gair rhydd
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CARDIFF'S STUDENT WEEKLY
ISSUE 900 JUNE 08 2009
THE 900TH EDITION OF CARDIFF UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
PLUS QUENCH GOES
inside:
jo brand
GLOSSY
WITH FRIENDLY FIRES, our first ethical living supplement KILLA KELLA & MORE
+ the de to su mm er fin itive Guide festivals '09
confessio
n box:
"writing no vels is a gr eat excuse stay in an to d not get dressed"
your sord id truths revealed!
"We're jus t striving to create th e perfect pop song "
FRIENDLY F IRES
40 THIEVES Sent to
IMAGE: BBC
Purgatory Eleanor Joslin News Editor
Huge police operation leads to arrest of dozens of crooks who target student properties Emma Barlow News Editor A police operation that resulted in the arrests of more than 40 people will spell good news for students. Police in Cardiff arrested more than 40 people over a 24-hour period between midnight on Wednesday May 27 and midnight on Thursday May 28. South Wales Police launched the
intelligence-led and forensicbacked Operation Jaguar to arrest as many criminals as possible. Police Liason officer for the University, Bob Koehane, said that the arrests of these criminals will be especially beneficial to students as it is the areas and houses in which students live, including Cathays which is the “busiest place in Cardiff for burglaries,” and is particularly targeted by thieves. He said: “While these people are in custody and going before courts
we will hopefully quickly see a reduction in crime against students.” Chief Inspector Marc Lewis, who led Thursday’s day of action, described it as a great success: “I firmly believe that these arrests will have a significant impact on the city in reducing crimes such as robbery and burglary. continued on page 3
Cardiff University has distanced itself from Father John Owen, one of the University chaplains, since gair rhydd published controversial comments that he made live on television in May. The University has removed the chaplain’s profile from their website and has stated, “No chaplains are employed by Cardiff University”. Following last week’s article, a University spokesperson issued a statement which declared: “Cardiff University is a secular organisation that does not require or promote religious belief in general or any religious belief in particular. No chaplains are employed by Cardiff University. “The opinions expressed by Father John Owen, one such chaplain, during the BBC’s Big Questions on Sunday May 24, are his own personal opinions, independent of Cardiff University, and in no way reflect the views and beliefs of the institution.” In relation to the recently published
Ryan report, which revealed that sexual abuse is prevalent within Irish Catholic industrial schools and orphanages that are run by the Church, Father John Owen stated live on television that “most of the offences are being committed by homosexuals”. He continued: “Stick to the facts: the vast majority of the abuse cases in the country – certainly in America – were not taken against what I would call children but 95 per cent of the time taken against teenage boys. Now what does that tell you?” The spokesperson also said: “The University aims to establish an inclusive culture free from discrimination and based on the values of dignity, courtesy and respect. The University recognises the right of every person to be treated in accordance with these values. “Such an environment cannot be created or sustained if staff or students are subject to any type of discrimination because of their faith, religious affiliation, philosophical beliefs or non-belief, sexual orientation or any other aspect of their identity.”
gr NEWS
We round up the year in our annual review >>page 10
gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
Smashing fun
'Drunken prank' fails to amuse as revellers smash window of student house Both the Law student and her PHOTO: ELEANOR JOSLIN
02 NEWS
FEATURES 900 issues of gair rhydd: a milestone >>page 21
The window on Thesiger Street which was smashed in the middle of the night
Eleanor Joslin News Editor
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UNIVERSITY CHAPLAIN IN TELEVISED FAUX PAS - Emma Barlow
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NOW SHOWING AT
After a recycling bag smashed through a bedroom window, terrifying a Cardiff Law student, the response of the police was “literally useless”, claimed witnesses. At 4am on Thursday June 4, two drunken men hurled a recycling bag full of glass bottles and sharp tins through the ground floor window of 31 Thesiger Street, where the secondyear Law student had been sleeping.
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a night out when she heard a “massive smash and a girl screaming and screaming” from down the road. Stacey then phoned the police but was put on hold for three minutes and 50 seconds. When they eventually turned up 15 minutes later, the two men had long since run off, in different directions, and the police said that it was “nothing to do with us” reported Stacey. She said: “The police were literally useless. I was gob-smacked at how little they helped and the girl was obviously really shaken up.”
Business exam blunder Students find answers on back of exam paper Emma Barlow & Emma Jones News Editors
Street Date: The Date team hit the streets to find one lovely lady a very lucky man
She wishes to remain anonymous ,but told gair rhydd how scared she was, mistaking the recycling bag for a burglar: “I jumped out of my skin and my first reaction was to scream and my first instinct was to get out of my room as quickly as possible. I just didn’t expect it at all. “I heard them run away laughing like it was a drunken prank but they obviously just did not think of the consequences.” Stacey Prince, a first-year Business Management student at Cardiff University, was walking home from
housemates agreed: “The police were really unhelpful and they said that it wasn’t really their responsibility.” Despite this, she also said that the police may have caught one of the men soon after the incident but she has not yet been contacted to identify him. Her housemate, Jo, a second-year Marine Geography student, told gair rhydd that their pyjama-clad neighbours and passers-by were much more helpful at the time. One neighbour even cut his hand on the broken glass as he helped to board it up with empty recycling bags. Her other housemate, Sam, a second-year Social Policy and Criminology student, said that he woke up to the screams: “The whole window was smashed with huge pieces of glass all over the floor and her bed. The bag wasn’t that heavy so they must have thrown it with quite a bit of force. “Luckily the blinds stopped the bag from falling through onto her bed,” he added. The shocked Law student has since gone home as she does not feel safe in her house in Cardiff any more: “The neighbours were really helpful and taped up the window but I didn’t feel safe after that so I’ve moved all my stuff home to keep it safe.” After the incident, Stacey, who lives nearby, did not feel safe in her ground floor bedroom either. She said: “They had no motive, it was just a bit of banter for them and they ran off laughing but I don’t think it was funny at all. It must have been horrible for her.”
Second-year Business Management students were left disappointed after an unexpected error occurred on their exam paper. The students sitting the Logistics exam on Thursday May 21 found that instead of a set of data which students were expecting to use during the exam, the answers to one of the sections were contained in the appendix. It was after an hour into the exam when an invigilator announced that section A was void and that students should answer two questions from section B, instead one from each section as planned.
But a second-year student who was in the exam said that section B was undoubtedly the more difficult of the two sections. “Some hideous questions came up in section B,” he said. “Everyone was just really disappointed because section B was definitely the harder section.” Another student sitting the exam said: “It’s a bit unfair. Some of us had done more work on section A - I personally found that section easier and it is quite a difficult subject anyway.” The exam gave students 22 topics to revise. One student on the module said that a preferable situation would be to change the current weighting of 30 percent coursework, 70 percent exam to depend more heavily on the
coursework. Mistakes have also been made elsewhere. In a Human Resources exam held on Friday May 22 in City Hall, students were subject to a mid-exam lecture from one invigilator after a girls’ mobile phone went off. They were given no extra time at the end of the exam to make up for it. This is not the first time the University has come under fire from students for the lack of protocol for when things go wrong in exams. gair rhydd reported last month about the chaos that ensued after a power cut left students sitting their exams in the Great Hall in darkness. Mistakes contained within exam papers is no new thing either, the printing of answers in question book-
lets made headlines in gair rhydd in 2007 when medicine students were told to leave their exam half-way through. This time it was because some last minute photocopying meant some students received the answers in their question booklets. These students were required to sit the exam a couple of days later regardless of whether they received answers or not. The second-year Business Management students sitting the module have not yet been told what is going to happen about their marks but have been told that the Business school will be in touch. As gair rhydd went to print, nobody from the University was available to comment.
NEWS 1 EDITORIAL & OPINION 13 COLUMNIST 16 POLITICS 17 LETTERS 20 FEATURES 26 SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT 30 JOBS & MONEY 31 FIVE MINUTE FUN 33 LISTINGS 34 SPORT 37
NEWS 03
gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
Debating Society's toxic asset Sponsors of University's Debating Society involved with controversial trial over toxic waste dumped in Africa
Eleanor Joslin News Editor Controversial allegations of bribery surround Macfarlane solicitors, who sponsor Cardiff University Debating Society’s annual Inter-Varsity event and who are the legal representatives involved in Britain’s biggest ever group lawsuit. The Debating Society's membership includes some members of the Students' Union executive, including Ethical and Environmental Officer Sam Knight. Macfarlanes has been accused of underhand behaviour, including bribing key witnesses and claimants, before the trial of their client, multi-national oil trading company Trafigura, has even started. Trafigura will stand trial for allegedly poisoning thousands of inhabitants in the Ivory Coast, When asked about her opinion concerning the allegations, Vicky Jones, President of the Debating Society, said: “I don’t want to jeopardise our relationship with Macfarlanes by speaking out against them, especially on a
topic I haven’t even heard of and is nothing to do with the Debating Society. I don’t see how we are connected.” She continued: “I would have opinions but I’m not willing to say what they are. We would lose a massive amount of money and they have been fantastic sponsors.” Three years ago Trafigura allegedly dumped toxic waste in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s largest city, and since then up to 100,000 people have become ill, suffering from burns around their ears, nose and throat area and 16 people have died. Due to this, 30,000 Abidjanis are now suing them for personal injury and damages. British-based Trafigura still maintain that the waste was merely ‘slops’ of dirty water but an official analysis indicates that it contained approximately two tonnes of extremely toxic hydrogen sulphide. Their lawyers, Carter Ruck, issued a statement saying: “Trafigura’s position was the slops did not and cannot have caused the deaths and widespread illnesses which have been al-
leged.” However, Macfarlanes solicitors, who also represent them, have been accused of attempting to change the statements of key witnesses. N’dja Jean Sebastien Bou, one of the claimants, has revealed that he had been flown on a pre-paid business class flight from Ivory Coast to Morroco, stayed at a luxury hotel, was interviewed extensively over two days by Simon Nurney, a partner at Macfarlanes and was offered money to alter his statement. A spokesperson for Macfarlanes denied any wrongdoing: “Macfarlanes has valid and exceptional legal reasons for agreeing to meet the individual. “There was (and is) evidence that fraudulent and exaggerated claims were being made against our client. We therefore had the right, and indeed duty, to investigate by interviewing the claimants.” When Vicky became aware of the allegations against the Society’s InterVarsity event sponsors, who provide
them w i t h £1,500 of funding, she said: “I’m under the impression that it’s just accusations. “Our situation could possibly be different if they are prosecuted and found guilty but it isn’t really anything to do with the Society.” Students' Union President-Elect Eddy Carey, Chair of the Debating Society, said that the Society is not under any obligation to be sponsored by Macfarlanes every year and that their financial arrangement is not even confirmed for next year’s event. He said: “It’s in the Debating Society’s best interests to see what the outcome of the case is.” Earlier this year, an injunction was issued which banned Trafigura and their representatives from contacting any of the claimants and the trial against Trafigura has been scheduled to begin in October. At the time gair rhydd went to print, Sam Knight was unavailable for comment.
