gair rhydd - Issue 948

gair rhydd

PHOTOS: Jake Yorath

Monday March 28 2011 | freeword – Est. 1972 | Issue 948

The results are in Pippa Lewis News Editor Last weeks Students’ Union elections saw a record turnout with 5429 votes cast compared to 4022 last year, despite a fall in the number of candidates running.

Despite this success, the results were riddled with controversy as suggestions of cheating circulated.

A variety of reports have emerged of unfair practice among candidates and campaigners including insinuations that certain

candidates were providing voters with the means of voting, including entering halls of residences with a laptop and helping people to vote.

One anonymous candidate from the Finance and Commercial category told gair rhydd that as they were questioning a group of three students outside Talybont North about whether they had voted, the students replied: “Yeah kind of, only for Athletic Union President though.” When questioned further the students went on to say: “I don’t know, some guy from the AU category just came in and did it for us.”

One message to a candidate in the AU category was found to be encouraging a candidate to set up an alternative polling station: ‘Maybe go to Park Place and ask if you can do a shout-out in the gym? Ask if there’s anyone that hasn’t voted and use the Fitness Assessment room if it’s free to vote. Tuesday lunchtime, so should be Trig and James around, maybe Mark.’

Further claims of an alliance between candidates have surfaced in which campaign teams were seen to be both endorsing candidates from other categories and actively

encouraging people to vote for multiple candidates of differing categories.

Four candidates around whom allegations of unfair practice circulate went on to be elected as part of next year’s Sabbatical team.

Furthermore, there have been suggestions of homophobic and sexist comments made about candidates in the Athletic Union President category.

Jess Cox, AU candidate was challenged by a voter while campaigning stating: ‘Why should a girl be AU President?’ Information has also

come to light about a homophobic message sent to voters from a member of an AU campaign team stating that a certain candidate should not be elected because ‘that puff should never be allowed in the AU.’ Questions have additionally been raised about certain election results in which large majorities were found in a number of categories compared to tighter ones found in previous years. These are also the categories in which allegations of cheating have emerged.

Continued on page 3

02News

gr EDITOR Sarah Powell

CO-ORDINATOR Elaine Morgan DEPUTY EDITOR Dom Kehat SUB-EDITORS Anna Redbond Isabelle Roberts Hannah Van Den Bergh NEWS Morgan Applegarth Miranda Atty Pippa Lewis Ben Price Hannah Pendleton FEATURES Zoe Bridger Laura Brunt OPINION Holly Howe Chris Williams POLITICS James Dunn Oliver Smith SOCIETIES Bianca London SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT Tom Clarke Jack Parker SPORT Alex Bywater Lucy Morgan Alex Winter CONTRIBUTORS Becky Bartlett Joanne Southerd Laura Evans Jenny Lambourne Harry Hunt Libby Van Den Bosch Louice Tapper Jansson Caleb Woodbridge Sophie Gidley Hannah Cykowski Joseph Thelland Glyn Wise Mared Griffiths Nick Case Peter Grey Oli Merther Laura Harman Emily Russell Phill Wilkinson PROOFREADERS Bethan Cable Joanne Southerd

Monday March 28 2011 • gair rhydd • news@gairrhydd.com

Students in grenade panic Residents evacuated on Lisvane Street as WWII grenade is unearthed Hannah Pendleton News Editor A World War Two grenade was found last week in the back garden of a student house in Cathays.

At 7:45pm on March 21, South Wales Police were called to a house on Lisvane Street with the information that a grenade had been discovered in a garden shed.

Police officers cordoned off the street and the residents were evacuated straight away.

At around 9:30pm the Royal Logistics Corps Bomb Disposal Unit arrived to confirm it was a deactivated grenade.

Sarah Page, a Medical student who lives at the property, explained how a handyman was clearing out their shed ready for it to be demolished: "He pulled at a panel to see whether it would be too wet to burn and heard something fall to the floor and roll. When he looked at the ground there was a grenade at his feet with the pin in."

Hannah Birkett, studying History and French, who also lives at the property stated, "He then rang the police straight away to report what

he had found and my housemates overheard him say he had found a grenade in our shed."

Page added, "We waited outside the house for the police to come.

They arrived very quickly and blocked off a section of Lisvane Street with their cars. They told us they had called for the bomb squad who would take a while to come as they had to travel from Gloucester and wouldn't let my housemate back into the house to grab some revision notes, even though she had an exam the next day."

Following the evacuation of the street, many residents took refuge in The Flora until the area was given the all clear.

“

There was a grenade at his feet with the pin in

"They also told both of our next door neighbours households to evacuate, so we all went to The Flora. A few houses either side of ours were told not to go into their

gardens."

"The bomb squad arrived at 9.30pm and were in and out of the house in a matter of minutes."

“

It didn't even occurr to me that we may have been hurt in the process

The Bomb Disposal Unit found that the grenade had already had the explosives taken out of it and was no longer live. They stressed that the grenade was not any danger to residents.

Although it was deactivated it was still removed from the premises to avoid any further alarm in the future.

Rachel Broadbent, a Medical student and fellow tenant of the property involved; "I was hoping for a quiet night in revising for my exam the next day, but I ended up taking my textbook to The Flora while we waited to be let back in.

"I just don't understand how it got there, but I'm just glad the builder found it that night instead of the next day when he was planning on burning down the shed."

Birkett added: "It was quite a bonding experience for us and our neighbours, all seeking refuge in the pub."

Music student Alice Wane, one of the neighbours who had to be evacuated said: "We were eating supper when Sarah came round telling us what had happened and warned us about the fact that we may have to evacuate.

"We all thought it was a quite funny situation. Then the police arrived and banged on our door and ordered us out of our house. We then got in a bit of a flap and grabbed keys, shoes and our purses and left the house in a hurry.

"It was very exciting and a little bit scary, it didn't even occur to me that we may have been hurt in the process."

Page stated: "before we knew that it wasn't live we then began to worry about the danger we had been putting ourselves in when we'd been rummaging through the shed."

Council reimburse student £100 for waste fine Miranda Atty News Editor Cardiff Council have refunded one Cardiff student household after charging them a fine of £100 for failing to comply with the Council’s waste regulations.

A gair rhydd investigation in February 2011 (Issue 943) revealed that the Council had issued 228 Fixed Penalty Notices to students since the start of 2011. gair rhydd and the Union’s Advice and Representation Centre (ARC) were approached by a number of students who had been fined

under the new measures.

One of the students was secondyear Kathryn Wynne, who sent a letter to the Council to appeal against the £100 fine issued after one of her house’s three bins was found halfway down her street.

Kathryn received a response from the Council around two weeks after sending a letter of appeal. The response confirmed that the Council would waive the Fixed Penalty Notice and reimburse the student household. The Council also replaced the house’s three existing bins with one big bin and one small black one.

Kathryn told gair rhydd: “I am really glad that all the points we raised in our letter have been considered by the Council. They have listened to us and rectified the issue by sending us a cheque for £100.”

Benedict Hodge, a Student Advisor for ARC, also said of the issue: “We are very pleased that the Council has taken this issue seriously and responded appropriately.”

A Cardiff Council spokesperson commented: "The Council investigated Miss Wynne’s case and retracted the fine due to circumstances that were beyond Miss Wynne’s control.

"An additional wheeled bin had been delivered to the address to support the household with their residual waste storage.

"After the Council’s recent enforcement activity in Cathays to 2862 households, 104 objection letters to issued fines were received by the Council from residents. Each one was individually reviewed and considered by officers.

"If a resident can provide documentary evidence there are reasonable grounds that the fine is not appropriate, a fine can be retracted.

From the 104 letters received 24 fines were wavered."

In this week's gair rhydd...

Hockey Gaddafi

FoodLibya Census CharityCardiff

Council

Rugby Allergies Japan Rebecca Black Robots Religion Natural disaster Science

Grenade

World

Equality Varsity Sufferer Tsunami Scholar Elections Revolution Parking fines

News03

Monday March 28 2011 • gair rhydd • news@gairrhydd.com

One candidate said: "This has been the dirtiest election I remember seeing" Continued from front These allegations have caused many candidates and students to complain to gair rhydd.

An anonymous candidate from the AU category told gair rhydd: “It’s not the fact of who won, it’s the fact that the reports of cheating made a mockery of student politics.

If you can’t win without cheating, I wish I hadn’t bothered.” gair rhydd has been made aware that one official warning was given to a candidate in the AU category although this candidate did not go on to win the election.

Edmund Schluessel, a candidate in the University and Academic Affairs Officer category told gair rhydd: “This has been the dirtiest election I remember seeing.

"My own campaign was targeted with numerous frivolous complaints, none of which were upheld; there was more tearing down of posters than I've ever seen before; there was the whole business with the eBay t-shirts; and while I didn't witness any circulation of laptops myself, I've heard about that and other issues from people I trust.”

freewords EDITORIAL est.1972 Sarah Powell Editor

There you have it folks. Another rousing election has come and gone, and this year has sparked more controversy than ever before.

Upon reading our front page article, I was reminded of a story we ran two years ago under the headline ‘Promoted to Power’, in which some of the Students’ Union Officer elect were found to be bending the rules of the election process by accepting support from external promotions companies.

This year the accusations are slightly more sinister, with many reports of candidates entering students’ bedrooms and voting on their behalf. That’s democracy for you.

It’s a difficult one to get to the bottom of. Do the reports come from embittered candidates who have an ulterior motive? Or are there just too many examples of questionable behaviour to make them mere accusation? Is it a case of candidate rivalry? Or is there substance behind the rumours?

I can’t pretend to have the answers, but I do know that campaign week is always a difficult time, characterised by high emotion, huge effort and, in many cases, exhaustion.

Even from my experience, I know

However, some candidates had a different stance on the elections process.

James Luck, campaigner for Christopher Davies of the Welfare, Campaigns and Communications category, shared his feelings on the campaigning process: “Our campaign was better, that’s why we won.

“You need to target two demographics. You need to target the people who care about the policies and you need to target the people who don’t care, but will respond to the song, the gimmick and the care bear suit. We did both and I think we did it well.”

“

"It's not who won, it's the fact that reports of cheating have made a mockery of the process"

A candidate for Athletic Union President, James Davies told gair rhydd: “I think the campaign week is what it is, some campaign a little more than others and on this occasion there has been a vast spread of varying degrees of effort on the that campaign week can bring fraught relations between competing candidates. Trust me, I ran against my boyfriend for the same position last year, so I can tell you a thing or two about awkwardness.

It’s difficult, I know, because it takes so much courage for a candidate to put themselves forward, and run around looking stupid for a week. And everyone invests so much into that week, their pride, their passion and even their degree.

With that much on the line then, there’s no wonder that, sometimes, it gets personal.

This year however, this seemed to be the pervading feeling of the week.

During the few times I visited the infamous crossroads, and in my conversations with candidates, things seemed to get very personal.

I was faced with in-category bitching and manifesto jeering, snide comments and ‘you’ll never guess what so and so has been up to’.

It’s sad, watching proceedings from the other side of the fence and becoming aware of how different things were this year. Perhaps I’m looking back at the halcyon days with a rose-tinted fondness, but this year there has definitely been a very different feel to the whole elections process, but I can’t put my finger on why that is.

Of course, internet voting makes the whole thing much harder for candidates, which is perhaps why some felt that they had to push the rules.

E-voting makes the process of casting a vote much faster and much more available. Any student

part of the candidates and it has led to a very diverse selection of results.“ Despite allegations of wrong doing by candidates and campaign teams, no official complaints were made to the Students’ Union regarding the issue of providing voters with a means to vote.

The Deputy Returning Officer Morgan Hart commented on the election process: "The elections team are very pleased with this year’s elections and the turnout was testament to those involved.

"Despite an initial surge the overall number of complaints was small and in all cases candidates complied with the returning officers advice.

"Though there may be some rumours around the elections, none of these were formally fed back to the elections team and all candidates signed a declaration that they felt the elections had been conducted in a fair manner and all outstanding issues dealt with."

If you have any comments or concerns based on this article please visit www.gairrhydd.com

can log on from their personal laptop, and even their phones, rather than making the unappealing trek to a ballot box. And of course, this opens up the potential for students to merely cast their vote in one category, or to vote in a less informed manner.

And of course, the internet makes the whole need for exposure so much more important during election periods. With thousands of potential voters at your fingertips on Facebook, candidates need to do more to make themselves stand out.

The boundaries are blurred by the internet. Candidates aren’t technically allowed to campaign near a ballot, but when the ballot is a personal laptop or a mobile phone, do the rules still apply in the same way?

That being said, e-voting was in place last year and the year before that, and as far as I’m aware there were never any complaints of candidates entering students’ bedrooms and voting on their behalf.

Having gone through the process myself, I understand what is at stake for all the candidates who run in the election, and I know how tempting it is to be a little ‘creative’ in your campaigning. But if what has recently come to light is true, then it makes a complete mockery of the elections process and spoils the opportunity for those who play by the rules.

Regardless of personal opinion, the behaviour of a minority has tainted this year’s election process, and it remains left to be seen what will happen in the coming year.

