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â– University proposes a re-development of the site and the creation of many modern facilities

Adam Millward News Editor THE MEDCLUB at Heath Park Campus has been steadily losing thousands in income and now faces a comprehensive overhaul.

Once the heart of the medic student’s social calendar, the MedClub, particularly the bar, has become increasingly over-

looked by the student populace and is now being considered by the University for re-development.

However, there is much concern that the removal of the once-popular bar will result in some students losing an important part of their social life.

Proposals have been put forward to convert the site into a new social space for students and staff working at Heath Park, with a selection of new facilities, open five days a week.

These will include a cyber cafĂŠ and coffee shop, which will serve hot food and beverages; online access to the Cardiff Academic Network and possibly the provision of lockers.

A discussion held at the Heath Forum on December 16, highlighted that students were very keen for the installation of locker facilities as it is not safe to leave property on the Continued on Page Eight

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NEWS

At

a glance

February 05 2007 News 1 Investigations 13 Letters 15 Politics 16 Opinion 18 Features 24 Taf-Od 27 Interviews 28 Health 30 Media 35 Jobs 36 Television 39 Problem Page 47 Five Minute Fun 49 Grab 51 Listings 52 Sport 54

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Recycle your student pound Samantha Shillabeer Reporter THE STUDENTS’ UNION has launched a new scheme to ensure that it can continue provide and develop its services for Cardiff students.

The Recycling Your Student Pound campaign intends to raise awareness about the purpose of the Union by reminding students that all the money spent by the Union is used to support essential student services.

Consumers will see the ‘Recycle Your Student Pound’ message on everything from till receipts and chocolate money in the Union shop to beer-mats and plasma screens in the Taf.

It is hoped that the campaign will encourage students to give their money to the Union as opposed to other profit-driven organisations.

Union Vice President Ed Jones said: “It’s really important that we continue to remind students that when they buy a beer or rent a house with their Union, the profits go back into funding things like gair rhydd, sports clubs, societies and the advice centre.

“Students’ Unions across the country are struggling to raise the money they need.

“We must make sure that students here understand that their Union is run by students, not for

The logo to appear on almost all Union products profit but for the benefit of its members.

Cardiff on world debating stage Corinne Rhoades Reporter OXFORD AND Cambridge Universities will battle it out against teams from the USA and France in a competition hosted by Cardiff Debating Society.

The inter-university competition will see students from eighty competing universities debate current affairs topics next Saturday.

President of Cardiff Debating Society Chantal du Toit claimed the event will “certainly put Cardiff on the map”.

She said “This competition aims to be one of the biggest and best tournaments on the British debating circuit.”

The competition, sponsored by Macfarlanes solicitors, will be open to the public and see VIPs such as Human Rights expert Dr Urfan Khaliq speak at the event.

Cardiff’s growing debating society will host the final at The Temple of Peace and former Vice-President Zoe Fuller said “this year we’ve had to extend our cap to 40 teams.”

It is hoped that the competition will pick up the profile of debating in Wales.

Robbers on Roath rampage Lucy Higgins Reporter THE NEW Year started badly for many students living in Roath, after burglars targeted 10 houses in the same street.

Two houses in Gordon Road were broken into over the Christmas holidays, with a further eight burglaries taking place during the last two weeks.

The road, which is off Richmond Road, is thought to have been targeted because it is relatively quiet and known to be heavily populated by students.

The first burglary was discovered on Boxing Day by students returning to their house to find the back door glass panel smashed, and cameras, DVDs, CDs, a cheque book, and a clarinet missing.

It is thought that the burglars broke the panel and used the keys that were inside the back door to let themselves into the house.

“Not only did they steal from us, they also trashed our rooms,” said Sam Malone, a third year journalism student. “They emptied boxes, threw our clothes around, and seemed to mess up our rooms for the sake of it.”

The property next door also had the glass panel in the back door smashed, but as there were no keys nearby, the burglars did not enter the house, or take anything.

The house next to the initial two was then burgled on the evening of Saturday January 20. The four female occupants were out at a local bar, before two of them returned home at around midnight to find the back door open. Fearing an intruder was still in their house, they went back out onto the road before calling the police.

“It was so scary because when we went back outside, our front door slammed behind us so we thought someone had closed it from the inside,” said Tabea Roemer, a trainee teacher.

“Not only did they steal from us, they also trashed our rooms” Upon going back inside with their neighbours to investigate, the girls found that laptops from all four bedrooms had been taken, as well as digital cameras, computer equipment, and a mobile phone.

However, as wallets left next to the laptops in the downstairs bedrooms were not taken, it is thought that the burglars may have been disturbed, and made a quick exit through the back door. The burglars entered through a closed but faulty window in the kitchen at the back of the house.

Considering that most of the burglaries took place either in the holidays or in the evening, it is probable that the burglars knew that they were targeting students.

A further seven houses were burgled over the next week, bringing the total number of break-ins to 10 for this road alone.

It is thought that the same people carried out all of the burglaries, although different things were taken from each house. Police attending the incidents believe the culprits to be youths, who will try and sell the laptops quickly and cheaply.

Unfortunately, these were not isolat-

ed incidents, with numerous students becoming the victims of burglaries, all over Cathays, Roath, and the Heath.

The roads directly behind the Students’ Union have recently been especially targeted.

Simon Walters, a third year law student, returned from the Union on Friday night to find his house in Llanbleddian Gardens had been burgled, and laptops, PSPs, and ipods taken.

A similar technique was used to break in through the back door, and police are urging students to remain vigilant to help protect their belongings. Their advice is to keep doors and windows locked, and ensure that valu-

able possessions are hidden before leaving the property.

PC Bob Keohane, Student Liaison Officer, said: “There have been a spate of burglaries in the Gordon Road area, many of which have been student houses targeted over the past few weeks.

“Our advice to students is to ensure their valuables are not on display and to make sure doors and windows are locked. Also, if going out, to leave a light on.

“Students can register their valuables at www.immobilise.com so that if something does get stolen and is recovered, it can be returned easily to them”.

PHOTO: Sarah Day

EDITOR Perri Lewis DEPUTY EDITOR Sophie Robehmed ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR Elaine Morgan CREATIVE EDITOR Graeme Porteous NEWS Adam Millward, Helen Thompson, Jo Dingle, Katie Kennedy POLITICS Andy Rennison EDITORIAL AND OPINION Ed Vanstone, Georgie Easton SPORT Dave Menon, George Pawley FEATURES Amy Harrison, Ben Bryant LISTINGS Jenna Harris, Rosaria Sgueglia TELEVISION TV Gareth, TV John, TV Neil, TV Jane, TV Ellen LETTERS Rachel Clare GRAB Kayleigh Excell, Lisa Hocken SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT Ceri Morgan MEDIA Aline Ungewiss, Nadia Bonjour HEALTH Liz Stauber JOBS AND MONEY Gill Roberts PROBLEM PAGE Grace De Ville FIVE MINUTE FUN Lara Bell, Jesse Scharf PICTURE EDITORS James Perou, Sarah Day ONLINE EDITOR Paul Springett PROOF READERS Kieran Harwood, Aisling Tempany, Andy Rennison, Indraj, Rachel Greenwood, Sarah Murray, Ed Vanstone CONTRIBUTORS Victoria Lane, Samantha Shillabeer, Corinne Rhoades, Ed Pitchforth, Tash Prest-Smith, Jeni Fisher, Emma Jones, Matt Horwood, Holly Bassett, Lee Macaulay, Lucy higgins, Adam Gasson, James Stileman, Edwinna Ronners, Huw Davies, Andrew Styles, Tim Hewish, James McLaren, Laura Foster, Becky Johnson, Elizabeth Winder, Karen Euwens, Yousar Jafar, Rachel McWhinney, Gordon Lawrence, Gwilym Conran, Scott D’Arcy, Ben Jones, Ed Slater, George Foot, Becky Oatley, James Clifford, Erica Bone, Shaun Hill, Natalie Parkinson ADDRESS University Union, Park Place Cardiff, CF10 3QN ADVERTISING 02920 781 474 EMAIL gairrhydd@gairrhydd.com WEB www.gairrhydd.com LOCATION 4th Floor Students’ Union

FEBRUARY.05.2007

BACK DOOR: Escape route

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FEBRUARY.05.2007 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Wales’ new Tory boy Matt Horwood Reporter A 19-YEAR-OLD from Newport has become Wales’ first Tory boy.

Hopefully though, he won’t have too much in common with Harry Enfield’s original Tory Boy, a 15-year-old repulsive bigot with some terribly unfashionable ideas.

Chris Chapman, who celebrated his 19th birthday in December, has been voted onto Rogerstone County Council, making him the youngest person ever to be elected into public office in Wales.

“I first got interested in politics at the age of four or five, when my grandmother, a diehard Labour supporter, used to talk to me. As I got older I would have political discussions with my mother, who also supports Labour.

“I’d like to make a career out of politics. Who knows what will happen in the future.”

JOSEPH: Fancy his cloak?

Any Cardiff student will do William Taylor Reporter BBC ONE is to start filming a brand new Saturday night entertainment programme called ‘Any Dream Will Do’.

The program is searching for a talented newcomer to play the lead role of ‘Joseph’ in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new West End show.

BBC one is now calling upon Cardiff students to audition for the lead role.

You can grab your coloured coat and sing your way to the dream role by attending auditions on February 16 and 17 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

All Aboard!

Cardiff students given opportunity to study at sea with launch of new ‘Scholar Ship’ SHIP: Voyage of discovery

Natalie Parkinson Reporter FIVE Cardiff University students are being given the opportunity to do their studies at sea with the new ‘Scholar Ship’.

The travelling forum means that students can spend a semester on board visiting eight countries in 5 continents while studying as an under or postgraduate.

The university says it will offer a “multicultural living environment” for

those who will be sailing with 595 other residents, getting involved with cultural, academic and social activities.

Along with universities in the US, Australia, Morocco, China, Mexico and Ghana, Cardiff is to become one of the academic stewards.

This will involve giving curriculum guidance so that the Scholar Ship provides the up-most standards, as well as contributing to the Ship’s academic programming.

Recognising Cardiff as one of

Where are all the sperm donors?

Shortage of sperm as only eight men in Wales donate Lee Macaulay Reporter SOUTH WALES hospitals have launched an appeal this month after it was announced that only eight men are donating sperm to help infertile families have children.

The shortage is forcing couples to wait up to a year before they can get help to start a family on the NHS. Wales isn’t the worst affected area, as sperm donor programmes in Exeter and Oxford, are receiving even less donations.

The fall in donors has been blamed on the introduction of a new law that removed the right to

anonymity which sperm donors previously could claim.

It allows children conceived by egg or sperm donation to know who their genetic mother or father is when they reach their 18th birthday.

This also led to a fall in the number of young male students coming forward who were stereotypically seen as enthusiastic to donate sperm.

Director of the Cardiff Assisted Reproduction Unit, Janet Evans said: “Historically, we have had young, single men – often students – coming to donate.

“But if they are not in a stable relationship, it could be very upsetting if, in the future, an 18-year-old turned up on their doorstep claiming a genetic relationship.”

Britain’s major teaching and research universities, President of The Scholar Ship, Dr Joseph Olander said: “Cardiff University’s semesterbased teaching will contribute significantly to the scope and quality of the classes taught on the Scholar Ship” Cardiff University is the first university in Europe to participate in the project which is going to cost home, European and international students £5, 000 each.

There are, however, 50 lucky European applicants who will be given

the chance to gain a £2, 542 scholarship towards the total amount.

Director of the international development division, Sandra Elliott, said: “Cardiff University’s partnership with the Scholar Ship offers great opportunities for creative global study for Cardiff students.”

The ship is set to leave in September this year for its 16-week cruise. With over 500 received applications already, ahead of the April 30 deadline, it looks to be a successful launch.

Spread the gaming fun Joss Duggan Reporter

GAMERS WHO have received next generation consoles for Christmas are being urged to donate their old machines to hospitals and hospices around Wales.

A new website is taking pledges of unwanted consoles and computer hardware so that they may be given to centres treating mental health problems.

The idea is the brainchild of local software developer Dan Bridge who is working with Cardiff University and the NHS to make provision for underresourced mental health facilities.

Mr Bridge is himself aware of the benefits of gaming for those suffering mental health disorders as his own brother has been living with schizophrenia for the last twelve years.

He commented: “Playing video games allows people to focus on something quite simple.

“When they’re doing that, it’s much easier to communicate with them.”

The site has already received pledges for 10 PCs and various gaming consoles. If you yourself would like to donate your old X-Box or Playstation then log on to www.inpractice.org/play/ to find out more.

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NEWS

FEBRUARY.05.2007 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

A question of identity Steve Myerscough Reporter

Student Blues Organisation warns that over 600,000 of Britain’s students are suffering from depression Eleanor Morrey Reporter AN ORGANISATION has claimed that depression affects over 600,000 of the UK student population.

According to Students Against Depression, which runs an advice and resource website, the stress of university is a key early trigger of depression for many young people.

The organisation is urging students to be vigilant for signs of depression amongst their peers and encourages anyone with concern to seek advice.

This warning is particularly relevant as February is renowned for being one of the most depressing months of the

year.

Research by ‘Mind’ has shown that as many as one in four people will be affected by depression at some point in their lives.

Michael Lord from Students Against Depression commented: “With a new term underway, most students will be loving university life, but for many others their time as a student is marred by depression.”

Student life can demand a huge amount of pressure, for many it is the first time away from home as well as dealing with the academic stresses and financial pressures. For some, the experimentation with alcohol or drugs can worsen feelings of depression.

Depression affects different people

STUDENTS are being challenged to think more carefully about their beliefs this week.

The Christian Union will be out on campus for Id:Entity, a week of events planned to give students the chance to hear about, and question, the society’s beliefs.

There will be social events, a music night, and a number of talks looking at contemporary challenges for Christianity.

Many events will be hosted by The Woodville Pub, starting on Tuesday with a night of live music played by a local jazz band and other musicians.

Free food is on offer to penniless students at lunchtime talks in the pub’s basement.

Meetings in the Biosciences and

Psychology Refectories will be held on the following evenings, taking the format of a talk and discussion.

All the talks are designed to give a Christian response to the issues we face in society today and the arguments against Christianity, while also exploring the true identity of Jesus.

Subjects will include science, truth, success and organised religion.

An extra opportunity for questions will be given on Friday when the Christian Union will be having a Q&A session in The Taf, giving you the chance to grill a panel from the CU. The Christian Union’s co-president Ben Read said: “The week will be a focused time when we try to share our faith with friends and fellow-students.

“We believe Jesus is more than just any old religious leader, and want to help people think about who he is.”

in different ways but experts warn of the tell-tale signs such as a generally low mood, hopelessness, pessimism and feelings of worthlessness or guilt.

Students Against Depression advise anyone with these feelings to log onto www.studentdepression.org as a first port of call.

The website is full of information and advice on student depression from triggers, help to overcome depression as well as real life stories from fellow sufferers.

It is also worth approaching student Support Services which are designed to help students cope by providing health and counselling services for anyone who may need them free of charge.

Christian Union University kept takes University down University forced to keep halls to court prices down by Union Corinne Rhoades Reporter A UNIVERSITY that placed a ban on its Christian Union has been taken to court.

Exeter University suspended its Christian Union from the official list of student societies last year, claiming its policies and activities ignored equal opportunities.

However, the CU states that the “blatant infringement” of their rights has left them with no alternative but legal action.

The CU has employed a leading Civil Rights Barrister to aid them in their case which is expected to reach the High Court in London during April.

Despite this, the society seemed reluctant to take the step against their CROSS: Christians retaliate INSET: Exeter Uni Students’ Guild.

The Guild suspended the society last year and banned it from using University premises or finances.

Yet the CU committee stated that legal action was the “very last thing” they wanted to take.

They stressed their willingness to consider their policies with the Guild had they been reinstated in full.

The 50-year-old society claimed that the recent introduction of the Uni’s equal opportunities policy failed to support their right as Christians to the “freedoms of speech, belief, and association”.

The Students’ guild maintained that the suspension was not to do with religious beliefs but to prevent the exclusion of students from student-funded societies.

However, Pod Bhogal, a spokesman for the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship said: “The CU’s desire to be led solely by Christians is no different to that of a women’s rugby team wishing to exclude men.”

slamming the increase

William Taylor Reporter NEXT YEAR’S freshers will be spared an increase in their cost of living after the Students’ Union won a victory over the University.

A settlement has been reached after the Union refused to accept an increase of up to 28% in the cost of Halls of Residence proposed by the University.

The colossal increases would have affected students staying in accommodation such as University Hall, Senghennydd Court, Roy Jenkins, Cartwright Court and Talybont North.

If the University had won, there would no longer be any accommodation available for less than £2000 per year.

The University planned to increase the price of some areas of Talybont and

University Hall to an enormous £2,800 per year. Union President Joe AlKhayat said: “As a Union we felt it was crucial for us to take a stand against the University on this issue.”

Joe Al-Khayat and Vice President Ed Jones met with the University to voice the students’ opposition to the University’s proposed price increases.

Al-Khayat told the gair rhydd: “A negotiated settlement was reached which would see any increases spread over two years, saving some of next year’s freshers up to £350.”

He said that the Union “accepts that refurbishment work has been done on some University accommodation.”

Al-Khayat and Jones are delighted with the result, as they strongly believe that it would be unacceptable to ask next years’s freshers to pay an average of 17% more for accommodation as well as increased top up fees.

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FEBRUARY.05.2007 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

We will not be moved Students to sit outside Vice- Chancellor’s office in protest against top-up fees rising Lee Macaulay Reporter CARDIFF STUDENTS have vowed to send a message to University Vice Chancellor, Dr David Grant, by staging a protest against increased top-up fees outside his office.

A sit-in protest, organised by Cardiff Students’ Union and Cardiff Socialist Students, will be held next Wednesday, February 7, at noon outside the Vice Chancellor's office.

The protest will show opposition to the revelation in a recent Guardian survey that most senior staff in 40 of Britain’s universities are in favour of the cap on top-up fees being lifted to £6,000 a year, and possibly as much as £10,000 a year for science courses.

Only 40 out of 100 top universities answered the survey, and most warned that fees could rise after the review in 2009, when the first students to be affected by the changes will graduate.

Gerald Blee, spokesperson for Socialist Students, said: “We’ve been campaigning for years on the idea that tuition fees should be abolished and that education should be free.

“Dr Grant is a very important target for this campaign because he’s part of the Russell Group (a group of the top 20 research-led universities, including Cardiff) who are lobbying to remove the £3,000 cap, which we think is very dangerous.

“Already, the average debt is around £10,000 and with top-up fees it’ll be much higher. Paying it back at 9% once you are earning £15,000 means new graduates face higher taxes than millionaires.

“The Vice-Chancellors of the Russell Group are out of touch with the student body. If they had some empathy with us, they wouldn’t ask for no limit on top-up fees, because that’s going to be disastrous for university applications from working class and middle class students.”

The Vice-President of Cardiff Students’ Union, Ed Jones said: “Our student body has voted against top-up fees so this is something that we will support.

However, the act caused much controversy and until recently was the most opposed bill presented by the current government in Parliament.

Students’ Unions and the NUS lobbied hard against the new regime, climaxing with a mass demonstration in London in 2003.

paigning for free education’.

Mr Blee added: “We’re realistic and we know that this move on its own isn’t going to defeat top-up fees and tuition fees but it will build more support for the campaign and put more pressure on the Vice Chancellor and Government.

“It also gets the Students’ Union more involved and they've fully supported the campaign.

“Cardiff students can get involved by coming to the lobby. We’ll be at the gates of the main building at noon.”

“...new graduates face higher taxes than millionaires.”

“Welsh universities are under-funded compared to English ones and the Union has raised a motion with NUS Wales to lobby for better government funding for Welsh universities. The solution is not to take money from students to close the funding gap.

“The Aldwich Group (the Students’ Unions of Russell Group members) is planning to lobby Parliament against top-up fees in February.

“Alan Johnson, Education Secretary, once said that ‘students would learn to love top-up fees’. We’re going to send Valentines cards to those in power to say that students don’t and won’t love top up fees.”

Dr Grant has, so far, not commented.

The top-up fee debate began in 1999 when the Labour government went back on a manifesto promise by introducing plans for top-up fees in Parliament.

Abigail Whittaker Reporter MONEY MAY be used to attract more students to compete for the Union’s non-sabbatical roles next year.

Union President, Joe Al-Khayat, is fronting a pledge to introduce salaries after finding that there has been little competition for the previously unpaid positions.

It is hoped that heightened competition will aid the search for a highly committed candidate to support our sabbatical officers.

IF YOU want to rally the VC’s office: - Meet at the main gates of the Main Building at 12pm on Wednesday February 7

STUDENT PROTESTERS: Socialist Students have been campaigning against top-up fees for years, including this demonstration in London, June 2005

The Student Council will vote on this issue at the AGM. It is also likely that next year they will create an additional non-sabbatical officer in the form of a Heath representative.

