gair rhydd - Issue 958

gair rhydd Monday October 10 2011 | freeword – Est. 1972 | Issue 958

We got Zwack-ed!

Cardiff University students drink record amounts of Union’s new alcoholic drink Hannah Pendleton News Editor As of Wednesday October 5 2011 Cardiff University students consumed the UK’s remaining supplies of Zwack, Cardiff Student Union’s newly introduced alcoholic replacement to Jagermeister.

Over the course of Freshers’, Cardiff University students drank over £52,000 worth of Zwack, rapidly turning it into the fastest launching product Cardiff Student’s Union has ever seen.

Zwack, which was first established back in 1790, is a fusion of herbs and spices from Hungary.

Now it has reached the bars in Cardiff Student’s Union and is beginning to replace the popular brand, Jagermeister, as the top selling shot, averaging over 100 bottles a day being sold.

With the Union’s unusually high demand for the product, its popularity resulted in depleted supplies of the liqueur and the decision was made to send a van to Scotland, to obtain the last of the UK’s stock.

Shortly after the commencement of Cardiff ’s Freshers, Zwack’s national distributer, Diagio, ran out of stock.

Joshua James, a second year Law student said, “My mate and I did six - it really messed up my stomach the next day but I’d probably do it again because its dirt cheap.” Alec Care, a fourth year engineering student also said he drinks it because of it’s cheap price.

Mike Wride, a second year in Medicine, said: “It tastes just like Jager but it’s just as cheap and gets me just as drunk.”

When the Hungarian liqueur went on sale for the first time in Solus, Jagermeister outsold it five to one in the opening hour. However, the introduction of the beverage, soon began to show its potential; by the end of the night Jagermeister had been outsold by the newcomer.

Similarly, the following night, more than double the amount of sales in Jagermeis-

ter for the comparative day last year was sold in Zwack. Remaining Freshers club nights and the Freshers Ball, saw the Union’s top selling product, Vodka, fall behind the volumes of Zwack bought in.

Adam Packman, both a third year in Environmental Geosciences and a member of staff at The Taff stated: “People just can’t get enough of the stuff.”

“Once you have Zwack you never go back,” stated Ryan Shippey, a second year studying History.

However, despite its success so far, there are still students who have not been converted by the new ‘bomb’. Priya Gupta, an MBA student, doesn’t prefer the Union’s alternative to Jager: “It’s like Jager but I like Jager much better.” Furthermore, Becca Smithers, a second year studying Bioscience, stated: “I have never even heard of Zwack.”

Finance and Commercial Officer, Nick Matthew, commented on Zwack’s presence in the Union stating: “In order for the Student’s Union to continue being the best night time entertainment venue in town, we need the right kind of lubricant, and I think that Zwack fits the bill nicely. It’s got a great taste to it, as well as very clever branding.

“We’d love to mirror our success with ‘Relentless’, and become the world’s largest retailer of Zwack.”

Cardiff Students Union currently stands as the countries biggest distributer of the energy drink ‘Relentless’. Now Zwack has joined Relentless as one of the Union’s top selling products.

Nick added: “Drink sensibly guys, be safe, and enjoy your nights out in the Union.”

Following Zwack’s success in Cardiff, the family who own Zwack are planning a trip to Cardiff Student’s Union soon, in order to celebrate the success that the Union has seen selling Zwack.

Cardiff Calling

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Monday October 10 2011

EDITOR Oliver Smith CO-ORDINATOR Elaine Morgan SUB-EDITORS Pippa Lewis James Dunn Yas Langley Chris Williams NEWS Sheri Hall Henry McMorrow Hannah Pendleton Matt Jones Laura Evans OPINION Izzy Voss Libby van den Bosch COLUMNIST POLITICS Luke Slade Sophie Gidley FEATURES Ellen Atkinson Ali Ishaq SCIENCE Jenny Lambourne SOCIETIES Isabelle Roberts

SPORT Jamie Evans Zac Cole Jonothan Frank CONTRIBUTORS Philippa Reid Sara Williams Laura Brunt Stephan House Paul Dharamraj James Archer Angharad Tye-Reeve Tom Clarke Dale Jones Max Eshragi Kirsty Hatcher

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pg. 4

News watch the first CUTV live broadcast

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Check out our new website at www.gairrhydd.com

free EDITORIAL

est.1972

The statistics that revealed how Cardiff Students quite literally drunk the country dry last week may be amusing and humorous.

However, they are also shocking. Sheer quantities of alcohol that the Union has never before shifted in such a volume. Do these numbers tell the story of what Freshers Week has become, nothing more than an alcohol-fueled binge?

pg. 8

Opinion discuss the details of the Cardiff Zwack drought

I do hope many of you have joined Societies and Clubs, started new hobbies and made new friends, possibly with the help of a little Zwack along the way, this is the essence of what Freshers Week is all about.

We at gair rhydd found the statistics presented by the Students’ Union, both frightening and fascinating, and rather than taking the figures as the whole story, I would encourage you to turn to page eight to read some opinions and analysis behind the facts.

Oliver Smith

Sudoku pg. 12

pg. 26

EASY

Taf-Od Elliw Mair

sport. taf-od. societies. science. features. politics. opinion. news.