Decision time: Students tell us what influenced their vote at SU elections Jessica Bussell.

First Year.

“

I voted for one of the candidates because she studies the same course as me. I found that lecture shout-outs were fairly effective. I also voted for another candidate in particular due to their commitment to get out and campaign at my halls of residence (Roy Jenkins) on a Sunday.

Amar Amratia.

Third Year.

“

I voted for my friends who were running for various positions. Otherwise my votes went to candidates who I'd spoken to on nights out and in Uni, and those who spammed me the most on Facebook. Overall the campaign week was brilliant, and there was a great atmoshpere around campus and in clubs.

Mel McKay. Third Year.

“

Despite the fact I'm in my final year I still think it's important to vote in the Sabb elections. I was particularly interested to see who would become next year's Head of Student Media as I am involved with student media myself. I found that any candidate with a campaign song and plenty of hugs was a winner.

Beth Jenkins.

Third Year.

“

My decision was based predominantly on the candidates manifestos, although the visibility of their campaigns around uni and on facebook also contributed towards my decision. I enjoyed the lively atmosphere of the week - especially being given cakes and sweets on my way to a lecture.

04News

Monday March 28 2011 • gair rhydd • news@gairrhydd.com

Cardiff Students' Union Elections 2011: ga Meet next year's team of Elected Officers

SU President Marcus Coates-Walker

AU President Olly Devon

“

“

The competition seemed very fair and the mood between all the competitors was excellent, a real team mentality between the candidates.

Campaign week was one of the most exhausting yet amazing weeks of my life.I met some fantastic new people with great campaigns including the three candidates I ran against.

I found the experience exhilarating, spending every waking moment talking to students over the past week has offered an amazing insight that I am sure to take forward into my role as AU President next year.

I am so grateful to everyone that voted; you have given me one of the best opportunities that I could ever have hoped for next year.

Finance & Commercial Nick Matthew

Head of Student Media Oliver Smith

“

With regard to the campaigning experience, I found the whole thing incredible, in so many ways.

The other candidates were great.

I think that everyone, along with their teams, were constantly good natured and great fun to be around.

Societies, Events & Activities Harry Newman

“

It's been great to get to know all the candidates, I don't think I've ever met such a dedicated and passionate bunch of people.

To win was the most amazing feeling, I wasn't just happy for myself but also for my campaign team.

They had put in so many hours and I was so glad when that effort and commitment was recognised.

Welfare, Campaigns & Communication Chris Davies

“

Winning was a real honour, I know I have a lot to look forward to.

Every one of my opponents were friendly and ran honest and positive campaigns; I thank them for that. It was a pleasure competing with them.

University & Academic Affairs Samantha Reid

“

Campaigning is an emotional yet utterly rewarding experience. I have met so many wonderful people throughout the campaign and I want to thank everyone who supported me throughout.

I am really happy with how many votes I managed to get and the turn out for this year appears to be up on last year's, which is excellent.

“

I really wanted the job and the Welfare position is such a great role within the Union I’m not surprised there was such stiff competition for it.

I must say that my opponents were one of the first people to congratulate me on my election win and that meant a lot to me.

Healthcare Student Integration Sarah Halpin

“

I've had the best time and met some amazing people and I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who voted.

Now I've won, I'm looking forward to working with the other candidates and really excited about what's ahead. For the moment, I'm concentrating on finishing my degree but July 1st cannot come soon enough.

News05

Monday March 28 2011 • gair rhydd • news@gairrhydd.com

air rhydd takes a look at how it turned out Environmental & Ethical Alec Care

“

gair rhydd looks at the final vote count for SU President and AU President positions Overall number of votes recieved in relation to the AV voting system

What a week! It was a great chance to meet new people, have really interesting conversations with the benefit of feeling you are there campaigning for something you really believe in that will help everyone.

A full breakdown of the results can be found on www.cardiffstudents.com

On a personal level I am disappointed the elections are still very much a popularity contest, however, I am sure all those elected will do a great job.

I'm most looking forward to working with a team of people who all recognise the needs of students in Cardiff University, and to seeing what we can achieve together.

Women's Officer Astha Modi

“

Thanks to the entire student body for choosing me as the Women's Officer.

[Campaigning] was fun even though not every bit of it was pleasant. I learn't a lot of things and will always cherish the fact that I stood for these elections.

RON

388 Craiger Solomons

Rae Lewis-Ayling

446 Matt Vanstone

236 105 59

536 Jess Cox

James Davies

866 Sam tasker-Grindley

1127 Harry Guy

1734 Olly Devon

92

606 Jen Lay

RON

855 Rose Savage

“

I'm glad I won the position and I know that I can achieve the goals I detailed in my manifesto - what the LGBT+ Association has achieved this year has really set a benchmark for success.

1262

LGBT+ Kate Boddington

Millie Boswell

I enjoyed each and every moment of the elections; the different styles of campaigning amazed me a lot. I was impressed by the creativity shown by other candidates.

1940

“

I feel highly obliged to be selected as an International Student Officer and it was a pleasure to be a part of the Cardiff Students' Union Elections 2011.

Marcus Coates-Walker

International Students Usman Malik

The election in numbers

5429 The number of voters

1

official warning

19%

1407

voter turnout based on 29,000 students

more voters than last year

805

votes between Oliver Smith and Morgan Applegarth in the Head of Media category 2011

36

votes between Simon Lucey and Sarah Powell in the Head of Media category

2010

40

votes between Olly Birrell and Dickon Baird

2011

678

votes between Marcus CoatesWalker and Millie Boswell

SU President category

2010

I request the entire student body to work with me and achieve as much as we can and take our Union further.

Welsh Officer Owain Thomas

The moral herein is to run in a position of very little interest to most of those vapid, power hungry, home counties dwelling, sumo wrestling foxes and orphans that love this kind of thing.

Photos: Jake Yorath

“

Campaigning was fun as ever. This year I subscribed to the mantra 'less is more'. I put up three posters in total.

Two of these posters were attatched to my own house. I subsequently won an overwhelming majority.

06News

Monday March 28 2011 • gair rhydd • news@gairrhydd.com

Cardiff welcomes New building gets go-ahead research scholars Joanne Southerd Reporter

Becky Bartlett Reporter An official University event this week welcomes the first group of President’s Research Scholars, the first of its type at a Russell Group University.

Designed to attract new students, the scholarships were established to coincide with the 2009 inauguration of the Universities new president, Professor Sir Martin Evans.

The scholarships seek those with a want to work on exciting and challenging projects in dynamic and well-resourced research environments, under the supervision of successful and established researchers.

The first students have already joined the University, with both UK and outstanding international students involved.

A specially commissioned video featuring the stories of three of the President’s Research Scholars – Robert Davies, Claudia Di Napoli and Mustafa Hameed – was shown, as part of the event.

“

The scholarship was established in honour of Nobel prize winner, Sir Martin Evans

Davies stated that: “The prestige of the President’s Research Scholarship will stand me in good stead

when the time comes to pursue an academic post or return to a career in industry in years to come.”

“

Work on exciting and challenging projects

The Scholarship itself was established in honour of the Nobel Prize winner, Professor Sir Martin Evans.

Di Napoli observed: “Working in a University whose President has been awarded such an important recognition of his work is amazing.”

“

Dynamic and wellresourced research environments

Mustafa Hameed commented: “Without the funding I would most definitely have ended my academic career due to financial constraints.

"So it is really about giving me the opportunity to contribute positively to my field.”

The event follows a recent call by the University’s President for the most promising students to consider the President’s Research Scholarships on offer, in a bid to retain and attract the best minds to the University.

Cardiff ’s newest addition to the university campus has just received the go-ahead.

Situated at Maindy Park, the new development is set to become the first of a series of prestigious buildings that the university plans to bring to life over the next two decades.

The landmark building will stand next to the Cardiff School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, on Maindy Park campus.

Two of the recently launched Research Institutes will find their new home in the building: The Cancer

Stem Cell Research Institute and The Neurosciences and Mental Health Research Institute.

The ground floor will have an open space for displays, lectures and conferences, while the rest of the building will provide highly advanced laboratory space.

The new building is set to bring highly skilled jobs and increase public engagement with the University’s top academics and researchers, who are tackling major health threats in Wales.

The £30m building will be financed by Welsh and UK Government capital funds earmarked for this particular project.

Designers have ensured that the

building will be aesthetically complementary to the existing School of Optometry as well as the residences on Maindy Road; it will also be sustainable in its building materials and energy consumption.

Professor Tim Wess, Pro ViceChancellor for Estates, said: “This new building will help regenerate an important part of our city centre, establishing world-class research teams to address issues which affect us all.

We have worked very closely with the community and Cardiff Council on developing our plans and we are very grateful for all their interest and support.”

Rise in charitable donations Joanne Southerd Reporter According to the annual Ross-CASE Survey, there has been a significant rise in charitable donations to Cardiff and other Welsh universities over the last year.

The survey calculates the sum of all pledges, future commitments, new cash gifts and gifts in kind, and this year’s figures reveal that universities in Wales have attracted a £2million surge in charitable donations.

Last year, over 185,000 people and

organisations donated to universities, colleges and higher education institutions across the UK, representing a 25% rise in the figures from 2007-08.

“

Welsh universities picked up over £3m in cash income

New funds for Welsh universities have escalated from just under £4.5m in 2008-09 to £6.6m in 2009-10.

According to the study, Welsh universities also picked up over £3m in cash income. The total num-

ber of donors soared from 1,248 to 2,752, in a major display of higher education philanthropy.

Joanna Motion, Vice President for International Operations at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, praised the “continued professionalisation of university fundraising,” and celebrated the institutions’ efforts in this area.

Cardiff will benefit from this boom in charitable donations, which will be used to support a wide range of initiatives, ranging from funding research to improving facilities, to providing bursaries for students.

Cardiff Council collects nearly £800,000 in parking fines Becky Bartlett Reporter It has been revealed that Cardiff City Council collected £794,305 in parking fines in just six months.

It was also noted that over half of the parking fines were issued within the Cathays area.

On average, a parking fine is issued every ten minutes in Cathays, which is a densely populated student area.

A Freedom Of Information request revealed that 31,379 tickets were distributed between September 2010 and February 2011.

In contrast, a parking ticket is only issued once a week in Rhi-

wbina.

Cathays Councillor, Simon Wakefield, commented on the difference in statistics, stating that the council’s 45 parking enforcement officers are “going to go where there’s a high density of parked cars.”

Pentrych Councillor, Craig Williams, said of the fines: “It’s just another indicator that the council is very much focused on the city centre and not elsewhere in the county.”

A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “During the last month civil parking enforcement officers have been patrolling areas which were previously patrolled on an infrequent basis."

World News

07

Chile-Factor Loo-ser Status symbol Laura Evans Reporter

A British 19-year-old is set to win Chile’s version of the X factor.

Charlie Bick from Thetford, Norfolk, who is currently living in the Chilean capital Santiago, stunned the judges with his Spanish rendition of Enrique Iglesias’ hit single ‘Hero’.

Bick has only been learning Spanish for three months but was told by the panel that they preferred him singing in Spanish rather than his English choice of Robbie Williams ‘Angels’.

Reluctant to audition in the first

place, Charlie pipped thousands to the post when he got through to perform in front of the judges.

Since his audition being broadcast on Chilean television, the teenager received an overwhelming amount of publicity including over 200 Facebook requests, mainly from girls.

Speaking about the competition, Bick states: "I’m feeling confident and I think I have a really good chance to go far. I have a great passion for singing and to do it here in Chile brings a strange aspect to it, but I think I have a good chance.’"

Jenny Lambourne Reporter

A 69-year-old woman in Dallas, Texas, was able to call for emergency assistance despite having accidentally impaled herself on a toilet roll holder.

Dallas Fire Department said: She apparently fell and the toilet paper holder just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The emergency crew were able to free the woman after removing the holder with bolt cutters and despite the severity of the injury, only a few stitches were needed once she had reached hospital.

Harry Hunt Reporter Utah have decided to go one further in their state symbolism by deciding to designate a state firearm, the Browning m1911.

The pistol was made by Utah native John Browning, and has seen wide use in combat, the first timebeing when the USA tackled the rebel leader Pancho Villa. The firearm was introduced as the US army needed stopping power and a side arm that could down an enemy in a single shot.

The law states that the gun encap-

sulates freedom and empowerment but has drawn some criticism- most notably from the Democratic State Representative Brian King.

He believes that a firearm is 'a poor choice for a state symbol'. He believes that there are other 'more unifying than divisive symbols' that could be used.

Russian Scandal Van H-Alien Toad in the Hole Joanne Southerd Reporter

The Bolshoi theatre, previously the finest in Russian culture, has become the victim of mass slander this week after the surprise departure of Deputy Director, Gennady Yanin.

Home to the world’s biggest ballet company, the theatre has been accused of lacking vision and morals, and falling victim to greed and vulgarity.

Homosexuality remains little tolerated in Russia, so when graphic images of Yanin in bed with other men were leaked on the internet, he was forced out, fuelling a media storm.