Al-Khayat said: “The union is about representation of our students.

“If a student is interested in getting paid to facilitate student welfare as opposed to working elsewhere, we should give them a platform to address this by paying them to work here.

“It will be invaluable to their student experience.”

Non-sabbs to be paid PHOTO: Sarah Day

The system was introduced in 2006, with this year’s intake being the first to pay top up fees.

The situation is complicated in Wales by the Welsh Assembly’s decision not to charge Welsh nationals and, for the next two years, other UK students top-up fees by way of extra grants to Welsh universities The NUS has recently lent support of the Socialist Students’ Campaign to Defeat Fees and wished CDF ‘all the best in harnessing as much support as possible in this vital period for cam-

UNION: Soon to be awash with non-sabb wannabes?

Minority report James Temperton Reporter BLACK AND ASIAN students are less likely to get a first class degree, putting them at a disadvantage when they leave university to seek employment.

According to a study conducted by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), those least likely to attain firsts were black Caribbean, black African and Chinese students.

The team used a statistical model based on a number of factors to predict what level degree 65,000 undergraduates would get.

This model allowed for student’s socio-economic background, prior academic achievement, subject of study, age and the type of higher education institution they attended all of which were considered alongside their ethnicity.

The model predicted that only 3% of black Caribbean and other black

students would obtain firsts whilst just 4% of black African, 5% of Bangladeshi and Pakistani students would achieve top marks.

This compared to 13% of those termed white and from the UK or Ireland and 16% of other white students.

Higher Education Minister, Bill Rammell, said the government was still totally committed to ensuring that people from all backgrounds and areas of society are able to benefit from higher education.

“That is why we undertook this research and why we have already asked the Higher Education Academy and Equality Challenge Unit to start immediate follow up work with higher education institutions, to investigate these results further.

“We have to ensure that every student regardless of race or sex is given equal opportunity to succeed within higher education. This is both a social and economic necessity.”

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NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

PHOTO: ADAM GASSON

NEWS

FEBRUARY.05.2007

Oh... Professor Edwards

Huw Edwards receiving an honorary Cardiff University Professorship in recognition of his contribution to UK broadcasting and his long term commitment to the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies

“I had an absolutely brilliant time as a student in Cardiff. I have to say when I was here in the late 70s, early 80s Cardiff actually wasn’t a very bright place, but today it’s a very vibrant city. There was none of that when I was here but there was a very good student community and I was here for four years and you learn to love a place...I would feel that a big part of my professional life was missing if I wasn’t here in Wales,” Huw told gair rhydd.

You’ve got to have faith Many students believe universities need to make provision for religious needs Andy Rennison Political Editor OVER THREE-QUARTERS of students in Britain believe that further education should make provision for religious needs, according to a new poll.

The survey, conducted by Focus Consultancy, also found that 55% of those questioned felt that “values, beliefs and faiths” were important in their lives.

The findings follow on from the last education white paper, in which the government highlighted the benefits of integrating faith into colleges.

Two-thirds of further education staff agreed that students aged 16 and over should be entitled to “social, moral, spiritual and cultural development”.

Institutions have been attempting to increase pastoral support for their pupils, but this new survey reveals that many students want their colleges to go further.

Those polled suggested many com-

mitments, including quiet rooms for prayer, group discussions on faith in tutorials, catering for special diets and observance of the various religious calendars.

Faith’s role in the classroom is viewed as part of the government’s drive to promote good values and social cohesion in colleges.

Last week, education secretary Alan Johnson, called for more focus on “core British values of justice and tolerance” in schools.

Religious leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams welcomed the findings, as did NUS President Gemma Tumelty.

The survey adds to the ongoing debate about the place of religion in public institutions.

Rev Christopher Wilson, who runs a multifaith chaplaincy in Cambridge, has argued that environments such as colleges should accommodate diversity along religious grounds.

He said: “If we don’t provide public spaces where different faiths can encounter one another safely, then we

risk leaving the only forum being those of unhelpful agendas.”

Last year a memo from government to universities encouraged the monitoring of students deemed suspicious, amid fears that extremist agendas were spreading through UK campuses.

Voting age may lower Corinne Rhoades Reporter WELSH TEENS may soon be able to vote at the age of 16.

Proposals put forward by the Welsh Liberal Democrats call for the voting age to be lowered for Assembly and council elections.

Lib Dem spokesperson, Eleanor

Language barrier Lee Macaulay Reporter

JOHNSON: Wants more focus on “core British values”

Burnham, said: “At that age you can already pay tax, get married, leave school and fight for your country but currently you are not old enough to vote.”

Young people will be prepared by learning more about politics in school and college.

If the plans are pushed through, they could also serve on their local council.

UK GRADUATES were warned this week that they risk missing out on a crucial first job after university because they can only speak English fluently.

Specialist recruitment agency, Euro London Appointments, have warned graduates that they risk falling behind in the global job market because they lack language skills.

They also emphasized that UK students need to look beyond Europe when learning languages due to the shortage of candidates fluent in languages of growing economies such as Asia and the Middle East.

Cardiff University offers standalone language course through the Centre for Lifelong Learning, and the Students’ Union offers Welsh and British Sign Language through the Student Development Unit.

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FEBRUARY.05.2007 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

MedClub to change Controversy as former Union turned into café Continued from front page wards. Favourable changes also noted were the provision of hot food and the possibility of hiring the venue.

However, controversially, these new facilities may result in the modification, and in some cases, removal of existing MedClub features, including objects of Union heritage and most notably the bar.

The University assures that historical objects from the building such as plaques detailing former student presidents will be treated ‘sensitively’ and ‘appropriately’. There will be consideration as to whether bar facilities can be relocated elsewhere on campus, potentially the Sports and Social Club.

At this stage, the MedClub and its

“At the moment the MedClub is a dead space that just sells jumpers.” bar is open just one night a week and Union representatives admit that for the last few years, the establishment has financially been making a loss.

An equally significant change may be the official downgrading of the MedClub from the status of a Students’ Union.

Student councillor, Ben Hill believes that the re-development will result in a “step away from representa-

tion” which the University should be attempting to strengthen.

He said: “Change is not a bad thing – the conversion of the site might attract more people.

“The main issue is a need for communication with students to find out what they want.”

Union Vice President, Ed Jones believes this development may work to improve communication and representation with Heath students.

“This year’s exec has proposed that we have a new position called the Heath Campus Officer, which would be a non-sabbatical role. The idea received good feedback at Student Council and will now go to the AGM.” The MedClub has been a matter of controversy since the merger between Cardiff University and the University of Wales College of Medicine in September 2004.

Prior to the merger, the Medbar was well known for its popularity, with favourite events including ‘Back to School Night’ and ‘Toga Night’, and it was expected to prosper as a result of the union.

However, due to a number of factors – particularly, the closure of a hall of residence above the establishment – attendance to the 500-capacity bar has been in steady decline.

Former College President of Biosciences, Russell Simpson, commented: “[The MedClub] is a dead space that is not being utilised to its full potential.”

While he supports the renovation of

the site, he maintains its role as a Students’ Union is integral. He said: “It should provide the same services as the Union on Park Place, not just sell jumpers. Access to student representation is very important.”

President of the Medical Society, Jason O’Neil agreed, saying: “The Club is definitely not used very much at the moment and MedSoc welcomes the University’s investment.

“However, with many existing eating places, there is a concern that the café might be duplicating what’s already here…”

Becky Holt, 3rd-year medic, said: “I think it’s good because now we have integrated halls, we all have friends

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE: MedClub could become a cybercafe who aren’t medics so we don’t socialise there very much in the evenings.

“It will be used much more as a cyber café as we can go there during the day.”

Jamie Evans, a 2nd-year radiographer, and a student rep is reluctant to see the Medbar close.

“There’s a split view. We [football, hockey and rugby teams] use it, but others will get more use out of it as a café.”

He added that for the second-years, it felt as if these plans had not been publicised widely enough.

There is a consensus that more stu-

dents should voice their opinions on the proposed changes.

Up until February 16, views can be emailed to seu@cf.ac.uk. Following the results of this electronic consultation, an open meeting will be arranged at the MedClub (Neuadd Meirionnydd, Ground Floor) for suggestions and questions. The time and date of this meeting are yet to be announced.

The MedClub is currently closed due to flooding which occurred last week while renovation work was being carried out. Provisionally, it is to be reopened by February 5.

gairrhydd 9

NEWS

FEBRUARY.05.2007 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Cardiff malaria death could have been prevented Coroner says first-year Talybont student would have survived if she had been correctly diagnosed Samantha Shillabeer Reporter A CARDIFF UNIVERSITY student who died of malaria last year would have survived if the disease was identified earlier, claims a Coroner’s report.

Matilda Cooper, known to her friends as Mattie, was found dead in her bed by a housemate in Talybont South on January 26 2006.

The first year Philosophy, Politics and Ancient History student contracted malaria following a Christmas break to Uganda to visit her dad.

It has recently been brought to light that Mattie had three conversations with NHS Direct and a face-to-face consultation with GP Dr Jestyn Harries the next morning, but her condition was not diagnosed.

Cardiff’s Coroner’s Court heard that 19-year-old Mattie suffered flu-like symptoms, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain shortly before her death.

Dr Harries reported that when he saw her at the Cathedral View Medical Centre, Gabalfa, she was experiencing ‘general malaise, tiredness and occasional nausea’, but did not mention that she had just returned from Uganda.

Explaining why he did not ask her if she’d been abroad, Dr Harries said: “It

didn’t occur to me. It wouldn’t be a routine question to every single patient we see.”

After examining her, he diagnosed a viral infection. Mattie died three days later.

Coroner Mary Hassell said: “With the right treatment, her condition was probably curable up to and including her last contact with healthcare professionals.

It wouldn’t be a routine question to every single patient we see “Her malaria was not diagnosed because those healthcare professionals with whom she had contact did not elicit the information that she had been in a high risk malarial area, or elicited the information, but did not realise the significance.”

Tropical disease specialist Dr Ashley Croft told the inquest Mattie’s condition was still ‘curable’ when she visited Dr Harries.

He claimed: “If it’s caught in time, it’s treated very successfully. The care results in complete recovery in almost all cases.”

Mattie had not taken anti-malaria

tablets before travelling to Africa, wrongly believing she was immune to the disease after spending long periods of time in Uganda as a child.

The medical centre did not have her health records as she was a newly registered patient.

After the inquest, Mattie’s mother, Rosamund Wehner, from Devon, condemned healthcare workers who failed to spot the fatal disease: “To ask if somebody has been abroad takes 10 seconds.

“It isn’t difficult and it could make a difference. In this case, it could have made the difference between life and death.

“Something went wrong somewhere. The system fell down. They missed it. I certainly think there ought to be a tidying up of the way these phone calls to NHS Direct link in with doctors.”

Mattie is remembered by friends and family for her generous personality and love of life.

One friend commented that she had “packed more into her 19 years than most people manage in 90”.

Boyfriend Nick Yates, who lived in the same house in Talybont, said: “She was always smiling and she loved life.

I’ll never forget the nights out at the Union. She was always up on stage having fun and laughing with the DJs. She just enjoyed herself so much.”

MATTIE: Was ‘always smiling and she loved life’.

Shaky Foundations Controversy over government proposals to allow colleges to award degrees Abigail Whittaker Reporter THE GOVERNMENT has proposed that the Privy Council will have the discretion to allow colleges to devise and award their own foundation degrees.

The surprise move has caused division in the education sector.

Vice-chancellors of new universities have warned that giving colleges this power would be a blow to the government’s hopes of wider participation, and end the seamless progression of students into higher levels of study at university.

A representative for the University of Derby said that the proposal would create an ‘unintended element of competition’ between further education colleges and universities. Many feel that the value of British universities could be undermined.

Colleges believe that if they have devised and taught a programme, they should have the right to award a degree.

John Hayes, the Conservative party’s spokesman for further education backed the move.

He said: “Further education plays a big part in delivering higher education and foundation degrees. We have undersold this sector for too long.”

10 gairrhydd

NEWS

FEBRUARY.05.2007 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Good for Business Emily Foley Reporter

CARDIFF UNIVERSITY’S business school has been lauded as ‘a highly rated, research-led business school’ which has ‘strong links with a number of overseas universities’ by the Independent.

The school, which is Cardiff’s largest academic department, has been highly rated for both teaching and research.

The school is also commended for its close links with foreign universities. Relationships which were originally based on undergraduate exchanges have now developed to include research programmes.

Its graduates are frequently targeted by employers such as Ford and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A prize education CARDIFF UNIVERSITY has received a runner-up award for securing the 141st ranking in the world’s top 200 universities.

The prize was in the highest climber category of the QS Network Awards and acknowledges the University’s impressive 87-place rise in the Times Higher Educational Supplement World University Rankings.

This award follows Cardiff University’s international success in breaking into the top 100 for Biomedical research and research in the humanities.

INTERNATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT: Society members enjoying last year’s Global Village

Union goes global Samantha Shillabeer Reporter THE CULTURAL fusion of international food, music and dance that is Global Village is returning to Cardiff’s Students’ Union.

Every year the Union holds the charity event in conjunction with the

international society AIESEC. The evening provides students with the opportunity to promote and celebrate their diverse cultures.

It is being held on Sunday February 25 in the Great Hall from 5pm to 8pm, and is followed by the Societies’ Awards after-party in Solus from 8pm to 11pm.

Each stall will feature cultural and

Class discipline Students shocked as fellow pupil arrested in police raid on school Lee Macaulay Reporter STUDENTS AND staff at a Bristol college were shocked when police attempted to arrest a fellow student during a lesson.

The incident occurred in November when a student at City of Bristol college who is alleged to be a failed asylum seeker was arrested in a police raid shortly after an English language lesson.

The police had asked the English teacher permission to arrest the student during the lesson but the teacher did not wish the lesson to be disrupted.

T h e University a n d

College Union (UCU), which represents teachers and lecturers in Further and Higher Education, stated: “The teacher of the class and the other students were left in an extremely distressed state.”

Teachers at the college have expressed concern that Avon and Somerset Constabulary were provided with information about the arrested student’s timetable.

UCU Head of Equality and Employment rights, Roger Kline said: “UCU is always aware of its duty to assist police forces in carrying out their lawful duties but colleges and schools should be sanctuaries for learning, not soft targets for police raids.

“We call upon the police, not just in Bristol but nationwide, to discuss with college managements the kinds of protocols which will allow the law to be observed but which will also take into account the rights and fears of staff and students.”

national delicacies, hot food and beverages, giving students a chance to sample different foods from around the world.

The after-party will feature dances and musical acts from various international societies, as well as DJs and discounted drinks.

Tickets for the event cost £5 and all profits made from the evening will go

to a nominated charity.

Organiser Kate Dobbs said: “I need as many students as possible to get involved in this event as I would love to see every country that is represented at Cardiff University present.

“This event was huge last year, with over 1000 people attending, and I’m hoping it will be even bigger for 2007.”

Time for a change Stacey Hughes Reporter STUDENTS FIND IT hard to be environmentally friendly, even though they recognise the dangers of climate change, a survey has found.

With warnings of the consequences of global warming increasing in frequency, UCAS’ survey showed that 90% of the 54,240 people questioned recognise the impacts of climate change.

However the percentage of those taking action to delay it is small.

40% of students questioned purchase food produced in local shops instead of large chain stores, as the import of food over large distances

adds to Carbon emissions.

Anna Anderson, a Cardiff University student, said: “I try to buy locally produced foods but it’s difficult with Tesco’s being so close.”

Another student, Andrew Hughes, said: “I walk much more now the dangers of global warming have been made apparent.”

It is difficult for first year students, whose electricity bills are included in their accomodation, to be aware of the amount of energy they waste.

For students eager to go green and help save our environment, small efforts such as switching off lights and recycling can go a long way.

gairrhydd 11

WORLD NEWS

FEBRUARY.05.2007 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

The Return of the Hobbit Scientists receive legal backing to continue archaeological dig in search of human ‘hobbits’ Adam Millward News Editor ARCHAEOLOGISTS have gained permission from the Indonesian Government to continue cave excavations in the search for human ‘hobbits’.

The miniature bones, which were discovered on the island of Flores in 2003, caused major dispute and resulted in officials blocking entry to the caves in 2005.

Identification of the bones has put researchers at loggerheads. Some scientists believe a new species of human has been discovered – homo floresiensis – while others favour the explanation that the remains are those of modern humans – homo sapiens – who were short in stature and had a brain defect.

According to Professor Richard “Bert” Roberts, the dig was suspended due to “political sensitivities” but now the “political hurdles” had been overcome. He and his team hope to return to the limestone cave, known as Liang Bua at some point in mid-2007.

Bones were initially found by an Australian-Indonesian group of

archaeologists in 2003. One near-com- these human beings colonised the plete skeleton was found, which the remote Indonesian island, as it is felt team named LB1, along with the that the skill of constructing watercraft would have been beyond their capabilremains of several others.

LB1 has been described as an adult ities.

One possible explanation is natural female, who existed 18,000 years ago.

She would have stood approximately phenomena such as tsunamis, within 1m tall and had a brain capacity simi- which the hominids may have been washed out to sea and swept up on new lar to that of chimps.

A number of features, including islands. long arms and a sloping chin, imply links to more ancient forms of human such as Homo erectus and the even earlier Homo habilis.

The discovery caused an international sensation when unveiled in 2004, as not only did it raise the possibility of a new species of ‘modern’ human, but suggested evolution in southern Asia had been more complex than previously believed.

The director of the excavation, Mike Morwood, believes the area has much more to offer archaeologists: “South-East Asia and East Asia are going to yield an awful lot of surprises and it’s going to make a major contribution to our understanding of hominin [human-like creatures’] evoHOBBITS: Clockwise lution.”

At this stage, it is unknown how - an artist’s impression of H. floresiensis; Frodo Baggins; Map of Flores

A Cold Reception

US meets severe Russian resistance from proposals to install European anti-missile systems Matthew Horwood Reporter

F i n for tuna?

East’s high consumption of blue-fin tuna endangers species’ survival Matthew Horwood Reporter TUNA STOCKS are on the brink of commercial extinction, the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) has warned.

The wildlife charity confirmed that China – with its high demand for sushi dishes – was the main culprit, but stressed that increasing demand from other countries was also to blame.

It stated: “Tuna are fast disappearing with important stocks at high risk due to weak management.”

Bluefin tuna, used in high quality sushi dishes, is “massively overfished” and the spawning of southern Bluefin is down to 90%, the group has

warned.

The charity said that despite efforts made by some governments, many regulators have not enforced quotas in an effort to accommodate the fisheries.

Director of WWF’s Global Marine Programme said: “Sustainable management of the world’s tuna fisheries should be possible, if the will can be found.”

In 2004 almost 2m tons of tuna were caught worldwide, and 530,000 tons were consumed by the Japanese market in 2005.

Japan, which consumes 15% of the world’s fish and has the largest fishing fleet, denies that it has fished illegally, but admits to over-fishing.

US PLANS to install anti-missile defense systems in central Europe have been met with fierce criticism from Moscow.

The U.S wants to build the missile interception systems in Poland and the Czech Republic, but Russian officials have condemned the plans as an attempt to destabilize the balance of power in Europe.

A US state department spokesman said that the missile interception systems are to protect Europe and its allies from Iran, North Korea and other “rogue regimes”.

But Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, rejected the claims, insisting that there is no threat of attack from North Korea or Iran because they do not have, nor are able to acquire, long-range missiles.

He said: “Now we have a reasonable question to ask: what is the target of this system?”

Questioned on how Russia would respond to the move, Ivanov dismissed immediate retaliation but said that strategic nuclear forces would “ensure national security under any scenario.”

General Vladimir Popovkin, a commander in the space division of the Russian army, also rejected the claims, and raised concerns over the Czech base being used to spy on Russia.

“It’s doubtful that Iranian or North Korean rockets would go across Poland or the Czech Republic. The radar in the Czech Republic would be able to monitor rocket installations in central Russia and the Northern Fleet,” he said.

Senior Russian military figures have warned that they see the system as a “real threat” to Moscow and have warned of unspecified measures in response.

The US state department has confirmed that Poland and the Czech Republic have agreed to host the defense systems, despite a survey conducted last year that revealed twothirds of Poles are against the plans and several hundred protesting in Prague after the announcement.

The news comes days after Britain and the US raised concerns over China launching a missile to destroy a defunct satellite in space.

Analysts have pointed out that the launch represented an indirect threat to the US because of a possibility of spy satellites being damaged.

World News in brief Victoria Lane Reporter

Amaz-on-ing A 52-YEAR-OLD Slovenian is in training to become the first person to swim the entire length of the Amazon.

Martin Strel hopes to finish the 3,375 mile swim in 70 days, averaging 85km a day.

A team of 45, including doctors and trainers will accompany him through Peru and Brazil in an attempt to get into the Guinness Book Of World Records.

