gair rhydd - Issue 895

gair rhydd

FREE

CARDIFF'S STUDENT WEEKLY

freeword - EST. 1972

ISSUE 895 MAY 04 2009

SUMMER BALL: THE LATEST ON THE LINE-UP

News, page 3

NO FAITH IN HUMANITIES

Sarah Powell News Editor

PHOTO: NATALIA POPOVA

University plans to slash lifelong learning courses Proposals would end lifelong learning provision for Humanities & Welsh students 140 jobs under threat FULL STORY - PAGES 4 & 5

Students discover squatter in their shed

A group of sunbathing first-year students were shocked to discover a homeless lodger living in the garden shed of their student house.

The students were making the most of the hot weather on Tuesday 21 April when they discovered items belonging to a mystery guest after they looked in their garden shed.

One of the students told gair rhydd: “We had decided to go and revise on the roof of the shed when we came across a hole up there. When we looked inside we saw a mattress on the floor, as well as biscuits, bottled water and clothes.”

The house on Ruthin Gardens is part of Cardiff University’s Senghenydd residences and the students quickly reported the discovery to staff at Senghenydd reception.

After explaining the events, the students were told that security guards would be sent to investigate.

They were disappointed with the lack of support and advice from University staff, saying: “It was obvious that they didn’t believe us when we told them about the lodger and they were really unhelpful about it!”

When University security guards and maintenance staff visited the house they secured the shed to prevent further intrusions by sealing the door from the alleyway behind the house where it is believed that the lodger entered. continued on page 3

02 NEWS

gr

MAY.04.2009 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Lacrosse record-breakers

NEWS.................1

Emma Barlow News Editor

EDITORIAL & OPINION.............9 COLUMNIST......16

PHOTO: Sarah Maber

POLITICS..........19 LETTERS...........19 FEATURES........22 TAF-OD..............27 JOBS & MONEY.............29 XPRESS............30 FIVE MINUTE FUN..................31 LISTINGS..........32 SPORT..............34 gair rhydd has been Cardiff University's independent student newspaper since 1972.

Crime in Cardiff at all-time low

Sarah Powell News Editor Cardiff University’s Lacrosse Team have broken the record for longest lacrosse match, playing for a total of 21 hours.

The male and female Lacrosse Club teams played separately against a team of Lacrosse Alumni, with both men and women breaking the record.

The male team played for 12 hours

5 minutes, with a score of 77 to 45 in favour of Lacrosse Alumni, and the female team played for 9 hours 15 minutes, scoring 132 points against the Alumni team's 22.

Metro Lacrosse, an American team, held the previous record after playing for 8 hours 16 minutes.

Both teams raised money through sponsorship for the BUCS charity ‘Right to Play’, and the amount currently stands at £1500. Money is still being collected and the club is set to

hold a raffle in the coming weeks.

Jeremy Harris, President of the Lacrosse Club, told gair rhydd that the whole team were feeling immensely pleased with the result but that everyone was incredibly tired. He said: “We were so relieved when the whistle blew! It was such a good experience and we’re all so pleased.”

The women’s team also had double cause for celebration after their success against Swansea at Varsity last week.

New police figures have shown that crime in South Wales has halved over the last 18 years and is continuing to fall.

The new data released on April 21 2009 shows an overall reduction in crime of 7.6%, meaning there were 2,427 fewer victims of crime in South Wales during October and December 2008 than in the same period the previous year.

Deputy Chief Constable Peter Vaughan said: “Today’s figures are further evidence that we are keeping our communities safe and that South Wales is a safe place to live."

Particularly pleasing is the 20% decrease in the number of house burglaries, which Vaughan calls “the most distressing crime for our communities”. This means that there were 322 fewer houses burgled compared to the same period last year.

“We have also seen a 21% increase in the number of offenders caught and charged or cautioned. Further figures for the year ending March 2009 show a reduction of 14.5%,” Constable Vaughan said.

Cardiff students abduct themselves Eleanor Joslin News Editor Students from Cardiff and Wales abducted themselves outside Car-

diff University’s Main Building on 25 April to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Uganda and the many children who have been abducted.

Approximately 100 students

marched from the Millennium Stadium to the Main Building where they waited until someone ‘rescued’ them.

Cosimo Montagu. a second-year Cardiff University Philosophy and History student and President of Cardiff Model United Nations Society, helped to organise the event with Invisible Children.

Cosimo said: “Through our activism we have helped. We have not saved lives and have not even made a huge immediate impact. However we have accomplished what we set out to do, and that is inform others of the problems face by children and families in Northern Uganda.”

Invisible Children was created after the release of the 2004 film “Invisible Children: Rough Cut” which reveals the plight of child soldiers in northern Uganda.

The mass abduction symbolised

these children who are then forced to fight in the Lord Resistance Army (LRA).

The LRA’s elusive rebel leader Jospeh Kony has been terrorising these areas for years, and the UN has estimated that 20,000 children have been abducted by the LRA, who often force them to kill their parents and siblings too.

Describing the rescue outside the Main Building, Cosimo said: “At just after 6pm Jenny Randerson, the Liberal Democrat Welsh Assembly Member, turned up at the event and gave a fantastic speech to a crowd of roughly 100 about the situation in Northern Uganda and the importance of the student activism on display at the event."

Invisible Children will be showing a documentary on the Ugandan situation and the plight of the child soldiers in Bute Building on Tuesday 5 May.

Away on a placement? Heading abroad? In bed with a hangover?

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

NEWS 03

MAY.04.2009 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Merrymaking at our place Calvin Harris and Beardyman join best ever Summer Ball line-up Emma Barlow News Editor Calvin Harris and Beardyman are the latest additions to Cardiff University's Summer Ball 2009 stellar line-up.

Harris has had multiple hits including Acceptable In The 80's and

the collaboration with Dizzee Rascal Dance Wiv Me which enjoyed massive success last summer.

Most recently the DJ and producer has topped the charts with I’m Not Alone which was number one in the UK for two weeks.

Former UK Beatbox champion Beardyman has also been signed up to thrill the crowds at Cooper's

Student volunteers help cut crime by 40%

Field.

Disappointment for N-Dubz fans though as the band has had to pull out of the event.

With Calvin Harris and Beardyman joining Feeder and Jaguar Skills the diverse line-up is one of the most high profile in recent years.

Tickets are still available from the Students’ Union box office for £39.

Calvin Harris: he's got love for Cardiff

Shed & breakfast

Waiting for Natalia's photos

Sarah Kilby Reporter The South Wales Police Student Initiative was out in force last week to raise awareness of crime against students and help to prevent further incidents.

Every month, the group of student volunteers canvass the Cathays area in search of unlocked doors to highlight the relative ease that burglars have in attaining access to student houses.

Students are a target market for burglars with the average student room said to contain £3,000 worth of possible goods. The Student Initiative aims to show how small precautions can help prevent students losing their belongings.

The initiative involves testing doors to check for those that are unlocked.

Nia Prince, a third-year Law student and Special Constable, said that

since the volunteers really pushed people to lock their doors and be aware of their community, crime has dropped by 40% in the Cathays area since January.

Simply checking if they can get in to your house, and handing out posters to remind you to lock your door can make a big difference.

Regular PACT (Police and Communities Together) meetings are helping to reduce crime and bring students and other residences together.

On average 1 in 20 students in Cardiff will be a victim of crime during their period of study, versus the national of average 1 in 3l.

For more information or to get involved with the South Wales Police Student Initiative email: studentinitiative@hotmail.co.uk or join the Facebook group.

Free door alarms can be collected from the Cardiff University Security Office at Park Place.

continued from front page The residents told gair rhydd that they still do not think that enough has been done by University staff: “They just walked into the house without saying anything

and left without explaining what they had done. We haven’t been kept informed at all.”

This is not the first unfortunate incident these students have had to contend with as they have recently suffered a series of bad luck.

Their belongings were stolen on pancake day and they have also reported a bicycle theft, but they said: “This is the weirdest thing that has happened - you never expect to find someone living in your shed!”

04 NEWS

MAY.04.2009 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Humanities and Welsh course Jamie Thunder Reporter A campaign has been launched by staff and students to save the humanities at Cardiff University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning after proposals threatened over 2,000 Cardiff University students’ studies and up to 140 jobs.

Staff were informed two weeks ago of plans to cut the courses available across the Centre as a result of a pay restructuring. The cuts would reduce courses on offer to just three areas: social science (including business), computing, and modern languages.

This would mean that the Centre’s literature, creative writing, history and archaeology, music, philosophy, art history, religion, photography, and Welsh courses would no longer run as of September 2009.

However, senior staff members have been left incensed at the lack of consultation on the plans, and called on University Council to delay the proposals until they have had a chance to study them.

UCU has also accused the University of being in breach of employment law.

“Any consultation that went on before the proposal was put forward is not clear to me,” said Dr. Ian Spring,

co-ordinating lecturer for media, literature, and creative writing.

“The matter wasn’t raised at the Operational Committee, or through the Board of Studies, or through individual consultations with the co-ordinating lecturers, or with our student or part-time tutor representatives.

“We would like to pride ourselves on our democratic functions, but none of these functions were employed.”

If the plans, which are based on economic projections of the impact of new pay and grading arrangements for the coming years, were implemented, over 250 courses would be cut across South East Wales, and up to 140 jobs would be lost.

It is estimated that more than 2,000 students would be directly affected by the loss of courses.

In addition, over 50 free-standing modules scheduled for the Autumn and Spring semesters, which can be taken as part of undergraduate courses, would be cancelled. Over 20 postgraduate students would also be deprived of opportunities to teach.

The undergraduate students affected would include medicine students, who would be unable to take Welsh as their Student Selected Component (SSC) in their second year of study.

Members of staff have also expressed dismay at the University’s reluctance to release the projections. Dr. David Wyatt, co-ordinating lecturer for history and archaeology, said: “No

reason has been given for the delay in issuing the figures. Without access to these it will be impossible for us to produce an alternative plan so save humanities provision, so it is essential that the University is held to account over this issue.”

The projections of the impact were due to be released shortly after gair rhydd went to press on Friday.

The University began its 90-day consultation period, as required by law, on April 20th, and this period will expire on July 18th. However, despite the University’s statement that “no decision has been made” on the proposals, gair rhydd has learnt that an initial vote on the proposals is to be taken at the next meeting of the University Council on May 18th, with any redundancies likely to be considered on July 6th, although no confirmation would be issued until after July 20th.

Jenny Randerson AM requested a meeting with Vice-Chancellor David Grant to discuss the issue, but was offered May 21st, after the initial vote.

Cardiff University and College Union (UCU) president Mark Aston suggested that voting before the 90day consultation period has ended could be unlawful, as well as in breach of an agreement between UCU and the University.

“Two years ago the University made a commitment to give six months’ notice before redundancy, but they are in breach of that here.”

The Lifelong Learning Centre: in brief What is lifelong learning?

Lifelong Learning offers people of all ages the chance to take Higher Education courses, irrespective of their previous qualifications. Lifelong Learning Centres also engage in community development and engagement, widening access to education to the local community.

Cardiff Centre for Lifelong Learning also runs a mature student induction scheme to help mature students adjust to university. It currently runs around 700 courses in almost 100 venues across South Wales, and qualifications it awards are Cardiff University qualifications that are recognised nationally.

Since 2005, the Campaigning Alliance for Lifelong Learning estimates that two million learners’ places have been lost from further and adult education in England. This is in part due to the fact that learners who already have qualifications do not receive subsidisation if they are taking an equivalent or lower qualification (ELQ). In the past three months, Lifelong Learning Centres in Manchester, Reading, and Bristol have closed after reduced demand as a result of the increased fees.

Subsidisation is still available in Wales for ELQ students. Wales has a strong tradition of Lifelong Learn-

ing: provisions were made in the University’s Royal Charter in 1883, and the Minister for Education in the Welsh Assembly Government’s official position in the Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning, and skills.

Why is the pay restructuring taking place?

The proposed restructuring is designed to assimilate the pay of hourly-paid staff onto the national pay spine, which would provide them with equal sickness, holiday, and pension benefits to full-time staff.

By law, the University should already do this. However, UCU has not previously taken legal action against the University as it believed the University was acting in good faith by incorporating hourly-paid staff onto the national pay spine.

Mark Aston of UCU confirmed to gair rhydd that UCU is now seeking legal advice on the matter.

“What we believe is exceptionally cynical is that to achieve legal compliance the University is going to dismiss a number of staff before they get these benefits.

“In effect, this means that the University is publicly admitting that the only way it could carry on

Lifelong Learning is if it was to act unlawfully, and that its unlawful acts over the last number of years is the only way it has been able to operate.

That’s a hell of an admission for the second-largest employer in Wales.”

What can I do?

• Sign the petition at www.ipetition.com/petition/savelifelonglearning • Display the poster on pages 2021 of this week’s gair rhydd in your window • Join the Facebook group ‘Save Humanities at Cardiff University Lifelong Learning’ • Visit the campaign blog at savehumanitiescardifflifelonglearning. blogspot.com • Email the Students’ Union President Andy Button-Stephens at buttonsa@cf.ac.uk to ask him to vote against the proposals on May 18th, so staff have more time to consider them.

• Email the Education and Welfare Officer Nick Yates at yatesn@ cf.ac.uk to ask him to vote down the proposals on May 18th, so staff have more time to consider them.

• Come to the meeting on Tuesday at 7pm in the Centre for Lifelong Learning (the room will be signposted). Jenny Randerson AM will be in attendance to show her support.

NEWS 05

MAY.04.2009 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

es threatened by proposals A University spokesperson disputed this, claiming that the UCU and the University had agreed that in some circumstances the six months’ notice would not be possible, but UCU does not believe these circumstances warrant the short notice.

UCU has repeatedly asked the University for discussions on how it would fund increasing costs to the Centre.

It has asked the University to conduct a survey to find out whether students would be prepared to pay higher fees, but the University refused.

It then asked whether an incremental rise in fees could be looked at, but the University has not responded.

Finally, UCU’s request for the University to consider discussions with other institutions in Cardiff such as UWIC and Coleg Glan Hafren about taking on the Centre’s courses was dismissed on the basis that the University did not believe that other institutions would be interested in the courses.

Both UWIC and Coleg Glan Hafren confirmed to gair rhydd that no approach had been made by Cardiff University.

The timing of the announcement, at a time when many students are on study leave and are unable to protest, has also been criticised.

Mark Aston believes that the University has previously delayed releasing controversial documents and proposals until this time of year, claiming

that in recent years this has been done in relation to redundancies in the School of Dentistry and a dispute over the National Framework Agreement. gair rhydd understands that a similar tactic has been used in this case, and that those who were privy to the decision have known the proposals for at least two months.

They were presented with a number of models for restructuring, but neither the eventual nor the rejected models have yet been released.

Nick Yates, Cardiff Students' Union Education and Welfare Officer, said: "The Lifelong Learning Centre brings together the local community, University staff, and students, in an environment where knowledge is king. As a member of Cardiff University I am proud to be part of an institution that is committed to community learning by its founding charter.

"This commitment embodies everything that education should be about: fulfilment that benefits both individual learners and the communities in which they live. In this tough economic climate we must act to survive in the present, but we must do all that we can to ensure action today doesn’t threaten our values or our future."

Gareth Jones AM also spoke out against the plans, criticising the timing and questioning the decision to cut Welsh provision.

"I would suggest that this is a considerable blow to the WAG’s com-

mitment to promoting bilingualism," he said, adding: "Lifelong Learning is crucial to the current agenda of raising skill levels."

The controversial plans come less than 18 months after Cardiff University gave evidence to the National Assembly for Wales’s Enterprise and Learning Committee, in which it endorsed the view that “a happier, healthier population, strongly supported culturally, and with high concentration of well educated people, offers improved conditions for economic performance.”

The evidence also states that the University’s ‘Innovation and Engagement Strategy’ “[ensures] that the research and learning & teaching excellence of the University extends beyond the campus and makes a valuable economic, social and cultural contribution to Wales and beyond.”

Under Article 8.4 of the University’s Strategic Plan 2006-2007 to 2010-2011, the University is committed to “widening access to higher education thereby enriching cultural life and benefiting society.”

And in a book on the history of lifelong learning in Cardiff published by the Centre last year, the Dean of Lifelong Learning, Richard Evans, asked: “Can we continue to combine the pursuit of knowledge with its application for the benefit of society, as those who framed the original charter intended?

Yes, we can."

What does the law say?

Trade Unions and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 The Act requires employers to begin collective consultation at a formative stage. As the initial vote will be taken within a month of the proposals being announced and the consultation beginning, UCU believes that the proposals are in fact past the formative stage, and that the University is acting unlawfully.

Employment Rights Act 1996 Under this Act, there are clearly defined dismissal mechanisms. The usual five under which employers are permitted to dismiss staff: ill health, a change in legislation, poor performance, redundancy (usually if the work no longer exists), or some other substantial reason.

The University has so far not confirmed to UCU which of these reasons the proposed redundancies would be made under.

Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 These Regulations require employers to treat part-time workers as equal to full-time workers, including giving them access to equal sickness, holiday, and pension benefits.

UCU believes that the University

has acted unlawfully by not previously allowing part-time workers at the Centre for Lifelong Learning access to these benefits. It also believes that the proposals announced on April 20th are intended to allow the University to dismiss staff while they are seeking to enforce these statutory rights.

A spokesperson for the University told gair rhydd that “the Centre for Lifelong Learning has in fact made substantial provision since 2006 for back pay to hourly-paid teaching staff.” UCU confirmed that since 2006 the hourly-paid teaching staff had been awarded pay increases of the same percentage as the full-time staff, but argued that the original pay on which this percentage increase was based may not have been equivalent.

Who will be affected?

A press release issued by staff concerned at the proposals suggests that over 2,000 students could be directly affected, with many more missing out on freestanding modules that can form part of an undergraduate degree.

In addition, around 25 postgraduate students who currently teach at the Centre would miss out on valuable opportunities to teach in their specific research areas.

Three lifelong learning students talk to gair rhydd

Sim Eckstein, 23 Module studied: Myth, Language, and Ideology in J. R. R. Tolkein's Fiction "I took this course out of curiosity more than anything, but it proved to be one of the most important courses of my undergraduate degree. It was well run, superbly taught, and thoroughly enjoyable, and influenced my undergraduate dissertation and my PhD which will start in October.