Operation Jaguar makes Cathays safer Continued from front page “I hope this will reassure the community that officers are out on the streets being proactive and arresting criminals in order to keep Cardiff safe.” The majority of those arrested committed offences such as burglary,
car theft and drug offences – including that of a 53-year-old man from Butetown who was arrested and charged with supplying cannabis after CID detectives from Fairwater noticed suspicious activity in Bute Street. A 20-year-old man was also arrested by Rumney CID and charged with robbery, two house burglaries
and stealing from two vehicles. A further 38 arrests took place for a variety of offences including criminal damage, death by dangerous driving, going equipped for burglary, shoplifting and failing to appear at court. Others arrested included a 19-yearold man from Cathays was charged with theft by after being photographed
breaking into a police capture car, and a 20-year-old man who was charged with robbery, two house burglaries and stealing from two vehicles. CI Lewis added: “It was particularly pleasing that we succeeded in arresting one of Cardiff’s most prolific car criminals from Cathays after he broke into one of our capture cars. ”
A sustainable step forward? Sarah Powell News Editor Cardiff’s commitment to sustainability is to be taken a step further with the roll-out of its Environmental Management System on the Cathays Campus. The system has been in place at the Heath Park Campus for a number of years and is a formal approach to identifying all environmental impacts arising from University activities, allowing for controls and monitoring to be put into place to manage the most significant effects. A pilot system, launched in May 2009 and funded by Higher Education Funding Council Wales will now explore the best ways to extend this to the Cathays campus. The pilot will test the most effective methods of rolling out the system by looking at implementation in one Directorate and two academic Schools. Following this, a full implementation plan for remaining the Schools and Directorates will be established. Vice-Chancellor, Dr David Grant said: “The University recognises its responsibilities and potential to create a sustainable future, demonstrated in the research and teaching that we undertake and the principles of sustainable development that we pursue. “The implementation of the Environmental Management System furthers our sustainability aims and will help ensure the entire campus is effectively evaluating and controlling its impact on the environment.” The aims of the system include reducing waste, the efficient use of energy and water and utilising resources in a sustainable manner, all of which focus on combating wider issues such as climate change. Cardiff has already introduced a number of sustainable measures including a network of Eco Champions across the Schools to promote sustainability issues and a lift share scheme for staff. Full details of the University’s commitment to sustainability, including the roll-out of the system, can be found at http://www.cf.ac.uk/ sustainability
04 NEWS POLITICS What to do with North Korea? >>page 19
gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
Good times, bad times
Cardiff sees a slight improvement in The Times's tables, but lags behind in research ratings Emma Jones News editor
C
ardiff University has risen three places in The Times’s Good University Guide for
FEATURES
Binge drinking: could you neck 2,403kcal? >>page 28
2010. The University came 26th out of 114 institutions for the academic year 2009/10, compared to 29th in 2009/09. Student satisfaction for Cardiff came in at 77 percent, based on scores from the 2007 and 2008 National Student Survey. Completion of courses came in at a respectable 92.4 percent but the percentage of students achieving ‘Good Honours’, which is defined as a 2:1 or a First, was just 66.8. The University’s overall score in 2009 was 630, but for 2010 fell slightly to 628. In 2008 Cardiff's score was 658. This year's number one rated institution, Oxford University, achieved 1000 points in comparison. gair rhydd (Issue 897) recently reported that, in the league tables released by The Guardian, Cardiff University had dropped down 11 places between 2008 and 2009. Similarly,
figures from The Independent stated that Cardiff had gone down in the rankings, from 27th in 2008 to 37th in 2009. However, the figures from The Guardian rated student satisfaction at Cardiff at 86 percent – a nine percent increase on The Times’s figure. In The Times's world university rankings released last year, gair rhydd (Issue 877) reported that Cardiff had slipped 34 places, losing its position as one of the top 100 universities worldwide. In these most recent figures from The Times, Cardiff came well below many other Russell Group universities, considered to be the leading UK institutions, including Exeter, Bristol and Warwick. Of the 20 Russell Group universities, defined as research-intensive universities, only Queen's Belfast scored lower than Cardiff in the research quality ranking. Some of the big achievers included Bath, Exeter, Leicester and Edinburgh. For a detailed look at the individual subject tables for each institution visit http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/ tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php
Times rankings for Cardiff 2009
2010
29th
26th
Guardian rankings for Cardiff 2009
2010
33rd
44th
Independent rankings for Cardiff 2009
2010
37th
36th
NEWS 05
gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
Ambushed on the way home
‘It was the sight of blood and the not knowing where it had come from that concerned me the most – I knew I had to get away.’ Emma Barlow News Editor A third-year Sociology student had a frightening walk home last week when a drunken man covered in blood approached him. The student, who wished to remain anonymous, had just left a friend's house on Glynrhondda Street at midnight on Saturday May 30 when the man, who was large in build and was dressed only in cargo shorts, approached him and grabbed him by the hand. Talking to gair rhydd the student explained: “He stopped me to ask where I was going. Being the friendly person I am I replied, next thing I know he had grabbed my hand and said I had to go with him and knock on the door of a house further down the street.” The third-year stated that the man was extremely drunk and varied the volume of his voice between mumbling and shouting and was, therefore, very difficult to understand. He was gripping the Cardiff student's hand hard and was acting extremely aggressively. “He took me to the front of this house and told me he wanted me to
THREATENED: A Cardiff student was told to beat up a stranger
beat up the guy inside. “I said I didn't want to get involved, but he kept threatening me. This went on for a couple of minutes when I realised we weren't getting anywhere so just thought I would knock on the door and then try to get away. “When nobody answered I just told him I was going, he threatened me again but I just kept saying that it was nothing to do with me. During this I looked at my hand, it was covered in blood that was definitely not mine. “It was the sight of blood and the not knowing where it had come from that concerned me the most – I knew I had to get away.” On the deserted street the thirdyear realised he needed to escape and managed to convince the man that he needed to see a friend and made it back into a house near by. After some time he felt it would be safe to walk home: “When I left to go home he was there waiting for me. He shouted at me twice then started to jog towards me, so I just bolted!” “It was the first time in Cardiff that I've really felt uneasy and unsafe. I'm not a stacked meathead looking to fight his way out, so I just tried to reason with him because I had no desire or reason to be involved.”
Students plan 1,000 mile charity trip
Four final-year students expect to complete their trip from Plymouth to St Tropez in just two weeks next month Mark Barton Reporter Four final-year students are planning to cycle from Plymouth to St. Tropez next month to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Cardiff University students Mark Barton, Sam Wooderson, Stuart Jolley and Will Bardy will set off from Plymouth on Thursday July 23 and hope to complete the roughly 1,000 mile journey to St.Tropez in just under two weeks - equating to a punishing 70 miles every day. Team leader Will Bardy said: “I consider myself to be a very fortunate person and I have immensely enjoyed my time at university in Cardiff. I feel that this trip with my friends could really make a difference. “I'm planning this bike ride so I can raise enough money to make an impact and change the lives of people less fortunate. “Cancer Research is something which we all feel passionate about as a team, and although this bike ride will
be a great test it will also be great fun and all for a great cause.” The team is currently fundraising and training for the cycle. Team fitness instructor Stuart Jolley explained how the cycle will be a serious test of physical strength: “It will be a huge challenge, a great adventure, and will no doubt cause us all a tremendous amount of pain to our arses! We’ve all started training hard now our exams are out the way.” As well as training hard physically, the team is also planning several fundraising initiatives to raise money for the cycle ranging from campaigning on Facebook, writing to businesses, and waxing their chests and legs. Teammate Sam Wooderson said: “The leg wax is going to be very painful but should prove awesome for generating donations, but it’s also necessary to minimise wind resistance for the cycle itself.” To sponsor the team and show your support donate online at www.runningsponsorme.com/cyclefrance and join the facebook for updates and the team’s photo diary.
The boys are training intensively before their gruelling ride
06 NEWS
gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
Low results due to New research questions lazy alcohol and stress student stereotype
Daniella Graham Reporter A new survey commissioned by Diageo Great Britain has revealed that a combination of heavy drinking and high stress levels has caused students’ exam performance to plummet. In the survey, 22% of students admit to drinking more when feeling under pressure, and 67% claim that exams are the biggest cause of stress – more so than relationships and money worries. There are knock-on effects, as nearly half (48%) of all students admit to having missed a lecture or seminar after a heavy night out, while 46% reported that they were unable to revise
Do students have reason to be lazy? Steve Wright Reporter Students are often stereotyped as the laziest members of society, but new research has questioned the validity of this assumption. Professor Russell Foster, chairman of circadian neuroscience at Brasenose College, Oxford, has conducted a
series of tests and concluded that people aged 10 to 20 need about nine hours of sleep a night for full cognitive performance. He believes students perform better in the afternoon because their body clock is programmed about two hours later, possibly for hormonal reasons. Professor Foster said of the research: "There’s a biological predisposition for going to bed late and get-
ting up late. Clearly you can impose upon that even worse habits, but they are not lazy." He has stressed students should not over-indulge in sleep, but makes the suggestion that starting University days one hour later and placing more demanding subjects later in the day would reduce incidents of absenteeism and depression.
or study effectively the next day. The findings of the study point to widespread ignorance over what’s in their drinks, with just 24% of students being able to correctly identify the number of units in an alcoholic beverage. In order to combat this, Diageo is launching a new unit awareness campaign in student union bars across the UK, with beer mats, bar runners, pool balls and posters showing different drinks and their equivalent number of units. Ama Uzowuru, Vice-President of Welfare at NUS said: "These new unit awareness tools are a great way for students to identify exactly how much they are drinking so that they can make the most of their social life without compromising their studies."
UCU on collision course with government over immigration policy Adeniran Haastrup Reporter Academics at the University and College Union (UCU) conference in Bournemouth voted to boycott the reporting requirements under the governments new points based immigration system Under the government’s plans, universities are to be given a duty to monitor and report the absences of non-EU staff and students. T h e plans were introduced in order to help curb the number of illegal immigrants who come in posing as students. The academics, however, felt that the reporting requirements made
them Home Office snoopers and would damage the relationships between themselves and international students and staff members. Sally Hunt, General Secretary of the UCU, explained that members had principled moral objections to the proposals and the proposals would make them de facto border guards, which they were not. She went on to say that the union was committed to “non-compliance with all such policing and surveillance duties”. Miss Hunt had previously said "The Union’s protection of members
cannot extend to endorsing a breach of the law relating to the points-based system, or defending members who do so." A Home Office spokesman said "Educational institutions have a duty of care to all their students and checking that they are attending and making progress in their studies is part of that responsibility. The records we expect education providers to keep are those which most will keep for their own purposes anyway."
NEWS 07
gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
UNION WATCH
Eleanor Joslin rounds up the week in student media
Degrees 'depend on wealth not grades' BRISTOL EPIGRAM
Schools in Ilminster Avenue and Clifton, inset.
Teach terror suspects LIVERPOOL SPHINX Even terrorists have the right to an education, say 25 respected academics who want Liverpool Hope and Liverpool John Moores Universities to provide study material to arrested students. In April, four Pakistani students and six Pakistani men, who also had student visas, were arrested on terrorism charges after they were overheard discussing “something suspicious”. The academics all signed a letter urging the two Liverpool universities to help the students study for their exams as they had come to the UK to “better themselves educationally”. The letter continued: “We therefore call upon your institution to provide them with study material during the period of their incarceration [...] We urge you to liaise with the prison authorities to permit your students access to their course materials and make arrangements for them to be able to sit for their exams.” In May, the suspected terrorists were released from police custody
and were immediately served with orders for deportation. They are now appealing to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) to appeal against their deportation on grounds of national security. One of the signatories, Professor Jawed Siddiqi Sheffield Hallam University, explained he was “shocked at the level of secrecy surrounding SIAC.” He added: “The students’ lawyers do not have access to the intelligence the authorities hold on them. This is not natural justice.” Amrit Wilson, who is involved in a campaign that is fighting for justice on behalf of the students, disputed the claims that they had been discussing “something suspicious” and revealed that “they were talking about a wedding” rather than terrorism. Professor Siddiqi also said that the arrested men were “victims,” after it emerged that eight of them had been enrolled at a bogus college. Siddiqi said: “If they were conned by a bogus college, they should be treated as victims.” Their bail request has been refused and their next hearing is scheduled for July 27.