02

Politics examines the Tory Party conference in detail

Sport previews the Rugby World Cup quarter finals

For the answer and more puzzles, head over to page 23

News 1-6

Monday October 10 2011

Opinion Politics Features Science Societies Listings 20 17 19 22 8 - 11 12 - 14

Sport 26 - 28

gairrhydd

FRAPE!

Tweeting for Charity

Sheri Hall News Editor

Philippa Reid News Reporter

A new app has been launched for iPhone users to help protect their Facebook virginity.

The ‘Frape Alarm’ was released on September 30th to combat the growing trend of Facebook profile violation.

Designers Happy Media LTD describe it as a “fun but effective method of protecting against Facebook sabotage”.

The alarm is triggered by a list of key words that are synonymous with Facebook hacking and sends a message to the account user to notify them of a breach in their profile’s security.

The app also analyses status updates, wall post frequencies and interactions with friends to detect intrusions.

Users are able to set the Frape sensitivity to low, medium or high depending on the level of protection they require.

Facebook privacy is a growing issue in a society plagued with social media scandal and the Frape Alarm is set to become a vital tool in helping to maintain security.

We're having a big push on environmental champions this year, it can only get bigger and better. Also I've just recieved a further three years of funding in order to develop my services and offer more advice regarding housing and accomodation.

In previous years we've worked with many student groups in order to build a group of volunteers, this year we've had had 64 students sign up as environmental champions so that we have our own committed base of volunteers.

It has to be the move from halls into private accomodation, there are more than 200 letting agents in Cardiff and many of them are not licenced or accredited. Hopefully this is something we can continue to tackle this year.

Live CUTV broadcast by tweets

Competition.

Nestle has produced a 24-second advert for its latest dog food using dog only frequencies to talk to their prime audience.

The advert features a dog twitching its ears whilst its owner squeaks a toy duck. A high-frequency whistle then occurs twice, which is hoped to attract dogs watching the advert, although the sound will be near impossible for any human to notice.

Behavioural experts from the US researched the technique of dog-only frequencies, studying which sounds would have the best effect on canines in front of the television screen. This is a first of its kind for Nestle Purina who are hoping to increase the shared bond between owner and pet and as a result, increase its market sales which already make up 12% of its profits.

The advert follows other campaigns targeting dogs, including dog-food scented billboards by company Wagg Foods and Animal Planet, who placed ads smelling of dog urine at the base of lamp posts to promote the Animal Planet awards.

60 Second Interview....

I'm funded by the three Universities, Cardiff Glamorgan and UWIC as well as the local council. I work in partnership to help make Cardiff a cleaner, greener, safer and more optimistic community.

03

@SUSU_tv

@DaxLeeWood

@chargingfungus

A 3-3 draw is declared! Great effort from both sides - @ cardiffuniontv did themselves proud!

Amused that the presenters just left the mummies in the background to fend for themselves while they set up the next segment.

Just got back from #stagsVdragons, shattered but such a good night. Can't wait until #Fresherstv

04News Sheri Hall News Editor History was made last Wednesday when Cardiff University’s CUTV joined up with SUSUtv of Southampton University in their first live video link up.

CUTV and SUSUtv each broadcast from their own universities to create a successful link up between the two stations, viewed by just over 350 people online.

Speaking to CUTV controller, Beckie Saunders, who was running the show: “This was the first time Cardiff Union TV has done a live broadcast of this nature and not only were we live but we were linking up with another station.”

The Stags vs Dragons competition was aired from the Taf between 8.30pm and 9.00pm, where Cardiff ’s students competed, via video link, with Southampton students in various challenges.

The activities included a pressupathon, a cream-cake-eating competition and a rubbish-building exercise, where competitors raced to build the best stag or dragon out of recyclable material.

Beckie added: “It was great to see it all working and despite a few communication technology prob-

Monday October 10 2011

lems, we pulled off an entertaining show that is the first of its kind for British student television.”

CUTV are now looking towards their next live link-up between student broadcast stations across the UK with Freshers’ TV on October 19. You can view CUTV at: www.cardiffunion.tv

gairrhydd

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First of it's kind for British student television.

gair rhydd asks students for their opinions on the recent declaration of the single use bag tax Henry McMorrow News Editor On Saturday October 1 the Welsh Assembly implemented a 5p tax for all single use carrier bags issued by retailers.

Although pejoratively referred to as ‘the Welsh Bag Tax’ all revenue created, will be spent on Welsh ‘good causes’ – the government

Employees at the Union Shop

up to £5000 if found to be issuing bags without charging the levy.

Concerns have been raised regarding confusion over the policy.

The Federation for Small Businesses have said that many entrepreneurs are unaware of the new law. Non Rhys, the Wales Policy Manager, said, “There’s a lot of confusion… not all retail businesses will have had packs from the Welsh

Government because there’s not a list of all retailers in Wales, so we have been trying to contact as many businesses as possible.”

David Woods, retail manager of the Students’ Union Shop said, “We’ve been doing this for the last two years and we’ve seen a dramatic reduction in the amount of plastic bags we give away – which is obviously great for the environment.”