"The Centre for Lifelong Learning is the only place that offers undergraduate students the opportunity to study literature that is truly non-canonical. The axing of its humanities courses would be a crying shame and a real loss to the student body."

Eileen Younghusband, 87 Module studied: Over ten courses with the Centre

Andrea Walton, 46 Module studied: Around 100 courses in archaeology and history

"As a result of my diploma from the Centre I was able to take the final year of my degree with the OU. To rob people when they almost have their diploma is diabolical.

"The tutors were superb and the courses I took have made a great difference to my life.

"The Centre helps older people to meet people and to keep their minds going to prevent dementia and depression.

"Losing humanities provision would be a terrible loss."

"I lecture in history to schools and adults, and without the knowledge I gained from the Centre they would miss out.

The courses also help with my medieval re-enactments and my work at Cosmeston Medieval Village.

"I’ve told a lot of people about the Centre who are now joining up, only to be told now that it may not go ahead next year.

"I’m only 30 credits away from my diploma, but I won’t be able to complete this if the humanities close down."

06 NEWS News in brief: New enterprise for Vulcan pub Sarah Powell News Editor The Save the Vulcan Campaign group have organised a Star Trek themed night to celebrate the release of the latest Star Trek film.

The fancy-dress fundraiser will be held on May 8th at the Vulcan Hotel and starts at 8pm.

The best fancy dress outfit will win a life-sized cardboard cutout of Spock, and Spock ears will be on sale throughout the evening.

Save the Vulcan Campaign group has fought to save the 19th Century pub since September 2008 and has submitted a 5,000 signature petition to the Welsh Assembly’s Petition Committee.

Local campaigner Willy Downie said: “I am really excited about this event. It’s an opportunity to have lots of fun by dressing up, but also to learn more about the campaign to save the pub.”

Police station closures A public meeting has been organised to discuss the closures of several police stations in Cardiff.

Jenny Willott, Liberal Democrat MP, has organised the meeting, and will be joined by the Chief Superintendent of the South Wales Police and the leader of Cardiff Council.

The meeting comes after Ms. Willott uncovered figures showing that the South Wales Police is the most consistently underfunded police force in the UK. Since 2000, South Wales Police has received an increase in funding of just 15% compared to the 37% average increase for forces across the UK. As a result of this, central police stations in Roath, Cathays, Canton and Grangetown are set to close.

Jenny Willott MP said, “I am very disappointed at the news.

South Wales Police faces huge pressures, but closing Police stations isn’t the solution. I would urge residents of Cardiff to join me on Friday to discuss what can be done. This is their chance to hear from the police and ask questions.”

The public meeting will take place on Friday 1st May 2009 at Albany Primary School. Doors open 6.30pm and the meeting starts at 7pm.

MAY.04.2009 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

SIFE semi-final success

Students celebrate their success in SIFE National Competition Jonathon Evans Reporter Cardiff University’s SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) team reached the semi-finals at SIFE’s national competition held in Canary Wharf, London.

The team, who this year have completed a number of projects including the setting up of a highly successful fruit and vegetable co-operative in the Students' Union, beat other teams including Leeds University to collect a trophy.

SIFE is a global non-profit organisation originating in the US in 1975 and is currently active in over 47 countries and in over 1,500 Universities.

The students were pleased to achieve so much in the past several months, increasing from just 1 member in September 2008 to 7 at present.

Team co-coordinator Jon Channon said: “It was a wonderful experience to go to the Nationals and to get recognition for our efforts by getting through to the semi-finals. We are determined to build on our success for next year but for now the team are to be congratulated for their dedication and enthusiasm.”

As a non-profit organisation, any profits made from the projects go back in to current, or future, projects to help improve them.

The eventual winners were King's College, London, who had an enormous 300 members with over 30 projects between them based around SIFE principles such as financial literacy, business ethics, environmental sustainability, and market.

They beat the University of Nottingham who had won the national competition for the previous 4 years.

If you would like to get involved in

SIFE please contact Jon at channonj@ cardiff.ac.uk. More information can be found at http://www.sifec-consultants.co.uk and http://www.sifeuk.org.

A meeting open to all to attend will be held on 4th May at 5.30pm in the TV Lounge for those interested.

Carrot Crunch Students ask: Steve Wright Reporter Many students have taken to growing their own fruit and vegetables as a way of saving money in the current financial crisis.

At the University of Gloucestershire, environmental policy and management MSc student Sarah Taylor set up the University’s first Allotment Society last September, managing to secure a gardening plot suitable for fellow students to grow an enormous range of fruit and vegetables.

Sarah said: “Although I’ve never grown food before, I heard that the Students’ Union had got hold of an abandoned piece of land that used to be allotments and I thought it was a great opportunity to give it a go.

“Given the financial times that

we’re in, and climate change, I think it’s really important to have these kinds of skills.”

Medical student Charlotte Long, at St George’s College, London, has also been growing her own fruit and vegetables.

She described the benefits of growing your food supplies as opposed to buying them: ‘We made such a saving on our food bill that there wasn’t any question about going for it again this spring.

“For the price of a few packets of seeds and compost – probably £20 all told, and we were given some old tools – we cut our shopping bill by around £10-£15 a week on fresh veg.

If you’re looking at £60 a month, that’s quite a lot on a student budget, and nutritionally and taste-wise it was much better than anything we could have bought.”

'Is it worth it?'

Higher education is becoming too costly to cope with Becky Barlett Reporter

With the cost of higher education rising and student debt spiralling, many students are beginning to question whether university is worth it.

A recent government survey has found over half of all students believe that their academic performance was affected by increasing money worries and one in twelve full-time students have even considered dropping out because of it.

It is also affecting those entering higher education as a third of students are using the amount of financial support they could receive from various universities to decide on which university to go to or which course to take.

The survey, conducted by the Institute of Employment Studies and the National Centre for Student Income and Expenditure, found that stu-

dents had an average debt of £3,500 after their first year in 2008, compared with £2,400 three years earlier.

This is because students are becoming more dependent on their student loans, rather than their families, for support.

Many students are also turning to paid work to help them cope with increasing university costs, and for some students it represents 20 per cent of their total income.

However, the survey also revealed that half of part-time students and one third of full-time students believe that paid work had a detrimental affect on their education, with 75 per cent of the respondents saying they had less time to study.

David Lammy, the Minister for High Education, commented: ‘‘Finance should never be a barrier to good education. This is why we continue to make generous loans and grants available to students.’’

NEWS 07

MAY.04.2009 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

UNION WATCH

Emma Jones rounds up the week in student media

Student arrested for child porn

Jonathan Jenkins had nearly 300 indecent images on his computer

CAMBRIDGE VARSITY

Varsity covers the nudes CAMBRIDGE VARSITY A Cambridge University student has posed topless in a student newspaper mock-up of The Sun’s Page 3.

Rachel Pickles, aged 20, was photographed wearing a suspender belt with just a copy of Varsity – the student newspaper – covering her assets.

The University made a Sun spoof, called Tabloid Varsity, as an end-ofterm special.

But the parody drew criticism from insiders at Varsity.

Associate Editor Clementine Dowley wrote in a letter: “The inclusion of a ‘Page 3’ girl in Varsity’s tabloid insertion purports to be parodic. But this

‘ironic’ objectification of a woman is still sexual exploitation, and we don’t find it particularly funny.

“Women are noticeably under-represented in the current Varsity team and a display of chauvinism will only prompt fewer to apply.”

The editorial stated, however, that: “We are, in the best satirical tradition, attempting to parody a genre through mocking imitation.

“The lack of full frontal nudity makes it clear that our Page 3 is merely a light-hearted impression of the genre, rather than a serious recreation of it.”

Rachel, an English and Education student, said: “My parents knew I was doing it. They’ve been supportive.”

The student has been in trouble before for giving lapdances at a formal university event.

A Cambridge University student has been sentenced to a fourmonth prison sentence for possessing indecent images of children.

Jonathan Jenkins was arrested in October 2007 for downloading 293 images of child pornography. He has been found guilty on 15 counts of making indecent images of children and on one count of possession.

Jenkins, who was 21 at the time, was arrested in his student accommodation in 2007, where police found

images and videos of girls aged between nine and 15 on his computer.

One of these images, which Jenkins had downloaded from the filesharing service Limewire, was graded level five, the most offensive rating on the scale of offensive images.

One of his former housemates said: “The police rushed up the stairs and into his room. They came down carrying computers and all the other electrical equipment from his room.

“There was a rumour he was making pirate DVDs and the first we heard about the porn thing was in the news a few weeks ago.”

The girl added: “He was a bit weird. He’d walk around the house

only in his boxers.”

Jenkins admitted he knew he had child pornography on his hard drive, but claimed that he had not looked at the images for years. His defence stated that he had “grown out” of the interest.

The Judge on the case, Gareth Hawkesworth, has decided to suspend Jenkins’ sentence for two years so as not to disrupt his studies at the University of Bath, where he is now a student. He said that enforcing it now would be a “cruel and pointless exercise”.

Jenkins has also been ordered to sign the sex offender’s register and is banned from contacting children that are not blood relatives.

did not want to hypothesise around a figure for fees,” he said.

“A working group is currently discussing what our response to the government’s consultation on the fee cap might be. We do not consider such a sharp increase to be either desirable or a political reality.”

The vice-chancellor added that Oxford University “would be minded to increase the fee, only provided we can have cast iron, needs-blind admission assistance by way of loan schemes, bursaries, hardship funds and so forth.”

Increasing fees would also have a knock-on effect for the taxpayer, as

it would be a subsequent increase in loans and support for students.

A review on whether to increase the current £3,000 cap on tuition fees is due to begin this year.

Oxford University’s chancellor Chris Patten, attacked the £3,000 cap last year, arguing that middle-class parents should be prepared to pay higher fee levels.

A recent survey of vice-chancellors by the BBC showed that a large majority of them were also in favour of a substantial rise in fees. It suggested that some universities would seek an increase of up to £5,000 a year for an undergraduate course.

Oxford denies plans for £8,000 fee increase

OXFORD CHERWELL

Oxford University has denied claims that it is planning to push tuition fees up to £11,000 a year.

The rumour started after Oxford University’s vice-chancellor, John Hood, gave evidence to a select committee.

But the University have issued a statement saying that this “is not Oxford’s position”, and Dr Hood said he had not sought such an increase on fees.

“I explicitly told the committee I

08 WORLD NEWS Also in the news...

Nathan Allen Reporter

Party pooper

US senator Arlen Specter has switched parties from Republican to Democrat, causing shockwaves in Washington.

The almost 30-year-long conservative made the switch to President Obama’s party after claiming that his former one had “moved far to the right.”

The move has been welcomed by the majority Democrats who are now only one Senate seat away from being able to turn over any Republican blocks to incoming legislation.

Mr Obama is said to be “thrilled” that Mr Specter has moved towards the left.

MAY.04.2009 NEWS@gairrhydd.COM

Glow in the bark Eleanor Smith Reporter

A research team from Seoul National University have unveiled the world’s first cloned dogs which glow red under ultraviolet light due to them being implanted with modified genes.

The researchers planted red fluorescent genes into the four beagles hoping to prove that it is possible to implant genes with a specific trait which could be used to help treat humans with diseases such as Parkinson’s.

The scientists took skin cells from a beagle, inserted fluorescent genes into them and put them into eggs before implanting them into the womb of a surrogate mother. Six female beagles were born in December 2007 but two died shortly after.

The thin skin on the dogs’ nails and abdomens means that the red glows through even in broad daylight. They

are all named Ruppy, a combination of the words ‘ruby’ and ‘puppy,’ in honour of their scarlet glow.

Scientists in Europe, the U.S. and Japan have previously cloned fluorescent mice and pigs, but this is the first time dogs have been cloned successfully Byeong-Chun Lee, head of the research team, commented that: “What's significant in this work is not the dogs expressing red colours but that we planted genes into them.” Lee was a key supporter of disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk, whose breakthroughs on stem cell research were found to have been made using faked data.

Veterinary professor Kong Il-keun at South Korea's Gyeongsang National University said that: “We can appraise this as a step forward towards finding cures for human diseases.”

“What is important now is what specific diseases the team will focus on.”

Artsy Nazi

CLIFFORD: the original big red dog

Boots not boobs

Fired for Facebook A Swiss woman this week was dismissed from her job after her bosses found that she had been on Facebook whilst taking time off work, claiming to have a migraine.

The company stated that; “if she is well enough to use Facebook with a migraine, she is well enough to work with one.”

The woman from Basel told Swiss freesheet 20 Minuten Daily that she is innocent.

Puss in books Hitler surprisingly didn't paint "people being killed."

Emma Barlow News Editor

The public library in Deal, Kent, has had an unusual customer for the past two years: an eightyear-old cat called Fidel.

Fidel has never been encouraged in to the library; staff even kept on putting him out when he was first visiting. He proves to be very popular with customers and can often be found waiting at the front door for the library to open after his owners have gone to work.

A spokesperson for Kent County Council said that he was a “dedicated customer.”

What are thought to be Adolf Hitler’s earliest paintings have been sold for a total of £95,000 at an auction last week.

Stored in a garage, the paintings were left forgotten until specialist auctioneers Mullock’s picked them up.

Richard Westwood-Brookes, historical documents expert at Mullock's, said the total sale price of £95,589 including the buyer's premium, was far greater than he had expected.

A British soldier serving with the Royal Manchester Regiment in 1945 brought the 13 works of art back from Germany after the Second World

War. Many of the paintings depict landscapes, but one appears to feature the Nazi leader sitting on a stone bridge with his hair styled in his distinctive side-parting.

Westwood-Brookes said: “As works of art, they are hardly Picasso.

But it's an opportunity of obtaining a piece of original art that was done by Hitler.”

He added: “If the character had run through, you would expect him to be painting bold, aggressive images, military subjects, subjects about battles and people being killed.

“But there's nothing in these paintings that he produced in those days to suggest that.”

Emma McFarnon Reporter Voters in the Swiss Alps have passed legislation banning naked hiking, after dozens of German nudists started rambling through their picturesque region.

Citizens in the state of Appenzell Inner Rhodes voted at their open-air assembly to impose a 200 Swiss franc (£119) fine on offenders.

Participants voted by raising their hands at their annual Landsgemeide assembly, with only a scattering of people opposing the ban.

The anti-nude movement started last autumn when naked hikers, primarily Germans, started appearing in eastern Switzerland.

The local government recommended the ban after people objected to encountering walkers wearing nothing but hiking boots and socks.

In a statement, the government said: “The reactions of the population have shown that such appearances [...] are perceived as thoroughly disturbing and irritating.”

The verdant Appenzell region, with its various trails that are off the beaten path, has become a favourite with nudists who promote the activity as a “special experience of nature, free and healthy.”

The German hikers also encourage walks in France and other regions of Germany, where public nudity has its roots in the 18th century through a movement known as Free Body Culture.

A similar ban is expected in neighbouring Appenzell Outer Rhodes, with legislation being prepared by the nationalist Swiss People’s Party to combat “this shameless behaviour.”

OPINION 11

MAY.04.2009 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

freewords Est. 1972

gair rhydd does not run many campaigns. Traditionally we prefer to report rather than instruct, and to let the readers make up their minds.

However, sometimes, a cause presents itself that is so clear-cut that to not involve ourselves and our reach to the student body would be to do a disservice.

The campaign to save humanities and Welsh at the Centre for Lifelong Learning is one such cause. As Robin Morgan points out in his article, to axe these courses at a time when it is arguably more important than ever for people to have the opportunity to gain transferable skills would be at best short-sighted.

If at best it would be shortsighted, then at worst it would be cynical. The students gair rhydd has spoken to have been unrelentingly positive in their evaluation of both the courses and tutors, and the impact they have had.

But of course it is not only the students who benefit from the Centre. Tutors have a chance to teach their own specific research interests, rather than being forced to teach modules that are both unfamiliar and uninteresting to them.

The wider community, too, benefits, as the knowledge gained by students filters through.

To close the humanities department at the Cardiff Centre for Lifelong Learning, then, would be a travesty, and we urge all of you to show your support by displaying the poster in gair rhydd and signing the petition online.

But as with any campaign, we recognise that not everyone will agree. Either way, the facts of the story as gair rhydd understands them are reported in good faith, and while we have our stance, readers are welcome to disagree.

This story is obviously very complex, and required considerable work by all involved at a busy time for students.

It is our strong belief that the Centre for Lifelong Learning provides valuable educational, social, and leisure opportunities for students of Cardiff University and for many members of the community, not just in Cardiff but across the whole of South East Wales, and that humanities is a key part of that.

We hope you agree.

Editor Ben Bryant Deputy Editor Hazel Plush Co-ordinator Elaine Morgan Subeditor Jamie Thunder News Emma Barlow Emma Jones Sarah Powell Sian Symons Eleanor Joslin

Falling by the wayside Paul Stollery on letting universities fiscally fail

W

eaker universities should be allowed to fail. That is the message from the Policy Exchange, a right-wing political think-tank, as they recommend universities should be more accountable for their actions or, more specifically, their failures.

Normally I am happy to disagree with such reports - being a student myself I have a tendency to lean towards the motion that these institutions should be protected at all costs.

However, with continued examples of failures on the universities’ behalf, coupled with the rising figures of unemployed graduates, I find myself asking: why is it so unthinkable that a university should be allowed to go under?

Looking at the numbers, universities currently receive approximately £8bn of public money. In fairness, this is not as big a figure as it sounds, considering the several hundred billion the banks are currently receiving. However it is surely a substantial enough figure to require some degree of accountability in return (no pun intended).

Politicians are unwilling to attract bad press A prime example of the sort of failures that are allowed to go on without the due repercussions is that of a 'clerical error' at a major London university only a couple of months ago.

In January this year it surfaced that London Metropolitan University had received £50m of funding more than they were entitled to.

The reason for this £50m 'blunder' was due to major flaws in LMU's records regarding the number of students currently studying at the institution. In short, they said they had more students than they actually did. As a result of this, they received more funding than they were entitled to, and when these errors were discovered they had to pay back the £50m, resulting in over 400 job losses coupled with various other cutbacks.