Jenny Lambourne Reporter

Becky Bartlett Reporter

Sammy Hagar, a former lead singer for Van Halen has told MTV that he has been abducted by aliens who then tapped into his brain.

During an interview about his autobiography, he told the reporter: "It was real. They were plugged into me. It was a download situation...or they uploaded something from my brain, like an experiment".

In his autobiography, Hagar includes extra detail about his abduction including how the other wordly beings used a wireless connection to link with his brain.

"I know there's something out there... and someday they'll come."

The popular Kimberley wilderness region in Australia has resorted to a long knee-high fence to keep outpoisonous cane toads which are rapidly overrunning the tourist attraction.

The plan to erect the 1.25 mile barrier, made from cloth mesh, aims to allow other animals to move through while keeping out the toads, which are prolific breeders which secrete a toxin that can kill pets and wildlife.

The toad has spread wildly in tropical Australia since being introduced in the 1930s as a ways to kill beetles. However, they have also-

been devouring insects, birds' eggs and native species such as the quoll, a catlike marsupial.

Opinion

09

Gotta get down on Friday Libby van Den Bosch Opinion Writer For those of you that have somehow dodged the internet this week, Rebecca Black’s single Friday is the latest in viral videos to hit Facebook and the 'Twittersphere'.

It is one that has divided its critics as to whether it is brilliantly awful or just awful. Friday sees Black’s auto-tuned voice brimming with tween-angst, as she considers the inevitability of her breakfast decision (‘gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereaaaal’) and agonises whether to take the front or the back seat of a car that is inexplicably being driven by a twelve-year-old.

The YouTube video has thus far attracted over 35 million viewers, which seems odd when we consider what simply appears to be the latest in a tradition of generic Bieberesque pop drivel. However, perhaps what is unique about it and the reason why it is has been so universally criticised, is that it has not a single redeeming feature and is so brilliantly mundane that it is much funnier than any of the subsequent inevitable parodies that have followed it.

The low-budget and depressingly literal music video features Black’s brace-wearing friends nervously jerking like puppets on acid, sporadically shouting ‘yeah’, to the lyrics, which include the insightful words, ‘tomorrow is Saturday/and Sunday comes afterwards’.

The worst part however, comes with the frankly disturbing sequence when someone who appears to be Usher’s chubbier and lesssuccessful older brother (P.Diddyphile?), raps nonsensically from a car about passing school-buses.

His appearance in the video is never explained but there is something distinctly unsettling about the way the video promotes the idea a strange man in a darkened car that likes to ‘party’ with thirteenyear-olds as something wholly acceptable.

The song is undeniably appalling, but does Black really deserve to bear the brunt of such a vitriolic hate campaign? She has reportedly been subjected to torrents of online abuse that even include death threats, which seems extreme when, auto-tuned assault on our ears aside, the biggest crime she can be accused of is her grammatical inaccuracy.

However, despite appearances, the song that features the immortal line ‘we we we so excited’ was in fact written by two human adults: Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson, who also appear to think it is acceptable to form an entire chorus from the single word ‘fun’.

Indeed it is hard to blame Rebecca Black for jumping at the chance to become a popstar, something that most pre-teen girls would love to do ,if given the opportunity. It recently came to light that Black’s mother paid the Los-Angeles based record label Ark Music Factory $2,000 to make the video. Clearly the heights

of kids’ aspirations have sky-rocketed in the past decade; no longer content to merely have the largest collection of Pokémon cards or smelly gel-pens, Ark Music specialises in helping the children of the super-rich live out their insane Disney pop fantasies.

Although she has undoubtedly received the most criticism, Black’s song is unbelievably not the worst thing for Ark Music Factory to have spewed out thus far. CJ Fam’s parents will have undoubtedly paid a large sum for their non-famous eight-year-old to sing the gloriously ironic Ordinary Popstar in which she bemoans how terrible it is to be famous, in the hope that as a result she will actually become famous.

The mind boggles. This video again features fat Usher, this time nodding sagely at a screen on which CJ Fam attempts to gyrate sexily, no doubt attempting to emulate what she has seen on TV. These songs may seem ridiculous, but it is questionable whether they are really any more lacking in artistic merit than those of Justin Bieber or Willow Smith or even their adult popstar counterparts.

Although made on a higher budget, there are similarities in the reliance on auto-tune and the fine line between "catchy" and "irritatingly" repetitive is often blurred. If anything, Rebecca Black may have done the music industry a favour, as the backlash that ensued has demonstrated that there is only so much saccharine-ridden pop junk that people are willing to swallow

Above: A still from the infamous Friday video and Rebecca Black's single 'artwork'

Takeaway job ban will not work Louice Tapper Jansson Opinion Writer The government has decided that it should be more difficult for persons without citizenship from a European Economic Area (EEA) country to work in Britain.

The EEA includes countries with membership in the European Union and Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein and makes it easier for people to cross these boarders when seeking work.

Now, a ban which aims to hinder immigrants from outside a EEA to work as chefs at takeaway restaurants has been introduced. This was called by the government after an investigation by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). On March 14 2011, the BBC reported that the purpose of MAC’s report was to “review the country’s skill

shortages.” This will only affect non skilled workers, but it also means that a person seeking a chef ’s job needs to have graduate-level qualifications. If a person does not qualify, he or she will not be allowed in the UK at all.

To regulate immigrants’ entry to the country and reduce their opportunity to work could be interpreted as an attempt by the government to create new jobs for the Brits, but is this the way to go?

Limiting immigrants’ access to work in a specific branch of occupation does not mean that these jobs will attract British unemployed.

According to the BBC article, only chefs from countries outside EEA need to be skilled. This means that it is obviously a tactic by the government to keep certain immigrants outside the UK borders.

This may work to reduce the

“

Limiting the opportunity for foreigners to make a living does not solve the root problem

numbers of immigrants, but it could also increase the number of illegal workers.

Another reason for the ban could be that the government are aware of that the working conditions at takeaway restaurants need to be improved. Limiting the opportunity for foreigners to make a living in Britain does not solve the root problem, which is that many employers are taking advantage of their employees.

If people are forced into working illegally, these conditions might worsen even more. To remove an immigrant worker thus does not guarantee that the employer will treat new employees in an improved way.

Immigration Minister Damian Green motivated the ban by saying: “These changes will allow firms to bring in people with necessary

skills without migrants becoming the first resort to fill a wide range of available jobs.”

However, as the ban requires a migrant to to be skilled at a graduate-level, the question of how skilled a takeaway chef must be rises. Is it even reasonable that this should be a requirement to work at a takeaway restaurant in the UK? Damian Green states that the ban is “reducing the need for migrants at the same time as we reduce their number.” There is no evidence for this, and there will always be occupations that are dependent on migrants, as they are often more willing to accept jobs that are not so glamorous or well-paid.

It appears that the only thing that will result from the ban is an increased illegal workforce, with no benefit to the UK econonmy.

If you want to write a piece for You Reply about any Opinion articles you have read, or have any other opinions, email opinion@gairrhydd.com.

Opinion10

Monday March 28 2011 • gair rhydd • opinion@gairrhydd.com

No religion, please - we're British Chris Williams Opinion Editor

Above: Religious affiliation questions within the consensus.

Right: Protests against religious inclusion within the consensus

Caleb Woodbridge Opinion Writer

There are three kinds of lies, the saying goes: lies, damned lies and statistics. One statistic has proved particularly controversial: the 2001 census found that 72% of the population described themselves as “Christian”. With the 2011 census, the fight is on to get it changed.

“If you’re not religious, for God’s sake say so”, runs the British Humanist Association’s (BHA) campaign slogan to encourage nonbelievers to register their disbelief in the current census. As a Christian, I can see no possible objection to having an accurate picture of the nation’s beliefs. It seems pretty likely that religion is in continued decline in Britain. But the real controversy is over how these statistics are used politically.

The BHA argues that the census figures on religious affiliation were used to justify increasing the number of faith schools, special privileges for religious groups in equality

law and other legislation, retaining Bishops in the House of Lords and much more. The campaign to get people to tick the non-religious box is also about decreasing religion’s influence in the public sphere.

It’s right to take the question of religion seriously. It makes an everlasting difference if we will face a choice of heaven or hell, or if we will be reborn in a cycle of reincarnation, or if this life is all we get, and so on. It’s in no-one’s interest for someone to think of themself as a member of a religion without really understanding and being committed to its teachings and practices.

It’s not just eternity, either: religion makes all the difference to everything from education to marriage, from war to abortion. Our beliefs should not be a matter of habit or cultural identity, but of personal, rational conviction. What we believe really matters, so tick what you really believe on the census.

But I think using religious statistics to make political arguments, whether by the non-religious or religious, misses the point. Politi-

cal issues are usually questions of principle – statistics shouldn’t come into it. Rights and freedoms and responsibilities should apply to everyone equally.

If faith schools are acceptable, then statistics might decide which faiths are taught where, what the distribution should be of Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, secular and so on. But statistics can’t tell us whether or not religion ought to be taught at all in schools in the first place. Should education be religionfree, to allow children to make up their own minds? Or would a secular education simply mean secular indoctrination?

Or take the example of Owen and Eunice Johns, the Christian couple barred from fostering because they believe, in accordance with traditional orthodox Christianity, that homosexuality is a sin. Despite promising that they would show love and support to any child they fostered no matter their sexuality, their moral stance was deemed potentially harmful.

Whatever you think of the Johns’s beliefs, the issue can’t be

decided simply by majority vote. If people have freedom of belief, then they have it even when it runs contrary to the opinion of the majority.

A teenager disagreeing with their parents’ morality would be nothing new. Should an atheist like Richard Dawkins be barred from fostering, in case his belief that religion is immoral harms his child? Should they adopt a faith? The Johns are victims of an intolerant secularism intent on excluding faith, not on promoting freedom.

It’s also wrong to assume that all people of a particular religion will support a particular policy, and neither does being non-religious necessarily imply support of secularist politics. To treat religious affiliation like a vote for a political party is a logical confusion and an abuse of statistics.

Let’s stop the statistical one-upmanship right now. I don’t want any special privileges or exceptions for religious people, but for everyone, both religious and non-religious, to have the same freedom to live according to their beliefs and principles – even for Jedis!

Kabir Taneja's article concerning the unrest in Libya seems to be... well, a little confusing.

I'll start off by stating that I don't agree with her. Not at all. Just because we appear not to have the money to get involved in what is a cripplingly horrible situation, doesn't mean we shouldn't at least try to help.

Taneja claims that there's been cut backs to the MOD and based on this we shouldn't bare the larger burden of dealing with Gadaffi.

Personally, I think this take on the situation lacks any emotion or feeling towards those dying in Libya.

We cannot, should not and will not let such a horrible leader continue to mercilessly kill his own people.

In spite of the cut made we've made to our defences in the UK, we're still a very rich nation, a member of the UN Security Council and, therefore, a key figure in the International Sphere. To not intervene in Libya means to, effectively, sanction Gaddafi's actions and to allow him to continue.

She claims that 'the main reason for using military force is the final ouster of Gaddafi'. Not true. As confirmed only a few days ago, Gadaffi is not a target and it is a humanitarian intervention.

They key argument, which Taneja appears to have missed, is the history between us and Libya.

We've got blood on our hands: the weapons Libyan's are using were supplied by the west, some even by the UK. The point is, we should stop funding terrorism in different countries because at some point or other, it's going to turn back and bite us - like it has done before.

The fact that we supplied the weapons means that we are obliged to get into the country and 'clean up the mess' that we made.. This will also avoid international effects.

It won't be catastrophic to get involved in Libya, it is a matter of ethics.

Twitter views on the Census dentonpotter11 @liamgh If enough people tick 'no religion' on the census form does it get status as a new religion? Do they then get funding?

Iamblip_normal Did anyone else put "techno" down for the religion part of the census?

Subsequence_48_normal painstick ADD YOUR religion as 'Jedi' on Census to ensure in 100 years time your descendants know for sure you were a sad bell end #atheist

Politics12

Japan wakes to a bittersweet new dawn Sophie Gidley analyses how the Japanese have coped with one of the worst natural disasters in their history, and how hope is on the horizon with international unity.

M

arch 11 2011.

The world waited with bated breath as news of a devastating earthquake that hit the north-east coast of Japan spread across the globe. Striking at 2:46pm local time, it measured 8.9 on the Richter scale and is one of the six-strongest earthquakes recorded since 1900. Then followed the horrific news that the earthquake had indeed triggered a ten mile tsunami which wreaked havoc as it swept inland, obliterating almost everything in its path and causing extensive damage. Cars, ships and even houses were swept back out to sea. Live video footage and images soon circulated worldwide visibly portraying the sheer carnage that had ensued and focusing the attention of everyone on East Asia.

When it seemed like Japan had suffered enough from two of the world’s most devastating natural disasters matters took an even greater turn for the worse; the cooling system at the Fukushima nuclear power plant had failed and with four of the plant's six reactors in trouble, warnings of a potential nuclear meltdown increased. A catastrophe that cannot be heard or seen, radiation, is now the biggest threat of all for the Japanese people, it affects human health, most notably increasing the risk of cancer. Fear

increased even more this week with news of radiation being found in spinach, milk and water supplies.