Bristol has astonishingly poor records for school leavers living in deprived areas going on to higher education. Independent research has revealed that less than five per cent of teenagers living in deprived areas such as Ilminster Avenue went on to university. In contrast, 99 per cent of teenagers living in the more affluent areas of Clifton, Cabot, Stoke Bishop and Cotham went to university and this is most likely due to the increasing expense of university, as households here have much higher incomes than those in Illminster
Avenue. David Willetts, Shadow Innovation, Universities and Skills Secretary, said: “These statistics reveal the scandal of low social mobility in Britain.” He continued: “Far too many school leavers from poorer backgrounds, who have similar aspirations to their wealthier peers, are not getting the opportunities they need to match their ambitions.” Both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats are using this information against the government, accusing them of failing to increase access to higher education for youngsters who may be financially disadvantaged, despite investing more than £2 billion per year. Willetts said: “Going to university should be about academic ability, not where you were born. Millions of pounds have been spent on widening access but we have not seen the results to match.” In addition, Stephen Williams, Bristol West MP and Liberal Democrat Universities spokesperson, has said: “The Government’s target is for 50
per cent of young people to go in to higher education and that is supposed to happen by next year, but obviously will not.” He did admit that “in Bristol, the ship has stopped sinking when it comes to schools” but added that it “hasn’t turned around yet”. Defending the government, John Denham, Skills Secretary, retaliated by saying: “Raising the aspirations of young people is vital to overturning the generations of disadvantage that affects some of our country’s young people. “And it is working. Our policy of fully funded expansion of higher education has seen by far the biggest increases in those going to university in the poorest constituencies in the country. “This year, the number of young people going to university from poorer backgrounds rose by 8 per cent, compared to a 3.8 per cent rise for those from more privileged backgrounds.”
Sexual hinder course OXFORD CHERWELL According to a survey carried out at Oxford University, history students are more promiscuous than those studying other subjects. Oxford’s student newspaper, Cherwell, surveyed 850 students on their sexual behaviour to find that historians are among some of the most sexually active students. Following closely behind were those studying politics, philosophy, economics and English Literature. They a l s o found that students who have sex once a month or less are most likely to get a first in their degree, while those who claimed to have a more active sex life are more likely to
achieve a 2:1 or a 2:2. The most promiscuous colleges at Oxford were found to be Somerville and New. University College apparently houses the highest proportion of virgins. The survey revealed some worrying attitudes towards sexual health: around half of respondents admitted to having unprotected sex but 59% said they had never been tested for an STI. Despite this, just 5% of students confessed to actually having contracted an STI. Sam Tucker, a spokesman for St Anne's College, said he thought that the reason for the relatively high number of students having unprotected sex could stem from ig-
norance about the risks. He said: "I think people sometimes don't realise the consequences of their actions. "If we make it easier for condoms to be accessible and to be obtained anonymously, then this number should drop."
08 NEWS Also in the news... Emma McFarnon Reporter
Great bulls of fire
Seven bulls exploded and caught fire last week, after power lines fell on a dairy farm in New Zealand. The incident happened north of Auckland at Wilks Road farm after a bracket broke, dropping live power lines into the paddock. The owner of the farm said he got a phone call from his father who was driving along the motorway, telling him his cows were exploding. Three bulls were electrocuted after the power lines fell, and another four were killed when they walked into the live area. A hedgehog was also killed.
Penilised A 25-year-old Egyptian man cut off his own penis to spite his family after he was refused permission to marry a girl from a lower class family. Police officials say the man heated up a knife and sliced off his reproductive organ last week, after unsuccessfully petitioning his father for two years to marry the girl. The young man came from a prominent family in Qena, one of Egypt’s poorest regions. Reports say he was rushed to hospital, but doctors were unable to reattach the severed organ.
gairrhydd | NEWS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
Reared by gay penguins A penguin chick has been adopted by two gay penguins in a zoo in Germany Charlotte Laken Reporter Two gay male penguins in a German Zoo have hatched a chick and are rearing it as its adoptive parents. The two Humboldt penguins, named Z and Vielpunkt, were given the egg after its biological parents rejected it. Z and Vielpunkt belong to a community of six “gay” penguins who live together in Bremerhaven Zoo in northern Germany. “Z and Vielpunkt, both males, gladly accepted their ‘Easter gift’ and got straight down to raising it,” said a statement from the Zoo. “Since the chick arrived, they have been behaving just as you would expect a heterosexual couple to do. The two happy fathers spend their days attentively protecting, caring for and feeding their adopted offspring.” Four females were previously flown in by the zoo in a bid to encourage the endangered penguins to reproduce. The scheme was quickly abandoned, however, after causing outrage
among gay rights activists, who accused the zoo of interfering with the animals’ behaviour. There have been previous reports of exclusive males-to-male pairings
Love bite
Gareth Ludkin Reporter New research from scientists has suggested that sharks can enjoy cuddles, learn to roll over and take food from their keepers much like dolphins. Recent experiments carried out in the US showed that some varieties of shark allowed themselves to be picked out of the water and cuddled by their trainers. Sea Life centres in the UK have started using the American technique of using coloured boards and sounds to make the moving and feeding of the animals a lot easier. The sharks learn from the sounds
and signals that the trainers employ to encourage the sharks to do what they want. Carey Duckhouse of the Sea Life centres in the UK praised the usefulness of the new techniques: “A shark answers its own sound and colour signal by putting its nose on a targetstick held by the trainer, and keeping it there until it receives food. “Some species, such as zebra sharks, will even roll over to have their tummies scratched or allow themselves to be lifted from the water without any kind of struggle.” The techniques may well be useful for the animals’ welfare, but trainers also have to be incredibly brave if they are to even contemplate hugging sharks.
our world do not necessarily have anything to do with reproduction.” Z and Vielpunkt are now happily rearing the chick, which is said to have reached four weeks old.
A curry a day... Emma Barlow News Editor
Tall order
A 10-year-old boy was refused a child's discounted meal at a Chinese restaurant in Gloucester because it said he was too tall. Ben Gardner was measured by staff at the Angel Chef restaurant and told he was 9cm too tall at 149cm and would have to pay full price. The restaurant said the height policy for children was introduced last year. The boys’ father Mr Gardner said: “After we finished we went up to pay and saw on the bill that they'd charged us for three adults and one child. When I disputed it, they showed us this height chart on the wall.”
among penguins, some of which have also included the rearing of chicks “Homosexuality is nothing unusual among animals,” said Bremerhaven zoo. “Just as sex and coupling up in
New research suggests that eating a curry once or twice a week could help prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The key ingredient is curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric, which appears to prevent the spread of amyloid protein plaques in the brain that are thought to be the cause of dementia. Professor Murali Doraiswamy, of Duke University in North Carolina, said that people who eat a curry meal two or three times a week have a lower risk of dementia. He said researchers were testing the impact of higher doses, about the equivalent of eating a curry every day for a week, to see if they could maximise the effect. Professor Doraiswamy told the meeting: “There is very solid evidence that curcumin binds to plaques, and basic research on animals engineered to produce human amyloid plaques has shown benefits. Professor Doraiswamy said a clinical trial was now underway at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to test curcumin's effects on real sufferers of Alzheimer's disease.” However, Rebecca Wood, of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, stressed that people would need to eat a lot of curry - over 100g of turmeric curry powder - to get a clinical dose of cur-
cumin. She said: “Professor Doraiswamy's unpublished research applies only to animal models. His hypothesis has not been confirmed in human clinical trials. “We look forward to the results of the human curcumin trial at UCLA.”
10 NEWS REVIEW
gairrhydd | FEATURES@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
We look back at the year that was... Quite an armful: students and University clash over investment
I
n November we revealed that the University was investing almost a quarter of a million pounds annually in arms companies. It caused a huge outcry among students, but the University insisted that the money was invested through external managers and so did not conflict with their ethical policies. However, after a two-day occupation of the Shandon lecture theatre by Cardiff Students Against War, the University caved in and agreed to divest in BAE Systems and the infrastructure arm of General Electric.
LEMMINGS!
A
lcohol and heights don't mix at the best of times. And despite the best efforts of security, there are some people who just don't want to take the stairs. Even so, we didn't expect it to happen twice. A student was discovered at the base of the Union in September (yielding the spectacular headline Fun Fracture-y). And, just six months later, gair rhydd obtained CCTV footage of another student visibly launching themself from a Union balcony, The reason? He simply doesn't remember...
The students received support from academic and political writer Noam Chomsky, as well as an ex-BAE employee Yahya Al-Faifi. Here at gair rhydd we were delighted to learn of the news of a huge story like the University backing down breaking on deadline day, meaning a complete reshuffle of pages. But we were possibly even more glad that we wouldn't need any more arms-related headlines: Arms Up, Up in Arms, Armless, Out of Arms Way... We'd given up by the last story, and just went for Victory.
POLITICAL
gair rhydd gair rhydd FREE
Exclusive interviews: We jump on the Milibandwagon and get our, umm, Cleggover. Sorry. It won't happen again.
G
gair rhydd
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CARDIFF'S STUDEN
FREE INSIDE!
T WEEKLY
freeword - EST. 1972
creativewords
Volume V of the anthology of creativ e writing by studen ts at Cardiff Univer sity
Jamie Thunder Sub Editor
27 2009
‘Simply not very good at teaching’ Compute
A Cardiff student is on crutches after being run over by a taxi driver yards from his home in Roath. Paul Stollery, a second-year business student, had to have two pins in his ankle after the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Friday April 3rd. The driver also took his mobile phone. After a night in Walkabout, Paul took a taxi alone from Greyfriars Road to his house on a journey that usuallyShirley Road, costs around £7. But when he got out of the taxi he was shocked to be confronted with a £20 charge. “I refused to pay,” said Paul, who admits he wasn’t sure whether the meter was running. “And as you can imagine things got a bit heated. “I had my phone in my hand and the driver grabbed drove off he ran over it, and as he my By chance he was ankle.” found by a friend soon after, and friend’s phone to call Paul used his an ambulance from the police and the roadside. However, police Eleanor Joslin dismissed his claims because the News Editor taxi driver, who is an independent driver registered with the council, had called them first. Many complaints have been made about the “I’d had quite a bit lecturing style of I’d been reported for to drink and a Cardiff University ‘fare-dodging’, so they just thought Computer Science, Professor of I was another drunk student causing blaming the lecturerwith students trouble,” exfor their high plained Paul. “He failure rate in the had also accused module. me of being aggressive, The Professor and which I leading rewasn’t.” searcher teaches a second-year module, which only ten out of 80 students Continued on page passed. Many feel 3 that not represent course the exam did content, it was
PHOTO: BEN BRYANT
MY TAXI DRIVER DID THIS TO ME
ISSUE 894 APRIL
EXCLUSIVE:
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS LEADER NICK CLEGG TALKS TO GAIR RHYDD >> page 14
r Science lecturer accused teaching methodsof poor Just 1 in 8 students pass second-year mod ule Students told to ‘live with it’ by staff panel not assessed fairly and fessor taught the modulethat the proinadequately. A second-year Computer Science student, who wishes to ymous, told gair rhydd: remain anonconsisted of the lecturer“The lectures walking in and spending the entire his blackboard lecture time writing notes up word for word on the whiteboard with no extra explanation, and ous to students who he was obliviwanted to ask questions.” Continued on page
5
FREE
2009
ISSUE 891 MARCH 09 2009
WHAT'S YOUR BEEF?
freeword - EST. 1972
CARDIFF'S STUDENT WEEKLY
Student allegedly assaulted by 'dodgy burger van'
ISSUE 880 NOVEMBER 3 2008
News, page 2
As CCTV footage shows student drop from 25-foot balcony, we ask:
US ELECTION SPECIAL >>page 12
WAVE OF SUCCESS
>>back page
INSIDE:
WHY DID HE JUMP?