One of the main arguments for bailing out such institutions is that

Editorial and Opinion Paul Stollery Emma Davies Columnist Jamie Thunder Politics Gareth Ludkin Sport Scott D’Arcy Alasdair Robertson Josh Pettitt Richard Williams Liz Wray Letters

Helen Langdon Features Ceri Isfryn Aimee Steen Science and Environment Priya Raj Listings Sarah George Lottie Butler Jobs and Money Tom Victor Five Minute Fun Kate Eaton

GOING UNDER: Just like the Titanic in many areas, Cardiff included, universities are a vital part of the local economy. If you don't believe me, try walking down Salisbury Road over the summer: the phrase 'ghost town' seems apt.

While this is obviously true – universities do usually form a vital part of the economy of the areas in which they are situated – surely the example of this £50m 'blunder' is enough to prove that allowing universities to operate in such ways will eventually have a negative effect on the local area.

Why is the idea of letting them fail so unthinkable?

Imagine if, for example, it had been Glamorgan University that had acted in such a way (who knows, they could have) and as a result had to shed 400 staff. Considering their main campus is situated in Pontypridd, a town with a population smaller than the student body of Cardiff University, such job Taf-od Dafydd Loughran Poster Lowri Howells Picture Editor Natalia Popova Online Editors Graeme Porteous Tom Barnett Proof Readers Neil Fairbrother Laurel Burn Amelia Forsbrook Becca Oakley

cuts would be absolutely devastating.

LMU's little incident warranted a special mention in Policy Exchange's report last week, which recommended that instead of simply bailing out such universities other routes should be considered to ensure the survival of higher institutions, such as mergers.

Either way, it has become clear that many universities are prepared to operate in such a manner knowing that a government bail-out is more than likely to be just around the corner should any of their risky tactics go sour. They have become accustomed to such bailouts, and as a result have not been able to learn from the failures of others.

Whereas the notion of 'learning from failure' may sound like a hard line to take, especially considering the importance of such institutions, anyone involved in business will know that this is one of the most importance aspects of growth. After all, the lessons learnt from the failing victims of the credit crunch will provide the basis for many business textbooks of the future. Hell, as a business student myself I can tell you that such lessons are already being taught.

Contributors Sarah Kilby, Jamie Thunder, Jonathon Evans, Steve Wright, Becky Barlett, Eleanor Smith, Emma McFarnon, Nathan Allen, Corey Shefman, Emily Bater, Alex Evans, Robin Morgan, Miranda Knox, Rachel Sutcliffe, Richard Wood, Michael Cove, Oliver Franklin, Jonny Jones, Daniella

Another one of the main problems of the current system is the motivation behind such bail-outs: it is not that politicians feel that this is the best course of actions for such institutions, but rather that it is that they are reluctant to attract the negative press associated with taking a hard line with struggling universities.

LMU received £50m more than it should have

No universities have been allowed to go under since 1997. But many of them have been quietly merged, in a desperate attempt to save them without the press realising the dire financial situation many of them found themselves in.

Couple this with the fact that many of the universities that are struggling financially are also propping up the bottom league tables, the idea of an institution of higher education going under is certainly one we should consider.

Graham, Simon Lucey, Emma Bennett, Christina Mackie, Will James, Lucy Morgan Address Cardiff University Students' Union, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3QN Web www.gairrhydd.com Email info@gairrhydd.com

Advertising 02920 781 474 Location 4th Floor Cardiff University Students’ Union Park Place Cardiff CF10 3QN News Desk 07908 551922

12 OPINION Canuck in Cardiff

Corey Shefman: what a sport

I

’m pretty sure I’m the only person in Cardiff right now sporting a traditional 'play-off beard'. The first clue was that I have had to explain to half a dozen confused people in the last week what a play-off beard is.

In short, it’s exactly what it sounds like. During the play-offs of various professional sport leagues in North America, fans stop shaving as a show of solidarity/good luck charm for the team they’re cheering for.

For me, it’s the Calgary Flames (ice) hockey team in the NHL. After almost winning the Stanley Cup (the championship trophy) a few years ago, a brick wall seems to have been built to prevent them from even making it past the first round since then.

As a side-note, play-off beards can also be adapted to 'exam beards' or 'essay beards' if you’re in need of some good luck during the next few weeks as exams approach and coursework deadlines pass.

Maybe it’s just the fact that in Canada everyone follows hockey – even if you don’t like hockey you still follow it. It’s kind of like the Americans and football (the kind of football you play with your hands, not your feet.

Crazy Americans). But coming over here, I’ve found myself completely lost with how sport is organized.

First of all, pick a name. Is it Cardiff City FC or the Cardiff Bluebirds?

Second, for the life of me, I can’t figure out the leagues. Premiership league, Championship league, European competition: it’s all giving me a headache! In North America, we have one professional league for each sport.

We have one hockey league, one basketball league, one baseball league and, yes, one soccer league. Now certainly, there are minor leagues populated by what we call 'farm teams', but their only real purpose is to develop players, to 'farm' their potential, until they can be 'called up' to the 'big leagues'.

Sure, the minor leagues get some attention in the small towns in which the teams are usually located, but noone outside those towns. And most of the people in those towns would much rather be watching the Calgary Flames hockey game, the New York Knicks basketball game, or the Toronto Blue Jays baseball game.

In contrast, here every little city and town has there own football (and in Wales, rugby) team, to which legions of die-hard fans are dedicated.

Two final notes on British sport from the perspective of a Canadian.

First, don’t try to explain cricket to me. I’m pretty sure it was designed in such a way that would prevent anyone from North America from understanding it. Second, you may beat us at everything else, but Canada is still the best at curling.

MAY.04.2009 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

The state of student debt Alex Evans on the hand-outs that keep us going

I

n these times of economic depression and scary, looming recession, it is good to know that a small crumb of comfort can often be found in the unlikeliest of places: The Daily Mail.

Yes, according to a well-researched article from the nation's favourite anti-PC paper, students are now leaving university with an average £10,000 of debt. Thank goodness for that; I thought that the letter from the student loan people showing I owed £7,000 for my first year alone was real.

global economic meltdown, it looks like we're all going to have to get used to feeding off of Labour's freebies.

The loans system at universities was created to keep us in university and out of McDonald’s. There is nothing wrong with paying your way – far from it – but, similarly, those who wish to dedicate their time to their courses shouldn't be made to feel embarrassed about living on loans.

The loans system was invented to keep us out of McDonald's

Some might call us filthy parasites, but I don't see this as a problem The real issue to come from this news, though, is the finding that students are now living off of the state rather than getting part-time work as a result of the ready availability of grants and borrowed government money (more of which is available than The Daily Mail seems to realise).

Some might call us filthy parasites – many certainly would if they'd seen the state of our halls of residence – but I don't see this as a problem.

We students can be left to lean idly on our loans, free to pour time and effort into our degrees, our essays and our exam revision, as well as pour alcohol and entertainment into our mouths and minds respectively when the need arises.

This is a set-up that works, leaving school leavers and the like to take up

EMPTY PIGGY BANK: Why we need our loans, see? those jobs in bars, restaurants and re- surrounding government hand-outs tail in an increasingly competitive job – the banks are certainly showing us

We're pretty lucky given the country's doom-and-gloom prospects right now market while we attempt to read an entire course book in the week before an exam.

It's about time we lost the stigma

what it is to feel no shame.

What with spiralling unemployment, universities perpetually lobbying for increased tuition fees and a

If those individuals achieve good degrees as a result, they'll find a way into work and pay it all back. And if not, it's simply a government investment into their university and local pubs instead.

As students, we're pretty lucky given the country's gloom-and-doom prospects, even if it doesn't feel like it when we're staring at our worrying repayments letters again this summer. The country is ruined, there are few jobs and the pound is practically worthless, and when we do graduate we'll all be jobless and hopeless.

But at least we'll have had some nice lectures and a few t-shirts out of the government.

After all, when we're living in hovels, eating pigeons and crying about how far the West has fallen, we won't have to pay the loans back. Besides, you'll probably die of swine flu before then, anyway.

Oh, Goody! A musical!

This new idea is a step too far, argues Emily Bater

N

ews that Jade Goody’s life will be turned into a musical is, to be quite frank, frightening and disturbing. But to some it seems to be the perfect way to honour the life of a mother of two, a wife and a “Princess Diana from the wrong side of the tracks” (according to the questionable Twittering of Stephen Fry).

But perhaps it is neither of these things.

The phrase 'star of reality TV' peppered descriptions of Goody during her fame, illness, and after her death.

Perhaps 'star of news' would be more appropriate, as Goody graced more covers of red-top newspapers during her cancer than when any of her reality TV shows were aired (and there were many).

The Sun in particular had no problem putting the poor woman on the

front of their 'newspaper' everyday, giving us the updates on who was beginning their vigil at her bedside that particular day.

Max Clifford is on TV more than the Chancellor now Glossy celebrity magazines, which we are all guilty of funding and encouraging, even issued tributes to Jade before her death. Television is not innocent here, giving the everwilling masses their hourly update on Jade’s condition and reporting live from outside her home minutes after her death.

You might think we must have reached a point where, after the blanket coverage of her funeral and the

subsequent imprisonment of her husband, news of Jade Goody would have dried up, that her family could be left to grieve and we could all move on and find another celebrity to canonise.

But no, Max Clifford wouldn’t stand for that. The Alistair Darling look-a-like is on our screens more than the actual Chancellor, and will apparently be a 'judge' when Jade, The Musical begins auditions. The musical itself isn’t the issue here, but what it means for the culture we are wallowing in.

All of this leaves a bad taste in the mouth, but any comment on the whole debacle does. By writing about this development in the sorry tale, I’m adding to the whole thing, carrying on the self-perpetuating, never-ending loop of comment and opinion.

It will only end when the news stops reporting it, and that is very un-

likely. Charlie Brooker, Saint of Common Sense and Sanity and love-object of students everywhere, summed it all up beautifully when he said that Jade Goody died on the greatest reality show of them all. The news.

OPINION 13

MAY.04.2009 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

Inhumanity to the humanities Humanities and Welsh at Cardiff Centre for Lifelong Learning are vital to the University's mission, argues Robin Morgan

C

ardiff University last year celebrated its 125th year as an academic institution, priding itself on its three missions; teaching, research, and links to the community. Last week, however, a proposal was introduced to close most subject areas in one of its oldest departments – the Cardiff Centre for Lifelong Learning.

The Centre provides the opportunity for students of all ages and social backgrounds to gain qualifications and receive higher education, regardless of circumstance. Over 500 courses were available during evenings and weekends, across South East Wales.

The Centre supplies an incredibly important link to the community from the University. It is described on the Cardiff University website as providing “well established and creative partnerships with local communities, supporting many adults making the transition into higher education.”

These ‘established partnerships’

Students should be disgusted with this will surely crumble under the weight of these closures, and with it the opportunities that many students would have held.

If the proposal is implemented, the entire humanities department (including including literature, history and archaeology, music, creative writ-

departments.

Marian Williams’ A History of Lifelong Learning at Cardiff University was published a few months ago, detailing the successes that the Centre has experienced, including her own that led to her receiving an MPhil from the School of History and Archaeology at the age of 60.

A pitifully short time for appeal was given here

ing, philosophy, art history, religion, photography and Welsh) will be scrapped.

This will lead hundreds of students unable to complete their courses, after investing huge amounts of time and effort to partake in them in a bid to improve their circumstances.

In this current clichéd economic downturn, many people have turned to higher education to receive quali-

CANCELLED: The end of the LEARN as we know it? fications that could help them find in excess of £2m) to support part-time work. For those that could not afford higher education.

The student body should feel agfull-time higher education, this will now become yet another obstacle that grieved and frankly disgusted with the way in which the entire proposal was could have been avoided.

The decision was obviously made carried out – despite it not personally for financial reasons, with universities affecting the majority of them.

A pitifully short time for appeal trying to cut costs to keep their fulltime courses afloat. This may seem was given, and it is yet to be seen like a fair response, if it weren’t for a whether this will be enough to save Welsh Assembly Grant (believed to be one of the University’s most respected

The Centre has been open since 1883, now in its 126th year. During the deepest recession (or ‘Moneygeddon’, since I love to plagiarise Charlie Brooker) in recent decades, part-time education is a crucial aspect of keeping the possibility of qualified workers in the employment sector.

Ironically enough, with the closure of these departments, both part and full-time staff will lose their jobs, simply creating more individuals that may have benefited from this Centre.

It seems that the University is quick to pat itself on the back for its support for the community, but even quicker to withdraw funding whenever it seems to be stuck in a rut. Perhaps if they are so happy to whore themselves out in a self-congratulatory “aren’t we just brilliant?” fashion, they would be equally as happy to work the streets to really service the community.

Another mess-up from the Met? Emma McFarnon asks if private comments should stay private in the wake of a police officer's 'long-haired hippies' remark

F

or the past few weeks it’s been impossible to pick up a newspaper or listen to the radio, without being bombarded with news coverage of the G20 protests. The police’s handling of the riots has dominated the headlines left, right and centre, and the picture painted hasn’t been pretty.

Just when it seemed that things couldn’t get worse for the Met (with lawsuits flying all over the place and an ex-Assistant Commissioner who seemingly did not understand the meaning of 'Top Secret'), somebody discovered a Scotland Yard police officer bragging on Facebook about how he was going to “bash some longhaired hippies” at the G20 demonstrations.

The officer in question, 27-year-old PC Robert Ward, has since received a

written warning and could face disciplinary action over the message.

Now, I’m not denying that what this officer said was inflammatory, and it was certainly foolish to post such a comment on a social networking site, but I personally can’t understand what all the fuss is about. We have to bear in mind that Ward was one of more than 4,000 riot police being prepped for what one officer described as “Armageddon on the streets”; there was bound to be tension, bound to be anxiety.

The media hype surrounding the G20 summit and the anticipated protests were colossal. Police officers had been told to fear the worst; it felt like the whole country was on the edge of its seat. So are we really surprised to see an officer venting in this manner, and was he even wrong to do so?

I think back to the countless times

I’ve expressed frustration about an assignment online, and of the inappropriate and often offensive comments that I can find within seconds of scrolling through friends’ profiles.

Does this mean that they or I deserve to be confronted by our heads of school or, worse still, suspended from university? Surely not.

A distasteful remark does not always translate into an action This seems to take us back to the increasingly prominent issue of privacy.

Where do we draw the line between harmless banter between friends, and behaviour that’s unacceptable? It seems we live in a world that’s gone

PC-mad, and now for every liberty we are entitled to, there are a handful of things we can’t do, can’t say, can’t allude to. Where does it end?

Police officers are meant to be in charge of our safety, but they are also meant to be free to vent in private, and to have that privacy respected.

One friend quite hastily pointed out to me that the internet is not exactly private, but that’s just it: nothing is really private nowadays.

Many of us spend up to eight hours a week on social networking sites, instant messengers and chatrooms. Our lives are increasingly made public, and it’s customary nowadays for things we would say to friends in person to be broadcast online.

PC Ward was arguably behaving no differently from the thousands of others who use these networking sites, and providing, he carried out his job

properly (and there is no evidence to suggest that he didn’t), who’s to say that his comments, intended for only friends to see, caused any harm? A distasteful remark does not necessarily translate into inappropriate behaviour.

With regard to the protests in general, we seem to be putting two and two together, basing our opinions on comments made by politicians and people who really don’t have any understanding of policing.

There’s no denying that some horrendous, irreversible errors were made that day; the death of newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson is testament to that. But there is also so much about the events of the G20 protests that we do not know, and that we will never know. Instead of acknowledging this it seems we have reverted to fingerwagging and myth-making.

14 OPINION

MAY.04.2009 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

The latest Youtube sensation A recent hoax hit on Youtube apparently showed Beyoncé offkey. Miranda Knox asks if this is the best way to make a point

W

hen I first saw the Youtube clip of Beyoncé singing out of tune live, I was shocked and confused as to how a ‘singing sensation’ like her could sound so awful whilst releasing multi platinum albums.

It was extremely funny yet painful to listen to, and I couldn’t help but mock the adoring American crowd who, despite the overtly horrifying performance, were still screaming excitedly at their idol. It also gave me some satisfaction to know that this clip seemed to be showing the mainstream music industry for what it can be: contrived, fake and manufactured.

He obviously thought he was proving a point

At least this was my opinion until I realised the whole clip was a complete hoax. Created by an artist, the clip uses voice manipulation techniques to make Beyoncé sound like a deranged cat. He obviously thought by doing this he could prove how easy it is to manufacture a voice, and thus raise the debate as to how far the music we listen to is essentially fake.

However, Beyoncé has had a twelve-year singing career and is a

well-established recording artist, so I feel this is essentially nothing more than a joke that seems to have got out of hand.

When thinking about this clip and the point it is trying to make, it does raise questions regarding the over-manipulation of songs. Obviously some artists do require the helping hand of audio production to ensure the vocals are up to scratch, but are we really being duped into believing our favourite stars are talented when in actual fact they’re no better at singing than your average karaoke drunk?

Matthew Zeghibe, the man responsible for the clip, claims it was designed to make a stand against the state of the music industry: “If I can do it with a clip I pulled off of TV, imagine what they are doing on records and during live performances.”

However by manipulating Beyoncé’s voice to sound bad, does little more than remind me that she can genuinely sing and doesn’t require the voice manipulation that he is claiming is used all the time within the music industry.

I can see his overall point, as there are obviously people that are able to have a music career all due to the brilliance of technology - Victoria Beckham is one alleged example (yep, I said it, sorry Posh fans). I just don’t really see how this stunt in particular projects this idea clearly, and if any-

thing it makes the point that the internet can now be easily used to try and sabotage a person’s reputation.

Surely his message would have been much better conveyed if he had taken a star that has performed badly in the past, and manipulated their voice to sound better, directly reflecting what supposedly happens within the music industry? Ashlee Simpson seems perfect due to her renowned catastrophic ‘live’ performances - lip synching, and being booed off stage for singing out of key to name a few.

It could have been a lot worse had people believed the clip was genuine At least Beyoncé saw the funny side of this joke, commenting she was grateful for the publicity she gained for two upcoming performances, but I doubt she would have been quite so gracious had people really believed this stunt.

The clip could have potentially damaged her reputation as a talented artist while trying to prove a point about voice manipulation within the music industry that doesn’t even apply to her anyway.

BEYONCÉ CAN SING: Anyone else not surprised?

