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ISSUE 865 MARCH 17 2008 CARDIFF’S STUDENT WEEKLY free word - EST. 1972
SCIENCE&ENVIRONMENT/FEATURES/TELLY/MILLWORD
GOING GREENER
Last week’s Student Council passed two motions to reinforce Cardiff University Students’ Union’s environmental agenda
Amy Harrison gair rhydd Editor Last Tuesday, Student Council passed two environmental motions that reveal a continued commitment to Cardiff Students’ Union’s environmental policy. The first of the two motions set out to introduce a Domestic Air Travel Policy that would see domestic air travel banned in matters of Students’ Union business. The second environmental motion passed at Student Council resolved that the Union President should lobby the Vice-Chancellor to employ a full-
time environmental manager. The motion to implement a Domestic Air Travel Policy was brought to Student Council in the Autumn semester, but an inquorate meeting meant the motion could not be passed. The motion was, however, discussed at the inquorate meeting and on this instance the prime concern was whether Northern Ireland would be included in the policy. At last week’s meeting it was formally decided that Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland would both be covered by the policy. But the quorate meeting on Tuesday March
11, the motion faced further critique. Student councillors, who are also active members of societies, expressed concerns for societies who would have to comply with the policy. The point was raised that societies have a limited budget and air travel can often be a cheaper alternative to travelling by rail, bus or car. There was a strong consensus in the room that societies shouldn’t be exempt from the policy, and that sacrifices need to be made for the sake of the environment. An amendment was accepted that the Students’ Union would look to support societies and clubs financially
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if necessary. Time and financial factors were considered critically during the debate. After lengthy discussions one student called for the issue to be put to a vote. The motion passed with an overwhelming majority. The motion mandating the Students’ Union President to lobby the University to employ a full-time Environmental Manager was met with fewer questions and the majority voted that this motion should be passed. Last month the Students’ Union ran its first Go Green campaign. The campaign sought to educate students
arts go to the opera food check out the new roath market
further on environmental issues and aimed to promote a shared goal of working towards a green future. The motions passed at student council illustrated the willingness of students to become more environmentally friendly. Students’ Union President, Jonny Cox, commented: “We were disappointed when we couldn’t pass the motion last term, so it is absolutely fantastic that these motions have now passed. I think the results of last week’s Student Council make a strong statement to the University and wider community as they reveal our shared commitment to going green.”
and all your regular music film, digital, and book reviews
02 gairrhydd
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CUTV does premier live broadcast by Cardiff students and acts as a platform for news, film, music and documentaries. CUTV routinely broadcasts on the numerous TV screens dotted around the Students’ Union FREE as well as on their website cardiffunion.tv. This significant occasion INSIDE ...FEAT URES/ marks the first in what is JOBS& MONE Y/NEW hoped to be a series of S/TAF-O D/OPIN live broadcasts covering ION important issues that concern students. The service promises to develop a modern media platform for all students to benefit from. Huw Thomas, After 9 mon Controller of CUTV, ths in the m aking said: “The first , CUTV finally launc live broadcast hes went really well. SPORT We managed to /POLIT ICS/S CIENC iron out all of our E&ENV IRONM ENT/L technical hitches ISTING S/TV and now I can’t wait until we go live on election night.”
gair r hydd ISSUE 853 CARDIFF NOVEMBER 05 200 ’S STU free wor DENT WEE 7 d - EST KLY . 1972
LIVE
ion.tv Insid CUTVe: Meet the Exec Te am
birth to adulthood. The creators hope to highlight that those with the condition can, and do, lead fulfilling, active and exciting lives. Dr Maggie Woodhouse of Cardiff University states: “This exhibition is inspirational.” After working with children with Down’s Syndrome for over 16 years, she feels that the photographs really celebrate what people with the syndrome can do and be. Similarly, Ceri Probert, a second year Optometry student, said: “I think the photographs are encouraging to other people with Down’s Syndrome; they illustrate what they can achieve.”
A Cardiff University scientist has been named a ‘Woman of Outstanding Achievement’. The accolade was awarded to Wendy Sadler by the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC) at a ceremony on Tuesday March 11. Wendy, a liaison officer with the School of Physics and Astronomy and founder of the science communication company ‘Science Made Simple’, is the first woman in Wales to be named as a winner. She was chosen for her contribution to society through the communication of science, engineering and technology. Wendy said: “I’m really thrilled to be seen as an inspiration to others. “The ‘science made simple’ mission is all about inspiring a new generation of scientists and engineers, and this award helps raise the profile of the contribution women can make in addressing this important issue.”
You decide who plays at the Summer Ball Cath Duddridge LMS Reporter The second semi final of Battle of the Bands was an extremely varied and exciting night which truly showcased the best of the Cardiff music scene. Everyone Must Win came out on top, following an awesome and well received set, with The Low Lights coming in very deserving second place. These two acts now join Zenyth and The Three Aces in the Battle of the Bands final, which is to be held on Thursday March 20 in Solus. This is the final union event of term and if the semi-finals are anything to go by it will be an amazing event. As well as studio time and a cash prize, the winner will get a chance to play at this year’s Summer Ball - so come along and cast your vote. Tickets are available from the Union box office at www.sutickets. com. Rob Keen, LMS Vice president and mastermind behind the event says, ‘It’s fantastic to see so many people supporting Live Music in Cardiff and a real credit to those who have made the event possible; Cardiff Uni ENTS and Marketing, gair rhydd, the LMS exec team and everyone who turned up to the semis and the heats - We hope to see a huge turnout at the final!’ Everyone must win (and they did!) said that they “enjoyed the event very much” and that the final was, “going to be awesome!”
Final Date: Thursday March 20 Location: Solus Time: 7.30pm Price: £4 adv £5 door
Chris Beale
The School of Optometry is to host a photography exhibition by the Down’s Syndrome Association to raise awareness of the syndrome
Shifting Perspectives Photographic Exhibition, organised by the Down’s Syndrome Association, is being showcased in one of the University’s newest buildings. The School of Optometry and Vision Sciences is an internationally acclaimed centre of scientific learning, and has recently become a popular art venue. The exhibition, housed in the atrium area of the newly built building on Maindy Road, welcomes anyone to come and view the images from Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. The exhibition, which is on show until the end of April 2008, was created by Richard Bailey and Fiona Field. Both having children diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome, they feel it is necessary to challenge common misconceptions surrounding the diagnosis of the syndrome and aim to do so using the photographs. The exhibition strives to convey those diagnosed with the syndrome in different aspects of life, ranging from
Amy Harrison
William News Taylor Editor
the stati creates on, told gair After alm students a great opportu rhydd: “CU and planost one yea TV the media to make a visu nity for Car Union’s ning Car r of hard wor scen diff Stu al impact diff equ Students’ k on Mon premier TV stat Uni The laune.” ipment, den on the day innumer on to buy ion laun ts’ after ch of further Under . able new the ches an neg do with resource otiating abo meetings the Stud extended peri station com student the name of and stud s to help es ut usin the stati ents’ Union od of lobbying face of TV station is CUTV, the new g Uni Vassallo ent TV.” But CUT into fund on. set to chan faced budget problemV get started. on media and continued media. Cardiff Uni ing for by man ” to prai versity’s ge the ThoThe station’s s seem the to stud across He said Students student to be mas, exp ents. opportunities se student Controll the UK y student TV : “We from a it prov will now . lained stages er, program She stations ides of very smaare currently how the Huw NotAndrea Vas floor, stations said: “Studen stressfu setting up wer Union, mes on scre be able to view sallo, ting initi and hop ll space on working ham l. al Controll e conside prove live evenoffer the chant radio and Trent station e to compute and on dem ens inside the 4th er of ours rably TV Uni during and from the off He said: “Th rs to the Uni elves to be expand as able to ts as they ce to report experie 2006-07 versity’s TV Oz Tha at home. is with thei on con happen nces a valuable we year on’s stud , a heav r actu describe kkar, Hea of setti has star in a way vey message from a “A year and are y wor ent asse ally d her ng ‘ver d of Prod ted but than ago this proj media portfolio t accessib that is muc s to audienc and runn had to get thekload, as I hav uction She said y limited bud up Trent TV ect was ks es le, . h ing. at e Tren get’. TV stati : “A cruc to the Students a drea CUTV and often easi faster, more “This enth t TV on up er currentl involved a succ ial factor in mak talent of ’ Union and the usiasm of m, of dedicat ess y outp to take in.” the ing cov programs ed negotia uts a to go on Cardiff ’s stud unquestiona member support of was having from ting with rang ble ents, we’ news the dati erage, to mus ano air.” and spor e fountain of staff who ther full time re read ic docume ng show • y was an t of knowle Check s, with feature end pre-prod ntaries and dge for film out th all thin less we Huw Tho currently und uction on a gs to e bs ite: ww erw mas told high hop cardiff gair rhyday. es for CUT d he had un w. • V.
er
GOING
Look and learn Sian Symons Reporter
Samantha Shillabeer News Editor
Ed Salt
The inaugural broadcast of Cardiff Union Television (CUTV) went live on Wednesday March 12. The premier live broadcast was of the Candidate Question Time of the current election campaigners. CUTV’s website was the platform for the live broadcast. The election centric broadcast took place in the Great Hall where election candidates fielded questions from students regarding their manifestoes, election promises and concerns. The next live broadcast will cover the election results on March 20. The broadcast will be streamed live on CUTV’s website for free, delivering the results instantaneously to the student body. Video manifestos for all the candidates are available to view on CUTV’s website. This allows students to have access to the relevant election information and identify the candidates. The web-based TV station is run
High achiever
PHOTO:
Oliver Lewis Reporter
03
04 gairrhydd MARCH.17.2008
NEWS
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Banning the military
“I have no problem with the army on campus. It can make a real difference to one’s perception.”
Alex Jones First year Journalism
“Military recruitment should definitely not be banned from Freshers’ Week. Our troops should be supported.”
Helen Glancy Third year Politics & IR
Portia Nicholson considers our students’ views on the military situation “I haven’t got a problem with the army having a stand since ultimately we’re all old enough to make our own decisions.”
“If the army is in someone’s interest then I don’t think that anyone should stop them finding out more about it.”
Lucy Dickens Third year Philosophy
Ash Percival First year English Literature
International students accused of ‘buying essays’ Jonathan Evans Reporter A leading essay writing service in the UK has reported a threefold increase on 2007 in the number of overseas students ‘buying university essays’. The claims have fuelled suggestions from Jed Hallam, a spokesman for UKEssays.com, that the alleged increase is because a number of overseas students have “very poor written and verbal skills”. He said: “It’s another example of universities turning into businesses.” Hallam then went on to criticise universities for not providing “enough lan-
guage support” for overseas students. Essay writing services charge between £120 for an undergraduate essay written within five days to £3,200 for a 10,000 word postgraduate dissertation. However, the sites claim that they are model answers and should not be copied or submitted as their own work. Universities accuse them of selling essays that are used dishonestly by students. A Cardiff University spokesperson said: “All international students are required to give proof of English language proficiency prior to receiving an unconditional offer to study at the University. “Once international students have
Students at University College London (UCL) have banned military recruitment at their freshers’ fair and on Union premises. The Students’ Union at UCL passed the motion attacking the government for “waging an aggressive war overseas” in Afghanistan and Iraq. The ban at UCL comes after Goldsmiths and the London School of Economics passed similar motions. The motion, which passed with a majority of 80 votes to 50, stated: “This Union believes that because the British military under the Labour Government is currently engaged in an aggressive war overseas, for the Union to use its resources to encourage students to join the military or participate in military recruitment activities at this time would give political and material support for the war.” Much to the dismay of university management, the Union have also prohibited the military from having a recruitment stand at the Freshers’ Fair and are calling for all links with the military to be severed. The Union have stressed that the
ban only applies to Union premises and events but does not affect the main UCL campus. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) described the ban as “deeply disappointing”. A spokesperson for the MOD said: “Universities play a very important role in raising awareness amongst young people about the important work the armed forces do and we enjoy a good relationship with most universities.” Cardiff University Students’ Union (CUSU) have not imposed a ban on military recruitment at their freshers’ fair. Union President Jonny Cox has stated that there are no current plans to ban military recruitment and activities at CUSU. He said: “They provide a great opportunity for our students’ personal development and to ban them would be taking this opportunity away from them.” Cox added that a future ban would ultimately be up to students to decide. He concluded: “If anyone wants to ban the armed forces from Freshers’ Week they need to come to Student Council with a motion to do so.”
met the conditions of their offers and are studying on undergraduate and postgraduate courses, they have language support available to them.” The University’s International Development Division and the Students’ Union provide a number of free open access courses for international students. These courses cover academic conventions and include advice on how to avoid plagiarism. A University spokesperson added: “The International Development Division has received no complaints about international students buying essays online.”
PHOTOS: Portia Nicholson
Your Uni: your words
Portia Nicholson Reporter
Student debt despair Laura Hinson Reporter Graduates are still accumulating student debt even after starting their first job, research has revealed. Only a quarter of students are able to earn enough money to start paying off their debts due to high levels of interest. The average graduate earning £18,000 in a first job is paying back £219 a year on £10,300 debt, but the amount of interest added actually equates to £489, which is over twice as high as the official inflation rate. Three-quarters of new graduates are currently mounting up growing loans, seeing themselves getting into more and more debt.
It is now believed it will take between 10 and 15 years to pay off a student loan in its entirety. Gemma Tumelty, President of the National Union of Students, said: “Graduates are already struggling to pay off the thousands of pounds of debt and these huge increases in repayment rates are making things even worse. “We have continually urged the government to review this unfair system and these figures only strengthen our case.”
gairrhydd MARCH.17.2008
05
WORLD NEWS
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Governor of New York steps down
World News in brief Ruth Smith Reporter
Couple back from the ‘dead’
An Australian couple arrived home after a spontaneous beach holiday to find a full-scale homicide investigation underway at their Melbourne home. Police were setting up a press conference at the location, and forensic officers were ripping up their patio searching for evidence about their disappearance. The incident occurred after the couple had forgotten to tell their daughter about their last minute holiday plans. The wife said she was glad the police chose a nice picture of her in the media.
Oliver Lewis Reporter The governor of New York has resigned after more than a week of continuing allegations that he has been soliciting prostitutes. Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic official, could also face corruption charges after the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) traced several transactions from his personal account to a firm in the centre of a prostitution ring. During a surveillance operation, Spitzer was overheard arranging to meet an escort in a Washington DC hotel in February. He was also found to be a repeat customer of a firm called the Emperors Club VIP, where he has spent an estimated $80,000 (£39,500) in the last
eight months. He announced his resignation on Wednesday March 12. It comes into effect on Monday 17. This coincided with threats of impeachment by state lawmakers. Speaking at a news conference last week, Spitzer said: "Over the course of my public life, I have insisted—I believe correctly—that people take responsibility for their conduct.
“I can and will ask no less of myself and for this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor." The Democrat, who was elected into office in January 2007, with a declaration to reduce corruption in government and Wall Street, is a supporter of Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Senator Clinton is now seeking support from Spitzer's replacement, David Paterson.
A second chance Protest banned Magdalene Quartey Reporter A gay Iranian teenager who faces certain death on his return to his country is to have his case reviewed by the Home Office. Mehdi Kazemi’s boyfriend was killed in Iran after he was discovered as being gay, as it is not tolerated in the predominantly Muslim country. Mr Kazemi is likely to face the same fate if he is forced to return to Iran. The Netherlands and British authorities had refused Kazemi’s plea for asylum. However, in response to heavy campaigning against his deportation, Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, has
decided to have a ‘second look’ into the case. Many of the campaigners felt angry that Kazemi was going to be deported when it was clear that he would be faced with murder. The move to reconsider the case has made campaigners more optimistic about the prospects of a positive outcome from the second review. Ms Smi t h ’s statement s e e m e d optimistic. Speaking last week, she said: “Following representations made on behalf of Mehdi Kazemi, and in the light of new circumstances since the original decision was made, I have made the decision that Mr Kazemi’s case should be reconsidered on his return to the UK.’’
Melissa Moore Reporter Tibetian exiles in India have been barred from embarking on protests against the Chinese government. A six-month long protest march from India to Tibet had been planned by almost 100 Tibetian exiles who wished to denounce China’s violations of human rights and voice claims of increasing repression on Tibetan identity and culture. However, the marchers have been banned from the historic pro-independence march to their homeland by Indian police forces. The journey was to start from the town of Dharmsala, in the North East region of India, where the seat of the exiled Tibetan government is situated. Local police chief Atul Phuljile claimed the order had been issued following a recommendation from the Indian government. In reference to the demonstrators, he said: “If they violate the order then all necessary actions will be taken.” It has been suggested that there are fears held by the Indian government that such disturbances might upset rela-
tions between the two nations. The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has renounced the upcoming Olympics as an opportunity to exert greater pressure on the Chinese government to uphold the Olympic values of freedom and equality. He said: “China should prove herself a good host by providing these freedoms. “Therefore, besides sending their athletes, the international community should remind the Chinese government of these issues.” He further called for an end to the plight of the Tibetan people, who have been under Chinese rule since 1951, and who, he argued, “have had to live in a state of constant fear, intimidation and suspicion under Chinese repression.” The New Delhi advisory said the protest march in India infringes upon agreements with the Tibetan exiles over anti-China campaigns. It is claimed the action is “in clear violation of the understanding between the government of India and his holiness the Dalai Lama that there will be no anti-China political activities on Indian soil”.
Dressed to impress
In Yellow Springs, Ohio, an art project has been launched involving dressing trees in knitted items and quilts such as patchworks. Residents and visitors have been hanging mementos, photos and poems out of the knitted pockets attached to the trees as part of the project, which was initiated with help from artist Corrine Bayraktaroglu, Similar situations have been occurring in areas such as Columbus and Houston. In the latter, knitters have dressed up park benches, car antennas, telephone poles and beer bottles.
Trapped
Francesca Bellucci, an Italian pensioner, got her head stuck in railings behind her garden for two days after falling over and becoming trapped. The 78-year-old, who lived in the town of Camerota, was eventually freed when a local greengrocer noticed she had not come in to collect her shopping and reported her missing.
14 gairrhydd
FEATURES
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gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
EDITORIAL & OPINION
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freewords Est. 1972
Gunning to vote
Barking mad
After this week’s news from UCL it is quite likely that our union will, once again, face the issue of its relationship with the military. The importance that the MOD places on students cannot be underestimated. The forces form a significant part of everything from our first freshers’ fairs to the careers’ days the plague our final months. And who hasn’t seen a film where some impressionable young graduate not yet out of his gown is snapped up onto a recruitment bus? All joking aside, the seriousness of these unions’ decisions is easy to imagine, when we are simultaneously confronted every day with the frontpage hardships of the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. Critics and cynics alike make the point that when the army is advertising it’s a bad time to sign up. Their halffinished adverts featuring sun-kissed navy beaches and Xbox-controlled army planes have bought a lot of TV airtime recently. But behind these manly teasers lies a desperately over-stretched force pushed beyond their means by a combination of mortality and bad press. No doubt the already nervous marketing department at the MOD viewed this weeks’ events with disappointment. But is it right, and, more importantly, will it spread? The immediate answer appears to be ‘no’. Cardiff students, such as those interviewed by gair rhydd, were widely opposed to the decisions against the armed forces, and it was hard not to notice their emphasis on being able to make up their own minds. These bans are a slap in the face to these unions’ students, implicitly suggesting that they are vulnerable to the army’s advances, and need protection from them. Nothing could be further from the truth, here or elsewhere on UK campuses. We are perhaps better informed about the military and its work at this time than any other over previous decades, so why can’t students have the freedom to decide whether to take an army pamphlet? But if nothing else, these events prove again the power of students in their own unions, able to take stands and make changes, in this case whether university bigwigs like it or not. Enough evidence then, if evidence were needed, that our Students’ Union Elections will be a key moment, defining the next year of university life - for better, or, if treated with indifference, for worse.
Crufts 2008 has landed and pampered dogs adorn our TVs. Emily Woodrow explores the nonsense
D
ogs! OK, so you may believe that they truly have feelings, or that they really are a man’s best friend, but is it really necessary to pamper them to the extreme? Could you honestly condone spending £2,500 on a made-to-measure leather doggy bed or £150 on a Swarovski crystal-encrusted dog jacket? Well, owners who showed off their dogs at this year’s Crufts certainly could. Around 150,000 people visited the event over the four days, spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on their much loved hounds. To many of these owners, price is not an issue when it comes to pampering their precious pups. Whether it be spending £7.50 on a baseball cap that ‘protects your dog from harmful UV rays’ or £825 on an electric grooming table, these proud owners believe, as Claire Samuels does, that: “You spend a lot of money when showing dogs. You don’t get any back so you do it for fun.’’ Fun? Spending a small fortune on an animal which can’t even thank you verbally and who looks more like Paris Hilton when dolled up in designer gear isn’t exactly my idea of fun. Coughing up £200 for a pet sat-nav which is completely unnecessary, as when walking your dog you either keep an eye on them or keep them on a lead, is surely not fun. It’s not as if you let them get behind the car wheel and drive themselves to Crufts.
Dogs are meant to be free from clothes, handbags and nail varnish Fun is introducing your dog to next door’s cat and watching them chase each other around the house, or putting a hair clip on your dog’s tail and watching it spin around for hours trying to get it off without realising that no matter how hard it tries it isn’t going to be able to reach it. Fun is not exposing your dog to a life of Burberry dog jumpers or diamond encrusted doggy shoes which cover perfectly painted doggy toe nails. Spending a one figure sum on an item of clothing for a dog is at least slightly understandable. I myself have a dog at home, and I wouldn’t begrudge spend-
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DOGS: they’re taking over ing a few pennies on a brightly coloured dog jumper to dress her up in for giggles, or a squeaky bone that would keep her entertained for hours (though I have learnt that she’s perfectly happy to amuse herself with old Christmas wrapping paper or bubble wrap.) However, I would begrudge making her wear all the latest designer dog gear at the expense of my student loan. We all know pets, especially dogs, don’t enjoy being put in clothes, let alone tiny handbags to be shipped around in, mentioning no names, Paris. Dogs are meant to be free from clothes, hats, handbags, nail varnish and allowed to run in the forest with the wind in their fur and their tails wagging hysterically. Not obstructed by a £20 shower proof camouflage jacket or being told which direction to go via their own satellite navigation. Thanks to this lavish spending on dogs, weekly expenditure on pets in UK households has risen from 49th place in 1957 to 37th place today according to the Office of National Statistics. This puts it ahead of cosmetics, cakes and holidays in the UK and suggests people are pampering their pets more than
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themselves. Personally, I would rather buy myself an expensive designer handbag than one for my dog. At least I can appreciate it fully and use it to accessorise an outfit with which it goes perfectly. A dog’s idea of accessorising a handbag is to drag it through a forest of mud before tearing off the straps and eating away at it until it is merely a pile of scraps. However, some people appear to disagree. Anneka Buckle, a 3rd year Journalism student believes that people should be able to spend their own money on what they want.