Opinion
Seakittens: do fish need rebranding? >> page 8
MAN FALLS 20 FEET & BREAKS LEG
Features UWIC
FUN FRACTURE-Y Emma Jones News Editor
A man is recovering in hospital after falling from a Union balcony and breaking his leg following Fun Factory last Monday. Paramedics were called to the steps at the base of cafe CF10 at
around 2 o’clock on the morning of Tuesday October 28, following student night Fun Factory in Solus. The identity of the male and the exact injuries he sustained are as yet unknown. It is also not yet known whether the male fell or whether he deliberately jumped to the bottom of the
steps outside of CF10. CCTV footage shows a man exiting the Union via the fire escape in Buffers, the side room of Solus, just prior to the incident. Footage indicates that the man does not re-enter Solus through the fire doors. A Students' Union spokesperson confirmed that a man had been
found by paramedics at the base of the Union steps on Monday night, It had been suggested that the fall was caused by a slip; however, the spokesperson said, “the Union has received no official notification of an injury being sustained as a result of a slip accident.” The investigation is ongoing.
student suffers two broken ribs after drunkenly launching himself from second floor balcony outside Union
The sex education debate Emma 20Barlow and >> page Eleanor Joslin News Editors
CCTV footage from Come Play last week has revealed that a student who was rushed to hospital actually jumped from the second floor balcony of the Students’ Union.
The student sustained two broken ribs after falling 25 feet at Come Play on Saturday February 28. gair rhydd has obtained the identity of the third year Sports Development UWIC student but he wishes to remain anonymous. The student had been enjoying the night at the Students’ Union with work friends but was forced to make an early exit when he fell from a bal-
cony at 10.45pm. He claims he does not remember why he jumped, but after seeing CCTV stills he said: “I have no recollection of what happened, but I look like an idiot.” CCTV pictures show the student hanging on to the railings that surround the smoking area outside The Kitchen before sitting down to look at the drop then letting go with an ap-
parent disregard for his own safety. He said: “The next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital with two of my housemates looking at me.” An on-site paramedic reached him within minutes and emergency services arrived soon after, but had problems gaining access to him due to the awkward location of where he fell. When speculating on how he sus-
tained such minor injuries, he told gair rhydd: “The grass broke my fall I guess. And because I’d had a drink I was completely relaxed as I fell and hit the floor so that broke my fall too." continued on page five
“Epilepsy has controlled me as a person” Features, page 20 PHOTO: NATALIA POPOVA
air rhydd went big time in issues 879 and 894 with exclusive interviews with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and government manchild Foreign Secretary David Miliband. The exclusives took place in the back of a car and a pub respectively - just the sort of journalism we always thought we'd be doing. The Miliband interview was particularly stressful, with the interviewer (me) being given half an hour's notice to get up, dressed, shaved, and off to the Union for a date with the Foreign Secretary. Miliband also granted an interview with Xpress, but our chat with Nick POLITICAL PRE DICTIONS was a genuine scoop. We caught Clegg 20 up09 with him in the Vulcan pub, where he also pulled a rather amusing pint. The Miliband interview issue also got us the most views of any week on the gair rhydd website, although that could also have been people complaining about the dodgy front page headline. Over the two interviews we covered such wide-ranging topics as top-up fees, devolution of power, and toastbased snacks. Apparently Mr. Miliband is a cheese on toast man - who knew?
freeword - EST. 1972
CARDIFF'S STUDENT WEEKLY
PREDICTIONS
Sport The Word On: The masked failure of British Tennis >> page 32
gair rhydd 2008 housing survey
I
n November we revealed the results of gair rhydd first annual housing survey, detailing what tenants thought of their landlords. More than two thirds of respondents were unhappy with their letting agency, with satisfaction ranging from 86% for the Student Letting Agency to just 4% for Horizon. It was the perfect excuse to stick it to one of Cardiff's worst performing letting agencies. Sadly, Horizon declined to accept our carefully-made award, so Education and Welfare Officer Nick Yates accepted it on their behalf. A total of 546 students replied,
with 58% declaring the customer care they received as fairly poor or very poor. 2let2students and Keylet also performed badly in the survey, and Imperial, 4let and CPS also had dissatisfaction ratings of 80% and over.
Proposals for humanities and Welsh provision to be axed from the Lifelong Learning Centre
L
ifelong learning has been a part of Cardiff University since it was founded 125 years ago, so the news that proposals had been put forward that would see a radical cutting of provision were met with outrage. gair rhydd ran two front page stories on the issue (issues 895 and 898), as well as a number of smaller inside
stories. As a result we received letters and comments from concerned students, lecturers, Welsh Assembly Government members, and the ViceChancellor himself. It was the biggest campaign gair rhydd ran this year, and the decision over whether to completely endorse it was not taken lightly. We decided that gair rhydd is not just for undergradu-
ate students, but for all students of the university. No decisions on the proposals have officially been made, gair rhydd's campaign helped to bring them to the wider attention of many more people than would otherwise have known.
SAVE HUMANITIES AT LI FELONG LEARNING Cardiff University’s Centre
for Lifelong Learning may
Welsh teaching have all humanities and
me axed from the program
ac.uk •Email the VC: v-c@cf.
Welfare Officer •Email Education and ac.uk Nick Yates: yatesn@cardiff. •Sign the online petition •Next Meeting: Tuesday 5th May 7pm Centre, g at the Lifelong Learnin Senghenydd Road
lifelonglearning om/petition/save w w w. i p e t i t i o n s . c om rning.blogspot.c a e l g n o l e f i l f f i d r a savehumanitiesc
NEWS REVIEW 11
gairrhydd | FEATURES@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
He wanted it bad: student elections, external promoters and controversy
I
t's safe to say that this year's student elections were among the most hotly-contested Cardiff has seen. Candidates enlisted external promoters to get their names out there, current sabbatical officers endorsed candidates, and one candidate used student media equipment to produce a video. gair rhydd had a difficult job in covering the controversy, not least because some of the candidates in question were friends, coursemates, and in one
case a member of the gair rhydd team. The controversy was clear as over 130 comments were posted on our website about the elections. Our eventual story, Promoted to Power, was possibly the story that took longest to get right. We had to be very careful in what we said and how we said it, and although there were complaints - mostly from the candidates themselves - we remain convinced that our story was a fair and accurate account of what happened.
The self-congratulatory gair rhydd in-joke section 2008/09
and, of course, not forgetting...
gair rhydd
FREE
OMFG! (899) Fun Fracture-y (880) 'I had to drink a pint through a pig's head' (876)
Worst headlines
The Michael Richards illadvised heckle award
TV - forever in our hearts
Andrew Tweddle
The Andrew Gilligan sexing up award Kicked out of Cathays (884)
Gareth 'I can't think of any black women' Ludkin, politics editor
The Sun tact award Ben 'there's no way John Prescott has bulimia - look at him' Bryant, Editor
CARDIFF'S STUDEN
T WEEKLY
IS IT GOING AHE
The Huw Davies crap speech award Huw Davies
AD?
freeword - EST.
1972
ISSUE 899 JUNE
01 2009
CANCELLED? WHY EUROPE MATTERS
FESTIVAL IN STRU PLANNING PERM GGLE TO SECURE Elections Spec ISSION - News , Page 3 Pages 14-16 ial,
OMFG! University Cha plain argues paedophilia in the Church on television broadcas t that is ‘committed by homosexualsmost ’
Emma Barlow News Editor
committed by homosexuals .” The Students’ Welfare Officer Union’s Education and Nick Yates said: The University’s “The StuCatholic chaplain dents’ Union is utterly appalled has sparked at the comments of Father controversy after John Owen. He ing that homosexua claim- be of appears to the opinion that ls are the perpetrators of what child abuse withinmain is either somehow excused the priests did Catholic Church. the the sexuality or explained by that he prescribes Father John Owen to them.” One panellist on the live on BBC One’s made the comments and executive director show, the writer Sunday May 24, The Big Questions on national of Amnesty Intercent Ryan report. while reviewing the re- recently Ireland Colm O’Gorman, who has published a book The 2,565 page about his abuse at the hands of report revealed a Catholic priest, ual abuse was widespread that sexin Irish Catholic cially offended by the comments.was espeindustrial schools He and said: “As a gay orphanages run the Church, and man I am by to allow you was to perpetrate that not going timony from former compiled using tes- In kind of lie.” response pupils, inmates officials. and to “be silent.”Father John asked O’Gorman Father John, who Father John continued: as well as working the University at facts: “Stick to chaplaincy is also munications offi the com- in the the vast majority of the abuse the cer cases Cardiff, was asked for the archdiocese of not country – certainly in America - were taken against what Nicky Campbell, by the show’s presenter, but I would call children 95% of whether the church more about its cared boys, now the time taken against teenage own reputation what does welfare of children. than the Radio talk-show that tell you?” Father Owen presenter James O’Brian, replied: “These are so ghastly matters monks who himself had been taught that by look at them, and people don’t want to replied: in a Catholic school as a teenager, “The monks things are taking they can’t believe these ing criminal charges who ended up facplace within the a Christian church for abuse were orbit of dophiles, pae- a perversion of tianity. Chris- attempted not homosexuals and I find your defence of these “Let me tell you crimes repellent.” of course before go too far, most you of the offences are being continued on page 5
THE TEAM THAT BROUGHT YOU ALL THIS AND MORE...WITH THANKS ALSO TO JAKE YORATH, CHRISTINA MACKIE, BENJIE PHILLIPS, NATHAN HUGHES AND ROSIE EASTOE THIS YEAR WE'VE MOSTLY BEEN FALLING OVER ONSTAGE AT AWARDS WONDERING WHERE THE PIZZA IS
UP GOADING GARETH INTO BEING RACIST NEARLY BURNING DOWN THE UNION WATCHING PTERODACTYL PORN
OMFG! (899) Sabb-attack (892) Throw a job on the barbie (895) Spontaneous comBUStion (888)
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OPINION 13
gairrhydd | OPINION@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
freewords EDITORIAL
Est. 1972
Issue 900 This week marks a milestone in the history of gair rhydd. To reach a 900th edition is a remarkable achievement for any publication let alone a student newspaper. gair rhydd has experienced a rich and varied history and has not been without its fair share of problems in the past, some of which you can read about in this week's special 900 feature. But as long as it remains relevant to students, there should always be a place for it. Roll on issue 1000!
Farewell As this week marks not only the 900th issue of gair rhydd but also my parting editorial, there has been a rather excessively indulgent mood of nostalgia in the gair rhydd office. It's customary for the final editorial to be my parting shot to the student body, so if you are sensitive to sentimental tributes and saccharine ramblings, now is the time to look away. You have been warned. First and foremost, thanks to my team. Your commitment to everything we do has been unprecedented. Quench and gair rhydd have flourished and it's because of you and you alone. Thanks to all the contributors. You are the future of Cardiff Student Media and, in a nutshell, you give the newspaper its voice. Jody & Gareth - you have done a fantastic job and I will miss you both very much! Thanks to the Union staff who have offered support and assistance. There are far too many of you to name individually, but your understanding and patience has been invaluable and I am extremely grateful. Thanks to this year's Sabbatical Team for understanding my job and allowing me to do what I have to. Thanks to Elaine, the assistant to the editors, for basically running the office and keeping me alive on deadline day with muffins and coffee. Hazel - it wouldn't have happened without you. Too many words; not enough room. And thanks to you, reader, if you made it this far, for taking the time to read gair rhydd, to disagree, to feed back, and for making sure that we're doing our job properly. That's it! Fin. Good night. Editor Ben Bryant Deputy Editor Hazel Plush Co-ordinator Elaine Morgan Subeditor Jamie Thunder News Emma Barlow Emma Jones Sarah Powell Eleanor Joslin Editorial and Opinion
Freedom of immigration Navodita Pande on lecturers' refusal to 'visa snoop'
F
irst things first: kudos to UCU for denouncing the visa ‘snooping’ by lecturers as ‘pandering to anti-immigration racism’. Recently the Home Office has been rather harsh with stringent rules for non EU Students – raising the UK student visa fees, introducing the points-based system of immigration checks and introducing the controversial ID cards for international students before the rest of the population. Worse still, they introduced a requirement that from September, University academics would have to monitor the attendance of international students. Phew! Stench of fear there - insecurity and strong anti-globalisation forces hitting out! “UCU members are educators, not border guards…politically, UCU is absolutely opposed to this legislation and we know that many members have strong and principled moral objections as members of society and as professional educators,” said Sally Hunt, General Secretary of UCU, who completely decried the new rules as turning educators into “immigration snoopers”.
