fered a selective advantage in a non-threatening environment, leading to an eventual increase in pro-social behaviour
Not one to shy away from controversy, Batmanghelidjh brought up the topic of the nationwide riots of 2011, pointing out that many of
the crimes were committed out of necessity, not g reed. “The riots of the summer were initiated primarily by very disturbed young people and young adults Numerous enquiries have illustrated that the drivers of the riot came from backg rounds of multiple disadvantage”, she explained. She accused the gover nment of misrepresenting the “needy” as “g reedy” to the public, while avoiding tackling the issue head-on. She ominously predicted that “if they don't address this issue [of disturbances in young people], there will be more riots.”
A recur ring theme in the discussion was the dichotomy between the disciplines of psycholog y and neuroscience – an issue that needs to be overcome in order to accelerate the process of resolving stressrelated developmental issues
If they don't address this issue [of disturbances in young people], there will be more riots
Speaking to gair rhydd after the talk, Sara Jaf fee described the steps that had already been taken towards bridging the interdisciplinary gap, particularly in higher education.
“Many g raduate prog rams have already instituted interdisciplinary MSc and PhD de g rees, wherein students receive training in neuroscience and psycholog y,” she pointed out. Further more, she added that “increasingly, funding agencies are encouraging researchers to collaborate with researchers outside of their discipline”. However, Jaf fee pointed out that there is still much
work to be done, war ning that “the field needs to move forward […] in translating the findings that come out of these interdisciplinary efforts into interventions that help vulnerable children”.
Organising the thought-provoking public lecture was no small feat, as Professor Dylan Jones explained. “The event was organised many months ahead - the speakers have hectic schedules - and a g reat deal of work was done in attracting members of the public and students to the event,” he told gair rhydd. He commended the work of the members of the school’s psycholog y society, in particular that of Matt Price – as well as expressing g ratitude for the contribution of Dr Merideth Gattis “Matt worked with Dr Merideth Gattis who is one of several specialists we have in the School in developmental psycholog y, who led the organisation of the day. She did a superb job of sustaining enthusiasm and in deciding on the for mat of the meeting,” he explained.
Walking home from the public lecture, I couldn’t help but feel affected on a truly personal level. As somebody who had felt first-hand the impact of the 2011 London riots, my earlier feelings of uninfor med blind rage were now replaced with doubt and compassion. Haunted by the unjustness of my earlier emotions, I realised just how profoundly eye-opening the fruits of the combined ef forts of the School of Psycholog y, the psycholog y society, and the two captivating speakers were Bearing in mind that this is only the first talk of many ahead of us this March, the month ahead promises to be a g reat one
Prof Jones also thanked Paul Allen for filming the event Footage willbe available soon atpsych cf ac uk
22Science
Paul Wilkinson Science Writer
A year has passed since Japan was hit by a devastating tsunami. You may remember that the disaster was caused by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded and that the death toll was massive.
The “megaquake” and tsunami led to hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Luckily, nobody was killed as a direct result of the explosions but the radiation leak meant that thousands of people had to be evacuated. The long-term health effects of the Fukushima incident are hard to know; however, there has been a clear impact on the perception of nuclear power and its position as a long-term solution to fuel shortages.
“There has been a clear impact on the perception of nuclear power and its position as a long term solution to fuel shortages.
Within weeks of the Fukushima incident, Germany and Switzerland announced the closure of all their nuclear reactors, Italy voted against nuclear power and China delayed all new nuclear projects. The public, as well as policy makers, seem to have been turned away from the idea of nuclear power becoming a dominant energy source. Before the incident, there was a great number of nuclear power plants proposed.
Anna Hickman Science Writer
A new proposal is offering the ability to revolutionise space travel, carrying people and objects into space at a tenth of current costs. The design, coined as a ‘space train’, is based on existing technology already famously used by China’s ‘magnetic levitation’ trains and Japan’s bullet trains and has the potential of delivering payloads into space for less than $40/kg.
Inventors of the so-called Startram, Gordon Danby and James Powell conceived the superconducting Maglev transportation system in 1966 while working for Brookhaven National Laboratory. Based on these designs, countries have built and are operating a 300 mph Maglev passenger transport system.
However, these Maglev trains are limited in speed due to air resistance; without such drag, Powell and mechanical engineer Maise realized that Maglev vehicles could
Since then, only a handful have been built. With the fear that we have learnt nothing from Chernobyl, the Fukushima incident has encouraged concerns over the safety of nuclear power plants; no more so than in Japan, where only two of their 54 reactors are actually in operation.
Opinion is divided over whether this fall in demand represents the end of nuclear power, or whether it is nothing more than a temporary blip.
Critics of nuclear are urging that we turn our attention to renewable energy sources. They reject the image of nuclear being an environmentally friendly option.
After all, what is the use of replacing one harmful waste product with another? They argue that nuclear energy is not cost effective, and more importantly poses too great a risk to human life.
A nuclear accident could cause unparalleled human disaster and leave the environment uninhabitable for generations.
Supporters of nuclear power, however, point out that the reason that the Fukushima incident occurred was that the Fukushima plant was dangerously below safety standards and that it is not representative of nuclear facilities as a whole.
Experts have criticised the Fukushima plant for not having a backup cooling system (the component that meant the situation couldn’t be controlled), and that they had no tsunami protection measures, despite being in a very vulnerable area.
Supporters point out that many other nuclear plants in Japan did survive the tsunami and earthquake. Many withstood the mag-
reach orbital speeds with extremely low energy inputs.
If a Maglev train were placed in evacuated tubes with very low air pressure, it would be possible to run it at 1000s of km/h. Such tubes would be levitated into the atmosphere using similar technology. By pushing enough current through two conductors in opposite directions, the conductors will be subject to a force pushing them apart.
With the advent of superconducting cables being developed for superconducting power grids, it is now possible to construct cables that can carry hundreds of megamps of current. These amperages are sufficient to supply a levitating force of 4 tons per meter of Startram track, even when the conductors are separated by 20km.
The system would then 'shoot' capsules into orbit, accelerating a sealed cargo capsule to a speed of five miles per second at 30G using high-powered electromagnets.
Maise and Powell suggest that the infrastructure for a cargo-only ver-
nitude 9.0 quake despite not being designed to survive such powerful shocks. In defence of nuclear power, they also point out that new designs for nuclear power plants are much safer.
“Supporters of nuclear point out that many power plants in Japan did surive the tsunami
This begs the question: why didn’t the Fukushima plant have
sion would cost $20 billion to build and could be completed within 10 years. A people-capable version could be built for $60 billion and be completed within 20 years.
James Powell theorises that, although this budget is hopeful, it is a great improvement on the current situation: "Even at $40 billion, the project would be a bargain. We have already sunk $150 billion into the International Space Station and
“The 'space train' design is based on existing technology already used famously by China’s ‘magnetic levitation’ trains
have little to show for it.’
The main issue facing the concept is that people have a hard time grasping it. Maise and Powell de-
these protective measures in place? And how many other plants are unnecessarily vulnerable to natural disasters?
People are unlikely to be comforted by the fact that the accident could have been prevented, and wasn’t.
Despite the progress of nuclear power being severely halted by the failures at Fukushima, it seems most likely that this isn’t the end of nuclear power. After 1987, when the Chernobyl reactor failed, nuclear power fell out of favour for a decade. In recent years, before Fukushima, there was a renewed interest.