“Dogs can be like children to some people” She says: “Dogs can be like children to some people, and like children are to their parents, dogs are their owner’s pride and joy and should be spoilt in any way their owners see fit.’’ She added: “It’s theirs to spend and buying things for their dogs is merely a Sub Editor Graeme Porteous Lee Macaulay Proof Readers Kieran Harwood, Andrew Rennison, Azzedine Bouleghlimat, Scott D’Arcy, Amy Chesterfield, Amanda Berry Contributors Emily Woodrow,
hobby which is not doing anyone any harm.’’ But is it? What about the harmful realisation that all this money could be given to charities, or used to fund organizations that really need help rather than it being spent on what could easily be argued are useless material items for animals that know no different. I accept that you should be able to spend your money on what you want, but I struggle to comprehend why people who clearly have more money than they need would choose to waste it on unnecessary items for their pet pup rather than choosing to help people in dire need. Perhaps my opinion will change if I ever own a large amount of money, a handbag sized Chihuahua who I choose to dress in a pink tutu and a tiara and change my name to Paris or Chantelle. But for now, I empathise solely with the poor pets that have been garnished with makeup and diamond encrusted jackets and get pushed around in a pram like the latest animal addition to Hulk Hogan’s family. Clearly some people have more money than sense.
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MARCH.17.2008
OPINION
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Uniformed attack Uniforms have been banned at some universities in protest to the war in Iraq. Rose Beynon explores
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ordon Brown insisted this week that service men and women should wear their uniform with pride. This was in response to the recent news of a uniform ban being put in place for members of the RAF based in Wittering, Peterborough. The ban stops the servicemen and women wearing their uniforms in public. It came into action after a series of incidents of both verbal and physical abuse aimed at those in uniform. So what is it about the uniform that is so offensive? A uniform by definition stands for something. However, why combats should stand for something so foul that they inspire personal attacks seems to me to not only be bizarre, but ignorant.
The thought that my uniform could provoke hatred from the British public is something that I cannot fathom
I am a member of the University’s Officer Training Corps (OTC) and was in cadets at school. This means that the pile of green and brown clothing in the corner of my room is nothing more than everyday. I am often bemused by the attention it attracts when I wear it. The most
UNIFORMS IN PUBLIC: possibly a thing of the past
common response my fellow female OTC members and I get, are enthusiastic, and one can only assume sarcastic, wolf whistles. The thought that my uniform could provoke hatred from the British public is something I cannot fathom and which I believe can only stem from ignorance. Let us get one thing straight, the British Army uniform is not a sign of devotion to Tony Blair and the Iraq war. Perhaps, the images on the news mean we are all too ready to think the wars in the Middle East were instigated by the military - they weren’t. They were decided by politicians, very few of whom have ever served in the army. Service men and women are the ones on the ground doing the job; a job which a lot of people, including myself, would struggle to do. The soldier risking his or her life for Queen and country seems a tired cliché but it is a true one. Perhaps, the cliché will not suffice in this instance, as it is not purely the security of Britain they are fighting for but other countries as well. Fahrenheit 9/11 and films like it are intelligent and interesting but do not be fooled into thinking that viewing them makes you an expert on the war, or that the US marines they portray bear any resemblance to the British Military. The British Army works as a peace keeping force and one which obeys Geneva conventions. The soap box I’ve climbed onto may seem unnecessary when out on the streets the overwhelming majority of the public both support and respect the British Army. However, I think positive recognition is needed when in Freshers’
Go have a wash
Ruth Smith challenges the stereotype of student grubbiness and ask if civilisation means sanitization
S
o what’s the first thing that comes to mind when one envisages a student? Perhaps that they’re lazy, they have a huge student debt, they’re pretentious, they go out drinking, and finally that they’re smelly and dirty? Well, in order to consider the latter item I consulted my flatmate to discover what she thought about student cleanliness. She simply responded by looking at me oddly and saying ‘Wash’. I hope that wasn’t directed at me. Our kitchen certainly needs its fair share of scrubbing (the cleaners refused to clean it last week – even after I made them a cup of tea the week before). Admittedly though, at
least students in halls are privileged enough to even get cleaners. But maybe, just maybe, this dirt is good for us. After all, being exposed to a bit of dirt makes us more adept at fighting off disease. Not only that, but a tiny bit of squalor should make us appreciate the goodness of returning home to clean sheets and home cooked meals, as well as hopefully to our own (possibly) cleaner homes in the future. Do we really want to turn into a nation obsessed by cleanliness, and possibly even reverting this back to some sort of ‘how clean are you’ racism? It is shocking that cleanliness has often been related to skin colour and race, as is seen notably in the
It has been suggested by some that not washing too regularly is better. One’s body odours are a natural sexual aphrodisiac Pears Soap advert from the 1800s, when soap is used to make a black baby white, urging people to wash. Of course we all know that this idea is absurd, yet perhaps there is a dan-
ger of a relapse. Different methods of cleaning oneself have existed in cultures for years. Through most of the 20th century we, as a nation, did not have deodorants and would have been far more used to the smell of sweat and body odour. Today, this is seen as culturally unacceptable, almost as if our own maintenance of body hygiene has been a timeless phenomenon. It has been suggested by some that not washing too regularly is better – that one’s body odours are more of a natural sexual aphrodisiac. Apparently, Napoleon once wrote to Josephine, his wife, as he was about to return from a military campaign: ‘I will return to Paris tomorrow
Week the OTC are banned from having a stall in the union; the reason, again, the uniform.
I wear my uniform with pride, a pride for the braver people it represents; people who are neither warmongers or racists The OTC does not recruit for the army and has no political agenda yet we were stopped from even frequenting the steps to the union whilst groups such as Palestinian Solidarity with overtly political views are allowed a space from which to ask people to join them. This is not to say I am against Palestinian Solidarity, in fact I am a member, as I am a member of the Student Support for Refugees (STAR). What troubles me is that I can celebrate my membership to these organisations whilst being a part of the OTC prohibits me from entering my students union in uniform. Nevertheless, I wear my uniform with pride, a pride for the braver people it represents; people who are neither warmongers nor racists. They are people who risk a hell of a lot for the British public and do not deserve anything less than respect. These people are easy to recognise, just look for the uniform.
evening. Don’t wash.’ What we can see through history is that conventional ideas about dirt and guilt being linked, or between cleanliness and innocence sharing common ground is a myth stretched to extremes. The opposite side to the argument is obviously that rather than becoming too sanitised by being clean, we are actually bettering ourselves by being more civilised. Yet what of this civilization in our hospitals? After all, there is many a case in which someone goes to hospital to rid themselves of an illness, and comes back with another one. It can also be said that people who remain indoors and do not expose themselves to a bit of dirt are actually more vulnerable, enabling oneself to pick up viruses and colds as readily as if they were selecting a tin of baked beans from the supermarket shelves. Therefore, I would argue that being dirty as a student is a natural stage in life, we may as well live up to the expectations of so called “society” and conform to the stereotype.
gairrhydd MARCH.17.2008
OPINION
L w r Mi L o D
OPINION@gairrhydd.COM
the...
09
To vote or not to vote W
aking up on Tuesday morning last week, all the expected post-Fun Factory accoutrements were present: headache, check; a recollection of one sambuca/dance too many, check; polystyrene box with remnants of cheesy chips, check. Except last Tuesday, a couple of aliens had landed in the otherwise familiar haze. I had a black stamp on my wrist, which had become indecipherable. Once I’d dragged myself out of bed to have a shower, I came across a couple more blurry stamps on my face – how the hell had they got there? Next, as I was getting changed, I found a condom in my jeans – and not just your average condom – this one had political views; it was ordering me to vote. Suddenly all became clear. After all, politically-active condoms can only mean one thing, right? It’s that time of year, once again. As I’m sure you’ve already gathered – it’s the Students’ Union Elections. Once again, windows across student-ville are vying for attention with banners and posters, nights out to the Union have become saturated with homemade costumes and quirky props, Colum Road crossroads has become the battleground for candidates to compete and nominees are doing almost anything to gain a vote, as long as it’s within the rules – or at least avoid getting caught breaking them! I’ve gone on something of a journey as far as student elections go since I’ve been at Cardiff. During my first year, they crept up on me as stealthy and distressing as assignment deadlines. One day, everything was normal, the next I was having leaflets shoved at me from every direction, finding random fruit and vegetables on walls/steps/lampposts and getting bribed with sweets by people dressed in very outlandish costumes. I’m sure I’d been told not to take sweets from strangers once – and you didn’t get much stranger than these people – but I blissfully took the offered gifts, unsure what I was ‘signing up’ to. I did vote, but mainly on the novelty of the candidates’ personas than their policies. The second year saw the situation turn full circle. A good friend of mine
The Guardian
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ELECTIONS: In 2007, 18% of Cardiff’s student body voted in the elections; will it be more or less in 2008? was running for editor of gair rhydd, so suddenly I, along with several others who made up the ‘campaign team’, was the one staying up to 4 o’clock painting T-shirts, harassing Cardiff students, cheering on at Question Time and campaigning day and night, for a crazy seven days. My friend didn’t make it to the post (though we did get a respectable number of votes), and though we were all gutted, we knew we’d tried our best, the student body
shall not be here 2008-2009. Sadly, by doing this, I am destined to be one of the minority. Last year, 18% of Cardiff University’s student body voted. This figure was actually a record high for Cardiff, despite 82% remaining silent. What is really shocking is that 18% put Cardiff as the second highest recorded turn-out for student union elections across the entire country, ever.
Our generation is becoming renowned for its ‘political apathy’, even though some research, such as that by the Hansard Society (a House of Lords committee), argues this is a myth – but we hardly seem to be helping our case. While I am the first to admit there are many ways to be ‘political’ other than visiting the ballot box (i.e. debates, marches, petitions), I’d urge every student to take those few minutes to register his/her vote on March 17/18. Not only can (and does) the Students’ Union act as a centre-point within which to generate and support greater political activity, but you should have a say in what direction it is heading, because it impacts our day-to-day lives. I know the gimmicks can grow annoying, that it’s much easier to be cynical and it can be difficult to see how any of it is going to affect YOU, but the Students’ Union really does do a lot on behalf of all of us, if often behind the scenes. The least we can do is voice our verdict through voting. Besides all of the above, I personally have no choice but to vote this year. After all, it’s not as if I can disobey a politically-active condom, is it?
torture? One – attach yourself to some passing acquaintance, however unwell you know them. Two – remind those looking at you like a social reject of someone else’s embarrassing faux pas. Or three – my favourite – col-
lapse to the floor and feign some sort of excruciating condition. But make sure no-one with medical training is present, otherwise that Awkward Moment you were trying to elude will be back – and with a vengeance.
Cardiff was a tempting prospect, I knew I couldn’t hack the pressure of being an editor just yet. Several friends are trying for sabbatical positions this year, but due to reasons of fairness and time (or a lack of), I’ve decided to remain impartial, even diplomatically refusing to join any Facebook groups. While I might not be getting involved in the exhausting grind that is campaigning, I will without a doubt be registering my vote – despite the fact I
I’m sure I’d been told not to take sweets from strangers and you didn’t get much stranger than these people had had their say, and I was very happy for the victor. (NB the editor was not holding me at gunpoint at this stage, though she was reading over my shoulder, whilst holding a particularly sharp-looking pencil). Now in the third year, I’m taking a step back from events. During February, I was asked several times whether I’d be running, but while staying in
That’ll be the day... We’ve all had them, and you can bet your last pint at Drink the Bar Dry you’ll experience a hell of a lot more – March 18 is Awkward Moments Day. Whether it’s with family/partners/ potential partners/friends/employers,
...in the papers
the tragic thing is, in my experience, they always last a lot longer than a moment. More often a whole night. A week. Perhaps even indefinitely. So my top three tips for getting out of these sticky seconds of social
t Andrews University has been criticised for accepting funds from the organisation which coordinates Japanese whaling. Ironically, the funding was to support research into whale conservation. Having received nearly £37,000 from the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research since 2002, Professor Alan Miller, vice-principal for research, defended St Andrews: “The University… abhors the practice of whaling under scientific permit, as it does not believe that there is a scientific case for the continued take of whales.” In response to criticism, St Andrews is now rethinking its funding policy. What this case really brings home for me is that great sums of money are bound up in higher education, whether through funding or investment (i.e. Cardiff University’s questionable financial ties with the arms company BAE), and we need to consider the motives behind academic and corporate institutes becoming financial bedfellows.
The Times
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he government has announced plans to create and develop 20 new higher education institutes across England by 2014. According to the Universities Secretary, John Denham, the expansion of the number of university towns will provide communities with “the chance to show they can make the most of the power of higher education… [and] help unlock the talent of their local people.” While certain demographics (i.e. pub owners, stationers, baguette-shop proprietors) might well rub their hands with glee at the prospect of a student influx, I think it’s only fair that the notso-positive effects are also mentioned. I’m not talking about drunken antics at three o’clock in the morning. More significant, in my view, is the inevitable buying up of inner city districts by letting agents to accommodate students (which are left as ghost-streets for several months a year), because this is bound to attract crime to the area, particularly burglary, as seen in Cardiff. Locals must be allowed to say what they want for their communities, rather than the government telling them.
10 gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
LETTERS
LETTERS@gairrhydd.COM
letters@gairrhydd.com Killer Coke! Dear gair rhydd, I just want to write in and tell everyone about the campaign that is going on at Cardiff University at the moment. I heard about the Killer Coke campaign, and really wanted to find out exactly what it was all about. I’m not the biggest fan of multinational corporations in general; too often I feel they have something to hide! But what the Coca Cola company are doing is horrific! Draining villages in India of all their local and natural water supplies (in order to produce Coca-Cola), has left many villages in draught, unable to produce crops, and fighting - sometimes fatally - over the little supplies of water they have left. Not only this, but the attrocities in Columbia are worse. Workers are living in fear, and sometimes being killed in fear, which just shouldn’t happen in this day and age. Considering Coke is one of the largest and richest companies not only in the Western world, but
the
globally, they have every responsibility to look after their staff in Central and South America, as they do in the Western world. It simply isn’t acceptable. There is so much more that you could complain about and by simply drinking their products we are helping to pay for what can only be described as a killer campaign. And that is the opposite of our aims. I am learning more and more, admittedly I don’t know the half of it yet. But the more I learn, the more I want to do something about it. Kicking Coke out of Cardiff University’s campus might seem a small step, but despite the cliche, every little helps. And it is so true. It is time we stop being pessimists, saying that we can’t do anything, and start really putting our morals and ethics into action. Please help support us in our campaign, and hopefully the contract can be broken nationally, with all the universities Coke has in a strong hold. If anyone does want to get involved, the key point of contact is Paul Mason, lecturer in Jomec. Anon
What about the smokers? Dear gair rhydd, For an acclaimed student newspaper such as yours I am appalled at your presentation of National No Smoking day. Kind as it was for ‘NON-SMOKER’ Christofer Lloyd to share his opinion of the ‘national disease’, I’d like to know where smokers were represented in the article? Nowhere, as far as I could see. Yes, smoking is a dirty habit, and thanks to the ban we can indeed return from a night out ‘without needing replacement lungs,’ but the fact remains that if and when one does require ‘replacement lungs’, you can be assured that it will be the tobacco tax that will have paid for them. Nonetheless, I am disappointed that a newspaper that promotes the ‘free word’ could be so biased in its portrayal of what is a much debated and sensitive topic. A disgruntled journalism postgraduate
gair rhydd responds... gair rhydd’s features team had commissioned an article written from the perspective of a smoker as part of the larger National No Smoking Day Feature, but the contributor failed to submit anything in time for the deadline meaning that an advert had to placed on the page at the last minute where the article should have been.
Fairtrade fury Dear gair rhydd, I was very disappointed to issue 863’s lengthly, but badly researched article on Fairtrade. The criticisms that the author raised were lifted unquestioningly, and in their entirety from a report issued by the Adam Smith Institute on the eve of Fairtrade Fortnight. The Adam Smith institute is, of course, a right wing economic think tank which is ideologically opposed to the very concept of Fairtrade. The system they favour (so called free trade) has promised much and delivered very little to the poor of the world, while
This week has seen a great deal of debate online at www.gairrhydd.com. Here are some highlights from the forums: “Spokesman for terrorists” makes student address · Issue 864, by Portia Nicholson
Mark : Mar 10, 04:02 am I find sad irony in having a Hezbollah spokesman giving a speech in an event designed to ‘stop war’. Hezbollah would like nothing better than the destruction of Israel and can rightly be seen within the wider spectrum of international Islamic terrorism that share ideological aims. Further to the points in the original article having limited number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq under the behest of the democratically elected parliaments of these respective nations and not under the behest of an American or British military governor is, by definition, emphatically not occupation. Allied forces in these nations are attempting to build a future for the people that inhabit these lands, increasingly
ing to be reluctant to commit any significant amount of forces for any significant period to any ‘hot spot’ even when their aims and activities would be unquestionably selfish and humanitarian simply because of the cost, both fiscal and human, and political negativity associated with such endeavours. Take Dafur and Zimbabwe, two areas where, probably for a relatively small amount of political, fiscal and military effort, a American-EU force, supported by local allied units and nations, could easily prevent genocide, economic meltdown and complete national collapse. Calling for an end to war, death and destruction is a noble aim for sure, however one would have hoped that an academic (even one from the School of Journalism) that it is one of the greatest paradoxes that not only if one wishes for peace one must prepare for war one must also be prepared to go to war in order to preserve peaceful society. By that measure one might ask why the ‘Stop the War Coalition’ does not have a sister organisation decided to opposite but ultimately similar peaceable aims calling for war to bring about the overthrow the many undemocratic and oppressive dictatorial regimes that exist the world over.
Adam Corner
forum
Llewellyn Jones : Mar 10, 07:04 pm As an attendee of the event, I have to say the most powerful and moving testimony came from the Iraqi Trade Union Leader who represents hundreds of thousands of oil workers in the south of Iraq. He described eloquently how the US, UK, Western Oil companies and the IMF and World Bank were trying to force through a change in Iraqi law that would see control of Iraq’s oil pass from the Iraqi state into the hands of Western multinationals like Shell and BP. Iraqi people have not accepted this lying down and there have been massive demonstrations and strikes, illegal strikes because Britain and America and their puppet government have retained Saddams anti-strike laws. Finally supporters of the war have to get to grips with a few facts: 1) every single opinion poll has shown the overwhelming majority of Iraqis outside of Kurdistan want Britain and America out of their country – with over half supporting military attacks against our troops 2) The majority of British soldiers want out, don’t take my word for it, the Head of the British Army has even publicly said that we are part of the problem not the solution
gair rhydd
FREE
ISSUE 864 MARCH 10 2008 CARDIFF’S STUDENT WEEKLY free word - EST. 1972
SCIENCE&ENVIRONMENT/FEATURES/OPINION/RASPUTIN
“Spokesman for terrorists” makes student address
PHOTO: Natalia Popova
Jon : Mar 9, 09:59 pm Sounds like it is Cardiff’s own “Irving and Griffin” debacle. Someone’s terrorist is someone else’s freedom fighter. The world in general just needs to have an epiphany and realise that killing each other isn’t the way forward.
it look likes we may very well fail in this effort, especially in Iraq, where it looks likely that Iran is poised to exert greater influence when Allied forces leave Iraq. We certainly made mistakes, we certainly did not have an adequate plan for post-Saddam Iraq, we certainly failed the Iraqi people in this regard and for that we should be eternally apologetic but we certainly should not be apologetic for removing a tyrant from power whatever the pretext and whatever the ultimate result. The problem with NATO/Western security policy is not that it is too imperialistic, it is that it is not imperialistic enough. When conditions are prevailing, both strategic and political, quasi-Imperial strategy can do vast amounts of good. In Kosovo we stopped the genocide of the Muslim Albanians by the Serbs, in Sierra Leon we stabilised a whole country gripped by civil war without a handful of troops and in Afghanistan we have given at least some light to a people who have known nothing but darkness for generations. Imperialist interventionism should not be seen in a bad lightespecially when one considers all the good that can be attributed to it- but, alas, the Iraqi debacle has insured that future American, British and European leaders are go-
producing sickening concentrations of wealth in already bloated rich economies. What about questioning their motive for releasing the report at the time that they did? Fairtrade, by empowering poor farmers, threatens their model of the world, and takes the first tiny steps towards a model of global trade that does not keep the poor in chains while the rich grow richer. Yet the article made it sound as if the concept of Fairtrade is something controversial, dangerous even, for farmers in developing countries. This is demonstrably untrue, but by simply repeating the right wing rhetoric of the Adam Smith Institute you have legitimised it in the eyes of those readers who are new to Fairtrade. Any system of trade should be subjected to critical analysis, but this was conspicuously absent from the article - instead, we got a forced ‘controversy’ that misrepresented the issues. Nevermind Fairtrade, how about some fair reporting?
Controversial editor of Hezbollah’s newspaper, Ibrahim Mousawi, speaks at Cardiff as part of a national anti-war campaign Portia Nicholson News Reporter Cardiff University hosted an evening with controversial speaker Ibrahim Mousawi, the editor of Hezbollah’s newspaper, in a World Against War event last week. The event, which had been criticised beforehand by local media reports, saw leaders of social movements in the Middle East and Britain come together to discuss the occupation of Iraq. Chris Nineham, from the Stop the War Coalition, Hassan Juma’a, the President of Iraqi Oil Workers’ Union, and Prof. Justin Lewis, from Cardiff University School of Journalism, also spoke to an audience of over 200
people. Held in the Law Building on Monday March 3, the speakers called for a complete end to the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as urging for opposition to be voiced concerning any attack against Iran. The speakers also discussed the broader struggle against war around the world and against continuing threats from the US administration. But the event had been submerged in negative media attention due to Mousawi’s attendance, focusing on how he had been previously dubbed “a spokesman for terrorists”. In a national tour of the World Against War movement, which culminates in a worldwide day of protest, Mousawi left a trail of media upset in
many of the towns he visited. One newspaper in Liverpool wrote: “A Middle East activist accused of defending the murder of women and children is coming to Liverpool.” The Conservative Party, including leader David Cameron, has tried and failed to have Mousawi banned from Britain, saying that he is a “vicious antisemite” and a supporter of terrorism. But Mousawi, who is banned from both France and Ireland, has denied that he is anti-semitic. He said: “People have the right to live in peace and without fear of their homes being invaded. “We must all denounce war and we must all fight together to stop the killing.” He also made direct reference to
the terrorist label imposed on him by government and media opposition, urging his audience to “make up their own minds” and research him. Dr Paul Mason, from Cardiff University School of Journalism, was critical of the event’s bad press. He said: “Had any of these people bothered to attend, they would have witnessed a moving, human account of what happens when a super-power chooses to invade your country on the spurious grounds of ‘regime change’.” Dr Mason also stressed that journalists had misinterpreted Mousawi’s visit. He said: “This wasn’t a call to arms, or a rallying cry for the psychotic and murderous, but two first-hand accounts of America’s and Israel’s brutal actions
in Iraq and Lebanon. There’s your terrorism.” One of the organisers, Max Pettigrew, a PhD student at Cardiff University, was impressed with the turnout at the evening. Speaking to gair rhydd he said: “The rally indicated how many people want an end to the wars on people in the Middle East and an end to the war on our minds in the UK.” He urged students to “keep active on campus” and to attend the upcoming anti-war demonstration in London on March 15. The rally will form part of a global day of protests and marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. For more information visit www. stopwar.org.uk.
SPORT/POLITICS/TAF-OD/LISTINGS/TELLY/JOBS&MONEY
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gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
11
FEATURES
FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM
Drunk or drugged?