Feline down A 12-YEAR-OLD CAT named Twiglet has been prescribed anti-depressants because she is being bullied by other cats.

Her owner gives her a daily dose of a drug that is similar to Prozac.

Twiglet also attends anger management classes as, in frustration, she is nipping her owners.

The drug calms her down and alleviates anxiety, as she is frightened to go outside.

Teeth thief A 54-YEAR-OLD car thief has been tracked down by police after he left his false teeth at the scene of the crime.

Mr Lekowsky stole a car stereo in Poland but knocked his teeth out when he was making his escape.

The robber tried to tell the police that his dentures had been stolen and that he had not been near the car.

The police charged him.

gairrhydd 13

INVESTIGATIONS

FEBRUARY.05.2007 INVESTIGATIONS@gairrhydd.COM

ks c lo w o d in w n e k ro b ; rk o w e ip p y Faulty electrics; shodd

S R O R R O H G HOUSIN not up to is iff rd Ca in g in us ho t en ud st Everyone knows that how bad it is. st ju es at ig st ve in d yd rh ir ga scratch.

DAMP; BROKEN LOCKS; FILTH. Just some of the shocking things found by two undercover gair rhydd reporters in Cathays.

After visiting a number of properties with a number of different agencies posing as first year students looking for a house, we found that the standard of housing is as low as ever.

The first house we were taken around had clear problems with damp. We were told that every house in the street had similar problems and that it was a typical issue with terrace houses in Cathays. The agency assured us that the landlord would provide dehumidifiers to help the damp problem, but that they would have to be used in every room of the house to ensure that our clothes and belongings did not rot. When questioned about who would pay for the electricity powering the essential dehumidifiers he refused to say.

Many houses we were taken to had issues with security: the landlord couldn’t lock the door behind us when visiting one property and another house we saw had ill-fitting windows and it was not clear whether or not they could close properly.

One of the most common problems we encountered was dirt. Almost every house we were taken around had filthy carpets, walls and sofas.

The leather sofa in one property had been ripped to shreds and the residents told us that they had been waiting for new ones since they had moved in in September. Another female student told us she had had to buy her own mattress as she could not sleep on the one she had been given.

Students’ tales

gair rhydd also spoke to students around university to hear about their housing horrors. We found stories of students living with rats, houses where current residents warned us not to live there and one student’s living conditions actually affecting her health.

One student said: “The second we entered, the students currently living there warned us not to take the house as there were holes in the walls. We were shocked to find this was true and the property was in a horrible state with damp, broken doors and a bathroom that was falling apart all over the place.

“It didn’t get any better, in another property there were snail trails on the floor, a terrible draught and when one of my mates put his foot down hard the floor collapsed beneath it. All for a bargain price of £240 per month.”

Second year med student Andy Todd had problems with his house after he moved in. He told gair rhydd: “Two weeks into the spring semester, I woke up one morning to a very unpleasant smell from behind my bed.

I moved it out to find a dead mouse curled up. The letting agency is aware that we have mice after repeated requests to deal with the problem but they still haven’t done anything about it. I disposed of it and sterilized the whole area. A similar smell is coming from behind the kitchen units in our kitchen so we think there might be another dead one there.”

Louise Winer, a second year ecology student, also had problems with her house after she moved in. She said: “When I visited the house in the summer there was black mould up

use .. on finding a ho For more advice. a r fo n ke t being ta in Cardiff withou t n’ Do e th of py ride, pick up a co e. Written by the id Panic! housing gu vice and represen ad n io Un ’ ts en Stud e th on e bl is availa tation centre, it Union, or at e th of or flo third ts.com en ud st iff www.card

one of the walls in my bedroom as the drain pipe on the outside wall wasn’t properly connected and there was water seeping in through a crack in the outside wall. I complained to our letting agency, came back in August, they still hadn’t done anything, when I returned again in September they’d just painted over it. My bed, clothes and the walls are always cold and damp. I’ve had to go to the doctors to get more inhalers as my asthma has got worse. Since September I’ve been back another two or three times and they just don’t do anything about it.”

Another student, who wished to remain nameless, said that she had had problems with security for three years in two different houses, both acquired through the same agency.

She said: “The lock on my bedroom has never worked. Not in the house I lived in as a second and third year, and not in my new house I live in as a fourth year.”

She continued: “My parents are always on about how bad it is, and how my insurance won’t pay up if something gets stolen. I know I should make them do something, but they just won’t. I’ve been on at them for three years now and it’s never happened.”

Cardiff Student Letting

The Union-run letting agency aims to improve the quality of student housing in Cathays and Roath. They have a strict vetting procedure for new landlords and it is hoped that students will use this service to get quality houses rather than use local agents who have no duty of care to their customers.

To find out more you can call 02920781525, their website www.cardiffstudentletting.com or pop into the office on the ground floor.

Lee Maculay and Hollie Bassett

How the law will soon protect you

Next year, new legislation comes into force requiring landlords to improve the quality and safety of student homes. Any house in Cardiff that has 5 people or more and is over 3 storeys must be registered with Cardiff City Council and obtain a licence for 5 years. If a landlord breaches the terms of this licence, by failing on housing standards for example, they can be fined up to £5,000. Landlords with bad housing records may be declined licences. Landlords will also be expected to keep their homes safe to live in by Cardiff City Council, as the council now has a duty to intervene if the health of tenants is in danger. The council will also be able to force landlords to comply with health and safety measures. Finally, from April 2006, all bonds will have to be lodged with the Cardiff Bond Board who will act as an independent body in case of a dispute between you and your landlord.

gairrhydd 15

LETTERS

FEBRUARY.05.2007 LETTERS@gairrhydd.COM

letters@gairrhydd.com

If you want to get anything off your chest then write a letter about it, we welcome any opinion on any topic.

I AM SORRY to hear that James H has had unsatisfactory service from University Library staff (Letters, gair rhydd 4 Dec 2006).

Which libraries does he visit? My Library colleagues try to act in a pleasant and helpful manner towards library users.

As a mother of one university student and a daughter planning to go to university, I have sympathy with students who inadvertently forget to renew a book and have to pay a fine.

Nevertheless, fines are necessary so that the maximum number of students can make use of the library facilities, in a fair way.

Like James' comment about librarians, I can quote certain incidents when students have been rude, demanding and obnoxious. However the majority of students I meet in the library are polite and genial - a pleasure to work with.

Surely students and staff have the same aims - let's work together. Please James, don't tar everybody with the same brush.

By the way, regarding James' comment about library jobs, haven't the taxes from the wages from my library job gone towards paying for his education to date?

Beth Southern, Library Assistant

NUS Ceasefire needed Dear gair rhydd, AFTER READING THE article "where Annan fears to tred" published in issue 830, I have a couple

Ghaith Nassar, President of the Palestinian Solidarity Society

Smoking age Dear gair rhydd, HAVING JUST READ Hannah Windsor's article on smoking I'm impressed by her determination to protect the rights of 16 year olds to destroy their lungs. It's very noble.

We all know that 14-year-olds send the oldest looking kid in to buy cigarettes for them all. The lanky 14-yearold that passes for 16 wont be able to buy cigarettes if the age limit is 18.

Don’t fancy writing a letter after writing all those essays? Text us your thoughts and opinions.

Please note, we have a new phone up here in gair rhydd towers, and so have a new number.

Please note: new number

Dear gair rhydd

of things to say.

First of all I know that Israel could not care less if the NUS called for a ceasefire, but it would have sent a message, it would have said that the British students are against the Israeli policies.

It would have got more students interrested in what is going on and raised their awareness about the subject.

Back to the motion that was discussed in the Student Council this week, the article forgot to mention that the motion did not ask the NUS to send its student peacekeeping forces to the area nor to send its army to fight. All it asked for was to "1. Lobby the British government to call on Israel to implement international law, including the UN resolutions for it to withdraw from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. .2 Work with Palestine Solidarity Society to raise awareness of these violations of International law caused by Israel’s occupation." and as far as I know the Union can spare some of its time for such an important cause. And as British citizens you can lobby your government to do what you think is right.

text: 07813753762

Library lovelies

Also, we all knew 16 year olds who would buy a packet of fags and then sell them on at 20p a time at the school gates. Hopefully, by the time these kids are 18 they will either be too mature to sell cigarettes to kids or be earning better money in a real job.

So while raising the age that people can legally buy cigarettes wont stop everyone smoking underage it will make it harder for kids to get cigarettes and this will make a difference.

Chris Chopping

Give us a bargain!

Dear gair rhydd, I HAVE JUST about had enough with the expensive prices in the cafes around the university campus.

The sandwiches are always over £2.50 and they’re not even that nice!

The prices of drinks and snacks are ridiculous too and those tiny bowls of fruit are a rip off. These cafes are meant for students so why aren’t they charging reasonable prices that students can afford?

As well as this, the choice in the cafes is really limited. There is no hot food available only sandwiches and wraps and a cold pasta salad if you’re lucky. The facilities at my college were better than this and I didn’t even pay to go there! They did bargain paninis, salad buffets for 80p and delicious hot meals. I need something to warm my cockles on these cold days!

However, I don’t want to have to trek all the way over to CF10 in my hour-long break to get something decent to eat.

Final year journalism student

@

letter of the week

Solus, sort it out Dear gair rhydd, HAVING RETURNED TO Cardiff University this term after a year in industry, I had hoped that somebody, by now, would have briefed the Union bouncers on decent nightclub etiquette. I was tragically naive to think that things may have changed.

Solus is not generally an aggressive place (there will always be exceptions), but the heavy-handedness, lack of discretion (perhaps even common sense) and often violent manner in which the bouncers conduct themselves will only encourage other people to act in the same way. They are the course of so much angst in the union and a real divide between the students and the bouncers has developed.

The bouncers really need to change their tact or at least offer an explanation On Saturday night a group of us from the Rowing Club were all thrown (literally) out of the Union building. What for? Who knows. I know everyone pleads their own innocence, but I saw nothing to prompt the bouncers to act in the way they did. We were dancing in a large group and probably bumped into people (who doesn't? the place was rammed), but were not aggressive towards anyone. They seem to take great pleasure from making as

much of a scene as possible. It was embarassing. My arm was twisted up my back and I was shoved across the dancefloor. I was taking a photo at the time, so quite why I was taken out will remain a mystery. The bouncers charged across the club with scant regard for whoever may be in their way. Girls were being knocked over and it was obvious to see the annoyance of other people. It was a bit surreal to be thrown out and be apologising to people that I was being pushed through.

Other people were dragged along the floor and kicked. Why do they think they can act like that? The most frustrating bit is that once you are outside they offer no reason for chucking you out, except that "sometimes it just happens (with various swear words)". Sometimes what happens?

Sometimes they get bored and decide to chuck people out just because they can? I can understand throwing people out who are fighting, but nobody was. I don't go to Solus very often because one night is the same as the next, but up until that point it was great. The bouncers really need to change their tact or at least offer an explanation.

Whilst I am getting things off my chest: how much did the Union spend to put those two screens up above the entrance? Surely a shocking waste of money. If they were a genuine priority then what else is on the list to be done? Money spent on pointless additions like that, which bring no improvement to the Univesity, could be put to much better use. Like improving the facilities at Park Place gym - at least something that people will use. Rant over.

Final year student

16 gairrhydd

POLITICS

FEBRUARY.05.2007 POLITICS@gairrhydd.COM

Electioneering ‘07

With Britain gearing up for a ballotpacked 12 months, Politics this week looks at the state of our democractic system. As Downing Street prepares for its PM-elect, Politics examines the role of the common voter in Brown’s ascension.

Amy Grier Political Correspondent

T

he debate over leadership of the Labour Party continues to hot up, as Labour executives start proposals for PM-in-waiting Brown to face a formal ballot to confirm him as the new leader when Tony steps down.

There have been whisperings of a leadership contest for some time, but the possible challenges from Home Secretary John Reid and Old Labour backbencher John McDonnell seem to be dropping like flies against the overwhelming power of Gordon.

Whether there is a challenge or not, the decision of who is the next leader will be made by an electoral college comprised of three equal factions; MPs, MEPs and Party/Trade Union members. All in all, around one million people will have their chance to say who will be the next Prime Minister.

None of these will be common voters.

Should this be the case? Despite the fact that we are meant to vote for the political party and not the PM, a leader

is clearly integral to the popularity and direction of their party.

Shouldn’t Britain get the chance to formally elect their own Prime Minister rather than having him ushered in by the back door? Or should we test his metal to see what Brown is really made of before submitting him to the vote?

Around one million people will have their chance to say who will be the next Prime Minister A poll taken by The Times in early January told that 56% of voters want an election when Blair’s successor takes over. Only 38 % believe that the new Prime Minister should wait the full term until 2010. The survey went further in showing that if there was an election called tomorrow, 39 % of voters would vote Conservative compared to only 32 % Labour.

These figures, however, are based on the presumption that Blair is still

VOTERS: Brown may take on the electorate to enter Number 10 Prime Minister; when Brown’s name was mentioned the Tory lead slumped.

In the present climate, Brown may be more popular than Blair, but is still under serious threat from David Cameron. Analysts from all sides have disputed the validity of these statistics based on hypothetical questions. After all, Blair has not even set a definite exit date, and much depends on the politi-

cal environment at the time of takeover.

However, both Cameron’s Tories and Sir Ming’s Libs are pushing and preparing for an early election as soon as the successor is decided. If we take it that the next Labour leader will be Brown, there are various pros and cons to succumbing to such outside pressure and calling a full-scale election.

A snap vote would show Brown distancing himself from the shadow of Blair and his policies, and could provide a surge in Labour support as voters rally around their new leader.

On the other hand, faced with rising Conservative support, bad press engulfing the Home Office, and the ‘cash for honours’ row refusing to subside, it could mean that Brown loses out before he has even unpacked his toothbrush at Number 10.

There could also be another, more serious consequence of going to the country so soon: the financial cost.

Labour’s money troubles have been well documented, and some think that the strain of a full-scale electoral campaign may be too much for even budget-busting Brown to bear.

Labour’s cashflow quagmire is in stark contrast to the Tories’ financial success, with local fundraising providing a fiscal platform for Cameron’s campaign. An early election could put the Conservatives in power and Labour even more in the red.

Despite the risks, Brown should and will call an election whenever he assumes the premiership. The political and public pressure is already mounting and one would think that he won’t shy away from the challenge.

One question that has not been asked, is would this dramatic change of events be enough to stir the student population from their armchair apathy towards the ailing government? Is a change as good as a rest?

Political commentators up and down the land are musing these conundrums, as after ten years under Blairite command the impending rise of a new captain is shaking everybody’s boat.

But only one thing in politics is a sure-fire guarantee, and that is that nothing in politics is guaranteed for sure. The dull but invariable answer is wait and see; 2007 looks to be an eventful year.

Amid the increased attention paid to divided social groups, Tim Hewish asks whether US-style bloc votes could ever dominate Britain.

Bloc parties

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hy do we vote? Is it because we believe in the principle of ‘one person one vote’, or do we feel that strength in numbers is the only way to be heard in Parliament? In recent weeks the latter has drawn many commentators into discussing such a dilemma.

Bloc voting, where certain groups of people unite on particular political and social issues, is poised to forge a significant part of the electorate, one that parties cannot overlook.

It has been widely acknowledged that the Christian vote allowed President Bush into power, and then four years later let him stay there.

However, rallying a group together along class and racial lines is not easy and what has often been neglected is how US churchgoers managed to put together this massively influential bloc.

Journalists found that the Bush campaign for the White House played second fiddle to the extremely well organised Christian movement, which had

voting cards down every aisle and next to every Bible.

Coupled with this were politics from the pulpit. Enshrined into the Christian psyche was a responsibility to vote, and since he announced he was running for the White House it has become commonplace to see Bush’s name written on inflatable crosses; ironic perhaps, considering how in last November’s mid-term elections he was crucified.

Yet America is a strange place and differs greatly from the UK, despite its Anglophone links. Voting is less a fanfare and spectacle back here across the pond and fewer billions are spent on getting politicians into power.

Still, the question lingers: will bloc voting ever be similarly strong in Britain? At present, donors come from the rich and famous, as the cash for peerage scandal clearly shows, while churches do not actively tie themselves to a political party.

Cameron certainly hasn’t pandered to a religious following as of yet, while the Lib Dems would probably deem it too illiberal to have a faith; this leaves us with Labour. Many right wing dailies have commented on the fact that Blair listens to ‘community leaders’ when addressing social issues, par-

ticularly hot topics such as Islam’s role in society.

By giving a keen ear to Muslim figureheads, it could be argued that Blair is actively seeking the Muslim vote, but blocs only work if they are willing to campaign with the vigour that matches the US Christians.

The Christian vote allowed President Bush into power... and let him stay there It would be difficult to envisage largely disenfranchised and divided groups such as Muslims, the Black community or even Christians ever mobilising into a single voting voice.

Over the Atlantic, Bush seeks the Hispanic vote and Democrats the Black vote, but would Cameron or Brown want to campaign so specifically on race or religion? In a recent survey, Britons were still shown to be obsessed with class, so perhaps it would make more sense for Cameron to plead to the middles while Brown sticks to the workers?

Along racial lines, it is unfair to say

that all ethnic groups vote in the same way, as economic and religious beliefs will invariably play a part.

The Tory party used to be defenders of the faith, much like Bush’s neo-conservatives, but Cameron is shaking off old baggage in favour of a social, liberal agenda. Blair claims to be a Christian, yet rarely trumpets his religion and has come up against the Church repeatedly – the recent sexual orientation laws for example.

The fact is, it requires those actually in power from a certain group to galvanise such support. Bush is a born again Christian so this works for America, but there are few potential voting blocs with candidates in the UK. Blocs grow and wane according to the development of issues and attitudes – 40 years ago homosexuality was illegal, and now it’s a crime to discriminate between straight and gay.

Perhaps then the answer is that Britain, unlike America with its staunch Republicans and Democrats, is too changeable a society to succumb to entrenched bloc voting. But nothing is certain, and with the country currently shining spotlights on our racial and religious divisions, the bloc potential lingers on our fringes.

gairrhydd

17

POLITICS

FEBRUARY.05.2007 POLITICS@gairrhydd.COM

A democratic evolution

Voter apathy may plague politicians’ dreams, but our changing democracy has in fact never looked rosier, as Politics Editor Andy Rennison explains.

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n the ferocious market of political jargon, the word ‘democracy’ spent the entire twentieth century as a fairly secure investment.

While tarnished terms such as ‘feminism’ and ‘Marxist’ fell by the wayside, politicians could always be sure of peppering their rhetoric with ‘democracy’ as one overwhelmingly positive concept.

This single word carried enough weight to immediately grab the high ground for any leader, whether they were battling the IRA, addressing a union strike or merely bleeding Communism dry. But the new millennium has seen democracy’s stock plummet.

Now it bears the scars of dangerous misapplication. The invasion of Iraq was trumpeted with the idea of spreading democracy, a phrase that Bush still regularly employs in defending the ongoing disaster.

Here in Britain, those in the selfprofessed mainstream simply dismiss extremists like the fascists of the BNP or the Islamic fundamentalists of Hizb-ut-Tahrir as undemocratic, when the democratic thing to do would be to engage and educate these fringe threats.

With nearly every PM press conference the word itself is being entangled in fear, when we are told once again that ‘our democracy is under threat’.

Far from the scent of unity and justice, ‘democracy’ is beginning to reek of division and terror, being used so habitually to warn the public of the dangers we all face.

When politicians tell us that democracy is under threat, they’re not wrong.

But it is not only from Al-Qaeda’s video messages or Kim Jong’s amateur arms race, but from the destruction of

the term itself.

There are many critics and MPs alike who point to the ever-dwindling turnouts at elections as the biggest menace to our Western ways. The numbers certainly don’t lie: 15 years ago over 77 percent of us took a trip to the polling station to vote in a new PM; in 2005, that figure was down to 61 percent.

But it only takes a quick look around our society outside of Westminster to see that democracy is very much alive and well.

Modern-day Britain affords the common man hundreds of ways to exercise his vote. Marking an X on a piece of a paper every four years is no longer the dominant way of expressing a political stance.

Take the current tidal wave of envi-

We see a banana documentary, and we buy a fair trade banana ronmental and ethical issues that has engulfed the country. Recycling is in vogue, every global warning report makes the front page, and demand for fair trade goods is skyrocketing.

Yet voter support for the Green Party has hardly moved, while those mainstream eco-warriors the Lib Dems have actually seen their popularity slip. The fact is that we common consumers vote with our feet and wallets.

Even the ridiculous furore over Big Brother serves to shine a spotlight on people power. Channel Four’s ratings reached unprecedented heights as a few celebrities played out Britain’s

FAIR: buying ethical bananas is just one of many new voting forms racial tensions for a hungry audience.

Feet, wallets, and remote controls.