I'm sure there are better ways of checking security The government claims that the proposals are designed to curb illegal immigrants and terrorists, who enter the country as students. Admittedly, illegal immigration has been on the rise in the past few years, and some terror suspects enter the country on student visas. However it must be said that some of the terror suspects are British citizens. Therefore the plans to monitor all (I repeat all) international students cannot be justified, as it treats all international students as suspects. Forget about the students coming here to study for a brief period, today even the second-generation Asians (who were probably born and brought up here) are termed as “British Asians”, in essence creating a different class of citizen who is not fully British. Another example of these discriminatory practices is on application forms where jobseekers are asked to
Paul Stollery Emma Davies Oli Franklin Columnist Oli Franklin 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
provide information on their ethnic origin, which may then be used to discriminate between different applicants based on their race. Perhaps a bigger problem is the rise of nationalist parties who spout slogans like “Say NO to Immigration….Guard our UK Borders” Immigrants could be forgiven for thinking to themselves Am I an invader? Or do I look like a plunderer? The contribution of immigrants to the UK seems to have been conveniently forgotten by these groups.
It's commendable of UCU to crtiticise the discrimination International students come here to seek education and knowledge, and to gather an enriching cultural experience. Let’s face it, these messages create a kind of media-fuelled conflict in the minds of native citizens and work to create a somewhat tepid, if not strong, anti-foreigner sentiment among native residents. Which reverberates – in the work place, in social clubs, gyms and restaurants. I am an international student and I think the skepticism with which we are viewed everywhere is despicable. In fact, I was appalled to hear on my first day in the UK that my Pakistani friends had to go for anti-terror and crime-checks simply because they hail from Pakistan, a country viewed with suspicious activities. It’s a pity the government has to adopt such measures that are only giving rise to deep-seated fear among its citizens, thereby creating more misunderstanding instead of fostering better relations among people from different nationalities. Sir Andrew Green, chairman of campaign group Migrationwatch UK commented in April, “Student visas have long been a gaping hole in our border controls which the government has chosen to ignore, partly because of the fees that foreign students pay.” Mr. Green, I’m sure there are better ways of checking security and border issues rather than hitting out at the self-respect and dignity of a foreign national! It is commendable in such cirTaf-od Dafydd Loughran Picture Editor Natalia Popova Online Editors Graeme Porteous Tom Barnett Proof Readers Neil Fairbrother Jamie Thunder Emma Davies Adeniran Haastrup Lauren Burn Contributors
ACCESS DENIED: lecturers refuse to snoop on students cumstances that UCU has vowed to vilians in order to revenge the wrong oppose such international discrimina- done to them by a handful of military tion, thereby re-instilling faith in the soldiers or army personnel. Much as a government decision is UK education system and the educators. Sally Hunt rightly says, “One merely representative of its people’s of the more pernicious effects of this views, a terrorist’s cultural and nanew system will be to turn our mem- tional background should only be bers into an extra arm of the police viewed biographically, and not looked into as one which incites rebellion in force.” the whole community. It is exhibition of fear, suspicion and panic, on the other hand, which have deeper repercussions for the harmony and peace of a nation. Economics, profit motive and selfinterest have driven national and inBut has policing ever averted a cri- ternational politics for a long time: sis, anyway? Without being cynical, empathy hasn’t. But now, educators’ terrorists still find their way through vehement denial of international discordoned security covers…and civil- crimination is a logical step - it sends ians or ‘innocent’ citizens bear the the message that ‘knowledge is free’ brunt of their activities by facing the and that the educational community military’s wrath at their own incom- has nothing to do with mindless policing. However, it does call for intropetence. It’s time for the government to act spection by policy-makers at a time in with a bit more maturity – unlike the which anti-globalisation is becoming terrorists themselves, who attack ci- globalised.
Suspicion has deep repercussions for a nation's peace
Mark Barton Steve Wright Daniella Graham Adeniran Haastrup Charlotte Laken Emma FcFarnon Jamie Thunder Navodita Pande Matthew Clarke Sam Smith Justin Yau Jon Hillard Nadine Knight Robin Morgan
Jon Evans Amy Hall Heather McKay Lucy Russell Meme Sgroi Nicole Briggs Address Cardiff University Students' Union, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3QN Web www.gairrhydd.com
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14 OPINION
gairrhydd | OPINION@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
A disparate situation Matthew Clarke on division between the Union officers
A
re we using our non-sabbatical officers effectively? There are several barriers preventing non-sabbatical officers within the SU from achieving their campaign promises and from acting as proper representation for their students. At this time, as the governance review is currently ongoing, it makes sense to re-evaluate how best to integrate non-sabbs into the SU as a whole and make them more effective. Non-sabbs generally fall into two groups – those with a specific, defined job and those who are intended to ‘represent’ a particular group of students or viewpoints within the SU. Positions such as Quench editor and Xpress controller have been reformed into ‘student jobs’ to reflect this disparity.
The obvious response to this is that non-sabbs should use the sabbatical team to help liaise with staff and effect change. However, with no disrespect to the sabbatical team, they are not always available. They are understandably working to fulfil their own roles within the SU and achieve their own election promises. This means that non-sabbs are often forgotten
A lot of the time as a non-sabb is spent trying to explain who you are
Non-sabbatical officers received absolutely no training for the job
However, virtually no progress has been made on the ‘representation’ side. It is unclear what these positions are supposed to achieve or how they are supposed to best represent the interests of their students. In many cases it boils down to simply turning up at Student Council every two weeks and voting on the new policies introduced by the sabbatical team. Surely non-sabbs should instead have a chance to feed into the new policies before they reach Student Council?
DISEMPOWERED: Do non-sabbs really represent? This may sound simpler than it really is. Non-sabbs are poorly equipped to push their own agendas within the SU. For example, this year the non-sabbatical officers have received absolutely no training for the job. They have not been shown even simple things, like how to fill in the forms to claim wages for the hours worked. At no point have they been given a definition of what constitutes ‘work’ and definitions vary upon who is asked.
In addition to this, while sabbatical teams have a month-long overlap during which they can ‘hand over’ to the next team, non-sabbs have no defined handover period. This means the consistency and continuity offered by our sabb teams cannot be achieved within the non-sabb team. It would be a simple matter to hold a defined handover meeting in June between the outgoing non-sabb team and the newly elected officers. To achieve change within the SU
it is almost always essential to work with key staff members. These staff members work extremely hard behind the scenes to get things done for students, but it can be hard to track down and identify exactly who is best to approach about each issue. However, no effort is made to explain or introduce to non-sabbs the key SU staff members. This, again, would be a simple task and could help to improve the efficacy of the non-sabb team.
and left to their own devices with little oversight. Finally non-sabbs have a hard time getting their name out to the student body. The five non-sabbs elected in the November by-election have not even been added to the SU website. In my experience, a lot of the time of a non-sabb is spent trying to get students to understand who you are, what you’re supposed to be doing and then convincing them that you can make a difference. This could be solved with more promotion and information about the role of non-sabbs within the SU. If the non-sabbatical positions are to continue within the SU at all, new steps must be taken to ensure that they are able to do their jobs effectively. The sabbatical team must look at how they work with the non-sabbatical team, and take steps to integrate their fellow officers into the SU as a whole.
Football's dis-united kingdom Team GB? Just a new name for England, argues Steve Wright
A
fter months of protracted negotiating and arguing, it looks like the 2012 Olympics will finally see the footballing nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland united under one banner as Great Britain looks to field its first Olympic football team since the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. However, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have resolutely opposed any kind of Great Britain team, fearing the threat this precedent will pose to their status as independent footballing nations. They have recently agreed not to block any team that may arise, but will refuse to play any part in it. Effectively, this means the GB team will basically be England in all but name. Are they being paranoid? Perhaps, but equally it is easy to sympathise with the home nations' viewpoint.
The only assurance of their independency remaining unaffected is from Sepp Blatter who let’s face it, isn’t exactly the most trustworthy individual, and whose words have been
quite rightly taken with a pinch of salt they are barely worthy of. In any case, by 2012 Blatter will be long gone, leaving in his stead known anti-Brits Michel Platini and Jack
Warner in his stead. On the other hand, it can be seen in other sports that groups of countries can compete under one banner without threatening their individual statuses. In rugby, the British Lions tour happens every four years, yet the home nations appear able to compete in regular internationals with little fanfare. Either I’m being simplistic or have missed something pretty major, but should this not be the case in football? Others have suggested that the reluctance of the home nations to participate is because so few of their players would actually be picked. Supposing a GB team was picked now - which non-English players would actually be selected? In the past, Ryan Giggs would have been integral; but now he would be at best a fringe player. Darren Fletcher
might possibly get a look in, as could Gareth Bale, and Aaron Ramsey and Jonny Evans both look good bets for the future. As you can see, the potential contribution from the non-English teams isn’t exactly awe-inspiring. Of course the 2012 Olympics will see a completely different team, but beyond the aforementioned Ramsey and Evans, there appears little potential within the home nations. Personally, I would love to see Team GB competing at the Olympics, and I’m sure fans of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would too if there was a firm guarantee that their independence would not be under threat. But as there appears to be no such reassurance, their stance remains deeply defensive. Which is a shame, but I can hardly say I blame them.
OPINION 15
gairrhydd | OPINION@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
The massacre that never happened Oliver Franklin remembers Tiananmen Square 20 years on
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ast week, on June 4, was the anniversary of one of the most infamous protests of all time: Tiananmen Square. 20 years ago in Beijing, the army of the People’s Republic of China marched on a crowd of protesters hundreds of thousands strong, and broke apart the protest using deadly force. It is still not known the exact number of deaths that resulted in the ensuing shooting, but estimates vary between hundreds and thousands, in a massacre that ended over a month of political protests against the ruling Communist Party of China. The Chinese government remains tightlipped on the tragic event, and infamously banned any public discussion of the catastrophe by law. The media was, and remains, forbidden to print anything discussing the Tiananmen protests.