There seems little evidence to suggest that this won’t happen again. Unless renewable energy
source technology sees a significant leap forward, governments will return to nuclear power as a solution to reducing carbon emissions and solve potential fuel shortages. However, there clearly needs to be greater regulations placed on nuclear power plants. There needs to be adequate earthquake and flood protection to ensure that this incident never happens again. Also, there should be adequate back-up systems to ensure that if something fails, not matter how unlikely, then there is something ready to take its place. If Fukushima has taught us anything, it should be that nuclear power stations have to be forced to provide the highest level of safety precautions.
scribe it as "radical" themselves. However, the design poses no potential ‘showstoppers’ regarding specific details of the concept. It is simply an issue of getting enough funding. NASA has agreed the design is feasible, but the project would have to be international: "Startram will necessarily be an international program, otherwise the potential for an expensive and dangerous arms race between nations is too great... This is simply too important to leave up to individual nations and militaries."
Katie Dowling Societies Writer
I’ve generally only had bad experiences with Shakespeare’s MeasureforMeasurein the past, recalling the torment it caused me during my English A-Levels, so I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Act One’s most recent production of the play. Measure for Measure is one of Shakespeare’s finest comedies, although there’s much more to the story than that –sexual violence, corruption, right and wrong, to name but a few. The intimate setting of the play, directed by Josey O’Neal, ensured that the audience felt the full impact of all aspects of this gripping tale of lust and corruption in Vienna.
James Davies played a very convincing Angelo, masterfully portraying both the icy-blooded purveyor of justice and the tormented and angst-ridden soul that lies beneath. Lottie Davies’ Isabella was also very convincing, capturing both the innocent piety and the silent strength of the character. Charlie Withers suited the role of the Duke, bringing a powerful presence
to the character. I was wondering beforehand how the production would handle some of the more distressing scenes, but the challenging issues were dealt with well through the effective use of the set and the maturity of the actors themselves.
Providing light relief between the heavier scenes were Chris Paisey as Lucio and Jon Chapman as Pompey, who played their roles well and got a few laughs from the audience. Also deserving of a mention were the brave girls who were onstage as the audience were entering; scantily clad and strutting right up to the front row, creating a sense of the seedy corruption that plagued the city before the play had even began.
The overall staging was simple, but very effective, using a few moving boards to change scenes smoothly and subtly. I am happy to say that after years of bearing a grudge against Measure for Measure, my opinion of the play has been changed for the better thanks to this production. I look forward to Act One’s next offering of Disco Inferno
Amy Harding Societies Writer
As far as I am aware, the Film Club started last year, as a new event run by the union. Personally, I think that it is a good idea. It is very nice to see the union putting on events that do not revolve around drinking and clubbing. However, I have a problem with the huge number of misunderstandings that it has created for the Film Society – because the Film Society has nothing to do with the Film Club run by the union.
When we first found out about the Film Club, we didn’t really see it as too much of a problem. The Film Society offers something quite different – we show a much wider variety of films in a number of interesting local venues, we have a community of members who talk about all things film, we hold a number of unique and creative socials throughout the year (like the London Film Festival trip, our infamous quizzes and highly popular Open Mic night), and we also have our filmmaking branch DiffFilms, which continues to go from strength to strength. The misidentification with Film Club was an annoyance, and we did think it was somewhat rude of the Union not to ask us about it first (it is sort of under our territory after all), but we had far too many exciting things to organise to worry about it. In hindsight, we should have made it a high priority to meet with the organisers when we first came across the Film Club; pretty much everyone assumes that the Film Society runs the Film Club. Most of the misunderstandings come in at a very low level of annoyance, but they have built up: ‘When are you doing your next Quentin Tarantino marathon?’ ‘Errr… that wasn’t actually us.’ ‘Well you don’t show much of a variety of films do you? They’re all blockbusters.’ ‘What? What are you talking about? We show a staggering variety of films!’ ‘Why aren’t the Wednesday socials at the Union?’ ‘What do you mean?... We only have socials on a Wednesday.’
The main impact is that we have a significant num-
ber of people contacting us who are receiving very mixed messages about what they think the Film Society does on a weekly basis. Luckily for us, they tend to be pleasantly surprised once they get in touch. But it is a problem, and we have found ourselves constantly in a position of defence through no fault of our own. Recently, the problem has escalated even further.
Elections week is a tough one for every society to juggle – do you let candidates advertise through you, or do you remain neutral? We decided as a committee that we didn’t want to favour any individual candidates and that we wanted our Facebook page to stay focused on Film Society issues and events. However, according to one candidate this was not acceptable. Apparently, because we are favoured by the Union and our advertisements are given prominent placement in the Union building we had a duty to election candidates to advertise them. It read like an accusation – and a poorly researched one at that.
After this, we realised we should have made this problem a much higher priority at the beginning of the year. It is horrible to realise that an association out of your control is affecting the perception of your society, which you have worked all year to protect and foster in a positive and reflective direction. The fact of the matter remains that anyone googling ‘Film Club Cardiff University’ will get us as the first result, and the union Film Club as the second result. Misidentification is bound to happen and the resulting inevitable Chinese whispers will only exacerbate the problem. We have since stepped up our efforts to get a meeting with the organisers of the Film Club, which will hopefully result in the night being renamed to prevent future confusion.
You can find the Cardiff University Film Society on Campus Groups and Facebook. are also on Twitter under @DiffFilms. We have a film screening every Wednesday evening and other meetings and socials throughout the year.
AGMs are approaching/taking place for every society at the moment. If you want to get involved as a committee member in your society, then now is your chance! Your committee members should be informing you of the roles available and how you can go about putting yourself forward for the role. Or do you want to be involed in student media as an editor of gair rhydd? Now is your chance! Contact societies@gairrhydd.com
Isabelle Roberts Societies Editor
TheGateTheatre,KeppochStreet,March16&172012
On March 16 & 17, the Broadway Dance Society presented their annual showcase. This year, for the first time, they created a unifying theme for the event: a ‘Night at the Movies’. The event was, without a doubt, the best society event I have been to this year – the event was well-organised, well-timed and thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. Involving over 80 students, I imagine it was a hard task for the show co-ordinator Siwan Morgan and other committee members to put together. The showcase involved dancers from all of their classes – ballet (beginner, intermediate, advanced), tap (beginner, intermediate, advanced), jazz, street, contemporary, acrobatics and Irish, so it was very inclusive, and yet totally professional and fun.
To start the show was the song ‘Let’s Go to the Movies’ from the film ‘Annie’, which was a large group dance and featured gair rhydd’s own Features Editor Jenny Kendall. All the dances, songs and films the music was from were introduced by means of a screen at the back of the theatre, which I thought was useful for the audience. The whole evening was light-hearted, but revealed what exactly a society can accomplish when its members put in so much time and effort. The next act was a fun ballet to music from ‘The Pink Panther’, and the following ‘Lady Is a Vamp’ tap dance was most amusing. Jenny commented that “we all had an amazing time performing. Irish and Broadway have been such a highlight of my time at University.”
In total, there were 31 dances, but the whole evening was complete in two-and-a-half-hours (including a half-hour interval) so I thought that the pacing of the show was excellent and meant the audience did not get restless. In particular, I liked the acrobatic ‘Clubbed to Death’ dance, which featured
some truly impressive acts (pictured above), and the beginners' ballet ‘Seasons of Love’ was a lovely song and had very elegant costumes (particular applause should go to choreographers Rosie Cain and Alice Knight, as well as dancer Aoife Swain). The solo artists (Francesca Ardley, Victoria Savage, Emma Peebles, Sophie Charles and Charlie Brookfield) were all brave, and in particular Charlie Brookfield’s ballet solo to ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ from ‘Harry Potter’ was exquisitely interpreted to the music, while Emma Peeble’s interpretation of ‘Fame’ was well-acted as well as danced. Furthermore, the contemporary/modern dances were all interesting interpretations.