The Internet, the media, the Freedom of Information Act: these omnipotent tools mean that Johnny Public has almost everything he needs in order to see, hear and know whatever he wants. We see a banana documentary, and we buy a fair trade banana. We see a quasi-racist ‘celebrity’, and we vote her off TV. We see a government failing, misleading and spindoctoring all day long, and we no longer care about elections.

What every Parliamentarian must realise is that while they have been busy turning ‘democracy’ into something it isn’t, the rest of us are happy to let politics rot and simply find other means to voice our vote.

The only way that Westminster can survive this century and get people back into the polling booths is to rekindle the pros of a democratic society – a little engagement, a splash of sincerity – coupled with a recognition that Parliamentary politics is no longer the only option on Britain’s ballot sheet.

visit www.thereddragoncentre.co.uk

The Red Dragon Centre, Cardiff Bay, Hemingway Road CF10 4JY Tel: 02920 256261

In May, both Wales and Scotland head to the polls. But a decade on from the start of devolution, Laura Clements argues that independence is being buried by its own champions.

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ou have to wonder whether five months from now anyone will believe that we are a united kingdom anymore. By this time in May, we will have endured coverage of elections for the Northern Irish Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, not to mention the local government elections.

Domestic devolution has been more or less inevitable ever since some Yankees decided they could look after themselves some 230 years ago. After the US went Australia, India, even Canada; nearly every nation once ruled over from London has gained its well-deserved independence.

And just look at how well they’re doing: Sydney with its opera house, Delhi with its call centres, and Ottawa with its… well, there’s always one isn’t there.

With the Empire a distant memory, it is now the Kingdom that is evolving. Devolved power has offered Wales and Scotland in particular the opportunity to control much of their own affairs and focus on the issues that matter in their own backyards.

Yet devolution is being undermined by the very people who want to take it further.

There are only 14 weeks to go until a new Assembly is elected to the hallowed halls down in Cardiff Bay. Considering this, you would expect the furious campaigning to have begun in earnest, candidates busying themselves from door to door, eager to voice their policies and stake their claim for control over their

own Welsh lands.

So far, however, the only political issue given the spotlight has been, once again, the argument for more independence. Predictably, this clash has taken the form of Plaid Cymru versus The Rest of the World.

Earlier this month, Plaid launched their campaign by attacking other parties for being funded from London, calling for Welsh candidates to only seek backing on this side of the border.

Intentionally or not, the debate has overshadowed the agendas of the main four parties gunning for office.

Scotland too seems unable to escape its nationalist tremors, despite Edinburgh wielding even greater power than Cardiff.

Against the romantic backdrop of the Act of Union’s 300th anniversary, the Scottish National Party renewed its calls for a referendum on full independence, even launching a poster campaign purely to that end.

It is the British public that will decide whether either country should be freed Once again, real politics seems to have taken a backseat to the broken record of patriotic posturing.

Both Plaid Cymru and the SNP have shot themselves in the foot.

Devolution has been, perhaps above all else, a guinea pig for total independence.

It has been a chance for those who wanted more sovereignty to take some of the helm, and prove to both their people and their peers that they can effectively take command.

Positive policies, focusing on what Plaid can do for Wales, and what the SNP can do for Scotland, are what these two parties need, not dishing out the same stale cries for more.

Ultimately, it is the British public that will decide whether either country should be freed, not the politicians in London. Until nationalists can prove themselves, the scales of public opinion that stand so finely balanced will never tip their way.

18 gairrhydd

OPINION

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FEBRUARY.05.2007 THERIDLER@gairrhydd.COM

? ? The Ridler ??

?

ROYALE CASINOS The Ridler on why casinos aren’t such a bad thing

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ersonally if I had several million quid and a football stadium sized space earmarked for use as a public entertainment venue I’d build a football stadium, but then there’s no accounting for taste. Nonetheless, a super-casino seems to be the next best thing you can do with it.

For some reason a lot of people seem to disagree with this point of view. Outrage splashed across the media, screams from public groups and the usual rants from Canterbury have accompanied the plans.

You might have noticed it’s tough to read anything about casinos, especially the super variety (although they’re all super really) without some self righteous holier-than-thou guardian of your soul telling you that they are a quantifiably bad thing.

People are going to become repetitive automatons doing nothing but spending their wages on slots, roulette and blackjack just because, godammit, they can.

There is just seemingly no end of bandwagon-jumping moralists looking out for the poor moronic working classes who, you would think reading their arguments, are clearly incapable of resisting temptation and all must have addictive personalities.

This whole attitude is ridiculous.

According to the Bishop of Hulme there is, and I quote, “evidence to suggest that actually gambling addiction follows the development of casinos.” I would expect so. It’s like suggesting that a mail order crack-cocaine-deliv-

ROULETTE: Gambling with your life? ered-to-your-door service wouldn’t increase the number of drug users. It doesn’t mean we’ll all do it though, and those who do will be able to walk out at any time, quite unlike a crack addiction. Casinos normally do have doors.

Listening to the religious community urging us to rush out and stop poor souls from spending their last tenner of food money on the slots would be hilariously funny if it wasn’t so worrying. Surely in a free society it is to the citizen to decide how their money is spent? As long as everyone knows where they stand, the casinos and surrounding areas are well policed and

punters well informed, it’s a personal decision.

The fact that religious zealots and media hacks trying to find a story have managed to curtail the government’s planned development of more casinos is a disgrace. There are enough places in the country that desperately need employment and regeneration. Some members of the Blackpool team which failed in its proposal to host the first (and I hope it is the first and not the only) super-casino are now predicting a serious worsening of the economic situation. Why? Because some moralist Mirror reader thinks that people are unable to make their own decisions.

Crumb de la crumb

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ne of the concepts in this world that really disturbs me is the idea that our venerable institution could ever be in any way superseded by Glamorgan Polytec… sorry, University.

It almost brought a salty tear to my eye, therefore, when I learnt that not only Glamorgan but also arch-rivals Swansea have got significantly better sporting facilities, including a rubbercrumb football pitch, the latest in skin punishing grass alternatives.

I never really had a problem with grass myself, it seems quite soft and smells good when you cut it. My experience of rubber crumb pitches however is a collection of painful if shallow skin lacerations and rubber crumbs on my bedroom floor. And not in a good

way.

Yet, these arch-rivals of ours have one, and for this reason, and this reason alone, I want one. Not personally, clearly I have only enough money for a Subbuteo-sized pitch, but I really think Cardiff should get one.

Obviously, I would love to see the BUSA teams have somewhere to train all year round and rise up the leagues and it would be nice to have a kick around without sinking into the pitch.

All advantages of such a rubber crumb arrangement.

I don’t particularly buy into the idea, however, that we are losing out on the country’s intellectual finest because we don’t invest in our sports facilities. To be honest, if you choose your university solely on the basis of

how nice the football pitch is you are probably not exactly an Oxbridge quality student. Of course, it will sway some, but I can’t imagine the number

Our arch-rivals have one and for this reason, I want one will be that high.

Whatever else happens though, I’d be willing to stake that the university will fight tooth and claw against having to spend any money on the sports facilities. They’ll be utterly determined to spend it on their next Research

People can become addicted to gambling, yes.

People can also become addicted to alcohol This government has enforced some of the strictest rules possible on these casinos. There are not to be any tricks of the trade, no pumped oxygen to keep the punters punting. No cheating, this’ll be real clean odds gambling, not

Vegas falsities.

The most important thing that they can do now is to make absolutely sure that those who want to gamble are fully educated on the subject and well informed. From there on in, it’s their choice.

People can get addicted to gambling, yes. They can also become addicted to alcohol but we still deliver it to their door. The publics individual foibles are also their little pleasures; it just depends on how you look at them.

Nobody is going to beat the casino, not in the long term. Nobody is going to able to earn a living punting on long odds bets and it is not possible to turn dole money or child support into millions, certainly not with any consistency.

People will try. Week in and week out people will try. Some of them will win and blow their winnings again.

Some will become addicted. Some will unquestionably ruin their lives. But for every person who does that hundreds will be taken off the dole and given a job, the chance to earn some money to decide, themselves and without outside moralistic interference, what to do with it.

It is good to see a government that has been increasingly infringing on people’s individual privileges and rights in the name of security and the public good to realize the financial and economical advantages to a situation rather than take a knee-jerk moralistic reaction.

It’s not what Blair wants to be remembered for, but it is a good move.

What does our politics editor have to say about this? See page 21.

Assessment Exercise, ‘cause that’s where the money and prestige lie.

Expect more monographs that nobody reads and an exponential expansion in ugly building-side art. But don’t expect a rubber crumb pitch.

If you want a new football pitch as much, or more than I do, then get involved in the Invest in Sport Campaign by coming up to the union and seeing what you can do. Even if you don’t really play sport and spend your entire day reading the gair rhydd (a very commendable pastime) you should get behind it. If nothing else, it’ll annoy the Vice Chancellor and powers that be, an always worthwhile cause for the truly politically engaged student.

And, more importantly, we’ve got to keep up with the Jones’. Don’t want Glamorgan types looking down on us.

For the full story on the Invest in Sport campaign see page 60

PITCH: Not so crummy

gairrhydd

19

EDITORIAL & OPINION

FEBRUARY.05.2007 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

freewords the voice of gairrhydd

Est. 1972

Are they listening?

The message is loud and clear: Cardiff University students want better sports facilities. They’ve been wearing stickers and t-shirts and signing an online petition. On February 17 they’ll also be running around Bute Park to show how dedicated they are to sport and fitness. The Invest in Sport campaign has taken off in a big way, despite being only a week old.

But the surge of support is not surprising: compared to the other Russell Group institutions Cardiff offers a poor sporting service to students and we have the right to be annoyed. A gym which fits around 40 people in it and a sports centre designed for a university population of 8,000: this is just not good enough for us. If Bath and Bristol and Birmingham can have decent facilities, why can’t we?

On the surface it seems like it’s in the University’s interest to invest in sport: the facilities would help attract potential students and improve our place in the BUSA league. The business plan offered by the AU shows that they’d even make money out of such investments. It seems like a win-win situation for all.

Unfortunately this doesn’t mean that they’ll go for the idea: sport hasn’t been on the University’s investment radar for over a decade and the last time such a proposal was put forward it failed. Twice. Twice the power brokers in the University were given the opportunity to bring our sporting facilities in line with the rest of the Russell Group and twice they failed to do so.

However, this time there is a glimmer of hope: the ViceChancellor is reportedly behind the idea and is likely to give it his backing if adequate funding can be found. Plus, over a thousand students are making their voices heard and making Dr David Grant listen.

Let’s hope that the University take this on board.

O NLI NE BL OG

Visit gairrhydd.com for the editors’ blog

Working 9 to 5 With the traditional working day becoming more and more rare, Caleb Woodbridge suggests that our work culture is in need of a massive image shift

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ork: a word to strike terror in the heart of any student. (Particularly into that of a humanities student like myself, since I supposedly only have around half an hour of lectures a month.) But should we really have such an aversion to work?

We’re still reeling from all the changes from the Industrial Revolution, let alone the electronic revolution of recent years. Although the progress we have made over the last couple of centuries has brought massive benefits, we have adapted badly to the resulting changes in patterns of work.

Both our culture and our practices of work are seriously flawed.

For many of us, work is nothing more than a necessary evil. We might talk about the ‘work/life balance’, but the phrase assumes that ‘work’ and ‘life’ are two separate areas. We often view work merely as the means to the end of our real purpose of leisure, rather than a part of life that is satisfying in itself.

In one Dilbert cartoon, he is informed that, “Enjoying your work is tantamount to stealing from the company”. But finding our work satisfying and enjoyable, whether it be our academic studies or our careers, should not be seen as something geeky or weird, but the ideal for everyone everywhere, even though in practice it won’t always be possible.

How do we find purpose in our lives and in our work? There are a couple of basic possibilities. Firstly, we can see ourselves as determined to be, either by our categories, such as class, gender, or by our natures, where we have a fixed inherent destiny. But both these leave us not as real human persons, but

just as pawns in a cosmic machine.

At the other extreme, we have existentialism, where we create our own identities by an effort of will. But even if we can muster the will to do this, we’re still left with the question of what do we want to do? All sorts of self-help books offer to help us invent ourselves by what hobbies we have, what we wear, what we eat, and so on, and rather than inventing ourselves, we all too easily become prey to the latest fad.

Both our culture and our practices of work are seriously flawed Is there another way, between determinism and existentialism? A number of writers and commentators, such as Os Guinness in the book “The Call”, have suggested that we need to recover the concepts of “calling” and “vocation”.

The Protestant ethic that drove the last few hundred years of Western progress sees our work and activity not as something determined either by nature or nurture, nor as something we have to create by ourselves. Rather, we choose to put our gifts and abilities to use in the service of those around us and of the God who makes us and calls us.

Whatever you think of its religious origins and the nature of the one who calls us, there is much to appreciate in this model. We both have real choice and responsibility, but act within the context of support and relationships with those around us. Work is a fundamental part of what it means to be

human, rather than a distraction from it.

Of course, work often isn’t enjoyable. There are many tasks in life that are just dull, unsatisfying or just plain unpleasant. It isn’t just our attitudes to work that need to change, but work itself. We need to radically rethink and restructure our patterns and habits of work, both as individuals and as a society, to make work something constructive and positive.

One aspect of our culture that we perhaps need to rethink is our lemming-like rush towards a 24-hour society. While it may be convenient to be able to go to Tescos at 3am on a Sunday morning, couldn’t you just plan your time slightly better? With a 9-to-5 job becoming ever more unusual, there is less and less of a shared time which most people have off work.

When people are working every hour of every day, you don’t have a point in the week where you know you can get together, and most people will have the time free. Without shared patterns of work and leisure, creating a cohesive society becomes ever harder.

Rather than balancing ‘work’ and ‘life’, we need to understand that work is part of life Rather than balancing ‘work’ and ‘life’, we need to understand that work is part of life. Work is a worthwhile part of who we are in its own right, and so should be taken seriously. But it is only one part of who we are, and to be properly human means also giving a proper place to rest, to relationships, to

community and leisure. But it isn’t just the amount we work that needs to change.

We need to take a stand against working practices that dehumanise and destroy the possibility of family and community. The Industrial Revolution made a sharp division between paid employment and the home the norm, and we have largely failed to prevent that disrupting our social fabrics. New technology like e-mail should be used not to replace real human contact, but to free us up to deal with one another.

Rather than impersonal cubicles and targets, we need a change in culture where the human and personal outcome of our practices is as important as the financial bottom line.

Far more is at stake than just job satisfaction. Many economists and commentators have long warned that without the right ethic, capitalism could collapse in on itself. One economist from the University of Singapore observed that “the decisive question for the West is its capacity to direct and discipline capitalism with an ethic strong enough to do so. I myself don’t believe the West can do it.”

Despite warnings of an ‘end of history’ as Capitalism defeats all comers, it could still be a victim of its own success. Capitalism’s greatest nemesis is itself, as the prosperity and hedonism it produces destroys the very values of vocation, hard work, and saving up that made it a success in the first place.

We need to rediscover work as a satisfying part of life, but to put it in its place as only one part. We need to ride the wave of technological progress, turning it to the service of life and relationships rather than allowing change to overcome us in a dehumanising tide.

Only then can we really know the joy of work.

20 gairrhydd

OPINION

FEBRUARY.05.2007 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

Trouble in the pipeline

Blair. Fair.

Huw Davies

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Sarah Edmunds asks how seriously the government are taking the environment. Are the promises hot air or will we start seeing some real changes?

ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW STYLES

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t’s all about climate change these days. It circles around political bills and proposals, and holds an urgent place within the media. Fly less. Trade fairly. Turn off the lights. Sound familiar?

Under the Kyoto agreement, Britain is committed to reducing carbon emissions and giving support to renewable and alternative methods of generating energy. Verbally, this is all very well, but in practice the moves look somewhat uncertain, even though popular protest and scientific opinion have asserted themselves with urgent pleas. Are the politicians’ supposedly attentive ears listening to all this? It is all very well that ministers have placed climate change and carbon damage on their bills. It would be encouraging to think that they are carrying these policies through and putting them into action. Let’s set the scene.

Once upon a time, not so long ago in the centre of London, vast numbers of organisations, individuals and several pandas campaigned to Stop Climate Chaos. On November 4th 2006 they insisted that everyone - the public and the government - should do their bit, should ‘count’ in preventing climate change. The Earth cannot be stood up like an unfavourable date; the damage to it is an urgent matter. It cannot wait. Neither, it seemed, could the large Mercedes driver, impatiently shaking his fist from his window as cyclists paraded in carnival costumes for a ‘go slow’ around Westminster.

Let’s hope that the MPs glanced down from their windows.

Some people turn a blind eye to the environment, filling up their petrol swigging engines like a child at the pick ‘n’ mix, as it suits them. Others attempt to reduce their contribution to it with efforts to recycle, ride a bicycle and prevent waste within their lives. Governments have taken tentative steps towards reducing carbon damage from cars, factories and energy plants. A few have kept their word.

Meanwhile, many peel away from their promises with loopholes large enough to fit a mountain though; large enough to appease profit-hungry companies such as National Grid and other energy-slurping giants. Their escapades are currently welling anxiety and anger among local people in South Wales.

Objections have been vented against National Grid’s plans for the enormous Liquefied Natural Gas Pipeline, which is to run between Milford Haven and Gloucestershire. It threatens, in its second phase of work, to cut just 44 metres away from

BLAIR: Hot air? homes and a primary school in the village of Trebanos, beneath landslip zones, the Brecon Beacons, and through the unstable South Wales coalfield. Residents of these areas and beyond are currently encamped in Trebanos in an attempt to halt further work upon the pipeline by tree-climbing, crane-scaling and blocking construction routes. Such developments pose a risk to farmland, geology and areas of outstanding natural beauty.

The pipeline itself holds many dangers. For instance, a serious fault within the gas passage could result in an explosion rumoured to be more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

Gas is dangerous. The government shouldn’t wait until they smell it.

To return above ground, we must begin to question the governmental dabblings with the issue of climate change. Although politicians initially have good intentions for ecological policies, their ventures seem to twist and shrivel in the face of powerful companies. Must it take an explosion, or a ‘snowless Snowdon’, for the government to listen to its scientists, citizens and, last but not least, to force some common sense into the National Grid? A Welsh Assembly government spokesperson stated recently that “tackling climate change is down to everyone”, and that “a number of steps have already been taken to address carbon emissions which cause climate change”. Unlike the rest of Britain, however, greenhouse gas emissions in Wales have risen since 1990. Aren’t they meant to be moving in the opposite direction?

A spokesperson for the Safe Haven Network, at the forefront of the pipeline protest, remarked that the “carbon intensive sector of the economy is responsible for a huge proportion of our greenhouse gas emissions.” A contradiction arises here, one that positions the power of the government against that of its own

The Earth cannot be stood up like an unfavourable date.

The damage to it is an urgent matter industry. National Grid claims that the pipe will transport around 20% of the gas needed to meet UK consumption.

National Grid is thus dismissing any efforts - local, national and international - to reduce such consumption and put forward new strategies to increase use of renewable sources. If the government is aware of what is deemed the ‘post- industrial revolution’ and developing energy solutions in the alternative, sustainable sector, it may not be so easy for companies such as National Grid to twist arms and creep deceitfully beneath our feet.

The protesters at the site are fast losing respect for politicians.

Safe Haven Network reasonably suggests: “The UK government and the Welsh Assembly should be supporting renewable energy projects, and we fail to see how a Welsh Assembly which has a constitutional

take it all back. All those criticisms of Tony Blair’s incompetence, all those jokes of electile dysfunction in New Labour’s reactionary and impotent policymaking – all of them, forgotten.

At last the Government makes a law that will break down the barriers of discrimination. At last homosexuals will not be denied goods or services on grounds of sexual orientation. At last: homosexual couples will not be denied the right to adopt.

All right, so New Labour has still passed its fair share of awful legislation (ID cards, anyone?). But the Equality Act is a beacon of hope, forbidding schools, businesses and miscellaneous organisations from refusing services on the basis of age, race, religion, disability, gender or – if and when MPs approve the final third of the bill – sexual orientation.

Only the Catholic Church’s hostility to gay couples adopting children stood in the way of progress – and now the Government has denied Catholic adoption agencies an exemption from these anti-discrimination laws. It is brilliant news.

The Catholic Church’s hostility to gay couples adopting children stood in the way of progress There will, of course, be a 21month period for these agencies to prepare for change, but this is only postponing the inevitable. The delay is not an action-pretence trial period, and it is not time allowed for the Government to do a U-turn. By the end of 2008, Catholic adoption agencies will be forced to consider gay couples as potential parents, and until then they have a statutory duty to refer homosexual couples to other agencies.

This 21-month transition period (arguably a little long; still, David Cameron wants four years) could become a countdown to oblivion. A spokesperson for the Catholic Church in Scotland, speaking between bites of the hand feeding him, said the postponement was “meaningless”. He supported several agencies’ views that they would sooner fold than “act contrary to conscience”, even by the close of 2008. Suddenly the question arises: commitment to sustainability can support a project which offers no longterm ecological, economic, or social benefit to the people of Wales. We need a new government in Wales that will stand up for our communities, and stand up for our environment.”