Top tips to avoid drink spiking Drink from bottles - this makes it harder for someone to drop something in it
After the success of last Friday’s Student Safety Day, Lydia James reveals to gair rhydd why students should take care when drinking
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rink spiking receives much attention, yet it remains a complex and controversial area of debate. It is a subject dramatic enough to command many column inches and often comes up in conversation when discussing the night before with friends and whether the memory loss, confusion and throwing up that was experienced were the consequences of too many shots of Sambuca or perhaps something more sinister. However, is drink spiking too readily used as an excuse to explain away drunken behaviour or have we a right to be concerned? Making a distinction between someone who has voluntarily drunk too much and someone who has had their drink spiked is difficult, especially as it is quite common for drinks to be spiked with alcohol (often by well-meaning but misguided acquaintances). The similarities between being drunk or drugged create an ambiguity that may result in uncertainty, guilt, and reluctance to speak out on the part of a person that may have been a victim of drink spiking. Likewise, it may cause those that have simply drunk too much to assume a lack of responsibility for their actions. Whilst most people are aware of the risks of drink spiking and the avoidance strategies, whilst sober at least, many of us remain largely ignorant over the drugs that are used to spike drinks and what their effects can be. Two common drugs used to spike drinks are Rohypnol and GHB, (gammahydroxybutyrate or liquid ecstasy). Both are class C drugs. Rohypnol is a tranquilliser and so works as a sedative. It can lead to complete memory loss for 8 to 24 hours, particularly if taken with alcohol or other drugs. It also lowers inhibitions. The strength of one tablet is compared to the effect of a six-pack of beer. GHB is mostly taken recreationally. It also lowers inhibitions and when mixed with alcohol, produces similar periods of memory loss as Rohypnol. Both can be extremely dangerous even when used for recreational purposes.
Awareness of these drugs is vital for two reasons; firstly, because the effects are much worse when mixed with alcohol, yet the symptoms are often mistaken for simply being drunk. Secondly, there is no reason to suspect the presence of these drugs, because they are clear chemicals, with no smell and virtually no taste. Therefore, combined with flavoured drinks, alcohol and perhaps drunkenness, it may be difficult, if not impossible to tell that your drink has been spiked. The chemicals have fast acting sedative effects of around 15 to 30 minutes, therefore they may be easy to detect if you know you have not had much to drink and obviously, if you have not been drinking alcohol. However, this would be harder to determine if you were already tipsy or drunk before your drink was spiked or if you drank a lot during the 15-30 minute period when the drugs had not yet taken effect.
If drink spiking is as rare as we are told then why do so many people, particularly women, feel that they may have been a victim? Depending on the drug, the quantity of it and the person effected, drink spiking in some people may be obvious. Some symptoms include hallucinations or unconsciousness, while for other individuals there may simply be a feeling of enhanced drunkenness and a lack of inhibitions. It may not be until after the effects of the drug have subsided that it may be realised. Some people may never know whether their drink was spiked or not, particularly as
some drugs pass through the system in less then 12 hours, others in 48. As the blackout period of memory loss can last up to 24 hours, reporting the incident within 12 hours is often unachievable. However, with a friend’s help it is more likely, thus, the best advice is always to go out with at least one trusted friend, so they can take you to casualty or to the police station if necessary. They will also know your drinking behaviour and so will be able to recognise it if you begin acting out of character. Whilst most people link drink spiking to drugs, much ‘harmless’ drink spiking involves alcohol being added often to an already alcoholic drink. Alcohol is a powerful drug and is more then capable of causing blackouts, disorientation, and the lowering of inhibitions on its own. To prove that someone had spiked your drink with alcohol could be difficult though, as ordering an alcoholic drink is obviously legal and if you had been drinking already, there would be no way to find out. However, this type of spiking can be avoided if you buy your own drinks or watch the drink being poured. It is important to remember however, that cases of drink spiking are rare and despite being coined as ‘date rape’ drugs that are aimed at women, men are targeted too, predominantly gay men. Furthermore, the motives of drink spiking include looking for revenge, ‘fun’, and the opportunity for theft. Drink spiking chemicals are sometimes called ‘truth drugs’ because individuals often divulge personal information when the drug takes effect. Consequently, there is the possibility of a perpetrator stealing not only your credit card but being able to use your pin number and other personal information that only you know. A study published in 2007 in the Emergency Medical Journal found that almost 1 in 5 people studied tested positive for drugs of misuse, these drugs include cocaine and amphetamine. However, no one tested positive for GBH or Rohypnol. This study used a very small sample of 75 people though over a period of 12 months, all of whom had gone to casualty. Thus, the
PHOTO: ED SALTER
Use bottle covers
number of cases could have been much higher. Most of the research on drink spiking does agree with these findings though and find a very low percentage of people that have been affected, but it is virtually impossible to know the full prevalence of drink spiking because many people do not come forward and because the drugs are passed through the system so quickly.
Alcohol is a powerful drug and is more than capable of causing blackouts, disorientation, and the lowering of inhibitions If drink spiking is as rare as we are told then why do so many people, particularly women, feel that they may have been a victim? Is it because individuals mistake being very drunk for being drugged? Alternatively, is it an attempt for sympathy or perhaps a euphemism for another drunken binge? On the other hand, have researchers got it wrong and is the truth more worrying? Perhaps individuals have become wary of complaining about or reporting drink spiking and drug-related rape for fear of being ridiculed and crossexamined. Maybe in our binge drinking culture, tackling drink spiking is only a partial solution to the whole problem. If we all drunk a bit less, then the victims of drink spiking and the perpetrators may be easier to identify. However, perhaps more realistically, there is a clear need for focusing on targeting the perpetrators of the crime so that drink spiking becomes easier to prevent and detect.
Watch your drink being poured Think twice about accepting a drink from someone you do not know very well Never leave your drink unattended Go out with at least one other person that you know well and look out for each other
For support and information Online www.roofie.com http://www. knowyourlimits.gov.uk http://www.talktofrank. com/drugs.aspx?id=184 At University Student Counselling Service in the University Student Support Centre, Park Place Student Advice centre on 3rd floor, SU Nightline: 029 2022 3993
12 gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
FEATURES
FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM
MISSING: LIVES L MYSTERIES UNSO
As high profile cases of missing people dominate the national headlin startling statistic that a child goes missing every five minutes in Bri Smith investigates
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very five minutes a child goes missing in Britain. And that’s just the children who, for various reasons such as neglect, abuse or even abduction, are reported missing and in some cases never seen or heard of again. A staggering 600 people are reported missing each day in Britain, that’s 210,000 people each year who, for one reason or another, either decide to become missing or are forced to walk away from their families, jobs and lives. These statistics will be surprising to most people, as the only time the public are forced to become aware of missing people are when the plights of missing children are splashed across the front pages.
600 people are reported missing each day in Britain, 210,000 people each year
Recently, nine-year-old Shannon Matthews, has been at the centre of the media’s attention, since she went missing from her West Yorkshire home on February 19. The headlines that documented Shannon’s disappearance were mainly due to the efforts of her family and local community who have conducted press conferences and television appeals. Even a national newspaper has put up a £20,000 reward for her safe return. Everyone will remember the disappearance of Madeleine McCann due to the severity of media attention it received in the summer of 2007. Etched into the minds of the British public is the ‘Find Madeleine’ campaign, which involved a phenomenal amount of effort that took the McCanns all over Europe. Gerry and Kate McCann have been judged for their approach in publicising the disappearance of their four-yearold daughter Madeleine, whose angelic face became a daily image ingrained within the British and European press. A result, maybe, of the professional na-
Missing people in numbers Between
210,000230,000
people go missing every year in Britain.
100,000
children go missing every year
0.6%
of cases are resolved when the missing person is found to have dies PHOTOS L–R: SHANNON MATTHEWS, LORD LUCAN, RICHEY EDWARDS, MADELEINE MCCANN, JOHN DARWIN
ture of the campaign, which sought the appearances of celebrities, the blessing of the Pope and even went so far as to hire a professional public relations manager. Over three hundred days on since her disappearance, the McCann’s desperation has led to them considering bringing their story to Hollywood in the shape of a film. Even ‘googling’ ‘Madeleine McCann’ brings up thousands of appeals from websites and a search on YouTube produces official and professional videos appeals. This media campaign will surely continue and increase once the first anniversary of her disappearance comes around in May. The global awareness of her disappearance is of course positive and a direct result of their campaign, which has successfully courted the media’s attention. The story is said to have been the biggest of 2007 in the British press and Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of The Sun, has wildly claimed it to be “the most significant story of his lifetime”. Indeed newspaper editors pounced on the story, particularly The Daily Express who has had the story on the front page most days since her disappearance. The campaign was so successful it raised over £1.2million from the public’s pocket, illustrating the significance of the media in raising awareness. This amount of media coverage has also led to severe criticism of Gerry and Kate McCann, who have had to defend their actions and campaign claiming that, “every child in such a situation should receive this same amount of attention”. However, not all children are lucky enough to be given such an enormous amount of media attention and publicity when they go missing. Indeed not all missing people are even reported
as missing, meaning that the statistics could be higher. The reality of the situation is that hundreds of people go missing every day into a world of uncertainty and vulnerability, below the radar of the media. ‘Missing People’ is a charity that aims to highlight these people who go missing and a glance at their website reveals hundreds of cases of missing people ranging in ages. Cases of young children are common, from Daniel aged 7 to Tiffany aged 4, who have gone without the same level of media attention afforded to Madeleine and Shannon who, some may argue, are more ‘media friendly’ cases. Cases where the child has not necessarily been abducted but may have been taken by an estranged family member or where the child may have run away of his or her own accord, rarely make the news. In the case of Madeleine and Shannon, they are presumed to have been abducted by a stranger, which is extremely rare. A 2004 Home Office study found that, out of 798 reported child abductions, only 9% were abductions by a stranger. The majority of abductions involve a biological parent or step-parent, whereas the majority of young people who are reported missing are runaways and because of this, they are deemed not newsworthy and are overlooked by the media. This is true of missing children in care, as Janet Newman, co-founder of the National Missing Persons Helpline (NMPH) which is now known as ‘Missing People’, has highlighted. The level of media attention on runaway children is extremely low even though Newman says, “the most vulnerable people who go missing are in care”. About a third of children in care go missing at some stage and research carried out on young
people in care, revealed that young people in residential care are three times more likely to run away than young people living with a family. This could be a result of a number of factors, from disliking their care home to being unhappy at being separated from loved ones. And without family to publicise their plight, children in care sadly become simply another statistic.
Of 798 reported child abductions only 9% were abductions by a stranger Once missing, young people are highly vulnerable to violence, sexual abuse and other crimes. A report published by the University of York in 2003 (in partnership with the National Missing Persons Helpline charity) found that going missing was more risky for young people than it was for older people, with almost a third staying with a stranger. Another study of young people who had run away revealed that 11% of young people reported being sexually abused whilst away with 12.5% claiming to have been physically attacked. These figures illustrate the danger that missing people, particularly the young, can face when living on the streets and not in the care of their family or the state. However, it is not just young people who go missing. Middle-aged men represent a significant majority who struggle with mid-life crises and choose
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MARCH.17.2008
FEATURES
FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM
LOST... OLVED
Hunting for Housemates?
nes, few realise the itain. gair rhydd’s Rebecca The ARC can help! High Profile Missing People Cases John Stonehouse
John Stonehouse, a former Labour MP disappeared on a Miami beach in 1974, leaving behind a pile of clothes, a wife and tangled business affairs. He was discovered a month later in Australia and jailed for seven years after staging his own drowning to evade an insurance fraud scandal.
You can leave your details on our database and find other Cardiff University students looking for flatmates. Also, if you have a spare room, the ARC can advertise it in the Union. Remember Cardiff has a surplus of student housing and there are plenty of good houses still available. Don’t settle for poor student housing!
Richey Edwards to leave their families. Over 73% of missing people over 24 are men, who for reasons such as a relationship breakdown or financial problems, feel the need to wake up one day and never return. Newman claims that some “men go through the hardest time in their 50s” and may get depressed. The collapsing economy in 1992 led to a wave of disappearances of men in their 50s who had lost their jobs and couldn’t cope, although this was rarely reported in the media. Many people who voluntarily leave rarely decide to return and go on to build a new life with a new identity. A 2003 study found that a majority of 64% who had been reported missing had done so intentionally. There are those however, who have unintentionally lost contact with family and friends and have ‘drifted’ out of touch over time. These people are usually completely unaware that they are classified as a ‘missing person’ although some have mental health problems and are vulnerable to dementia and possibly committing suicide or harming themselves. Not knowing where your loved one is or whether they are alive or dead can be a devastating and bewildering experience. It has disastrous consequences for friends and families who literally put their lives on hold as they follow up leads and search for clues in a desperate attempt to find closure. Some travel half way around the world on a vague sighting and relationships can be torn apart under the strain. Luckily 99% of cases are resolved within a year, however for that 1% their nightmare continues along with the fight to bring awareness to this enormous problem.
Welsh-born Richey Edwards of the band The Manic Street Preachers has been missing since 1995. Edwards, who was 27 when he disappeared from a London hotel room, is believed to have left his car parked in a service station near the Severn Bridge. There has been much speculation about his whereabouts and his family have never given up hope of finding him having travelled to India and Spain to follow up sightings. The band has continued to pay Edwards’ royalties .
Lord Lucan
Lord Lucan, a professional gambler and socialite whose nickname was “Lucky”, has not been seen since November 8, 1974. He went missing hours after his family’s nanny was battered to death and his estranged wife was assaulted in their London home. There have been dozens of supposed sightings around the world and documentaries on his bizarre disappearance.
John Darwin
The infamous missing canoeist, John Darwin, hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. In December 2007 Darwin dramatically reappeared after five years apparently missing after a Kayaking accident in his hometown of Hartlepool. Thirteen months after his disappearance, he was officially registered as dead, however since his reappearance police are investigating him and his wife for fraud after Mrs Darwin cashed in on his life insurance and moved to the tax haven Panama.
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The ARC is open weekdays, 9.30am- 5pm and is located on the third floor of the Students’ Union. You also email: advice@cardiff.ac.uk
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FEATURES
OCTOBER.22.2007 FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM
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MARCH.17.2008
15
POLITICS
MARCH@gairrhydd.COM
Victory for Zapatero in Spain
After momentary turmoil in the Spanish elections, Portia Nicholson assesses the biggest challenges facing Spain’s newly reelected socialist Prime Minister
S
pain’s socialist prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has won the Spanish elections by a convincing majority. His campaign had temporarily been thrown into turmoil by the killing of Isaias Carrasco, the former socialist town councillor who was shot dead two days before the elections. The killing has been linked to Basque separatist group ETA. This will be the Prime minister’s second term after winning the last election in 2004 largely due to a protest vote against the People’s Party (PP), whose leaders had tried to manipulate the aftermath of the Madrid train bombings, in which 191 people were killed and 1,800 injured. Jose Maria Aznar, the former conservative prime minister, had tried to pin the carnage at the railway stations on ETA despite evidence that it was connected to Al-Qaeda. He was punished at the polls by an extra-ordinarily large turnout of young Spaniards who might not otherwise have bothered to vote. In the 2004 elections the Socialists won 42% of the vote while the centre-right Popular Party garnered 38%. The circumstances of the election were so exceptional in 2004 that many opposition supporters refused to accept the validity of his victory. In this election both sides had fought for an absolute majority of 175, that would have allowed them to rule without recourse to the smaller regional parties. Spain uses proportional representation, with parties presenting lists
has hit a once-booming economy. After 14 years of good economic progress, a GDP growth that was the envy of Europe, has started to slow - from 3.8% in 2007 to 2% this year. Much of the economic drift is blamed on the collapse of the famous construction boom that had accounted for as much as 18% of GDP in recent years. Two years ago Spain built more new houses than Britain, France and Germany combined but, as a result of the global credit crunch, properties are now sitting vacant. Zapatero, however, remains confident that the situation is temporary and has said that any downturn will be short-lived.
of candidates for each region. This year, all parties have a 50-50 gender balance, thanks to equality legislation passed by the PSOE government. After gaining 43.7% of the votes in the recent election, Zapatero addressed supporters at the socialist party’s headquarters in central Madrid. He thanked the voters “who have given a clear victory to the Socialist party”, after a polling day that saw a turnout of over 75%. “The Spanish people have spoken clearly and decided to start a new era,”
One of the biggest challenges said to face Zapatero is how Spain should deal with terrorism and the separatist group Eta After an intensive campaign that had been dominated by fears over a stumbling economy and rising immigration in Spain, Zapatero fell short of the absolute majority that he had been hoping for. His Socialist Party won 169 seats, five more than in the last election, but still six votes short of an absolute majority. Mariano Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party won 153 seats. Socialist party officials will now be forced to negotiate with smaller regional parties
The man himself, Zapatero in order to form a government. As Zapatero gained a reputation as a ‘social reformer’ in his first term by introducing socially progressive reforms including legalising gay marriage, introducing an ‘express divorce’ law, acting on gender equality and holding an amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the country, he now plans to further extend his social policies. Zapatero is pledging to create 2m jobs, to increase the minimum wage and maternity leave and to spend heavily on a high-speed train network. The socialists want to introduce stronger anti-discrimination legislation, and promise a string of green laws, including spending €9bn on renovating houses to reduce their emissions. The biggest challenge facing Zapatero and his party is the downturn that
Zapatero is pledging to create 2m jobs and to increase the minimum wage Despite being faced with a global credit crunch and rising unemployment, many remain optimistic and argue that the Spanish economy is more flexible and better prepared than ever to deal with a global slowdown. “The main scenario we are looking at is not of a recession but a downturn, which will be less damaging but perhaps more protracted, and with a slower recovery,” says Santiago Fernández de Lis, a partner at financial analysts AFI. Like many, De Lis argues that Spain needs
long-term structural reform, with more investment in research and development and education. Spain’s growth in recent years has been partly down to the five million immigrants who have come to the country from South America, North Africa and Eastern Europe to work in the once booming Spanish economy. Of Spain’s 45 million inhabitants, nearly 10% are now foreign born. Immigrants have been among the first to be hit by rising unemployment in Spain. Unemployment has risen faster in Spain than anywhere else in Europe and reached 2.3m last month, inflation stands at 4.4% and consumer confidence is at a 13-year low. One of the biggest challenges said to face Zapatero is how Spain should deal with terrorism and the separatist group Eta. The murder of Carrasco highlighted the fact that conflict in the Basque country is never far from the top of the political agenda. Zapatero has been criticised for failed negotiations with Eta which is classified as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union. Eta has waged a four-decade campaign of violence to seek independence for the Basque region straddling north-eastern Spain and south-western France. It remains to be seen whether Zapatero can negotiate with the separatist group, which according to official figures, has killed at least 800 people in bombings and shootings since the late 1960s.
This one’s a good’UN...
Lindsay Clark from Cardiff’s Model UN society tells us why it’s a good idea to take part Why should everyone be interested in model UN? After all it sounds horribly dull, replicating the functions of a Global International Organisation. Firstly the UN represents the opinions of 192 countries, and that’s a wide ranging representation. This includes big states, small states, powerful states, westernised states, authoritarian states, democratic states, poor states, wealthy states and so on. If there is any way of understanding the way the world is developing, this provides an excellent forum for beginning to do so. By choosing to participate in the Model UN, you begin to understand why countries come to important issues from different perspectives and the complex links between different parts of the world. For example, why is Russia so against the recognition of Kosovo when the UK viewed it as inevitable? Why is the issue of reducing Carbon emissions so contentious for developing nations,
including those who are among the highest contributors to carbon emissions? And why was Kyoto Protocol such an issue for the United States? Model UN enables students to discuss topical issues from a perspective that is not their own. The ability to understand an issue from an alternative, and potentially illiberal perspective, is an important skill for tomorrow’s leaders and political participants. Even if you have no desire to be the next Tony Blair or Kofi Annan then Model UN is still relevant for you. The issues discussed are issues which are important to many of us and help us shape our opinions of the world. We discuss the politics of humanitarian intervention: when is it ok for another state to get involved in internal politics? Should we intervene in cases of genocide? What about Darfur? Also, how should the world tackle the Aids pandemic? What about climate change? What does this fact mean for the world we currently take for granted? Do developed nations
owe compensation to those nations who will be most affected by the results of global warming? How should the world cope with the threat of international terrorism? Are human rights paramount or is there ever legitimate reasons to hold individuals without
Cardiff’s Model UN in action
trial in places like Guantanamo Bay in the interest of public safety?
An opportunity to represent Cardiff University
Skills for your CV
Model UN Cardiff University is currently looking for students who would be interested in representing the university at the inaugural conference in April, supported by the Welsh Assembly Education Services. The conference itself looks set to be an event to remember. A one day event , held in the democratic heart of Wales at the Welsh Assembly Buildings in Cardiff Bay, attended by Welsh Assembly members and the national media, will include introductory talks by Dr. Edwin Egede, LL.B(Hons), LL.M, BL, PhD. Lecturer of International Law & International Relations, Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and Lord Anderson who will present the prizes for best delegate and best delegation. The topics discussed will include Kosovo, international terrorism and sex trafficking and others.
Model UN is not only useful in terms of the subject matter covered. It allows participants to develop skills which will be useful in later life, the world of work and in getting that job offer in the first place. By speaking about issues from a different country’s perspective students not only gain confidence in public speaking but also learn to quickly create a cohesive argument in response to unexpected questions. These kinds of skills will come in very handy in a job interview or in jobs which require negotiating skills. Model UN includes time for negotiating with other member states’ delegates in order to gain support for a specific resolution or decision. Learning how to decide what elements to compromise on is a useful skill for the work place.
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MARCH.17.2008
SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT
SCIENCE@gairrhydd.COM
Put your best foot forward... into cyberspace
Poppy Nicol ,a volunteer for Friends of the Earth Cymru, raises awareness of their online campaign and suggests that you too should get involved if you want to save the planet
Y
ou may think Goldie Lookin’ Chain, a bunch of local MPs and some environmental activists would make unlikely comrades; aside from sharing the concrete jungle of Newport as their home turf perhaps. But all are voicing their support for the Friends of the Earth Big Ask Climate Change Campaign. Climate change is considered as the biggest threat we face today. Friends of the Earth argue that we are the last generation that have the possibility of preventing climate change from reaching catastrophic levels.
From this march, you don’t have to come away with soggy feet; you can take part from the comfort of your own home
Nearly 200,000 Brits including Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Cerys Mathews, Swami and Stephen Fry have joined the Friends of the Earth Big Ask Online March. Such names suggest this
is no sidelining movement. It is a realisation of the sense of urgency for action which connects these diverse figures. But this is no ordinary march where you come away with little more than soggy feet and a sore throat. It’s a movement played out in cyberspace, a virtually noisy protest. Participants upload a sound byte video message to MPs calling for urgent action on present measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, creating an interactive online mural of thoughts and faces. Despite government pledges to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20% by 2010, they remain on the rise. Scientists warn that an atmospheric rise of 2°C or above will have seriously dangerous implications for future climate changes. The 2007 Climate Change Bill is a draft law that aims to move the UK toward a low-carbon economy and society. But as CO2 targets currently stand within the bill, temperatures are predicted to rise 4 or 5°C by 2050. Such sobering estimations indicate why Friends of the Earth are pushing for the lowering of current targets. According to the environmental organisation, current targets are too weak. And the longer emission cuts are delayed, the more drastic reductions will have to be by 2050. So Friends of the Earth are leading
the campaign for tighter targets to be held within the Climate Change Bill. With early cuts, at 3% every year, an overall 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 could be met. Although this may be considered dramatic from a short-term perspective, Friends of the Earth and many others including government bodies such as DEFRA (Department for the Environment Farming and Rural Affairs) argue that it is crucial to prevent temperatures snowballing. Year on year targets provide a manageable, comprehensible target for business, government and civil society. Launched in 2005, the Big Ask campaign is now reaching its climax in the lead up to the government publication of the Climate Change Bill. The final call is particularly poignant. Aviation and shipping emissions are estimated to contribute 6.5% of global CO2 emissions. Yet the Government do not want to include emissions from these sectors in the Climate Bill. This is the equivalent of going on a calorie-controlled diet but deciding not to count the calories from chocolate. Or a drink driving law that says alcohol from whisky doesn’t count. Not very wise! If we consider predictions of significant rises in the aviation industry, the most rapidly rising sec-
God goes green
tor in the UK, we are about to take a non-returnable nosedive into a calorific chocolate nemesis.