The street dancers danced to a mix from ‘Step Up 2’ and the Irish dancers had an unusual song choice from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ that worked really well – in fact, all the music song choices were fun, upbeat and diverse from ‘8 Mile’ to ‘Narnia’ to ‘Tarzan’. The tap and Irish duet to music from ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ created smiles all around – the two dancers (Rose Arkell and Sophie Hill) each did a dance standoff with one another that reminded me of the dance in the recent film ‘The Artist’ – coincidentally, ‘The Artist’ would make a great dance routine for next year’s showcase, don’t you think?
The Teachers & Committee, who are responsible for the show, put on a special dance routine to ‘Moulin Rouge’, which was definitely an act to look out for, while the advanced ballet dance to ‘La Valse d’Amelie’ from ‘Amelie’ transported me into the magical-realist world of ‘Amelie’ with the graceful dancing and blue, ethereal costumes.
All the dancers were excellent, from beginners to advanced – some performed more than others (Siân Tattersall was in at least 13 of the 31 dances, and I was unsurprised to learn she would be the Vice-President of the society next year). Siân commented that the night was “really good fun but lots of hard work. I’m so impressed with the beginners – most of them had never danced at all before October 2011,
so they have done amazingly well to pull this off.” Audience members seemed to feel the same, with many commenting how enjoyable the performance was.
Impressively, for each of the 31 different dances there were different costumes – and each really added to the performance: this ties in with the fact that, for the first time, the society have received money from their budget application. Cleverly, the speech to thank the committee members and teachers was before the final act (which I thought was a good choice, and meant the show could end on a high). It was mentioned that the incoming President and Vice-President would have a lot to live up to, and I agree – this year’s committee have done a fabulous job and the society had record numbers of members, hence over 80 performers. However, there were only two men in the performance – more of you should sign up! The popularity of the society was reflected by how full the theatre was of friends and family – jam-packed! I thought the choice of The Gate theatre was brilliant – the theatre was small enough to feel comfortable and intimate, and large enough to allow all the audience to get a good view. The staff were nice, and the technical aspects of the show (lights/film) all went smashingly. The society had even thought to hire a photographer, so family members could buy photos of the performance.
All in all, this annual showcase was a delight, and I hope next year’s will be just as mesmerising. The commitment from dance members who have trained all year, and the committee and teachers, is inspiring and shows just what the societies at Cardiff University are capable of when they are so inclusive, fun, nice, committed and organised. The extraordinary showcase reflects, I think, the fact that the society spends all year teaching their dancers, from beginners to advanced, and put on just one annual showcase: the quality is unbeatable was thoroughly enjoyable. I’m almost tempted to go and watch it a second time…
Bright Club
Buffalo Bar, 7:30pm, £5.00
March 26 - April 1 2012
Blending science, comedy and music all on one stage, the Bright Club will showcase some of the finest talent on the Cardiff comedy circuit at this moment in time. Think of a group of people in the mould of Sheldon from the "Big Bang Theory" who have an opinion on everything ranging from particle physics to what pizza toppings should be had on any given night. It really is a unique take on stand up comedy and offers something a little different to the typical humor you might be used to hearing from a night at the Glee club. Drinks are reasonably priced and who knows you might even learn a thing or two whilst your there.
As You like it
New Theatre , 6:30pm, £14.50
The award winning Hedydd Dylan will front a cast in a re-imagination of one of Shakespeare's best known comedies. Set in the Forest of Arden the play focuses on themes of love, deceit, exile and persecution and is the source of the now famous quote " The whole world's a stage".
The characters of Orlando, Adam, Ganymede, Silvuis and Phebe will all be present and there are few finer casts around who you wish to portray them. Directed by Terry Hands, the man responsible for Clwyd Theatr Cymru, the company who last year excelled in the Broadway production "Guys and Dolls". "As you like it" will be showing until this Saturday and is approximately 2 1/2 hours in length.
Australian Pink Floyd Show Motorpoint Arena, 10:30pm, £33.50
The Lash Solus, 9:30pm, £3.00
Arguably one of the biggest bands to ever come out of the U.K, Pink Floyd are certainly not short of tribute acts. Having toured the world for over a decade now, the Australian Pink Floyd show has been met with critical acclaim and for one night only it is gracing the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena. The act will be performing a selection of classic hits from the band's illustrious career, in a set that will include the likes of "Us and them", "Dark side of the Moon" and also "Shine on You Crazy Diamond". A must see for any Pink Floyd fan.
Tuesday 27th
This is not a Film Chapter Arts Centre, 6:15pm, £4.80
Wednesday 28th
In December 2010 Jafar Panahi, award-winning director of "The White Balloon", "The Circle", "Crimson Gold" and "Offside", was sentenced to six years in jail and banned from making films for 20 years for his opposition to the current regime in Iran. As a way around this he decided that making a film about his experiences would be an appropriate way to both exact a little bit of revenge and get around his ban. The main focus of the film sees Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb try to portray the deprivations looming in contemporary Iranian cinema and the difficulty that anyone who wants to express their opinion faces. An eye-opening, disturbing and memorable film that is highly recommended.
Stewart Lee St. David's Hall, 8:00pm, £17.50
Before everyone swans off home to sponge off their parents for a few weeks, there is one more Wednesday night at the Union to attend. The Lash will run one last time before term ends, and as to what the theme is, well it's anyone's guess, they seem to pick it at random these days. It is the safest bet for a good night out in the week, with the top draw resident DJs providing four hours of top quality audio entertainment.
As always it's rather kind to the old bank balance and there's plenty of grub around next door to replenish yourself after a taxing night of alcohol consumption.
Describing himself as a sexless middle aged man who watches Scooby Doo in his spare time, Stewart Lee is not your average man. He has featured regularly as member on BBC's political programming providing punditry with an edge of humor. Despite this, he has, unusually, refused every offer made to him to perform on the likes of "Mock the Week" and "Live at the Apollo", preferring instead to spend his time working the live circuit. Highly respected and with a killer act, Stewart Lee wille ensure your money is well spent.
Thursday 29th
Bill Wells and Aiden Moffat Clwb Ifor Bach, 7:00pm, £11.00
Having been in the business for over 20 years, Bill Wells is returning to Cardiff. The original venue was set to be The Globe, but it has now changed to Welsh Club, which has consistently offered one of the best live music venues in the city centre. A man who rarely works alone, Wells is this time teaming up with Aiden Moffat, the Scottish vocalist who has made a name for himself with a distinctive style that is reminiscent of the likes of the Pixies. Sporting a beard that he claims is often the butt of the jokes with those around him, this is a double act that know how to entertain.
The Mikado: Cardiff University Operatic Society
Univeristy Concert Hall
7:00pm, £3.00
Cardiff University's Operatic Society will embark on their first main production this year, in a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado. Featuring students from all over Cardiff University, the CUOS will combine some of the finest musical talent on campus to create an ensemble that will provide a night of emotion, passion and audio brilliance. The cast will be led by Guy Withers and Alec Evans. For tickets email Jacob at cu.operatic.society@gmail.com.
Smack at Soda SodaBar, 9:00pm, £3.50
Friday 30th
Drink The Bar Dry The Taf, 10:00am-12:00pm, £5.00
It is the place to be on a Friday night in Cardiff and it just seems to get more popular by the week. Filled with people trying to gain votes for their student election campaigns last week, normal service will be resumed at Soda. Take your pick from a selection of dancerooms, with a basement and an expansive roof terrace for smokers to kick back and relax. Based just off St. Mary's Street with a glittering sign that you can't miss, expect there to be long queues if you arrive later than 10:00pm. Drinks are a little on the pricey side, but there are plenty of comfy and stylish seating areas for you to sip on a cocktail or two, always a great night.