The Welsh Government aims to replicate the 90% reduction seen in Ireland when they introduced the levy. First Minister for Wales, Carwyn Jones, said, “The introduction of our carrier bag charge demonstrates that Wales is a country that genuinely cares about protecting its environment.”

Charlie 2nd Year English Literature student

Ellen 1st Year English Literature student

Sarah 3rd Year Philosophy student

Andrius 1st Year International Business student

It's been a shock to be honest to hear well known brands telling me the new laws. I think we have a pretty efficent recycliing system in Cathays already."

I think it’s a good thing. It’s annoying but I think people should learn to carry their own bags as carrier bags go to waste. The only problem is remembering to bring bags out with you.”

I think that reducing the amount of waste we make can never be a bad thing. But I’m not sure that taxing plastic bags is the best way to do it, considering they are only a tiny part of what we throw away.

There’s a lot more that we could be doing that doesn’t involve taxation.”

claims that the measure has been introduced to alter behaviour, not to generate income. In spite of this, the tax has been criticised, some believing it to be a ‘stealth tax,’ as VAT of 20% will be deducted from the 5p charge.

A period of three months has been permitted for retailers and consumers to adjust to the tax. After this time, retailers will be fined

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Haley 3rd Year Biology "Customers generally don’t say anything, students are getting home deliveries now too so I think it matters less.”

Imogen, 2nd Year Business Management "If we tell people that a bag is 10p then they tend to change their mind about having one. But I generally think the tax is a good thing.”

I support it. We always have too many bags anyway so it seems good to stop people from picking up more.”

News 1-6

Monday October 10 2011

Opinion Politics Feature Science Societies Listings 20 17 22 8 - 11 12 - 14 19

Sport 26 - 28

News05

gairrhydd

Matt Jones News Editor Section three of JSTOR, the online journal archive, has been purchased

by Cardiff University Library. The move comes after pressure from an online petition led by the student body.

The JSTOR section three collection will add to collections one and two, already accessible through the University. Students will now be able to access journals on a range of subjects under the humanities

umbrella, including literature, art and history. The purchase will cost the library around £4200 annually, money taken from the budget for Academic Information Resources.

The purchase of the new section follows a campaign started by a History and Archaeology student, previously reported on by gair rhydd in issue 946. After an Archaeology staff-student panel meeting, it was decided that university-wide support for a petition would be sought.

The student, Jessica Franklin, contacted the then Academic and

University Affairs officer, Sarah Ingram, about the matter, and consequently a cross-school online petition was created, which attracted almost 500 signatures.

The current Academic and University Affairs Officer, Sam Reid, said: “The JSTOR III campaign stemmed from an issue raised by a student and therefore its success has proved that students really can have their say in their education and make a difference.

She continued “It also showed that the University's willingness to

listen to us and to take the student voice seriously which is something I plan to continuously build on throughout this year, the relationship between the University and the student body.”

The Library will now monitor the use of the journals, before deciding whether to subscribe again.

A University spokesperson said “We are committed to subscribing for the next four years, following which, the usage will be reviewed according to the practice with all subscriptions, to see whether the

University is obtaining value for money from it.”

The new collection should benefit almost all of the humanities departments, containing 151 journal titles over 20 disciplines. The addition will be particularly useful for students of both Religious Studies and Music, as it contains the largest cluster of articles on Eastern and Western religions available, and all titles from the Music collection.

gair rhydd takes you through all the developments so far...

- Higher Education Funding Council for Wales have concerns about the financial sustainability of 5 welsh universities.

Spring 2011 February 11 - Talks over transforming the University of Wales alliance from a federal body into a 'super university' with a merger of UWIC, Swansea Metropolitan and Trinity St David.

Autumn 2011 September 23 - Glyndwr University announces intention to break from the University of Wales alliance, making it the fifth institution to withdraw from the University of Wales in the last six years.

October 3 2011 - University of Wales to stop validating degrees in the UK and abroad in advance of a BBC Wales documentary revealing “significant failings” in the way it validated degrees.

October 5 2011 - UWIC snubs merger with Newport and Glamorgan University. Vice Chancellors call to scrap the University of Wales brand after a course validation scam is discovered by BBC Wales.

Henry Mcmorrow News Editor A University of Wales institution is being investigated for allegations of fraud. London Rayat College is accused of cheating overseas students into free University of Wales validated degrees and post study work visas.

BBC Wales investigated the college for their ‘Week In Week Out’ programme, discovering that members of staff were facilitating students to cheat in exams, by issuing

Winter 2010 December 3 - Welsh Universities told to ‘adapt or die’ by Education Minister Leighton Andrews Decmeber 17 - Swansea Metropolitan University and Trinity St David agree to pool resources and merge.

December 22 - The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) say the number of universities in Wales should be reduced from eleven to six by 2013.

Summer 2011 June 22 - The University of Wales alliance is called into disrepute after being found to be linked to bogus degrees and illegal institutions overseas.

July 4 - UWIC pulls out of ‘super university’ plan, but Swansea Metropolitan University and Trinity St David remain committed.