Friends of the Earth are demanding for tighter targets to be made within the Climate Change Bill The Online March is bringing thousands of people from Eggsy of GLC to Stephen Fry, from Swindon to Surrey to some tiny hamlet in the Outer Hebrides together in their real concern for the future state of the planet and a fear that we really are messing it up if we carry on as normal. You too can get involved in the Online March by uploading a video message or by simply sending your local MP an email asking them to support a strong climate change bill. You’ll find a link at http://www. thebigask.com/ with a template which makes it very easy. Friends of the Earth also have a local group that meets regularly. For further details email cymru@foe.co.uk
James Hinks reviews the twenty‐first century’s ‘seven sins’ and suggests there is more in recycling than a clean conscience
G
od goes Green...not with envy that David Beckham maybe overtaking him as icon of all things good but with awareness for the environment. ‘Recycle or go to Hell’ may be the next slogan used by County Councils, as ‘Thou shalt not pollute the Earth’ is now one of seven new sins. They were added to the original mortal sins, published by Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century, which were: pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and sloth. The Vatican has decided to modernise the 1,500 year old social sins, to combat an‘unstoppable process of globalisation’. They include injustice of excessive wealth, ruining the environment, dealing or taking drugs, paedophilia, abortion, unethical scientific experiments and genetically manipulating DNA and embryos.
Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, Head of Apostolic Penitentiary, named these updated sins in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. Girotti claims that the original sins were an “idealistic dimension” and “individualistic” while the new ones hold “social resonance”.
The Vatican has modernised its social sins with the aim to combat the “unstoppable process of globalisation” The new sins though could be perceived as a publicity stunt as Pope Benedict XVI deplored a “decreasing
sense of sin” in today’s “secularised world”. Girotti, who is responsible for absolution of sins, noted that 60% of Catholics in Italy do not attend confession. Therefore adding to the list of ‘what not to do’s’ would conceivably broaden their demographic. The new environmental sin is set to have most impact. Surely this ‘sin’ has the power to boost numbers of those who do not clear up their dog’s
St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican
mess in the park or put all the different coloured glass bottle in the clear section. As these ‘crimes’ will not only be damaging the environment but risk eternal damnation. Although you would be saved as long as you attended confession, for every sin, mortal or venial, is absolved after.
What is more frightening, not cleanng up your dog’s mess in a public place or facing eternal damnation? The Vatican may be bemoaned by critics for the new environmental
sin, under the notion that they do not implement change themselves rather advocate a ‘do what I say, not what I do’ didactic method. Therefore not sticking to the moral saying ‘He that is without sin, cast the first stone’. Though, on the environment, both Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor Pope John Paul II frequently expressed concern about the fate of the Earth. In Benedict’s papacy the Vatican has installed photovoltaic cells on its buildings to produce electricity and hosted a scientific conference to discuss the ramifications of global warming and climate change. They are then going some way to lead by example. Though, it could be argued that their practices and contrasting ideals of ‘unjust excessive wealth’ may need to be reformed.
gairrhydd MAWRTH.17.2008
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TAF-OD
TAF-OD@gairrhydd.COM
Cymru’n Curo’r Cefndryd Cyfagos Teithiodd cant o fyfyrwyr Prifysgol Caerdydd yr holl ffordd i Ddulyn i ddangos eu cefnogaeth i Warren Gatland a’i dîm. Cafwyd penwythnos yn llawn hwyl a sbri, a coronwyd y penwythnos yn llythrennol wrth i’r Cymry lwyddo yn eu gêm yn erbyn yr Iwerddon i ennill y goron driphlyg Ffion James Golygydd Taf-od aeth y galw am drip rygbi blynyddol y Gym Gym i’r fei yn ystod Pencampwriaeth y Chwe Gwlad, ddechrau mis Mawrth. Wedi i’r criw fod yn ymbaratoi ar gyfer y daith fythgofiadwy, roedd popeth yn barod, a Dulyn yn aros amdanom. Wedi cychwyn am Gaergybi am tua saith y bore, dechreuodd pawb gynhyrfu’n lân wrth feddwl am y penwythnos oedd i ddod. Roedd gyrwyr y bysiau, Mike a Peter yn rhoi’r troed ar y sbardun fel petai, gan yrru i fan bellaf Gogledd Cymru a chael amser am ysbaid mewn dim ond oddeutu 5 awr. Cyrhaeddom Gaergybi a pharhau i deithio dros Fôr Iwerddon am dair awr. Cychwynnodd y cwch enfawr, naw llawr, gan ddechrau siglo yn araf o’r naill ochr i’r llall, gan adael ein coesau’n teimlo’n simsan. Rhaid oedd i nifer gymryd tabledi i geisio sodro’r stumogau, ond erbyn cyrraedd y porthladd yn Nulyn, mae’n debyg fod yr alcohol wedi tynnu’r meddwl oddi ar y salwch, a gwneud mwy o les nac o niwed.
D
Wedi cyrraedd yr ochr arall, neidiodd pawb yn ôl ar y bws, ac i ffwrdd a ni am yr hostel. Ia, hostel, nid hotel. Ac yn wir, dyma a gafwyd, yng ngwir ystyr y gair… hostel. Roedd yr hostel yn ymddangos yn hyfryd dros ben o’r tu allan, a hefyd yn y cyntedd, ond gwyddom fod rhywbeth o’i le pan ddarganfyddom fod ambell i sinc yn hongian oddi ar y waliau yn y toiledau, yn ogystal â phlygiau yn y waliau â’u gwifrau’n hongian allan yn blith draphlith. Roedd y gwlâu yn gyfforddus, ac yn eithaf glân, er bod ambell i unknown substance ar flancedi’r anffodusion.
Nid oes angen imi fanylu ar y fuddugoliaeth gafodd Cymru... Ond ni effeithiodd hyn ar benwythnos neb. Cyffroi wnaeth pawb yn syth wrth iddynt ddeffro ar fore Sadwrn yr 8fed o Fawrth gan sylweddoli ei bod hi’n ddiwrnod gêm a bod modd i’r Cymry lwyddo yn y gêm benodol
hon, gan geisio am y tripple crown a pharhau i geisio ennill y bencampwriaeth. Gwisgodd pawb eu crysau rygbi arbennig, ac er mawr gywilydd, yn y dafarn y bu pawb ddydd Sadwrn, o tua 10 y bore hyd yr oriau mân. Mae Dulyn yn hynod o adnabyddus am ei diwylliant arbennig yn ogystal â’r cymeriadau unigryw sy’n byw yno. Gwahanodd cant o fyfyrwyr Prifysgol Caerdydd ar hyd a lled y ddinas, gan gymryd drosodd degau o dafarndai. Gallwch fod wedi meddwl eich bod yng Nghaerdydd yn hytrach nag yn Nulyn, gan fod y Cymry yn creu môr coch. Roedd pob tafarn yr un fath, pob man yn llawn dop. Prin iawn oedd y Gwyddelod â’u crysau gwyrdd, ac yn eu lle, crysau cochion, a’r Gymraeg i’w chlywed ym mhob cwr o’r ddinas. Nid oes angen imi fanylu ar y fuddugoliaeth gafodd Cymru, gan fy mod yn sicr eich bod chwithau wedi dathlu yn yr un modd… digon o weiddi, sgrechian, clapio heb anghofio’r alcohol. Achosodd y fuddugoliaeth i bawb fynd yn wirion bost, ac felly i ffwrdd a phawb i ardal Temple Bar, Dulyn lle’r oedd cannoedd os nad miloedd yn ceisio gwasgu eu hunain i mewn i unrhyw
dafarn bosib! Yn eu plith roedd 240 o aelodau Prifysgol Aberystwyth yn ogystal â swm go hegar o fyfyrwyr Prifysgol Bangor. Er mawr syndod i ni, daethom o hyd i Gwibdaith Hen Frân yn bysgio ar un o strydoedd Temple Bar, a dyna lle’r oedd y Cymry ifainc yn dawnsio’n braf yng nghanol y stryd. Wrth fod yn dyst i hyn, sylweddolais fod natur a naws yr Iwerddon a’r Gwyddelod yn llawer iawn yn fwy hamddenol nag agwedd y Cymry tuag at fywyd. Braf oedd profi mymryn o ddiwylliant gwahanol, er bod y ddwy wlad Geltaidd yn berthnasau digon agos.
Dim ond gobeithio y bydd Cymru’n rhoi sioe'r un mor dda yn y gêm yn erbyn Ffrainc Daeth dydd Sul i’r fei heb fawr o rybudd, ac ambell un yn ysu am gael aros yn eu gwlâu. Er y blinder aruthrol, cafodd nifer ddiwrnod i’r brenin yn siopa ac yn ymweld â mannau hynafol a
hanesyddol yn ninas Dulyn. Braf oedd cael diwrnod yn y ddinas wych, ond yng nghefn meddwl pawb, roedd ofn yn gwingo. Wedi gwrando ar y newyddion ac ar y tywydd drwy gydol y penwythnos, clywsom fod tywydd garw a stormus ar y ffordd, a allai effeithio ar rediad y cychod yn nol i Gymru. Gydag ychydig o lwc, roedden ni’n saff, ond bu’r daith yn ôl i Gymru yn un sigledig a dweud y lleiaf. Roedd y storm ar ei ffordd, a’r gwyntoedd cryfion yn taflu’r cwch o ochr i ochr. Bu’r daith yn ôl i Gaerdydd yn un ddigon hwylus, gyda Mike a Peter unwaith yn rhagor yn gyrru fel mellt ar hyd y traffyrdd, er gwaethaf y gwynt, y glaw a’r cenllysg. Er bod pawb yn dioddef o effeithiau blinder yn bennaf erbyn cyrraedd Caerdydd, roedd gwên ar wyneb pawb wrth feddwl am y trip anhygoel yr oeddynt wedi ei gael. Bu’r trip ei hun yn un llwyddiannus, heb sôn am y ffaith i Gymru guro’r gêm yn erbyn Iwerddon. Dim ond gobeithio y bydd tîm Cymru’n rhoi sioe'r un mor dda i ni yn eu gêm olaf yn erbyn Ffrainc yma yng Nghaerdydd.
Troediodd ambell un yr Ha’penny Bridge yn Nulun dros y penwythnos!
Yr Eisteddfod Sir Y Stomp! Cynhaliwyd Eisteddfod Sir Aelwydydd Caerdydd a’r Fro, Urdd gobaith Cymru, yn y bae yr wythnos dwietha Gwilym Dwyfor Golygydd Taf-od yda sïon ar droed yn Nulun bod pob fferi wedi’u canslo tan ddydd Marth, roedd rhywun yn dechrau amau a fyddai hanner aelodau aelwyd y Waun Ddyfal yn dychwelyd i Gymru erbyn yr eistedfod sir! Cynhaliwyd honno yng Nghanolfan y Mileniwm, nos Lun, Mawrth y 10fed, a diolch byth, roedd y rhai a fu ar y trip rygbi yn yr Ynys Werdd wedi llwyddo i’w gwneud hi, er ein bod i gyd yn hynod flinedig. Efallai nad oedd y cythraul canu mor amlwg â’r llynedd gan nad oedd
G
CF1 yn cystadlu mewn cymaint o gystadlaethau eleni, ond roedd digon ohono i’w gael mewn ambell gystadleuaeth ble roedd mwy nag un côr neu barti o’r Waun Ddyfal yn cystadlu! Yr unig gystadlaethau yr oedd y Waun Ddyfal ac CF1 yn cystadlu ynddynt oedd y côr merched a’r parti cerdd dant, gyda CF1 yn fuddugol yn y naill, a’r Waun Ddyfal yn y llall. Roedd dau grw ^p llefaru o’r aelwyd yn cystadlu, parti’r hwntws a pharti’r gogs! Y gogs fu’n fuddugol ond bydd y ddau barti’n mynd drwodd i’r genedlaethol, felly hefyd y ddau gôr o’r gystadleuaeth côr SATB. Roedd y côr meibion a’r côr SATB (aelwyd) hefyd yn deilwng o’r wobr gyntaf ac yn mynd ymlaen i’r genedlaethol yn
Llandudno. O ran unigolion, daeth Anni LLy^n yn gyntaf yng nghystadlaethau’r llefaru unigol ac unawd o sioe gerdd, ac felly hefyd Huw Foulkes yn yr unawd cerdd dant. Bydd y ddau uchod ynghyd ag Elliw Mai a Steffan Watkins yn cystadlu fel pedwarawd yn y genedlaethol hefyd, mewn cystadlaeaeth gerdd dant ac ensemble lleisiol. Wedi’r cystadlu, roedd boliau pawb yn chwyrnnu felly be’ well na pheint bach a phryd o fwyd Tsieineaidd. Bydd dipyn o waith rhwng rwan a’r eisteddfod genedlaethol ym mis Mai, ond byddwn yn cymryd rhan mewn digon o gystadlaethau i gael gobaith go dda am lwyddiant o ryw fath.
Pa ffordd well na stomp i gyfuno peint neu ddau ac ychydig o ddiwylliant! Gwilym Dwyfor Golygydd Taf-od
im ond gair bach byr i sôn am y stomp a gynhaliwyd yn nghaffi CF10 yn yr undeb ychydig yn ôl. Cafwyd noson hynod ddifyr yno, wrth i dîm o feirdd y Gym Gym herio tîm o ddarlithwyr yr adran Gymraeg. Tasg Mererid Hopwood, y stompfeistres oedd cadw trefn ar y cyfan, a gwnaeth hynny â ffraethineb. Cymysgedd o’r dwys a’r doniol oedd y cerddi, ond hwyliau ysgafn iawn oedd i’r noson yn gyffredinol. I’r myfyrwyr sy’n astudio’r Gymraeg, roedd hi’n gyfle gwych i gymdeithasu â’r
D
darlithwyr mewn awyrgylch anffurfiol ond does dim dwywaith i aelodau erail y Gym Gym fwynhau’r noson hefyd Oherwydd naws gyfeillgar y cystadlu roedd hi’n addas rhywsut mai cyfarta oedd y ddau dîm pan y cyhoeddwyd y marciau terfynol. Dyma un o nifer o ddigwyddiadau gwahanol a gwreiddiol i gael ei drefnu gan y Gym Gym eleni, ac yn dilyn e lwyddiant, synwn i fawr ei weld yn dod yn ddigwyddiad blynyddol.
Not yet registered with Jobshop? If you would like to recieve free regular updates about great parttime job opportunities within the University, Students’ Union and outside, please come and see us. You can find us on the ground floor of the Students’ Union and we are open between 10am4pm Monday-Friday.
gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008 JOBS@gairrhydd.COM
Why pay more?
JOBS & MONEY
Students buying essays over the internet has always been a topic for debate. But with extortionate prices, Jess Best asks why students are helping to fund an industry worth thousands of pounds.
I
t was reported last week that the number of foreign students using internet essay writing services has increased three-fold in the last year. It is claimed that foreign students are using the services as a result of poor language skills and a lack of support from universities. As they struggle to get to grips with basic English, let alone their degree subjects, buying an essay from a ‘qualified professional’ may seem like the best option. But foreign students aren’t the only ones jumping on the pay-as-you-go bandwagon. This story was the latest in a steady stream of reports that students are increasingly willing to finance an industry that made one UK based essay company a profit of £400,000 last year. The Jobs and Money pages have repeatedly lamented the growing headache of student debt.
Students are increasingly willing to finance an industry that made a profit of £400,000 last year With students spending so much money just to be here, some might argue it’s surprising that they’re willing to shell out even more to get the academic work done.
At the same time they could be putting the integrity of their degrees, and in turn their careers on the line. However, in some cases it may not be the students themselves who are paying. The BBC reported last month that it is often parents who are forking out for essays on a range of subjects; from Accounting to History, from Law to Nursing. UK based website UKEssays. com reports that more often than not, it is the parents’ credit card details that are making the payments. So why are parents and students
willing to p a y
twice? Once for the university education and again to have someone else do the work? And why risk jeopardising your degree with allegations of plagiarism? Jed Hallam, from UKEssays said: “As the cost of education goes up, parents seem to feel that they need an
element of control. There are parents who want a return on a very expensive education.” So what can you get for your money? Logging on to UKEssays. com, it’s a very slick operation. The home page is smart with video instructions about how to use the site telling you to “Stop worrying about those essays and send them to us”. The website offers essays to a 2:2, 2:1 or first class degree standard (or A/B at A level). A 3500 word undergraduate essay that will be on your doorstep within five days will set you back £420. That will get you a 2:1. To up the ante and get a first it’ll be £840. A full 12, 000 word undergraduate 2:1 dissertation will be £1140. And like any competent business these days, they offer money back guarantees and freebies such as a complementary plagiarism scan report with every essay. However, if students are struggling for money anyway it still seems odd
that they should be putting themselves in such dangers regarding both debt and unfair academic practice. The fact that three-quarters of students are in employment alongside their studies could shed some light here.
Why are students willing to pay twice? And why risk jeopardising your degree? The time spent working to stay out of debt leaves precious little time for academic study, and as reported in gair rhydd last week those with jobs are less likely to get a 2:1 or a first. Sites like UKEssays.com insist in their defence that they provide model answers. But with the order page of their website allowing you to input the specific sources, styles and referencing systems required, this claim may pale into insignificance. There are, of course, those who use the sites for no other reason than that they can’t be bothered. And in some ways that’s understandable. But when the amounts of money students are being charged is creating a situation whereby parents are either desperate for a successful ‘investment’ or students simply don’t have the time to study, it might be necessary to question the system that has led us here.
Student Tax Awareness Week Jess Best Jobs & Money Editor
I
t’s certainly not the most exciting thing in the world. But losing money to the tax man could make a serious dent in your already limited student budget- especially when you could be entitled to keep your earnings completely tax free. HR Revenue and Customs have launched a new campaign aimed specifically at students to help us understand what we’re allowed to keep and what we’re required to give back. With 76% of students working part-time alongside their studies, the initiative is likely to affect a large majority of people studying at university. The most important statistic to know is that anyone earning under their personal allowance of £5,225
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per year is allowed to keep all of their hard earned cash. If you have been taxed, then you’re entitled to have it refunded. In conjunction with NUS, the campaign began last week with a Student Tax Awareness week which saw the launch of a new website, www.studenttaxadvice.com. The site provides information on earnings and national insurance, the rules that apply to vacation work, as well as directions for how to go about getting any refunds you may be eligible for. The campaign has also followed the lead of many other major organisations by harnessing the power of social networking sites in targeting the student body. Facebook is now complete with its very own Tax Refund Calculator and information videos are also available on YouTube.
Graduate
Panicking about what to do with your life? Jobs and Money gives you a few ideas with Graduate....
C
hris Roebuck, 22, graduated with a Computing degree in 2007. He now works as a Software Developer at an Investment Bank in London. What is your full time job title? I am a Technology Analyst working for the Money Markets desk at Barclays Capital. Where are you based? London , Canary Wharf What does your job involve, e.g. what are your day-to-day responsibilities? My job involves developing software to be used by traders on the stock markets. This can involve anything from interface design to the actual numbercrunching calculations which need to value large amounts of money in the shortest amount of time. How did you apply for your job? Briefly describe any interview/assessment process that you went through. I filled out the application form on the company’s website and sent that off. I originally applied for a 6-month work placement which was a compulsory part of my degree. This involved a phone interview, followed by an online test, and then a one-day assessment centre in which I did three interviews, two group exercises and a brief presentation. At the end of the placement, I was offered a job on the graduate scheme. This meant I didn’t spend my last year at University frantically applying for jobs as I already had an offer. What is the best/worst thing about your job? I would say the best thing is that the people I work with are very friendly and helpful. Also, you don’t feel like a ‘grad’ when you join, as you are given a significant amount of responsibility early on. The worst thing is that in my job its quite easy to make a silly mistake, and in this industry one silly mistake can lead to losses of millions of pounds, which is not a good thing! What advice would you give to students thinking of entering into a similar field? Firstly, to all students thinking about getting a graduate job, I recommend applying before your final year. Plenty of companies offer internships or placements and these usually lead to a full-time offer as was the case for me. This takes the pressure off finding a job later on. There are plenty of jobs in the technology sector, as almost everything now relies on software. Make sure you apply to somewhere where you are not likely to be doing the same job 5 or 10 years down the line. Do you know any graduates? Email us at jobs@gairrhydd.com
gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008 TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM .
HOT
!TELLY! Scoffing chocolate
Easter Eggs
T
he Wire is an American crime drama set in Baltimore, Maryland, created by former police reporter David Simon and ex-cop Ed Burns. It is named The Wire because of the use of wiretaps and surveillance by the police. A few weeks ago the series finished in the U.S. after five seasons of some of the most compelling television ever created. Shown on premium cable channel HBO, home to other televisual greats such as The Sopranos and Deadwood, The Wire has garnered more critical praise than any other show of recent times. Now, some of you will have seen this programme, others of you will have been recommended it, but I would imagine that most of you have never heard of it. While it hasn’t achieved great ratings across the pond, here it is almost unknown, tucked away on a Sky channel, FX, and shown at 10pm on Mondays. Many suspect the reason it
has never achieved the amount of viewers that other shows like C.S.I. have acquired is primarily down to the complexity of the plot lines. While C.S.I. will solve a crime within one episode, The Wire tackles one case in a whole series. From this you might assume that the show is slow
and boring, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Wire will take one drug case, and look into all it’s facets,
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TELLY
NOT
Crucifixion from the Police detail building the case, to the Mayor’s office, to the city newspaper right down to the corner boys selling the drugs and the dope fiends who buy them. The show isn’t concerned with good and evil, it merely sets out to portray everyone who is compromised in the crimes.
Much of the critical acclaim the programme has recieved is down to its realistic depiction of an inner city, and its attempts to tackle social issues. It tells stories that other television dramas have avoided, like the struggles of a lovable junkie, Bubbles, to get clean and stay clean, and of middle-school students getting sucked into the drug trade. All of this makes the show sound like a sociology lecture, but there is plenty of humour, action, violence and drama that makes The Wire incredibly watchable. The main character of the series is arguably Jimmy McNulty, a narcissistic Irish American detective with a drinking problem, played by Dominic West, an Englishman. However, the show is notable for its predominanty African-American cast, and for selecting local amateur actors from Baltimore for minor roles. The Wire, FX, Mondays 10pm
SOAPS The never ending merry-go-round that is planet football turns its eye back to the Premiership next weekend, and just like most merry-go-rounds this one isn’t fun, however, unlike most merry-go-rounds this one won’t stop spinning and you can’t get off and it just keeps spinning faster and faster and Richard Keys is wielding the controls with his gorilla hands whilst wearing a menacing smile and a bad suit, and I’m starting to feel sick, very very sick, and he’s starting to speak to me in that contrived friendly tone and he’s telling me that it’s another friggin’ Super-dooper Sunday with United vs. Liverpool and Chelsea vs. Arsenal, and I can watch it all in HD so I can see some jumped up, soft, sissy, French overpaid ponce break his leg and see the speckles of blood spat-
ter across the grass (Telly wonders if you can say that first sentence out loud in one breath). If the battle of the top four is your bag then tune into Sky Sports 1 this Sunday from 1:30pm, I guess a lot of you will have gone home by then, and I guess a lot of your parents have Sky. Note: Due to HD Richard Keys has now removed his hand hair.