A few times a year, the Taf turns into a binge drinking ground as it attempts to drain every last drop of alchohol from Cardiff Student's Union. It is recomended that if you plan on attending, you pick up a VIP breakfast ticket to fill yourself up before a day of ridiculously heavy drinking. This is always a popular event, and a great way to end the term with a few mates, so to avoid missing out, head down to the box office to pick your t-shirts up.
Saturday 31st
Welsh Burlesque Festival
Guildford Hall, 9:30pm, Price TBD
Thomas J Speight
10 Feet Tall, 7:30pm, £6.00
ebrate both the present and future of Burlesque in
In recent years Burlesque really has taken off in Cardiff and there have been numerous classes that have seen membership numbers soar. This Saturday will see the first ever Welsh Burlesque festival take place in Cardiff which will aim to showcase and celebrate both the present and future of Burlesque in this country.
There will be plenty of live shows and performances as well as a few interactive workshops for beginners and enthusiasts to join in. A feast for the eyes and full of saucy entertainment it's a very different way to spend your Saturday night.
Quite often, young artists will be branded as the next big thing, but with Thomas J Speight, it is certainly warranted. Having played alongside Mumford and Sons and Stephen Fretwell, he has received mass plaudits for his melodic vocals, which have marked him out as a young Paul McCartney.
Having already impressed in his travels around the country, Tom will be performing an acoustic set of some of his latest content and also a few more tracks from some of the bands that have inspired him. He is a top talent in a great venue, so if you get a chance, check him out.
Sunday 1st
If you are interested in world development, business strategies or just listening to very intelligent and successful people, then there's no better event you can possibly attend than a Ted talk. Standing for Technology, Education and Development, these talks are world renowned, and it's hardly surprising as previous orators have included the likes of Steve Jobs, Tony Robbins and Nido Qubein.
Tickets for this are like gold dust but the highly respected head of the Cardiff JOMEC school, Justin Lewis, will be speaking, so it's well worth getting on the waiting list if you can.
After eight months touring America on the "Warped Tour", the "AP Tour" and touring with the likes of "Social Distortion", "Title Fight", "Hot Water Music and Gallows", Sharks are finally returning to the UK for their first headline tour. It will be in support of their highly anticipated debut album "No Gods", which is due for release this year. Very similar to the likes of "The Buzzcocks", "Joy Divison" and "Husker Du", the band are a great mesh of old and new rock with a little splash of punk added to the mix. TEDx Cardiff Millenium Centre, 10am-12pm, £5.00
Dydd Llun, Mawrth 26 2012 gair tafod@gairrhydd.com
Mewn digwyddiad arbennig ym Mae Caerdydd ddydd Iau’r 15fed o Fawrth, cyhoeddwyd
mai Leanne Wood, yr Aelod Cynulliad dros Ganol De Cymru, oedd yn fuddugol yn ras arweinyddol Plaid Cymru. Roedd dau ymgeisydd arall yn yr etholiad hwnnw, gydag Elin Jones AC yn yr ail safle, a’r Arglwydd Dafydd Elis-Thomas AC yn drydydd.
Er mai ddechrau eleni agorwyd enwebiadau’n swyddogol, y mae eisoes yn teimlo fel pe bai’r etholiad hwn wedi bod yn mynd yn ei flaen ers mis Mai 2011, pan wnaeth y Blaid gwympo i’r trydydd safle tu ôl Llafur a’r Ceidwadwyr yn etholiadau’r cynulliad. Ar ôl bron iawn i bedair awr o gyfrif, ac areithiau gan Gadeirydd y Blaid, Helen Mary Jones, a’r Arweinydd ers deuddeng mlynedd, Ieuan Wyn Jones AC, cyhoeddwyd mai’r Arglwydd Elis-Thomas a gafodd y nifer lleiaf o bleidleisiau.
Cafwyd llwyddiant ysgubol gan Ms Wood yn y rownd hon o bleidleisio, a hithau’n ennill 48% o’r pleidleisiau dewis cyntaf.
Gan mai’r Arglwydd Elis-Thomas, fu’n Arweinydd ar y Blaid yn ystod yr 80au, ddaeth yn olaf, dosbarthwyd ei bleidleisiau ail ddewis ef rhwng y ddwy oedd ar ôl yn yr etholiad. Yn yr ail rownd, rhoddwyd 610 o bleidleisiau ychwanegol i Ms Jones, tra cafodd Ms Wood 447 o bleidleisiau ychwanegol.
Erbyn y pwynt hwn, roedd gan
Ms Wood, a oedd yn swyddog profiannaeth ac yn ddarlithydd ym Mhrifysgol Caerdydd cyn ei hetholiad i’r Cynulliad Cenedlaethol yn 2003, 3326 o bleidleisiau yn erbyn 2494 gan Ms Jones, a oedd yn Weini-
dog dros Faterion Gwledig yn ystod llywodraeth glymbleidiol Llafur a Phlaid Cymru hyd nes y llynedd. Gan mai 50%+1 oedd y cwota i ennill, roedd Ms Wood bellach wedi cyrraedd lefel digon uchel i guro Ms Jones i’r brif safle.
Yn siarad ar ôl datgan y canlyniad yng Ngwesty St David’s yn y Bae, fe gydnabyddodd Ms Wood nad hi oedd arweinydd yr wrthblaid swyddogol yn y Senedd, ond dywedodd mai hi fydd “arweinydd y cynigiad swyddogol” – leader of the official proposition.
Ychwanegodd: “Efallai ein bod yn blaid fechan ac yn wlad fechan ond mae dal modd inni sefyll yn dal os ydym yn sefyll gyda’n gilydd ac yn sefyll i fyny dros ein hegwyddorion.” Ac wrth gwrs, mae Leanne Wood yn enwog am fod mor driw i’w hegwyddorion; hi yw’r unig Aelod Cynulliad hyd yma i gael ei hel allan o siambr y Cynulliad – gan yr Arglwydd Elis-Thomas – am alw
“Mrs Windsor” ar y Frenhines, a gwrthod tynnu’r datganiad yn ôl. Nid oes amheuaeth i Leanne Wood lwyddo i redeg ymgyrch lwyddiannus, ac ar ôl cyhoeddi’r canlyniad gan Brif Weithredwr y Blaid, Rhuanedd Richards, dywedodd rheolwr ymgyrch Ms Wood, Jonathan Edwards AS, yr Aelod Seneddol dros Ddwyrain Caerfyrddin a Dinefwr, y byddai hi nawr yn herio’r Blaid Lafur yng Nghymru.
“Roeddwn yn hapus iawn i weld canlyniad mor gryf i Leanne – bron yn ennill ar y bleidlais gyntaf a ‘dw i’n meddwl fod cryfder y canlyniad yn rhoi mandad cryf iddi am y misoedd o’n blaenau”, meddai.
Yn ystod ymgyrch arweinyddol Ms Wood, gosodwyd ffocws ar y cysyniad o ‘wir annibyniaeth’, sef, yn ôl Ms Wood, annibyniaeth gyfansoddiadol yn ogystal ag annibyniaeth economaidd a chymdeithasol. Yn ychwanegol at sicrhau llwyddiant etholiadol i’r Blaid,
bydd cyfleu’r ddadl dros wir annibyniaeth yn effeithiol yn brawf o arweinyddiaeth yn yr hir dymor.
Mae nifer yn gweld cefndir Ms Wood fel mantais i’r Blaid, er bod rhai o fewn y Blaid hefyd wedi awgrymu nad oes ganddi ddigon o brofiad i arwain Plaid Cymru –
“ Dyma’r tro cyntaf yn hanes Plaid Cymru iddi gael arweinydd sy’n fenyw.
wedi’r cyfan, nid yw hi erioed wedi dal swyddi gwleidyddol uchel fel y ddau arall yn y ras. Ond, fel mam o’r Rhondda sydd ddim yn medru’r Gymraeg fel iaith gyntaf, bydd nifer yn dadlau y bydd Leanne Wood o fudd i’r Blaid wrth iddi geisio sicrhau llwyddiant etholiadol yng nghymoedd y de – cadarnle’r Blaid Lafur.