Japan’s official death toll stands at 8,100 but is expected to rise beyond 20,000. Although the immediate effects of the earthquake and tsunami have finally ceased, hot food, water and fuel is in short supply and phone networks are still down in many areas, leaving thousands unable to contact missing loved ones. The infrastructure is ruined and thousands of families have been displaced. In the northeast where the devastation is at its worst, around 400,000 are living in makeshift shelters with no home to return to and few belongings left.

Those who managed to escape still continue to search for news of family members but as each day passes the chances of finding survivors narrows and hope is fading fast. The magnitude of devastation is evident from analogies being made comparing this Japanese crisis to the Hiroshima bombing of World War Two, or the Chernobyl disaster. Although these may be over-exaggerations, it conveys the sheer scale of destruction that both the earthquake and tsunami caused. Evidently, Japan was not prepared to cope with a disaster of this scale.

History shows that in times of natural disasters the international community has responded well – as

recently as February, Christchurch, New Zealand, was supported with international aid after suffering a 6.3-magnitude earthquake. Once again, a global relief effort was swiftly mobilised for Japan. More than 100 countries have offered assistance and global rescue teams have flown in from around the world. Fifty of those offered assistance on the day that the earthquake actually occurred.

The British Government has been in close contact with the Japanese authorities trying to assess the situation and David Cameron was quick to offer humanitarian assistance. Although the UK has not offered direct financial aid to Japan, it has provided physical help and assistance; within days it had sent a 63-strong UK Search and Rescue team. British humanitarian aid is also vital as the PM raised his concerns over the safety of British nationals in Japan. Although there have been no reports of British deaths; the British Government was keen to provide as much support as it possibleto British nationals in Japan affected by the natural disasters.

Global Non-Governmental Organisations have also proposed help, by providing relief and aid to victims and actively raising money from the general public.

The British Red Cross has actively been supporting the Japanese Red

Cross while other charities offering support include Save the Children and Oxfam. Rescue and relief teams are offering a variety of assistance, from fire servicemen providing heavy lifting and cutting rescue equipment, to medical support teams and rescue dogs, trained to find survivors. With Japan further suffering from a hindrance of snowfall, clothes and blankets have also been sent to the victims.

Inter-governmental organisations have also pledged support, including the World Bank, Unicef, Unesco and the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

As quoted in The Guardian, The World Bank president, Robert Zoellick, stated: "This is a heartbreaking situation and the World Bank Group stands ready to help the government and the people of Japan in the recovery efforts.” Currently, over £60 million of financial help has been promised, although Japan’s Economics Minister, Kaoru Yosano, estimated economic damage from the disaster would exceed 20 trillion Yen (over £150 billion).

However, critics have argued that donations to Japan pale in comparison to those offered to the victims of the Haiti earthquake, most likely due to an awareness of Japan’s status as the third-richest economy in the world. They have also debated whether financial aid should be offered to Japan at all, particularly

as the Japanese government has not explicitly asked for help from the international community, and surely has enough funds to sustain itself. Despite this, it would seem that the international community does have a duty to offer assistance to Japan, as this is a devastating disaster that is on an unprecedented scale for most countries and has shocked the world.

It is testimony to the sheer resilience and self-reliance of the Japanese to not directly ask for financial aid but it's testimony to the dedication and support of the international community prepared to help a country in need. With the world bearing the brunt of one of the greatest economic recessions in time, the large amount of money which has already been raised, although maybe not as great as previous responses to other international natural disasters, is still an enormously significant amount.

Britain alone has just raised a record amount from Comic Relief and has funds for the riots in Tunisia, Bahrain, Libya, Egypt and now for the crisis in both New Zealand and Japan. It's a reflection of the generosity of the general public towards victims across the world and the dedication of the international community to protect humanity. At least this can be one positive gained from this horrendous natural disaster.

Above: The Japanese nation react rapidly to try and ease the suffering caused by last week's astonishing quake

Politics13

Monday March 28 2011 • gair rhydd • politics@gairrhydd.com • Follow @GairRhyddPol

How much longer can Libya hold?

James Dunn examines what the future holds for a country torn by revolution, and what impact this will have on a war torn NATO

A

t the time of writing, the international campaign to remove Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s brutal and tenuous hold on power in Libya is four days old.

After weeks of hesitation to take action, the forces already in the country have run into internal disputes and global criticism.

It is now over a month since the revolution seized the country. Following on from the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain the people of Libya rose against Colonel Gaddafi, who has been in power since his bloodless coup d’état in 1969. During that time, the main power blocks of the Security Council have been involved in an internal dispute of their own which has already been responsible for the delay in sending military aid to the region. Now, it seems that these internal power struggles could derail the coalition rescue operation alltogether. France, the U.S. and Britain are all members of the five-strong permanent council; Germany still has 9 months of service as a nonpermanent member.

Last week, when the arguments for the implementation of a no-fly zone over the country were in full flow, the German representatives at the G8, the EU and the Nato emergency summits all refused to back the Anglo-French initiative. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was particularly emphatic in her explanation for her skepticism.

Asking what would then happen if the initiative failed, the Chancellor pointed out the very real concern that the international community might be forced to send in ground troops to defend the rebels. She followed up by asking the very pointed

Above: The French military were the first to lead their air force into Libya question: “Why should we intervene in Libya when we don't intervene elsewhere?"

“

"Why should be intervene in Libya when we don't intervene elsewhere?"

For the U.S., Britain and France this is a very pertinent question.

With the three countries still leading the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the potential of being forced to commit to a three front war is a very real concern.

All the countries involved in the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan were very quick to emphasize that any action that did take place would be legal, supported and would be thoroughly considered on the most reliable evidence.

The U.S. is also very conscious of the reputation it has received in recent years over the Iraqi invasion, with a number of international critics claiming that the Americans are primarily invading to secure valuable oil deposits.

Libya happens to be the tenth most productive oil nation on the planet, and any intervention that America would have taken part in, would have had to have been extremely well considered. It is therefore to the credit of NATO and the UN that, by the March 18, an intervention had been approved and Colonel Gaddafi was being faced by imminent airstrikes against his hard-won positions and his forces laying siege to Benghazi.

The international forces who

were quietly preparing to begin the attacks against Colonel Gaddafi breathed a collective sigh of relief when, on the same day, the struggling ruler of Libya announced a ceasefire against the rebels.

Following on from weeks of claims from both himself and his son Saif, a former London School of Economics student, that all the rebels would be hunted down and killed, the turn around was very surprising. The siege on Benghazi, the rebel stronghold, was looking dire for those opposed to the Gaddafi regime. For all, it looked as if the revolution was steadily starting to again work towards the ultimate achievement of the Egyptian and Tunisian riots: the removal of their dictator.

“

General Carter Ham had only been in his new command for two weeks

The next day, however, brought a complete shock to everyone other than the rebels who had maintained for so long that Colonel Gaddafi simply couldn’t be trusted.

The city of Benghazi awoke to the sound of heavy artillery and of shells exploding throughout the rebel stronghold.

During the night, the dictator had broken the ceasefire and brought forces from all around the country in one, final attempt to break the backbone of the rebel resistance.

Somehow, the city managed to hold out until the forces of Europe

and America were able to help them. Four days ago (at the time of writing), the French led the first of the aerial attacks against the Gaddafi positions.

Since then, however, the international alliance has come under greater and greater strain. America has, ultimately, been the country to step forward and take responsibility for the air strikes. They have only done so under the provision that they would lead the initial strikes before handing over responsibility to either another country or to NATO. General Carter Ham, based in Stuttgart, is currently in charge of the ‘invasion’. General Ham had only been in his new post for two weeks before he was thrown into action in Libya.

While he has claimed that he is ready to hand over responsibility for the operation, he has yet to receive any orders from his HQ. The reasons for the American desire to hand over the prime command for the operation are very pressing. As mentioned earlier, the operation cannot look at all like an attempt to secure a permanent military presence in a country renowned for oil.

Republicans and Democrats alike are reported to be disappointed at not being consulted further before being subject to what could easily amount to a three front war.

It looks likely that the command would pass over to another American, Admiral James Stavridis, The Admiral is the Supreme Allied Commander Europe for Nato.

What with the desire for the Americans to relinquish control of the operation as soon as they can and with the Italian objection that the command should not pass to either the British or the French, the

NATO alternative seems to be the most likely to continue the attacks against Gaddafi.

Beyond that, the alliance is facing an increasing amount of pressure regarding their objectives.

Barack Obama, the President of the United States, has claimed that their ultimate objective is the removal of Colonel Gaddafi from power.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, has announced that Colonel Gaddafi is a potential target whereas his Defence Chief of Staff, Sir David Richards, has stated that this is ‘absolutely not’ the case.

The French leader, Nicholas Sarkozy, has also come under criticism for using the Libyan crisis as a platform from which to launch his campaign in the upcoming French elections.

At the time of this being written, it has been announced that a U.S. F-15 fighter jet has crashed in Libya.

Early reports have indicated that this is solely due to a mechanical fault, and not the plane coming under enemy fire.

In a mission to rescue one of the two pilots, the Americans have been accused of shooting and injuring at least six civilians.

In a week when allegations have been made against the army for forming an elite ‘Kill Squad’ in Afghanistan, the U.S. Army cannot afford to have any more military publicity failures.

The fight for Libya could well have been won by the rebels by the time this goes to print: even if this is not the case, the international ramifications of this ‘invasion force’ will be felt for potentially years to come.

Features14

'Free from': the truth Could you live without dairy? What about gluten, eggs, yeast, caffeine or Cykowski tells Features how she copes with her severe food allergies and

I

suffer from a condition known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is caused by a defect in collagen. The primary symptom of this syndrome is the frequent, spontaneous dislocation of my joints.

The other symptom is that the collagen in my stomach rejects certain foods. I am unable to digest dairy, gluten (wheat, barley, oats and rye), eggs, yeast, caffeine, chilli and sesame. When I accidentally ingest one of these food groups, I am incredibly ill, which is always accompanied by excruciating pain.

I suffer from flu-like symptoms and vomit constantly for a few days, and sometimes the symptoms last for up to two weeks. The reality of the situation is, that it takes approximately a month after the food contamination has occurred before I feel like myself again.

This is because the good bacteria in the gut are reduced during the reaction and it takes a while before they recover.

I have grown increasingly frustrated with the word 'intolerance' and feel it does not convey the nature of my condition accurately.

With such distressing and unpleasant consequences, it’s no wonder that I avoid these foods that prove my poison. No matter how good it smells walking past Greggs and Subway, it is just not worth the

pain.

The reason why I am drawing awareness to the issue of food allergies and intolerances at this time, is due to a particularly unpleasant incident I was involved in with Sainsbury’s recently.

I believed Sainsbury’s to have the best ‘Free-from’ range of all the leading supermarkets, with a wide variety of products – something which is hard to find for a diet as restricted as mine.

It is also difficult to track down ‘safe’ products that are good to eat.

Quality of taste is something that sufferers like me have to compromise if we wish to remain healthy.

Unfortunately, the price of ‘Freefrom’ food is almost double that of ‘normal’ food.

Sainsbury’s stocked a product called ‘Celtic Caramel Choices,’ a box of dairy-free caramel flavoured chocolates that were a complete delight. Due to the lack of dairy-free chocolate treats in my life, they fast became a (not so) secret obsession of mine.

They were my reward for completing a difficult essay, or putting in some solid revision hours. In other words, they happily integrated themselves into all aspects of my life as little bundles of joy wrapped in purple foil.

One day in January, I visited Sainsbury’s to feed my Celtic Caramel Choices addiction, and to my

absolute horror, the checkout assistant refused to sell them to me due to them being recalled.

I watched, devastated, as she took them away from me. On questioning, she and other members of the Sainsbury’s staff admitted to not knowing why they had been recalled.

“

No matter how good it smells walking past Greggs or Subway, it's just not worth the pain"

After some research, I discovered that they had been recalled due to the discovery that they did, in fact, contain milk. Two products had been recalled: the Celtic Caramel Choices, and Sainsbury’s own ‘Free-from’ Mint Crisps, due to the contamination of dairy in these products.

The advice from Sainsbury’s was not to consume the product if you were sensitive to dairy, and to return the product to Sainsbury’s for a full refund, a response that I would argue is unsatisfactory in respect of their blunder.

As I browsed the Food Standards Agency website, sheer anger coursed through me as I read about this case of outrageous negligence, and I made it my mission to find out as much as I could.

I phoned Sainsbury’s Customer Services, who were eager to assist and answer my questions. The employee I spoke to insisted several times that the problem wasn’t that the chocolates were contaminated by milk: “It’s not that they were contaminated with something that wasn’t supposed to be in them, it was an ingredient that wasn’t stipulated on the pack, so just to be 100% safe we recalled them all.”

I challenged this assertion by highlighting the fact that when a product has ‘Dairy-Free Confectionary’ written on its packaging and is sold in the ‘Free-from’ aisle of their supermarkets, customers are led to believe that the product is safe to consume when suffering from a dairy allergy or intolerance.