This week in Soaps it’s all fun and frolics, with the majority of the Easter madness taking place once again on the Beeb, in Eastenders. Tanya’s scheming against Max finally reaches its climax and on Friday we get to see her rather ‘deathly’ plan put into action...see what I did there?! Meanwhile, Lucy the teenage tearaway literally tears away, in what could be the moody teen’s best storyline yet! Having received a good hiding from her dad, things go from bad to worse, when the little madam decides to scarper. To make things better, the men in blue sidle into the picture announcing the discovery of a young girl’s body and Ian and Jane are called into the station to identify it. Over on the channel of four, Jake contin-
ues to act his crazzzy little psychopathic heart out and Amy’s fibs about Leah’s health get a little out of hand. Sarah decides to broadcast the supposed tot’s illness on the radio and pretty soon the whole god damn world has received the news Amy’s been sheepish to disclose.You know what they say love, lies will always come back to bite you on the behind, so I’d watch your back if I were you...
FILM
ALIEN 3, CH4, MONDAY ) ) ) This threequel is better than most that grace the Telly box, keeping the elements that made the first two Alien films so popular. There is plenty of action and tension and everyone’s favourite dribbling Alien as Ripley crash lands in a prison colony with a maturing alien which of course wreaks havoc.
FUDGE TUNNEL
AIRPLANE!, FIVE, FRIDAY ) ) ) ) ) Airplane! is the ultimate parody film that surely everyone has seen by now, and if not then this Friday it is a must see. An aeroplane gets in trouble when both pilots fall ill and a passenger is forced to fly the plane; all in hilarious deadpan fashion as disaster movies are brilliantly sent up. Airplane! has so many quotable lines your friends will be avoiding you for weeks. TOY STORY 2, BBC1, SATURDAY ) ) ) ) Another sequel well worth watching as Pixar continue the tale of Woody, Buzz and all the toys. In this installment, Woody is stolen by a toy collector so Buzz and firends must rescue him before he is sold on in Japan and never seen again. It’s touching and fun, watch!
22 gairrhydd MARCH.17.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
MONDAY Crimewatch on the Streets BBC1 9.00pm
Alternative Therapies: Hypnotherapy BBC2 9.00pm
BBC 1
BBC 2
The Fixer ITV1 9.00pm
17th March St. Patrick’s Day!
Legend of the Lost C4 12.55pm
ITV 1
Channel 4
Moonlight Becomes You five 3.10pm Five
6:00am Breakfast 9:15am To Buy or Not to Buy 10:00am Living in the Sun 11:00am Homes under the Hammer 11:30am Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 12:15pm Bargain Hunt
6:00am CBBC 10:30am The Second Woman 12:00pm The Daily Politics 12:30pm Working Lunch
6:00am GMTV Newshour 7:00am GMTV Today 8:35am LK Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:10am ITV News 11:15am ITV Wales News and Weather 11:20am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women
6:10am Kids TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am US Sitcoms 9:30am Don’t Make Me Angry 10:00am How to Dump Your Mates 10:30am Chill Out 11:00am The Unteachables 12:00am News at Noon 12:30am A Place in Slovakia 12:55pm Legend of the Lost
6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Build a New Life in the Country 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Law and Order
1:00pm BBC News; Weatherr 1:45pm Doctors 2:15pm Diagnosis Murder 3:00pm BBC News and Weather 3:05pm CBBC
1:00pm Brainbox Challenge 1:30pm Animal Park 2:15pm Don’t Get Done, Get Dom 3:00pm Murder, She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It! 4:30pm Ready Steady Cook
1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm Dickinson’s Real Deal 2:30pm The Alan Titchmarsh Show 3:30pm The Royal Today 4:00pm Rosemary and Thyme
2:55pm Come Dine With Me 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal
1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Animal Rescue Squad 3:10pm Moonlight Becomes You
5:00pm Newsround 5:15pm The Weakest Link
5:15pm Recipe for Success
5:00pm Goldenballs
5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show
5:00pm Five News Kaplinsky 5:30pm Neighbours
6:00pm BBC News and Weather 6:30pm Wales Today; Weather 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm Watchdog 8:00pm EastEnders 8:30pm The Passion
6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Ready steady Cook 7:00pm Wainwright’s Walks 7:30pm Mastermind 8:00pm Unknown Africa: Central African Republic 8:30pm Delia 9:00pm Alternative Therapies: Hypnotherapy
6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale 7:30pm Coronation Street 8:00pm Wales This Week 8:30pm Coronation Street
6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 8:00pm Dispatches
6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Zoo Days 7:00pm Five News with Kaplinsky 7:30pm How Do They Do It? 8:00pm Fifth Gear
9:00pm The Fixer
9:00pm Battle For Haditha
9:00pm Breaking into Tesco
10:00pm BBC News; Regional News 10:25pm Wales Today; Weather 10:35pm Damages
10:00pm Pulling 10:30pm 10 Days to War 10:40pm Newsnight
10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:35pm Rageh Omaar: The Iraq War by Numbers
10:50pm Alien 3
10:00pm Shops, Robbers & Videotape
11:20pm Inside Sport 12:00am Duets 1:45am Springwatch Weatherview 1:50am Wonderland: The Curious World of Frinton-on-Sea 2:30am Rivers of Blood 3:30 The Poles Are Coming
11:20pm The Great Green Fuel Gamble? 11:50pm The Worst Journey in the World 12:50am Joins BBC News 24
11:35pm Coogan’s Bluff 1:15am UEFA Champions League Weekly 1:45am Nightwatch with Steve Scott: Crime 2:35am Loose Women 3:25am Make Me Perfect
12:55pm 4music Presents: James Blunt 1:20am World Cup Skiing 3:05am Surfing and Snowboarding
11:05pm Big Boss 1:00am NASCAR: The Sprint Cup 2:00am USPGA Golf 2:50am NBA 360
9:00pm Crimewatch on the Streets
with
Natasha
Natasha
PICK OF THE DAY The Passion, BBC1, 8.30pm
This Easter the Beeb has decided to bring us the tale of the final week of Jesus’ life every night in the week leading up to Easter. Imagine it as a sort of 24 with the son of God and Romans, instead of Kiefer Sutherland and terrorists. These book adaptations always get complaints from die-hard fans, and this in particular sounds as though it may stray from the text, giving us both the Roman’s and Jesus’ point of view. Expect complaints BBC. SPOILER ALERT!: Jesus dies! (Briefly)
02920 229977
20% student discount on all pizzas and starters 62 Crwys Road, Cardiff, CF24 4NN
gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
TUESDAY One Life BBC1 11.05pm
Mad Men BBC2 12.10am
BBC 1
Emmerdale: Hit and Run ITV1 9.00pm
BBC 2
ITV
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18th March Biodiesel Day (USA)
The Diets That Time Forgot C4 9.00am Channel 4
Animal Rescue Squad five 7.30pm Five
6:00am Breakfast 9:15am To Buy or Not to Buy 10:00am Living in the Sun 11:00am Homes under the Hammer 11:30am Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 12:15pm Bargain Hunt
6:00am CBBC 10:25am Fun with Phonics 10:30am Terry 12:00pm The Daily Politics 12:30pm Working Lunch
6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 8:35am LK Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:10am ITV News 11:20am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women
6:00am The Treacle People 6:10am The Hoobs 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am US Sitcoms 9:30am Don’t Make Me Angry 10:00am How To Dump Your Mates 10:30am Chill Out 11:00am The Unteachables 12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm A Place in Slovakia
6:00am Kid’s TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Build a New Life in the Country 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Law and Order
1:00pm BBC News; Weather 1:45pm Doctors 2:15pm Diagnosis Murder 3:00pm BBC News and Weather 3:05pm Mister Maker 3:25pm Take a Bow 3:30pm CBBC
1:00pm Brainbox Challenge 1:30pm Animal Park 2:15pm Don’t Get Done, Get Dom 3:00pm Murder, She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It! 4:30pm Ready Steady Cook
1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm Dickinson’s Real Deal 2:30pm The Alan Titchmarsh Show 3:30pm Midsomer Murders
1:00pm A Place in Slovakia 1:30pm Sword of Sherwood Forest 2:55pm Come Dine with Me 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal
1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Animal Rescue Squad 3:05pm Five News Update 3:10pm Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal
5:00pm Newsround 5:15pm The Weakest Link
5:15pm Recipe for Success
5:00pm Goldenballs
5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show
5:00pm Five News Kaplinsky 5:30pm Neighbours
6:00pm BBC News and Weather 6:30pm Wales Today; Weather 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm EastEnders 8:00pm Holby City
6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Great British Menu 7:00pm This World 7:50pm Wild 8:00pm An Island Parish 8:30pm Johnny’s New Kingdom
6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale: Hit and Run 8:00pm Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:55pm 3 Minute Wonder: The Last Supper 8:00pm A Place in the Sun Hotspots
6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Zoo Days 7:00pm Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky 7:30pm Animal Rescue Squad 8:00pm Monster Moves
9:00pm Hotel Babylon
9:00pm Coal House Families
9:00pm Cops with Cameras
9:00pm The Diets That Time Forgot
9:00pm CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
10:00pm BBC News; Regional News 10:35pm Week In, Week Out
10:00pm Pulling 10:30pm 10 Days to War 10:40pm Newsnight
10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:35pm Harry Hill’s TV Burp
10:00pm Shameless
10:00pm CSI: Miami
11:05pm One Life 11:45pm Film 2008 with Jonathan Ross 12:15am Happy, Texas 1:50am Weatherview 1:55am Sign Zone:Tropic of Capricorn 2:55am Sign Zone:Life in Cold Blood
11:20pm Horizon 12:10am Mad Men 12:55am Joins BBC News 24 2:00am GCSE Bitesize Revision: Maths 4:00am GCSE Bitesize Revision: Maths 2 - Algebra
11:05pm Call Up 11:35pm Dexter 12:35am Nightwatch with Steve Scott: Crime 2:20am Loose Women 3:10am The Jeremy Kyle Show 4:05am ITV Nightscreen
11:05pm Jon Snow’s Hidden Iraq 12:10am PartyPoker.com Late Night Poker 1:10am World Cup Skiing 3:10am KOTV 3:35am Adrenalin Rush 4:00am Write Away!
11:00pm Law and Order: Criminal Intent 12:00am The FBI Files 1:00am NBA Basketball 4:15am Football Italiano 5:10am Neighbours 5:35am House Doctor
PICK OF THE DAY Mad Men, BBC2, 12.10am It’s another swanky American drama hidden away late at night so that such fine shows as Hotel Babylon get prime position on the schedules. Like its many imported friends, Mad Men is smarter, wittier and prettier than most UK offerings as it shows us the workings of an advertising agency in the 1960s and shocks us with outdated sexual politics and anti-Semitism. While I know deep down that this is a good quality programme and extremely well written I can’t help but find it mildly boring. The bright lights of Hotel Babylon are calling me!
Every second pizza half price 62 Crwys Road, Cardiff, CF24 4NN
02920 229977
with
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24 gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
TELLY
WEDNESDAY The Rock BBC1 9.00pm
Great British Menu BBC2 6.30pm
Never To Be Forgotten ITV1 11.05pm
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
Ghosts of Abu Ghraib C4 12.05am Channel 4
19th March Bruce Willis’ Birthday
The Girls with Too Much Skin five 9.00pm
BBC 1
BBC 2
ITV 1
Five
6:00am Breakfast 9:15am To Buy or Not to Buy 10:00am Living in the Sun 11:00am Homes under the Hammer 11:30am Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 12:15pm Bargain Hunt
6:00am CBeebies 10:30am What the Ancients Did for Us 11:30am The Daily Politics
6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 8:35am LK Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:10am ITV News 11:15am ITV Wales News and Weather 11:20am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women
6:00am Kids TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am Everybody Loves Raymond 8:00am Just Shoot Me 8:30am Frasier 9:00am Will and Grace 9:30am Don’t Make Me Angry 10:00am How To Dump Your Mates 10:30am My Crazy Life 11:00am The Unteachables
6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Build a New Life in the Country 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Law and Order
1:00pm BBC News; Weather 1:30pm Wales Today; Weather 1:45pm Doctors 2:15pm Diagnosis Murder 3:00pm BBC News and Weather 3:05pm CBBC
1:00pm See Hear 1:30pm Working Lunch 2:00pm Coast 2:15pm Don’t Get Done, Get Dom 3:00pm Murder, She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It! 4:30pm Ready Steady Cook
1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm Dickinson’s Real Deal 2:30pm The Alan Titchmarsh Show 3:30pm Midsomer Murders
12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm A Place in Slovakia 1:00pm A Place in Slovakia 1:35pm The Mark of Zorro 2:55pm Come Dine with Me 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal
1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Animal Rescue Squad 3:05pm Five News Update 3:10pm Unexpected Journey
5:00pm Newsround 5:15pm The Weakest Link
5:15pm Recipe for Success
5:00pm Goldenballs
5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show
5:00pm Five News Kaplinsky 5:30pm Neighbours
6:00pm BBC News and Weather 6:30pm Wales Today; Weather 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm Six Nations Uncovered 8:00pm Sky Cops
6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Great British Menu 7:00pm Weatherman Walking 7:30pm An Island Parish 8:00pm Bill Oddie’s Wild Side 8:30pm Johnny’s New Kingdom
6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale 7:30pm Coronation Street 8:00pm The Bill: Break In
6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:55pm 3 Minute Wonder: The Last Supper 8:00pm Relocation, Relocation
6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Zoo Days 7:00pm Five News with Kaplinsky 7:30pm It Pays to Watch 8:00pm Storm Chasers
9:00pm The Rock 10:00pm BBC News; Regional News 10:25pm Wales Today; Weather
9:00pm Torchwood 9:50pm Torchwood: Declassified
9:00pm Rock Rivals
9:00pm Grand Designs Revisited
9:00pm Extraordinary People: The Girls with Too Much Skin
10:33pm BBC Weather 10:35pm The National Lottery Draws 10:40pm The Rock
10:00pm Room 101 10:30pm 10 Days to War 10:40pm Newsnight
10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:35pm Dancing With Colin
10:00pm Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA
10:00pm Hard to Kill
11:55pm Target Earth 1:45am Weatherview 1:50am Sign Zone:The Money Programme 2:20am Sign Zone:Antiques Roadshow Sport Relief 3:20am Sign Zone:The Choir: Boys Don’t Sing
11:20pm Desi DNA 11:50pm BBC Four on BBC Two:Indian School 12:20am Joins BBC News 24 2:00am GCSE Bitesize: Maths 3 4:00am GCSE Bitesize: Art
11:05pm Never To Be Forgotten 11:35pm Unsigned 12:15am Nightwatch with Steve Scott: Crime 1:05am Quincy, ME 2:00am Loose Women 2:50am The Jeremy Kyle Show
11:05pm Shameless 12:05am Ghosts of Abu Ghraib 1:35am Sport’s Dirty Secrets 2:35am Jon Snow’s Hidden Iraq 3:35am Dispatches: Iraq - The Betrayal 4:30am Headland 5:15am Countdown
12:00am PartyPoker.net Poker Den: The Big Game II 1:30am NHL Ice Hockey 4:20am World Supercross Championship 5:10am Neighbours 5:35am House Doctor
with
Natasha
Natasha
PICK OF THE DAY Dickinson’s Real Deal, ITV, 2.00pm The perma-tanned wheeler dealer is still going strong in his daily offering of the Antiques Roadshow meets Deal or No Deal. But where does Dave get his expert knowledge in antiques from? Is it because the artefacts have gathered as much dust over the years as the cheeky chappy himself? Whatever the case, I love the Dickinson! He’s like the cute grandfather that everyone loves!
02920 229977
20% student discount on all pizzas and starters 62 Crwys Road, Cardiff, CF24 4NN
gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
THURSDAY Living in the Sun BBC1 10.00am
Ideal BBC2 11.50pm
BBC 1
Burn Hollywood Burn ITV1 11.35pm
BBC 2
ITV 1
25
20th March Storytelling Day
Captain Scarlet C4 1.35pm
Naked in New Zealand five 11.45pm
Channel 4
Five
6:00am Breakfast 9:15am To Buy or Not to Buy 10:00am Living in the Sun 11:00am Homes under the Hammer 11:30am Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 12:15pm Bargain Hunt
6:00am CBeebies 10:30am His Girl Friday 12:00pm The Daily Politics 12:30pm Working Lunch
6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 8:35am LK Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am This Morning 11:10am ITV News 11:15am ITV Wales News and Weather 11:20am This Morning 12:30pm Loose Women
6:00am Kids TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am Everybody Loves Raymond 8:00am Just Shoot Me 8:30am Frasier 9:00am Will and Grace 9:30am Don’t Make Me Angry 10:00am How To Dump Your Mates 10:30am My Crazy Life 11:00am The Unteachables
6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Build a New Life in the Country 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Law and Order
1:00pm BBC News; Weather 1:30pm Wales Today; Weather 1:45pm Doctors 2:15pm Diagnosis Murder 3:00pm BBC News and Weather 3:05pm CBBC
1:00pm Brainbox Challenge 1:30pm Animal Park 2:00pm World Figure Skating Championships Highlights 3:00pm Murder, She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It! 4:30pm Ready Steady Cook
1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm Dickinson’s Real Deal 2:30pm The Alan Titchmarsh Show 3:30pm Midsomer Murders
12:00pm News at Noon 12:30pm A Place in Slovakia 1:00pm A Place in Slovakia 1:35pm Captain Scarlett 2:55pm Come Dine with Me 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal
1:45pm Neighbours 2:15pm Home and Away 2:50pm Animal Rescue Squad 3:05pm Five News Update 3:15pm Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder
5:00pm Newsround 5:15pm The Weakest Link
5:15pm Recipe for Success
5:00pm Goldenballs
5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show
5:00pm Five News Kaplinsky 5:30pm Neighbours
6:00pm BBC News and Weather 6:30pm Wales Today; Weather 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm EastEnders 7:57pm BBC News and Regional News 8:00pm Holby Blue
6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Great British Menu 7:00pm Torchwood 7:50pm Torchwood: Declassified 8:00pm 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Earthquakes
6:00pm Wales Tonight 6:30pm ITV Evening News and Weather 7:00pm Emmerdale 7:30pm Great Welsh Roads 8:00pm The Bill: Beth Undercover
6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 7:55pm 3 Minute Wonder: The Last Supper 8:00pm A Cook’s Tour of Spain
6:00pm Home and Away 6:30pm Zoo Days 7:00pm Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky 7:30pm Rough Guide to Cities 8:00pm I Own Britain’s Best Home
9:00pm Ashes to Ashes 10:00pm BBC News; Regional News
9:00pm That Mitchell and Webb Look 9:30pm The Catherine Tate Show
9:00pm Trial and Retribution
9:00pm Sex Change Soldier
9:00pm House
10:25pm Wales Today; Weather 10:33pm BBC Weather 10:35pm Dragon’s Eye
10:00pm Sport Wales 10:30pm Newsnight
10:00pm News at Ten and Weather 10:35pm Some Like It Hot! 11:05pm Unsigned
10:00pm My Name Is Earl 10:30pm Big Bang Theory 10:55pm Skins
10:00pm Grey’s Anatomy 11:00pm A Girl’s Guide to 21st Century Sex
11:05pm This Week 11:50pm Holiday Weather 11:55pm Sign Zone:Johnny’s New Kingdom 12:25am Sign Zone:The Great War in Colour: the Wonderful World of Albert Kahn
11:20pm Empty 11:50pm Ideal 12:20am Arrested Development 12:40am Arrested Development 1:05am Joins BBC News 24 2:00am GCSE Bitesize Revision: Science 1: Physics
11:35pm Burn Hollywood Burn 12:05am Nightwatch with Steve Scott: Emergency 2:00am Loose Women 2:40am The Jeremy Kyle Show 3:35am ITV Nightscreen 5:30am ITV Early Morning News
12:00am The Sopranos 1:05am The Anatomists 2:05am Champion 3:45am The Fake Trade 4:45am Headland 5:25am Countdown
11:45pm Naked in New Zealand 12:15am Quiz Call 4:00am Football Argentina 4:40am Dutch Football 5:10am Neighbours 5:35am House Doctor
PICK OF THE DAY 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Earthquakes, BBC2, 8.00pm WOW, Earthquakes are pretty spectacular things! I’m not going to babble on about tectonic activity and how the three plate movements cause these natural disasters, for that’s where this programme begins and I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you! However, I’m quite disappointed to think that A-Level geography taught me everything bar 10 things about quakes and for this reason I’m off to make a formal complaint to the examining body!
Every second pizza half price 62 Crwys Road, Cardiff, CF24 4NN
02920 229977
with
Natasha
26 gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
FRIDAY A Grand Day Out BBC1 14.10pm
Arrested Development BBC2 3.20am
BBC 1
BBC 2
21st March World Down Syndrome Day
Loose Women ITV1 12.30pm
ITV 1
6:00am Breakfast 9:00am Miracle on the Estate 10:00am To Buy or Not to Buy 10:45am Living in the Sun 11:45am Bargain Hunt 12:30pm BBC News; Weather 12:45pm Regional News and Weather 12:55pm The Magic Roundabout
6:00am CBeebies 7:00am CBBC 8:30am CBeebies 10:30am Coast 10:40am The Happiest Millionaire
6:00am GMTV Newshour 6:58am GMTV Today 9:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 10:30am 60 Minute Makeover 11:30am 60 Minute Makeover 12:30pm Loose Women
1:30pm Wales Today; Weather 1:45pm The Magic Roundabout 2:10pm A Grand Day Out 2:35pm Freaky Friday 4:05pm High School Musical 2
1:00pm Brainbox Challenge 1:30pm Brainbox Challenge 2:00pm World Figure Skating Championships Highlights 3:00pm Murder, She Wrote 3:45pm Flog It! 4:30pm Ready Steady Cook 5:15pm Recipe for Success
1:30pm ITV Lunchtime News and Weather 2:00pm Dickinson’s Real Deal 2:30pm The Alan Titchmarsh Show 3:30pm Midsomer Murders
6:10pm The Weakest Link 6:30pm Wales Today; Weather 7:00pm The One Show 7:30pm My Family 8:00pm EastEnders 8:30pm A Question of Sport 9:00pm The Passion
5:50pm BBC News and Weather
10:00pm BBC News; Regional News 10:10pm Wales Today; Weather 10:13pm BBC Weather 10:15pm Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
11:15pm National Lottery EuroMillions Draw 11:20pm Damages 12:05am Dead Heat 1:35am Weatherview 1:40am Sign Zone:Storyville 2:40am Sign Zone:To Buy or Not to Buy 3:25am Joins BBC News 24
Secondhand Lions C4 12.50pm
Airplane! five 6.30pm
Channel 4
Five
6:10am Kids TV 7:00am Freshly Squeezed 7:30am Everybody Loves Raymond 8:00am Just Shoot Me 8:30am Frasier 8:55am Will and Grace 9:25am Will and Grace 9:50am Friends 10:20am Friends 10:45am The Simpsons 11:10am Anastasia 12:50pm Secondhand Lions 2:55pm Come Dine with Me 3:25pm Countdown 4:15pm Deal or No Deal
6:00am Kids TV 9:00am The Wright Stuff 10:30am Trisha Goddard 11:30am Build a New Life in the Country: Was It Worth It? 12:30pm Five News 12:45pm Law and Order
5:30pm Goldenballs
5:00pm The Paul O’Grady Show
5:30pm Airplane!