Dyma’r tro cyntaf yn hanes Plaid Cymru, ers ei sefydlu ym 1925, iddi gael arweinydd sy’n fenyw. Yn ogystal ag hyn, y mae pedwar o safleoedd pwysicaf y Blaid nawr wedi’u llenwi gan fenywod – Ms Wood yn Arweinydd, Jill Evans ASE yn Llywydd, Helen Mary Jones yn Gadeirydd, a Ms Richards yn Brif Weithredwr. Dadl nifer yw y bydd hyn hefyd o fudd i’r Blaid. Ond, bydd y Ceidwadwyr yng Nghymru nawr yn ceisio defnyddio etholiad Ms Wood fel cyfle i ddadlau mai nhw yw’r unig ddewis amgen i’r Blaid Lafur. Does dim amheuaeth y bydd Plaid Cymru nawr yn cymryd cam tua’r chwith, a does dim awgrym y bydd Ms Wood yn esgeuluso o’i hegwyddorion nawr ei bod yn arweinydd. Yn sicr, nid oedd
y ffordd yr oedd yn siarad wedi’r cyhoeddiad yn dangos unrhyw symudiad i ffwrdd o’i sosialaeth na’i gweriniaetholdeb. Wedi dweud hynny, y mae wedi cyfaddef y bydd yn fodlon mynychu agoriad brenhinol y Senedd a chyfarfod y Frenhines yn rhinwedd ei swydd fel Arweinydd y Blaid – rhywbeth y dywedodd yn y gorffennol na fyddai’n ei wneud. Beth fydd heriau Ms Wood wrth iddi etifeddu arweinyddiaeth Plaid Cymru felly? Yn sicr, bydd gwaith o’i blaen o ran tanlinellu’i hawdurdod, o ystyried y ffaith fod mwyafrif grwp Plaid Cymru yn y Senedd yn cefnogi ymgyrch Elin Jones; gallai ganfod ffordd o amgylch hyn drwy roi swydd uchel i Ms Jones. Bydd hefyd ddisgwyl iddi sicrhau ei bod yn cyflwyno set o bolisïau fydd yn atyniadol i’r boblogaeth; yn ei chyfweliadau gyda’r cyfryngau’n syth wedi’i hetholiad, fe gyfeiriodd droeon at ei gwefan pan ofynnwyd wrthi gwestiynau am ei pholisïau.
Prawf arall fydd perfformiad y Blaid yn yr etholiadau lleol fis Mai. Wrth reswm, anodd fydd llwytho’r holl fai ar ysgwyddau Ms Wood os nad yw’r Blaid yn cael llwyddiant, gan mai ond deufis cyn yr etholiad a’i hetholwyd, ond ei Chynllun Gwyrdd i’r Cymoedd hi sy’n ffurfio sail ar gyfer maniffesto Plaid Cymru. Dogfen yw honno sy’n cynnig cynllun am ddatblygu economi werdd, creu swyddi, a chryfhau’r synnwyr o gydweithio cymunedol yng nghymoedd diwydiannol y de – y man lle’i ganed a’i magwyd – a gallai’r ddogfen honno fod yn sail ar gyfer datblygu economi Cymru gyfan yn ei hôl hi.
Sut bynnag y bydd Plaid Cymru’n perfformio fis Mai, y mae Ms Wood yn benderfynol fod ei hetholiad hi’n golygu fod aelodau’r Blaid am weld newid. Gwelwyd yr Arglwydd Elis-Thomas fel tipyn o rebel, efallai am nad hwn oedd y tro cyntaf iddo sefyll mewn etholiad arweinyddol ym Mhlaid Cymru. Elin Jones oedd yr ymgeisydd tebycaf i Ieuan Wyn Jones – ymgeisydd y sefydliad, felly, yn llygaid rhai. Ac am Leanne Wood, hi oedd ymgeisydd y chwith, yr ymgeisydd radical fyddai’n symud y Blaid i gyfeiriad newydd, ac o bosib, at dir newydd.
Bydd nifer o fewn y Blaid a’i thu allan gweld etholiad Leanne Wood fel arweinydd Plaid Cymru’n dipyn o risg – gallai fynd un ffordd neu’r llall. Bydd nifer hefyd yn disgwyl iddi fethu, ond un peth sy’n sicr wrth edrych ar ganlyniadau’r broses hon yw ei bod hi wedi ennill buddugoliaeth ysgubol, ac am bob un sy’n disgwyl iddi fethu, mae un neu ddau arall yn fwy sydd gant y cant tu ôl iddi ac yn ei hystyried yn obaith newydd i blaid sydd wedi dioddef methiant etholiadol yn ddiweddar.
25ain Mawrth. Cwis. 8yh. Y Mochyn Du, Pontcanna. £1
28ain Mawrth. Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog. 6yh. Canolfan y Mileniwm, Bae Caerdydd. Am ddim.
29ain Mawrth. Bragdy’r Beirdd yn cyflwyno: Aneirin Karadog, Catrin Dafydd, Osian Rhys Jones, Rhys Iorwerth. 8:30yh. Rockin' Chair, Heol y Gadeirlan Isaf. Am ddim.
12fed Mai. Geraint Jarman + mwy. 8yh. Clwb Ifor Bach, Heol Womanby. £14
3ydd Mehefin. Gwyl Nyth - Creision Hud, Trwbador, Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog.
Gwdihw Cafe Bar. Mwy o fanylion i ddilyn.
23ain Mehefin. Ffair Tafwyl. Cerddoriaeth, Llenyddiaeth, Celf, Bwyd a Diod, Comedi a mwy. 12yh-8yh. Castell Caerdydd. Am ddim.
23ain-26ain Mehefin. Tafwyl. Lleoliadau amrywiol o gwmpas Caerdydd.
13eg Gorffennaf. 'Sneb yn Becso Dam.Cwmni theatr ieuenctid yr Urdd. Canolfan Sherman Cymru. £13.50.
Cerith Rhys Jones
Taf-od
Dydd Llun, Mawrth 26 2012 gair
tafod@gairrhydd.com
Drama daith ddiweddaraf
Cwmni’r Frân Wen yw Fala’ Surion, sy’n addasiad o ‘Fresh Apples’ gan Rachel Trezise. Mae’r gyfrol o straeon byrion yn sôn am hynt a helynt pobl ifanc dosbarth gweithiol ardaloedd diwydiannol de Cymru. Symudwyd rhai o'r straeon i'r gorllewin ac i'r gogledd gan Manon Eames a Catrin Dafydd wrth addasu’r gyfrol i’r llwyfan. Ac er hyn, mae’r ymdeimlad o bobl ifanc yn ymdopi â’u problemau wrth
chwilio am atebion yn parhau’n amlwg. Tua 6 neu 7 o straeon a geir yn Fala’ Surion o’i gymharu â’r 13 sydd yn ‘Fresh Apples’, a rhaid canmol y gwaith o ddewis a dethol.
Petai Manon Eames a Catrin Dafydd wedi cynnwys mwy ohonynt tybiaf y byddent wedi colli llawer o’r dyfnder yn y straeon, a byddai’r gynulleidfa wedi cael eu drysu. Ni wnaeth hynny ddigwydd o gwbl yn y cynhyrchiad hwn, a oedd yn symud o stori i stori yn gelfydd iawn.