Another invented disease Rachel Sutcliffe thinks we're suffering from a media pandemic

O

ver the last week or so Britain's media has been bombarding us with yet another reason for us to run out to Sainsburys, stock up on tinned food and lock ourselves in our houses.

Nope, it's not the recession (although you'd be forgiven for locking yourself away because of that). Instead it's the potential swine flu pandemic.

The facts of the situation are this: pigs can carry a strain of human influenza (flu) which can combine with a certain virus subtype which mutates to make a virus that can easily be passed onto humans.

An outbreak has occurred in Mexico and the death toll has reached 149, with two cases now being reported from Scotland. Symptoms are said to be very similar to those of seasonal flu: fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, and coughing.

In reality, we should not be half as scared of it as we are. The Scot-

tish Health Minister herself, Nicola Sturgeon, has even commented that "the threat to the public remains low."

However the media is frightening us half to death.

On one side of the media, we have The Guardian and The Times, both of which appear to objectively give information on the disease, indicating the death toll but also emphasizing Nicola Sturgeon's point.

In reality, we should not be half as scared as we actually are The Sun and the Daily Mail's reporting, however, is almost laughable. Both include the phrase "deadly swine flu" in their headlines, which, to be fair, is accurate. However, the articles then go on to relate it to the 1918

Spanish flu that killed 40 million. And if that's not scary enough, the phrase "swine flu is here" gives an impression that the flu is practically knocking on our doors.

Just when we thought we could ignore the impending doom that is the recession, the Daily Mail includes the comment that the "stock market is in jitters," putting across the point that the flu is inescapable, even when it comes to the economy.

The BBC website, which I apparently have been naively trusting to be impartial and fair, have revealed even more worrying issues as well as patronising us to the extreme.

They give us three nice diagrams; one of a chicken, one of a pig and another of a human, helpfully labelling them 'bird flu', 'swine flu' and 'human flu' just in case we didn't quite understand that for ourselves. As well as relating swine flu to the Spanish flu, they also mention a long list of other pandemics, each killing millions at a

time. The association with this is only going to be bad for the readers.

The threat to us is nowhere near as high as is being made out by some The problem I have with the coverage of this flu is the lack of context put in. To begin with, nobody mentions the state of health system in Mexico and especially nobody compares it to ours. As Dr. Alan McNally, a scientist working at Nottingham Trent University commented, we don't know about the situations of the people who have died in Mexico, especially how much contact with livestock they had.

McNally suggests the reason for such panic is because it's an unknown strain, but when asked about precautions we can take to prevent catching

the virus, he simply mentions increasing hygiene care and maybe restricting the number of people we shake hands with.

It appears that anybody who actually knows about the virus is not scared, but the media fails to put across this view. Instead its reporting is so onesided and filled with scaremongering that I'm surprised British medical staff haven't been immobilized by people complaining of a tickly throat for fear of swine flu.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not at all saying that the seriousness of the flu doesn't exist, because it has killed people. What I am saying is that the threat to us is nowhere near as high as it is being made out and the constant bombardment of both comparisons to previous devastating pandemics and the highlighting of its apparent close proximity to us has only created hysteria and fear across Britain. After all, Obama said it was "no cause for alarm", and he's a pretty cool guy...

COLUMNIST 15

MAY.04.2009 OPINION@gairrhydd.COM

Spoiling the ballot “I

couldn’t have done it without Rough Hill.” Whose words? Michael Jackson’s upon the announcement of his residency at the O2 Arena? Joseph Fritzl’s after he was sentenced to life imprisonment? A third-year’s on being diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver?

No. They’re the words of our Students’ Union President-elect, Ed Carey. After an election that was decided by under 150 votes (and in the first round of voting only 11 votes separated him and eventual runner-up Tom Wright), he admitted that the support he received from the events promotion company that runs nights in Tiger Tiger (Vodka Island) and Revolution Vodka (Chic Beat) was vital in his clinching of victory, and it’s caused all sorts of palaver.

It’s not just Ed Carey who had help, either. Emma Jones, Rich Pearce, James McLardy-Smith, and Ed Dolding also received varying degrees of assistance from various promoters and nightclubs in Cardiff. All of them bar James McLardy-Smith were elected (he came fifth in the Presidential vote), and they will, along with Carey, comprise half of our sabbatical team next year, including Head of Student Media, Finance and Commercial Officer, and, of course, Students’ Union President.

Our guidelines for elections are not thorough enough It should be said here that all of these candidates were cleared of any breach of the rules by this year’s Students’ Union Vice-President James Wood and NUS-appointed Returning Officer Rhys Dart, and that I hold no grudge against any of them. I’ll also show my own hand and say that none of the candidates who received sponsorship and other help were my first choices. But this is no disgruntled rant about how my votes didn’t change the results in favour of my preferred candidates; this is about the campaign process and its flaws.

Although the five in question didn’t break the campaigning rules, their actions were not in the spirit of the elections; indeed, Ed Carey received an official warning on the behalf of one of his campaign team to that effect.

This, to me, is very important. Student elections are all about the spirit.

They’re not about finding loopholes,

candidates who stood this year, not even the ones I’ve singled out. I just disagree strongly with this aspect of their campaigns. A student in Manchester I spoke to about all this was shocked that it had happened; their constitution forces candidates to keep account books of their expenses and forbids any outside assistance. Before the votes can even be counted the expenses have to be announced. Endorsements from current Union officers (another contentious issue of our election) are also banned.

Compare Manchester’s guidelines for elections and ours and you’ll see a marked difference in consideration.

Manchester’s are thorough and cover many of the issues that for us exist in a grey area, whereas the lack of regulations in ours meant that decisions on this year’s complaints and contentious areas were made on the fly. We have a lot of rules on procedure but little on fairness, and that needs to change. As it is, James Wood and Rhys Dart were given a free choice between validating the elections and of having to re-run them, and they clearly decided to just avoid the hassle and embarrassment.

The use of outside companies was a significant factor CAMPAIGN CONTROVERSY: Free and fair elections? or ways round the barriers designed to ensure fairness. No, I don’t like the emphasis on costumes and gimmicks (although this year was relatively free from them), but there’s a balance to be struck. Elections shouldn’t be about who’s the wackiest, but nor should they become a power-grab.

To try to stop it becoming a powergrab, each candidate is allocated £40, which they can then claim back on expenses after the elections. This is supposed to cover any costs incurred in their campaign. It makes it fair, and evens up things between those with money to spare and those without.

It’s just that this year some candidates decided they’d rather like a sneaky advantage.

And let’s be clear about this – it is sneaky. If it were entirely fair to have your campaign t-shirts paid for by a nightclub, for your campaign stamp to be imprinted on everyone’s hands as they enter Vodka Revs, or for you to distribute Oceana guest list tickets as, basically, bribes, then all the candidates would be doing it. And they cer-

tainly weren’t. It’s at best underhand, and at worst downright sleazy.

Then there are the concerns over the independence and objectivity of sabbatical officers. Probably the most controversial aspect is Carey’s involvement with Rough Hill, given that he has declared an interest in installing an outside promoter to run Wednesday nights at Solus (much like Come Play currently is on a Saturday).

Elections shouldn't be about finding ways around the barriers designed to ensure fairness It’s naive not to anticipate an issue with saying you would like an outside promotions company to run Wednesday nights and then accepting help from an outside promotions company, but Carey isn’t stupid. He knows that if Rough Hill is given control of

Wednesday nights there’ll be suspicions of sleaze, no matter how fair the process actually was. Maybe Rough Hill would have supported anyone who asked, but the cynic in me can’t really imagine them just doing it to support student democracy.

Similarly, Emma Jones’s reliance on Glam nightclub for her campaign is probably going to make her think twice about running any negative stories about it (although to be fair, I’d never heard of it, so that’s perhaps not too likely to happen).

But despite these concerns over impartiality and fairness (as opposed to strict legitimacy) of campaigning, the tactics were within the rules and the elections were valid. That means that the sabbatical team that have been elected will be the sabbatical team next year, and rightly so. It absolutely doesn’t, however, exonerate the winning candidates from any scrutiny or criticism; just because something is technically allowed does not necessarily make it fair.

I have nothing against any of the

This year’s elections – and the condoning of the methods – have set a precedent. For both the Head of Student Media and Union President positions, the candidate who came second didn’t use such dubious tactics, and in both cases the vote was very tight: Emma Jones eventually won by just 65 votes, Ed Carey by 149. The use of outside companies was certainly not the only factor in either election, but to claim they made no difference is ridiculous, and in such a close vote any difference is a significant one.

With a Union President elected in this way, it’s unlikely that there’ll be any motion to prevent this happening again. This’ll mean more and more candidates trying to get ahead by external help, whether financial or promotional. But there aren’t enough nightclubs and promoters in Cardiff to sponsor all candidates, so it’ll come down to who’s got the best patter, who’s got the best contacts, who can cut the best deals, and, inevitably, who can offer their sponsors the best incentives.

And that’s not the sort of sabbatical team this Union needs.

16 POLITICS

MAY.04.2009 POLITICS@gairrhydd.COM

Alistair's budget blues Could Alistair Darling's optimism be the turning point for economic recovery? Richard Wood analyses the effects of last week's budget

T

he Chancellor, Alistair Darling, announced a Budget commonly described as 'the most important for 50 years' last week, with a dramatic introduction of a 50% income tax for high earners.

He also announced record borrowing figures of £175bn and an increased tax on alcohol, cigarettes and petrol by an average of 2p, 7p, and 2p respectively. Several initiatives have been introduced in energy, motoring, housing, benefits and savings, but is it good enough? A number of disparate groups have attacked various areas of the Budget.

would shrink by 4.1% this year and by another 0.4% next year. Applying this to the Chancellor’s figures reveals a hole of around £1bn in the nation’s finances, but it’s worth comparing this to the £175bn already being borrowed by the government this year.

The 50% income tax rate for earnings over £150,000 has unsurprisingly come under attack, both for Labour’s break of its election promise where it was pledged that income taxes would not rise and for the expected 'brain drain' that it will cause, with high earn-

ers likely to leave the UK for countries with more favourable tax rates.

Several businessmen and entertainers have already stated this intention.

The Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has not pledged to repeal the tax, despite attacking it as a “cynical” move. With only 1% of the nation earning over £150,000, the tax does not have hugely widespread ramifications and attacking the tax itself on principle is seen to be a bad political move.

Messages were mixed on the in-

vestment in energy schemes, with some branding the amount “timid and inadequate”.

In contrast, the chairman of the British Wind Energy Association stated: “This package of measures deserves a welcome from our industry”. Around £535m has been pledged to support offshore wind power, with around another £800m offered for home energy efficiency initiatives and development of low-carbon technologies. Critics have pointed out that there is only around £500m of actual

Private companies must step up to produce wealth The first serious blow came within an hour of the Budget’s announcement, with the dismissal of the Chancellor’s figures on economic growth in the UK by the International Monetary Fund. Mr Darling’s forecast that the UK’s economy would shrink by 3.5% this year, but pick up next year, expanding by 1.25% and then follow up with 3.5% annual growth from 2011 was exposed as wildly optimistic.

It only takes a quick visit to the Office for National Statistics's website to find that the UK’s economy has not grown by 3.5% in any of the last five, supposedly 'boom' years. The IMF also predicted that the economy

FORCED SMILE: Alistair Darling was criticised for huge optimism over economy recovery

spending planned, with the rest being support money.

As if to underline the point, the UK’s only wind turbine plant faced closure this week, with the manager saying that "We are waiting to see in the coming period if the government initiative announced last week will get the market to move again. At least it gives some hope but it's too early to tell."

Britain's national debt will be 79% of GDP in 2013 Perhaps the biggest influence on the nation’s future, though, is the fact that the government’s borrowing commitments lead to the rather frightening figure that national debt will reach 79% of GDP by 2013 – rather like owing £16k on an income of £20k.

This will eventually lead to a public spending squeeze as the government attempts to reduce its outgoings and produce a budget surplus, but to do this, the measures introduced in this Budget must kickstart a serious upturn in the economy over the next five years.

Private companies must step up to produce wealth as the jobs and support provided by the government are lost and stopped. If this does not happen the nation faces a second financial crisis, but borrowing will not be an option the second time round.

Important budget? You betcha.

The responsibility is ours

Michael Cove suggests that it might not just be the government and greedy bankers who are to blame for the current recession

W

hen people try to explain the causes of the current economic crisis, the blame is usually focused on two targets: bankers and politicians.

The bankers are berated for their recklessness and greed; the politicians are pilloried for their failure to regulate the financial markets and letting capitalism run wild. And once the main culprits have been thoroughly doused in scorn, the last few drips in the pot are splashed over 'us' – the general public – for taking out stupid loans and getting tangled up in debt.

There's more to be said about this third group. It is very easy, of course, to look back and say it was all Gordon Brown’s fault. It has become very

fashionable to say that he squandered our money and built up a massive amount of debt from borrowing too much, but where did this money go?

Labour has increased spending considerably on education and healthcare.

Admittedly some of this was wasted, but the new school buildings and hospital departments are still there as evidence of the investment.

It is also wrong to suggest that the last twelve years should be wiped out of history because of our current recession. We have all benefited from years of growth and continue to benefit from the investment put into our welfare state.

The other major criticism of Brown is that he didn’t save for 'a rainy day'.

But would the public really have accepted cuts in spending? Would they look at the crumbling classrooms and the failing hospitals and soberly conclude that it was for the best in case the economy took a nosedive? No. The public wanted better services.

Would the public have accepted cuts in spending?

We know this because Labour won three general elections promising to do just that, and until very recently the Conservatives vowed to match Labour’s spending plans and echoed

their emphasis on schools and the NHS. So, the public wanted more and better from the state. But they weren’t prepared to pay for it.

After eighteen years of being completely unelectable, Labour were finally given the keys to Downing Street in 1997 because they promised to be nice to middle-class voters, with no rise in income tax.

It seems people were prepared to pay for a second car or fancy holidays abroad, but not for their children’s education or the NHS. They let the Daily Mail stoke them into a fury over benefit scroungers at the bottom of society, while largely ignoring the multimillion pound tax dodgers who were robbing them blind (and who, by the

way, has done us the most damage?).

How then, was Labour to fund Britain’s struggling welfare state? They thought they had hit on an ingenious solution: let the housing bubble grow, strip away the regulation, let the profits soar, and then funnel some of that money back into the public sector.

Now, of course, the whole thing has collapsed, leaving the public finances in a mess and the economy in ruins.

Of course the bankers are to blame.

Of course the government were at fault. But the British public should be clear: don’t ever again be fooled, or convince yourself into thinking, that you can get anything in this world without paying for it. And boy are we paying now.

POLITICS 17

MAY.04.2009 POLITICS@gairrhydd.COM

MPs' expenses scrutinised

Gordon Brown fumbles after second home allowances for MPs come under increasing fire. Oliver Franklin investigates

T

he Labour government descended into farce once again last week over the controversial MPs' second home allowance.

Gordon Brown made headlines last week, announcing (via YouTube no less) that the Commons would vote on the abolition of the current, widelycriticised system, in favour of a new flat rate system based on attendance in the House. However, in another turnaround, the government was then forced to announce the cancellation of their plans due to the complete lack of support for the proposal, not only from the opposition parties, but also from Labour’s own ranks.

The controversy grew after the much-publicised revelation that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith had claimed expenses for a number of pay-perview movies on her TV, including two porn films apparently viewed by her husband. The Home Secretary has been the target of some (fairly justified) outrage by the media ever since, including calls for her resignation.

The events last week are particularly poignant given Alastair Dar-

ling’s budget for 2009, in which he announced tax raises for both ends of the spectrum, particularly a new 50% income tax rate for the higher earners.

He also made clear the true extent of Britain’s ever-increasing debt.

Jacqui Smith has claimed £3,132.69 for plants alone As the economic crisis deepens the IMF now predicts a shrink in the UK’s GDP of 4% this financial year. It has become clear that the current system, much of which was brought in and extended under Tony Blair, is grossly insufficient.

Expenses claimed by MPs have provoked anger for many and have become the main bone of contention for the public. Jacqui Smith’s expense claims themselves go a lot further than her husband’s adult viewing preferences. This year she claimed £3,132.69 of taxpayer’s money on plants. To complement her presumably ample garden arrangements she

purchased herself a patio heater for her second home at £104.56. The list of expense claims ranges from the strange to the downright ludicrous; £550 for a kitchen sink, £30.72 for a ‘white rope’ and 88p for a bath plug.

The confusion was made worse after she said she doesn’t even spend most of her time at this second home, but often stays with her sister. (that explains the husband's claims, then).

The Honourable Mrs Smith is not the only one guilty of such flagrant exploitation of the government’s rules.

Labour have been in hot water over expenses before, with former Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon being criticised for claiming second home expenses despite having three, including a home in Admiralty Arch that came with the job. Mr Hoon rented out his main home and claimed expenses on his second, making an estimated £50,000 a year from the arrangement.

It must also be said that Labour are not the only culprits of exploiting the system, as all MPs are entitled to the allowances on top of their £64,766 salaries. Even the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Mar-

tin, has been heavily criticised for his travel expenses - over £150,000 in six years - which included trips to Hawaii and the Bahamas on ‘official parliamentary business’.

Brown's plans faced opposition It is not at all surprising then that MPs seemingly laughed Gordon Brown’s intended vote out of the Commons. It is difficult even to accurately assess the full extent of the scandal, as a review of the expenses system by the Committee on Standards in Public Life is not due until the summer.

What remains clear is that as the recession is tightening its grip on the economy, the public will not be happy with the current system. One certainty is that Gordon Brown must call a general election by 2010, and with the Conservatives and Lib Dems mounting even more vicious attacks as a result of the financial crisis, something needs to be done to restore faith in the government’s handling of taxpayer’s money.

JACQUI SMITH: Maxed out

Police violence at protests Jonny Jones gives a first-hand account of the G20 protests

M

yself and four other activists from Cardiff Students’ Against War attended the controversial G20 demonstrations in London last month. We arrived a day early, and one of the first things we noticed was how much hype there was in the press surrounding the conference and the protests.

With the police and media ramping up the fear factor of crazy raving anar-

chists intent on doing violence against workers in the City, an artificial state of terror was used to justify an aggressive, brutal policing operation over the next two days. My initial impression of the G20 Meltdown protest was that it was peaceful and good-natured, with demonstrators waving and smiling to the office workers who watched from the windows that lined the protest route.