6:00pm Eggheads 6:30pm Wild 7:00pm Scrum V Live
6:30pm Wales Tonight 6:45pm ITV Evening News 7:00pm Emmerdale 7:30pm Coronation Street 8:00pm The 1520 Church 8:30pm Coronation Street
6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Hollyoaks 7:00pm Channel 4 News 8:00pm A Place in the Sun: Home or Away
7:00pm Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky 7:30pm Animal Rescue Squad 8:00pm Britain’s Bravest
9:00pm Torchwood 9:50pm Torchwood: Declassified 10:00pm Gardeners’ World 10:30pm The Assassination of Richard Nixon
9:00pm Moving Wallpaper 9:30pm Echo Beach 10:00pm Al Murray’s Happy Hour
9:00pm Dirty Sexy Money
9:00pm NCIS
10:00pm Friday Night Project
10:00pm Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
12:00am Shampoo 1:45am Star Trek: The Next Generation 2:35am Star Trek: The Next Generation 3:20am Arrested Development 3:40am Arrested Development 4:00am Scrum V
11:00pm The Late News and Weather 11:15pm Real Crime: A Deadly Secret 12:15am Nightwatch with Steve Scott: Emergency 2:00am Jesus Christ Superstar 3:40am ITV Nightscreen 5:15am F1: Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying
11:05pm Balls of Steel 11:50pm Big Bang Theory 12:20am Big Bang Theory 12:50am 4 Music:JD Set Presents: Winterkids 1:05am 4 Music:4Play: Little Lost David 1:20am Goalissimo!
11:00pm Law and Order: Criminal Intent 12:00am Quiz Call 5:10am Wildlife SOS 5:35am House Doctor
1:45pm Danielle Steel’s Once in a Lifetime 3:35pm Five News Update 3:40pm A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
PICK OF THE DAY High School Musical 2, BBC1, 4.05pm This is the BEST THING on television all week, maybe all month, hell I’ll stretch to all year. High School Musical 2 is one of the most beautifully crafted pieces of cheese television. It has singing, jazz hands, disney smiles and Vanessa Hudgens. For those of you who have seen High School Musical 1, you are in for a treat. Less story more singing and dancing, plus everyone is now over the age of consent so you can leer all you want without the crippling guilt woop!
02920 229977
20% student discount on all pizzas and starters 62 Crwys Road, Cardiff, CF24 4NN
gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
SATURDAY I’d do Anything BBC1 7.05pm
Have I got Old News for you BBC2 9.30pm
BBC 1
Saturday Night Divas ITV1 12.00am
BBC 2
27
22nd March My Birthday
Beauty and the Geek C4 8.55am
ITV 1
Channel 4
Crimes that shook the World five 11.10pm Five
6:00am Breakfast 10:00am Saturday Kitchen 11:30am Take on the Takeaway 12:00pm BBC News; Weather 12:10pm Football Focus
6:00am CBeebies 7:00am CBBC 12:00pm Sound 12:30pm Them 12:45pm Falcon Beach
6:00am F1: Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying 7:20am Iggy Arbuckle 7:45am Team Galaxy 8:20am SpongeBob SquarePants 8:50am Kim Possible 9:25am Dancing on Ice: The Final Skate-Off 11:25am Coronation Street Omnibus
6:05am Kids TV 7:00am Goalissimo! 8:00am The Morning Line 8:55am T4:Beauty and the Geek 10:00am T4:Beauty and the Geek 11:00am T4:Friends 11:35am T4:Friends 12:10pm T4:The Hoosiers: Video Exclusive 12:20pm T4:Vanity Lair
6:00am Sunrise 7:00am Kids TV 10:00am Football Italiano Highlights 10:45am Fifth Gear 11:45am Neighbours
1:00pm World Figure Skating Championships 2:15pm Rugby Union: Anglo-Welsh Cup Semi Final 4:30pm Final Score
1:30pm Alvarez Kelly 3:15pm Monk 4:00pm Unknown Africa: Central African Republic 4:30pm Unknown Africa: Angola
1:25pm T4:The Simpsons 2:00pm Channel 4 Racing from Doncaster, Haydock Park and Carlisle 4:15pm Deal or No Deal
1:30pm Camelot 4:35pm The Wind in the Willows
5:20pm BBC News 5:40pm Toy Story 2
5:00pm Rugby Union: Anglo-Welsh Cup Semi-Final
1:30pm ITV News and Weather 1:35pm ITV Wales News and Weather 1:40pm F1: Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying 3:10pm Tomorrow Never Dies 4:30pm ITV Wales News and Weather 4:45pm ITV News and Weather 5:00pm Tomorrow Never Dies 6:00pm All New You’ve Been Framed! 6:35pm Harry Hill’s TV Burp
6:20pm D.A.R.Y.L. 8:00pm Five News and Sport
7:05pm I’d Do Anything 8:05pm The National Lottery Draws 8:15pm Casualty
7:10pm The Culture Show 8:00pm Dad’s Army 8:30pm The Shroud of Turin
7:05pm Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway 8:25pm Duel
5:05pm Jamie at Home 5:40pm Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory 6:45pm Channel 4 News 7:15pm Grand Designs Revisited 8:15pm The Day after Tomorrow
9:05pm Love Soup 9:35pm The Vicar of Dibley 10:05pm BBC News 10:25pm Match of the Day
9:30pm Have I Got Old News for You
9:25pm Pride & Prejudice
11:45pm Roadkill 1:20am Friday Night with Jonathan Ross 2:20am Weatherview 2:25am Joins BBC News 24
11:00pm Das Boot 2:20am Space Race 3:20am The Culture Show 4:10am Mad Men 4:55am Monk
10:00pm Richard the Lionheart
11:45pm ITV News and Weather 12:00am Saturday Night Divas 1:05am Nightwatch with Steve Scott - Mystery 2:05am Cradle Will Rock 4:10am ITV Nightscreen 5:30am ITV Early Morning News
9:10pm CSI: NY 10:35pm Lee Evans XL Tour 2005 Live
10:10pm Law and Order
11:40pm Friday Night Project 12:45am 4 Music:The Shockwaves Album Chart Show 1:15am 4 Music:4Play: Elbow 1:30am 4 Music:The Hoosiers: Video Exclusive 1:35am Y Tu Mama Tambien 3:20am Me, You, Them
11:10pm Crimes that Shook the World 12:05am Quiz Call 5:10am Wildlife SOS 5:35am Wildlife SOS
PICK OF THE DAY The Hoosiers: Video Exclusive , C4, 12:10pm Ten minutes of today is going to be stolen from you by The Hoosiers. They will not only assualt your ears with their inferior guitar pop but bombard you with hideous visual images that can only be rivaled by the faces of the Twang. You may wonder why this has been chosen as pick of the day when I clearly have nohing but loathing for The Hoosiers. It is for one simple reason, I am a sadist. I could easily change the channel but I shall sit and make myself ill because pure rage is the truest form of joy.
Every second pizza half price 62 Crwys Road, Cardiff, CF24 4NN
8:15pm NCIS
02920 229977
28 gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
TELLY
TELEVISION@gairrhydd.COM
SUNDAY No Variations BBC1 12:35pm
American Friends BBC2 11.55pm
BBC 1
BBC 2
Ice Age ITV1 6.30pm
23rd March National Day (Pakistan)
Desperate Housewives C4 11.45pm
ITV 1
Big Fish five 5.35pm
Channel 4
Five
6:00am Breakfast 8:35am Match of the Day 10:00am Easter Service 11:00am Urbi et Orbi 11:40am Countryfile 12:35pm No Variations 12:55pm EastEnders
6:00am CBeebies 7:00am CBBC 9:00am Hider in the House 10:00am Something for the Weekend 11:30am Animal Park 12:30pm Fred Dibnah’s World of Steam, Steel and Stone
6:00am Boblins 6:15am F1: Malaysian Grand Prix Live 9:00am CITV 10:45am Championship Goals 11:45am The Way We Worshipped 12:15pm Ransom for a Dead Man
6:10am Kids TV 7:00am Trans World Sport 8:00am World Cup Skiing 9:00am T4:Friends 9:30am T4:Friends 10:00am T4:Hollyoaks Omnibus 12:30pm T4:Hollyoaks Music Show
6:00am Kids TV 10:00am Fifth Gear 11:00am It Pays to Watch Extra 12:00pm Polar Bear Adventures with Nigel Marven 12:50pm The Slipper and the Rose
2:15pm The Passion 4:40pm Lifeline 4:50pm Songs of Praise
1:00pm Skating 2:30pm Rugby Union 3:00pm Coast: NATO Exercise 3:20pm In Which We Serve
2:05pm ITV News and Weather 2:10pm ITV Wales News and Weather 2:15pm Soccer Sunday 2:45pm F1: Malaysian Grand Prix
1:00pm T4:Vanity Lair 2:15pm T4:Friends 2:45pm T4:Smallville: Superman the Early Years 3:45pm T4:The Simpsons 4:15pm T4:The Simpsons 4:45pm Time Team
3:25pm The Wizard of Oz
5:25pm BBC News and Regional News 5:50pm The Weakest Link 6:40pm Antiques Roadshow 7:30pm The Passion 8:00pm Lark Rise to Candleford
5:10pm Delia 5:40pm Delia 6:10pm Scrum V 7:00pm Cooking in the Danger Zone 8:00pm Top Gear
5:30pm Dog Rescue 6:00pm ITV Wales News and Weather 6:15pm ITV News and Weather 6:30pm Ice Age 8:00pm Heartbeat
5:45pm The Secrets of the Twelve Disciples
5:20pm Five News and Sport 5:35pm Big Fish
7:45pm Channel 4 News 8:00pm Celebrity Wife Swap
8:00pm Storm Chasers
9:00pm The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
9:00pm Around the World in 80 Gardens
9:00pm He Kills Coppers
9:00pm Factory
10:45pm BBC News; Weather
10:00pm Match of the Day 2
10:00pm ITV News and Weather 10:15pm Ocean’s Eleven
10:00pm Cellular
11:00pm Bringing Down the House 12:45am Weatherview 12:50am Sign Zone:Around the World in 80 Gardens 1:50am Sign Zone:Holby City 2:50am Sign Zone:Watchdog 3:20am Sign Zone:To Buy or Not to Buy
11:00pm Last Man Standing 11:55pm American Friends
Willie’s
Wonky
Chocolate
9:00pm Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo 10:35pm Not Another Teen Movie
11:45pm Desperate Housewives
PICK OF THE DAY The Wizard of Oz, five, 3.25pm What an unmissable classic! Not only does this film remind me of my childhood times, it also features the loverly Judy Garland. Judy Garland as Dorothy embodies everything I wanted to be as a young ‘un. She has a cool blue and white dress, shiny red shoes and a whole host of wicked-cool friends. Nothing would make me happier than being friends with a lion, imagine rocking into the playground with a lion as your bestie. You’d be boss of swings fo’sure.
02920 229977
20% student discount on all pizzas and starters 62 Crwys Road, Cardiff, CF24 4NN
gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
29
FIVE MINUTE FUN
FMF@gairrhydd.COM
found on facebook Housemate done something stupid?
1. Log on to the book of face Send 2. Join the group ‘Found on Facebook’ more 3. Upload embarrassing photos oddities! 4. Pick up gair rhydd on Monday and laugh
Across
Down
1 Pies and cakes (8) 5 Postpones (6) 9 Weaponry (8) 10 Consume (6) 12 Lawyer (9) 13 Not behind (5) 14 Coloured cloth (4) 16 A malaria drug (7) 19 A source of water (7) 21 They come from chickens (4) 24 Author Mark _____ (5) 25 Lack of acceptance (9) 27 Customer (6) 28 Gilbert Islands (8) 29 Penalize (6) 30 Killer (8)
1 Having a woven pattern (6) 2 Infirm due to age (6) 3 Sword (5) 4 Cantered (7) 6 Raising (9) 7 Suitable for the general public (8) 8 Tore into bits (8) 11 Formerly Saddam’s country (4) 15 Prolonger unfulfilled desires (9) 17 A frothy wave (8) 18 Thinking (8) 20 Rubber wheel (4) 21 Issues an injunction (7) 22 Cheroots and panatelas (6) 23 A commissioned naval officer (6) 26 A large Asian country (5)
competition crossword
Sudok leaves u fo page 2 r
Exercise your mind...
WINonal ers ng p A aini tr sion ses
Then exercise your body at
Put your entries in the competitio
n box outside gair rhydd
Every week gair rhydd will be giving away a gym package to one lucky entrant who correctly completes the competition crossword, courtesy of Dave’s Gym.
Every winner will receive a free personal training session with one of our qualified instructors. This can be a gym workout, weight-training, boxing or Thai Boxing session. You will also receive a personalised gym programme and a free guest pass so you can come back for another workout or try one of our studio classes: choose from HipHop, Khai Bo, Bodypump and many more. This prize is worth approximately £35! Conditions: Use of any of our facilities is subject to our terms and conditions and at the user’s own risk. An appointment must be made for the session. Prize must be claimed within four weeks of notification. It is not exchangeable for cash and is not transferable to any other party. Dave’s Gym: Tel: 029 2046 0232 E.mail: enquiries@daves-gym. co.uk Web: www.daves-gym.co.uk
NAME.... EMAIL....
How to enter: Simply complete the wordsearch opposite and drop it into the crossword competition box outside the gair rhydd office on the 4th floor of the Students’ Union. The first correct entrant to be plucked from the box every week will win the Dave’s Gym package.
30 gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
LISTINGS
LISTINGS@gairrhydd.COM
This Week: One half of Listings gets man-flu, and the other half dabbl
MUSIC
COMEDY
MONDAY MONDAY BEYOND ALL REASON @ BARFLY - An up-and-coming emocore band A man went to the doctors with a cricket ball up his arse, “Doctor, from York previously touring under the name Osiris. 7.30pm. £5. I’ve got a cricket ball stuck up my arse!” Doctor says, “Howz that?”, TUESDAY Man replies, “Don’t you start!”. ROOTS UNEARTHED: KATHRYN WILLIAMS & NEILL MACCOLL - For TUESDAY ticket info contact venue. Man goes to the doctors with a lettuce up his arse. On seeing a lettuce HIMSA/AGONY SCENE/TOO PURE TO DIE/TED MAUL @ BARFLY leaf hanging out of the poor man the doctor squeals, “Oh god! That’s 7.30pm. £10. disgusting!!” To which the man replies. “That’s just the tip of the Ice WEDNESDAY Berg”. THE ORCHESTRA @ ST DAVID’S HALL - Contact venue for ticket info. THURSDAY IDA MARIA @ BARFLY - 7.30. £6. COMEDY TOUR: RHOD GILBERT @ THE HAYSEED DIXIE @ THE POINT - 7.30pm. £17 - £15 in GLEE CLUB - First-class comedian with a advance. string of accolades. He was a finalist in the THE ELECTRIC CWTCH: ROWAN LIGHT & TOBY - 2 Channel 4 ‘So You Think You’re Funny’ Comfloors of musical action! Running for a week. 9pm petition 2002. He then graduated to being 3am. £3 all night. the winner of the Gift Of The Gag 2003 and OPEN MIC - LEE JENKINS @ SHOT IN THE DARK - 8pm. BBC Comedy Awards 2003 competitions. Freeeeeee. A surefire star of the future. 7.30pm. £14 THURSDAY phone. £13.50 online. £10 NUS. ERRORS @ CLWB IFOR BACH - Over 18’s. 8pm. £6. FRIDAY CARDIFF UNI CHOIR & ORCHESTRA @ ST DAVID’S MILO MCCABE, ANDY WHITE, KEVIN GILHALL - Contact venue for details. DEA + CAREY MARX @ JONGLEURS - Andy MISH MASH @ 10 FEET TALL - Contact venue for White is a comedian from Birmingham who details. pleases the crowds with his take on offbeat HAND OF DAEDRA/MONDAY MASSACRE/I CALL SHOTsubject matter. He also has the honour of GUN/CRIATURA @ BARFLY - 7.30pm. £5. winning the BBC quiz show The Weakest STAFELL FYW: CATE LE BON/LLEUWEN/MESSNER Link - The Comedian’s Special! @ BUFFALO BAR - 8pm - 3am. Freeeeee. Carey Marx Formerly in double-act ‘Kez and Ida Maria - Barfly on Wednesday FRIDAY Jodi’, a comedy illusion act. Live wire, CanaKUTOSIS/GINDRINKER/THE DEAD SCHOOL @ CLWB dian comedy magician, on blistering form at IFOR BACH - 8pm. £5 - £4. the moment. 8pm - 2am. £8 all tickets incl. LITTLE STRINGS TOUR: RAGZ/DUNCAN STUART/ admission to Risa. STRAWHOUSES+MORE @ MILGI LOUNGE (city road) SATURDAY - Contact venue for details. MILO MCCABE, ANDY WHITE, KEVIN GILDEA + CAREY MARX @ JONSATURDAY GLEURS - £10 all tickets. PEPPERMINT PATTI: KAPUTT/PARTY WEIRDO @ CHAPTER ARTS ROGER MONKHOUSE, MARK MAIER, JO ENRIGHT + VERY SPECIAL CENTRE - 8pm. £6 - £4. GUEST @ THE GLEE CLUB - Jo Enright is Birmingham’s most prestigWHOLE LOTTA LED @ THE POINT - 7.30pm. £12 in adv. ious female comic. Her comedy is broad, lively and poignant, centred ZENYTH/DRUG MULE/CAIMBO @ BARFLY - 7.30pm. £5. around autobiographical humour. She may be tiny, but her jokes are SUNDAY huge!. £15 phone. £14.50 online. £7.50 NUS. THE GRACELAND BAND @ WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE - 8pm. £20 plus concessions.
THEATRE
MONDAY THE WEDDING SINGER: JONATH WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE - J senter, BEZZIE friend of Robbie cals, including The Rocky Horro Contact venue for details. TUESDAY THE WEDDING SINGER: JONATHAN MILLENNIUM CENTRE. IN THE CLUB @ NEW THEATRE - H busy day ahead of him, balancing cal career with his attempts to s girlfriend to fly in from Kettering f to be voted President of the Euro turn by his unpredictable colleag Turks and amorous Frenchwomen man in the linen cupboard. 7:30p £24.00 - £8.50 WEDNESDAY THE WEDDING SINGER: JONATHAN MILLENNIUM CENTRE. IN THE CLUB @ NEW THEATRE 2:30pm. £24.00 - £8.50 THURSDAY THE WEDDING SINGER: JONATHAN MILLENNIUM CENTRE. IN THE CLUB @ NEW THEATRE 2:30pm. £24.00 - £8.50 FRIDAY THE WEDDING SINGER: JONATHAN MILLENNIUM CENTRE. IN THE CLUB @ NEW THEATRE 2:30pm. £24.00 - £8.50 SATURDAY THE WEDDING SINGER: JONATHAN MILLENNIUM CENTRE. IN THE CLUB @ NEW THEATRE 2:30pm. £24.00 - £8.50 SUNDAY Easter Day - celebrate chocolate..
Malcolm Middleton Glee Club
23/03/08 ◆ Check Venue for ticket details.
Jamie Thunder Recommends
M
alcolm Middleton, the musical half of Falkirk’s finest (only?) lo-fi miserablist duo Arab Strap, plays The Glee Club on March 23rd, otherwise known as Easter Day. In case you missed him first time around, his band were the ones with the defiantly Scottish accents who, armed with a battered old acoustic guitar, spun tales of social realism like a bitterly vengeful Jarvis Cocker. This time he’s on his own, and the Cardiff Bay venue is the second date on a fairly extensive European and Australian tour. Now free from accomplice Aiden Moffat, Middleton has branched out beyond minimal soundtracks for spoken tales of debauchery and screw-ups. His solo albums have taken in everything from pessimistic disco (the baffling We’re All Going to Die) to deceptively upbeat acoustic jaunts (Fuck It, I Love You). Now touring his fourth solo album, Sleight of Heart, he’s returned to a more stripped-down sound. But the sense of humour present in his old band remains – lurking amongst the thoughtful acoustic pop is a cover of Madonna’s Stay. We don’t know why.
Whilst Arab Strap could be infamously variable in quality live (although this was usually dependent on Moffat’s mood rather than Middleton’s), January’s Live at the Bush Hall album showcased an assured, confessional acoustic performance from Middleton. Although never the lyricist with his old band, on his own he’s as entertaining (if less starkly bleak) as his old partner and – whisper it – has a little more variety about him than Moffat ever did. A creator of smart personal tales of self-doubt and disappointment he may be, but a shred of optimism can usually be found somewhere behind the gruff, Scottish exterior. Indeed, Live at the Bush Hall suggested that he may actually be a better bet for your money than the Strap ever were; he’s comfortably consistent, genuine and on occasion damn funny. So if, on Easter Day, you fancy a bit of self-deprecating, clever singer-songwriter fare, head on down to the Glee Club for 8pm. After all, how better to mark a celebration of new life than with a man who once wrote a song called Death Love Depression Love Death? Malcolm Middleton - Cheery Easter Happiness
Students’ Union, Park Place, 02920 387421 www.cardiffstudents.com ◆ Med Club, Neuadd Meirionydd, Heath Park 02920 744948 ◆ Clwb Ifor Bach (The Wels 02920 399939 www.clubmetropolitan.com ◆ Dempseys, Castle Street 02920 252024 ◆ Iotas, 7 Mill Lane 02920 225592 ◆ Incognito, Park Place 02920 412 www.cafejazzcardiff.com ◆ The Riverbank Hotel, Despenser Street www.riverbankjazz.co.uk ◆ St. David’s Hall, The Hayes 02920 878444 www.stdavidshallcardif uk ◆ The New Theatre, Park Place 02920 878889 www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk ◆ The Sherman Theatre, Senghennydd Road 02920 646900 www.shermanthea Stadium Can’t miss it. www.millenniumstadium.com ◆ The Point, Cardiff Bay, 029 2046 0873 www.thepointcardiffbay.com ◆ Tommy’s Bar, Howard Gardens (off
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LISTINGS
LISTINGS@gairrhydd.COM
les in Politics while election fever takes over. Oh, and stuff happens...
E & ARTS
HAN WILKES, NATALIE CASEY @ Jonathan Wilkes - Pop star, TV preWilliams, and star of several musior Show and Grease. Bit of a twat.
N WILKES, NATALIE CASEY @ WALES
Hapless MEP Philip Wardrobe has a g his less-than-irreproachable politistart a family. As he prepares for his for an afternoon of ‘frolics’, his plan opean Parliament is foiled at every gues: uncouth Yorkshiremen, irate n... to say nothing of the mysterious pm. Matinees: Thurs & Sat 2:30pm.
N WILKES, NATALIE CASEY @ WALES - 7:30pm. Matinees: Thurs & Sat
N WILKES, NATALIE CASEY @ WALES - 7:30pm. Matinees: Thurs & Sat
N WILKES, NATALIE CASEY @ WALES - 7:30pm. Matinees: Thurs & Sat
N WILKES, NATALIE CASEY @ WALES - 7:30pm. Matinees: Thurs & Sat
.. oh no, the Resurrection of Jesus.
GOING OUT MONDAY FUN FACTORY @ SOLUS, SU - Cardiff’s own alternative music night.
Also features DJing by Oddsoc and bands put on by LMS. 10pm - 2am. Free entry with NUS. £3 otherwise. TIGER TIGER - still a good night out, hasn’t seemed to suffer too much as a result of Revolutions coming to town. 10pm - 2am. £3
SOCIETIES MONDAY
If you’ve by any chance missed the fact that it’s election time at the minute, then, well... Where the hell have you been? Go and vote TODAY. Your Union, your future and all that.