Rhaid i mi gyfaddef nad oeddwn yn gyfarwydd â gwaith Trezise cyn mynd i’r Chapter nos Wener, a hynny er i’r gwaith ennill gwobr Dylan Thomas nôl yn 2006. Yr unig effaith gafodd hyn ar fy mwynhad i o’r ddrama oedd y ffaith fy mod i’n chwilio am gysylltiad rhwng yr holl gymeriadau a’r holl straeon. Cameos cwbl ar wahân yw’r straeon yn Fala’ Surion, a’r unig gysylltiad tenau oedd y motiff aml o’r holl gymeriadau ar drên. Mae’r elfen o
Mae’n debyg fod popeth sydd angen ei ddweud wedi ei ddweud yn barod. Gallwn fynd ymlaen am oriau yn trafod llwyddiant Cymru i ennill Camp Lawn arall – y drydedd mewn wyth tymor – ond teimlaf fod y Western Mail, ar ei pen ei hunain, wedi rhoi digon o sylw i’r ymgyrch yn y diwrnodau, yn wir, yr wythnosau diwethaf. Er hynny, mae'n anodd peidio canmol y genhedlaeth newydd. Mae’n anodd amgyffred fod George North (19), Sam Warburton (23), Alex Cuthbert (23), Toby Faletau (21) a seren swyddogol y bencampwriaeth, Dan Lydiate (24), i gyd â'u blynyddoedd gorau o'u blaenau. Tydi’r garfan ifanc a thalentog yma ddim am fynd i unman ar frys. Braf byddai gallu dweud hynny am y tîm hyfforddi. Oni bai am wyrth, Warren Gatland fydd yn arwain y Llewod ar eu taith i Awstra-
lia flwyddyn nesaf. Byddai hynny’n golygu na fyddai’n cael arwain Cymru ym Mhencampwriaeth y Chwe Gwlad yn 2013. A dim ond mater o amser ydi hi, does bosib, nes bod y Cymro mabwysiedig a’r meistr mewn hyfforddi amddiffynnol, Shaun Edwards, yn ein gadael er mwyn hyfforddi un o fawrion hemisffer y de. Mae tîm Cymru yn prysur ddatblygu i fod yn un o dimau mwyaf addawol rygbi’r byd, ond er mwyn profi hynny, bydd rhaid iddynt ddechrau curo gwledydd fel De Affrica, Seland Newydd ac Awstralia – a hynny’n gyson. Y cam cyntaf bydd tair gêm brawf yn erbyn yr Aussies sy’n dechrau fis Mehefin. Os trechwn ni nhw, bydd hynny’n bwysicach ‘na ennill y Gamp Lawn, a dim ond wedyn gallwn gysidro Cymru i fod yn un o wir gewri rygbi rhyngwaldol.
Ond am y tro, dyliwn fwynhau y Gamp Lawn ddiweddaraf. Mae'r dyfodol yn edrych yn ddisglair iawn.
ddiffyg llinyn storiol dramatig yn cyd-fynd ag un o’r delweddau a geir ar ddiwedd y ddrama o’r jig-so sy’n chwilio am y darn olaf colledig, y jig-so sy'n sylweddoli nad yw'r darn olaf yn ffitio bob tro. Straeon tywyll am broblemau a rhwystrau a geir yn Fala’ Surion. Er hyn roedd cynulleidfa’r Chapter yn chwerthin yn aml, boed ar eiriau ffraeth cymeriad, ar sefyllfa afreal ac anghyfforddus, neu ar chwithdod y teenagers. Roedd gwaith cyfarwyddo Sara Lloyd yn pwysleisio’r elfennau doniol yn aml hefyd, gan sicrhau nad oedd y ddrama yn datblygu i fod yn rhy dywyll. Rhaid canmol cyfarwyddo Sara Lloyd drwy’r holl ddrama – dyma gyfarwyddo cynnil a disgybledig oedd yn gosod yr holl bwysau ar ddawn yr actorion. Cynhyrchiad eithaf minimalistig, heb unrhyw brops na newidiadau set yw Fala’ Surion. Defnyddiwyd y lliw llwyd ar hyd y set ac yn y gwisgoedd. Dywedodd Gwyn Eiddior, y cynllunydd set, ar Twitter: ‘Mae’r lliwiau hefyd yn adlewyrchu’r anobaith sy’n amlygu ei hun mewn llawer o’r straeon’. Hoffais y defnydd o’r wal fideo yn fawr iawn, wrth daflu lluniau, delweddau a fideos ar y sgrin roedd modd trawsnewid y llwyfan i drac trenau, caffi Eidaleg, neu drên prysur. Defnyddiwyd y sgrin mewn modd artistig a chelfydd, gan ychwanegu rhywbeth arbennig i’r cynhyrchiad. Nid oedd y delweddau yn tynnu i ffwrdd o’r action, ond yn hytrach roeddent yn cyfleu neges
neu leoliad y golygfeydd. O ystyried y set syml, y cyfarwyddo cynnil, a’r gwaith ensemble roedd llawer o bwysau ar yr actorion, ac yn wir, dyma gast talentog a chryf dros ben. Yn fy marn i, doedd dim man gwan yn y cast, a phawb yn tynnu eu pwysau ac yn gwneud cyfiawnder â’r sgript. Wrth i’r straeon amrywio o ardal i ardal roedd yn rhaid i’r cymeriadau newid acenion yn gyflym. Llwyddodd bob un ohonynt i wneud hyn yn llwyddiannus, ac roeddwn yn cael trafferth gyda rhai ohonynt i ddweud pa un oedd eu hacen naturiol. Roeddwn yn credu’r cymeriadau, yn teimlo drostynt, ac mae hynny’n dipyn o gamp o ystyried mai golygfeydd byr a geir o’r straeon amrywiol. Hoffais yn fawr y stori gyntaf, gyda phortread Rhodri Meilir, Rhodri Miles a Dyfrig Evans o fechgyn ifanc yn ceisio darganfod eu lle a phenderfynu sut i ymddwyn yn fawr. Mae gwylio oedolion yn chwarae plant neu bobl ifanc yn eu harddegau yn medru bod yn anghyfforddus ar adegau, ond llwyddwyd yn y cynhyrchiad hwn, ar bron bob achos, i greu cymeriadau byw o gig a gwaed o flaen ein llygaid. Yn wir, dyma gynhyrchiad llwyddiannus iawn, sy’n cynnwys themâu a all gyffwrdd pawb. Mae’r straeon yn dywyll, ac fe gewch eich hun yn uniaethu a theimlo dros y cymeriadau law yn llaw a chwerthin nes bod eich bol yn brifo. Fe fydd Fala Surion ar daith tan ddiwedd mis Mawrth, ac os cewch chi gyfle, ewch i’w gweld!
Caio Iwan
Golygydd Taf-od
IMG ROUNDUP
George Dugdale Sports Writer
KLAW kept their title challenge alive with a tense victory over CARBS in the IMG Premier League. Two penalty strikes from winger Tom Cole, either side of a CARBS equaliser, were enough to ensure that the league title will be decided in the final fixture of the season.
The opening exchanges were tentative, although a twisting run from Luke Baxter tested the KLAW defence. At the other end of the field, a surging run from Alex Poneskis caused confusion and only some last-ditch defending kept the ball out of the net before a lineman’s flag was eventually raised.
Poneskis’ runs from midfield have been a key feature of KLAW’s season and it was as a result of another foray into CARBS territory that broke the deadlock. Poneskis capitalised upon a defensive error to surge through on goal. As the goalkeeper advanced, the mid-
fielder knocked the ball to the side before hitting the ground. Despite the howls of derision from some of the CARBS numbers, the referee pointed to the spot; Cole stepped up to fire into the roof of the net.
CARBS had arguably had the better of the game and continued to look comfortable in possession after the penalty controversy. It was to the credit of the KLAW defence that goalkeeper Mitchell Greenham was not tested more frequently.