I felt as a consumer, that there was insufficient attention given to their mistake, which could have been potentially fatal to an individual with a severe dairy allergy.

As both of the recalled products came from different suppliers – one was Sainsbury’s own and Sainsbury’s bought the other in from an apparently independent company – it seemed suspicious that both products were recalled for the same

reason.

On questioning a Sainsbury’s representative as to whether the products were in fact made by the same supplier, I discovered that Sainsbury’s was not at liberty to divulge this information. Nor were they allowed to provide contact information for the Celtic Caramel Choices company, as this would breach their contract with this supplier.

After further probing, I discovered that, much to my annoyance, the product would be returning to the shelves with “the correct ingredients displayed, because obviously you can’t sell something which has an ingredient in it which isn’t stipulated.”

However, they failed to give an answer as to whether or not the product would purposefully contain milk and be resold in an aisle which was dedicated to ‘Free-from’ products or not.

A member from Sainsbury’s Customer Services relayed an interesting story about a company who supplied Sainsbury’s with crabmeat. In their contracts with their suppliers, Sainsbury’s demands a right to all information pertaining to the ingredients used in the products they buy in.

An incident occurred with an unspecified supplier where they altered the recipe of their crabmeat without informing Sainsbury’s.

Features15

gair rhydd • Monday March 28 2010 • features@gairrhydd.com

about food allergies

alcohol? This week food allergy sufferer and second-year student Hannah the 'dairy-free' chocolate that left her in excruciating pain.

This action concluded with Sainsbury’s terminating their contract with that supplier.

I would argue that the mistake by the company who supplied the milk-contaminated products should receive the same treatment as the crabmeat supplier.

Not only does the inclusion of milk in dairy-free products, even if it was a valid mistake, breach the terms in their contract, but it also poses a genuine health risk that could be detrimental, if not fatal, to a proportion of their customers.

Food allergies are an even more serious issue than intolerances, as in some cases they are life threatening. I interviewed Sian Bebbington, a first year Law student at Birmingham University, who suffers from a life threatening peanut allergy.

I wanted to get a sense of what life is like for an individual who has to be vigilant at every moment of every day.

Sian found out she had a serious allergy about ten years ago, after suffering with eczema and asthma as a child. She explained how she was frequently rushed into hospital with breathing difficulties that would make her skin turn blue, symptoms that her doctors explained away as a bad case of asthma.

When Sian was growing up her immediate family never had peanuts in their house and as a result,

Sian was curious about trying them. She had developed a habit of smelling her food before she ate, a habit which saved her life.

After initially smelling the peanut, Sian felt very sick and a few moments later her lips had swollen significantly, and her breathing became difficult. Sian suffered an anaphylactic attack, which her doctors failed to identify.

“

If I ingest peanuts my body will shut down, my throat and lips will swell, I won't be able to breathe and my heart will stop"

Luckily, Sian’s mother recognised this incident as something more than a bad asthma attack, and after researching eczema and breathing difficulties, she urged Sian’s doctors to conduct allergy tests on her daughter.

She hoped these would explain why Sian suffered the symptoms, along with her being pale, thin, and constantly ill which often resulted in hospitalisation.

From the tests Sian was diagnosed with various food intoler-

ances and a serious strain of peanut allergy. The diagnosis was hard to come to terms with for Sian and her family, as they realised the danger Sian was potentially threatened with at every moment in her life.

The family immediately adopted a change of lifestyle, which included extreme vigilance over all food and drink entering their house, and for Sian, the necessity of always carrying an Epipen (a life saving injection of adrenaline that is required if Sian comes into contact with peanuts).

The process of coming to terms with a serious food allergy, and the lifestyle changes necessary, are sometimes hard to accept.

Sian explained, “I have now been diagnosed for ten years and it is a constant struggle.

"Living with a life-threatening allergy is made worse by social attitudes towards ‘allergies’.

'People claiming they have an allergy or intolerance who actually just don’t like that type of food is what create the stigmas attached to allergies.”

We spoke about the difficulties and limitations placed on her life by her peanut allergy: “Coming to University has probably been the biggest challenge.

"I have been so fortunate with my friends here as they are so understanding and are aware of how serious it is, but it only takes a stu-

dent making a peanut butter sandwich in the shared kitchen and not washing that knife really well (as we students don’t) to be a potential, deadly threat.

“The biggest challenge I have found is the student assumption that if you are going out you are getting drunk.

"If I am drunk I am not in control of my allergy, and I can’t afford to accidentally eat a chip without checking where it came from, or to consume something that may be fatal.

“It affects my social life too.

It’s a great chat up line... ‘Hey I’m Sian, have you been eating peanuts recently?!’ I have had to be really careful with boyfriends too. They literally have to choose between me or the peanuts.”

I explained to Sian the incident I had with Sainsbury’s and asked how she would feel if a product advertised as nut-free was contaminated with peanuts: “This issue with Sainsbury’s really has shocked me. I know, as do thousands like me, that only the slightest trace of a peanut will be fatal.

"If I am to ingest the most minimal trace of a peanut (which could so easily be negligently contaminated into food), my body will shut down, my throat and lips will swell, "I won’t be able to breathe and my heart will stop.

"For this reason, I have to carry

two injections all the time wherever I go."

This highlights the seriousness with which food contamination should be taken, and throws into relief the potential consequences that could have arisen from Sainsbury’s’ and their supplier’s negligence.

Sian described an event that shares similar features to the Celtic Caramel Choices blunder: “I had an incident when I went into a fit and had to be injected after eating a product from a huge household brand company.

We contacted them after, sent them a sample of the food for them to test, and they sent it back as negative.

They were very unhelpful and we were compensated with £10 pound vouchers. It was disgusting."

It is clear that, although awareness is changing, not enough has been done to emphasise the seriousness of food allergies and intolerances.

People with food allergies and intolerances have to manage restricted diets and lifestyles, and are constantly fearful of illness, or worse.

They have to learn to trust food manufacturers, a difficult task when they are sometimes negligent.

This is hard enough to achieve without also being burdened with pessimistic, hurtful attitudes.

TR

Xpress Radio: Your c Bringing you comprehensi

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city, your soundtrack ive Varsity coverage all day

Science

19

Predicting the next disaster

Joseph Thelland Science Writer Over the last Century, technological advances have changed how we live, whether it be television, the internet or observation technology. In conjunction, modern devices have saved thousands, if not millions of lives from major natural disasters.

Nations are prepared and methods of prediction are becoming more acute daily. The question is; can science continue to improve understanding and predicting of disasters?

Unfortunately, natural disasters are unavoidable. On March 11, a tsunami triggered by an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck Japan and left thousands dead. Being an area of high tectonic activity, Japan is at the forefront of disaster preparation. Hence why elaborate 'Early Warning Systems' could detect the earthquake approximately one minute before destructive S-waves reached Tokyo. Inhabitants were given precious seconds to brace themselves as messages were relayed television and radio broadcasts. These included the warnings of a tsunami, further allowing the populace in coastal regions a small opportunity to escape.

By contrast, the Indian Ocean tsunami on Boxing Day, 2004, resulted in a devastating loss of human life (over 240,000). Inhabitants received no information due to a lack of seismic monitoring equipment.

A huge early warning project was

consequently established, involving installation of a large network of seismographic centres around the subcontinent.

Coastal and deep-ocean detectors communicate with geological headquarters in Japan and Hawaii, which then analyse earthquake activity and determine location, force, and potential to cause tsunamis, along with wave arrival times. Warnings can then be issued through television and radio broadcasts, SMS, email, or from information centres in vulnerable areas.

The big issues for a developed nation like Japan, are industrial and economic impacts after a disaster. A fall in world markets has occurred and uncertainty remains over the release of radioactive material from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

The media have aptly dubbed it Japan's “worst crisis since World War II”. With comparisons to Hiroshima, debates will certainly rage over the practicality of global nuclear programs in the coming months. In future, science and the government will have to adopt reliable contingency methods in organisation for hazards such as this.

No matter how prepared a nation is, science is still far from preventing fatalities, collateral damage or global economic impacts associated with natural disasters.

However, last month’s earthquake at Christchurch exemplifies how scientific knowledge of the phenomenon is improving. The disaster itself left over 160 people

Above: No amount of preparation could defend Japan against nature

“

Nature always has the last laugh

dead and scores more injured. Experts express that fatalities can be prevented through understanding the mechanisms of earthquakes and by educating the public. In this case, new radar technology has been utilized to map deformation of the ground in the area.

This will assist in comprehending the ‘blind fault’ that the city is situated on, along with identifying areas at risk of liquefaction (structures literally sinking into reclaimed land). It was also discovered that the earthquake was an aftershock of an event of stronger magnitude in December last year.

Satellite technology and data from seismographs help geologists understand more easily this ‘seismic gap’, and the knowledge gained can then be integrated into predicting future events.

Scientists also believe that future quakes can be anticipated through the study of ‘fossil seismology’. This theory states that similar fractures in the Earth’s crust recur throughout history in certain areas. GPS is used to identify correlations in activity with past earthquakes, so an event can potentially be predicted a long time before it occurs.

On the other hand, predicting volcanoes is generally easier than earthquakes. If the amount of tectonic activity below the surface of an active volcano increases, an eruption is likely imminent, due to swelling of the magma chamber.

Observing gasses emitted from the crater, such as sulphur dioxide, also

indicates potential activity. If they are less abundant, the volcano may have become plugged by material, thus leading to an increase in pressure and eventual eruption.

However, emerging research into possible super-volcanic eruptions reveals the truly cataclysmic potential of volcanism. Disturbingly, we have no reliable method of predicting these events, as one has never been witnessed. The example of Yellowstone has gained in notoriety over the last decade. The size of its chamber encompasses almost the entire park, according to measurements of the deceleration of P-waves through the magma.

For now, there is nothing we can do to prevent an eruption. Drilling has been proposed as an attempt to relieve pressure, but geologists agree that this would be the equivalent to popping an increasingly swollen balloon.

On a brighter note, claims that we are overdue an eruption at Yellowstone are discarded as meaningless, as they are based on very limited data only three previous events that coincidently recur at similar intervals.

Ironically, with all the forewarnings and education that technology has given us in regard to natural disasters, science will probably never be able to predict precisely what is next to occur. Its impact, or how we can possibly prevent it. The old cliché that nature always has the last laugh appears as prevalent now as it has ever been.

Science20

Monday March 28 2011 • gair rhydd • science@gairrhydd.com

Doubting our nuclear future Jack Parker Science Editor

As the country begins to pick up the rubble and attempts to restore normality to the hundreds of thousands displaced by the recent Earthquake, most of the news coming out of Japan for much of the first week was in regards to its unprecedented nuclear crisis.

This was a crisis that was not only shocking, to be occurring in one of the most well off and technological countries in the world, but also worrying in that for much of the time, the major news story was one of chaos and misunderstanding. Reactors that were thought to have shut down automatically became more of a problem than they ought to have been, while explosions and rising smoke sent shivers running through the world’s media.

Rising temperatures and radiation levels caused evacuations and urged workers to relay power lines to the plant to get cooling systems back online. The most desperate action must surely have been using helicopters to drop seawater onto the plant, with the majority of the water merely drifting in the wind to no avail.

Though perhaps the largest effects of the Japan nuclear disaster were felt overseas. Countries currently using nuclear power including the United States and China have began to question the safety of their own plants, with China now suspending plans to develop a

range of new nuclear facilities.

Although an earthquake in the UK of the same magnitude felt in Japan is virtually impossible, the quantity of errors experienced at the Fukushima plant still raise concerns in England. Electrical power to the cooling systems, including back-up supplies, can always falter, especially with the growing threats of terrorism.

A report has already been commissioned by Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, to learn the lessons from Japan, to be published in May. Meanwhile EDF, who plan to build more nuclear power plants in Britain, say that new reactors still have to be built and that current UK plants have already been reviewed acceptable since the devastation of the earthquake.

Regardless of how the recent earthquake affects our understanding of the safety of nuclear reactors, it has certainly reopened the wider debate.

The BBC's Question Time, following the nuclear crisis, concentrated primarily on old arguments, such as the cost of nuclear compared to alternatives such as energy efficiency measures.

At the time of writing, the nuclear crisis in Japan seems to be coming to a close. The affects of radiation and smoke will hopefully be short lived. What is important now is that the long term lessons are learnt and not shrouded in political cover up or media hype.

Above: Probably the most controversial energy solution

Beyond disaster: Also in the news

A new form of artificial muscle has been created by researchers in New Zealand, which has been described to 'wobble like jelly'. Requiring no gears, bearings or cogs, the muscles are capable of stretching by more than 300% of their original size.

The hope is for future versions of these muslces to be implemented into the next range of robots, which would feel soft and fleshy istead of cold and metallic.

Their increased strength also make them useful for future medical implements, such as those for

keyhole surgery.

Previous versions of soft motors are already being put to use, having been adapted to act as a display. For example, future touchscreens predicted for release this year, will offer a more satisfying 'clicking' sensation due to this technology.