What would we do if it were to happen again today? The official Chinese government release puts the number of deaths at 241, with 7,000 injured. However, this number has been widely criticised as inaccurate as a result of eyewitness accounts and estimates from other sources. On the day of the massacre,
the weeks prior to the event in order to prevent any kind of collusive organisation of protests. Last year, China held the (admittedly spectacular) Beijing Olympic games. The event was heralded as a symbol for the progression of China both economically and politically, but is this the case? Unfortunately not. China’s actions surrounding the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre are symptomatic of just how far the country’s government has yet to come in order to deserve respect in the international community. The censorship of such an event to its own people, and the suppression of commemorative events or even public discussion, is a vile breach of human rights that the US should be commended for commenting on this week. A man halts a tank column near the the Chinese Red Cross infamously announced the number of dead as 2,600 – but this release was almost immediately retracted and censored. It is likely that the exact number will never be confirmed due to China’s unwavering stance on the subject. The Chinese government released an angry statement this week after a call by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the country to release the full information on the incident and to begin a full enquiry. China’s angry statement attacked the US for “gross
Square. He was never seen again. interference in China’s internal affairs,” and stating they were “strongly dissatisfied” with Clinton’s remarks. In China, all published information of the event was destroyed, and as such, the Chinese people now only have access to the official government account of the event. Every year, on June 4, police guard the square to prevent any commemoration or protests in memory of the event. Any memorial services, protests, or even debates on the issue are illegal in China. Even social networking sites are banned in
Tiananmen Square shows how far China still needs to come for respect China is now recognised by our government as a global superpower, as Damian Fantato reported a fortnight ago in gair rhydd. China’s unequalled economic ascendancy over the last 25 years cannot be overestimated. But does it mean that we should deal with them reasonably, purely as a result of
What a bombshell...
their wealth? Or should we make a stand against the fact that the entire population of China, or 1 in 6 of the world’s population, are denied basic human rights such as freedom of speech? It is a country that massacred hundreds, even thousands, to quell a political protest of primarily students in order to maintain the authority of the communist government. What would we do if that were to happen again today? Probably very little. Maybe sanctions, a few statements of condemnation. With the European elections happeninglast week, it begs a little thought on the state of international politics that we are not taking a stronger line on what should be a fundamental aspect of foreign policy – the international pursuit of the enforcement of human rights. Like the infamous image of the lone protester stopping a column of tanks, surely it is time for not only Britain, but Europe, America, and the world to stand up to those who breach human rights and to fight for equality and freedom the world over. As the world slips into global recession, perhaps this is the time that monetary gain can take a back seat as we re-evaluate our beliefs, and re-establish our values and our place in the world as a voice for good. 20 years ago, in Tiananmen Square, countless students died in the name of political change. It is about time we took steps to do them justice.
Daniella Graham thinks sexist stereotyping has gone too far
A
pparently, blondes don’t have actually have more fun. According to a recent survey by an internet dating site, blonde women are a quarter more likely to have a first date end badly than brunettes or red heads. Apparently they are also more likely to forget the name of their date, try to seduce him by talking about their ex and also sleep with him on the first date. What a load of nonsense. I feel it’s highly appropriate in this instance to bring up Benjamin Disraeli’s famous statement that there are “lies, damned lies and statistics,” with this survey being just the latest attempt to perpetuate the negative blonde stereotype. I fail to see how the colour of your hair actually makes a difference to your behaviour or your intelligence, and think that quite frankly it is insulting to suggest it does. There are a number of suggestions as to where the blonde stereotype comes from, with my personal favourite being that because a lot of children are born with blonde hair, we associate being blonde with lower
intelligence. Other possible origins include negative connotations to being blonde in response to the Nazi reverence of the Aryan race, ancient methods of bleaching your hair leading to mental health problems, and the medieval association of tanned skin and sun-lightened hair with being of a lesser intelligence and lower social status.
Many women play up to stereotypes about blondes As someone who has spent most of her life dying her hair various shades of blonde and brown, I think I am in a position to judge whether being blonde made a difference to my behaviour and my intelligence. It didn’t. I can’t say I was more promiscuous when blonde, or that I had less successful dates when I was blonde. They have been equally unsuccessful since I dyed my hair brown, so I’m either proving the stereotype wrong or I’m just generally useless on dates.
I can’t say being blonde affected my intelligence either. I didn’t notice a sudden improvement in my marks after I dyed my hair brown, nor did I suddenly start making insightful observations about the world. The only thing I noticed was that if I made a stupid comment, people would remind me that I wasn’t blonde anymore, as if that had given me a license to be a bit dense. One thing that really gets me about the blonde stereotype is the sexist connotations. Of all the dumb blonde jokes you have heard, how many were about men? I’m guessing not that many. The idea that blondes are less intelligent and more promiscuous is often applied to women, but rarely ever considered in relation to men. The blonde stereotype is just yet another example of the double standard that still pervades our society, with it ok to label someone a slut or stupid because of their hair colour if they are a woman. The sexist connotations irritate me, but the thing that really annoys me most about the ‘dumb blonde’ label is how women have played up to it and
based their whole identity on it. Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton have a lot to answer for, as women who have given the rest of us a bad name for the way they have made a career out of appearing as stupid as possible. Paris Hilton has often said in interviews that she is not as stupid as she makes out, and chooses to play up to the dumb blonde image.
I didn't suddenly become cleverer when I dyed my hair brown If women continue to propagate the blonde stereotype in this manner, then it will never go away. People should not make assumptions about your intelligence or your personality on the basis of your hair colour, and need to realise that it is completely irrelevant. Blondes would have more fun if everyone just laid off. Paris Hilton: plays to stereotypes
16 COLUMNIST
gairrhydd | OPINION@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
Some unholy argument Y
ou can see some strange things on television, make no mistake. As reported on the front page of last week’s gair rhydd, Cardiff University’s Father John Owen’s faulty leap in logic – on a live broadcast of BBC One’s The Big Questions – about child abuse within the Catholic Church was one of them. Father Owen asserted that "the vast majority of the abuse cases…were not taken against what I would call children but … against teenage boys, now what does that tell you?" Well, since he asks, I do feel that it tells me a few things; I do, however, doubt that any of them are what he was intending for me to be told. Firstly, it seems that there is a strong link in Father John’s mind between paedophilia and homosexuality. He even said as much: "Let me tell you of course before you go too far, most of the offences are being committed by homosexuals." The fact that he felt the need to point this out before things went "too far" underlines how much he is foregrounding the issue of adult sexual oreintation here, suggesting that the link is indelibly drawn in his mind.
It'd be unfair to say his views represent those of the whole Church These comments were, at best, extremely unwise. At worst, they can be construed as homophobic. There is no explanation of the pro-
S
A MASS OF CLOUDS: Father John's comments have provoked controversy portional availability, as awful as it sounds in black and white, between the sexes of the children. Maybe 95% of the abuse case victims were male because there were far more males around – without access to the statistics used by the Church, there’s no way for me to tell. Homosexuality is a natural sexuality, and is entirely legal. Even if they are predilections which the individual cannot choose and over which they have no control, paedophilia and hebephilia are serious offences. It is unfair, not to mention judgemental, to simply point the finger and say: "they did it; it was the gays". Even if a correlation is there, there is not necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship. Father Owen’s claims show a faulty train of logic. Also, in the case of child sexual abuse, is the sexual orientation of the abuser even the issue? Sexual abuse is
abhorrent, whether it’s at the hands of a heterosexual, a homosexual, a male, a female or a Martian. Father Owen claims that: "These matters are so ghastly that people don’t want to look at them; they can’t believe these things are taking place within the orbit of a Christian" This is at odds with the fact that he was on national BBC television in order to debate these matters; he was a guest on a programme to discuss an extremely lengthy report about such concerns If anything, it seems that he himself is unwilling to examine them – instead falling back upon using the gay community as a convenient scapegoat as a means of side-stepping the issue. Secondly, moving away from, but not forgetting-the awfully flawed logic and terrifying prejudice demonstrated by Father John – it also tells me that the Archdiocese of Cardiff re-
Heroes
tudent media is important for many reasons. Not only in terms of the lecture-distraction and procrastination it can provide, but also in terms of the experience it offers. Go on work experience at any “real” publication, and you’ll be stuck in a corner to play on the internet. If you’re really lucky, they’ll chuck you a press release to rewrite every now and then.
I think the most excitement I’ve ever had was interviewing an ex-steam train driver, who was remarkable only for being really old. Riveting stuff. At Cardiff, we’re lucky to have such a well-established and highlyregarded student media centre. We have a thriving weekly newspaper, fortnightly magazine, radio station, and a fledgling TV station. Compared with some universities, which manage to scrape together
and
ally needs to reconsider his PR strategies.
Father Owen's claims show a faulty train of logic The Archdiocese has released a statement, saying that the views expressed on the TV show by Father Owen are not consistent with his own. Is this really enough, though? While the Catholic Church has not always had the most harmonious of relationships with the gay community, these views are still arguably interpretable as homophobic in nature. Homophobia is simply unacceptable, regardless of your religious beliefs. Owen is the Archdiocese’s head of press. Yes, of press. I’m not entirely sure how his conduct has made for ef-
fective communication between the Catholic Church and the wider public. One could almost see it as shooting himself – and the Archdiocese – in the foot. What I find most concerning is that Father Owen is Cardiff University's Chaplain. The University should be aiming to eliminate discrimination and homophobia in all forms. While Father Owen may technically be employed by the Church rather than by the University itself, the University should still take action here. The University have, admirably, been quick to distance themselves from the comments made, and to stress that they "actively welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people", and that they "strive to ensure that within the sphere of University activities they do not face discrimination either on the grounds of their sexual orientation or with regard to other aspects of their identity." Nick Yates, the Union’s Education and Welfare Officer, has also condemned the comments – and quite rightly, too. It would be unfair to claim that Father John Owen’s views are representative of the Catholic Church at large – that would be like claiming that the crazy uncle who sits in the corner at family parties, smelling funny and muttering something semi-coherent and nonsensical speaks for the whole family. It does seem clear, though, that the Church must deal with these abuse cases in a sensitive manner – without sensationalist finger-pointing, and without seizing upon scapegoats.
Villains
CSM: heroes
a single anaemic, poorly-designed monthly dispatch, we’re doing pretty well for ourselves. Student media serves to stimulate debate, particularly online, giving a voice to the student body. This debate may not always be in favour of student media’s decisions, but it's still extremely important. Most importantly of all, student media exists to hold the Students’ Union and the University to account.
Student media operates as a branch of the Students' Union, but also strives to retain editorial independence. It exists to inform students about issues impacting upon them, and occasionally serves as a campaign tool for issues such as the proposed closure of humanities facilities at the University's Lifelong Learning Centre. Student media is there for all students, and provides an invaluable service. I'm biased, but I'd vote "hero".