A governmental transformation on that scale is not likely to happen faster than the speed of the gas pipe. The protest groups can and need to step up into the political limelight themselves and gain direct legal representation

provided the Government funded neutral replacements, would the closure of Catholic adoption agencies be such a bad thing? After all, we are trying to prevent discrimination; isn’t the mere existence of a religiously prejudiced adoption agency discriminatory enough?

When belief causes them to discriminate against those in need, public services are failing to serve the public. Closing faith-led adoption agencies would inevitably provoke accusations of aggressive secularism, but child welfare is not an issue that should be affected by religious debate. The most important thing concerning adoption is whether the prospective couple is fit to provide a stable and loving family life for the child. If an adoption agency believes a gay couple is inherently inferior to a heterosexual couple (or even a single parent) in raising an infant, the agency is not fit to practise – regardless of faith.

This is why I do not agree with those who argue that if their religion decrees it, a Catholic organisation has the right to reject as parents whoever they damn well like (or rather, dislike). True, there is a concern that in forcing them to choose between change and annihilation, which is essentially what the lack of exemption clause does, the law is actively discriminating against religious groups in the same way they themselves are discriminating against homosexual couples. But adapting legislation to fit outdated Catholic dogma simply because ‘it’s what they believe in’ – said as if atheists don’t believe in anything – can only root our society in the past.

Furthermore, giving religious groups an effective power of veto is dangerous, especially considering how influential they are already (hence the beautiful irony of hearing a Catholic spokesman complain that Blair sided with homosexuality over Catholicism in order to “placate a powerful lobby group”). In refusing an exemption permitting Catholic agencies to reject gay adoption candidates, New Labour has – surprisingly – shown some backbone.

I don’t like saying it, but Tony Blair has done A Good Thing. He even stimulated some political debate in my house, before we were told to stop talking over Superman Returns. The fact of the matter is this: if adoption agencies will not consider potentially good candidates purely because of their beliefs, they are not doing their job – and neither are faith schools. Perhaps the Government should legislate against them too. But then we can’t expect miracles.

through which to alter these double standards against the planet. There is no longer time for such hypocrisy: the government should take forward all the ventures they have promised.

Fingers should be green when all bills, economic, educational and environmental, are proposed and signed, until the difference can be clearly seen.

gairrhydd 21

FEBRUARY.05.2007 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

The race debate

OPINION

The Jade Goody debate could be the surface of a far more serious social issue.

Ben Bryant suggests the importance of culture and difference

"I

knew it! I knew it! Racist!

Witch!" The echoes of McCarthyism were there for all to hear, reverberating in the media feeding frenzy that met Jade Goody’s departure from the Big Brother house. The uproar.

The media hysteria. The naming of ‘The three witches of Endemol’ (in The Independent, no less). The burning of effigies. Even Gordon Brown decided to jump on the bandwagon, and pitch in a couple of soundbites about ‘fairness’ and ‘tolerance’, the little scamp. And all of this climaxing in Jade’s confused, tearful confession in The News of the World: "I was racist."

In the course of one week, with no small hint of irony, Jade Goody was destroyed by the very television programme that made her.

Good riddance, perhaps. Jade Goody bullied Shilpa Shetty. Jade, Jo and Danielle ganged up on Shilpa in an ugly, vicious display of backbiting and bitching. In Jade’s most direct comments, Shilpa Shetty became Shilpa ‘fuckawallah’, Shilpa ‘poppadom’, a girl who should ‘go back to the slums’. Her words were brutal and struck to the heart of Shilpa’s own cultural identity.

Nevertheless, I cannot help but feel that this is more than just an issue of hatred and tolerance. There is a difference between abusing someone because of their race or ethnicity and abusing someone for reasons independent of racial bigotry, by using their race against them. The former is easily defined as racial hatred, but the latter is much more ambiguous, since it is based on deep-rooted cultural stereotypes through which we define ourselves. And the problem of Jade Goody is that it is very difficult to determine exactly which she was guilty of.

But this story was never really about Jade anyway. The international uproar is testament to that. This story

is about a cultural conflict – not between Jade’s and Shilpa’s cultures, but within our own. It is about a culture that is increasingly attempting to pretend that colour and its mythology does not exist. And so we are left with this absurd situation where people are to be defined and stereotyped by every physical characteristic except race. It is tantamount to saying that race does not exist; to saying that, worst of all, people are ‘just people’.

Germaine called Jo, Danielle and Jade ‘white trash’, to almost no coverage by the media How hypocritical that we should stereotype the female as inferior, the blonde as stupid, the aged as out of touch, the overweight as weak-willed,

and yet pillory Jade Goody for carrying this physical stereotyping to its logical conclusion – because, one might reasonably argue, that’s what she did. Or are we to believe that Jade actually indiscriminately hates all Indians? Yes, Jade’s comments were wrong, but what made them any worse, any more transgressive, than any other form of derogatory physical stereotyping? Having set up this cultural minefield that privileges racial difference over any other form of difference, what is the average Briton supposed to do?

More pertinently, how are cultures ever supposed to integrate while this dichotomy remains? But instead of addressing these issues, we are left with this dreadful dirge of insistence that difference does not exist, that we are to encourage other cultures to engage in this homogenisation of culture, this purported indifference to difference, this neo-imperialism that manifests itself in the whitening of the world.

That’s what Shilpa Shetty repre-

sents, after all. That’s why she excites so much indignancy. Because Shilpa Shetty is an Indian beauty queen. She is the embodiment of Western beauty

Jade’s words were brutal and struck to the heart of Shilpa’s own cultural identity sited in the Indian body. The beauty pageant – what could be more Western? And we desperately want to believe that she is ‘just white’ – since that is the real, neo-imperialist meaning behind the humanist cries that people are ‘just people’. Of course Shilpa should be allowed to be a beauty queen, but should we not acknowledge that this occupation is reliant on Western conceptions of beauty? And while culture implicitly privileges white beauty over black beauty (how many more white than

Andy Rennison on the growing gambling culture

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t’s 2.30am on a typical British Wednesday morning. The beers are finished, the living room is scattered with plates of pizza crusts, and another obscure Japanese samurai epic has just rounded off Film4’s schedule.

Flick through the channels a decade ago and all you’d find would be BBC2 Learning Zone marathons and occasional pornography. But today, one televisual genre rules these twilight hours: gambling.

It started with a few cable outlets filling up their darker hours, yet now interactive TV ‘quiz’ shows reign supreme. ITV, apparently the country’s second biggest broadcaster, has been expanding its flagship production, The Mint, to the point where it occupies the longest slot in the list-

ings.

Its producers argue that such shows are genuine quizzes, challenging viewers’ brainpower in return for fabulous cash prizes, far away from the glamour of a roulette table or the middle-aged squalor of a bookie. But this is a narrow view of what constitutes gambling, an activity which is evolving beyond its traditional image.

Behind the blinding colour of their sets and perma-smile horror of their presenters, these late-night shows promote opening your wallet in return for a pitiful chance at winning big.

The nocturnal creatures on screen desperately plea for us to call in. They never mention the extortionate price of picking up that phone, nor the approximate odds of getting through, nevermind the odds of actually tri-

umphing.

And as for the ‘quiz’ label, how’s this for a fair test of mental faculties: what two items would you find in a woman’s bag? A balaclava and Rawlplugs, according to a recent edi-

Gambling is evolving beyond its traditional image tion of The Mint. I’d like to meet that woman.

Such farcical episodes are clearly exploitative of people’s purse strings.

Conventional gambling is ruled over by regulations for exactly this reason:

it’s trying to take your money. Yet these TV shows do not fall under such authority.

Concerned at this rising smallscreen epidemic, several MPs recently called for such programming to be brought under the same wing as other avenues of gambling. But their voices are something of a drop in the ocean, as gambling in the UK prepares to take a further step in its worrying ascension.

Last week, Manchester was unveiled as the surprise choice for the first British ‘supercasino’, while a number of other regions were given permission to roll out the neon lights and cocktails.

The arguments in favour of these gargantuan gambling venues have been doing the rounds for some years,

black models do you know?), we are to attack the ‘witches’ for their comments, because we fear these cultural truths that they reveal.

But it is so much easier to accuse, to pillory, to finally destroy Jade. To remove her from the sight of society, to hide her away and so figuratively hide away the problem of integration, which will not depart with her literal departure. How seductive it is to create this binary opposition of hate and non-hate, racist and non-racist. How easy it is to wash our hands of the ‘racists’, the white supremacists, the ‘ugly underbelly’ of society, that are nonetheless omnipresent in language, in culture, in fashion shows, television sets and magazines.

And the more that we try to create these binary oppositions, the more the confusion and contradictions become apparent. The fact that Jade is herself mixed race. That Jermaine called Jo, Danielle and Jade ‘white trash’, to almost no coverage by the media. Is racism, then, to be simply the preserve of the white majority?

It is not that Jade shouldn’t have been lambasted for her comments. It is simply that the hypocrisy, the contradictions, and the ironies present in Jade’s treatment by the media only patronise the real integration of cultures. Multiculturalism is still in its nascent stages. How are people to integrate if we continue to treat different cultures differently while refusing to acknowledge difference itself?

Jade’s ‘witch-hunt’ brought all of this to the foreground, to the consciousness of everyday people, and yet the media continues to make us believe in these mythical oppositions of racist and non-racist, hate and not-hate, as if it’s that easy. This is untenable; like any good witch-hunt, it is not the witches of Endemol that we fear, but the cultural truths that they threaten to reveal.

See Chris White p.24 and are by no means hollow. The financial benefits to local council treasuries and central government coffers are undeniable.

But the wider price will be larger still. A former jackpot junkie can give as depraved a story as a typical crack addict; to fuel their habits, problem gamblers have been known to burgle, mug, and even sell their bodies. The NHS is now calling for set gambling therapy, in anticipation of a surge in addicts.

Politicians are well aware that drugs are behind a vast majority of mid-level crimes. So why, at a time when online gambling has doubled in five years, TV shows are leaving people with four-figure phone bills, and the betting industry is worth a healthy £9bn a year, do ministers think that people need more ways to become a gambling addict?

The financial greed behind this move will painfully repay Britain tenfold.

22 gairrhydd

OPINION

FEBRUARY.05.2007 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW STYLES

The Goody, the Bad and the Ugly What the NUS should take away from Channel 4’s race rows, but won’t.

Chris White

C

hannel 4’s Big Brother controversy may have attracted a record number of complaints, but the offence caused by broadcasting such contentious behaviour is irrelevant. They have, as Dermot O’Leary pointed out, started a conversation that politics hadn’t, particularly among the reality TV-watching demographic. And they’ve woken people up to the fact that racists still exist.

But Jade Goody isn’t one of them.

She’s vicious, bullying and ignorant, for sure. But not racist. She disliked Shilpa Shetty first and foremost as a person, as an individual. The racial epithets only came later. Her inability to articulate her ill feeling led her to emphasise the obvious points of difference, rather than the abuse coming from genuine prejudice. She’s thick but she’s not a bigot.

Lucy Buchanan, on the other hand, is a racist – and admitted as much herself. The 18-year-old public schoolgirl and Shipwrecked contestant, who was kicked off Channel 4’s second reality TV ‘race storm’ in as many weeks, divulged that she’s in favour of slavery and spoke of getting a black person to do her “slave work”.

While the conduct of the Big Brother Three wasn’t entirely surprising, that a relatively well-educated young woman can advocate, in 2007, the subjugation of an entire people is genuinely shocking. (And it’s certainly a damning indictment of her expensive school.)

But, since Shipwrecked was recorded during the summer, we know how race row version two is going to play out. There’s cause for optimism: Lucy Buchanan changes her mind.

She told the show’s producers that one of her reasons for participating was ‘to be challenged in lots of ways’– and she has been. Having the other contestants questioning her views, for probably the first time, leads her to re-evaluate the beliefs she’s held her whole life. By the time she leaves the South Pacific, she no longer thinks that black people are all ‘really bad’.

It’s the crucial element of the whole issue, and, just as the two incidents have opened a wide debate generally, there’s a specific lesson here for the NUS, if only they were willing to learn it.

Such a frank exchange of views would never be allowed to occur in student debate. The National Union’s ‘No Platform’ policy forbids allowing

racists and fascists to express their views in a public forum. It applies to the BNP, certain Islamist groups and anyone else the NUS decide is extremist, even when they’re legitimate political parties. The intention is to “deny them the opportunity to gain political credibility”.

But what we’ll come to see on Shipwrecked is empirical – and televised – proof of what opponents of the ‘No Platform’ policy have been arguing for years, including myself several times in this newspaper. John Milton said it first - and best – in his free-speech pamphlet ‘Areopagitica’ over 350 years ago, when he asked: “Who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?”

Ideas deriving simply from ignorance thrive most when unchallenged.

Exposed to rational criticism - to competition - they’re vulnerable to natural selection and must evolve or die.

Reformed: NUS take note

Ideas deriving simply from ignorance thrive most when unchallenged So will the NUS change their policy? No. Black Students’ Officer Ruqayyah Collector says: “No member of the National Executive Committee will share a public platform with a racist or fascist, nor will we allow them to promote views which could be deeply upsetting and offensive to attendees.

We continue to hold a ‘No Platform Policy.’”

They may be protecting students from being offended, but they’re failing in their duty to challenge racism due to a dogmatic commitment to the ‘No Platform’ policy. Unlike Lucy Buchanan, the NUS’s views are immutable.

No more gay sheep?

A recent scientific advancement could facilitate the genetic engineering of sexuality in sheep.

Hollie Clemence examines the social implications surrounding the discovery

I

n a world where scientific discovery and technological advancement provides us with more information, more opportunities and more self-awareness, it would seem that no stone should be left unturned. But sometimes there arises a case where progress in these fields needs to be thwarted in favour of the people it professes to advance.

American scientists at Oregon State University and at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland are exploring a procedure to encourage homosexual rams to mate with ewes.

By studying the rams’ brains they believe to have located a specific mechanism that influences the animals’ sexuality. Thus, by modifying the hormone balance in the brain, the scientists can effectively change the ram’s sexual preference.

As it is estimated that one in ten rams are gay, this procedure would prospectively make sheep-breeding more efficient for farmers. But it is not that simple. The ramifications (no pun intended) and ethical speculations wrought by such experiments are vast and problematic.

The leader of the team conducting the tests, Professor Charles Roselli, asserts: “While we realise that sexuality is more complex in humans than reproductive behaviours in sheep, this model will help illuminate the basic principles that apply to all mammals, and may be helpful in understanding the biology of human behaviours as well.”

Roselli and his colleagues insist that the experiments are not aimed at ‘curing’ homosexuality but they inevitably pose some uncomfortable connotations for the gay community; many of whom have warned against the implications of the tests. Tennis star, Martina Navratilova, is outraged by the experiments, calling them ‘cruel’ and ‘homophobic’.

The tests echo those undertaken in the early 1990s by neuroscientist Simon LeVay, who examined the brains of gay AIDS victims in order to find a common ‘gay gene’. While his

experiments were thought to be deficient because it was not proven whether the distinctive gene was due to sexuality or to AIDS, the new experiments on sheep appear to confirm that sexuality is, in fact, biologically determined.

Potentially, the procedure could be transferred onto humans, so that one day pregnant mothers may be able to choose the sexuality of their child before birth. Michael Bailey, a neurology professor at Northwestern University near Chicago, explains: “Allowing parents to select their children’s sexual orientation would further a parent’s freedom to raise the sort of children they want to raise.”

But do we live in a world that is ready to take on such responsibility?

Nazi eugenics rears its ugly head to a question like this. We should not forget the appalling experiments conducted in 1940s Germany that aimed to biologically eliminate homosexuality from the Aryan race. This is just one example of a tyrannical power exploiting science to fulfil its personal prejudice.

Today, there are still countries that aspire to wipe out homosexuality. In places such as Iran and Afghanistan, same-sex relationships are outlawed and punishable by death. I imagine these nations would be all too eager to discover how to ‘cure’ homosexuality.

One day pregnant mothers may be able to choose the sexuality of their child But even in apparently liberal countries like America and Britain, I doubt that such a procedure would not be detrimental to the gay community.

Homosexuality is by no means entirely accepted in the West, where homophobic hate crimes still occur and the law does not impart equality to all sexualities.

Same-sex relationships have only

been legal in England and Wales for a relatively short period; in Scotland and Ireland even less so. We still have a higher age of consent for homosexuals than for heterosexuals, and have only recently legalised gay civil matrimony. Teachers in England and Wales have also only been authorised to educate students about homosexuality since 2003, when Section 28 of the Local Government Act was withdrawn. It was in 2004 that Laura Rhodes committed suicide at the age of 13 after suffering bullying about her sexuality at school.

Such experiments come in the wake of Brandon Teena’s death in 2003; the female cross-dresser was murdered in Nebraska after being ‘outed’ by the police in a local newspaper. The US military still adhere to the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, in which gay people are accepted into the armed forces so long as they do not express their sexuality. And only in the past year has it been brought to light that the Pentagon still have homosexuality registered as a mental disorder.

Would anyone choose for their child to be gay in such a world?

Surely the answer reveals that it is society that must be cured, not homosexuality. Rosselli mentions that, “Several studies have shown that people who believe homosexuality is biologically based are less homophobic than people who think that this orientation is acquired,” as if proving homosexuality is genetic will avert homophobia. Following this line of argument, homophobia would certainly increase if parents were to choose homosexuality for their child.

Undoubtedly there are people who may argue that science should be advanced despite the social implications. But can science possibly be isolated from social and political implications in such a way? The central issue is whether scientific and technological progress should take precedence over social progress and whether we should concentrate on overcoming intolerance before scientific experiments fuel the prejudice.

gairrhydd 28

OPINION

FEBRUARY.05.2007 EDIFICATION@gairrhydd.COM

Edification

Snuffling at the last vestiges of veracity in the old pigs’ trough of life

Tyrannical Timetables mate had six exams in six days. She’s a second year Chemistry student. A friend from halls had four exams in four days. He’s a third year Electrical and Electronic Engineering student.

An old friend from home, in breach of the guidelines, had five exams (ten hours) in four days. He’s a final year Physics student.

T

he spring semester has begun and, for a few months at least, exams are no longer a worry intruding upon the student psyche. The pleasant pointlessness of the first week of lectures, with their reams of paperwork you will never read and frequently cut-short durations, is what the student experience is all about.

You’ll forgive me, then, for reluctantly returning here to that most loathed of times - the examination period. I am well aware that probably the only thing more boring than revising for exams is reading articles about them, but the ridiculous concentration of tests in the January period has compelled me to broach the topic.

Only a moron would claim that someone on their sixth exam in consecutive days can be at their best

Exams at Cardiff University are scheduled according to four guidelines Exams at Cardiff University are scheduled according to four guidelines. Two of them are boring, obvious and irrelevant to this article. The two that are of interest are the following: 1) Students should not expect to sit more than one three-hour examination or two two-hour examinations per day. 2) Students should not expect to sit more than 12 hours of examinations in any one week and final year students should not expect to sit more than nine hours of examinations in any four days.

The University is keen to stress that these are only guidelines, not steadfast rules.

The Truth About Cars

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ars. They’re everywhere. You can’t go out of your door without seeing, like, trillions of them lined up beside the pavements - resting and taking up space where humans could be standing and talking. Or having a drink or a shave.

The car is, for the most part, a benign creature, obeying its human master and sticking to its designated domain – the road – without venturing into the realm of its overlords – the pavement and shops and houses and that.

With this acquiescence towards our species, however, there comes a great danger for the car. Due to its passive nature, Bad People can manipulate its abilities and make it look silly. These people use its stereos to project their

EXAMS: Overload Now, the University does, for the most part, keep to these guidelines.

This is not the issue. The issue is that almost everyone I have talked to had almost all of their exams scheduled over consecutive days. It’s as if the schedulers have deliberately made an effort to concentrate each individual student’s exams in the shortest possible time period while keeping – just –

within the guidelines.

I could have done lots of research for this article, viciously seeking out the student with the most hideous exam timetable and holding them up as an example of the cruelness of the system. But the fact is that I didn’t.

This article is the consequence of me being inundated with sadistic-schedule tales from all quarters. My flat-

I could also have done lots of research on concentration spans. I could have looked at the latest studies on how long an individual is able to perform to the best of their ability before needing a break. But this would have been equally unnecessary.

Only a moron would claim that someone on their fifth or sixth exam in consecutive days is able to be at their best.

“In my fourth exam of the five in four days I could read the questions, but I couldn’t take them in,” says final year Physics student Tom Rendell. “I was at the stage where no matter how many times you read something, it is meaningless. My brain was so tired and I had such bad headaches that I couldn’t even get to the actual physics.”

After finishing that exam, Tom had to go home and attempt to revise for his final paper the next morning.