But this development also raises questions about our preference over future robots - do we really want them to look like us, or would we prefer them to look like the machines that they are?

“

Next range of robots, which would feel soft and fleshy

Scientists at the University of Oxford have developed a new way of delivering drugs to the human brain.

A large problem has always existed in getting drugs into the brain due to the blood-brain barrier, which acts to stop bacteria from harming the organ while still allowing oxygen to pass through.

Scientists have now managed to use exosomes to cross this barrier, which are naturally used to transport materials between cells. They

have been described as the body's fleet of "miniature vans."

There are hopes that the new method can be used to treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and many more.

The researchers are going to begin testing on mice immediately, and plan to start human trials within five years.

It seems that yet again, medical science has crossed a barrier, but patients will have to wait before potential success is understood.

Taf-od 22

Athletau’r Iaith Glyn Wise Taf-Od

Yn y Bannau, cynhaliwyd ras 6 milltir Prifysgolion Cymru yn ddiweddar. Yn dîm cyfeillgar a hynaws, roedd pawb wrth eu boddau’n bychanu ei gilydd ar daith y bws-mini.

Ond pan glywais Rob Whitham ein capten yn gweiddi: “Reit bois, hwn yw’r ras olaf y tymor, gwnewch eich gorau glas!” Suddais mewn iselder.

Hwn byddai fy ras olaf i’r tîm.

Yn ddyddiol byddem yn rhedeg gan wthio’n gilydd i fagu p_er cyhyrol. Pawb yn barod i helpu os fydd un yn disgyn. Pawb yn rhannu’r un hiwmor, boddhad a’r penderfyniad i guro. Byddai pob ras yn gorffen gyda’r rhedwyr yn ymgynnull mewn noson gymdeithasol wyllt i chwerthin a mwynhau.

Ond, clywais ei eiriau fel nerth i’n gwthio o rwyddineb y bywyd coleg a’i chlwb athletau, i ddibyn bywyd realaeth.

Tîm ydym ni'r siaradwyr Cymraeg. Yn dîm penderfynol i sicrhau dyfodol i’r iaith! Beth losgodd fy ngwaed yn ddiweddar oedd poster a maniffesto’r bobl ‘pleidleisiwch fi’ am swydd yn y Brifysgol. Taflen cyhoeddusrwydd Owain Lewis oedd yr unig un ble welais y Gymraeg yn hawlio’r un cyfartaledd â’r Saesneg.

Ar y lleill, gwelais gyfieithiad tenau wedi pylu dan eu motto Saesneg amlwg. Mae’r iaith yn gyfartal mewn deddf cyfraith felly pam ydym yn caniatáu hyn? Pan gwestiynais ymgeisydd ynghylch diraddio’r iaith, dywedodd mai dyna oedd y drefn. Ond, ymatebodd un oedd yn ceisio am ‘pennaeth cyfryngau’ bod y Gymraeg yn ddibwys a bod Tafod yn ddiangen oherwydd ei diffyg darllenwyr. A hynny, drwy geisio gofyn am fy mhleidlais!

Yn aml byddwn yn dysgu Ad-

dysg Rhyw yn ysgolion Caerdydd.

Gan eu holi am yr iaith, mae eu hagweddau’n warthus.

Gyda’r ‘whats the point’ ac ‘it’s dead’ mae’n anodd newid eu teimladau. Ond, dylem ni fel tîm lledaenu’r neges fod yr iaith yn fyw ac yn sgil allweddol i newid eu culni pesimistaidd.

Gan egluro’r arian mawr y byddent yn ennill yn y gweithle oherwydd eu dwyieithrwydd, byddent yn si_r

o newid agwedd. ‘Mae dwy iaith yn ddwywaith y pleser ’ - slogan y dylent ddefnyddio ar sach ddyrnu!

Mae angen i ni fel tîm, hybu’r iaith gan ei ddefnyddio’n gyson i'w clustiau dieithr. Yn lle dweud ‘thank you’, dwedwch ‘diolch’ i’w storio’n ymennydd di-gymraeg. Cefnogwch yr ail iaith a’r dysgwyr a’u hymuno yn eich cylch o ffrindiau oherwydd faint ohonynt sy’n aelodau o’r

Adolygiad o ‘Deffro’r Gwanwyn’ Mared Griffiths Taf-Od Dyma’r tro cyntaf i Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru gynhyrchu sioe gerdd.

Yn bersonol ‘dwi’n falch iawn eu bod wedi gwneud, ynghyd a phob person arall a gafodd y fraint o’i gweld ‘dwi’n si_r.

Addasiad o ddrama Almaening Frank Wedekind yw’r sioe gerdd roc a agorodd ei drysau yn Broadway am y tro cyntaf yn 2006.

Yn ôl gwefan Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, “stori yw hi am bobl ifanc yn eu harddegau cynnar sydd yn profi eu glasoed ac yn ceisio torri'n rhydd, tra bo'r oedolion sydd o'u hamgylch yn brwydro i gadw gafael ynddynt heb gynnig unrhyw

fath o arweiniad.

Mae ofn a chwilfrydedd y bobl ifanc yn eu harwain at brofiadau herfeiddiol sydd â chanlyniadau dirdynnol i rai ac i eraill yn newid cwrs bywyd am byth.”

Nid oes unrhyw gwynion yn fy marn i am unrhyw agwedd o’r sioe, roedd y cyfieithiad, y set, a’r cyfarwyddo yn effeithiol tu hwnt.

Roedd y ffaith bod y sioe yn cael ei chynnal yn Stiwdio Weston yn golygu bod pawb yn agos at y llwyfan, ac roedd yn hyn yn wefreiddiol.

Efallai mai’r unig beth a amharodd ar y perfformiad oedd y ffaith bod dau actor yn gyfrifol am bortreadu sawl cymeriad gwahanol, ond pwynt bychan iawn yw hyn gan

fod y cyfan yn dod yn eglur wrth i'r sioe fynd yn ei blaen.

Peth braf am y sioe oedd bod cymaint o wynebau ifanc yn rhan o’r cynhyrchiad, llawer ohonynt yn dychwelyd o Lundain er mwyn cymryd rhan yn y sioe.

Mae’n brawf bod talent aruthrol yng Nghymru, a bod angen sicrhau llwyfan iddynt gael perfformio yn y dyfodol.

Dwi’n gaddo y gwnewch chi fwynhau pob eiliad. Bydd y sioe yn gwneud i chi chwerthin, crio, gwenu a chochi ar adegau! Ewch i’w gweld hi, neu difaru fyddwch chi.

I ddyfynnu’r sioe, mi fyddwch chi’n “totally f***ed” os na ewch chi i’w gweld!

GymGym? Cryfhewch y tîm ymhob ffordd! Os clywych y cwestiwn ‘Welsh, why you studying that if you speak it’ dywedwch ‘Why do the English study English!” i’r ffyliaid.

Trydydd cawsom yng nghynghrair Prifysgolion Cymru. Roedd hi’n ras galed gyda llu o redwyr yn gwthio am y blaen. Ond i fi nid y cymryd rhan sy’n bwysig ond yr ennill! Ymhob arwydd Saesneg

cwynwch yn eu chylch gan fynnu arwydd Cymraeg cyfartal. Ymhob archfarchnad, siop neu boster mynnwch ddwyieithrwydd. Byddwch yn genedlaetholwyr cadarn i’ch hawliau! Fel tîm o athletwyr, gwnewch yn si_r mai statws yr iaith byddai’n pasio’r llinell derfyn yn gyntaf !

Canlyniadau’r ras: 1af UWIC, 2il Abertawe, 3ydd Caerdydd, 4ydd Aberystwyth, 5ed Bangor.

WANT TO WRITE? email editor@gairrhydd.com

sudoku.

HARD

Puzzles

23

EASY

crossword.

comic.

Across 1. Territorial reserve (7) 5. Unpredictable (7) 9. A British lawyer (9) 10. Flow off gradually (5) 11. Equivocation (7) 12. A baroque musical composition (7) 13. Restore (9) 15. Put off (5) 17. Indian antelope (5) 19. Custom (9) 22. Pamphlet (7) 25. Smart aleck (7) 26. Exculpation (5) 27. Absence of the sense of pain (9) 28. Altar boy (7) 29. Greatest possible degree (7)

Down 1. Massager (7) 2. Cradlesongs (9) 3. Plan of action (7) 4. Assistant (9) 5. Everglades bird (5) 6. Trimmed (7) 7. Crown (5) 8. Half man and half horse (7) 14. Eject semen (9) 16. Chicken stew (9) 17. Seedless raisin (7) 18. Declare invalid (7) 20. Perception (7) 21. A salt of nitric acid (7) 23. Spanish friend (5) 24. Flirt (5)

By Daniel Judd

Listings26 Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday Thursday

28th March

29th March

30th March

31st March

THE LASH, Solus, £3.50, 9.30pm The Lash promises all the best in chart and cheese, which doesn't really sound all that tempting to be honest. But if you're a sporting LAD then it's most definitely the place to be.

NEVER MIND THE PUB QUIZ, The Taf, FREE, 8pm A pub quiz. In the Taf. It's not big, it's not clever, but it's a bloody good laugh.

FUN FACT TREE, Solus, FREE, 9pm Fun Factory is an institution among Cardiff students and you simply must check it out.

Playing the very best alternative music, and with various cheap drinks promotions, you're sure to have the best night of the week here and I'm not even biased. It's a staple. If you like it alternative, if you like it rocking, and most of all, if you like it loud then there is only thing for it . There will also be live music courtesy of the Live Music Society.

LATE NIGHT LIVE, 10 Feet Tall, FREE, 8pm Live music, acts, comedy and DJs upstairs, new music & party tunes in the bar. Plus the added bonus of two for one cocktails between 5pm and 9pm.

DAVID ROVICS, Buffalo, £5, 7.30pm "A wonderfully perceptive radical singer/songwriter from USA." So it should be good.

Friday 1st April BOOMBOX, Solus, £3, 10pm Playing an eclectic mix of electro, funk, drum 'n' bass, hip hop, dubstep and breaks with a turntablist twist. Featuring dance classics, chart remixes and old school classics. Expect to hear Pendulum, Calvin Harris, Dr Dre, David Guetta, Major Lazor, A Skillz, High Contrast, Prodigy and much more. To be fair, it's the cheapest Friday night this side of the bridge, fulfilling all your student needs and perfect for bringing those visiting mates too. Plus, there's the added bonus of our best Xpress DJ's spinning some great tunes at the silent disco. Go ahead kids, BOOM YOUR BOX. KATY PERRY, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, £80, 7pm Oh my dear Katy Perry, I wonder if you know how much I love you? I would love to go to this gig, but it's just waaaaay too expensive. Worth shelling out for though if you have some spare student loan left.

JUST DANCE, Clwb, £3, 10pm Just Dance returns every Tuesday night at Clwb Ifor Bach with one simple mission...to get you dancing all night long. A mixture of modern day pop, rock and R&B thrown together with some cracking blasts from the past... Cheap entry, cheap drinks prices and great, GREAT tunes.

10 FEET LIVE, 10 Feet Tall, TBC, 8pm Live music, singer-songwriters, bands and acoustic acts upstairs, new music & party tunes in the bar. Plus, there's the added bonus of two-for-one cocktails from 5pm until 9pm.

THE SCRIPT, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, TBC, 7pm The Script are an Irish trio whose music boasts the kind of artful twists sure to turn all preconceptions on their head. This is a whole new brand of Celtic Soul, blending hip hop lyrical flow with pop melodiousness, state-of-the-art R'n'B production with anthemic rock dynamics, classic song construction with gritty contemporary narratives. They're beautiful, too.

LISTEN UP, Clwb, £3, 9pm Listen Up has become an institution within an institution. Everybody loves Clwb. Everybody loves Listen Up. Playing a mix of motown, funk, indie and pop among three floors of cheap bars and trendy kids, this is the place to be every Wednesday.

JAZZ AT DEMPSEYS, Dempseys, £5, 9pm Music ranges from piano or guitar trio, saxophone or trumpet quartet, quartet with vocals to big band. Hear jazz standards made famous by the likes of Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nina Simone, as well as original tunes.

Sunday

2nd April

3rd April

BEATBOX BALLROOM, Buffalo, Free before 11pm, 8pm "Booty-busting breaks, pimped out soul & clock-stopping rhythms." Apparently.

ZINC, DIRTYPHONICS, JAKWOB AND ONEMAN, Millennium Music Hall, £15, 10pm I haven't heard of any of these people. This probably means that I'm out of touch.

C.Y.N.T, Clwb, £4, 10pm This is the only legitimate thing to do on your Thursday night.

SUGAR DROP, Ten Feet Tall, FREE, 10pm Midweek dancefloor dose of roots, electro, dub, party breaks, dubstep, drum'n'bass & mashups. There's regular live acts & guest DJs and 2-4-1 cocktails.

GIVE BLOOD, Aneurin Bevan Room, 2.45pm Do something amazing. Give blood.