POLITICS 17
gairrhydd | POLITICS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
Does Brown have the constitution for reform? Adeniran Haastrup asks whether anything can save British politics at the moment
I
n the aftermath of the MPs' expenses scandal, the leaders of the three major parties have decided that the time is right to press on with their ideas for constitutional reform. The Liberal Democrats have called for a Californian-style right to recall sitting MPs and a move to proportional representation, among other things. The Conservatives are advocating cutting the number of MPs by 10% and possibly introducing fixed term limits for MPs. Gordon Brown, perhaps optimistically, has said he will release Labour's plans after the results of the local elections. For a number of years, the Liberal Democrats have advocated the introduction of proportional representation, which would improve their number of MPs as well as the representation of smaller parties. The idea does have its merits, as it would mean that the public's opinion on the parties would be better represented in Parliament. However local MPs, many of whom do a good job of representing constituents, would cease to exist and thus the local connection to Parliament would be lost. As the justification for these proposals is that they will represent people better, it is unlikely that removing a layer of representation achieves this aim. However, another of the Lib Dems' ideas is even more interesting. They want the voting age to be lowered to 16. Some argue that a 16-year-old cannot make a good political judgement. However, this 16-year-old can pay tax, but have no say in the government that spends that money. This taxation without representation is something that must be remedied. David Cameron's idea to introduce fixed term limits for MPs is one of very few concrete ideas the Tories have released. Imposing term limits may lead to some citizen legislators who stand for office and serve for a limited period of time bringing their expertise from different fields into
Parliament. This fits into Cameron's mantra of opening politics to everyone. However, it means experienced lawmakers may be lost. But then again, they could be given a seat in the House of Lords. Cameron is also arguing for fixedterm Parliaments. Under the current system, the Prime Minister can pick when to call an election and most times they call an election when they feel they have a decent chance of winning. Gordon must be wishing this was the case now, as the pressure
on him to go would be significantly less than it is now. Commons Leader Harriet Harman and Justice Secretary Jack Straw have advocated loosening the grip of party whips over the Commons and Select Committees. Of all the ideas this is probably the most easily applicable, and quite possibly the best. Currently, ambitious MPs have to toe the party line if they want to progress. Loosening the grip of whips would mean that MPs would become more independently-minded. Also,
allowing this intellectual freedom may mean more people are interested in the job. Many of the people who have come up with these proposals claim that they are designed to restore public confidence in politics. The sudden fall in public confidence can be attributed to the MPs' expenses scandal and some of the changes which have been advocated would have a profound impact on the government of the UK. But these changes would be considerably expensive both in the time and the money of the consultation and implementation of the reforms. At a time when there is talk of cutting front line services and with the economy far from stable, this expenditure is a distraction the country can ill afford. Surely a more cost-effective way of restoring public confidence in politics is to clean up Parliament. The Prime Minister has said the public want the system to be cleaned up, but claims that the public want this to happen before an election. However this does not seem to be in line with public opinion as with so many of his other policies (Ghurkhas, expenses:YouTube etc.), as a Yougov survey published this week shows, 60% of the public want an election either immediately or in the autumn. The more likely reason why the PM does not want an election immediately is probably down to the fear that if he is still leader of the party (highly unlikely) at the time of the election, the Labour party might be beaten into third (or possibly even fourth) place. The latest poll in the
ICM /Times poll shows the Conservatives at 30, Labour at 16, the Lib Dems at 12, UKIP at 19, Greens at 10 and the BNP at 5. Based on these polls, the Conservatives and Lib Dems will be more receptive to an early election, which Cameron has been pushing for. However, the parties need to be careful about pushing too hard for the election, particularly the Conservatives who have been tainted in the expenses scandal as well. This may mean that smaller parties and independent candidates are likely to win more seats than expected. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as more independently-minded individuals in parliament can only increase its standing in the eyes of the public. There is, however, a risk that extreme parties like the BNP may win a few seats, which is definitely not a good thing. Apart from the potential benefits/ disasters for political parties, the reasons for an election now are very sound: the expenses scandal has ruined the moral standing of Parliament; having an election now will be like spring cleaning, clearing out any MP who has been tainted by the scandal, thus effectively drawing a line under the issue, and creating a foundation from which the reputation of Parliament and faith in politics can be rebuilt. The SNP and Plaid Cymru seem to have the same idea and have tabled a motion to be debated next week calling for the dissolution of Parliament, This has received the support of the Liberal Democrats and possibly the Conservatives. However, losing the vote will be very embarrassing to Mr Brown and may force him to resign. Anoraks will remember that the SNP brought down the last Labour government under Callaghan. The more likely outcome if the Labour party continue their spectacular implosion is that they bring themselves down, before the motion is debated
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18 POLITICS
gairrhydd | POLITICS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
Have I got nukes for you With Barack Obama about to take a trip to the Middle East, Jamie Thunder examines the probability of Iran blowing us all sky high
H
ere are three things your average, reasonably-informed person knows about Iran: it is developing nuclear weapons; its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for the destruction of Israel; he also denies the Holocaust took place. These facts seem ominous. A nuclear-armed Iran with an anti-Semitic Holocaust denier as leader would pose a grave threat to Israel and the stability of the Middle East as a whole. And it would. But this version of Iran bears remarkably little resemblance to reality. Let’s first take the issue of nuclear arms. It’s a regular claim of the US, UK, and Israel that Iran has ambitions towards nuclear weapons, usually backed up by scared statements that they’re just a few years away from actually having a nuke. Under Article IV of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968, countries are permitted to develop and
use nuclear power for civilian means, i.e. generating electricity. This is what Iran claims its nuclear technology is for. But this is only a claim, so let’s consider the evidence. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which monitors nuclear development, issues periodic reports on Iran’s progress. Its most recent report, dated February of this year, stated that while Iran had produced around 1,000kg of enriched uranium, this was low enriched uranium, with an enrichment level of around 3.49%.
Ahmadinejad does not want to wipe Israel off the map For even a crude nuclear weapon, the required enrichment level is estimated to be 20%, and ‘proper’ nuclear
weapons use uranium enriched to 85% and over. The level of 3.49% is entirely consistent with nuclear fuel production, and the IAEA has found no evidence that Iran is enriching any uranium to higher levels. Iran has also repeatedly allowed IAEA inspectors to inspect its facilities, and although it has obtained some ‘dual use’ material (material that can be used for nuclear energy or nuclear weapons), it is exactly that: dual use. Nevertheless, there have been repeated calls for Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment. But as all the IAEA has found is evidence of Iran enriching uranium to levels needed for legal, civilian use, these demands and the sanctions imposed for failing to suspend enrichment seem somewhat unfair. The latest ‘offer’ to be rejected by Iran is ‘freeze-for-freeze’, whereby Iran would freeze its uranium enrichment in return for the freezing of new sanctions. This would mean Iran would give up what appears from the IAEA reports to be a completely legal enrichment process, but previous sanctions would remain in place. It doesn’t take a nuclear physicist to see that this is an absurdly one-sided proposal.
It would be suicide for Iran to launch an attack on Israel
AHMADINEJAD: Insists the nuclear programme is peaceful
In fact some – including IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei – have compared the rhetoric surrounding Iran’s nuclear ambitions to that preceding Iraq invasion in 2003. The similarities are striking: Western nations claim a Middle Eastern country is developing dangerous weapons, despite the conclusions of inspectors, so impose sanctions. Then, when the country refuses to give up its supposed weapons programme (difficult to do, if it doesn’t actually have one), impose greater sanctions. In Iraq, this led to a crippled infrastructure and eventual war. But away from Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programs, and on to its attitude towards Israel. It’s widely repeated even today that President Ahmadinejad has declared an ambition to see Israel “wiped off the map”. He hasn’t. The Farsi passage that allegedly revealed this actually translates to: “The Imam [Khomeini] said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time.” That’s the regime in Israel, not the country, and it’s not dissimilar to the current retrospective justification for the invasion of Iraq and overthrow of Saddam Hussein. He also compared the Israeli regime’s
OBAMA: Has kept up the rhetoric on Iran removal to that of the Soviet Union regime being removed; clearly, the Soviet Union wasn’t ‘wiped off the map’, and clearly Ahmadinejad is not advocating that Israel is.
The situation has parallels with the run-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003 Ahmadinejad’s ‘Holocaust denial’ is down to similar misinterpretation. According to legend, he has referred to “the myth of the Holocaust”. There’s slightly more grounding here, because he did actually make a reference to the “myth of the Holocaust”. But the “myth” he spoke of was not that of the Holocaust’s occurrence; rather, the myth that the Holocaust justifies any and all Israeli aggression, a point ironically proven by the Israeli
reaction to his statement. From the evidence available, Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, does not want to destroy Israel, and does not deny that the Holocaust took place. But the best counter to suggestions that Iran is a threat to Israel is that it would be absolute suicide for it to launch an attack. It's unlikely that a pre-emptive strike on Iran will be launched, but it's very clear that a post-emptive (that might not be a word) strike would be inevitable. The US, UK, and Israel’s nuclear weapons would easily wipe Iran off the map; I doubt Iran would sacrifice itself to destroy Israel. Despite all this, the war drums keep beating. Repeated statements of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme and its threat to Israel flow from almost every news outlet, regardless of the reality. The cumulative effect of this is to position Iran as a dangerous, rogue nation; it would be nice if people actually knew the facts.
POLITICS 19
gairrhydd | POLITICS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
Testing, testing
As North Korea continues its nuclear testing, Oliver Franklin asks what its actions means for global stability and what can be done
L
ast week the news that North Korea had successfully staged an underground nuclear weapons test shook the world. The shocking move came in direct defiance of a UN resolution after North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006, leading to worldwide condemnation and an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. The UN released a strong statement of condemnation and threatened further sanctions. US President Barack Obama also condemned the move in a speech, and the US has moved North Korea back onto its blacklist of terrorist nations.
The test itself, conducted in a sparsely populated area in the north of the country, was relatively small as nuclear blasts go, measuring between 10 and 20 kilotons – the equivalent of around 20,000 tons of TNT (the US has tested bombs over a megaton). However, it is no less an extremely provocative and dangerous move,
particularly for South Korea, who stepped up their security alert level in response. The South Korea stock market dropped by over 4% as a result of concerns over asset security. The explosion, however, was enough to trigger a 4.7 magnitude earthquake which was measured by several international agencies and
than used to international criticism. There is a worry that the only resort left is the threat of war, which many think will only result in military action, such is the stubbornness of JungIl’s regime. There has been a great deal of speculation this week over Jung-Il’s successor, with the North Korea government announcing this week that the dictator's son, Kim Jung-un, is to
Neither sanctions nor condemnation from the UN will deter North Korea
The explosion was enough to trigger a 4.7 magnitude earthquake The test has come as a surprise to some despite a missile test earlier in the year, because of action by KimJung Il’s government to cooperate with disarmament requests over the last few years. Since 2006, North Korea had entered six-party disarmament talks in return for a comprehensive aid package and reduction of international sanctions. In 2007 the government agreed to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear plant and to begin nuclear disarmament, a process which would have involved revealing their nuclear assets. However, the country backed out of this deal and refused to allow international inspectors into the country. Korea has further retreated in recent months, pulling out of talks and proceeding with the tests.