Other Universities (and, yes, I did break my own ‘guideline’ and do a little research here) aren’t much better –

music at a deafening volume, its wheels to show off shiny silver they have found on the beach, and its engine to drive at speeds that put other people in danger of the whole death thing.

What makes people abuse the humble car in such a way? After many years of searching, I think I have found the answer.

The car is, for the most part, a benign creature sticking to its designated domain When humans are young, in a state known as childhood, they are prone to watch the films made by a company known as Disney. One of these films a film known by the name Aladdin – contains a scene in which the plucky hero attempts to woo the attractive

CARS: Humiliated princess on the balcony of her abode.

Aladdin does not fare very well and is promptly sent away by the princess. Feigning to kill himself by stepping off the balcony – a master-

stroke; women always talk to you if they think you’re suicidal, try it! – he falls onto his transportation device. A magic carpet!

Inordinately impressed with said

and, similarly to Cardiff, are at pains to say their guidelines are just that – but at least Southampton Solent says that students should not sit more than three examinations in three adjacent days. And at least Edinburgh University says the concentration of exams should be avoided unless no alternative is available.

The January examination period is very short, but I refuse to believe that more student-friendly scheduling is not possible. Realistically, in order to perform to the best of ones ability, a one-day break between each exam would have to be implemented. This might be unfeasible, but at the very least Cardiff University should adopt Solent’s policy of no more than three exams in adjacent days. Many students are failing exams merely because of the density of their schedules. And after failing, their retakes are precision placed at the core of their next exam period’s timetable, making things even worse.

I refuse to believe that more studentfriendly scheduling is not possible If it is necessary for exams to be as claustrophobically grouped as they were this January, the exam period needs to be lengthened. It’s not difficult. It’s not Quantum Mechanics.

(Quantum Mechanics was on January 25, two days after Optics and Fourier Transformers, one day after Applications of Quantum Mechanics, four hours before Electromagnetic Radiation Detection, and one day before Theoretical Physics Techniques.) carpet, Jasmine promptly takes Aladdin’s hand, steps onto his transportation device, sings a song with him and then gives him a snog (and, possibly, off camera later, some sex love).

Jasmine is not interested in Aladdin’s man-charm or his nice-face.

Before she sees the carpet she dismisses him as a damn fool. The carpet is very much the rope that lassoes her love.

The message to watching humans is clear: get an impressive mode of transportation and you will bag a princess as your life-mate.

And ever since the day of viewing, many poor humans have heeded this misguided message and sought to get a lady-friend through making their cars shinier, faster and more ornate.

Like a magic carpet.

Their impossible quest goes on.

Listen very closely and, just below the roar of a souped-up engine, you can hear the car weeping.

24 gairrhydd

FEATURES

FEBRUARY.05.2007 FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

Ashura and The Islam

With the start of the Islamic New Year on January 21st, Gauhar Malik explains why Muslims do not celebrate but commemorate a momentous incident in the history of Islam ʻ‘‘The most merciful person is the one who forgives when he is able to revenge’’ -Imam Husayn (peace be upon him)

I

n the month of Muharram 61 AH (approx. 20 October 680 AD), an event took place in Iraq at a place known as Karbala on the bank of the river Euphrates.

A large army which had been mobilised by the Umayyad regime besieged a small group of less than 100 led by Imam Husayn, and put them under pressure to pay allegiance to the Caliph of the time, and to submit to his authority. Husayn’s group resisted, and a severe battle took place in which they were all killed on the 10 Muharram, a day known as Ashura.

It appeared at the time that, like hundreds of similar events, this battle would be recorded in history but forgotten in time. However, the events that occurred on the 10th day of Muharram in Karbala were to become

an inspiration for future generations.

Who was Husayn?

The leader of the small band of men who were martyred in Karbala was Imam Husayn, the son of Imam Ali and grandson of the Holy Prophet (saw). Husayn - meaning one of ‘beautiful character’ - was brought up with his older brother Hasan in the household of the Prophet, who referred to the two children as the "Chiefs of the Youths of Paradise".

When his brother Hasan died, Husayn became head of the household but did not act against the ruling Caliph of the time: Mu'awiya. Upon Mu'awiya's death the Caliphate was controversially passed on to his son Yazid.

When Husayn (as) became the leader of the household of the Holy Prophet (saw), he did not undertake any activity that threatened the political status quo. Rather, he continued with the responsibility of looking after the religious needs of the people and

was recognised for his knowledge, piety and generosity.

Crisis of the Caliphate After years of unjust tyrannical rule, the exuberant torch of Islam had turned into a faint glimmer kept alight by a devoted few. The religion had become nothing more than a tool in the hands

The Islamic New Year is a time of renewal, for setting right what one has deviated in oneself of despotic rulers who shared neither its supreme teachings nor elevating principles.

Living in a social domain rife with corruption and favouritism, with the law and wealth in the hands of an elite, the Muslim community had turned its face away from its troubles and had

become indifferent to the adversities facing it. Yet, despite the rapidly deteriorating state of affairs, one obstacle remained in the path of the wicked regime and the realisation of its superficial goals.

The oppressive regime constantly looked to strengthen its reign over the Islamic helm by obtaining legitimacy for their unjust rule from the Household of the Prophet - which the masses still regarded as the embodiment of the true message of Islam.

However, this hope remained futile.

In spite of the extreme pressures which they placed upon them, the Household of the Prophet remained in firm denunciation of their unjust rule.

Amid the socio-ethical decline of the time, Imam Hasan, Husayn’s older brother, held regular gatherings in Madina, the city of his grandfather the Prophet. During such gatherings he would address queries from the public and impart to them Islamic teachings, thereby elucidating their God given rights and freedoms. In this way a select group of pious Muslims had formed, driven solely by their unwavering and resolute belief in the need for spirituality and justice in society, preferring to use the pen over the sword to bring about reform.

With the death of his father, Yazid took the helm and pronounced himself leader of the Islamic empire. Yazid was a character whose brutality and viciousness knew no bounds. With his open indulgence in acts of adultery, incest and wine drinking, all clearly contradictory to the Islamic teachings,

Yazid showed himself to be the latest offspring from a family deeply-rooted in their hatred for Islam.

Unlike his predecessor, Yazid shared neither his father’s political wit nor his cautious approach. Among the earliest actions he took in his role as leader, Yazid demanded allegiance from Husayn; he knew too well that the acceptance of the entire Muslim community was of no value without Husayn’s acceptance. In response to this unacceptable demand, Husayn majestically replied, “[...] a person like me can never pledge allegiance to a person like him” - thereby highlighting the universality of the principles from which his stand stemmed from.

Truth, Freedom and Justice In this way a sacrifice that was to transcend beyond the barriers of caste, A note on abbreviations creed and religion was put in motion.

Islamic convention dictates that the mention of a Prophet should be followed by an honorific, usually abbreviated in Arabic. Such honorifics are inserted as a mark of respect. (saw) stands for 'sallallahu alaihi wasallam' - which means ‘Blessings of Allah upon him (Mohammad) and his family’. (as) stands for 'Alaiy Salaam' which means 'peace be upon him'. This term is used after the 12 Imams, who came after the Prophet Mohammad (saw), and all the Prophets from Adam (as), Moses (as), Jesus (as) etc.

gairrhydd 25

FEATURES

FEBRUARY.05.2007 FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

(Left) The shrine of Imam Husayn in Karbala, Iraq (Right) The shrine during Muharram (Centre) A map of Iraq showing the region of Karbala

mic New Year Husayn rose to restore freedom, peace, equality and justice: qualities which the Divine Message had perfected, but constantly undermined by those who hijacked the religion and acted in its name. In a will which he wrote before leaving Medina, Husayn wrote, “I have risen as I seek to reform the community of my grandfather. I wish to bid the good and forbid the evil.”

Among the unique identifiers of Husayn’s revolt was the inseparable attachment of the entire movement to its awe-inspiring goals. Husayn did not let outbursts of anger or pressures exerted by the unjust rulers of his time affect the direction of his movement in the least.

Despite the enormity of the dangers facing him, each of his moves was well calculated and executed with an unerring precision. Indeed, many within the masses, who shared in their sentiments against Yazid and his accomplices, continually tried to advise Husayn to take an alternate approach.

Some recommended that Husayn should seek the security of the Holy Mosque or flee to the nearby mountains of Yemen, where he would be safe from the troops of Yazid. But Husayn knew too well the profane character of Yazid and, more importantly, the vital need for reform within the community. On the tenth of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic Calendar, Husayn stood bravely with about seventy-two companions and family members on the plains of Karbala, confronted by an army in excess of thirty-thousand. On the night

preceding the great sacrifice, Husayn urged his companions to part company, for they had already shown their loyalty and obedience. Not a single one among them left.

Why is it, one might well ask, that Husayn’s followers should remain with him even in the face of imminent death. The answer is rooted in their belief in Husayn: in him they had tasted the values of Truth, Freedom, Justice and, above all, the true meaning of Life.

Like the New Year of the Gregorian calendar, it represents a possibility for new beginnings Forsaking Husayn would be tantamount to the worst of deaths, because Husayn had never preached violence against his enemies and had never planned to fight Yazid.

It should not, therefore, come to us as a surprise that in the face of such a huge army, Husayn’s companions began by exhorting their opponents towards righteousness or established prayers in the midst of raining arrows and spears. Indeed, the famous couplet of Husayn - “Death in Honour is preferable to Life in Humiliation” reverberated throughout his camp, from the women, to the youthful sol-

diers, to the elders of over ninety years of age.

The small camp of Husayn was destroyed, all the men brutally massacred, the women and children taken captive and paraded in a humiliating display around the cities. However, this tragedy would soon be recalled in the books of history as the ‘Tragedy of Karbala’, a narrative whose admirers have since multiplied across the four corners of the globe, encompassing followers of different faiths and races.

Why remember Ashura?

The day Imam Husayn was martyred on the plains of Karbala was the day he was reborn, for the revolution he incited set loose the everlasting cry for righteousness and justice, which has been instilled in the hearts of Muslims for 1400 years.

We today are responsible for a great trust - Husayn’s Legacy - a treasure which provides for every seeker delightful wisdom and resolute strength. In Husayn’s legacy lies the perfect model for every oppressed society in how to overcome the evils of tyranny and oppression. We invite you to make a difference today by joining millions worldwide at the start of the Islamic New Year in commemorating the death of this great hero and the values for which he stood. By commemorating the death of Imam Husayn we send a message to the world that our stand in defence of righteous values is indeed an ‘Everlasting Stand’.

What is the Islamic New Year?

The Islamic New Year begins on the first day of Muharram, during which Muslims commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husayn and his followers.

Because the Islamic lunar calendar is 11 to 12 days shorter than the Gregorian (solar) calendar, the beginning of the Islamic New Year varies from year to year. This year Muharram began on January 20th.

What is Muharram?

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar, when Muslims commemorate the martyrdom of Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him).

Husayn's martyrdom is a sad day for all Muslims who mourn the massacre of their "Prince of Martyrs" and his family in Karbala, Iraq in 61AH/680CE. How do Muslims today commemorate this event?

The commemoration of this brutal massacre begins on the first day of Muharram and continues for 40 days.

Daily Majalis (assemblies) during the first nine days where orators relate the incident of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn and on the happenings of Karbala in great detail.

Cardiff University Ahlul Bayt Society students commemorated the start of the New Islamic Year like other Muslims around the world by attending evening majalis (assemblies) at local Islamic centres, which are held throughout the first 10 days of Muharram.

A majalis typically consists of the maulana (priest) who narrates the events of Karbala, but does not

restrict the lecture to this one topic but on many Islamic topics: (Qur'an, Islamic philosophy, ethics etc) and how one can implement the teachings of the Quran and the Prophet (saw) and his Ahlul Bayt (The Household of the Prophet) into our own lives. The end of the lecture is called the masaib (the poetic lamentation) relating the tragic events of those 10 days.

After the lecture the maulana (priest) calls for matam and the crowd rise to their feet and begin to beat their chests – it is a type of formalized symbolic mourning. The majority of people will perform matam lightly.

The intensity of the matam depends largely on the crowd and on individual proclivities. The Bible displays similar mourning and beating of the breast from Lukes Gospel describes the gathering of mourners - breast beaters - for Jesus in the following passage: “When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts....” (New Testament, Luke 23:48) On the 10th day (Ashura), large processions are formed and the devoted followers parade the streets. It is a sad occasion. Banners are paraded and chants of “Ya Husayn” may be heard, accompanied by loud wails of lamentation. People dress in predominantly black clothes, the colour of mourning.

The Islamic New Year is a time of renewal, for setting right what one has deviated in oneself for strengthening the bonds of community, for looking closely at the deep and profound spiritual and intellectual roots of Islam. Like the New Year of the Gregorian calendar, it represents a possibility for new beginnings.

26 gairrhydd

FEATURES

FEBRUARY.05.2007 FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

It is one of the University’s best kept secrets, but Nightline is a rewarding volunteering project, and a worthwhile service for many students

A friendly ear

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or the small percentage of students who seem to think that Nightline is a sex line, think again.

Nightline was founded in 1970 by the former director of the Samaritans in Colchester. It is a listening, support and information service, run by students, for students.

Today, over forty universities in the UK and beyond run a Nightline service. It is estimated that there are over 1500 students who volunteer for Nightline nationally.

Why call Nightline?

You can ring Nightline for a takeaway number, university or general information, or even just a friendly ear to bend.

Listeners are trained to deal with calls and will not impart any political, religious, sexual or moral bias. This is vital given the diversity of Cardiff’s student population.

Students can ring to discuss any issue, safe in the knowledge that they will not be judged. Nor will they be told what to do.

Confidentiality and anonymity is fundamental to Nightline. You will not

hear volunteers in your local pub discussing the details of calls they have taken.

If it is information you want, the walls of the house are decorated with national, local and university numbers and information. Whether you need the number for a help-line or the cinema, the listener will more than likely have it on hand. If it isn’t there, the internet is a brilliant back up.

Volunteers

In Cardiff there are hundreds of students giving up their nights to provide support for other students. For free.

There are hundreds of students giving up their time... for free The reason? One Nightline listner suggested: “Doing a Nightline duty can be tiring, and saddening if you get a call from an upset student. But the idea that you may have a positive influence on someone’s life makes it

worthwhile, and keeps you coming back.”

Plenty of students seem to agree, keeping the support line running as many nights as possible during termtime.

Volunteering at the house does have its advantages. The house is equipped with a TV, DVD player, computer with internet and even a kitchen. It’s not even as though you have to stay up all night; the house is kitted out with beds, for when you're not on the phone.

You can even order free pizza.

Although it is not the most sociable society - you won’t see volunteers in Rubber Duck in Nightline tshirts - the house is never lonely, with a minimum of two people in the house on any given shift. Because there are so many trained listeners, the chances are that you will meet someone new each duty.

The security of volunteers is of the utmost importance. University security is quick to respond should volunteers feel unsafe during a duty.

It is crucial that all volunteers undergo thorough training before they get involved, in order to prepare them

Cardiff Nightline 029 20 22 39 93/ 8pm til 8am

for scenarios which may come up.

Volunteers are not qualified counsellors and so cannot offer any direct advice. Nightline is a listening service and this is strongly repeated during training, so students can call safe in the knowledge that they will not be judged or dictated to.

Hopefully, this article will have made you consider Nightline as relevant to you, either as a caller or as a volunteer. For more information, contact line@cf.ac.uk

Nightline listeners reflect on their experiences “On my first duty I was really nervous but when I arrived I was shown around and everything was explained to me. It’s good that on your first three shifts you work with someone who has been volunteering for a long time.”

“People think you have to stay awake all night, but you do manage to get some sleep.”

“I think Nightline is an amazing way to give something back to the student community. You only have to do a minimum of 3 shifts per term, and you can choose when you want to do them.”

The next training date is Tuesday February 13 from 6.30 till 8.30pm in the Main Building Ot he r Mr A. N.

YOUR NUS CARD: Look for the Nightline logo and number on it

gairrhydd

27

TAF-OD

FEBRUARY.05.2007 TAFOD@gairrhydd.COM

Gwobrau RAP 2007 Huw Pritchard

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echrau’r flwyddyn ac mae’n amser eto ar gyfer enwebiadau’r gwobrwyon. Felly dyma enwebiadau Roc a Phop C2 2007. Cyhoeddwyd enwau’r bandiau detholedig gan C2 yr wythnos diwethaf gyda bandiau fel y Genod Droog a Radio Luxembourg yn dod i’r brig. Perfformwyr eraill sydd wedi derbyn llu o enwebiadau yw Frizbee ac, yn dilyn ei albwm ‘Eira Mawr’, Mim Twm Llai. Derbyniodd y ddau dri enwebiad.

Y Genod Droog sy’n hawlio nifer mwyaf o enwebiadau'r flwyddyn hon gyda phedair. Heb anghofio enwebiad Ed Holden am artist gwrywaidd y flwyddyn ac Dyl Mei am gynhyrchydd y flwyddyn. Yn dilyn blwyddyn

llawn gigs ar hyd a lled Cymru a Lloegr maent wedi cael eu henwebu ar gyfer gr?p y flwyddyn a’r gr?p a ddaeth i amlygrwydd yn ystod 2006.

Tyst i’w llwyddiant dros y flwyddyn ddiwethaf.

Hawliodd bandiau newydd glod hefyd yn yr enwebiadau. Mae’r Rei a Plant Duw yn derbyn dau enwebiad yr un. Byddent yn cystadlu yn erbyn Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog a’r Genod Droog am y band a ddaeth i amlygrwydd fwyaf yn ystod 2006. Bandiau newydd ar y cyfan sy’n hawlio’r enwebiadau ar gyfer y sesiwn C2 gorau hefyd. Ynghyd â Plant Duw a’r Rei mae Mr Huw ac ail ymddangosiad rhai o chwaraewyr Y Cyrff gyda’r Ffyrc.

Un o’r unigolion sydd fwyaf amlwg ar restr 2007 yw Euros Childs.

Nid yn unig fel canwr ond mae hefyd

yn hawlio dau enwebiad arall. Un am ei waith cynhyrchu gyda Radio Luxembourg ac un arall am gyfansoddwr y flwyddyn ynghyd â’i enwebiad ar gyfer artist gwrywaidd y flwyddyn.

Ni ellir anghofio am Gai Toms, sef Mim Twm Llai sydd yn derbyn dau enwebiad ac yn ymuno â Ed Holden, Dyfrig Evans ac Euros Childs am y ras am artist gwrywaidd y flwyddyn.

Ymysg yr artistiaid benywaidd mae Fflur Dafydd a Gwyneth Glyn yn dod i’r amlwg yn dilyn blwyddyn lwyddiannus. Mae Swci Boscawen yn ennill dau enwebiad sef artist benywaidd y flwyddyn a sengl y flwyddyn am ‘Min Nos Montrey/Adar y Nefoedd.’

Mae Elin Fflur hefyd yn cael enwebiad yn dilyn rhyddhau ei CD ‘Ysbryd Efnisien.’

Bydd yr enillwyr yn cael eu dewis gan banel o arbenigwyr wedi eu dewis

o wahanol rannau o’r Sîn Roc Gymraeg sy’n cynnwys labeli recordio, cyhoeddiadau cerddoriaeth a chwmnïau teledu. Er hyn bydd gwrandawyr C2 yn cael cyfle i bleidleisio dros eu dewis nhw mewn dwy wobr sef gr?p neu artist mwyaf poblogaidd y flwyddyn rhwng Frizbee, Genod Droog, Mattoidz a’r Sibrydion. Hefyd digwyddiad byw'r flwyddyn sydd rhwng Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau, G?yl Macs, Tyrfe Tawe a Maes B yr Eisteddfod a gynhaliwyd yn Abertawe'r flwyddyn ddiwethaf.

Yn dilyn nifer o berfformiadau cofiadwy drwy gydol y flwyddyn bydd y wobr am artist byw'r flwyddyn yn un difyr ac anodd iawn i’w ddyfarnu. Bydd y Genod Droog a Radio Luxembourg yn hawlio sylw am eu perfformiadau bywiog. Rhaid cofio hefyd am Frizbee a’r Sibrydion sydd

wedi bod yn weithgar iawn yn perfformio ar hyd a lled y wlad.

Mae enwebiadau ar gyfer EP, sengl neu lawr lwythiad y flwyddyn rhwng y band ifanc o Fangor Plant Duw am ‘Talach na Iesu/Nerth dy draed’ ac Jakokoyak am ‘Flatyre.’ Yn ymuno a hwy mae enwebiadau eraill i Radio Luxembourg a Swci Boscawen.

Un o wobrwyon mwyaf y noson fydd band neu artist y flwyddyn. Yr enwebiadau yw Frizbee, Radio Luxembourg, y Genod Droog a Gola Ola. Bydd gwobr arbennig hefyd ar gyfer person sydd wedi gwneud cyfraniad i’r Sîn Roc Gymraeg yn cael ei gyhoeddi ar y noson.