July 13 - A report from the HEFCW calls for a merger between UWIC, the University of Glamorgan and University of Wales, Newport into one metropolitan university.

exam papers prior to examination and, in some cases allowing students to complete 15 month courses in under one week.

The College suspended two staff, whilst the registrar resigned, claiming that he had never encouraged anyone to cheat.

Lecturer, Surya Medichura, was covertly filmed telling the pupils to, “please be careful, just getting the post study work visa does not mean that we have fooled the UK Border Agency - no, they are quite intelligent - they are more intelligent than

what we are."

It has now announced, that it will stop validating courses at all other universities in the UK and abroad.

This move will reduce it from the second largest university in the UK, with 70,000 students to one of the smallest in Wales, with just Swansea Metropolitan and Trinity St David universities under its umbrella.

The Vice Chancellors of five other universities in Wales - Cardiff, Bangor, Aberystwyth, Glamorgan and Swansea, all of which remain

Sheri Hall News Editor Universities in Wales are unsure of their future, as the structure of the nation’s higher education sector remains uncertain.

Since the proposed rise in university tuition fees, concerns have been aired over the financial sustainability of smaller institutions with the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) wanting to half the number of universities.

The shake-up comes as a move to ensure Welsh universities can compete in the 21st century for students, research funding and business contracts by merging institutions and pooling their resources.

Late last year, Education Minister, Leighton Andrews said universities would only be permitted to charge higher tuition fees, on which their survival depends, if they could demonstrate they intended to collaborate more closely.

Cardiff University has distanced itself from the shuffle, but with a aim to reduce Welsh Institutions by half by March 2013, there is every possibility that Cardiff may be pulled into the structural debate.

To complicate matters further, the University of Wales who currently awards degrees to UWIC, Trinity Saint David, Glyndwr Uni-

outside the University of Wales group say they are “appalled” at the revelations.

Prof. John Hughes, Vice Chancellor of Bangor University, told Radio Wales that the university had already been adversely affected. He claimed that international partners had become confused, some wishing to stop working with it – stating that the brand was now “toxic” - even though Bangor doesn’t come under the University of Wales umbrella.

Although there are pressures on

versity, Swansea Metropolitan and Newport, has been thrown into disrepute over the validation of its qualifications.

Although Cardiff University left the degree-awarding body in 2005 and now awards its own degrees for most subjects, medicine related degrees are still awarded by the University of Wales.

Vice Chancellors, including Cardiff ’s Dr David Grant, have called for the University of Wales to be scrapped, which means the death of an institution that has been alive for over 100 years.

Angela Burns, Welsh Conservative education spokesperson said: “To protect the reputation of and pride in Wales' higher education sector, the University of Wales can no longer claim to represent the universities of Wales and needs a fresh brand to draw a line under its now tarnished history.”

At present there are mixed views as to whether the University of Wales should be scrapped altogether or just re-branded and changed radically.

From this point it is unclear what the future holds for Wales’ universities but one thing is certain; we have not seen the last of the restructuring debate.

the University of Wales to rebrand, Prof. Medwin Hughes told Radio Wales that as Vice Chancellor he was "committed to cleaning up that brand. It's tarnished, yes, but under that tarnish there's a very good silver." He continued to say that “At the moment, the higher education sector in Wales is letting the nation down,” claiming that Wales needed “strong brands” and that he had a duty for the many students with a University of Wales degree to maintain the name.

06News Matt Jones News Editor

Changes to the law on squatting proposed by the Ministry of Justice could outlaw student sit-in protests.

The changes would also make it considerably easier to evict squatters from unused buildings.

The main change affecting potential protesters, is the reclassification of trespass from civil offence to criminal offence. This means that the owners of property will be able to ask police to remove sit-in participators.

Last November, Cardiff University saw the occupation of a lecture theatre by approximately 50 students, operating under the group Action Against Cuts Cardiff, who

Monday October 10 2011

were protesting against the government’s rise in tuition fees. During the protest, the University denied students access to toilets, food and water, and the protest ended with an agreement of a meeting between the protesters and the vice-chancellor.

Although ultimately this protest was unsuccessful, the introduction of the new law could prove very damaging to students hoping to demonstrate in the future.

A member of Action Against Cuts Cardiff, Sebastian Power, said: “Occupying university space has been a key way for students to get their voices heard. [It] has become an alternative form of communicating our views as the normal channels, the corporate owned press and de-

ceitful political parties, have let us down. This policy criminalises dissent.”

The proposal has also received a backlash from elsewhere in the student community. An NUS executive committee member has said that the NUS will make it ‘politically impossible’ for the government to pass the law, whilst the president of Cardiff Socialist Students, Edmund Schluessel, said "Of course the government will criminalise protest; this will not stop students from protesting."

The government has said that there may be ‘exceptions’ to the new criminalisation law, giving university owned property as an example, but this could raise fears of a situation where the government decides

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who may protest and who may not.

More widely, the proposals will have serious consequences for squatters, who will now have weaker legal rights than they used to.

It will now be considerably easier for property owners and landlords to evict squatters from unoccupied buildings.

However, leading legal professionals have accused the government of misleading the public over squatting, in order to get the reforms through. In a letter published

by The Guardian, they said "As the proposals would have far reaching consequences for many vulnerable people, there is a need for informed factual discussion, rather than a response based on sensationalist misrepresentation."