Saturday COME PLAY, Solus, £3, 10pm A safe bet for a Saturday night. If none of the other events do it for you, head to the Union for guaranteed good music and cheap drinks. Not the most imaginative of nights out, but you'll be sure to have a good time.

And who said that being able to predict the playlist down to the very last minute was a bad thing?

BOUNCE, Walkabout, £4, 9pm If you really, honestly, have nothing better to do... actually, no, even that isn't a valid excuse. If you have any personal morals, that is.

10 FEET TALL SUNDAY SOCIAL, 10 Feet Tall, FREE, 8pm If you have nothing better to do on a Sunday night and fancy heading out for twofor-one cocktails, perhaps give this a go.

THE BIG SUNDAY RECOVERY PROJECT, CAI, FREE, 12pm What’s the Sunday Project ? It’s a regular social gathering to end the week. You get together over a late Sunday Roast or just laze around with fellow hung-over friends on the sofas. Enjoy a Sunday ‘Institution’, weekly - Squeaky Hill Pub Quiz is back.

The only quiz that provides you with a general all-round work out, utilising the physical, mental and creative parts of your brain that other pub quizzes just can’t reach! It's free to play, and theres loads of exciting prizes to be won.

HAVE A SUNDAY ROAST Gather all of your housemates together and cook a Sunday roast. Or, if you can't be arsed, why not head to the Taf or CAI for a dinner that will rival your mum's.

Venues Students’ Union, Park Place, 02920 814456 www.cardiffstudents.com ◆ IV Lounge, Neuadd Meirionydd, Heath Park 02920 744948 ◆ Clwb Ifor Bach, 11 Womanby Street 02920 232199 www.clwb.net ◆ Metros, Bakers Row www.clubmetropolitan.com ◆ CAI, Park Place 02920 412190 ◆ Buffalo Bar, 11 Windsor Place www.myspace.com/wearebuffalobar ◆ Chapter Arts Centre, Market Road, Canton 02920 304400 www.chapter.org ◆ Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay 0870 0402000 www.wmc.org. uk ◆ The New Theatre, Park Place 02920 878889 www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk ◆ The Sherman Theatre, Senghennydd Road 02920 646900 www.shermantheatre.co.uk ◆ Cardiff International Arena, Mary Ann Street 02920 224488 ◆

Societies

27

Anime soc comic book success Bianca London Societies Editor The Anime Society has created the first ever chapter for a society comic book this month.

The ‘manga’ or comic book idea was spurred by Daniel Judd, Society manga officer. “After inspiring some interest in this idea last term, I planned to complete the manga in time for Go Global.

"Nothing on this scale has ever been attempted by a society member and getting support was really tough, with many people doubting its success.”

Daniel managed to rally his society troops and complete the manga just in time for the ‘Manga Jam’ at Go Global.

Daniel has been an Anime society member for three years and has witnessed a flourish of success and potential within the society.

“This year I ran for the position of Manga Officer in order to explore what we could achieve as a group and to encourage others to pick up the pencil.”

“I proposed the manga idea via facebook and garnered some interest at our weekly drawing sessions.

"Slowly but surely things started to come together with character designs, artwork and the basic story line being added by members.

"It was only a matter of time be-

fore the drawing was completed and ready to print.”

Daniel plans to continue motivating others to achieve success through drawing.

He explains how he has heard too many tales of people’s ideas not being brought to life but hopes that the success of his manga will abolish such defeat.

The Anime Society encourages and explores interests in the culture of anime and manga.

They meet regularly for weekly manga drawing sessions, anime screenings and socials.

“In the future I hope to see the manga grow chapter by chapter and witness the characters grow with it and maybe even turn it commercial,” says Daniel.

For more information about getting involved in the Anime society visit their Facebook page.

Monday March 28 Engin Soc: AGM -Seminar Room 1, Trevithick, 5pm

Vegetarian and Vegan Soc: Embassy Feast -Embassy Cafe, 7.30pm

Tuesday March 29 Labour Student's Society: AGM with Huw Lews AM -Meet outside SU, 6.30pm

Harry Potter Soc: Quiz Night -Bar 33, 7.30pm

Wednesday March 30 Above: The Broadway Dance Society in action

Broadway do Strictly Come Dancing

Asian Society: Bollywood Dance Classes -Rona Griffiths Room, 7pm

Tea Party Soc: AGM -Milgi, 6pm

Thursday April 1 Pole Dancing: Conditioning Class -Aneurin Bevan Room, 6pm

Timothy Bible Study Group: Bible Study Joanne Southerd Reporter Get ready for glitter, jazz hands and a whole lot of hairspray, because on Saturday April 2, the Broadway Dance society will be creating a storm at The Gate Theatre in Roath.

The hotly anticipated 'Oscillations' is a showcase of all the hard work the society have done this year, featuring a variety of styles including ballet, tap, street, jazz, Irish and acrobatics.

The society have had a really exciting year so far, performing at community projects such as the 'Made In Roath' dance festival, as well as union events including the

RAG Fashion Show and Go Global.

They will be dancing at the upcoming Snowsports Society ‘Snowball’ and are also looking forward to their very own ‘Mirror Ball’.

“

The evening is rumoured to welcome some 'Strictly Come Dancing' celebrities.

The night will have a glamorous Strictly Come Dancing theme, and is rumoured to be welcoming special guest Strictly celebrities.

Broadway welcomes all levels of dancers, from the very advanced to

-Beverton Lecture Theatre, 7pm absolute beginners, and the dedicated members attend classes each week in preparation for the show.

Secretary, Roshni Annia, spoke about the upcoming event: “The RAWsoc: All day gaming show is our main focus and it en-Aneurin Bevan Room, 9am ables us to gain a real sense of team work and of course, performance.

Big Band Soc: National Concert Band Festival We’re all very proud of the work we -Glasgow, 10am do and we hope that everyone will see just how much at the show!”

There are two chances to catch Oscillations: doors open at 2pm for the afternoon Matinee PerforBig Band Soc: National Concert Band Festival mance, and will re-open at 7pm for -Glasgow, 10am the Evening Performance.

Tickets are £5 for students and can be purchased from either the union Box Office or from The Gate To feature an event or article email societies @gairrhydd.com Theatre (029 2048 334).

Saturday April 2

Sunday April 3

If you would like to join a society, or see a full list of opportunities, visit: http://groups.cardiffstudents.com/societies/home

29

Sport

With a few days to go before Varsity 2011, Bianca London chats to some of Cardiff's 1st XV about their hopes for this year's match

This Wednesday, both Cardiff and Swansea Universities will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the biggest student-sporting event in Wales: Varsity.

To celebrate the most exciting sporting event of the year, the match will be played at the home of Welsh Rugby, the Millennium Stadium.

The Welsh Varsity match has developed into a significant event for talented young rugby players, who use the occasion to represent their respective Universities and showcase their talents to the many interested parties in attendance.

With a number of Cardiff and Swansea students going on to gain contracts with semi professional and professional clubs on the back of great performances in Varsity, there is everything to gain.

With just a few days before the long-awaited Varsity match, gair rhydd Sport got in touch with the

team to get the low-down on their preparations for the big day.

Cardiff Men’s 1st XV captain, Mark Schropfer explained how the team have been preparing for Varsity with intense training sessions at 6.30am every Monday and Friday, alongside the usual sessions every Sunday and Monday evening.

Cardiff have been having pool recovery sessions after their Wednesday games for the last five to six weeks, to ensure that everyone is in top shape for the game.

Perhaps the worst news for the team has been the month-long alcohol ban.

“We have a ban at the moment but it was released last Wednesday for one night only as we won the league and deserved a celebration!” says Schropfer.

Jake Cooper-Woolley, a dedicated prop for the 1st XV, explains how the last month has been, "very dry" but the ban is worth it in order to

ensure that the team is feeling as fresh as possible for the big day.

After a disappointing 16-12 defeat at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea last year, competition is fiercer than ever with the team raring to claim back the title of Regional Champions.

“As the Captain, I am feeling really confident this year, particularly because we have beaten teams by record amounts this season," said Schropfer.

"We even managed to reach the BUCS Plate Final, winning every game in that competition by a total of 40 points or more,” he continued.

On top of that, Schopfer has particularly enjoyed the amount of quality and depthS of talent in the squad this year.

“We have everything to be confident about. We are proud to showcase some exciting Fresher talent in the form of Charlie Simpson,

Will Jones and Adam Greendale" said the Captain.

"We also have some massive forwards in Jake Cooper-Woolley, Geoff Lewin and Nic Huntley.”

Cameron Pimlow, Varsity Man of the Match in 2009, is particularly proud of this season’s victories and looked forward to the big day.

“It’s a one-off game and nerves play a big part, so I think that the team that can put all the added extras of the crowd and occasion to one side and stick to their game plan, will come out on top,” said Pimlow.

With an estimated crowd of 12,000, and a host of rugby heroes; including Welsh internationals Alun Wyn-Jones and Jamie Roberts expected to be in attendance, the atmosphere looks set to be electric.

Cooper-Woolley has great expectations for the upcoming match and is determined to bring home the trophy.

“We have tried not to focus on Swansea’s squad as we have a great group of players and a great feeling in our team that will hopefully bring the cup home for us this year," he said.

"Although we lost to Swansea last year, it was a game we deserved more from," Cooper-Woolley continued.

“Despite Swansea competing in the League above us this season, we believe that we can more than match them and their Coach who said they are '50 points better' than us, is going to be in for a shock come March 30,” he concluded.

Whatever the result, Cardiff look well prepared for the biggest day of their season as they take on their local rivals.

Varsity tickets are still available at the Student Union's Box Office for what is an unmissable event in both University and Welsh sporting history.

Sport30

Monday March 28 2011 • gair rhydd • sport@gairrhydd.com

ECON continue their winning ways

Opus make Chemistry sing to their tune Peter Gray IMG Football

Nick Case IMG Football

Opus 11 2 Chemistry 1

Economics FC 4 FC EUROS 2 Economics overcame a spirited EUROS side at Pontcanna on a fantastically sunny Wednesday afternoon, allowing the side to continue their winning start in Phase Two. Goals from Andrew Wallace, Geoff Doo, Adam Gannon and Sam Pritchard, were enough to take the points in an exciting contest which eventually finished 4-2.

Economics grabbed the perfect start as they went one-up inside five minutes when an in-swinging corner from Gareth Adams-King was bundled into the net by towering centre-back Andrew Wallace.

The home side, though, were hugely indebted to goalkeeper Andrew Wilson for keeping the score at 1-0. The Economics keeper made a string of fine saves which kept EUROS at bay, the pick of these coming when he dived full length to his right, to touch the ball over the bar as it headed towards the top corner of his goal.

Economics were forced into with-

Above: Economics on the way to a third successive victory standing huge amounts of pressure but their defence held strong.

Economics were then rewarded for their resilience when a switch to a 4-5-1 formation saw the side go 2-0 up.

Following a neat spell of passing, Adam Gannon crossed from the right and the ball fell to Geoff Doo on the edge of the box who powered the ball home.

Just moments later and it was 3-0 as more attractive football saw Luc Parry-Jones lift a delightful ball down the left and Gannon produced a perfect lob over the on-rushing keeper, to send a delighted Economics side in at the break three to the good.

Unlike last week Economics withstood early second half pressure; this was until EUROS caught the defence flat-footed from a corner and brought the scores back to 3-1.

Economics did not let their heads drop however and continued to push forward.

The resulting pressure then led to one of the best goals ever seen in the history of IMG Football.

Another Adams-King corner was played in from the right, this time aimed at the edge of the D and with the EUROS defence thinking the danger had passed, Sam Pritchard hit a magnificent dipping first-time volley into the top corner of the net.

The goal even had the opposition applauding.

EUROS eventually grabbed another consolation late on but this was not enough to stop Economics making it three wins from three as they went to the top of the Premiership table on goals scored.

Musicians playing football? Surely not. Opus 11 have arrived on the IMG scene with some dazzling form and skill and managed to sneak their first competitive win on Sunday. Opus have four points from two games and now sit at the dizzying heights of third in the table.

Opus looked shaky early on, with opponents Chemistry pressurising and hitting the woodwork a few times. It didn’t take long for Chemistry to break the deadlock with a superb strike making it 1-0.

Opus had it all to do in the second half. Chemistry carried on where they left off, but the Opus defense stood solid with Dave Humber pulling off some ferocious sliding tackles. Then, it happened.

65th minute. A simple throw in.

The ball floats in the direction of the box. Time stopped. BANG. From 22 yards, midfielder, Matt Barnaville, hits a belting, exquisite long-range masterpiece volley, shattering the top corner netting of the Chemistry goal. Game on, one a piece.

Opus continued to push on with the Chemistry players still bewildered by the quality of the previous strike. Then, the impossible happened. In the 75th minute, Dan Browne shot towards goal. As the players stood gasping, the Chemistry keeper could only sit and watch the ball crawl over the goal line.

The tense last minutes saw Opus defending their hearts out, but somehow hold on. As pure as a Palestrina Mass, the final chord, the final note was sung by the ref ’s whistle.