Bydd y noson wobrwyo yn cael ei gynnal yn Venue Cymru yn Llandudno ar nos Sadwrn Chwefror 17. Caiff ei ddarlledu ar C2 ar nos Lun Chwefror 19 am 8 o’r gloch.

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28 gairrhydd

INTERVIEWS

FEBRUARY.05.2007 iNTERVIEWS@gairrhydd.COM

At home on the prairie

This November, aged 81, world renowned director Robert Altman died.

His last film A Prairie Home Companion, a take on Garrison Keillro’s hit U.S radio show, brings his career full circle, reuniting him with the medium which sparked his initial passion for dramatics Nicola Menage Intervioews Editor

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y first interest in dramatics was radio,” said Altman. “I recall listening to the radio a lot as a kid in the 1930s, like many kids would I’d never miss it. My hero when I was a young man was Norman Corwin, who practically created the radio drama.

“And the first professional dramatic thing I ever did, outside of a little theatre, was writing for radio drama, so radio is very dear and near to me.”

The fact that Keillor stages his programme live every week also appealed

Keillro, Streep and Lohan in the film’s all-star cast.

to Altman, who has directed theatre and opera as well as film and television adaptations of various plays, including Streamers, Fool for Love, and Come back to the five and dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. As Altman points out, “While Garrison’s programme happens to be a radio show, it’s also a performance in front of a live, large audience. It’s a mix of radio and theatre, which made it a perfect call for me. I wanted to do A Prairie Home Companion: to do Garrison’s kind of humour, using Garrison and the other people that are on his show.”

The radio show on which the film is based is a throwback to the 1930s, a

live variety show recorded on stage in the Fitzgerald Theatre in St Paul, Minnesota, and regularly tours the country today. Its creator is Garrison Keillor, who launched his retro broadcast in 1974.

“Meryl did this movie because she got to sing. In her secret mental life she’s a singer.”

“Garrison Keillor was inspired to start the show after reporting on the Grand Ole Opry, with its array of country stars, for the New Yorker,” explained Altman.

“My wife’s a huge fan – she listens to it religiously, and I listen sometimes.

I am a fan. And then, by chance, my lawyer knows a friend of Garrison’s and, when I was shooting The Company, he told me that Garrison had an idea and wanted to make a film, with me directing. I said I’d be happy to talk to him.”

The film comprises an all-star cast.

Meryl Streep, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, Lily Tomlin, Virginia Madsen and John C. Reiley all took minimal salaries in order to work on the surprisingly low-budget film.

Altman noted that he secured Streep’s services by playing on one of her private passions.

“Meryl did this movie because she got to sing,” he said. “In her secret mental life she’s a singer. I knew that I could seduce her by saying that she had to sing in the movie.

“That was worth at least $500,000.

Singing was the bait. Actually, all the cast worked for diddlysquat. I on the other hand filled my coffers!” he joked.

The radio show itself is a peculiar blend of music, storytelling, sketches and spoofs, all recorded live on stage as a near-theatrical show performed in front of an audience.

“We shot it like a documentary, I

Director: The late Robert Altman guess that’s the word that most people are familiar with. Basically, we’re not trying to disguise the cameras, there aren’t lots of close-ups; it’s the stuff that’s caught by camera, rather than things that are staged. Everyone is milked up all the time and I’m using always two, sometimes three, cameras.”

Meryl Streep comments on the unusual way in which Altman decided to shoot the film.

“On the first day of shooting Bob shot about ten pages of the script, which is very unusual,” she said.

“Normally you’d shoot like a page and a half! And Lily and me did some very long takes - that scene backstage went on for 17 minutes.

“They were long takes but that’s what he’s looking for. Bob wants to see everything, including what’s between the inadvertent things are like gold to him.”

“With this, I barely read the script - I just knew I could watch it. I really try not to prepare Altman explained his reasoning behind these long takes. “It’s making the actors play their characters for more than just 35 seconds of their day,” he said. “I’d rather they played 20 minutes of that day and let themselves feel the character. Then we’ll extract what proves the point I know what I’m looking for, and I’m editing myself by deciding which monitors to watch, although half the time I can’t tell you what’s scripted and what’s improvised!

“With this, I barely read the script -

I just knew I could watch it. I really try not to prepare. I remember years ago in TV I’d work my finger down each line to make sure the actor was saying the right thing. But then I thought, ‘What do I care if they say exactly the right thing?’ So I learned to be quite loose with that kind of thing, and sometimes it got me in trouble. I got fired from a lot of TV jobs!”

Yet this seems not to have hindered his career in any way, putting together successes including M*A*S*H and Nashville. And it was in these films too that through the details Altman portrays the true essence and beauty of life. Yet, despite his success, Altman remained modest.

“Basically, this film is the Garrison Keillor show. It’s his show and it’s his movie. He is the conductor and I am just the recorder. My mandate was to take this verbal material, a radio show, and make it into something visual.”

A Prairie Home Companion is indeed predicted to be another classic Altman film. In a word, good. It is unfortunately his last. Yet critics reassure us it will mean he will certainly not be forgotten.

gairrhydd 29

INTERVIEWS

FEBRUARY.05.2007 INTERVIEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Garrison Keillro’s story Since its debut in a 1974 radio show, A Prairie Home Companion has won the devotion of millions of US listeners, who tune in weekly for its signature blend of music, humour, and storytelling. Now it has proved to be a successful film. Garrison Keillro fills us in on the process

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irected by Robert Altman and written by and starring Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion captures the distinctive spirit and humour of its namesake live radio variety programme, which Keillor has been writing and hosting for over 30 years.

Both Altman and Keillor are masters of observation and meaningful digression, and A Prairie Home Companion combines their sensibilities in weaving its backstage story.

Like a tall tale, the movie has a relaxed quality that allows for moments of slapstick as well as sincerity.

Keillor and Altman met for dinner in Chicago, and the low-key quality of that encounter characterised the subsequent collaboration between writer and director.

“Mr. Altman’s not given to bullshit and flattery, and that’s a Midwestern trait, I think” says Keillor. “It makes everything much easier. When we first met and in any succeeding meeting, we didn’t look each other in the eye and tell each other how much we loved each other’s work. We don’t do that in the Midwest. If you want to work with somebody on something, that’s compliment enough for anybody. Work is the ultimate compliment.”

Blurring the lines between fiction and more fiction, Keillor imported three of his radio show’s recurring fictional characters – Guy Noir, Dusty and Lefty – to the screenplay and made them backstage characters.

Guy Noir became a security guard while maintaining his gumshoe persona, and Dusty and Lefty added guitars to the lassoes and chewing tobacco in their saddle packs. He also created several new characters, such as the singing Johnson sisters, Yolanda and Rhonda.

“Those characters sort of burst full-blown into the screenplay,” Keillor remarks. “The two remaining sisters of a sisters’ quartet who had this one big chance a long time ago

Kevin Kline and John C. Reilly

and they lost out on the brass ring.

They fell off the ladder back into making the rounds of ordinary shows, playing county fairs and schoolhouses and churches and singing on the radio. Far from a glamourous life. I love that kind of character: defeated but steadfast, and basically cheerful.

Yolanda is certainly this staunch woman of courage and good humour in the face of defeat.”

He injected a note of Guy Noir-ish mystery into the backstage drama with the creation of a beautiful, enigmatic stranger, known only as The Dangerous Woman. Her motives are initially hard to discern, but ultimately she emerges as a figure of grace.

“The character of the Dangerous Woman evolved,” Keillor explains.

“She started out as a fan who had conceived in her mind that the host was talking to her, and was in love with her. So she was coming to the show expecting to go away with him.

But the character was very elusive.

She was trying to avoid detection, and I wanted to bring her into the action. I decided the way to do that was to have her die in a car crash and then come back as an angel.”

Keillor fashioned a narrative that was streamlined and character-orientated, setting the action during a seemingly typical broadcast that may in fact be the programme’s last.

“If you hold the axe over people’s heads, well, there’s a story right there.

And then if they sort of ignore it and pay no attention and don’t weep and carry on; they just sort of march up to the edge of the cliff and walk over, the way people do in real life: that appealed to me. These are supposedly Midwestern people and they would tend to accept their demise with a certain aplomb,” he remarks. “My aim was to give Mr. Altman interesting possibilities, knowing that he would cut and shape them and things would change.”

The combination of Altman, Keillor, and musical performance proved an irresistible lure, and a stellar ensemble began taking shape even

as Keillor was working on the screenplay.

Meryl Streep committed to the project in its early stages, as did Altman’s good friend and longtime colleague Lily Tomlin, who portrayed a member of a gospel choir in the director’s classic Nashville.

Streep and Tomlin were paired as Yolanda and Rhonda Johnson, respectively. After Lindsay Lohan joined the cast, Keillor added another new character, Lola Johnson, Yolanda’s teenage daughter.

“I knew that Meryl Streep was going to be a guest singer on the show, because she’s a terrific singer,” the writer explains. “I think Lindsay Lohan said in an interview that she was going to play Meryl Streep’s daughter which seemed like a terrific idea. It really was a benefit to have specific actors in mind.”

A Prairie Home Companion is Lohan’s first independent project, and the hugely popular 20-year-old plays against type as the bookish, bespectacled Lola Johnson.

“Lola acts like she’s depressed and not very confident in herself. But I think that’s all a facade,” Lohan reflects. “When you’re 17, you don’t want anyone to get to know your true feelings; you’re tough and you don’t need anyone to help you. You’re embarrassed by your mother and that

sort of thing. Over the course of the film, I think Lola starts growing into the person that she really is.”

Describing his path to A Prairie Home Companion, L.Q Jones, a guest singer in the film says, “I got a call from Robert Altman, and most actors heed that call. He’s wellknown for being a wonderful director to work for and to work with, because he has respect for acting and looks on it as a significant part of the process, as opposed to an inconvenience that has to be gotten out of the way somehow so one can go about the real job of cinema.

As a result, he puts together some brilliant casts. When you put together Screenwriter Garrison Keillro an ensemble like this, it’s hard to resist even a small part in that compa- the texture of it, and the music,” he comments. ny.”

“The story hangs sort of loosely, Having set out to translate the sensibility and substance of A Prairie and this Altman has used masterfully, Home Companion for the screen, I think. In cutting and shaping his Altman is pleased with the results. scenes, he’s given each of these “I’m very happy with the way it actors a wonderful turn. They each turned out. My obligation and man- have moments to shine and let loose. date was to take this verbal material I’m really quite astonished by what and make it visual. The best way to he’s done, and what the actors have do that, I figured, was to do ‘A done. I’ve seen the movie now three Prairie Home Companion.’ I tried to or four times and I keep seeing new serve what Garrison Keillor does and little things that I didn’t notice before.” his humour.”

In Keillor’s estimation, Altman did A Prairie Home Companion is out just that. “The movie shows you a in selected cinemas from great deal about the show that’s real: February 1st.

30 gairrhydd

HEALTH

FEBRUARY.05.2007 HEALTH@gairrhydd.COM

Health Editor Liz Stauber looks at the debate about size zero, and how images in the media can influence a negative body image, leading to dangerous consequences

Perfect ten?

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or years there have been debates as to what is the perfect body shape and size.

Each month a different celebrity is either criticised or praised for either gaining or losing weight, and often the same celebrity is condemned one month and applauded the next.

Magazines often feature front covers advertising the best celeb diets, or who weighs what in Hollywood. With these conflicting views constantly in the media, it is not hard to see how so many people are becoming involved in the size zero debate.

To be a size zero in this country means fitting into size four clothes, a size which many stores such as Topshop and Oasis do not even sell.

Some go down to a size six, but often, a size eight is the smallest you can find. However, the sight of models such as Lily Cole ‘strutting their stuff’ along the catwalks is enough to inspire people that big is no longer beautiful.

Victoria Beckham is another example of people who think that it is important to be skinny.

One city that led the way in the size zero debate was Madrid. However, just four months after they banned the use of extra skinny models from the runway, websites were discovered that were encouraging young girls not to eat. The biggest problem was The Great Ana Debate, a site which awarded diplomas to the girls who ate the least amount of calories.

Participants were awarded points for how little they ate.

Anybody who consumed less

then 850 calories receive one point, and the scale continued as far as nine points for 150 calories, taking it to the extreme to award ten points for a 24hour fast. Just two weeks ago, the Eating Disorders Association declared that there were more than 500 pro anorexia sites on the Internet, with names such as ‘Salvation through Starvation’ and ‘Feast or Famine’. A popular slogan that featured quite heavily was “Hunger hurts, but starvation works!”

Anorexia

The full name of the condition is anorexia nervosa. It is an eating disorder which is common in girls and women, and can sometimes affect men as well. It is thought to begin when a sufferer is in their teens. One of the most famous people to speak out at their experience of the disease is Mary Kate Olsen. She admitted that she had suffered from the disease and sought help. Another eating disorder associated with anorexia is bulimia nervosa.

The main difference between the two is that anorexia sufferers intentionally starve themselves, avoiding high calorie foods and they exercise constantly.

Bulimia sufferers eat large amounts of food, often junk food such as sweets, chocolate and cake. Soon after they throw up, or take laxatives in order to stop them gaining weight. In general, people who suffer from bulimia lose less weight those who are affected by anorexia. However, sufferers of both afflictions always view themselves as being overweight, despite how skinny they actually are.

For people who suffer from either complaint, it is

an attempt to use food and weight to deal with emotional problems. It is their way of regaining some control over their own life. A sufferer believes that how they look is directly connected to how they feel. They believe that either starving themselves or making themselves sick will eventually lead to happiness. They just want their lives to be perfect.

There are side effects, other than the increased weight loss. Sufferers may discover they have dry skin, or the hair on their head is starting to thin. They may often feel cold, and become ill very easily. They also suffer from mood swings, and find it hard to concentrate because food is constantly on their mind. Some people assume that anorexics do not feel hungry; however, this is a common misconception. The people who have the condition just learn to ignore the pangs they feel.

Two important things to note are that women who suffer from either disease may notice that their periods stop, and men can also suffer from impotence.

Both diseases are difficult to treat as there is no medicinal cure to be prescribed. If it is caught in the early stages, in the first six months when not a great a deal of weight has been lost, it is possible that the patient will not have to be admitted to hospital.

Sufferers often need to have a year or more of counselling to talk about why they use food to deal with emotional issues and it can help them see how to deal with their

To be a size zero in this country means fitting into size four clothes, a size which many stores such as Topshop and Oasis do not even sell

LEFT: Beckham; skinny. RIGHT: Church; curvy.

Who do most women want to look like?

problems in a different way. Sometimes, however, medication is prescribed to help with the depression LOHAN: Not a perfect ten, but is she perfect? that can sometimes trigger an eating disorder.

It is important to consider that not everyone who is extremely thin is suffering from an eating disorder. Some people are naturally small, just as some are naturally bigger than average. As long as a person eats a balanced diet, and exercises at a normal rate, not excessively, then they should not be criticised. It is easy to put all skinny people in the same category and condemn them for inspiring negative thoughts in others, but as long as people are happy with the way they look, and they are the shape they are through natural rather than excessive measures, they should not be criticised, whether they are considered too big or too thin.

Macho man

S

ome people see muscle dysmorphia, otherwise known as bigorexia, as the big brother disease to anorexia.

It is more common in men, especially body builders, and the men who take pride in their appearance, spending many hours at the gym.

It is a mental disorder, which causes its sufferers to over analyse their physical imperfections. They believe that they are not big enough, and so it is important to them to keep building up their muscles until they are perfect.

However, no matter how hard they try, they never seem to be faultless.

It is an under-diagnosed disease, as many do not realise the danger of it. Unlike people suffering from anorexia or bulimia, bigorexia patients look healthy. There are not any official symptoms for the disease, other than a person’s obsession with their body image.

It is not as life-threatening as anorexia; however, patients may turn to steroids to increase their muscle definition. Their mental state could be worsened by their steroid abuse, leading to negative effects in their personal and professional life.

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One courgette 100g /4 oz dried pasta Vegetable oil

An omelette

Mixed herbs

(serves 1) Ingredients

Grated cheese Optional: drained canned kidney beans or tuna, or cooked bacon

Two large eggs Pinch of salt, black pepper to taste

Instructions

A little oil for frying (or use a non-stick pan)

1. Slice the onion thinly, about 0.5 cm thick. Cut the pepper and courgettes into 1cm thick slices and mix with the onion in a bowl 2 tsp of oil.

Optional: tablespoon of milk or water, and maybe a filling such as ham or vegetables e.g. onions, mushrooms, peppers.

Instructions 1. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them with a pinch of salt and a little pepper. You may wish to add a tablespoon of milk or cold water to make the mixture go further.

2. Unless your frying pan is non-stick, add a few drops of oil or a teaspoon of butter to the pan and place over a medium heat.

3. Cook a few vegetables in the hot pan, and then add the egg mixture, swirling it around so the bottom of the pan is covered. Cook gently until the top of the omelette stops looking runny (it will be firmer and lose the shiny appearance). If you’re worried about the top not being well-cooked enough, finish it off under the grill: the omelette should have a slightly golden colour.

2. Arrange vegetables on a grill pan and cook under a hot grill for about six minutes, then turn them over and cook for another 6 minutes or so.

3. While the veggies are under the grill, cook dried pasta in plenty of boiling water according to instructions on the packet.

4. Drain pasta and mix with the cooked vegetables and herbs. At this point you may want to add optional extras like beans or tinned fish.

5. Serve topped with cheese.

4. Serve with thick wholemeal bread and a salad to make a

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The theme this year is The Big One! It’s all about doing the things you normally do - but bigger!

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Comic Relief in Wales From the money raised over 10 Red Nose Day’s, Comic Relief has spent over £7.3 Million on over 300 projects in Wales.

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5

Sexual Health

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Don’t jeopardise your health because you’re embarrassed.

Insisting on condoms

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7

Monday 5JNF

$MBTT -FHT #VNT BOE 5VNT 1VNQ *U 6Q 4QPSUT $JSDVJUT 5:#

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Tuesday 5JNF

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Wednesday 5JNF

Thursday

Winter 2007

Fitness Class Time Table

8th January-1st April 2007 For further information please refer to the Sport and Exercise website - www.cardiff.ac.uk/sport "EEJUJPOBM 4FSWJDFT 5VFTEBZ UI 'FCSVBSZ UI .BSDI

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FREE FITNESS CLASS

5JNF

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$MBTT 1VNQ *U 6Q 4UFQ "FSPCJDT #PYFSDJTF #PYFSDJTF 5:#

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Friday 5JNF

$MBTT -FHT #VNT BOE 5VNT 1JMBUFT $JSDVJUT +B[[

Saturday 5JNF

8

$MBTT #PEZ 4DVMQU BOE 1JMBUFT %BODF "FSPCJDT :PHB "FSP $JSDVJU

$MBTT "FSPCJDT "FSP CMBTU

Sunday 5JNF

$MBTT +B[[ 5FDIOJRVF )JQ )PQ

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Units? What on earth are units?

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"DDJEFOUT IBQQFO

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$SJNF UJNF

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Living with alcohol:

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•

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•

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-JWFS QSPCMFNT

$BODFS

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Alcohol and mental health

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9

SMOKING 4PNFUJNFT JU DBO TFFN MJLF FWFSZPOF TNPLFT XIJDI DBO NBLF JU UFNQUJOH UP CF QBSU PG UIF QBDL ,JDLJOH UIF IBCJU UBLFT HVUT CVU JU T BMTP UIF HSFBUFTU UIJOH ZPV MM FWFS EP GPS ZPVS CPEZ 4UBZ TNPLF GSFF BOE ZPV DBO CF TVSF ZPV MM CF QSPVE PG ZPVS BDIJFWFNFOU )FSF BSF UIF GBDUT UIBU TIPVME NBLF ZPV TJU VQ BOE QPP ZPVSTFMG JOUP RVJUUJOH • :PV IBWF B DIBODF PG EZJOH FBSMZ

• :PV BSF Y NPSF MJLF UP TVõ FS XJUI IFBSU QSPCMFNT • :PV BSF Y NPSF MJLFMZ UP HP CMJOE

Why Butt Out?