Michael Jackson tribute concert Philippa Reid News Reporter With the trial of Dr Conrad Murray underway, a memorial concert took place to celebrate the memory of legend Michael Jackson on Saturday October 8 at Cardiff ’s Millenium Stadium.

Hosted by Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton and Hollywood A-list actor Jamie Foxx, the event has been described by brothers Marlon and Tito, as ‘a way to remember the brighter side of Michael’.

Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Cee-Lo Green, Leona Lewis, JLS and Alexandra Burke, are just some

of the ‘earth shattering’ artists who performed, with all proceeds from the concert going towards three charities, including the LA-based Aids Project.

It seems a fitting tribute to Jackson, who, died aged 50 while rehearsing his ‘This Is It’ tour from a suspected overdose of the powerful

anaesthetic Propofol.

However, members of the Jackson family feel it was not the right time to hold the event, with Randy, Jermaine and Janet Jackson not attending. Dr Murray denies involuntary manslaughter.

Laura Evans News Editor Two Welsh graduates have recently launched a website featuring student discounts for independent retailers in Cardiff and surrounding cities.

Co-founders, Jon Trew and Dan Henwood, who both graduated from the University of West England in 2008, launched their website uniuniuni.co.uk two weeks ago.

The website gives students the opportunity to use discount vouchers for local shops in Cardiff, Swansea and Bristol.

The website serves to save student's money and support local businesses at the same time.

Both Trew and Henwood spoke to gair rhydd about their business venture.

Dan expressed his reasons for creating the website: “We’ve both always wanted to run our own business and feel that when we go into the local retailers to pitch the idea to them, they can see that we are passionate about the website and want to help them also.”

Jon spoke specifically about retailers in Cardiff: “Cardiff is a fantastic place to shop because there are plenty of local shops, especially in the arcades, where students can buy something original rather than a mass produced product.”

Currently, places in Cardiff such as Pen and Paper, Hobos Vintage Clothing and Catapult Music, are providing discounts, as well as Pure Gym, offering a special student membership when it opens in November.

Other features of the website include, promotions for bars and clubs in each city, advertising current offers or events.

Over the next year, the website hopes to provide plenty of local and national discounts and information about universities for prospective students.

Henwood added: “We urge students to visit the website, use the discounts, go on the Facebook page to keep up to date with all the latest offers and if there are any shops that they would like to see on the site, then email us the details.”

To see the full list of discounts in Cardiff visit www.uniuniuni.co.uk

Opinion

08

Monday October 10 2011

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Is 5p too much?

Sara Williams

Opinion Writer On October 01, Wales became the first place in the UK to place a levy on the use of plastic and single-use bags with the objective of tackling climate change and minimising waste.

The 5p levy applies to every shop using such bags, with all proceeds reportedly going to charity. While the levy may not make a serious hole in your pockets, it might make us think twice before leaving the house without our ‘bag for life’?

Before researching this piece I knew very little about the humble plastic bag, yet it seems that there are various types of recyclable bags on offer - Sainsburys offers five types. The bag for life has been gradually introduced over the past few years and the introduction of designer branded bags for life, such as Tesco’s Cath Kidston collection or Sainsbury’s 2007 Anya Hindmarch limited edition bag, which enticed thousands to queue in the early hours of the morning to buy them.

In the grand scheme of things, 5p sounds very little and at your local

corner shop it would only get you five penny sweets, if you’re lucky, but assuming you bought one bag on a daily basis, you would end up forking out £18.25 over one year, which could otherwise make you the proud owner of a number of Primark tops, or fund an alcohol fuelled night at the Union. However, you will have spent your hard earned cash (aka student load) on 365 plastic bags - the majority of which will have been stuffed behind your fridge or used as a bin bag.

“ On balance, the reason why I am in favour of the 5p levy, is that the proceeds for many large companies are being directed to good causes.

For example, Boots are pledging that all profits will go to the Macmillan Breast Cancer Foundation, whilst Morrisons has announced a similar

Sten Gustag Telin created the plastic bag in the 1960s

initiative with Save the Children.

It is important to note, that such charitable acts are completely at the discretion of each organisation, as there is no law defining how the proceeds are to be used.

However, I also believe that we are too lazy to care about paying 5p for a bag. Yes, it’s annoying, but 5p is worth relatively little these days and will easily be swamped in the cost of your normal weekly shop, especially in relation to other costs of living items, like fuel and the recent 18% hike in energy bills. The good old days when a Freddo cost 5p are long gone and inflation has even hit the Green Frog that now costs all of 20p.

Overall, I think a 5p levy on every single-use bag is a positive move, although getting the Welsh consumer to change their shopping habits may take months or even years. Hopefully, over time, the shift away from disposable bags will become the norm in Wales and elsewhere in the UK, with the added benefit, that in the mean time, it is charities and the environment who will reap the benefits.

Only 0.5% bags are actually recycled

On average, a household uses 167 bags a year

Opinion by tweets

Zwacked out Libby van den Bosch Opinion Editor

The polythene material takes over 400 years to break down.