TUESDAY REVOLUTION - very classy joint, better to go on a week night beWhat are you still doing reading this? Go and VOTE! I know who I’m cause its cheaper, apparently. Never been myself - heard good things voting for, do you? though. WEDNESDAY TUESDAY CARDIFF UNI BONE MARROW TRUST: SIGN UP @ TALYBONT SOLet’s face it, if there was ever a night when it was acceptable to stay CIAL - Marrow is a student run branch of the Anthony Nolan Trust in and do fuck all it’s a Tuesday. However... in 26 universities in the UK. The Anthony Nolan Trust works to proTHE GEORGE - One pound a pint on selected drinks vide hope to patients with leukaemia or and with a yellow card. Enough said. Last orders other similar potentially fatal illnesses 11pm, and that’s no joke. Apparently the land-lord for which a bone marrow transplant is gets grouchy if you try anything otherwise. their only hope for survival. JUMPING JACK’S - Marketed as the ‘best night out in Despite massive improvements, the town’. It isn’t. chances of finding a donor are still WEDNESDAY small. The only way to increase chances RUBBER DUCK @ SOLUS, SU - Oh no hang on, my is to increase the number of people on mistake. the register. Students are ideal targets OCEANA - Try not to be bitter about this place being as they are generally young, healthy partly responsible for killing the Duck. Open til 3. and represent a broad cross section of REVOLUTION - Much the same as Monday I’d ethnicity. Cardiff Marrow runs many clinimagine. ics throughout the year both in halls of THURSDAY residences and the union, offering the BOUNCE @ WALKABOUT - It’s still good! And these opportunity to be on the bone marrow Drink The Bar Dry: Friday in The Taf are still the sort of nights you take for granted as register. 2-6pm upstairs in Talybont a student. Messy, sweaty, boozy, fighty, angry, sicky Social. - lovely! The Krishna Consciousness Soc present: FRIDAY A talk from the monk Prama on why he DRINK THE BAR DRY @ THE TAF - Does what it says turned to Hare Krishna. 6.15-8pm @ The on the tin. Guaranteed messiness. Gareth Edwards room, 4th floor, SU. Inc. FIGHT CLUB @ ST. MARY’S STREET. 9pm - 4am Sunday morning. free vegetarian meal. SATURDAY THURSDAY COME PLAY @ SOLUS, SU - Saturday night mayhem, Union style. LMS BATTLE OF THE BANDS: FINAL @ SOLUS - Be convinced below. 10pm - 2am. £3.50. 7.30pm. £3/4. ANYWHERE IN TOWN FRIDAY SUNDAY Voting has ended, but who know’s, we may have found out who will be HOLLYOAKS OMNIBUS/CHOCOLATE FEST @ YOUR HOUSE. running the Union next year. How exciting!
LMS BATTLE OF THE BANDS: THE FINAL. Solus
20/03/08 ◆ 7.30pm ◆ £3/£4
Lisitngs Editor Josie Allchin recommends
S
The Three Aces
Zenyth
o this time a couple of weeks ago I was ranting on about how everyone should go to the Live Music Society’s Battle of The Band’s competition – and here I am again, doing the very same thing for the final round. Now this over-indulgence on my part has nothing to do with a secret allegiance to the club, or a biased standpoint and by no means are we being bribed (although cheques can be made payable to “listings”, food also greatly appreciated but no perishables, thanks). It’s because this kind of event, and not just limited to the BOB competition, is really rather special – since when can anything else like this be found outside of university? Take advantage of it while you still can! So at the risk of sounding all sentimental (oh what the heck, it’s the last one of these I get to do before Easter) here are some reasons why I think you should enliven your musical senses with this event. Firstly, it brings people together in an environment that doesn’t centre itself around drinking (now I’m all for a bit of knee’s up, but even the most dedicated of drinkers need a break), and unites
people through a shared interest – music. Secondly, it’s bloody good value for money – four bands, you say? All for under a fiver? Never will this be the case again outside of our soft, cushioned and slightly odd smelling walls of university! Thirdly, the bands you’ll see will be of the highest musical calibre – they’ve been picked out by dedicated audiences and judges who expect only the best performances. Fourthly (is that a word?), there’ll be no dodgy sound quality that you’d maybe expect from a battle of the bands competition – the bands will be playing in Solus, home of many a famous musical act over the years, providing you with top-notch acoustic quality and all round viewer/audience satisfaction. Lastly, um, oh yes – the audience gets a certain percentage of the vote, so your presence, as well as providing a superb atmosphere, is really rather crucial in deciding who wins. The two confirmed finalists, Zenyth and The Three Aces, will be joined by the winner and runner up of the second semi-final round. The winner will walk away with a slot playing at this year’s summer ball, £300 and a one track recording session. And news just in – Sally Airey (Societies, Post-Graduate and International Officer) will be the guest judge. Now, give me one reason why you shouldn’t go!
sh Club), 11 Womanby Street 02920 232199 www.clwb.net ◆ Barfly, Kingsway, Tickets: 08709070999 www.barflyclub.com/cardiff ◆ Metros, Bakers Row 2190 ◆ Liquid, St. Mary Street 02920645464 ◆ The Philharmonic, 76-77 St. Mary Street 02920 230678 ◆ Café Jazz, 21 St. Mary Street 02920 387026 ff.co.uk ◆ Chapter Arts Centre, Market Road, Canton 02920 304400 www.chapter.org ◆ Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay 0870 0402000 www.wmc.org. atre.co.uk ◆ The Glee Club, Mermaid Quay 0870 2415093 www.glee.co.uk ◆ Cardiff International Arena, Mary Ann Street 02920 224488 ◆ The Millennium Newport Road) 02920 416192 ◆
32 gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
XPRESS RADIO
STUDIO@xpressradio.CO.UK
monday 17th
tuesday 18th
wednesday 19th
9am-11am Just the two of us with Alexis and Emma 11am-1pm The Wade and Morrissey Takeover 1pm-2.30pm The Great Al and Steve 2.30pm-4pm Rach in the Afternoon 4pm-6pm Faces For Radio 6pm-7.30pm Spotlight 7.30pm-9pm The Bronze 9pm-11pm Balthazar! 11pm-12am Trash De Luxe 12am-1am Roadtrip 1am-2am On the Decks 2am Xpress Jukebox
9am-11am Sarah and Phil 11am-1pm Shaz and Hannah are the Angry Mob 1pm-2.30pm The Stark and Moo Show 2.30pm-4pm Sam and Greg 4pm-6pm For Your Ears Only with Rich and Gwil 6pm-7.30pm Things Fall Apart 7.30pm-8.30pm Glitches and Prose 8.30pm-9.30pm Urban Science 9.30pm-11pm Roots Chariot 10.30pm-12am One Buk $how 12am Xpress Jukebox
9am-11am Chit Chat with Carly 11am-1pm A Cup of Tea and a Biscuit with Lucy 1pm-2.30pm The Weekly with Mike Thomas 2.30pm-4pm TNT 4pm-5.15pm Kate and Paul do the Sports Show 5.15pm-6pm Back of the Net 6pm-7pm [Insert Pun Here] 7pm-8pm Methu Dawnsio 8pm-9.30pm The Exhibition 9.30pm-11pm Weekday Warmup 11pm-12.30am Funktionality vs. Comatose 2am - Xpress Jukebox
LIVE 87.7FM
&DIGITAL
thursday 20th
friday 21st
saturday 22nd
sunday 23rd
9am-11am The Kat and Ash Show 11am-1pm The Grapevine with Hannah and Soph 1pm-2.30pm The Oli and Stefano Show 2.30pm-4pm Hits and Giggles with Claire and Louise 4pm-5.30pm Loud Noises 5.30pm-6pm Xpress Debate 6pm-7.30pm Transmission 7.30pm-9pm Xposed 9pm-10.30pm Signals Over the Air 10.30pm-12am Thrift Store Show 12am-1am Thursday Night Lights 1am Xpress Jukebox
9am-11am We Love Fridays with Char 11am-1pm Suz and Nic’s Pic and Mix 1pm-2.30pm Ciao Bella with Amy Aiello 2.30pm-4pm 3 Men in a Room 4pm-6pm Girls on Top with Han and Jess 6pm-7.30pm Girls, Uninterrupted 7.30pm-9pm The Takeover 9pm-11pm The Plastics 11pm-2am Live from AAA 2am Xpress Jukebox
10am-10.30am Saturday Morning Speech: The Culture Show 10.30am-11am Saturday Morning Speech: Upbeat Quiz 11am-12pm Saturday Morning Speech: Soapbox 12pm-2pm The Jack and Tom Delusion 2pm-4pm Jazz Society 4pm-5pm Classical Show 5pm-6pm Filmage Hour 6pm-7pm Heads in the Clouds 7pm-8.30pm Radio Fun, Yeah? 8.30pm-10pm Saturday Night Therapy 10pm-12am A DnB Spectrum 12am-2am JJ’s Lounge 2am Xpress Jukebox
10am-12pm Living for the Weekend with Matt and Carrian 12pm-2pm Get Roasted with Flic and Lucie 2pm-2.30pm eXposure 2.30pm-3.30pm Rock Solubalization 3.30pm-5pm Root Blue 5pm-7pm Jordi and Alec Show 7pm-8.30pm Dig Le Muzika 8.30pm-10pm The Classroom 10pm-12am Starfish and Coffee 12am Xpress Jukebox
press radio sponsored by www.pigsback.com/cardiff
mainstream show of the week: we love fridays
Join Char every Friday morning with this lively, upbeat show getting you out of bed and ready for the weekend ahead. Keeping you up to date with events coming up as well all the latest local news and gossip. Every week we‘re loving a different theme, giving you a chance to get in touch and tell us why you love it too. It‘s the kick-start to any weekend.
friday: 9am til 11am
gig of the week
kathryn williams / neill maccoll tuesday march 18 st. david’s hall £12 Cardiff plays host to two of the biggest names in British folk music this Tuesday as Kathryn Williams and Neill MacColl take to the stage at St. David’s Hall. Williams is one of the most respected and critically acclaimed singer/songwriters in the UK, having released six albums since 1999 on her own label, Caw Records. Her latest release is her first collaboration and links her own commendable reputation with that of Neill MacColl, son of Ewan
MacColl and Peggy Seeger; two musicians who were at the heart of the British folk revival of the early sixties. Williams and MacColl met at the BBC’s Folk Britannia season, and promptly decided to record an album together. The resulting record is ‘Two’ which came out on March 3. This album is a product of a six day recording session in which they laid down twenty one tracks, thirteen of which made the grade. With the help of veteran producer Phill Brown, the pair managed to record and mix this, already highly commended, album in little over two weeks. The album demonstrates the simplicity of the pair’s approach to music, as Williams’ softly whispered vocals soar high over MacColl’s deeper, more resonant rumblings. Alongside sparsely plucked guitars, this music is beautiful in every sense of the word. Their live performance should provide a much needed tonic to end of term stress and, despite being over the ten pound boundary, it would be incredibly foolish to miss out on seeing this pair of laudable musicians as they breeze through Cardiff at the beginning of their UK tour.
xpress radio chart 1. LCD Soundsystem - Time To Get Away 2. Foals - Cassius 3. Tiny Masters of Today - Hologram World 4. These New Puritans - Elvis 5. Los Campesinos! - Broken Heart Beats Sound Like Breat Beats 6. Mystery Jets - Young Love (shoes remix) 7. The Teenagers - Love No 8. Johnny Foreigner - Some Party Scenes 9. Art Brut - Pump Up the Volume 10. Late of the Pier - The Bears Are Coming
as judged by the xpress radio music team
specialist show of the week: the roots chariot
Genre spanning Forrest Holmes brings you music from Africa and the African diaspora mixing Jazz, Funk, Blues and Reggae. Tune in Tuesdays for an eclectic mix with a funky twist, complete with reggae beats and sax appeal.
tuesday: 9.30pm til 11pm
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PROBLEM PAGE
PROBLEMPAGE@gairrhydd.COM
e m Vote o s d n a H d E T He’s a ruddy good lad.
Ted Handsome’s Testimonials An Occasional Series
Basically, I’m brilliant. However, you probably shouldn’t take my word for it, as I’m a massive egotist with bipolar tendencies. Luckily for me, not only was I voted Supergenius Of The Year, but also World’s Strongest Aristocrat. That aside, let me not bore you with my many, many achievements. You can be bored by the multitude of different people who know me and who love me. If this does not convince you to vote for me, then I’ll just get my old mate Mark Thatcher to bring his personal arsenal and we’ll take this poxy country by force.
No. 1 - Princess Michael of Kent ‘I can honestly say, without descending into needless hyperbole, that Ted is genuinely the nicest man to have ever existed. In the Whole Universe. Forever and ever, no returns. He lights up the room with his delightful smile and always has a bawdy anecdote for every occasion. Not only this, but it is incredibly rare to see a man correctly wear a cravat these days, and so that must be admired. Oh, and what a lover!’
No. 2 - Lance Armstrong
‘Oh man, what a guy! I can’t tell you how much I owe to this man. Even though I’m a seven time Tour de France winner (yeah, that’s right, not five, not six, but seven. Deal with that), but even I struggle to keep up with this dude. We’re always out doing macho things, like chopping wood with our shirts off, wrestling with our shirts off and quite often we’ll just find a secluded woodland glade and sit comparing muscles. Nothing gay, mind. Oh, and if any of you ever need any performance enhancing drugs, he’s your dude! Not that I use any of those, and I’ll sue anyone who says I do.’
No. 3 - Brian Blessed ‘HELLO I’M BRIAN BLESSED! I HAVE TO SAY, THAT MY OLD CHUM, TEDDY BOY IS ONE OF THE GREATEST GENTS THAT I HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE OF ENCOUNTERING. WE’VE OFTEN SPENT A WEEKEND OR TWO CLAMBERING UP AND DOWN THE VARIOUS PEAKS AND TROUGHS OF THE DELIGHTFUL PENNINES, NO DOUBT SAMPLING A FEW OF THE LOCAL ALES IN THE PROCESS, EH, TEDDY BOY? ANYWAY, WHAT WAS I SHOUTING? VOTE TED AND GORDON’S ALIVE!
Vote Ted Handsome for supreme ruler of Wales (and the world)
Dest roy a ll hi If I am elected ppies forcibly Suprem round e ! R uler of Dem up a
, bou nyb Wa sandals ght Fair Trad ody who ha les, I pledge s ever e to or use produc ;v them to wor d the phrase ts, eaten yo oted Lib g k in fo tolerat rced L ‘Carbon Neu hur t, worn e tral’, a abour It is a this kind of nd p Ca threat to our political diss mps. We ca ut nnot way of idence life an d mus any longer. t be st opped .
woo!! Vote!! YEAH!!
woo!! Vote!! YEAH!!
g! n u o the Y e e than ur o h m e t t t BAn one group of peerotpaleinlyI htahe younngth, atht eI spro-
is st c reaso nger than If there hen it is mo r this o f is t cdy you , t elderly bumhats. I gging anybo ignificant ele . s a le t s t ou e r a lly pid lit tronica ity to delive re near my h c le e lots of mone you, eobviously he pac love spending pI,oslike th ca ander anyw iththings w ey on that we should , by rights, get w , e y e m th ock Iif therefore propose that we not only h s for free. ic r t
more w ar!
War is brilliant. I mean , other than in the midd le of a good old war, when do you get the opportu nity to drive a tank through a wall and shoot some for eigners? I therefore advoca te invading MORE coun tries and subjugating MORE ethnic groups NEEDLE SSLY!
Vote for Ted Handsome, or else I’ll come Round to your house and break your legs
34 gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
GRAB!
COMPETITIONS@gairrhydd.COM
WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN!
Vegas Baby!
T
his hilarious comedy set in the heart of the infamous sin city, Vegas Baby is a laugh-a-minute riotous romp that revolves around five friends who head to Vegas for a wild weekend of partying to celebrate an impending marriage.
Released on March 31, Vegas Baby is filled with comedians from the prestigious worlds of Van Wilder, Harold and Kumar, Scrubs and My Name Is Earl. So if you fancy a night of strippers, notorious casino robbers and Ultimate Fighting Champions, amongst the other absurdities that only Vegas can serve up, then you need look no further than this hilarious comedy caper. Z-Bob, Eli, Ash and Johnny are life long buddies who are about to send their best friend, Nathan, into uncharted territory… marriage. But in order to properly bid farewell to their best friend’s life as a single man they must send him out in style, with a trip to the city of sin. Limousines, gambling, strippers and even a visit to a porn shoot are on the agenda. That is until Mr Kidd, their party planner, turns out to be a professional bank robber looking to turnover a casino. Falsely accused of robbing the casino themselves, the five friends need to avoid the police, casino security, some murderous Hells Angels, a female Elvis impersonator and a porn star’s psychotic boyfriend. Will the guys make it out of Vegas alive? Directed by Eric Bernt (writer of Romeo Must Die and The Hitcher), Vegas Baby stars Kal Penn, Jonathan Bennett (Mean Girls) and Donald Faison (Scrubs). We have 4 copies of Vegas Baby to give away! All you have to do is answer the question below and email your name and address to the email above. What other hit comedy did Kal Penn star in? a) Superbad b) Van Wilder c) Anger Management
Pigs Back Xpress!!
W
ith the exciting launch of Xpress Digital last Friday we have even more good news. Pigsback, the student saver website, are sponsoring Xpress going Digital in the next few weeks!
Pigsback.com/cardiff is a leading community website that rewards and entertains its members. Our membership stands at 600,000 and we work with some of the UK’s leading brands and retailers, bringing together unique offers and competitions to provide an entertaining and rewarding experience for our members. Pigsback.com/cardiff is a new and exciting way to optimise your on-line experience. When you register at www.pigsback.com/ cardiff you will receive a free welcome token of £2.50. Using the site you can earn more and more ‘piggy points’ which will increase your piggybank (one piggy point is the equivalent to 1p) and allow you to redeem your piggy points on a range of goods (e.g. Boxes of wine, Boots vouchers or even pigsback merchandise) Being a member of pigsback.com/cardiff allows you access to unique offers from around the city. You will be able to locate a business and see what special offers they have, exclusive to pigsback.com/cardiff. You will then be able to download any vouchers and print them off to redeem in stores. (e.g. 2 Pints for 1, Buy a main course and get the second half price, 2 for 1 on all t-shirts) So sign up today at www.pigsback.com/cardiff (which is totally free) and start earning your piggy points and get access to exclusive offers in Cardiff! To be in with a chance of winning £100 in iTunes vouchers just answer this question by checking out www.pigsback.com/ cardiff and following the link to enter the competition! Listen out on Xpress for some hints and clues about the question below! Question: Who won Best New Group at the Brit Awards 2008? P.S Don’t forget, you can only enter by checking out www.pigsback.com/cardiff
WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN!
gairrhydd
FEBRUARY.04.2008
14
FEATURES
FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM
ITC FRANKLIN GOTHIC BOOK
Standfirsts are in American Typewriter Regular, size 24, 60% black, name of the writer is italicised by 15o A Name Section Position
You can put shorter articles in shaded bars like this
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orem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Headline in the text Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eius-
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mod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non
proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Puller quotes should be American Typewriter Regular, 60% black, 15pt Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor
in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore.
orem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
36 gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
SPORT
SPORT@gairrhydd.COM
THE WORD ON... ...another classic debate: the most exciting spectator sport Matt Cutler: Snooker
S
ometimes the sound of silence can be the most exhilarating sensation to behold. In sport, intensity of sound has always been something to savour: the buzzing atmosphere in the stands, the roar of the crowd and its connection with the anguish or joy of a player’s groans or cheers. Snooker offers a tense environment where silence is golden and the absence of noise gives sporting tension a unique meaning.
The stimulation that the crowd feels when a player is on a 147 is immense. A thousand people in the room, all eyes concentrated on a 12 by 6 feet piece of cloth, all knowing the difficulty and skill required in one of the greatest sporting achievements. Everyone in the crowd is behind the waist coated man with the cue and all know one slip up is the difference between £147,000 and nothing. A frame could last an hour. Is that
boring? Or is it a battle of endurance; a game of cat and mouse that could last indefinitely, but comes down to who plays the best under the pressure. An epic 35 frame duel in the World Championship Final can be a test of the mind for spectator and player alike, but nevertheless it is a psychological battle that everyone is involved in. Watching snooker can leave you mentally drained having only sat in the same position for a couple of hours. What other sports can it be possible to feel the enduring effects of a professional sportsman?
George Pawley: Twenty20 cricket
R
Scott D’Arcy:
I
would have to say, being the opposite of a Daim bar (soft on the outside, hard on the inside), that moderate violence in sport epitomises entertainment, whether it be in a boxing ring or on a rugby pitch. Obviously, events such as Eduardo’s leg break are never pleasant to watch, yet I still find myself watching a “horrific leg breaks” compilation, which incidentally has five stars, on Youtube. Similarly, watching Maccarinelli get demolished by Haye last weekend, while simultaneously startling and disappointing, will likely be watched many a time during sporadic bouts of writer’s block. However, there is surely only one sport that can ascend the throne of “most entertaining sport”. Speed. Check. Skill. Check. Moderate violence. Check. OK, so maybe the latter is what gives the game of ice hockey a bad name, but yet without this element of the sport, something would surely be lacking. The hits are intense and the fights, while barbaric and senseless, add an element of aggression that even surpasses UFC. But the violence is not the whole game and so its other merits should be what it is judged upon. The speed of the game is ridiculous, to the extent
that many new viewers can barely follow the puck. The rink is small and enclosed, the rules mean there are fewer stoppages than most other American sports and the crowds are consistently raucous. These elements combine to produce a spectacle that rarely delivers a dull moment, except perhaps between the tediously long inter-period breaks. Skill and technique are vital too as the ability to slot the puck in the net take precision and power. Shots, usually above 80mph, pummel the netminders, who are forced to react in fractions of a second. And the fact that it is on ice, cranks up the excitement. The players are naturally adapted to the surface, many having learnt on frozen ponds, and so there is an element of grace, superior to that seen in Dancing on Ice. It would be unrepresentative to call them all figure skaters with pads on, but some of the best skaters certainly glide as if Ride of the Valkyries was being blasted out over the PA system. For entertainment purposes then, ice hockey has to be up there with the best of them. It succeeds where most mainstream sport fails in that it is consistently exciting but also that its participants are some of the toughest athletes in sport. It is quite simply the best thing Canadians have ever invented.
egardless of the spectacular sights and sounds of the offpitch entertainment, Twenty20 Cricket is the world’s greatest spectator sport. 20 overs of crashing hitting and blistering bowling is a simply unbelievable sporting banquet. You are guaranteed tumbling wickets and mammoth boundaries, crushing victories or grippingly tense finishes. It makes cricket accessible to all, fun for children and adults alike; the prices are low but entertainment is high. The evening matches are bathed in summer sun; the perfect conditions for kids to
run round the boundaries following their idols, and a great way for adults to unwind after a busy working day or join in with the carnival atmosphere. The Indian Premier League’s Twenty20 competition is about to revolutionise sport; the cricketing equivalents of the Harlem Globetrotters will battle over a high-tempo season, while India will develop into one of the greatest ever sporting teams in the longer version of the game. Besides, at which other sporting venues can you bathe in a hot-tub with a cold beverage in hand?