Ultimately, these workers were

OUTNUMBERED: Police pile on to a protester

seen by anti-capitalists as potential allies, not enemies; after all we are all in the same boat, having been exploited by bosses and alienated from the important things in life. My first instinct was to beckon them down with a smile, to try to engage them and get them to join the demonstration.

We had treated a man with more blood on his face than clear skin However, when we were kettled at Bank, the atmosphere started to deteriorate. Kettling as a tactic seems to be designed to incite frustration and anger in an otherwise peaceful crowd, and this is exactly what happened.

No-one wants to be stuck in a police cordon for several hours having to go to the toilet in front of anyone else and getting hungry and thirsty, perhaps missing shifts and appointments, or with children getting scared and tired with no way out. We were furious that the march wasn't being allowed to continue, so an attempt was made to push through police lines to-

wards the Bank of England, along the original, agreed protest route.

The police response was extremely violent. We saw plenty of people who had been hit, one with a broken arm and another staggering around with blood all over his face. He was in a bad way, and when we tried to help him we found that he had been hit four times with a police truncheon. There were no marks on his arms where he had defended himself, so either he was on the ground when they hit him, or had been restrained.

After bandaging his head we tried to get him through the police lines so that he could receive proper medical attention. The police told us he had two options; either see a police medic (which he refused on the grounds that he did not want to be arrested and interrogated or have his photo and DNA taken), or stay inside the kettle and bleed. The street medic on our team later said that the man's wounds could potentially have been fatal, and that he was surprised to see him at all lucid, or able to stand. After making sure he was all right we found the man's friends and let them look after him, though we kept our eye on him for some time.

Police also used unnecessary force

when breaking up the Climate Camp on Bishopsgate that night. As part of the medic team we felt obliged to stay as long as we could, but at one point we didn't know if we would be arrested, let go or beaten to a bloody pulp.

We didn't know if we'd be beaten to a bloody pulp

At about half 12 we watched around 100 activists sitting in Bishopsgate being attacked and arrested by 500 riot cops. Earlier in the evening we had treated a man with more blood on his face and head than clear skin.

For me, a police force should be dependable and trustworthy, someone to turn to when in fear, or when you have become a victim of violence.

The police shouldn't be the ones provoking that fear in you, and they certainly shouldn't be beating people and killing them.

The tragedy of Ian Tomlinson’s death was, that in his mind, the police were a stablising factor and as such posed no threat. He trusted them to protect his safety, but instead they attacked and probably killed him.

LETTERS 19

MAY.04.2009 LETTERS@gairrhydd.COM

letters@gairrhydd.com UR L8 AGAIN Dear gair rhydd, I am writing in response to the April 27th article on the Opinion pages, concerning Manchester University's decision to set up a hotline to report late lecturers.

The article expressed the opinion that Cardiff's student body would be too apathetic to respond to such an initiative, and were more concerned about where to go clubbing.

Be that as it may, I believe that the initiative is a brilliant idea, allowing students immediate access to a process which would otherwise take significantly longer. It is not a straightforward business to report concerns about lecturers, not least

because of lack of awareness concerning who to talk to, but also because many people would find it embarrassing. It is entirely possible to enjoy a series of lectures but also be concerned about the repeated lateness of the lecturer. Whilst I concede that this is a relatively minor problem, our student body is enormous and a text-messaging based service would be a fantastic way to reach the entire student body at once.

I for one would welcome any such initiative as in-keeping with the modern age. I am sure it would provide further impetus for lecturers and students alike to arrive on time for lectures, despite the busy schedules of all concerned.

Anon

the

Realistic, Not Apathetic Dear gair rhydd,

In reference to the article '1-800-LATE AGAIN' in issue 894, I would just like to make a complaint about the perceived apathy of students. I suppose we could, if we wished, make complaints about the standard of lecturing, but perhaps many students feel this would not achieve anything? Is it any wonder they might feel that way, given that one of the front page stories this week told us of how a poor lecturer is allowed to carry on teaching without any kind of punishment?

Perhaps problems with lecturers should not be dealt with within the relevant academic school. In order for any complaints to hold, there must be some kind of unbiased and impartial body to complain to.

If we are paying such large fees, the maximum possible if we are not Welsh, then surely we deserve better teaching standards.

It is not our apathy which would stop us complaining, but merely our realism.

Samantha Hunt

Happy As Pigs In Ignorance

Colonist Monarchist

Chris -------

Harold -------

It is worth mentioning that not all scientists believe that this is entirely down to human activity, nor do all scientists believe that we can make any difference.

We know that the world’s temperatures have been continually changing and just because this happens during our lifetime we feel we are to blame, or would like to feel we can change the process. What is best for us to do is to switch to hydrogen cars, if not only for the case of reducing carbon emissions but for the health of the country. We know the air in city centres is far worse due to traffic congestion. Responsible driving is not the answer: change the fuel and change the emissions.

Thanks, Corey, for praising the Monarchy, the Canadian as well as the British. I share your admiration for the institution and for our Royal Family.

The Taxi Brutes Laura ------The taxi driver should still be reprimanded for trying to charge someone in a vulnerable condition, whether self inflicted or not, an extortionate amount. Also running over someone is also a pretty horrible offence, so why should the taxi driver be allowed to get away with it!?

These sort of occurrences just make it more apparent that people CAN and WILL take advantage of students and get away with it.

Sarah ------People I know have been locked in a taxi because they were charged a ridiculous amount for their journey and refused to pay.

They only got away when other people walking past opened the door from the outside. They charge so much already, and it just seems to be a cycle of greed.

Global Warming = Fact or False?

ment has enabled you to travel the world and if they wish to keep a track on who uses the services they provide that is well within their remit.

This has nothing to do with the financial crisis and does not impinge on your rights at all.

The Anti-Snob Squad Sarah -------

They're Watching Again

gair rhydd does win national Student Media awards so it must be doing something right and to make it to the editor position is a huge achievement. However, most of the contributors have very little hope of making it in the industry with so much competition from the editors of the Oxbridge newspapers who mock this “special part of Wales”.

Rhys -------

Paul -------

Giving away your freedom for the idea of safety is madness.

Quick question Sarah; What the fuck does your (apparent) all-knowing-view of the journalism industry have to do with the particular article in question?

That’s a very nice way to go, patronising the area that pretty much every reader of your comment has chosen to live in.

The only sense I can make of your comment is that you failed to get into Oxford and are somehow validating yourself by aligning yourself with Oxbridge.

Chris ------These checks will do no damage to you or your everyday life and will increase the chance of stopping illegal migrants and reducing the terrorist threat.

This country is free. You have been given the right by Her Majesty to travel the world: it says so within your passport. This given right is not being impinged.

Your ability to travel to these other countries has only been developed through governments in history and their own investments. The govern-

Sarah ------Oh Paul, don’t be so touchy. I am actually at Oxford, just checking

Chris Warren First Year History Student

Dear gair rhydd,

Comments from the week’s news, opinion, features and sport at www.gairrhydd.com

OMG Swine flu is coming!

Well, it possibly is, but, on the other hand, we all still remember how everyone in the world was going to die from bird flu. And SARS before that. Surprisingly, we're all still breathing. Wow, look at that.

I'd just like to thank Cardiff Uni for the fact that their only mention of swine flu is 'we're monitoring the situation'. As opposed to Stirling Uni, where they've drawn up a full contingency plan. I mean I'd like to think someone somewhere does have a plan, just in case this one does actually kick off, but do we really need to know it? No. Have fun sleeping kids!

forum

out the competition (if it can be called that this year) regarding the media awards. I just felt the need to comment on the absurdity of your articles. But your bile has made me think perhaps you have an inferiority complex, Paul?

Don’t worry, I’ll leave you to your stimulating forums.

Andy -------

Thomas Carroll -------

I particularly like how she goes ‘Well actually, I’m from Oxford’.

You can sort of imagine her typing that and then leaning make in her chair thinking ‘Yes, that proves I’m better than these people’.

The fact that you are actually at Oxford is even bloody worse. If you consider yourself the “competition” from the editors of the Oxbridge newspapers who mock this “special part of Wales” then you’re a prick for coming on here.

Since when did the fact that we’re in Wales stop us winning media awards? coughbest magazine 2 years runningcough.

But please come back and let us know how many awards you personally rack up, because that’s really all that matters in life.

PS: Removing your head from up your fundament will give you a better chance of success.

Emma ------Sarah – I wouldn’t say you have an inferiority complex: personally, I’d call it more of a superiority complex.

But, hey, it was super kind of you take some time out of your busy Oxbridge schedule to come and mock other universities. I’m sure that when you’re editing one of the nationals and Cardiff student media graduates are living in cardboard boxes, you’ll be able to look back and think “well, I did warn them…”

Well done Sarah, you’ve managed to adhere to the ‘Oxbridge students are pompous twats’ stereotype admirably. You’ve done your University proud…

Paul -------

Anon ------Sarah, your comments are at best arrogant and affected…at worst elitist and xenophobic. If people at Oxbridge have nothing better to do than smugly congratulate themselves whilst mocking us little people in ‘special parts of Wales’ (or worse still actively search for our newspapers to leave messages to insult people) then this says more about you than us. I thought those types of obnoxious and pompous attitudes died out decades ago – obviously not at Oxbridge.

Royal Disgrace steffi ------What would us morons in the US have to laugh about if you sold the royal family? Almost nothing except news reporters saying how lovely Michelle Obama is right, and so is Camilla - enough said.

SAVE HUMA LIFELONG L

Cardiff University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning may have al

•Email the VC: v-c@cf.ac.uk •Email Education and Welfare Officer Nick Yates: yatesn@cardiff.ac.uk •Sign the online petition •Next Meeting: Tuesday 5th May 7pm at the Lifelong Learning Centre, Senghenydd Road

w w w. i p e t i t i o n s . c o m / p e t i t

savehumanitiescardif flifelo

ANITIES AT LEARNING

ll humanities and Welsh teaching axed from the programme

tion/savelifelonglearning

onglearning.blogspot.com

22 FEATURES

MAY.04.2009 FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

Starved of p

The government and media focus on obesity has raised awareness Thunder talks to four Cardiff University students about their expe

O

besity, as we’re incessantly told, is a time-bomb for our generation. It’s the biggest crisis facing the NHS. It’s as dangerous as smoking. Everyone – politicians, social commentators, health professionals – seems to agree that we have to do something about it or face dire, wobbly consequences. And a lot of accurate ‘your mum’ jokes.

There is, of course, some truth in amongst the hyperbolic burbling; if you can’t see your toes, it’s probably not good, and if your daily bread is accompanied with seven rashers of bacon and an egg or three, then you’re going to live to regret it. Or not, as the case may be. And with anywhere between two thirds and three quarters of adults in the UK classed as obese depending on whose supersized statistics you swallow, something certainly needs to be done.

But what? The current tactic seems to be to focus on the negative effects of being overweight: increased risk of type 2 diabetes, increased risk of heart disease, increased risk of arthritis etc.

Not only this, but practically every cookery and food programme, as well as just about every magazine ever, tell us what not to eat if we don’t want to be fat and lonely.

Until recently, I’d thought that the only impact the relentless anti-obesity drive had on self-esteem was on the people it was directed at: the vast numbers of vast people. But then I was sent a link to a petition on the 10 Downing Street website by a friend.

The petition was to ask the government to balance the information they gave about obesity with information about other eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, something which many believe could help prevent or limit the damage done by such disorders. Susan Ringwood, chief executive of BEAT, the eating disorders charity (who were not involved with the petition), told me: “There is anecdotal evidence that some public health messages can make people who may have a difficult relationship with eating or exercise worse. Government agencies have got to treat this area sensitively.”

The common conception about such eating disorders is that they’re provoked by low self-esteem and poor body image, which is usually solely blamed on the media and fashion industry. Rows about size zero models and unrealistic advertising regularly engulf the nation’s opinion pages, with the consensus being that if only

they’d include some slightly less skinny people then these problems would go away.

That’s simplistic cause-and-effect reasoning, but there’s almost certainly at least a little truth behind it. The problem is that this is now the accepted ‘cause’ of anorexia and bulimia for many people, so any other possible factors that could have an effect are largely ignored. I asked Rachel, a student at Cardiff who has anorexia, about the effect the anti-obesity culture has had on her condition.

“Encouraging weight loss is the main problem for me,” she said. “You get constantly bombarded with emails, adverts on Facebook, dieting products in shops – you can’t get away from ways to help to lose weight.

“You see the adverts more often than you see the size zero models, and it’s easier to dissociate yourself from the models, whereas you can’t from the adverts. Everyone seems obsessed with losing weight, so you feel you should be too, and if you’re not you feel fat and lazy.”

Ways to lose weight are offered to anyone, even if they don't need it Christine, who also studies at Cardiff, agrees that the media can have an effect: “It probably doesn’t play a role in the development of eating disorders, but it can help to maintain them.

When I was in treatment and on intensive weight gain, so much of the media I saw was saying the exact opposite of what the doctors were saying to me, and that made it more difficult.”

Rosie also studies at Cardiff, and agrees with Christine: “The images of super skinny models and celebrities definitely didn't cause my eating disorder, but they did give me something to fixate on once it had developed.”

Ali is another Cardiff student, and has recovered from severe anorexia.

She thinks that although the media does have an obsession with how to lose weight, it’s not the whole story: “The media tend to mix their messages. One magazine will tell you at the start how terribly ill and skinny a 'stressed out' celeb is, and a couple of pages on you'll get advice on how to lose a stone in a week!”

Magazines, of course, are able to use the questionable excuse that their demographic is adults who can

supposedly make informed decisions about weight loss and eating, but adverts on websites like Facebook or Hotmail, that are regularly used by younger people, can’t even hide behind this. They might not be explicitly directed at teenagers, but there’s little doubt that they’re still seen and taken in by the most vulnerable groups.

These adverts don’t discriminate in their targets – I regularly get suggestions for dating agencies on Facebook despite my ‘in a relationship’ status – and so anyone, regardless of their weight, health, or mental condition, is offered ways to lose weight.

And it’s not just magazines and adverts; low-fat, healthy ranges in supermarkets and the information now on

some restaurant menus also contribute to the problem. With the increasingly detailed labels on food it’s now easier than ever to count the calories you consume, and the internet makes it possible to discover the number of calories in just about anything. I’m grudgingly impressed when Rachel lists off the top of her head the number of calories in an array of fruit and veg, but it also makes me realise just what effect the masses of information available can have on someone who already worries about their weight.

Rachel agrees that the current obsession with ‘healthy eating’ makes it easier for her to convince herself that she should be very, very careful about what she eats: “The focus is re-

ally on losing weight. No-one caters for people who want to put on weight, or maintain their weight. I know how I think is irrational, but it’s reinforced constantly.”

"The root cause of both anorexia and obesity is similar" It’s easy to lay the blame at the door of 10 Downing Street, but Rosie points out that on the NHS website one of the first links associated with diets is about eating disorders. So could the media still have a part to play?

Rachel thinks so, but blames the

MAY.04.2009 FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

publicity

FEATURES 23

s of its effects, but what about other eating disorders? Jamie eriences with anorexia and the impact of the media on them are overweight, it feels like everyone should lose weight. It was kind of an achievement to lose more weight than anyone.”

With so much pressure being put on people to be thin, from government campaigns to adverts in glossy magazines to the labelling on supermarket shelves, it seems logical that for some people it would have a negative effect. But as obesity is so close to the surface of our consciousness, other less publicised eating disorders are often ignored, says Christine:

It's now easier than ever to count your calories

regular stories and images of morbidly obese people rather than the oft-mentioned size zero models: “You hear so much about so many people being overweight, and the average size for a woman in the UK is now 14. But even if you’re not close to that, you feel like if you eat ‘bad things’ you’ll become obese because everyone else seems to have so easily. It’s much easier to be in denial as well, because in your head, everyone becomes obese and you’re just a normal size, even if you’re actually underweight.”

This is echoed by Christine, who says that when she was anorexic losing weight became almost a source of pride: “Because so many people

“They have addressed one problem and ignored another major one. They need to consider the people who have eating disorders or who are vulnerable. A lot of the issues surrounding over- and under-eating are to do with self-esteem, and there’s more overlap than people think, but they’re addressed separately.”

Dr David Haslam, Chair of the National Obesity Forum, agrees that there is overlap between the disorders, but rejects the claim that obesity is distracting from other eating disorders: “The root cause of both obesity and anorexia is similar: a disordered eating pattern and lifestyle.

“The anti-obesity drive may in fact be adding more focus to the debate on other eating disorders.”

That obesity is linked to self-esteem is echoed by Rosie, who says that it's too often treated as a physical rather than psychological issue: “Obese people aren't described as having eating disorders when they clearly do – they're chronic binge eaters.

“They don’t get to that weight for no reason, in the same way anorexic people get dangerously underweight.”

Either way, it seems anorexia is not being addressed as obviously as obesity, and the help available is not as accessible. Particularly in South Wales, argues Ali, anorexia is not taken seriously enough: “It’s sheer neglect that people have to be critically ill, practically on death's door, before they can qualify for the right to get the nearest inpatient treatment – which is in Bristol!” Hardly ideal for a student struggling with lectures, assignments, and revision, then.

Anorexia doesn’t get enough cov-

erage in the media either, says Rosie.

“The only time anorexia or bulimia are made a fuss of is when someone dies. Then there’s an article about how awful it was, then it’s over again for a few months.”

Instead, she says, obesity generates lots of coverage because “the tabloids can focus on how much it’s costing the NHS.” But even when the media does try to publicise anorexia and bulimia, they get it wrong.

“The publicity of eating disorders has become extremely sensationalist,” she argues. “Shows like Superskinny Me and Supersize vs Superskinny just point out the obvious and don’t concentrate on why people get eating disorders – they just talk about the after-effects.

“They give you tips on how to give yourself an eating disorder.”

So how can the government – and the media and advertisers – get it right between discouraging obesity and not encouraging other eating disorders? For Rachel, it needs a shift in perspective: “The campaign should be to encourage healthy eating, including eating enough, rather than to encourage weight loss, because that’s not right for everyone.”