Burning truths

(JWJOH VQ UIF GBHT JT OPUPSJPVTMZ EJö DVMU NBJOMZ CFDBVTF ZPV IBWF HPU UP XBOU UP RVJUF 4P IFSF BSF B GFX HVJEFMJOFT UP LFFQ ZPV GPDVTFE PO ZPVS FOE HPBM

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• .BLF B EBUF UP TUPQ TNPLJOH BOE TUJDL UP JU

• 4UFFS DMFBS PG TNPLF TJUVBUJPOT MJLF DPõ FF CSFBLT BOE CBST • %PO U MPPL GPS BO FYDVTF UP MJHIU VQ

• :PV BSF Y BT MJLF UP CFDPNF JNQPUFOU

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The UK smoking ban 8IFSF XJMM TNPLJOH CF CBOOFE 4NPLJOH JO BMM JOEPPS QVCMJD QMBDFT XJMM CF CBOOFE .BOZ QMBDFT TVDI BT DJOFNBT BOE QVCMJD USBOTQPSU IBWF SBSFMZ QFSNJUUFE TNPLJOH JO SFDFOU ZFBST BOE TP JU XJMM CF QMBDFT MJLF QVCT SFTUBVSBOUT OJHIUDMVCT BOE QSJWBUF NFNCFST DMVCT UIBU GFFM UIF CJHHFTU JNQBDU PG UIF CBO

8IFSF XJMM ZPV CF BCMF UP TNPLF :PV MM TUJMM CF BMMPXFE UP MJHIU VQ PVUEPPST JO UIF IPNF PS QMBDFT DPOTJEFSFE UP CF AIPNFT TVDI BT QSJTPOT DBSF IPNFT BOE IPUFMT 4NPLJOH DPVME TUJMM CF CBOOFE BU DFSUBJO PVUEPPS MPDBUJPOT UIBU BSF ATVCTUBOUJBMMZ FODMPTFE TVDI BT GPPUCBMM HSPVOET BOE SBJMXBZ QMBUGPSNT /P EFDJTJPO IBT ZFU CFFO NBEF PO TNPLJOH JOTJEF DBST DBSSZJOH QBTTFOHFST

8IBU XJMM IBQQFO JG * N DBVHIU GBH JO IBOE *G ZPV SF DBVHIU TNPLJOH JO B CBOOFE BSFB ZPV DPVME CF m OFE b

Let’s stub out some myths: *U T DPPM 5IF DBTF GPS .PTU PG PVS JEPMT TNPLF BOE QBTU JDPOT BMXBZT EJE 0O UIF TJMWFS TDSFFO PO BMCVN DPWFST .57 PS TOBQQFE BU UIF HMJUUFSBUJ T IPUTQPUT UIFZ MM CF UIFSF XJUI B CVSOJOH XIJUF TUJDL JO UIFJS NPVUIT BOE BO BVSB PG DPPMOFTT ESJGUJOH UISPVHI UIF TNPLF SJOHT

5IF DBTF BHBJOTU

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*U T TFYZ 5IF $BTF GPS %FTQJUF PS JO TQJUF PG UIF IFBMUI XBSOJOHT UIFSF T TUJMM TPNFUIJOH BCPVU TNPLJOH UIBU TDSFBNT TFY BQQFBM NBZCF JU T UIF PSBM m YBUJPO PS NBZCF UIF UIPVHIU PG MJHIUJOH VQ BGUFS B QBTTJPOBUF SPNQ CFOFBUI UIF TIFFUT CVU XIBUFWFS *5 JT JU T UIFSF 5IFSF JT BMTP UIF BJS PG UIF SFCFM BTTPDJBUFE XJUI JU UIF .BSMPO #SBOEP CBE CPZT BOE HJSMT PG UPEBZ * NFBO MPPL BU 4BOESB % TIF EJEO U HFU TFY BQQFBM VOUJM TIF TMJQQFE JOUP TPNF 17$ BOE MJU VQ B GBH

5IF DBTF BHBJOTU

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#VU XIP T SFBMMZ HPJOH UP DBSF JG * MJHIU VQ B TOFBLZ POF

*U ADBMNT ZPVS OFSWFT 5IF $BTF GPS

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5IF DBTF BHBJOTU

8IFO XJMM UIF CBO DPNF JOUP GPSDF &OHMBOE +VMZ 4DPUMBOE .BSDI 8BMFT "QSJM /PSUIFSO *SFMBOE "QSJM

10

.BOZ QFPQMF CFMJFWF TNPLJOH IFMQT UP LFFQ UIFN DBMN SFMJFWJOH TUSFTT BOE OFSWPVTOFTT $JHBSFUUFT DPOUBJO OJDPUJOF /JDPUJOF JT B TUJNVMBOU XIJDI TQFFET VQ ZPVS CPEJMZ GVODUJPOT FTQFDJBMMZ ZPVS IFBSU SBUF /PU FYBDUMZ B NFUIPE PG SFMBYBUJPO 4NPLFST BSF BMTP NPSF MJLFMZ UP TVõ FS GSPN MPXFS TFMG FTUFFN UIBO OPO TNPLFST *O B SFDFOU TVSWFZ CZ UIF )FBMUI &EVDBUJPO "VUIPSJUZ PG TNPLFST QMBOOFE UP ESPQ PVU CFGPSF UBLJOH UIFJS ($4& T DPNQBSFE UP KVTU PG OPO TNPLFST

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5IF DBTF BHBJOTU

4NPLJOH BT B SFQMBDFNFOU GPS FBUJOH XPVME CF B EBOHFSPVT XBZ UP EJFU BOE XJMM MFBWF ZPV XJUI NPSF IFBMUI QSPCMFNT UIBO CFBVUZ CFOFm UT 5IJT JT POF FBTZ TUFQ UP DFMMVMJUF *G ZPV TUPQ TNPLJOH ZPV DPVME QVU PO B GFX QPVOET CVU JG ZPV DBO RVJU UIF GBHT ZPV DBO UBDLMF BOZ XFJHIU HBJO OP QSPCMFN

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11

Chill Out Room

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gairrhydd 31

HEALTH

FEBRUARY.05.2007 HEALTH@gairrhydd.COM

Fitness first

Name: Amy Harrison Course: English Literature Aim for health week: For two and a half years I have fobbed myself off with the excuse that dancing in Solus is a sufficient workout, but who am I kidding? Hand in hand with this ‘workout’ comes at least three pints of ‘bow and black, and even me, Little Miss Delusional, cannot justify the action of lifting the glass to my lips as a bicep curl.

Since I turned 21 the days where I could eat and drink whatever I liked without worrying about my figure are gone. Every kebab and pint that touches my lips is seriously affecting my muffin top. This month all of this is going to change; I will go to the gym three times a week, and beer and cider are completely banned. Bring it on.

Name: Katie Kennedy Course: Journalism, Film and Broadcasting Aim for health week: I’m hoping this month I’m going to get more fit, so climbing up the stairs to the 4th floor of the union everyday doesn’t eventually kill me and I just generally want to improve my health.

Also going to try and take up the healthy eating-ness, which after watching You are what you eat seems to be quite simple as long as I don’t eat anything that actually tastes nice. I really do want to improve my energy levels and stop eating crap to get through the day though. I’ve been for the well-being test and was surprised that I am slightly underweight, so will have to watch this when taking up any new exercise regime.

Name: Kate Dobbs Title: Societies and International Officer Aim for health week: The main reasons I’m participating in health month are to lose weight and stop smoking. I’m still carrying around my extra Fresher’s weight nearly 4 years on! Bad habits I picked up in the first year still haunt me to this day ; although brie and red wine consumption has now overtaken snakebite and kebabs as my main dietary vices. I smoked around 20 a day during my first and second years, but am now down to about 7 or 8 during the weekend. I try not to smoke unless somebody else is, and as most of my friends have quit it’s getting easier. I just need to cut them out completely, hopefully before the smoking ban comes in.

Name: Ed Jones Title: Vice President Aim for health week: Since starting work as Vice President, I haven't found the time for as much exercise as I'd have liked. I had to give up hockey and cricket last term and had a pretty indulgent Christmas so I'm looking forward to getting body and mind back on track with health month. Although the student life can be quite hard on the body, particularly the liver, you also have more chance to be active and get exercise than you might have later in life. It's crucial to make the most of those chances while you're here and that's what I intend to do this month.

PHOTOS: SARAH DAY

health month special

www.gairrhydd.com

gairrhydd

These people want to get fit and be more healthy. To achieve this they will be following the advice given by the Union during health month. We’ll chart their success and see how easy it really is to stay active and in shape during your time at university.

Name:Joe Al-Khayat Title: President Aim for health week: Since finishing my degree last year and working in the Union I sadly no longer play competitive sport, whereas during my degree I was playing football at least twice a week. Coming home from work when its cold, dark and miserable sometimes means you aren't in the mood to do exercise particularly during the winter.

However, I am willing to commit to do exercise three times a week whether that be jogging, swimming, football or going to the gym. After a very festive Christmas and New Year's period I would also like to take a month off alcohol, so no more legendary nights in the Union for a while!

Name:Rosanne White Course: English Literature Aim for health week: I definitely need to change aspects of my lifestyle this year. As usual, I overindulged during the festive season, drinking far too much alcohol and then lived off takeaways while stressing over my essays after Christmas. I now get horrendous hangovers and cannot always resist the temptation of the kebab shop on the way home, so will be paying attention during the alcohol week. Also, I’d normally describe myself as quite fit, but after attempting to run around the block recently, I was nearly in need of medical attention, so I’ll be focussing on getting my fitness levels up too.

32 gairrhydd

MEDIA

FEBRUARY.05.2007 MEDIA@gairrhydd.COM tion, for Islamic audiences this coverage is offensive and unnecessary.

This case has shown how influential the internet can be in news coverage.

Newspapers and broadcasters are under pressure from the revealing of footage on the net via mobile phone cameras which ultimately defines the ‘tasteful’ coverage of certain news events.

Over-stepping the boundar y

Millions of people seem to prefer to make their own editorial judgements

Aline Ungewiss Media Editor

T

he execution of dictator Saddam Hussein in the past month was shocking and unexpected for everyone.

Even more shocking were the live pictures of the execution, which had been recorded secretly with a mobile phone by one of the onlookers.

While the print media has tried hard to find the right balance of taste in this difficult coverage, the internet is already one step further, shocking the public with pictures we, the general public, do not really want to see.

A debate has erupted about what

was shown of the execution, and what should have been shown. Where is the boundary of moral and good taste, and has the internet not overstepped this boundary by showing the disturbing pictures of an old dictator being hung?

It is hard to decide whether people should be restricted from seeing anything they want, as it is their choice to watch or not. And who should act as arbiter in this case? Today’s public is largely interested in sensationalism and dramatic pictures of world news.

Therefore it is arguable that the great hunger of Western audiences for images of Saddam suggests that the mainstream media laid the groundwork with its coverage of the preced-

ing trial.

The execution of the ex-dictator caught the media and audiences offguard with its sudden and unexpected chain of events. The decision-making of TV channels and newspapers has been overtaken by the events. While the editors of main broadsheets and broadcasters of TV news were still deciding how to represent the execution in a careful and tasteful way, disturbing footage had already been transmitted on the net via mobile phones, so that the ‘tasteful’ coverage of the papers appeared irrelevant.

It is questionable why content which people receive from Google should now also be available from tra-

ditional newspapers and broadcasters.

The mainstream media is defined by editorial judgements which include whether it is right to show something which is likely to be offensive to some of the audiences.

Audience reaction is split be certain news coverage, and therefore it is hard to define the border of moral and good taste.

In Islamic countries, this coverage of Saddam’s execution has caused great uproar as it is seen as ‘distasteful’ as well as immoral and disgracing towards the old dictator who is now seen as a martyr. Although Western audiences have the great urge to see as many details as possible of this execu-

D&G:

Shocking images in advertising stir controversy

Distasteful & Glorifying weapons Fashion giants slammed for new range of blood-soaked attire Nadia Bonjour Media Editor

I

talian fashion house Dolce&Gabbana has caused controversy and distress because of its latest clothes campaign, which is seen as glamorising violence and knife-related crime.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received over 160 complaints, claiming that the two adverts were ‘distasteful’ and ‘irresponsible’. D&G is merely the next fashion house to capture attention through its ‘shockadvertising’.

The adverts in question depict flawless models wounded and armed. The first one features a wounded man struggling on the floor, another sitting on a chair with two men brandishing their knives at him. The second ad sees a wounded woman holding a knife,

being supported by two men.

The images exude a sense of the theatrical, dramatic and violent, very much contrasting with the glamorous, stylized and faultless figures. Because of this ‘theatrical’ aspect to the advert, D&G felt that it did not represent or encourage aggression. They explained that the French romantic painter Eugène Delacroix was an inspiration for their adverts and intended to evoke the Napoleonic era.

The ASA, recognising the artistic and stylish nature of the fashion photographs, nonetheless felt that the overall presence of knives and wounds could cause serious offence to some.

Moreover, they felt that it may be seen as ‘condoning’ knives and related violence. D&G however pointed out that the adverts had run in other countries prior to Britain, including other European countries, China, Hong

In order to be in time with internet coverage, newspapers are often forced to stay a step ahead of the internet, as otherwise many news stories would seem irrelevant and under-reported. Is this an editorial judgement of taste, or simply competition?

The problem for the mainstream media today is that millions of people seem to prefer to make their own editorial judgements; therefore the media has to act on some ill-defined notion of what the general public wants.

However, the net has clearly exposed that the “general public” rejects all editorial value judgements; it simply shows how media types have imposed their values on the people, and thus directed their tastes and views on morality.

The Media Guardian ran a critical piece regarding this execution, and the overall response of the readers was that newspaper should keep to their own standards and not follow the example of YouTube in their coverage of news events.

Kong and the United States, and no complaints were recorded.

The advertising industry is very much one in expansion. Working without geographical boundaries and with rapidly developing technology, advertisements in the last couple of decades have become extensively refined. They have imposed themselves as an increasingly influential medium, which can present itself in a whole range of different ways: from the original basic pamphlets to posters and mega-size interactive billboards.

They saturate nearly all our communication channels, from the presence of adverts in newspapers, magazines and on television, we now encounter them at the cinema, on our mobile phones and in public transport.

Advertising industries are continuously seeking to be at the top and create the most innovative, eye-catching

and technically advanced adverts. With the use of computer effects everincreasing, adverts today are all about the spectacular, dramatic and emotive.

D&G’s latest campaign is an example of creating an over-the-top advert, stirring emotions and reactions.

Influenced by a historical period, the Napoleonic era was known to be one of great violence, greed and gruesomeness, hence the connotation of violence in the advert is somewhat inevitable.

Complaints were made mostly due to the shock-factor of the advert, as one does not and would not expect the use or presence of knives within a fashion advert because of the hostility and harm they represent. Shock-advertising, however, is a common factor in current advertising. Increasingly a competitive industry, advertising most often resorts to shock in order to stand out, and the methods used to shock are

becoming ever more far-fetched.

Benetton is a leader of shockvertising, when discussing the use of controversial tactics or topics in order to promote a brand or product. Oliviero Toscani, creative director for Benetton, has become a household name for tackling extreme topics such as racism, war, AIDs, religion and capital punishment.

When quizzed on the relevance of certain images to Benetton products, he infamously replied: “None at all.

Selling jumpers is the company’s problem, not mine.” Despite his radical techniques and emotionally-charged campaigns, Toscani has somewhat underlined the notion that advertising has a power to influence, to educate and inform. Hence, he seeks to use it to raise awareness on taboo topics that often have nothing to do with the brand in question.

While Benetton adverts have become infamous within the advertising industry, one must question why they have been so mediatised in comparison to other more meticulously, and technically spectacular advertisements. It is because they shocks. They confront topics that people tend to avoid or turn a blind-eye to and blow these images into huge posters so that they are literally ‘in our face’ and cannot be ignored or go unnoticed.

gairrhydd 33

MEDIA

FEBRUARY.05.2007 MEDIA@gairrhydd.COM

Trial by Media

The massively mediated Ipswich murders lead us to question the responsibility and the influence of the media in murder trials Amy Davies Media Reporter

B

MySpace goes into print to promote the talents of the web Andy Dickens Media Reporter

T

he most popular social website MySpace is going to make the first move from the online business into print publishing.

A deal has been signed with the UK style magazine Marmalade, and the March issue will feature the first cover-to-cover version of MySpace content submitted by the users of the website.

The purpose of this newly launched print version of MySpace is to enable users to make themselves and their work known to the wider public, and via the Marmalade’s profile on the website the magazine’s editorial staff is looking out for new creative talents.

The aim is to tap the 70-plus million regular users of MySpace to find talented up-coming creatives who use the social network to promote themselves and their works through their online profiles.

Great competition is already on the market, with magazines such as iD and Dazed & Confused, and Marmalade aims to carve out its own reputation for discovering and championing new trends and talents in the fields of music, film, art and fashion.

The senior vice-president of marketing and content at MySpace Europe called the website “the ultimate medium where anyone with talent can showcase their work” world wide, and with the co-work of the magazine, this carving and discovering of talents will go another step further.

It is not only creative minds that are the aim of the search, but also talented journalists, photographers, stylists and illustrators, who are in demand to produce reportage pieces, profiles and feature interviews for the March issue.

Brilliant and creative ideas are distributed all over the website, and now the editors of Marmalade have started the search for the real talents to be published in the 30,000 circulated print magazine.

The MySpace deal with Marmalade marks a fledging step by social networking websites to take the popularity of its web brand to numerous media platforms, and it is also the website’s first foray into print publishing.

Looking at advertising sales, changes become apparent as both Google and Yahoo! have made significant moves to start offering advertisers the option of placing ads in other media, such as newspaper, magazine and radio, so far to great success.

ritain’s obsession and morbid fascination with the gory details of a crime can mean that even before a suspect gets to court, their guilt is determined.

In a sensationalist society where the tabloids print every minute detail about a suspect, including pictures and addresses, is a fair trial possible?

Worse still, for those innocents presumed guilty, can life return to normal?

The Ipswich Murders and the following investigation during December of last year provided the media with much fuel for speculation and drama.

Exciting, and some might say glorifying, nick-names were given to the murderer, ranging from the ‘Suffolk Strangler’ to the ‘Red Light Ripper’, lending a soap-opera-esque element to the proceedings and turning them into a spectacle. Even though there were no charges until the 21st December, the media had already published the intimate details of two men that had been arrested. Almost certainly, at least one of these two men is innocent, yet the media seemingly felt no qualms about the intrusion into their private lives.

But is it all the media’s fault? We come to the question of whether the public want these details, and whether we are all as culpable as the outlets that print them. It may be assumed that it is only the tabloids that are rife with this information, but this is far from true.

Broadsheet newspapers published the name of Tom Stephens, who was later released on police bail and has faced no charges. It is not as if the reader can make a sensible choice over which newspaper to buy in order to avoid this type of story; they exist in almost every newspaper; on the other hand, we can choose to switch off the television or not seek out information on the internet.

The internet is arguably one of the guiltiest culprits in this proliferation of information. Virtually as soon as Tom Stephens was arrested, details of his MySpace profile became available and were inundated by curious members of the public determined to get an insight into the mind of the bizarre loner they had heard and read so much about.

Fascination became so intense that MySpace eventually had to take down Stephens’ profile. Although it was the newspapers that had printed the details of the address, it was members of the public that took it upon themselves to check it out.

Stephens was treated by certain sectors of the press as somewhat of a celebrity, with interviews appearing in the Sunday Mirror as well as a controversial audio interview aired by the BBC. The interview had been conducted on the basis that it would be used as background research and not for broadcast. The decision to broadcast the interview led some commentators

CRIME SCENE: Media clutter at the scenes of investigation to suggest that this could only encourage speculation and ultimately an unfair trial.

It is easy to forget that Tom Stephens was eventually released on bail, and faced no charges. For a few days, for all intents and purposes, Stephens had been tried and convicted by the media and was therefore fair game - a target for a media feeding frenzy. After such an overstepping of the mark, one might think that the media would be slightly more cautious upon the arrest of second suspect, Stephen Wright. This was far from the case, however, as details of his personal life, including his preference for cross-dressing were highlighted in the press. Even more disturbingly, in a desperate rush to reveal details about Wright, the Daily Mail published a picture which turned out to be a different man, who was completely innocent.

Even more seriously, publishing details like this are likely to violate the 1981 Contempt of Court Act. This states that once an arrest is made, a case is active and no information should be published which could prejudice the jury against the defendant. Any member of the public who reads newspapers or watches television news may find it impossible to be completely unbiased and would therefore be an unsuitable jury member. The court can then decide that a fair trial is impossible. The media in their scrutiny could be playing with an entire judiciary system.

The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, has issued guidance for the press in relation to the publication of such information and has asked “all parties to show restraint in their reporting”. Many would argue, however, that a large section of the media has already contravened the Act and Lord Goldsmith should act accordingly.

Others have commented that the slow-

ness of the British legal system means that the trials of most prominent cases don’t reach court for over a year, by which time much of the coverage will have been forgotten.

Although the outcome of the court case is yet to be known, what can be certain is that life for Tom Stevens will never return to normal. Forever to be branded as an outsider, he will find life difficult and getting a job near impossible. One thing is also clear: the media will not learn. As long as the newspapers keep selling copy, sensationalism will be victorious and criminals will continue to be tried by the media.

So long as there is a culpable victim for the media to manipulate there will be this kind of intrusion. Interestingly, in other European countries naming and shaming a defendant wouldn’t happen and so is perhaps symptomatic of a society obsessed with delving into the privacy of anyone and everyone, a need to search for a scapegoat and the cult of guilty until proven innocent.

Top: The ‘unusual’ suspect.

Bottom: The Ipswich murderer