The Chemistry lads fell to their knees - beaten by the fitness, talent and flair of this great Opus team.

Magnificent. Where will this team go next? Who knows.

23 March Badminton Men's II 1 Bath III 7 Football

Fixtures: Wednesday March 30 2011

Men's V 2 Cardiff Medics II 1 Women's I 0

Welsh Institute of Sport

Indoor Badminton Netball Men's Fencing Women's Fencing Women's Basketball Men's Squash Women's Squash Men's Basketball Tae Kwon Do Wado Kai Karate

Outdoor Men's Football Women's Hockey Men's Hockey

Main Hall Main Hall Upper Hall Upper Hall Main Hall Squash Courts Squash Courts Main Hall Dojo Dojo Main Pitch Hockey Centre Hockey Centre

9.30am 11.30am 1.30pm 1.30pm 1.30pm 1.30pm 1.30pm 3.00pm 3.00pm 3.00pm 2.30pm 2.30pm 4.00pm

Pontcanna Fields

Ultimate Frisbee Men's Lacrosse IMG Football Freshman's Rugby American Football Women's Football Women's Rugby Womens' Lacrosse

Pitch 4 11.00am Pitch 2 12.30pm Pitch 1 12.30pm Pitch 3 12.30pm Pitch 4 1.00pm Pitch 3 2.30pm Pitch 1 2.30pm Pitch 2 2.30pm

Millennium Stadium Rowing Novice Women Novice Men Senior Women Senior Men

2.30pm 3.15pm 4.00pm 5.45pm

Rugby Gates Open 6.30pm Pre-Match Entertainment 6.30pm Men's Rugby Kick Off 7.35pm

BUCS RESULTS

UWE I 1

19 March

Men's IV 3 Swansea IV 3

Volleyball

Men's II 2 UWIC III

Men's I 0 Sheffield Hallam 2

Hockey

20 March

Men's IV 4

Football

Gloucestershire II 4

Men's III 2 Swansea IV 2

Women's IV 3

Hockey

Cardiff Medics I 2

Women's IV 1

Rugby Union

Gloucestershire II 3

Men's I 79

Rugby Union

UWE 0

Men's IV 37 Bristol IV 27

Table Tennis

21 March

Men's II 2

Hockey

Southampton Solent 15

Women's II 1 UWIC II 0

Tennis Women's II 2 Southampton I 10

Sport31

Monday March 28 2011 • gair rhydd • sport@gairrhydd.com

Success for Cardiff at local competition

Oli Mather Tae Kwon-Do As a warm up for the inevitable Varsity battle with Swansea, Cardiff Uni TKD attended a local Welsh competition, hoping to gain experience and ‘match fitness’ for the big event.

Cardiff Uni TKD were well represented after entering six members, with the intention of bringing some more medals home and fur-

thering the growing reputation of the club.

Some great fights were seen, and considering some members had not competed at such a level before, the performance of the club was impressive.

There was plenty of technique, speed and heart shown by all of the Cardiff entrants.

Cardiff got off to a storming start in the patterns event winning a total of nine medals, with Michael Perks taking gold, Oli Mather the silver and Adam Gaunt the bronze.

In her first competition, Crystal managed to win a bronze in patterns and later in the day secured a bronze for her solid performance in sparring.

The male sparring categories were up next. Muhammad Mazlan fought in the heavyweight category

after only a few weeks training at the club. Although he proved to be the more skilled fighter, he was however beaten by the sheer aggression and fitness of his opponent.

The lightweight category saw four Cardiff students in the semifinals. First up Assane Sow fought Adam Gaunt. Gaunt was favourite to win due to his considerably higher grade, but was pushed all of the way for his win.

An impressive spinning kick to the head proved decisive and sealed the fight.

Next up was Michael Perks competed against Oli Mather, which proved to be a very closely contested fight.

Perks took a heavy hit to the face early on which seemed to dent his confidence slightly. Mather continued to use a defensive counter-spar-

ring style to pin the taller Michael back to secure the win.

The final was the last event of the day, with Adam proving too strong for Oli, his athletic jumping techniques proving too quick and destructive.

After the successful event, a few of the club’s black belts jetted off to Estonia to compete for Wales in the European Championships.:A reminder to all of our members to what can be achieved with hard work and dedication.

Above: Impressive fighting from the Cardiff team

Success for Snakecharmers at Nationals Trampolining bounce Laura Harman towards BUCS success Cheerleading The newest event on the British competitive cheerleading calendar is ICC’s University Nationals. A strictly inter-university competition has never been held by ICC, the leading cheerleading competition organiser, before. It was with a great sense of excitement, then, that the Cardiff Snakecharmers’ Elite Squad travelled to Leeds to take part.

The day consisted of group stunt, partner stunts, dance divisions and cheer divisions.

Cardiff Snakecharmers walked out onto the mat to perform their routine to some rousing support from members of both the Intermediate Squad and the Cobras American Football Team.

Opening the routine were standing back tucks, walkovers, back handsprings and a fast-paced motion sequence. It was a thrilling start to what promised to be a brilliant routine.

Next came motion triangles. This is the strict stiff motions that make up the cheers you would expect to see at an American Football game.

Accompanying these were some spectacular tumbles from Anna Marjoram, Samantha Morris, Jasmine Page, Rachel Waddington and Hannah Laycock.

Extended liberty stunts were next and nearly every stunt hit perfectly. Skills included in this sequence were heel-stretches, scorpions and arabesques, with a twist cradle dismount.

The jump sequence in this year’s routine was particularly difficult.

All the squad hit a whip toe-touch.

Then the group separated, with half performing a pike and motions and the other half executing twist Shushunovas. The jump sequence then came back together with a fish jump and a right hurdler.

Basket tosses, often the most visually impressive part of a routine,

Emily Russell Trampolining

Above: Cardiff's Snakecharmers Celebrate were next. Cat Prideaux and Jess Warren executed a double twist basket and, after a reload to prep, a double twist cradle dismount, along with the other flyers hitting their single twists.

The pyramid sequence was made up of two separate parts this year.

In each, one girl was supported by two braces in order for her to do a back tuck, extension liberty, ticktock (in which the bases underneath the flyer throw her and she swaps which foot she is standing on) and forward tuck.

The dance was the last section of the routine. Knowing that they had given it everything, the Snakecharmers danced fantastically, hitting clean movements with flair and skill.

And, almost over before it began, the routine was finished. There was nothing more the squad could do except wait for the results.

This competition was ‘open’, meaning that squads could put in stunts of any difficulty level that they chose. Some squads, then, were putting in stunts of level five and six, whilst Cardiff Snakecharm-

ers compete at Level four. Truly an amazing routine would be required to beat such stunts.

Out of twelve teams in the allgirl cheer division, Cardiff Snakecharmers placed an incredible second, only 0.5 marks behind a level six squad.

The squad was absolutely thrilled with the result but were in for a further surprise when it was announced that they had come joint third in the overall competition, alongside squads that had competed in more than one category, thus having the opportunity to earn more points.

Breaking down the scores afterwards, it became known that the Snakecharmers not only scored the highest number of points of the entire day on their dance section, they also had the equal highest number of points scored in the whole day for their entire routine.

Under the coaching of Alistair Ritchie and the captaincy of Amy Pantlin and Rebecca Stewart, the squad is ready for the final competition of the year, the ICC British Open Nationals.

This year the trampoline club had a record number of people qualify for BUCS finals. A great example of how well our club has been training under the guidance of our fantastic head coach Jon Thorn. After hosting the south regional qualifiers we were well aware how tough competition would be.

However the clubs' hard work and determination paid off with many good performances at the championships and plenty of positives to take from the experience.

Despite fierce competition, Elly Blackwell, competing in BUCS One, did astoundingly well coming second in this top category. Bethan Mercer also came third in BUCS Four with a beautifully well polished routine. Finnbar McAlinden, came fourth in BUCS Four, an exceptional achievement for someone in their first year of training! Pity he was just pipped at the post but there will be plenty of good things expected of him in the future.

Sion Williams did well placing

9th in the higher BUCS 3 category, an achievement to be proud of, and Craiger Solomons and Chris Edwards came eleventh and twelfth respectively, which is no mean feat in BUCS 2.

Unfortunately Laura Price, our President who has done so much for our club, and Lydia Osburn, whose dedication to the sport through such a tough year plagued with injury is something to admire, both had disappointing days and crashed out of their routines.

However both have plenty of positives to take from the experience – not many can say they’ve reached BUCS finals and hopefully next year will be their year!

It was a great weekend and is a sign of even greater things to come.

A massive congratulations must also be said to our BUCS Team National Champions Elly Blackwell, Bethan Mercer and Holly Bryant.

Their brilliant individual scores collectively earned them the title of “team champions” and they are well deserving of the medals they so proudly wear. Well done team CUTC.

Above: Cardiff bounce to success

Sport

Varsity Rugby Preview << Inside

Double success for Girl's Hockey

Above: Jen Tilbury contributed to a solid defensive display for Cardiff

Above: The Cardiff bench watches nervously

Above: Cardiff supporters invade the pitch at the final whistle

Above: Cardiff Ladies II gained promotion with a nervous 1-0 over UWIC

Phill Wilkinson BUCS Hockey Manchester 2 Cardiff 3 A sunny morning in Sheffield saw an in-form Cardiff side take on their BUCS Premier North opponents Manchester in the BUCS trophy final.

Cardiff started in a slightly nervy manner while they ran the four hour early morning journey out of their legs. Some excellent work by the short corner defence team prevented Manchester from taking an early lead, and a brilliant stop on the line from a drag flick by captain, Rachael Goddard, set the precedent for a high standard Cardiff performance.

Cardiff ’s defensive discipline paid off, as they began to string together some sharp counter attack play. Katrina Rye looked dangerous down Cardiff ’s right and linked up well with Charlie Lewis to cause Manchester’s defence some problems.

Cardiff ’s left midfielder, Jo

Mardell, and left backs, Hannah Davies and Martha Hunt, worked hard defensively to deny Manchester any attacking options.

Cardiff were patient in their transfer and probed the Manchester press, with Beth Blair’s continuous running offering the simple pass making it easy to keep possession.

Jen Tilbury used her distribution skills effectively to ensure Manchester didn’t get on top.

To the delight of the travelling support, it was Cardiff who took the lead through a set piece. A good upgrade in the shooting circle gave the penalty corner attack team a chance at the Manchester goal.

A firm hit from Mardell was met by the stick of Sarah Barratt to deflect the ball through the Manchester goalkeeper’s legs.

The rest of the first half was played out with numerous turnovers in midfield and some good battling from both teams. Cardiff stuck well to their game plan and broke Manchester down high up the pitch to stop the opposition developing any rhythm.

Half time saw Manchester

emerge rejuvenated as they threw everything at Cardiff to get back in the game. After winning several short corners in quick succession, Cardiff ’s defences were broken when a firm strike beat keeper Kat Morris low to her right.

Realising they were the superior team, Cardiff immediately struck back. The lively Sophie Clayton showed her national league ability with some mesmerising skills down the Cardiff centre, which created space for a one-two pass with Rye.

Economics march on in IMG Prem << Inside After getting the ball back, Clayton fired off a low reverse strike to the goalkeeper’s right which was too much for her and Barratt was able to poach the rebound from a yard out.

This swung the momentum in favour of Cardiff and some excellent distribution from Nicole Morrow at the back as well as some firm tackling from the whole of the defence gave Cardiff a real intensity and

purpose about their game.

The Cardiff forwards in Charlotte Lloyd, Charlie Lewis, Gemma Winterbottom and Rebecca Gatehouse, pressed the Manchester defence aggressively and were rewarded for their efforts when a misplaced Manchester pass fell to Lloyd, who passed the ball to a determined Winterbottom, who proceeded to carve open the Manchester defence with some tidy dribbling, catching the Manchester keeper unawares and off balance to slot home from three yards.

Cardiff proceeded to boss the game and their superior skills caused some poor tackling and ill discipline from the Manchester defence which resulted in them being reduced to ten players twice.

Despite this, some nerves crept into the Cardiff play and after squandering chances to make it 4-1 and put the game beyond reach they were punished when Manchester scored a mis-hit short corner strike which span in awkwardly.

It left for a difficult remaining eight minutes and Hanna Davies, Jen Tilbury, Nicole Morrow and

skipper Goddard, were resilient in defence and the entire team worked solidly as a unit to break Manchester down.

Morris was composed in goal and made some reliable saves. Blair sat in front of the defence and as Tilbury hit the ball to the other end of the pitch with 14 seconds to go, Cardiff knew they had ridden the storm.

As the final whistle went Cardiff ’s loyal crowd joined the players on the pitch for well deserved celebrations.

Cardiff are now looking to win their remaining three fixtures in the South Wales Premier league ,to be crowned champions in what will be a thoroughly well deserved double.

Cardiff Ladies II had their own moment of glory last week as they gained promotion to BUCS Division 1A in their final match.

In a tense encounter, Cardiff claimed a nervy 1-0 win over UWIC to leapfrog their local rivals. A Jo Tabor goal in the second half was enough to give Cardiff the three points they needed.

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