"No-one caters for people who want to put on weight or maintain weight" Ali agrees: “What we need to focus on is how to attain a healthy body weight, and a healthy attitude towards food, rather than how to do the impossible and manipulate your body with food and exercise. It is too much of a dangerous game to play.”

It’s hard to argue with that. It remains to be seen whether this or successive governments will pay attention to this aspect of the anti-obesity drive, but the message is clear: if the campaign remains simply ‘lose weight’, then they risk endangering or worsening the mental and physical health of thousands of people.

Cardiff student Ali Valenzuela has written a book, Weighing It Up, about her experiences with anorexia. It is published by Hodder Children’s Books. For more information on eating disorders, visit www.b-eat.co.uk. Thanks to everyone who agreed to talk to me for this article; some names have been changed.

ANOREXIA the facts Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterised by an intense fear of gaining weight People with anorexia will restrict their food intake and may exercise excessively to burn off calories It is estimated that 1-2 percent of young women are anorexic at any one time 10% of cases of anorexia are reported in men People with anorexia are using food to try to control their life, not starve themselves to death Around 5% of cases of anorexia are fatal Sources: beat, Clinical Knowledge Summaries Service

FEATURES 25

MAY.04.2009 FEATURES@gairrhydd.COM

A technology-free week: could you handle it?

Features challenges Daniella Graham to the ultimate modern-day challenge: giving up technology for a full working week

W

hen I was given the challenge of giving up most modern technology for a week I figured it would be difficult, but not impossible.

I made a list of all the things I would need to sort out before my technology free week would commence: give my housemate’s number to my family in case of emergencies; do my washing; and most importantly change my Facebook status so everyone would know I’d be missing from stalkerville for the week.

I planned to do all of this on Sunday afternoon after I arrived back from visiting my family in Dubai. That's when things started to go wrong. After waiting at Heathrow baggage collection for what seemed like an age, my suitcase never came. The lady at British Airways explained that my luggage was still in Dubai, that it might be delivered to me that day but “because you will be in Wales” it might take longer.

I could, however, check the status of my baggage online or by ringing a number - a tad unhelpful for somebody who’s meant to be on a technology dry spell. After the annoyance of having no baggage and missing my coach home subsided, it dawned on me that my article was already in jeopardy.

I would check my phone and emails in the evening once. When my luggage finally arrived that night, I turned off my phone and computer and prepared for the real technodetox to begin.

As I got dressed, I stumbled across yet another problem. I am not really a big fan of washing and ironing, so invariably leave it until I have no other option w h a t s o e v e r.

Having not managed to coll e c t

By Thursday, I was getting the hang of being deprived of most technologies, but still hadn’t got out of the habit of scrambling for my phone in my bag every 10 minutes to check I didn’t have a text.

I also harboured murderous intentions towards the annoying foghorn that was my alarm clock. Rather depressingly, I was thankful for a few lectures to keep me occupied, and even managed to get some work done! Checking my emails in the evening and seeing a row of flashing, unopened envelopes was still very much the highlight of my day though.

Day 5

Day 1 With my technology-free week off to a bad start, I decided the best course of action would be to compromise and give up everything apart from my phone and the internet, which I vowed to give up after my luggage arrived. I normally set the alarm on my phone to wake me up, but this week I decided to use a good old-fashioned alarm clock. Unfortunately, I had forgotten how to set a proper alarm clock, and as a result woke up an hour later than intended.

In the evening I went to check my baggage online, but couldn’t resist checking my emails. Quite a few needed a reply within a week, and it occurred to me that if I ignored all emails for the rest of the week, there was a high chance I would end up not enrolling on my modules for next year, messing up things for my society, or at the very least leaving people thinking that I’m just plain rude.

I also realised that using my housemate as my secretary would be a little unfair. Time for a rethink. I decided that while I would not carry my phone or use the computer during the day,

Day 4

Day 2 The day was off to a good start as I had worked out how to set my alarm. As I left the house, leaving my much-loved phone on the bedside table, I experienced a strange sense of freedom. Followed by panic.

After reassuring myself that the chances of a phone-requiring emergency were remote, I indulged in a spot of singing in my head to replace my iPod. Needless to say, my private performance didn’t quite match up to the standards of Chris Martin and the like.

Come dinnertime, I really fancied a jacket potato. Normally I would just stick it in the microwave for a bit before putting it in the oven, but just as I was piercing the potatoes I remembered that the microwave was a big no-no. By the time my jacket potato was finally ready, I was starving and ate it so quickly that I didn’t really taste any potato.

I then attempted a bit of work, but ended up fancying a bit of Desperate Housewives on 4OD to break things up. Revision, as I found when I realised that Despies would have to wait, is even less fun when you haven’t even got procrastination to look forward to. Feeling gloomy, I decided to just go to bed instead.

Day 3 The sound of my alarm clock was starting to grate on me, but there was something to look forward to today: I had work! A somewhat paradoxical sentence you might think, but although not normally an enticing prospect, I had not realised how much I would miss my music, and at work there would be music playing.

enough inspiration to wash and iron before the week commenced, I realised all of my work clothes were either in the wash or creased beyond hope. I took a dress out of the (now rather large and impressive) washing pile, sprayed it with perfume and hoped for the best.

I realised that I hadn't really missed technology In the evening I should have got on with some work, but figured that finding new forms of procrastination to replace my beloved 4OD was more important. I tried tidying my room, but found this torturous without music in the background. I then attempted to paint my nails, but without TV this was extremely boring. With Nietzsche still not enticing me, I again decided on an early night.

Resisting the urge to smash my alarm clock to pieces, I woke up with the happy realisation that this was my last technology free day. I then nearly broke my neck by tripping on the excessive amount of washing I had acquired throughout the week and during my holiday.

I figured that the best way to plough through my final technology-free day would be by getting down to some serious work, but then my housemates suggested a cheeky spot of shopping. I figured I’d be a disgrace to my sex if I refused, and subsequently spent most of the day in town.

The major lesson of the week was that I could no longer blame technology for procrastination- if I wasn’t in the mood for doing work, then I would just find an alternative way of wasting my day.

When I woke up Saturday I made the most of having technology back.

I spent a blissful few hours watching pointless programmes on 4od and iPlayer, replying to all of my Facebook messages and wall posts, with my iPod on full blast and a microwave meal in hand.

After this initial techno-binge, I came to the conclusion that I hadn’t really missed much. Whilst the incident with my baggage made me realise that we couldn’t do without technology, the surprising amount of work that I eventually managed to do showed that it isn’t the be all and end all. I spent the evening curled up with a book, rather than my television, congratulating myself on my newfound freedom.

Still, it didn’t stop me leaping up with excitement every time I heard my long-lost ringtone chime.

TAF-OD 27

MAY.04.2009 TAFOD@gairrhydd.COM

Adolygu - Ai dyma’r ffordd orau?

Dafydd Loughran sy’n cwestiynu pwrpas yr holl waith yma! A fyddai’n well i chi rhoi eich traed i fyny am weddill y dydd?

Mae’n si r bod nifer fawr ohonoch wedi hen gychwyn ar y ddefod flynyddol o gloi eich hun mewn stafell am oriau ar y tro, neu dreulio mwyafrif y dydd mewn tawelwch perffaith yn y llyfrgell. Am unarddeg mis y flwyddyn rydym ni’n eistedd yn hanner cysgu mewn darlith ar ôl darlith ac ond yn ei gofio erbyn diwedd y dydd os bod acen y darlithydd yn un enwedig o ddoniol neu fod ei ddewis dillad wedi bod yn anhygoel o wael y bore hynny. Yna’n sydyn, pob blwyddyn, tua diwedd Ebrill, ma’ myfyrwyr Cathays yn cael ei dihuno o’r trwmgwsg meddwol a sylwi bod blwyddyn arall wedi dod, a mynd, heb ddysgu rhyw lawer o ddim.

I’r rhan fwyaf mae’r sylweddoliad o’r gwaith o’u blaenau yn eu harswydo i weithio oriau hir o ddarllen a sgwennu nodiadau yn ddi-baid bob dydd. Yn sicr mae’r corff yn medru delio gyda hyn am ychydig ddiwrnodau, ond ymhellach na hynny a yw’r oriau hir yma yn gwneud unrhyw les?

Heb os bydd y mwyafrif o’r llu o wybodaeth newydd yn cael ei anghofio

dros yr haf hir (poeth?) gan mae dim ond defnyddio’n cof tymor byr byddwn erbyn diwrnod yr arholiad. Yn amlwg, y system orau fyddai i ddysgu ychydig bach bob dydd drwy’r flwyddyn a dychwelyd i’r pwnc ychydig wythnosau yn hwyrach er mwyn ceisio ei ddysgu am fywyd. Ond wrth gwrs, does neb yn gwneud hyn oh-

erwydd bod dim system o fewn prifysgolion sy’n hybu a gwobrwyo’r rhai sydd yn ei wneud. Rwy’n si r y byddai unrhyw gyflogwr llawer hapusach gyda recriwt sy’n gwybod, a chofio eu gradd, nid yn unig un sy’n gallu serennu mewn arholiadau.

Yn anffodus mi fydd dal arholiadau ymhell ar ôl i ni adael y brifysgol

vÕ ÞÊvÕÀ à i`Ê } ʵÕ> ÌÞ ÃÌÕ`i ÌÊ>VV `>Ì

yma. Ond yn fy marn i ddylid eu bod yn canolbwyntio ar y gallu i feddwl yn rhesymegol o dan bwysau. Nid ar y gallu i gofio ffeithiau am wythnos, dim ond er mwyn eu hanghofio ar ôl y noson gyntaf mas! Bydd y gallu i weld patrymau mewn gwybodaeth, a datrys problemau llawer pwysicach mewn unrhyw yrfa na’r gallu i gofio can ffaith y dydd!

Wrth edrych o amgylch y llyfrgell hwyr y nos mae yna nifer fawr yn darllen yr un frawddeg trosodd a throsodd yn methu deall pam yn y byd nad oes dim o’r wybodaeth yn sticio.

Er hyn maent yn parhau am oriau eto er mwyn argyhoeddi ei hunain eu bod yn gwneud digon o waith. Cerwch i gysgu! Yn aml iawn mae eich corff, credwch neu beidio, yn gwybod yn well na chi beth sydd angen arno.

Tra'n cysgu yw’r unig bryd bod gwybodaeth yn cael ei newid o gof tymor byr i dymor hir. Mae’r ymennydd yn dewis a dethol y digwyddiadau neu wybodaeth fwyaf pwysig o’r dydd a mynd drostynt filoedd o weithiau tra eich bod chi’n cysgu’n glyd ymhell o lyfrau trwchus a wikipedia!

Mae angen ymennydd er mwyn pasio arholiadau. Ffaith. Ond eto mae’r holl bethau sy’n dod gyda phwysau adolygu ac arholiadau yn achosi i’n gallu i feddwl i ddisgyn yn eithriadol.

Heb ddigon o gwsg, a heb chwant bwyd mae’r ymennydd yn debygol o fod ar ei lleiaf parod i weithio yn union pan bod ei angen fwyaf, y cyfnod adolygu. A gyda chynnydd yn y gred ymysg gwyddonwyr bod caffine yn lleihau’r gallu i gofio ffeithiau yn y tymor hir, mae bosib y dylem dynnu’r fflasg goffi allan o’r bag cyn gadael am y ‘gell hefyd!

Ar ôl gwneud yr holl waith y peth diwethaf sydd angen arnoch yw bod yn sâl ar ddiwrnod yr arholiad. Dangosir arolwg gan Kiecolt-Glaser bod cynnydd sylweddol yn y tebygolrwydd o afiechyd yn ystod cyfnod o adolygu, a bod y tebygrwydd yn cynyddu gyda’r oriau o waith y dydd.

Wrth gwrs, mae pawb yn delio’n wahanol o dan bwysau ond os ydych chi’n un sy’n dechrau teimlo’r pwysau, cymrwch hoe, ymlaciwch.

Mae’n debyg bydd eich corff, a’ch gradd yn diolch i chi!

-Õ iÀÊ VV `>Ì ÊÊ

>Û> >L iÊÌ À Õ} ÕÌÊ Õ ÞÊ> `Ê Õ}ÕÃÌÊÓää

All bedrooms include your own private en-suite bathroom Available in 3,4 & 5 bedroom flats with a television & Sky package included in each flat and broadband available in every bedroom

ÀÊ ÀiÊ v À >Ì ÊV Ì>VÌÊÌ iÊ6 VÌ À >Ê > Ê > >}i i ÌÊ"vwViÊ \

äÓ ÓäÊÎx ÊxääÊ V>À` vvJÛ VÌ À > > °V Ê v>Ý\ÊäÓ ÓäÊÎx ÊxäÇÊ

Victoria Hall, Blackweir Terrace, Cardiff, CF10 3EY

welcome to your

vÕÌÕÀi ÜÜÜ°Û VÌ À > > °V

Ê

JOBS & MONEY 29

MAY.04.2009 JOBS@gairrhydd.COM

Throw a job on the barbie With graduate jobs in Britain fewer and farther between, now is the ideal time to start considering what Australia has to offer, writes Simon Lucey

A

recent survey of employers suggested that this year will be the worst year to graduate in two decades.

The latest research suggests that recruitment among the top 100 UK firms has been cut by 17% this year and the financial sector, the hardest hit of all, has cut its graduate recruitment by 47%.

Martin Birchall, managing director of the research company High Fliers Research explained that "not only have vacancies been reduced substantially for those finishing university in 2009, but it is now clear that many of last year’s entry-level jobs did not materialise either, leaving many graduates from the class of 2008 out of work too."

The warning that graduates will face a tougher time chasing employment follows a period of sustained expansion in graduate employment.

Indeed, recently a shortage of suitably-qualified applicants has been the bigger problem.

If you are based on the east coast surfing will become your way of life Long-term changes in the economy have seen a growing demand for wellqualified staff and according to most experts this should continue after the worst impact of the recession.

The message seems then, that in the short term it is going to be difficult to find jobs, especially in certain fields.

However current students should not rip their hair out yet - their degree is not quite meaningless.

Britain’s service-based economy relies on having quality skills among graduates in every sector and this will need to be maintained in the long term.

Meanwhile, the worldwide recessions seems to have taken less of a grip in Australia, and their government continues to invest in trying to attract young British workers on the working holiday visa.

This allows you to visit Australia for a year, with the option of later extending it to two years working while you travel.

Flights have hit a rock bottom price as the travel market has seized up with the panic of global recession.

Also a massive boom in cheap South East Asian airlines promises cheaper, if less comfortable, flights to the main cities.

This added competition has caused all the major airlines to drop their prices, so now is the best time to travel down under. The days of having to stump up well over £800 to the other side of the world are well and truly over.

SUN, SEA, AND SAND: Where better to avoid the effects of the credit crunch?

Unless you have one of the key skills such as nursing that the Australian government is looking for, it is unlikely that you will be employed in the most glamorous of jobs.

However it is what you do before and after work that should draw you to Australia.

The lifestyle in Australia is unrivalled. With such good weather for most of the year all outdoor activities are ‘fair dinkum.’ If you are based on the east coast surfing will become your way of life. Fact.

But never fear - it does not take long for any pommy to catch a tan and the surfing bug.

After a couple of hours in the wa-

ter, you will have wavy, blonde-tipped hair, the perfect tan and the chiselled body. Well maybe not.

James Hinks, a second-year student, visited Australia on the working holiday visa in 2006.

"I loved the lifestyle, heading straight to the beach after working as a gardener all day was amazing for letting of steam. The way of life out there is second to none and once you’ve been you’ll be obsessed with immigration" Travellers' Contact Point (TCP) can provide all the basic services that you will need upon getting into the country.

They can organize bank accounts, jobs and a permanent address for your

mail as you travel the country.

Dan, the marketing director of TCP, advised that travellers should put their "chosen career path on the back burner for the moment and be prepared to take on something different.

"This trip is a one-in-a-life-time opportunity and there is no better time to break away from the ‘norm’ and try something totally different."

Visit www.travellers.com.au for more information.

30 XPRESS

MAY.04..2009 XPRESS@gairrhydd.COM

Listen LIVE Online Three Man Bundle

Xhibition

Just Added A selection of the best songs added to the playlist this week that can be heard during the day.

1. Flashguns - Locarno 2. Keane - Better Than This 3. Kings Of Leon - Revelry 4. Marmaduke Duke - Kid Gloves 5. Morrissey - Throwing My Arms Around Paris

Listen in each week as Phil, James and Jon take a whistlestop tour of the new indie music scene whilst getting mildly distracted along the way. Their show contains a range of entertaining features including ‘Hilario Headlines' whereby the bundle tackle current affairs head on by suggesting possible stories behind the tabloids’s headlines, James' own unique cover of his favourite 80s' songs in 'James's Song’ and 'Vrai or Faux’ which challenges you to identify real band names from false ones. So remember to join the bundle every Saturday 1:30-3pm.

Saturday: 1:30pm till 3pm

Mainstream

Monday 9am-11am Filling the Gap with Emma & Alexis 2pm-3:30pm Stark and Moo Show 3:30pm-6pm Teatime with Lee

Tuesday 9am-11am Three Girls & A Gay 12pm-1:30pm B.A.M with Rebekkah and Mikey 1:30pm-3pm Loud Noises 3:30pm-6pm Teatime with Luke and Ed

The Xhibition is Xpress Radio’s music team, playing the best new alternative music around. Features include 'The Archive', where you can expect to hear some absolute gems ranging from b-sides, live tracks and rarities, 'Gig of the Week', and 'Classic Album Openers and Closers'. The Xhibition also brings you the best bits from all the interviews and reviews conducted by members of the music team, sessions from local acts and a great range of alternative music.