Whilst paper bags are more environmentally friendly than their polythene equivalent, plastic bags are lighter and thus more efficient and less polluting to distribute.

One Million bags are distributed each minute of every day resulting in more than 500 billion bags used each year

Above: Students at Media Recruitment Party enjoy Zwack

Supermarkets hand out 350 Million plastic bags a year

It appears that Cardiff students are taking the concept of ‘drinking the bar dry’ to the next level, with the news that, from tonight, they will have drained the UK’s entire supply of Zwack.

The Union responded to the dwindling supplies, by sending a van to Scotland with the express purpose of picking some more in order to sustain students’ unquenchable thirst for the Jägermeister subsitute.

However, the Union’s decision to support these ridiculous levels of consumption raises the question of whether they are placing a desire to make profit above a concern for student welfare.

The sight of ‘over-refreshed’ students stumbling down the Union steps is a common sight and binge

drinking amongst the student population remains consistently high, but it is difficult to say whether Zwack can really be held responsible. After all, student life and a culture of drinking and partying have long gone hand-in-hand and if the Union refused to renew their supplies, students would inevitably find a substitute.

Furthermore, the Union depends on the success of its club nights, with a large percentage of the profits coming from the sale of alcoholic drinks. Therefore, making the extra effort to go to Scotland may just be a demonstration of their commitment to providing students with what they want.

Perhaps the more realistic solution is to raise drinking awareness or failing that, to install crash-mats at the bottom of the Union stairs.

@USAmbNATO

@Joan_Rivers

@ sixthformpoet

#Libya shows importance of #NATO 1)decision-making was swift 2)military campaign was effective 3)greater leadership from European allies

Amanda Knox was freed after four years in jail! But Fashion Police wants her sent back for wearing a hoodie to hear the verdict.

The Conservative Party Conference is exactly what Sky + was invented for.

Sorry, did I say "Sky +"? I meant "the Off button".

News Politics Feature Science Societies Listings 20 17 1 - 6 Opinion 12 - 14 19 22 8 - 11

Monday October 10 2011

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Laura Brant Opinion Writer As a country, should we really be wasting our time educating those who have no desire to be educated? Former Chief Inspector of Schools, Sir Chris Woodhead, has caused quite a stir, by proposing that pupils should have the option of leaving school at the age of fourteen. And while you may be thinking that this sounds like elitist Tory tripe, I’m not sure it’s a bad idea.

With truancy and class misbehaviour a constant problem, it is pretty obvious that an academic style of learning does not suit everyone. So, instead of schools forcing the need for A grades and further education down kids’ throats in order to boost their league table positions, it might be preferable to alter the education system in order to provide an alternative.

By offering teenagers the choice to leave school earlier and take up a more vocational form of education, they will get the opportunity to do something that they can actually engage with and enjoy. To me, this is far more preferable to the government’s current plan to force them to stay in school for an

additional two years and leaving them, and all those who would actually quite like to learn, miserable. As a self-confessed goody two-shoes, I was always far from impressed by my chair-throwing, teacher-tormenting classmates.

It is not being suggested that kids are chucked out of school to become one of the many who make up the statistics of unemployed youth. Nor that they be allowed to ditch school to free up more time to pursue their passion for playing Xbox all day or loitering outside the Co-operative. With proper advice, support and a combination of apprenticeships and college-based training, young people will simply be starting earlier what they would be doing if they left school at sixteen. They’ll be getting the training that will lead to them qualifying as skilled professionals, which the country will always be in need of, as well as probably getting paid a wage in the process. To be honest, they might even end up better off than us poor university graduates struggling to pay off our student debts.

Stephen House Opinion Writer For those unaware the issue is this; Sir Chris Woodhead has said it would be beneficial to some children, the ‘less academic’ ones, if they left school at 14. You don’t have to be studying the relevant social science to see quite a few problems with that.

Think back to when you were 14, and yes I know that for some, that was a long time ago. Did you know exactly what you wanted to be when you were older? Probably not. I can’t imagine many of the children this policy is aimed at, children who already want to give up on school, have any idea of what they want either. Leaving school with a goal in mind is one thing, but leaving school because they think it’s boring? With that attitude they won’t find the world outside any better.

Even if this is what’s best for the kids, that doesn’t mean it’s what’s best for the companies who would presumably be under pressure to take them on. School is about more than just Maths and English. It’s about improving social skills, work ethic, interaction with others; it’s about learning how oth-

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ers are different to yourself. These elements are as important as the subjects; people who haven’t been exposed to them won’t be as productive in the workplace. Hell, they’re not going to be very productive in society either. This country is full of social issues at the moment, as well as economic ones; teaching people to work, but not think, won’t solve them.

Being Cardiff University students, we weren’t the kids who would drop out at 14, so this policy wouldn’t have concerned us. Yet it’s people like us, who get in to the position to make such policies. Do we want to promote a culture with this big societal divide, with an educated upper class and an undereducated working class with few future prospects? We all saw the summer riots; we know how that would end.

In June, I spent three weeks doing initial teacher training in a secondary school. I don’t think I met a single child who’d benefit from leaving at 14, although I met plenty who would have left if they could. Alternative forms of education tailored to the students’ needs would help, but turning these children away from the system is not the answer.