deemed to be in concordance with a nuclear blast. The reaction from the global press and leaders has been highly scathing, but there is recognition that the sanctions and condemnation inflicted by the international community will do little to deter North Korea, as they are already highly sanctioned and more
succeed him. There is little optimism for a change of policy in the coming years as a result of his succession, however. The threat of North Korea as a result of its recent tests has been seen as much greater, particularly due to its disproportionately large army, the result of an extensive conscription policy in the country - symbolic of its miltary expansionist mindset. By breaking a UN Security Council resolution, North Korea has ensured that military action will now be considered in the crisis talks in response to any future action. Despite the nuclear threat and large army, the country would be unlikely to put up a real fight were conflict to take place, but there is now a real and present threat that they have the nuclear capabilities for a strike over a large part of Asia and even onto the west coast of the US, and as such, the international community will be hesitant to take any action further than a stern condemnation. CARTOON: Sam Smith and Robin Morgan
20 LETTERS
gairrhydd | LETTERS@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
letters@gairrhydd.com – Apologies and Condemnations Dear gair rhydd,
This letter is an apology, a clarification and a condemnation. First I shall deal with the apology to the girls of Aberdare Hall, and the Senior Student Committee in particular, I wholeheartedly apologise. Last week I decided to send details of the Aberdare/Music library plans to gair rhydd without permission. This was against the wishes of the students involved and a distinct error of judgement on my part. This leads me naturally onto a clarification. The issue around the Aberdare Hall library is two-fold. Firstly, the relocation of the Music library into Aberdare Hall will be a larger change than it is an improvement. The relocation will result in a
the
net reduction of study desks while at the same time reducing pressure on the University to invest in truly world leading libraries. Secondly the relocation undermines the community, spirit and key selling point of Aberdare Hall. The students that choose to reside there do so because of the facilities that are advertised to them. The residents do not feel that they have a right to extra facilities, merely that having moved in on the promise of these facilities that they shouldn’t suddenly be removed, much like students in other residences would feel very aggrieved if they suddenly had their kitchens, bars or lawns removed. Finally a condemnation. On reading the comments from gairrhydd.com and last week's letter pages you’d think that certain students don’t have anything better to do. Sarcastic, sexist and simply stupid comments about your fellow
students are not on. Frankly we are all part of the same fantastic University so if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t. Yours sincerely, Nick Yates Education and Welfare Officer/ Swyddog Addysg a Lles
Girls Hit Back Dear gair rhydd, I lived in Aberdare Hall in my first year and was made quite angry by Jo Armstrong's letter (gair rhydd 898). Changing the library to the music library is not just a loss of facilities for the girls who live in the hall, but will also produce many other problems. Unlike all other university residences, Aberdare is not arranged
in terms of flats with separate front doors (apart from the Garden Wing). All rooms open off corridors; once you are inside the building you have access to all the floors, and all the corridors. This then means that any music students will be able to wander round the building if they feel like it, including past the various shower rooms. And before you say "why would they want to do that?" I will bring up the question of toilet facilities. Aberdare, being an all-girl residence, is somewhat lacking in provision of male toilets. There is one male toilet in the main entrance hall, but following the rearrangement of the building last summer this is now not accessible to anybody but visitors for events. There are also no female toilets on the library level, so any users of the music library will have to walk round the building to use the facilities on the various floors. Secondly, Jo said re: boys, "do you
Comments from the week’s news, opinion, features and sport at www.gairrhydd.com The BNPeople Green Arrow ------You wrote “I mean, BNP leader Nick Clegg actually said”. What happened to Nick Griffin and who is running the Lib Dems now? bert -------
Well I joined the BNP just over a year ago, and I cannot for the life of me think why any sane person would call them extreme. A sane person would say that invading foreign countries like Iraq and Afghanistan resulting in thousands of deaths based upon lies! was an extreme act. Democracy is not subject to anyone’s approval or on their terms only – we either have it or we don’t … even if we sometimes don’t like the result. A sane person would say that handing over your country to a foreign power without even asking the people, namely, the EU Empire is an extreme act. A sane person would say that destroying a country's ability to feed itself is extreme. A sane person would say that destroying a country's industries and making us reliant on foreign countries as an extremist act. The total destruction of education, the prison service, the police and the NHS is an extreme act. I don’t recall the BNP calling for the beheading of people or suicide
bombing of people or even calling for anyone's death, as a certain group of people have done, and get funding from tax payers for it! Only the BNP will stop this insanity! It may surprise some people that the BNP have members of Polish, Italian, Hungarian decent, gay, disabled, jewish, and many members have foreign wives/husbands etc. The BNP have Jewish councillors, a Jewish treasurer. BNP also have Members of the Armed forces, ex WW2 veterans, ex-Spitfire pilots, pensioners. Unemployed, Self employed and professional people! Adam Walker, BNP teacher, has a Japanese wife, Richard Barnbrook (BNP GLA member), his partner Simone Clarke (BNP member) are bringing up Simone's mixed race young child. Regarding the usual ‘racist’ accusations – the most seriously injured BNP activist attacked with a claw hammer by anti-BNP protesters, turns out to have a Chinese wife; one of the two BNP officers in Wigan turns out to have been married 24 years to an Asian woman, and has a mixed race child (well, she’s 20 now). So exactly where are all these EXTREMIST BNP people? The media MPs ,Clergy, the BBC question time, has spent the best part of the last 3 weeks publishing complete and utter drivel about the BNP using Polish spitfires (when it was in fact a tribute to the Polish pilots), using American models on their leaflets (when in reality they are stock photographs that advertisers use all the time, and
it being illegal to use real nurses etc), saying the BNP want to deport all non-whites (which is NOT true), the Queen's tea party, anti-Ghurka leaflets that were NOT BNP leaflets and on it goes. So let's sum up. IF the BNP were as bad as the media make out, why the need to make up lies? Stands to reason if the media, UAF, Searchlight, had facts that were actually true THEY WOULD HAVE NO NEED TO SMEAR AND LIE! WOULD THEY? Oliver Franklin's underaged gay lover ------“What happened to Nick Griffin and who is running the Lib Dems now?” Nick Griffin. They're doing a political edition of wife swap. Can’t help but feel the BNP drew the short straw. Could be worst I guess, we could have Nigel “useful idiot” Farage in charge. James Carpenter ------Bert 1. Destroying the country’s ability to feed itself? Britain lost its self-sufficency a long, long time ago, before any notion of an EU was formed. 2. Total destruction of education, police, NHS…what country do you live in again? Where’s the evidence for “total destruction”? You obviously haven’t been to Zimbabwe. 3. British industry started declining in the 1870s, can’t exactly blame the EU for that.
have to hide them in your room?". When I lived in Aberdare, yes, we did have to warn our friends that there were men around. When boyfriends were using the toilets/ showers, it was in our rules that we had to stand outside the room and warn any girls passing that there was a male in there! Because it was, and still is, very much an all-girls residence. And as showers are located on corridors, rather than in flats or even as en-suite (lucky Talybont people!) girls DO tend to walk around in their pyjamas. When it comes down to it, there is much more to discuss than just the loss of use of the library to residents. I hope this has all been thought through properly. Sarah West Angry ex-Aberdare resident.
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4. Nick Griffin has been quoted to support deporting Amir Khan, can you justify that? 5. Jeffrey Marshall, senior organiser of the BNP’s London Euro election campaign has ridiculed the death of David Cameron’s son saying “We live in a country today which is unhealthily dominated by an excess of sentimentality towards the weak and unproductive. No good will come of it.” Can you justify that? 6. Lee Barnes, the BNP’s senior legal officer – “The beating of Rodney King still makes me laugh.” Justify that? 7. There are countless examples of the BNP’s links with far-right, white extremist/supremist, and neo-nazi groups from all across the world. To claim that the BNP are acceptable because they contain foreign nationals seems daft considering how often they spout garbage about whites being a minority (90% a minority now is it?), how they would close the borders etc etc. It’s very convenient to brand the media as liars, because you know that no-one is on your side. Smacks of desperation. I’ve watched the BNP broadcast, and the constant references to World War Two were tedious. The war ended 64 years ago. The BNP’s exploitation of war veterans and casulties appalled me, as did their apparent attempt to be seen as a Christian party. It's almost beyond belief that they used the line, “what would Jesus do?” I encourage everyone to vote on June 4th, but not for these holocaust denying morons.
Amy ------Like Thomas I have also read the BNP website on numerous occasions. My mother is English and my father was born in Jamaica and hs lived here for 55 years. I have read on the BNP site that they support the ‘re-patriation’ of non-white UK resdients. I would like to know where they would like to re-patriate me to despite about 90% of my family living here in the UK. Of course if the BNP had their way they would not have me existing at all. After all, Nick Griffin has spoken on the ‘sympathy’ he feels for poor mixed race offspring like myself and as I have read on the BNP site they see it as similar to mixing breeds of animals. This search for a warped puerile nation is difficult to achieve (how many people on the island that is the UK could trace all their family back to just Britain – not many). This to me is not only a racist organisation but one that is a massive threat to all the people of the UK. You don’t need to look too far into Europe’s history to see where parties like this would lead us. Marc Thomas------To be fair to those of us who are a little worried about parties like the BNP ever getting into power, History does teach us that nationalistic parties generally don’t turn out too well in the long run.
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900 issues of gair rhydd - established 1972. Turn over as we trace our history and look to the future
22 ISSUE 900 SPECIAL
gairrhydd | FEATURES@GAIRRHYDD.COM MONDAY JUNE 08 2009
From gair rhydd to Newsnight Meirion Jones, Newsnight's investigations producer and the first paid gair rhydd Editor talks to Gareth Ludkin
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ince its humble beginnings in 1972, gair rhydd has grown immeasurably. From its office on the 4th floor of the Students’ Union a whole host of talented editors, photographers, and contributors have made their mark on the paper. Dedicated to representing the views of its students, gair rhydd continues to live up to its name ‘free word’, by thriving on the contributions of the student body. However, the paper has had some tough times over the years and to get where it is today it has needed the strong guidance of a dedicated editorial team. Blood, sweat and tears have gone into making gair rhydd; thousands of hours have been dedicated to design-
ing, shaping and printing every page to represent and inform the student body. 900 issues in and the gair rhydd looks like it could easily continue for another 37 years, maintaining its objective and sharp eye for criticism and debate.
Gair Rhydd continues to live up to its name 'free word', thriving on the contributions of the student
Meirion Jones in his younger days as Editor
Gair rhydd of course has not always been what it is today. Ever since its origins in October 1972, when it was sporadically produced, distributed and read, gair rhydd has been a work in progress; it used to be made with Pritt Stick and cut-out bits of paper. Before 1978, gair rhydd was a cumbersome and impractical newspaper to produce; it was sent off by train each time to be typeset and printed in Bristol. Now, of course, we have computers and the internet to make the whole process a lot quicker. Today, the readership is much higher than in 1972, and while all the editors have played their part; perhaps our most famous gair rhydd alumnus, Meirion Jones deserves a special mention for turning gair rhydd from an irregular
and hastily producer newspaper, into a weekly produced and more professional tabloid-style newspaper. Now the producer of Newsnight, Meirion’s humble roots remain in the pages of gair rhydd. He studied law and history at Cardiff and spoke fondly of his time as editor of the gair rhydd. Becoming editor in 1978, Meirion Jones set out to promote the paper and increase the regularity at which it was printed. “What we did was we decided we would go fortnightly to get people interested. Be topical, very short, very fast. We didn’t really care what we looked like. "That worked. People started reading it in a large number; it got very popular. What then happened was that there was a proposal for a sabbatical officer and for it to become a weekly edition” Meirion Jones subsequently became the first elected sabbatical editor of gair rhydd, sparking the exciting future of gair rhydd, which grew from strength to strength. Interested in radical politics at the time, Meirion Jones wrote for a radical paper called Rebecca and a free sheet called the Cardiff People's Paper.
Meirion Jones became the first elected sabbatical editor of gair rhydd Gair rhydd became the springboard for Meirion’s future career path which would take him from Cardiff to London and the Newsnight newsroom. “In 1982 when I left, there weren’t any jobs in interesting areas of journalism
but there was a few jobs in computer journalism. I knew nothing about computers at the time so I read a book on the way to the interview and blagged a job.” From there, Meirion moved over to work he was more interested in. He worked for the New Scientist and freelanced for the Guardian and Independent. From this he then moved toward investigative journalism, which he found much more interesting. This, of course, led to his involvement in Newsnight, which has taken him around the world on various investigations. Working on the paper for four years provided Meirion with some great experience and valuable knowledge. “It became very addictive and very exciting, getting stuff out there and getting stuff done,” said Meirion Jones. “There was lots of turmoil at the time. We were in a huge fight with the college principle, who was a very close mate of the former Prime Minister Jim Callaghan. There was all sorts of stuff going on.” “We basically occupied the principal's office and basically photocopied all of his files from the previous year, so we got a lot of stories out of that.” Another memorable story for Meirion was when a friend of his, was pushed out of his house by a landlord who decided that more persuasion was needed. Leaving a gas cylinder on an electric hob the landlord achieved a much larger explosion than they first thought they would. The roof of the house was blown off by the explosion, which left the landlord with a vacated but of course ruined house. Gair rhydd evidently helped Meirion on his career path, “it massively helped me”, “it gives you experience, who the hell is going to look at you
if you don’t have any experience?” “My advice is get anything you can in journalism, get a foothold in if you can, take whatever you can get and make the best you can with it and then work your way at what you really want to do.” Meirion praised the value of working as an editor in student media: “You’ve already made loads of mistakes. Every week you’re churning out stuff and you’d make all the mistakes; and you need to make those mistakes. It’s much easier to do that as a student journalist where really the consequences of making a mistake are not very bad. It’s a fantastic opportunity for people to do that.”
Blood, sweat and tears have gone into making gair rhydd Journalism is a tricky business but Meirion Jones and also Jon Harlow who now works for the Sunday Times in America proves that it is perfectly possible with hard work and dedication to make it to the top. Gair rhydd has seen both Harlow and Jones progress from their humble beginnings at Cardiff to the very top. Many a past editor has made it into the industry, and as we reach the 900th edition of gair rhydd we must remind ourselves of our quality paper, its history and all the past editors who have contributed to make the gair rhydd to what it is today.