Wednesday: All Day

Friday

IndieSpecialist

Pop

9am-11am Welcome In The Weekend 12pm-1:30pm Two girls, One Mic 1:30pm-3.30pm Milo's Mashup 3.30pm-6pm Teatime with TNT

Mon 6pm-7pm Xhibition Mon 8pm-9pm Gig 'n' Mix Mon 9pm-10pm Holly and Bo's Radio Show Mon 10pm-11pm Sam & Will Show Wed 10pm-11pm Hot Pap Sat 6pm-7pm Mrs Goggins's Backroom Sun 5pm-6:30pm The Toni and Zoe Show

Sat 3pm-4pm Push Pop

Saturday 10:30am-12pm Stay Asleep with Henry and Oscar 12pm-1:30pm Jack and Tom Delusion 1:30pm-3pm Three Man Bundle

Sunday 1pm-2:30pm Laura, Dora & Lucy Show 3pm-5pm The Student Radio Chart Show

Wednesday

Sports

9am-10am ABC 10am-11:30am Lily Star 11:30am-12:30pm Gossip Girls 12:30pm-2pm Lynn and Louisa 2pm-3:30pm Hilary and Heather Show 3:30pm-6pm Teatime with Rich and Britt

Mon 12pm-2pm Sports Show Thu 12pm-2pm Sporties Thu 6pm-7pm American Sports Show

Thursday 9am-11am Kat and Ash Show 2pm-3:30pm Madame Audrey's 3:30pm-6pm Teatime with Sam and Greg

Monday: 6pm till 7pm

Speech Mon 11am-11:30am The Trawlermen's Sweethearts Tue 11am-11:30am The Xpress Test Tue 11:30am-12pm Speech Round-up Thu 11am-12pm The Weekly Summit Fri 11:00am-11:30am A Beginner's Guide to...

Fri 11:30am-12pm Across The Corridor Sun 11am-12pm Hair of the Dog Sun 9pm-10pm Story Time with Daneka

Classical and Jazz Sun 6:30pm-7:45pm Sunday Classics Sun 7:45pm-9pm Jazz Society Show

Hip-Hop/RnB Fri 10pm-12am Flo Jam Sessions Fri 12am-1am $traight Ca$h with DTR

Rock/Metal/Punk Mon 12pm-1am Superstar DJs, Here We Go! Tue 8pm-9pm Rock! Paper Scissors Tue 10pm-11pm Hedonism Wed 11pm-12am Subversion Sat 7pm-8pm The Argument

House/Electro/ Dance Wed 9pm-10pm Housemasters Fri 8pm-9pm Hype Machine

Pick 'n' Mix Mon 7pm-8pm Live Transmission Mon 11pm-12am Anything Alternative Tue 7pm-8pm Bill & Tom's Most Excellent Adventure Tue 9pm-10pm CUTV On The Radio Tue 11pm-12am Escape From The Pigeon Hole Wed 6pm-7pm Xposed Wed 7pm-8pm YAPS Wed 8pm-9pm Bringing It All Back Thu 7pm-8pm Curly Joe and Ginger’s Countdown Conundrum Thu 11pm-12am Dan and Petch’s 80s Hour of Power Thu 12am-1am Pete and Coralie Fri 7pm-8pm Full Body Immobilisation Fri 9pm-10pm The Essential Gig Guide

World Music Tue 6pm-7pm Global Grooves Fri 6pm-7pm International Superhits

Contact The Studio E-mail: studio@xpressradio.co.uk Phone: 02920781530 Text: 07722263888

FIVE MINUTE FUN 31

MAY.04.2009 FMF@gairrhydd.COM

found on facebook Housemate done something stupid?

sudoku.

1. Log on to the book of face 2. Join the group ‘Found on Facebook’ 3. Upload embarrassing photos 4. Pick up gair rhydd on Monday and laugh

EASY

Send more oddities!

MEDIUM

Quick Crossword Across

Down

1. Quirky fixation (6) 4. Shovels (6) 9. Radiator covers (7) 10. Bejewelled head-dress (5) 11. Coyote ___, 2000 film starring Piper Perabo (4) 12. Human orb (7) 14. Not salaried (6) 16. Facet or bearing (6) 19. Private cavalry soldier (7) 21. Differ (4) 23. Table for religious ceremonies (5) 24. Purloins (7) 25. Forgive (6) 26. Herbivorous animals fond of bamboo shoots (6)

1. Menial schoolboys at public schools (4) 2. Fastening securely (5,2) 3. Velvety (5) 5. Progresses leisurely (7) 6. ___ Rigg, Emma Peel in The Avengers (5) 7. Up-and-coming actresses (8) 8. Chumps (5) 13. Items considered highly desirable to possess (4-4) 15. Buys in from abroad (7) 18. Boat, ship (5) 20. ___ nerve, transmitter of visual information from the retina to the brain (5) 21. Roman mansion (5) 22. Wields (4)

1

2

HARD

3

6

4

5

6

7

8 9

10

12

11 13 14

15

16

17

18 19

20

21 22

23

25

24

26

32 LISTINGS The Listings Top Five... ...hangover cures!

A So, coursework has been submitted and lectures are over for another year – what better way to rejoice in this week of freedom than by celebrating! However, the day after it may feel like a less of a good idea than you thought. Here are a few tips to get you through the following day: 1. Have a full English breakfast There is nothing that screams "HANGOVER CURE" better than a full English breakfast down at your local greasy spoon café.

2. Get out and about As unappealing as it sounds, getting out and about in the fresh air will awaken your senses and get your body moving.

Just a ten minute brisk walk is all you need to make you feel slightly back on track.

3. Hot water bottle, Friends reruns and your duvet Cosied up in bed or on the sofa, with a soothing hot water bottle and the first series of Friends sounds like heaven even when you haven’t been out the night before.

Monday 4th May

10 FEET LIVE @ 10 FEET TALL A showcase of local Welsh talent takes to the stage in the Rock Room tonight.

8.30pm-late, contact venue for prices ALBERT LEE & HOGAN'S HEROES @ THE GLOBE A night of country and rock from some Grammy Award winners, headed by the multi-talented, red hot pianist, top guitarist and singing extraordinaire, Albert Lee. 8pm, £16 THE FIRST MOVEMENT: SUPERFIREMOTHWARRIORS @ BUFFALO BAR Described as sounding like In Flames and Iron Maiden playing waterpolo with Deerhoof and The Flaming Lips. Baffled by that description? Only one way to find out what they actually sound like!

8pm-11pm, contact venue for prices FUN FACTORY @ THE UNION You'll need a good excuse not to be partying tonight with exams still over a week away, and free entry for a Fun Factory that features the Freestylers as special guests!

9pm-2am, Free VODKA ISLAND @ TIGER TIGER Get yourself a few doubles in and float your way around the maze of dance anthems, smooth groove R'n'B, cheesy pop and karaoke.

10pm-2am, £4

MAY.04.2009 LISTINGS@gairrhydd.COM

Tuesday 5th May

THE BUFFALO BOUTIQUE: BUFFALO BOUTIQUE DJS AND POCKET MODS Listen to some top tunes and sip away on the 2 for 1 cocktails, while out shopping for vintage, retro clothes and accessories.

8pm-3am, £3.

DREAMBOATS AND PETTICOATS - THE MUSICAL (TOURING) @ THE NEW THEATRE Rock'n'roll, fame, love and rivalry converge in this jam-packed musical, choc-a-bloc with music from the likes of Billy Fury and Chuck Berry.

7.30pm, £7 - 28 ZOMBIE - ZOMBIE @ CLWB IFOR BACH Japanese classical music, (if you know what that is?!) fused with psychadelic and experimental sounds, provides a night of alternative music at Welsh Club tonight.

7.30pm, £6 HAMMERTIME!: RESIDENT DJS @ BARFLY Skate your way down to Barfly for the very best cheesy pop anthems and classic dance hits for some hard-core head-bopping to 2 Unlimited and Hanson.

10.30pm, £2-3 SONIC BOOM 6 @ BARFLY These energetic ragamuffins showcase everything from hip hop beats to summer vibes and skacore riffs, mixing contemporary underground sounds of the UK with a rocking live show and educational lyrics!

Contact venue for details

Wednesday 6th May

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER @ THE SHERMAN THEATRE An outrageous mix of secret elopements and nocturnal confusions, witty dialogue and cutting humour in this comedy of manners, that takes in everything from town to country and greed to stupidity in an original and flamboyant social critique.

7.30pm, £12-14 LISTEN UP!: RESIDENT DJS @ CLWB IFOR BACH Pick and choose your music tonight, with Cardiff’s best DJs playing classic Indie and new releases on the top floor, guest DJs occupying the middle and some classic motown and funk on the bottom. £1 tequila and sambuca shots will get you fuelled for some furious dancing in no time!

10:00pm, £2-3 JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON @ OCEANA Ride down to Greyfriars Road tonight to soak up the VK offerings at Oceana tonight as you groove to the pick and mix of hip hop, R’n’B, bubblegum pop and dance. Top it off with a hot dog without even having to leave the comfort of Cardiff's ultimate superclub.

9pm-3am, £3-4 YOUVES @ BARFLY Previously known as Mirror! Mirror!, Youves's first mini-album, Cardio-vascular, is rumoured to force even the most reticent and rhythmically challenged types to move their thang with its smart percussion, ace lyrics and originality.

7.30pm, £5

4. Drink water The dehydrating effects of alcohol is not a nice feeling to be left with at 10.30am the next morning, especially when a flavourless glass of cold water does not make your list of desirable consumptions. Mix with a flavoured cordial for a more appealing taste and get gulping!

5. Have a bath A bath full to the brim with bubbles and scented oils will relax you in no time.

Students’ Union, Park Place, 02920 387421 www.cardiffstudents.com ◆ Med Club, Neuadd Meirionydd, Heath Park 02920 744948 ◆ Clwb Ifor Bach ros, Bakers Row 02920 399939 www.clubmetropolitan.com ◆ Dempseys, Castle Street 02920 252024 ◆ Move, 7 Mill Lane 02920 225592 ◆ Jazz, 21 St. Mary Street 02920 387026 www.cafejazzcardiff.com ◆ The Riverbank Hotel, Despenser Street www.riverbankjazz.co.uk ◆ St. David’s Hall, Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay 0870 0402000 www.wmc.org.uk ◆ The New Theatre, Park Place 02920 878889 www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk ◆ The Cardiff International Arena, Mary Ann Street 02920 224488 ◆ The Millennium Stadium Can’t miss it. www.millenniumstadium.com ◆ Tiger Tiger

LISTINGS 33

MAY.04.2009 LISTINGS@gairrhydd.COM

Thursday 7th May

AMGEN: BROKEN @ SHERMAN THEATRE Don’t let the Welsh title put you off – the majority of this play is in English. A thoughtprovoking Gary Owen adaptation.

8pm, £12 (runs until 9th May) THE BEST IN LIVE STAND-UP COMEDY @ GLEE CLUB Sarah Macmillan and Inder Manocha, among others, entertain us with their laughout–loud sets.

7.30pm, £8.50 online/£6 NUS BOUNCE @ WALKABOUT Guaranteed to be one of the club nights still pumping over the exam period – do the right thing and mosey on down to the Ozzie bar for a dabble in high-energy pogo stick antics.

9pm-3am, £3 ON THE ROCKS @ 10 FEET TALL Mojo inspired rock and roll, Scuzzy guitar licks and Head bangers... this is your music. Plus great giveaways and Guitar Hero competitions all through the evening!

10.30pm–3am, free before 12am MADINA LAKE @ GREAT HALL, SU American emo rockers Madina Lake invite you to their one-off Cardiff gig tonight at the Union. A band capable of great things!

7pm, £12.50 CYNT @ CLWB IFOR BACH A legendary club night that has established Welsh club as an inevitable student venue.

Electro, House and Glitch tuneage will leave you with a hankering for more on your return home.

10.30pm-4am, £3

Friday

8th May MARMALADE @ 10 FEET TALL Wallow in the tantastic colour of a club night, as DJ Jaffa takes to the decks all night long. Keep to the colour theme and purchase a Jagermeister shot upon arrival.

8.30pm–4am, free before 10pm, £5 thereafter THE DUDES ABIDE @ CLWB IFOR BACH An alternative club night for any experienced partygoer. Sample the best in indie and retro sounds downstairs for a buzz like no other.

10.30pm–2.30am, £3.50/£4.50 LUSH @ SOLUS, SU Popular R’n’B night with plenty of alcohol available to fuel proceedings. A night not to be missed by any Union enthusiast!

9pm-2am, free before 9pm, £3 thereafter WE TRASH PARTIES: LET’S TEA PARTY + PORT ERIN + DRAW ME STORIES @ BUFFALO BAR Early bird drink offers, an extended dancefloor and top tantalising tuneage... what more could you ask for? Let’s Tea Party, Port Erin and Draw Me Stories? Yes indeedy, they’re all there!

8pm–4am, free before 11pm, £3/£4 thereafter 101 THINGS TO DO ON A RAINY DAY: DIRTYFITGRANNIES @ CHAPTER ARTS CENTRE Oh what to do on a boring day? Look no further, because following on from the success of Mr and Mrs Lampshade, the Dirtyfitgrannies are back suggesting how we can curb the boredom... procrastinating students beware!

8pm, £7/£5

Saturday 9th May

ENRIQUE IGLESIAS + ALESHA DIXON @ CIA The Spanish Señor headlines at Cardiff’s International Arena tonight in order to woo you silly amounts. Expect women, both young and old, shrieking at decibel-defying levels! Former Misteeq member and Strictly Come Dancing supreme Alesha Dixon supports as she continues to revive her flagging solo career.

7.30pm, £35 AUCTION FOR THE PROMISE CLUB @ BARFLY Cornish newbies Auction for The Promise Club prepare to wow you with their diverse music style and the melodic voice of vocalist Zoe White-Chambers.

7.30pm, £5 ANTHEM: DJ HYWEL @ METROS A Metros night will not disappoint whatever the day of the week! Cheap doubles and copious amounts of body odour will get you pumped ready for the night ahead.

10pm-3.30am, contact venue for prices

Sunday 10th May

F*CK LONDON + CASSETTE QUALITY @ BUFFALO BAR Go wild and get crude with Mac 3000, Ceri, Jen Long and Fanny Pack DJs as we wave goodbye to lectures and say hello to the exam period.

8pm–3am, free 10 FOOT CWTCH @ 10 FEET TALL A man who graces the Sunday section of Listings each week without fail – Rowan Liggett is back yet again hosting the open mic session that earns you credibility as well as free booze! It’s worth a shot if your overdraft is looking slightly forlorn these days and you need to get out of the house.

8.30pm–3am, £3 DINOSAUR PILE-UP @ BARFLY Hotly-tipped Leeds band Dinosaur Pile-Up take to the stage at Barfly this evening.

Will their sound be as bizarre as their band name? There’s only one way to find out... you know the right thing to do.

7.30pm, £5

COME PLAY @ SOLUS, SU Solus’s A-MAZING weekly club night is here once again and what better way to show your appreciation than showing your face?

Make the most of the weeks leading up to the Summer Ball by attending every darn SU night there is without fail!

9pm–2am, £3.50

(The Welsh Club), 11 Womanby Street 02920 232199 www.clwb.net ◆ Barfly, Kingsway, Tickets: 08709070999 www.barflyclub.com/cardiff ◆ MetIncognito, Park Place 02920 412190 ◆ Liquid, St. Mary Street 02920645464 ◆ The Philharmonic, 76-77 St. Mary Street 02920 230678 ◆ Café The Hayes 02920 878444 www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk ◆ Chapter Arts Centre, Market Road, Canton 02920 304400 www.chapter.org ◆ Wales Sherman Theatre, Senghennydd Road 02920 646900 www.shermantheatre.co.uk ◆ The Glee Club, Mermaid Quay 0870 2415093 www.glee.co.uk ◆ Greyfriar's Road 02920 391944 www.tigertiger.co.uk ◆ Tommy’s Bar, Howard Gardens (off Newport Road) 02920 416192 ◆

34 SPORT

MAY.04.2009 SPORT@gairrhydd.COM

VARSITY 2009

PHOTOS: NATALIA POPOVA & CHRISTINA MACKIE

SPORT 35

MAY.04.2009 SPORT@gairrhydd.COM

Not so fresh Richard Williams Sports Editor

CARDIFF Freshers .................12 SWANSEA Freshers ...............15 Cardiff fell to a defeat in the Freshers’ rugby Varsity game despite threatening to steal victory following a second half comeback.

Swansea won the match for the second year running largely thanks to a dominant forward pack and greater direction from the halves.

Cardiff struggled early on in gaining field position, with fly-half Harry Guy missing touch with three penalties in the first 10 minutes.

Swansea’s impressive full-back Nicholas McGowan slotted over a

twelth minute penalty to gain a deserved lead.

Just as Cardiff were finding their way back into the game, a kick over the top of the Swansea line was fielded and another attack was launched.

McGowan chipped the ball over the Cardiff defence and, as Dali Sulji misjudged his run and saw the ball bounce past him.

McGowan collected his kick and scored the first try to extend Swansea’s lead.

In the second half, Cardiff needed to find a way back into the game to prevent Swansea coasting to victory.

They did just that, with a try eight minutes in as Sam Hewitt intercepted a wayward Swansea pass to score an easy try.

After Guy’s conversion, Swansea’s

lead was cut to one point. Cardiff then took the lead when a five metre scrum saw Dan Lewis peel off and score out wide.

Swansea found the lead once again after a well built attack led to McGowan again scoring, forcing his way over in the right corner to give Swansea a 13-12 lead.

The conversion appeared to go over the top of the post, but the officials said it was successful, much to the anger of the Cardiff squad.

Harry Guy had the chance to level the scores with a penalty but pulled his kick agonisingly wide of the left post.

Despite a raft of attacks, Swansea held out and the full-time whistle signalled a euphoric pitch invasion and a deserved victory.

PHOTO: CHRISTINA MACKIE

Cardiff V Swansea

FRESHERS: Harry Guy kicks conversion

Varsity Shield: the results AMERICAN FOOTBALL LADIES’ BADMINTON LADIES' BASKETBALL MEN’S BASKETBALL CRICKET LADIES' FENCING MEN'S FENCING LADIES’ HOCKEY MEN’S HOCKEY LADIES' LACROSSE NETBALL ROWING LADIES’ RUGBY SAILING LADIES' SQUASH MEN'S SQUASH MEN'S TENNIS ULTIMATE FRISBEE LADIES' FOOTBALL MEN'S FOOTBALL MEN'S LACROSSE FRESHERS' MEN'S RUGBY LADIES' TENNIS MOUNTAINEERING MEN'S BADMINTON GOLF

CARDIFF............................... 52 - 0 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 8 - 0 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................. 108 - 33 ..........................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................... 81 - 60 ..........................SWANSEA CARDIFF.......................... BY 252 RUNS .....................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................. 135 - 84 ..........................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................. 134 - 110 ........................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 5 - 0 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 3 - 1 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................... 26 - 2 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................... 69 - 28 ..........................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 3 - 1 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................... 41 - 0 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................ BEAT ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 4 - 0 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 5 - 0 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................... 10 - 0 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................... 13 - 2 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 1 - 2 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF........................... 1 - 1 (9-10 PENS) ...............SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 5 - 7 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................... 12 - 15 ..........................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 4 - 6 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF............................. 468 - 429 ........................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 4 - 4 ............................SWANSEA CARDIFF................................. 3 - 3 ............................SWANSEA

36 SPORT

MAY.04.2009 SPORT@gairrhydd.COM

HOCKEY: Good ball skills

Proctor's orders Will James Hockey Reporter CARDIFF Men's 1sts.................3 SWANSEA Men's 1sts...............1 CARDIFF MEN'S hockey first team

Net gain Lucy Morgan Netball Reporter AFTER LAST year's victory Cardiff were looking to maintain their form and keep their hands on the Varsity title.