However, CARBS did find a way back into the game moments after Baxter had blasted over when well placed. A deep cross looked to be posing little threat, but a fine leap from a CARBS attacker and a possible deflection off a defender diverted the ball past the stranded Greenham.
If KLAW were to keep their season alive, they would have to improve quickly and thanks to their second penalty of the afternoon, they were gifted the opportunity to restore their lead instantly. A cross from deep appeared harmless enough, but caught the arm of a CARBS defender as he attempted to clear. Cole stepped up once more,
Snakecharmer success
BUCS cheerleaders' hard work yields
Laura Harman Sports Writer
Cardiff Snakecharmers, following their recent success at regional competition, took their Level 4 squad, Venom, to Doncaster to attend the ICC University National Championships, placing second and earning the chance to compete at a prestigious US competition.
The squad were the third performance of the day, leaving it to the coach to ensure everyone was ready for call-time. It was evident that the girls were nervous after scooping so many trophies at their previous competition.
The announcement came over that Venom were on next and it was with shaking legs that the girls took up their starting formation. From the explosive opening of the routine, through to the end the Snakec-
this time drilling the ball low into the corner of the net.
CARBS could still have been level shortly before the interval as Sam Pritchard rose highest to nod a corner narrowly wide of the upright.
The first half had seen CARBS dominating possession as KLAW looked to threaten on the counterattack and the second half was no different. Scott Gregory and Elliot Ashford were superb at the back for KLAW to ensure that relentless CARBS pressure was repelled without damage.
“ Tensions were becoming frayed, with both sides giving it their all
As is to be expected for a game of this importance, tensions were becoming frayed and both sides were giving their all to get the win. This was typified in the final seconds,
when
effort now sets up a title decider with leaders and defending champions Earth Soc, which will take place after the Easter break.
BUCS
harmers did themselves proud.
Double downs were executed well after a motion circle and flying liberty sequence. Next came the tumbling sequence, again a very high-scoring portion of the routine, generating creativity marks from the judges.
Flyer Hannah Brown delivered a solid tick-tock (jumping from one leg to another whilst being held above the head in a liberty) in the back pyramid while motion triangles added flavour. Cross-tumbling by Sam Morris, Cat Chandler, Rachel Waddington, Hannah Laycock, Jasmine Page and Erasmus student Mari Tuokko secured a high difficulty rating.
The most stunt-heavy portion of the routine followed. Kick twist baskets of particular note came from Cat Prideaux, Molly McIlveen and Hannah Brown. The pyramid
was solid and paved the way for the energetic dance sequence to finish. Having competed against very experienced squads, Venom were delighted upon hearing they had finished second. The exhilaration didn’t stop there, though; it was announced that the top three teams in All-Girl Cheer (1st place Gloucester, 3rd place Sheffield Hallam) were to be given the incredible chance to go to the ICU University World Championships, to be held in Florida next January.
With a final competition to come, the Snakecharmers are staying focused on training. It is with huge anticipation that they begin planning a fund-raising drive to allow them to be the first cheerleading squad to represent a Welsh university at the World Championships.
a Jonjo Reeves free-kick was cleared off the line by Poneskis. KLAW’s brave defensive
Wales win the Grand Slam
Nick
Evans assesses Wales' sensationl Six Nations campaign and gives his thoughts on the championship
It was a six nations with a lot to prove. Ireland were hoping to recapture the glory of defeating Australia in the World Cup. England had a new manager and a fresh young team, and were eager to perform after a fairly disappointing run in the latter half of 2011. Wales were gunning to bring France down after feeling slighted by the narrow defeat in the World Cup semifinals.
Wales' grand slam almost never got off the ground after their deserved, but shaky win over Ireland. Both teams came out all guns blazing, and it could have gone either way. The match has been dubbed as the best of the tournament by many pundits. Bradley Davies performed a thuggish tip tackle on Donnacha Ryan which resulted in his banning for the rest of the tournament.
England got off to a weak start, winning only because of a lucky
chargedown by Charlie Hodgson; the same could be said of their second match against Italy, again winning through a Hodgson chargedown. Dan Parks retired after his match against England. France had a fairly convincing win against Italy but Scotland brought their A - game, only to lose 17-23 at Murrayfield.
There was controversy over the original scheduling for the France - Ireland match on February 11th; the pitch had frozen solid and the referee decided to abandon the game at the last minute, after 10,000 Ireland supporters had travelled to Paris and crowded into the stadium. The freezing was a result of the lack of under-pitch heating, which is unusual for a stadium built in 1995. However, when the match was replayed on the 4th of March, it resulted in a 17-17 draw.
It is fair to say that England's form improved for their match
against Wales at Twickenham, with the return of Manu Tuilagi and the new combination of Farrell, Strettle and Barrit at 10, 11 and 12. It was a tense match, but Scott Williams came off the bench to score a sublime try, gifting Wales a 19-12 win. England's improving form continued into their match against France. Instead of winning the game with the majority of their points being made from penalties; England won through three tries scored by Croft, Foden and Tuilagi respectively; the first two of which were particularly skilful.
It was also becoming apparent that France's Wesley Fofana was making a name for himself, having scored in every game in which he played. England's success was owed in part to France's complete lack of co-ordination at the breakdown.
Both England v France and Ireland v Scotland suffered from the appalling refereeing of Alain Rol-
land. Charlie Sharples was immediately given a yellow card for an apparently deliberate knock-on despite Wesley Fofana only being penalised for the exact same offence minutes earlier. He was once again inconsistent in Italy's final match and incredibly petty and pedantic about scrumaging.
It was a poor effort from both Italy and Scotland, but the home side won edged at the Stadio Olimpico, leaving Scotland with the dreaded wooden spoon. France and Wales battled hard in the tournament finale, Wales secured their third Grand Slam in eight seasons and their 20th Triple Crown. England defeated Ireland 30-9, displaying excellent skill at the scrum and a promising new team for next season.
The official player of the tournament award was given to Wales's Danny Lydiate, his quick-thinking and world-class tackling shone throughout the championship.
Rhys Clayton Sports Writer
By the time this article comes out, we will know a lot more about the 2012 Formula 1 season, after the second race in Malaysia.
Formula 1 fans can say with tentative confidence that this season will be a lot more interesting and tightly contested that the 2011 season, and not just because an American GP is back on the roster. Last season saw German maestro Sebastian Vettel win the Champi-
onship at a canter, with a huge 122 point gap over second-place Jenson Button.
Naturally, Button will be delighted with his winning start. In the 2009 World Championship, he won the Australian Grand Prix; and his blistering first half of the season was enough to see him eventually win the championship outright.
Lewis Hamilton, who recently vowed to put his socialite lifestyle behind him, will be relatively happy with a third-place finish. Admittedly, the safety car came at the
wrong time for him in Melbourne, and being overtaken by Button on the very first corner was not ideal, but a pole position at a fast showing will provide plenty of confidence.
Plus, the somewhat steely ambi-
“ Button will be delighted with his winning start
tion that was clearly visible in his face after the race was there for all to see, rekindling memories of his 2008 triumph.
The returning Kimi Raikkonen now racing for Lotus, will be very pleased with 7th place, which is as good as he can expect on his return to F1. Mark Webber showed his 35-year-old body is still up for the fight, and Michael Schumacher’s weekend was going really well until the actual race: he failed to finish.
Button may have put his win down to his “lucky room” (he has
stayed in the same room for all his three wins in Melbourne), but there is real optimism that McLaren can mount a serious challenge to Red Bull.
Here are my early predictions: Schumacher to have a much better year (he could not do much worse), Button to win at a wet Silverstone, Hamilton to “split-up” then reunite with girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, and Sebastian Vettel to win a tightly contested three-way Championship at the last race in Brazil.