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was thrilled to turn on the television last week to see a very, very naked Ashton Kutcher in the new series of ‘Two and a Half men’.

It was an excellent way to draw in viewers. What clever writers and producers. The change from Sheen to Kutcher could well have been the best thing to happen to the show, with record viewing figures; it really proves the change to be a success for all involved (except Sheen of course).

I don’t cope very well at all with change, yet nothing can ever stay the same, if it did life would become monotonous and quite honestly, lame. If things stayed the same, I’d still have dreadfully wonky teeth and awful acne (less than ideal).

Having been back in Cardiff a few weeks, I find myself reflecting on what I have learnt and how things have changed since my University career began. I use the word ‘career’ loosely... I have achieved little, apart from learning a few life skills, i.e. how to cook pasta to perfection, which taxi company is the cheapest and what nights out are worth going to.

Freshers' week: a time full of change, if you can remember any of it. If you’re a first year, you’ve just been plonked in with a group of people whom you may never have come across otherwise, it’s rather daunting. You’re living away from home; a place where most things are done for you. Now, you are cooking, cleaning (if you’re not a lazy bastard) and doing everything for yourself. (Buying toilet roll includ-

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ed).

So you’ve survived the hardest part. You should be settling in a treat. If you’re a second or third year you’re getting used to your house...

Who knew popping the heating on for half an hour was SO expensive?

And gosh, the bins come once every two weeks? I don’t know about you, but we have enough rubbish to start our own landfill site. Bring on the Cathay’s rat infestation.

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Perhaps the most common of the changes, post freshers' week, is the change in morals. You start out, so young, so naive. Independence is handed to you and suddenly everything changes. Drinking every night for two weeks (although not encouraged) is such a great idea.

Ready meals every night, why not?

I’ve no idea what saturated fat is anyway.

Then, you find that your alcoholic consumption grows and grows and it slowly takes you more and more drink to get you to the 'right amount' drunk. Not only is this annoying, it is also incredibly expensive. Now a second year, I’m finding budgeting useful. Perhaps 10 Zwack bombs is a little excessive for lunchtime?

Freshers, within two weeks you will have forgotten all about what you wrote on that ever so important personal statement. ‘It’s my passion’, ‘I’ve never been so sure that

there is something that I want to do’ – er? No, how about the pub? University is about furthering your education and your academic ability...

Does that mean sleeping through all my lectures isn’t helping things?

Bugger.

Your body clock WILL change if it hasn’t already. Life begins at midday and ends way beyond midnight.

One becomes nocturnal and 9AM is so early, despite the fact that you had been getting up for the duration of your school career at 7am every day for most of your life. My advice would be to follow the wisdom of Cary Grant: ‘My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In

between, I occupy myself as best I can’. So long as you can see SOME daylight and go to bed BEFORE it’s getting light and the birds are singing – you’re doing ok. Just.

“ Your diet will have changed. I forgot vegetables existed last year, until I went home in November and golly gosh, isn’t fruit expensive?

Why would I spend that much on bananas, when I could spend considerably less on pasta, crisps and chocolate!

Whilst stuffing your face with all the things that health professionals tell you are bad for you, you’ll have sat down to watch endless amounts of catch up television. So much of my first year was spent on iPlayer and 4OD. I watched series upon series, day after day, barely seeing the light of day, then forgetting the day and my own name, age, address etc.

And having survived my first year of University, I claimed to my Mother the day she dropped me here this year, that none of those slobbish ways would follow me to my second year. I’d be keeping fit, eating healthily, drinking less, and doing more. Have I? No. I still sit around in my pyjamas for days on ends; I’ve collected approximately sixteen mugs in my room, which are slowly growing mould, along

with piles upon piles of plates and crisp wrappers. Grim.

It must stop! I’ve survived fresher’s week – yes. However, in order to become the scholar that I insisted in my personal statement over a year ago that I would be, I must recover myself. Self improvement is necessary. If not, I will wallow into an abyss, in which I will watch too many episodes of 'Scrubs' and 'Friends' and forget all about the seminars and lectures that I will be paying for until I’m 40.

How do I improve myself ? Do I go to the gym? Do I settle down to do some hard work and become a hermit? Do I cease to have a social life and bury myself into books and hide away until Christmas? No, no that is not necessary. I insist. There must be another way.

As well as change being vital in life, so too is balance. If I can maintain a healthy balance in my life, then surely I should survive the whole year quite nicely... And get a bit higher than 40% and know all the drinking games under the sun.

The health kick starts here. I will try not to eat too many takeaways.

The sunshine’s been brilliant hasn’t it? But as night must follow day, the rain will resume – welcome to Wales. Bring on the rain, the wind and the general dull and miserable weather of Cardiff. Finish reading this edition of gair rhydd (which, by the way even I have no idea how to say), then pop on your laptop, watch copious amounts of catch up television and films and enjoy furthering your education.

Conservative Conference

12 Manchester 2011

Monday October 10 2011

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Luke Slade Political Editor

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he prime minister, David Cameron, originally mentioned in his conference speech the need to pay off household credit card bills. However, after what Downing Street has called “misinterpretation,” the PM has revised his speech.