Following the last few weeks of dedicated Varsity training, the team were looking calm and confident before the match.

Captain Carly Allchurch predicted a fast-paced match and hoped for a high scoring Cardiff win of 60-20 - a very ambitious statement of intent.

Cardiff got off to a decisive start with some aggressive marking and a succession of quick goals, ending the first quarter with a substantial lead of 17-8.

Although the Swansea following outnumbered the home crowd, Cardiff did not succumb to the pressure. This dramatically contrasted to the Swansea side who were unable to deal with the accelerated speed of the game.

As the match progressed Cardiff kept up the pace, wearing down the Swansea defence and continuing to build on their early lead. The Cardiff GA and GS worked extremely well together and consistently made the most of their numerous opportunities.

Cardiff maintained strength in the attack and Swansea were unable to match the skill of the home team. With the small but vocal home crowd supporting them all the way the Cardiff girls cruised to a 69-28 victory.

overcame a resilient Swansea performance with a 3-1 victory at the Talybont astroturf pitch.

After an even first 30 minutes ended on the two sides level, two goals either side of half time from Jamie Longstreet and a second from Huw Proctor sealed the victory for Cardiff.

The match had promised much in the build-up owing to the fierce rivalry between the two clubs, but failed to ignite out on the pitch.

Cardiff began as strong favourites with higher a BUCS ranking and the home advantage. Despite this, the opening exchanges were nervy as both teams misplaced passes in all areas of the pitch.

As nerves began to settle, Cardiff looked to exert their technical superiority with some mazy dribbling in the final third. Swansea remained resolute in their defence and relied on men behind the ball to stop the fast breaks from Gavin Vollmer and Martyn White.

It was Cardiff who broke the deadlock with a superb solo effort from Proctor. Having blocked a well-hit Swansea pass from short range the first-year striker dribbled down the wing, past two stranded defenders and punched a shot into the bottom right hand corner.

The elation was short lived, however. A high aerial ball isolated the Cardiff defence and when Swansea fired a ball across the deserted area there was little Cannock could do to stop a well-placed shot from finding

the back of the net.

Cardiff looked to regain the advantage, and Swansea replied with some stout defending that sometimes bordered on the cynical. Vollmer in particular was singled out for some bruising treatment as he attempted to run rings around a flat-footed defence.

On the stroke of half-time defender Jamie Longstreet put Cardiff back in front with a well executed drag-flick that clipped a Swansea stick and crawled across the line.

If the match was still in the balance at that stage, Proctor struck again just after half-time to swing it firmly back in Cardiff's favour. Some superb linkup play between Proctor and White ended with a thumping reverse-stick strike past a helpless Swansea keeper.

As the clock ran down Cardiff had several missed chances and some brave work from the Swansea back line prevented Cardiff from increasing the winning margin.

“I think we played well,” said twogoal hero Proctor speaking after the game. “It was pretty frantic at the beginning with the crowd and everything, but once we got into it in the second half it was good.”

Rapid execution Alasdair Robertson Sport Editor CARDIFF Ladies' 1sts................5 SWANSEA Ladies' 1sts..............0 CARDIFF WOMEN'S hockey team continued their dominance of the Welsh Varsity competition with a resounding 5-0 victory over their west Wales rivals at a sunny Talybont on Wednesday.

The pre-match atmosphere was electric as the visitors brought a wealth of support to rival the hosts’ fans.

The expectant Cardiff crowd were not made to wait long for the first goal of the game as Pip Tanner opened the scoring inside the opening minute.

A great ball in from wide out on the right flank by captain Amy Bowring gave Tanner the chance to lift it over the onrushing keeper and give the hosts the perfect start.

The match continued in unbelievable fashion as Cardiff doubled their advantage before the clock struck two minutes with Beth Stevens firing home from a penalty corner.

Co-captain Nat Blyth’s precise delivery combined with a well worked move straight off the training field created the opportunity and Stevens did not disappoint, deflecting the ball home off the keeper.

In only the third minute Cardiff held an incredible lead as Angharad Griffiths fired a spectacular reverse stick effort into the top left hand corner from the edge of the D. With the game won inside five minutes the Swans looked utterly dejected and showed no sign of the quality they needed to trouble the host’s defence.

With Cardiff so far ahead the rest of the first half had petered out as the home team looked content to dominate both territory and possession with Swansea wasting the ball when rarely in control.

The second half continued in the PHOTO: NATALIA POPOVA

PHOTO: NATALIA POPOVA

VARSITY 2009

HOCKEY: Where's her stick?

same vein as the visitors now looked more able to cope with the home side's attack, yet offered nothing going forward.

Midway through the second period Cardiff struck once more as Nat Blyth thundered her way into the D and powered past the helpless Boyle to leave the margin at four goals.

The lead was again increased shortly afterwards as the match drew towards a close. Carys Pudner bundled in a final goal to stretch the lead beyond last year's winning margin of 5-1, Sarah-Jane Vanstone trying to steal the goal as it rolled over the line with a spectacular dive to ensure the finish.

As the final whistle blew the hosts will have been thoroughly satisfied with a marvellous performance that underlined their status as Wales’ best university side.

Cardiff can be particularly satisfied with their clean sheet and obvious dominance throughout with captain Amy Bowring saying she was “very proud of such a professional, solid performance considering the pressure that surrounds the Varsity game.”

Club chairwoman Rachel Clayton added: “I am very proud of the girls and the great support they received today. We couldn’t have asked for anything more from players and supporters alike.”

FRISBEE: War faces on

Friller Simon Lucey Frisbee Reporter

CARDIFF Men's 1sts...............13 SWANSEA Men's 1sts...............2 CARDIFF FRISBEE team entered this year's Varsity competition with high hopes of maintaining their dominance over Swansea once again.

A mixture of old hats and inexperienced youngsters gathered aiming to impress newly-chosen captain Chris Griggs-Trevarthen and they certainly did not fail, seeing off the visitors 13-2.

After a tentative start Cardiff ‘No Frills’ took a good lead with wellworked points from freshers Steve Miller and Tom Kelly who both proved to be impenetrable in their defence.

In near-perfect conditions at Pontcanna, Cardiff repeatedly sliced open the Swansea defence with their raw pace and lightning quick teamwork.

Swansea’s team showed moments of promise, which largely centred around the talismanic Owain Richardson in the middle of the park, who was responsible for their second point, a stunning pitch-length disc to Hwyel Mathews who got free in the end zone.

However they could not stop the clinical finishing by Cardiff and the match quickly turned into a whitewash.

New vice-captain Neil Hargreaves was pleased with his team’s performance after the game: ‘It’s great that a fairly new team combined to see off Swansea so easily, and that we have been able to be part of such a successful Varsity.’

38 SPORT

MAY.04.2009 SPORT@gairrhydd.COM

VARSITY 2009 CARDIFF 1. Aled Mason: Started the game well with some solid carries and ruthless scrummaging, but an unlucky late sin-binning marred a good evening.

gair rhydd's Josh Pettitt rates Cardiff and Swansea players from this year's Varsity Cup match...

7

2. Aaron Fowler (Capt): After a few nervous jitters at the lineout, he established himself with some big hits and settled a squiffy Cardiff scrum.

SWANSEA TOTAL: 89/150

CARDIFF TOTAL: 98/150

8

5

1

6

2

3

6

6 6

6

4

7. Mike Winter: Strong carrying, but was shaded by his opposite number in the battle of the breakdown.

7. Gareth Beer: Squandered a scoring opportunity with indiscipline. Provided a good link between forwards and backs. A bristling presence in the contact area.

5

6

6

8. Stephen Chappell: A woeful evening, regularly spilling the ball in contact. Outmuscled and outthought.

4

5

7

9. Mark Schropfer: Bossed his forwards well and punched above his weight in contact.

8

7

6

9

11. Bret Chatwin: One good foray deep into Swansea’s half apart, he looked timid and didn’t come looking for work.

6 7

11. Mike Weadon: The speedster looked dangerous when the ball reached him - which was rare.

10

5

9. Aled Lewis: Quick from the base and some well-placed box kicks initially kept Cardiff honest around the fringes.

10. Robert Evans: Came into his own as the game went on. Was Swansea’s only threat in the latter stages when their back line capitulated.

9

10. Cameron Pimlow: Looked dangerous in broken play and sunk his two drop goals with aplomb.

A match-winning performance.

7

12. Sam Soul: Solid defence and ponderous with ball in hand. Did little of note.

12. Tom Cooper: The bedrock of the team. Uncompromising in defence and drove up the middle to give Cardiff forward momentum.

8

5

12

11

6

13. Gil Dudson: Lacklustre performance. Looked slow and often found himself isolated out wide.

Ruined Swansea’s last throw of the dice.

4

14. David Evans: Out of position and it showed. Didn’t have the pace to threaten Cardiff in attack and was forced inside to compensate.

13

14. Ieuan Coombes: Cardiff’s most dangerous back with ball in hand with a few incisive breaks and was unlucky to be held up short.

8

6

5. Sam Williams: Go-to man at the lineout and put himself about in the loose.

6. Lloyd Bickle: A few moments of indiscipline aside, Swansea’s hard man made telling dents in Cardiff’s back line.

5. Joe Caunt: Stuttered at the start in a struggling Cardiff pack, but stole a crucial lineout in the closing stages.

15. Codey Rees: Solid at the back and kicked an important penalty to keep Cardiff in touching distance in the first half.

6

4. Ciaran Ruddock: Failed to impose himself and was often sent reeling in the tackle.

4. Tom P. Ellis: Energetic ball carrier, but a sin-binning robbed him of his fervour and he faded as the game progressed.

13. Harri Morgan: Quiet in the early stages, but his pass almost put Coombes away for a score.

2. Rhys Lawrence (Capt): Accurate throwing and solid carrying.

He led from the front.

6

5

8. Nic Huntley: Poor awareness from the base of the scrum cost his backs good attacking ball.

8

3. Carl Acklan: Made a nuisance of himself around the fringes.

Ran out of steam in the closing stages.

3. Jake Cooper: Conceded three penalties to gift Swansea territory in the first half. Dominated throughout by Littlehales.

6. Lee Bray: Solid if not spectacular. Did his basics well, but failed to make his presence felt.

SWANSEA 1. David Littlehales: Played well in an unfamiliar position, making Cooper’s life hell at scrum-time.

Irrepressible in the loose.

14

15

5

15. Christian Evans: A few magical touches here and there from the Swansea livewire, but even this bright spark could not ignite a dull back line.

8

SPORT 39

MAY.04.2009 SPORT@gairrhydd.COM

Cardiff V Swansea

A drop of magic

Fly-half Cameron Pimlow kicked two drop goals in the final minutes to edge out Swansea in the Varsity showcase A PACKED house at the Arms Park witnessed the first back-toback Varsity Rugby victories in years as Cardiff produced a gritty second half fight-back to down the pre-match favourites.

With the Varsity Shield already won before kick-off it was pride that was a stake on Wednesday evening as both sides tore into one another from the off.

The noticeably bigger Cardiff team began in steady fashion as they exploited some poor tactical kicking from Swansea outside-half Robert Evans that gave Cardiff useful field position, yet they managed to spoil the advantage through a lack of discipline at the breakdown, several players going off their feet.

Indeed, Cardiff’s ill discipline should have cost them five minutes in when they were penalised at the scrum. With the penalty fairly central and just outside the 22 Swansea looked odds on to take an early lead.

However, the green and white’s openside was spotted punching the Cardiff prop by the touch judge whilst the scrum was still in progress and the penalty was reversed.

The first 10 minutes carried on in the same scrappy manner with neither side able to hang on to possession for a prolonged period of time. Cardiff captain Aaron Fowler was warned for his side’s poor discipline at the breakdown after their fifth penalty offence in 10 minutes.

The first real action of the game came on the 15-minute mark as Swansea’s Mike Weadon showed great speed to outpace Harry Morgan and break into the Cardiff 22 with a chip over the top which Cardiff’s Codey Rees spilled forward. Cardiff were also dealt another blow as star insidecentre Tom Cooper was forced off the field with a nasty-looking blood injury.

The hosts’ indiscipline again came back to haunt them as they conceded yet another penalty just outside the 22, and Evans duly obliged to add the three points and put his side into the lead.

Swansea began to assert their ascendancy after getting themselves on the scoreboard, putting pressure on

Cardiff University XV..............9 Swansea University XV........6

PHOTO: CHRISTINA MACKIE

Alasdair Robertson Sports Editor

both Cardiff set pieces with Swansea’s David Littlehales performing particularly well in the scrum.

This platform yielded yet more points for the visitors as they attacked once more and Cardiff were again unable to stay on their feet at the ruck resulting not only in another three points but also in a yellow card for Cardiff lock Kieran Ruddock. In the resulting ten minutes Cardiff clung on and managed to hold the gap to the visitors at six points and just prior to Ruddock’s return the game witnessed the first streaker after 35 minutes.

With Cardiff now back up to their full complement they began to look more assured in the remaining five minutes of the half and had the best try scoring opportunities when camped in their opponents' 22.

DROP IT LIKE ITS HOT: Pimlow drops for Varsity glory

However, some poor handling and decision making led to a skewed drop goal attempt by the otherwise composed Cameron Pimlow.

When half time finally arrived the visitors held the lead but had thus far failed to threaten the Cardiff try line.

Swansea had perhaps used their possession more effectively than the Cardiff side that had all too often taken the ball into contact when there was space aplenty out wide.

After the usual half time entertainment Cardiff looked to continue their ascendency in the second period and gained an immediate territorial advantage through some astute kicking from the assured Pimlow.

After a poor clearance from Swansea full back Christian Evans, who otherwise had a fine game, Cardiff

had a great attacking platform. Some strong running from the Cardiff backline, in particular from inside centre Cooper and winger Coombes, broke the gain line and culminated in Swansea indiscipline.

The replacement scrum half, Matthew Hankin, handled on the floor, giving Cardiff a chance to score their first points of the game.

With the penalty within easy kicking distance of the posts full back Rees slotted the attempt to register the hosts on the scoreboard.

Cardiff immediately went on the attack again and came close as they created the best try-scoring opportunity of the game when Mark Schropfer charged down his opposite number’s clearance but could not quite stretch far enough to score the vital try that

would have put Cardiff ahead.

Swansea did respond and mounted some good attacks, largely centred around the play of their talented full back, yet failed to gain a foothold in the host’s 22 and never really looked like crossing the white-wash.

Cardiff shot themselves in the foot twice more in the remaining 20 minutes with two further yellow cards, but still looked the more threatening of the two sides as they abandoned their policy of keeping it tight and played a little more expansively, stretching the Swansea defence.

As they threatened more the visitors resorted to slowing down the ball illegally at the ruck, and the resulting penalties gave Cardiff greater control of territory as they began to play the game in the right areas of the field.

Eventually, the pressure told and some intense pressure from Cardiff in the Swansea 22 resulted in a scrum.

Cameron Pimlow stepped up to drop the goal that pulled the scores level at 6-6.

With only 10 minutes to go both sides looked tense and the play became fractured as the focus moved from winning the game to not losing it.

However, with only minutes to spare, man of the match Pimlow again stepped up and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck to kick the winning points under immense pressure from the onrushing Swansea defence.

The inexperienced fresher showed great composure in the game’s decisive moment as the Cardiff defence stood strong and held out for the remaining minutes to score a famous victory.

It may not have been the prettiest of victories but the gritty nature of the performance outlined Cardiff’s determination to end the season on a high note.

Captain Aaron Fowler remarked upon the performance: "I can't believe it. [We've won] twice in a row now, for the first time in the University's history. I'm made up; it's the best day of my life." Head coach Martin Fowler also added: "Cameron Pimlow, the fresher at 10 was outstanding. To have that composure at his age is exceptional."

One thing that both men will have agreed on is that Cardiff were the hungrier of the two sides, and although it was at times ugly, they most certainly deserved their win.

Sport gairrhydd

INSIDE: Full round up of Cardiff's Varsity victory, with indepth coverage of the rugby from Cardiff Arms Park

VARSITY SHIELD RESULT: CARDIFF 18-6 SWANSEA

VICTORY

GAIR RHYDD AND QUENCH MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY UNIVERSITY UNION CARDIFF, PARK PLACE, CARDIFF CF10 3QN n REGISTERED AS A NEWSPAPER AT THE POST OFFICE n GAIR RHYDD RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT ALL CONTRIBUTIONS n THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE PUBLISHERS nGAIR RHYDD IS WRITTEN, DESIGNED, TYPESET AND OUTPUT BY STUDENTS OF CARDIFF UNIVERSITYn "I DANCED INFRONT OF HIM AND CALLED HIM A CUNT"n VIOLENCE OF THE LAMB nEMMA JONES GETS HER CLUG OUTnJOSH HAD HIS KNOB CHEWED OFFn LADBROKES STOPS TAKING BETS ON SPORTS FOR BEST SECTIONn THUNDER COULD HAVE PLAYED FOR ENGLAND...IF HE DIDN'T HAVE LITTLE LEGS, WASN'T SKINNY, DIDN'T WEAR GLASSES AND COULD RUN PROPERLYnLIZ WRAY: "IM SOOOOO TIRED, I'VE BEEN SITTING IN A BOAT ALL DAY"nBEN BRYANT: GAIR RHYDD'S VERY OWN WILLY WONKAnBLUE BAR=JOCK BARnLEEEEROY!