Your Pitch:Sport in perspective
The great Bill Shankly once said, “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death... I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” This statement, while affirming his commitment to the game, and to Liverpool FC, calls into question whether players should be putting their safety – nay, their lives – at risk for the sake of what is, essentially, just a game.
The recent case of Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba suffering a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup game against Tottenham, raises the issue of whether athletes should be allowed to take as many risks as they do at the expense of their health?
Players will sometimes be allowed to take to the field while injured, depending on the nature of the injury – it is hard to miss when a footballer plays with a bloodied shirt or a protective facemask after a broken nose. These injuries are not usually career- or life-threatening – but should they be allowed to play with a concussion or a preexisting heart condition?
“
At risk for the sake of what is, essentially, just a game
In recent years, medical testing into head injuries among sportsmen has improved greatly and contact sports now have a “coolingoff” period for anyone who suffers a concussion. However, screenings for potentially fatal heart defects are still not part of routine medical
examinations, despite the dangers presented.
The case of Marc-Vivien Foé’s death at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup highlighted the dangers of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease that causes the heart muscle to become overdeveloped, and therefore unable to contract and pump blood around the body. Foé’s death led to calls for the international football calendar to be reduced and for the Confederations Cup to be scrapped. Calls that were echoed seven months later when Hungarian international Miklós Fehér died from the same condition
“
Football is not the only sport in which concerns are expressed
playing in a game for Benfica.
Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta died from another congenital heart defect (arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy) in 2007, suggesting that while these cases are few and far between; requiring players to undergo screenings would cut down on unnecessary fatalities.
Football is not the only sport in which concerns are often expressed over the participants’ safety; motor racing has come under similar scrutiny, given the speed at which their cars and bikes travel during a race. Although F1 and Moto GP racers are considered to be the best in their field, even at their level, a lapse in concentration or a slight mechanical error can be catastrophic. As in the cases of Ayrton Senna in 1994 and Marco Simoncel-
li and NASCAR driver Dan Wheldon last year. These risks can be aggravated when racers engage in personal contests with each other, as with Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, as this can begin to affect their judgement.
American football is another sport that has sparked discussion over player safety recently. With the revelation that New Orleans Saints players were being offered “bounties” in exchange for intentionally injuring opponents, the NFL has taken decisive action by suspending Saints head coach Sean Payton without pay for the entire 2012 season, while former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams – who was found to be the chief instigator of the bounty system – has been banned for life. It is hoped that these punishments will dissuade any coaches from encouraging such a system in the future, and –in conjunction with new rules regarding helmet-on-helmet contact – make the sport safer for all those involved.
Fabrice Muamba has shown fantastic resilience and an incredible rate of recovery suffering a cardiac arrest during an FA cup-tie. The worldwide response from footballing professionals and fans alike, earnest support emanating from La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid as well as Bolton supporters, was astonishing. gair rhydd sport hopes for a quick and full recovery for Muamba who has shown encouraging signs recently, recognising his family and friends. At the time of print Fabrice is in a stable condition, but is still in intensive care.
Last weekend, White Hart Lane turned from simply the venue of the FA Cup game between Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers to a stage of one truly horrifying scene.
Fabrice Muamba’s sudden collapse came to shock the whole football world, but this tragedy also raised the question whether sports stars have become more prone to heart diseases?
Unfortunately, the case of Muamba is not an exception, but the latest in a series of incidents occurring in various sports fields. On October 30, 2008, one of the Real Madrid academy's most promising talents, Ruben de la Red, was hospitalised after collapsing during a Spanish Cup match against Real Unión. He subsequently announced his retirement from football at the age of only 25. In 2007, Sevilla’s midfielder Antonio Puerta could not recover and eventually died after suffering a severe heart attack.
“This tragedy also raised the question, whether sport stars have become more prone to heart diseases?
In January 2004, Hungarian international and Benfica striker Miklos Feher passed away during a game from the Portuguese league due to a heart attack. Seven months before that, 28-year-old Cameroonian footballer Marc-Vivien Foé fell
on the ground of the Stade de Gerland, Lyon during a semi-final game in FIFA Confederations Cup and never came back to life. It was concluded that Foé's death was heartrelated as it discovered evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a hereditary condition known to increase the risk of sudden death during physical exercise.
Worryingly, heart diseases now also occur with athletes from other physically demanding or “endurance” sports such as marathon running, distance cycling, triathlon and rowing.
Although such heart diseases are likely to be inherited rather than directly related to physical exercising, where sports can play a role is on the likelihood of these conditions. Overwhelming training regimes and supplementation, combined with increasingly dense schedules, if not being a direct agent of health issues, has at least made professional sports stars more prone to heart diseases. Nonetheless, we should ask ourselves whether top-level sport has gone too far in pushing players towards the quest for trophies and honours.
Tom Parry-Jones
Viktor Tsevatanov Sports Writer
Spor t
Korfball fight to fourth
PavelPyszko reviews an extremely successful championship for the University's Korfball team as they just lose out in the bronze medal match
Cardiff Korfball team, a unique mix of boys and girls, were very well prepared to perform their best against 17 other teams from all over the UK and Scotland at the 2nd Team Nationals held in Nottingham.
“The team spirit escalated after the 3-2 victory against Sheffield
Despite losing the opening game 3-1 to the home favourites, the team never looked like giving up. Their massive effort proved to be the key to success in the following matches.
The solid defensive performance didn’t allow the opposition to score more than one goal in the remaining three matches of the group stage. Jemma Winterbottom, playing her first korfball tournament, managed to score in every match as Cardiff successively sealed victory over Bristol Uni (2-1), Sheffield Uni (3-0) and St. Andrews Uni (2-1) to confirm their well-deserved place in the top eight of the tournament. Winterbottom’s performance was backed up, among others, by the experienced team captain Jane Hutchinson, who not only organised the play, but also managed to score two goals.
The team spirit escalated after the 3-2 victory against Sheffield Hallam. In spite of trailing twice by a single goal, Cardiff were able to fight back, thanks to goals by Jem-
Winterbottom, Jane Hutchinson and Jordan Evans who finished a cheeky free pass that surprised the opposition.
Thenext team to come was Edinburgh Uni, who in the end proved to be stronger and won 5-3; the result sent Cardiff into the game for the bronze medal. This was unbelievably close, Cardiff were winning by three goals at half-time against Leeds Uni. It was a scrappy game with lots of penalties and free passes. In the end, the penalties were the decisive factor, as Leeds managed to tie the game by a controversial goal in the last minute.
Pat Merton's goal in the penalty shoot out unfortunately wasn’t enough to seal the victory and Cardiff finished the tournament in the 4th place. A great achievement.
Cardiff rifle club shoot for success
Louise Bungay Sports Writer
On Sunday 18th March, Rupert Knight of Cardiff University Rifle Club competed at the BUCS indoor individual championships at Staveley Rifle Club. Shooting in the freshers division against the top three other freshers of the year.
After leaving Cardiff in the early morning to travel to the competition, generously driven by club captain Louise Bungay, Rupert successfully shot his way to a silver medal. This is an incredible achievement in his first year of competitive small-bore shooting, especially after a problematic shoot due to kit malfunctions.
This is not the only success from the Cardiff University Rifle Club over the past year.
Mark Kearney and Louise Bungay finished in the top 30 in the BUCS Individual Competition and all three teams finished incredibly competitively in their respective divisions.
Outside of BUCS competitions, there have been other shooting successes, with three members (Louise Bungay, Andy Catchcart and Rupert Knight) successfully shooting their way in to the penultimate round in the ELEY competition, a competition available to all shooters from across the United Kingdom.
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