Jack Zorab: Cycling
I
t’s the splurge of colour flying past your face at up to 70 miles per hour, the whirring of slick gear changes 300 times over, so they can be heard far before they are ever seen, the constant adjustment and re-adjustment of fivegrand bikes by five-star athletes, with any mistakes sure to leave the miscreant with a date on the asphalt that creates the fluid, organic spectacle that is unrivalled
in professional sport. Ladies and Gentlemen alike can all appreciate the beautiful, fearful sight of the ‘peloton’ in full motion. The Tour de France, the showpiece of cycling, must be the most exciting spectator sport. Whether you get to witness the real-big-guys with the real-big-thighs going hell for leather on the flats of Belgium, competing for the sprint stage victories and the back page headlines, or whether you make the trek up one of
the famous mountains like the ‘Col du Aubisque’ to line the roads and wait for the slim-line climbers to arrive; you are only ever an arms length away. And when you get that close you are no longer spectating, but you are involved and are competing in the race itself. You physically push the riders on toward the ceiling of the world and dare them not to slow down on their way. Then your fleeting moment is over but there’s another 299 on their way…
gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
37
SPORT
SPORT@gairrhydd.COM
The IMG Roundup A spoonful of Unit makes the medicine go down Alex Wilson IMG Reporter J-Unit 9 - 5 Pharmacy B
and Bell quickly picked up her fourth of the game. While Lucie ‘Stokesy’s missus’ Clifford and Katie ‘red face’ Williams marshaled the Unit defence beautifully, they were unable to prevent Pharmacy picking up their third goal. With the score at 4-3 the game took a dramatic turn with four goals in quick succession. Alison Bell once again extended JUnit’s lead, only to see Pharmacy battle hard to quickly bring another back. Both teams scored again soon after as Pharmacy refused to give up on the game. However, Pharmacy’s resistance was finally undone. The addition of Kirsty ‘psycho’ Kirby to the J-Unit side proved to be inspirational as she wrapped up the game like a flaming hot fajita by scoring two impressive goals. Though the game was effectively finished, Alison Bell completed the day in style by scoring her seventh. Credit should go to both teams for a fantastic game that was well contested,
IMG NETBALL: Sickening but it was J-Unit who brought the class on the day. J-Unit will go into their match against Medics B desperately hoping to clinch a victory that will keep them in the hunt for the Division Two championship.
Biology sliced out of Division Two title race Jo Curley IMG Reporter Engin Automotive 9 - 7 Biology BIOLOGY’S HOPES for a Division Two title were decimated after a narrow defeat to a struggling Engin Automotive side. Biology started the game the brighter of the sides, winning the ball off an Engin centre and moving it swiftly to score an impressive first goal. A confident Biology team followed
this with a further two goals and it seemed as though the scientists would wrap the game up. However, Engin fought back magnificently. They equalized with some excellent shots and quickly edged into the lead with some brilliant defence and competent shooting. The Biology supporters were not disheartened and continued to cheer for their team. This encouragement bolstered the scientists and a further two goals from goal attack Lucy Alford reduced the half-time deficit to 6-5 to
Engin. The second half saw a complete change in personnel for the Biology team, as well as more vocal support. Engin were dominant from the restart and their goal shooter scored twice more despite a very strong wind. And it was this period of pressure that would prove crucial to their victory. Biology did, however, pick themselves up, with some brilliant defensive teamwork from Laura Biscoe and Megan Masters preventing the score from widening any further.
PHOTO: NICK WARRENER
J-UNIT KEPT their hopes for the Division Two title alive with a crucial victory against league rivals Pharmacy. J-Unit faced the added pressure of the attendance of IMG football superstars, J-Unit football team, who currently reside top of the IMG football premiership. Yet they did not buckle under such extreme pressure and put on an impressive performance. It was Pharmacy who opened the scoring, however, after some slack defending from J-Unit defender Katie ‘red-face’ Williams. At this stage of the game, Pharmacy looked the far more determined side as they continued to win the majority of the 50-50’s. J-Unit needed something special to turn the game around and Lucie ‘Stokesy’s missus’ showed true grit and
skill to turn Unit’s fortunes around. She led a renewed Unit effort that led to a double salvo from Unit goal attack Alison Bell, who was prolific all day. Once the Unit were ahead, Pharmacy started to feel the pressure and failed to capitalise on some golden opportunities. This proved incredibly costly as Amie Vermoun pulled the strings from midfield and created attacks from which Alison Bell picked up her hat-trick with ease. However, Pharmacy managed to score one more goal before half-time to keep themselves in the game. The physical exertions of the first half took their toll on all of the players. The discomfort of Alison Bell, who was sick at half-time, stood testament to the effort that J-Unit were putting into the game. The beginning of the second half saw J-Unit take the initiative by dominating the play. The new strike partnership of Alison Bell and Kirsty ‘psycho’ Kirby up front proved highly troublesome,
Eventually Biology gained possession and began to make attacks of their own. They were rewarded for their persistence with a further two goals. But it was Engin that finished the game the stronger. They managed to score once more before the final whistle, bringing the final score to 9 – 7. Both teams gave impressive performances in an exciting final game of the season. Netheretheless, the Biology girls will be disappointed when they reflect on a missed opportunity to challenge for the title.
Division One
IMG NETBALL
D
L
Diff
Pts
1
English A
8
7
0
1
75
21
2
Engin Locomotive
7
7
0
0
70
21
3
Law B
7
5
0
2
29
15
4
Medics A
8
5
0
3
17
15
5
Christian Union
8
4
0
4
-12
12
6
SOCSI B
7
3
0
4
5
9
7
GymGym
6
2
0
4
-21
6
8
Engin Numatics
6
1
0
5
--18
3
9
SAWSA
7
1
0
6
-45
3
English B
6
0
0
6
-100
0
P
W
10
P
W
Division Two
IMG NETBALL
D
L
Diff
Pts
1
Medics B
9
7
1
1
66
22
2
Cardiff IWC A
7
6
0
1
53
18
3
Biology
9
4
3
2
39
15
4
Psychology
8
4
2
2
41
14
5
J-Unit
7
4
1
2
39
13
6
Pharmacy B
7
4
1
2
11
13
7
Engin Automotive
8
2
1
5
-5
7
8
Optometry
8
2
1
5
-40
7
9
Cardiff IWC B
8
2
0
6
-24
6
10
Newspaper J.
9
0
0
9
-180
0
IMG SNAPS: Biology
BIOLOGY: Dismembered
How have you done
vigorous training regime, we
this season?
are now a well-oiled machine!
After a slow start, we lost weight, muscled up and, thanks
Player of the year?
to our personal trainer and
There is no ‘I’ in TEAM!
Best team that
Your funniest so-
Most attractive
you’ve played?
cial moment?
boys’ team?
Law A. We hadn’t quite found
The girls beating Zoology rugby
Law rugby, Opsoccer...actually,
our feet then...or the goal post.
in the ‘yard of ale’ competition.
all of them. We love boys!
Fresher of the year?
Favourite team chant?
Best team social?
We were all netball virgins
“I said brrrr, it’s cold in
IMG edition of Rubber Duck.
until the start of the year, so I
here. There must be some
We won the golden prize and
couldn’t possibly choose one!
Bio in the atmosphere!”
dominated the wii tennis!
Best team social?
Most likely to end
If you were a piece of
IMG edition of Rubber Duck.
up in prison?
fruit, what would you be?
We won the golden prize and
Laura Morris for improperly
A star fruit because we are
dominated the wii tennis!
using a church as a hotel.
all ‘star players’ (thanks to a shirt typo by Y&C sports!)
PUT YOUR TEAM IN THE SPOTLIGHT... E-mail us at sport@gairrhydd.com
38 gairrhydd
MARCH.17.2008
SPORT
SPORT@gairrhydd.COM
PHOTO: JAKE YORATH
FOOTBALL: Magnificent seven
Cardiff 7 - 0 Newport
Newport shipped out Richard Jeffries Football Reporter AFTER LOSING out on penalties to Chichester in the BUSA Cup, Cardiff had a point to prove against the side they beat in last year’s Welsh Cup final. They did so with consummate ease; sweeping aside a Newport outfit who never looked threatening. Cardiff lined up in their usual 4-5-1 formation with two changes from the team that travelled to Chichester. Jack Jarvis returned to anchor the midfield while Andrew Corcoran slotted in at left back in place of the injured James Clifford. The game started with Cardiff enjoying some early possession in defence, but lacking in penetration, with the wind threatening to become a telling factor. Cardiff worked hard to keep the ball on the floor, and battled hard at the back. The conditions frustrated both teams, as Newport wasted several set pieces, the ball being carried to safety by the wind. As Cardiff began to assert themselves, clever interplay between Andre Stairmand and Dom Connor created a chance which the Newport keeper was equal
to. Soon after, the Cardiff keeper was also called into action to push a shot over the bar after Newport had won possession on the edge of the box. Cardiff made the breakthrough midway through the first half when a rare long clearance from the back defied the wind and was seized upon by frontman Kwame Asare. His powerful run down the right resulted in a perfect ball across the face of goal, where winger Dom Connor was on hand to deftly flick the ball past the stranded keeper. Cardiff’s intricate midfield play was too quick for their opponents and Connor doubled Cardiff’s lead with a rising angled drive just five minutes later. As Newport pressed for a way back into the game, Cardiff were able to create chances on the break. Several times Cardiff were able to get in behind the Newport back line. After good work from James Cinicola, captain Stairmand was sent clear. His early shot stung the palms of the Newport keeper, and Sean Hogan was on hand to stroke the ball into the unguarded net. The second half saw an equally convincing performance as Cardiff looked a constant threat. The 4th goal didn’t take long to arrive, with Lloyd Jenkins finding Asare, whose layoff to
Stairmand allowed the captain to slip the ball under the body of the onrushing keeper. Cardiff continued to work the ball well in midfield and with Newport unable to cope with their movement, the away side could not stop the rot. First Sean Hogan and then hat-trick hero Dom Connor were presented with simple chances to add to the Cardiff tally. Cardiff were cruising at 6-0 and understandably took their foot off the gas. Newport never looked like threatening the goal, and Cardiff were even afforded the luxury of missing yet another penalty. As the game entered its final stages, Newport pushed for a consolation goal, but were denied by some fine defending by substitute Ross Howells. The best effort was saved until last though, as Corcoran fed an unmarked James Cinicola in midfield. Cinicola ignored the run of Shaun Prince, choosing instead to bend an outrageous shot into the top corner from 25 yards. Complacency must be avoided, however, as tougher opponents stand in the way of the cup.
Firing Squad Rifle Club Reporter
CARDIFF UNIVERISTY Rifle Club recently attend the first ever BUSA Indoor Small-Bore Rifle Championship in Wigan. Cardiff was one of only six UK teams to qualify for the championships through the UK postal league. The competition to get through to this shoulder-to-shoulder final had already seen Cardiff defeat teams from Aberdeen, Glasgow and London Universities and the long hours of training paid off for Cardiff’s shooters. Based upon a knockout competition in a series of rounds, The Cardiff ‘A’ team, consisting of the Captain Eric Carter, Winston Lewis, Nadia Cracknell, Luke Stevens, Alex Mylles and James Lothian, stormed through the first round against the Newscastle ‘A’ Team. The Edinburgh ‘A’ and St Andrew’s ‘A’ teams also took a beating, leaving the Cardiff shooters in the final against both Southampton ‘A’ and Cambridge ‘A’. It was a tense final. Only three shooters could complete their targets at a time, so the team had to wait anxiously for their fellow members’ results. However, the pressure had not taken its toll on the team; the scores returned as 1149 points out of a possible 1200. Despite a brilliant performance though, Cardiff narrowly missed out on second place to Southampton, taking the Bronze medal, but were still delighted with their best BUSA performance in several years Cardiff’s success continued into the Individual competition. The final was by invitation only for the top-20 UK University shooters. Cardiff representatives Carter and Lewis had put in some remarkable scores throughout the year to earn their place in the final.
Carter dropped just six points out of 400, a truly remarkable score which took him to the top of the league and won him the BUSA Gold. Lewis also scored highly in the individual competition, coming 7th with a score of 389 out of 400 points. The friendly ‘International’ competition shoot against English and Scottish universities followed the team and individual events. Each country put forward its best three shooters. Carter, Lewis and Cracknell stepped up for Wales and in the final rounds were narrowly beaten by Scotland, but victory over the English team more than made up for the disappointment. The success of the BUSA event was followed by brilliant individual achievements at the South Wales Counties Championships. In spite of being up against shooters of the highest calibre, many having shot for Wales or the GB Team, Cardiff University Rifle Club members again performed extremely well. Lewis won the Junior County Championship shield and the ‘Class B’ shooting category for shooters who average a score of 95/100 points or above. His score of 392/400 saw him awarded the National Small-bore Rifle Association County Silver Medal for the most impressive performance of the competition. Alongside Winston’s success, Cracknell took the title of South Wales Ladies Champion, a stunning achievement in only her second year of competitive shooting. She also narrowly lost out on the Silver medal in the Junior County Championship taking Bronze instead. Rhys Bowley, a new member of the club also shot to success, winning the Rapid Fire ‘Good Luck’ competition. Lewis, Cracknell and Rob Beer, another new club member this year, took Bronze medal position in the team event, while Bowley and Lewis also took the Bronze in the pairs event to cap off a great weekend for the Club.
SHOOTING: The gun does it for you
Trampoliners enjoy record success at BUSA Finals
Lauren Grew Trampolining Reporter
CARDIFF TRAMPOLINING made the rather long and eventful journey to the prestigious City of Manchester last weekend for the 2008 BUSA Trampolining finals. After securing 11 qualifying spots at the Southern regional trials in February, the squad has been training hard in preparation for the formidable challenges they were sure to face from the other universities present. But Cardiff were confident in their select squad, all of whom had delivered outstanding performances to get to this stage of the competition.
BUSA finals operate slightly differently to other competitions: each category consists of 25 competitors (the top-ten from the Southern and Midland heats and the top-five from the Northern qualifiers). Competitors must compete two routines; a set and a voluntary. Total marks for these routines are calculated and then the top-eight go on to complete another routine. The final score from these three routines is then used to award the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Novice ladies were the first to take to the beds. After an impressive all round performance, Jess Phipps and Eva Murray succeeded in making it into the last TRAMPOLINING: kids it into the -ray succeeded inFormaking
eight. At this stage there was little separating the top five, making the final routine all the more important. To their credit, both remained cool under pressure, with Phipps taking a well deserved 4th place and Murray achieving Cardiff’s first (Bronze) medal of the day after an admirable performance. James Bell later added to this success after two faultless routines in the novice. The afternoon saw Craiger Solomons also secure his place in the final eight of the intermediate men’s category, despite a mistake by the judges concerning the level of difficulty of his voluntary routine. Three outstanding performances resulted in Craiger being awarded 1st place and the title of
British Universities Intermediate Male Champion 2008. The standard of competitors this year, like always, was extremely high and Cardiff Trampolining Club were immensely pleased with the performances of all its entrants, many of whom had moved up a level due to successes at BUSA in 2007. Qualifying is a huge achievement, with a top eight placing at the finals, being the icing on the cake. Captain Liz Hills commented: “Everyone really stepped it up a gear this year, with massive improvements shown by all. We are delighted with the clubs’ performance and hope to add to these successes in the remaining competitions this year”.
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MARCH.17.2008
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Thank cue very much Rupert Taylor Snooker Reporter
Tides of March Nick Wright CURC President
THE WEEKEND of the 1st of March was an incredibly busy and successful one for Cardiff University rowers. Racing in eights on the Thames in the 68th Women’s Head of the River were three CURC women’s crews. The first eight finished 50th out of 234 crews: the highest position a Welsh crew has ever come at the event. The novice eight rowed with great enthusiasm and determination and settled for a very commendable second place in their division. They finished behind a Birmingham crew that they had beaten the week before, leaving a slightly bitter taste in the mouth. In the same division the Cardiff/Swansea University composite crew tackled the Thames and finished in the top half. Women’s Captain Alex Shepherd spoke of how influential the work of coach Rodrigo Sanchez has been and how proud she was of her squad: “We have come to so far already this year, I really can’t wait for the summer regatta season to kick in.” On the same day back in Cardiff the men raced on home water at Head of the Taff. CURC dominated the days racing in the windy conditions. The senior eight was crowned the fastest boat of the day completing the 3.5km course in Matt Curry Squash Reporter CARDIFF Men’s 1sts .................. 5 SWANSEA Men’s 1sts ................ 0 AFTER BEING knocked out of the BUSA trophy in the previous week, Cardiff went into their Welsh Cup semi-final game against Swansea fully intending to claim some silverware this season. The cup operates on a mixed basis with matches comprised of Men’s singles, Ladies singles, Men’s doubles, Ladies doubles and Mixed doubles. Simon Goddard was first on court for Cardiff in the Men’s singles and played some ruthless squash to comfortably win 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 without even breaking a sweat. Eleri Williams was then next to play in the Ladies singles.
a time of 11 minutes 20 seconds. Similar success was enjoyed throughout the whole squad as the novice eight, the senior 3 coxed four and the senior 2 Cardiff University/Cardiff City quad all won their divisions. With the addition of a new Men’s Head Coach, Jonathon Cheesman, the men are looking to build on their winter performances and put Cardiff on the map at BUSA Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta later this year. The next challenge on the horizon for the men’s squad is the Men’s Head of the River in London on the March 15. But the weekends’ racing did not stop there as the Welsh National Squad, containing many Cardiff students, travelled to Gloucester Head on the Sunday. Andy Haines won Senior 1 singles and Senior 2 singles and was also the fastest overall sculler at the event. Laurence Birdsey broke two course records, winning both senior 3 singles and senior 3 pairs with his partner. Bethan Smith, along with her pairs partner, won women’s senior 4 pairs and they were also fastest women’s pair. Finally, Emma Kinsella won both women’s senior 4 singles and women’s novice singles. All Cardiff’s rowers are currently training hard down at Cardiff Bay Water Activity Centre, with the hope of going on to represent Wales later this year.
After getting off to a slow start and losing the first game, Williams began to move her opponent around the court more efficiently and gained confidence throughout the match, eventually turning around the first game result to win 3-1. The Men’s doubles pair saw Matt Curry being partnered with Roosh Shah. The pair, with plenty of doubles experience between them, started aggressively and comfortably won the first game. The second game began with Cardiff winning a succession of rallies to race ahead to an early lead. Although Swansea managed to put up a little more resistance, Cardiff won the second game without difficulty. Cardiff continued to dominate all areas of the court in the third game and rounded off a convincing 3-0 win in the Men’s Doubles. The Ladies doubles saw the com-
Imperial 2nds, but a heavy defeat to Warwick 3rds and an unlucky 6-4 loss to Leeds meant that Cardiff had to play Ulster again for a place in the semi-finals. Despite victories for team captain Andrew Kusiak and Dave Xuereb plus strong performances from BUSA debutants Dominic Osborne and Michael Evans, Cardiff drew 5-5. A play-off frame between Osborne and Ulster’s star player sadly saw Cardiff crash out of the competition. In the individual events Shaun Hill again impressed, reaching the quarterfinals of the top tier Championship event, making breaks of 55 and 45 on the way. Taylor and Merola also got past the first round. In the second tier Individual Trophy debutant Dominic Osborne picked up a bronze medal for a brilliant run to the semi-finals where he lost to eventual winner David Spencer of Warwick 2nds. Huw Davies, Chris Griffiths and Jon Hillard also made the last 16, Huw beating Cardiff 2nds captain Ben Davies en route. Griffiths beat teammate Hillard to progress to the quarter-finals, losing to Osborne. Some of the Cardiff players will now be looking forward to representing the Welsh Universities in the BUSA Home Nations Championships in Belfast in early April. The rest will be preparing for the club’s end of year Masters Tournament in May.
Here come the 10s
2008 Tens Squad Backs: Gethin Thomas
Forwards: Aled Mason (C)
Jack Beaman
Mike Winter
Harri Morgan
Andrew Cassidy
Oliver Jenkins
Tom Penry-Ellis
Codey Rees
Iwan Thomas
Ben Turner
Ian Newbury
Micheal Lloyd-Jones
Ed Moberly
Alec Cue
bination of Jo Watkins and Andrea Philpot. After a close start to the first game, Cardiff raced ahead after playing some tight squash, giving the Swansea pair little opportunity to play any winners. Cardiff continued this form into the second game, although Swansea did pull some points back towards the end of the game. The third game was a much closer affair. However, Cardiff had the greater competitive edge and managed to another 3 - 0 seal victory. Joe Broad and Andrea Philpot played in the mixed doubles. The pace and power of Broad and delicate skills of Philpot provided an ideal combination and at no point in the match did the Swansea pair even look like threatening Cardiff. The home side cruised to a convincing 5-0 win overall, keeping the hope of winning the Welsh Cup alive.
Martyn Fowler announced his squad for the prestigious GFI Hong Kong Tens tournament earlier this week. The 2008 event will take place on Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th of March, just before the Hong Kong Sevens weekend kicks off. Cardiff are in pool B along with Borneo Eagles, Penguin International RFC and the Multiplex Marauders. Cardiff have a strong history in the tournament, having reached the plate final for the last two years, but will be hoping to go one further this time around. Cardiff are the only University side to compete in this year’s tournament and include the Cardiff University’s Athletic Union President Ben Turner among their ranks to travel to the Far East.
Mix and mash PHOTO: ED SALTER
ROWING: Record breakers
CARDIFF 1STS claimed an unexpected bronze medal at the BUSA Snooker Championships at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds last weekend. Cardiff went into the tournament with low expectations having lost some of their best players due to graduation and course commitments. Cardiff 1sts got off to a slow start in the Team Championship with a 5-5 draw against a beatable Glasgow 1sts. Things got better with a 6-4 win over favourites and defending champions Queens Belfast 1sts. Ben Chung’s 2-0 win gave Cardiff a 5-4 lead going the final frame. Rupert Taylor sealed the winning frame by potting a difficult pink having previously hit a break of 33. Cardiff then went on to beat York 1sts 6-4 to be, somewhat surprisingly, No. 1 seed going into round 2. The second group phase saw Cardiff 1sts matched with Nottingham 1sts and Bristol 1sts, the latter comprehensively beaten 7-3, including 2-0 wins for fresher Dave Blake, Chung and Taylor. Cardiff then defeated Nottingham 6-4 in a match Nottingham captain Adam Shaw made the tournament’s highest break of 102 against Cardiff captain Joe Merola.
In the semi-finals Cardiff faced with a rematch against Queens 1sts only to lose 6-3, resulting in a 3rd place playoff against Nottingham. Cardiff found themselves 4-2 down before Blake won a crucial black ball frame to win 2-0 and level the score at 4-4. This left Shaun Hill needing a 2-0 victory for Cardiff to win outright. Nottingham had the advantage of the impressive Shaw to play a decider should the match end 5-5. Thankfully, Hill meant business and dominated both frames for a 6-4 victory, awarding Cardiff 1sts the bronze medal. Queens Belfast 1sts beat Warwick 1 3-1 in the final to successfully defend their title. In the second tier events, Cardiff 2nds suffered a disappointing first round exit of the Team Trophy thanks to some bad luck and a very tough draw. They lost 7-3 to York 2nds and Southampton 1sts, and 9-1 to Imperial 1sts with Jon Hillard starring and respectable debuts for Matt Cheng and Richard Jones. Cardiff 3rds started their Team Shield run with an 8-2 thumping over Bath 2nds followed by a superb 6-4 win over early favourites Ulster. Huw Davies shone with a 2-0 win over the Ulster captain, though every player played his part. The two wins saw Cardiff 3rds top their group and progress into the second group stage. The second group stage began well for Cardiff 3rds with an 8-2 win over
SQUASH: Racketeers