The pre-briefed version of the speech on Tuesday read: “The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. That means households – all of us – paying off the credit card and store card bills.”

The prime minister’s aides said the speech would now read: “That is why households are paying down the credit card and store card bills.”

In his defense it is calculated that if the country pay back their credit cards that GDP would shrink by 15% at a stroke.

A Downing Street aide said: “We are putting our hands up on this. It has been misinterpreted, and the only way to deal with it, is to change the wording. We are not going to carry on when it is fairly obvious that it needed to be clarified.

“People at home who are struggling, cannot afford to pay off their debts, so to have an instruction from on high to do so would have been wrong. We were not ever trying to urge people to pay their credit card bills tomorrow. It was intended as a metaphor or an observation, as opposed to an instruction.”

It is difficult to believe or understand how it was intended as a metaphor. I think Downing Street need to read up on what a metaphor is.

Although I do not think it is as contentious as it seems. He is telling people that they need to deal with personal debt so that the county can recover.

The only problem with this, is that many people do not think it is their fault they are in such debt.

Arguably if banks gave loans and

“

We need to tell the truth about the economic situation. When the economy goes into recession, times get tough.

credit cards with more consideration, they would not have handed out so much to people who clearly were never going to pay them off.

The PM should, if anything, be applauded for his frank appeal: “We need to tell the truth about the overall economic situation. People understand that when the economy goes into recession, times get tough.

But normally, after a while, things pick up. Strong growth returns.

People get back into work. This time, it's not like that. And people want to know why the good times are so long coming.

“The answer is straightforward, but uncomfortable. This was no normal recession; we're in a debt crisis. It was caused by too much borrowing, by individuals, businesses, banks – and, most of all, governments.”

Of course Cameron wants to excuse himself if his government is unable to pick things up. But at least he is saying that there may be a possibility that they do not have enough time. And at least he is not harping on about it being Labour’s

Osborne announces unprecedented credit plans As fears grow over the euro crisis, George Osborne has announced plans for the Treasury to supply a multibillion credit line direct to British firms, starting with the smaller businesses.

Osborne called the Treasury’s plan the "credit easing" scheme.

Such a scheme would not show up as public debt as they were backed by assets.

It could be used to alleviate short-term crunches in the corporate bond market, but would mainly be aimed at fixing the lack of credit to SMEs in the longer-run.

A Treasury official said: “An aim is to avoid a second credit

crunch because of the risks of sorting out the euro crisis affecting the operations of the bond market.”

Chancellor Osborne’s speech at the conference flirted with the grim. He admitted that difficult days lay ahead but insisted Britain could come out of this crisis if it sticks to the deficit plan.

Once again

he asserted that borrowing was the cause of the deficit – not the solution.

But it seems as though Osborne is merely trying to tell himself that his plan will work. Hopefully he is fully assured because I fear that the British people aren’t.

fault (even though he still does this elsewhere in his speech).

In a key passage, he mentions: “The truth is, right now, we need to be energised, not paralysed by gloom and fear. Half the world is booming, let's go and sell to them.

So many of our communities are thriving – let's make the rest like them ... hard working, pioneering, independent, creative, adaptable, optimistic and can do.”

Downing Street also denied that Treasury forecasts showed household debt was set to rise, saying these figures included mortgages.

On Wednesday morning, it was suggested by economists that the plan for a pay-off of credit card debts, if interpreted literally, would

be economically disastrous as well as politically inept.

However, it could be interpreted that Cameron is merely trying to offer a sense of optimism during a time of a damp economy.

Downing Street have also commented that the speech itself will still carry the same message. It is clear that they are hoping the rewrite will make the PM’s point clearer.

But the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, said: “As today's figures show, families struggling with higher food and energy prices, rising unemployment and the VAT rise, are already struggling to get by and are cutting back.

“They don't need an out of touch prime minister lecturing them about paying off their credit cards.”

He said the prime minister needs to come up with a plan for jobs and growth “and he needs to do it fast.”

He also said, “David Cameron and George Osborne urgently need to realise, that spending cuts and tax rises which go too far and too fast have hit consumer confidence.”

The deputy Conservative chairman, Michael Fallon, said Cameron was going to clarify his remarks. He added: “As households have paid off the debt, so the government has got to do the same.”

The conference slogan is: “Leadership for a Better Future.” The “Better Future” is debatable, but Cameron’s leadership appears less so. Polling suggests that he is the only main party leader who actually attracts floating voters and support of him at the conference appears to be strong.

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Welsh ministers urged to freeze council tax Sophie Gidley Political Editor

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he prime minister has made firm calls for the Welsh Government to follow the example of England and freeze council taxes.

The call was made following chancellor George Osborne’s keynote speech at the Conservative conference in which he announced that council tax in England would be frozen for a second year, this is subject to English councils limiting spending.

As a result, £40 million will be made available to the Welsh Government which Mr Cameron has urged should also fund freezing council tax across Wales.

Mr Cameron said, "Families right across our country, Wales included, are facing difficult times. Electricity prices are going up, prices at the pumps are up, food prices have increased.” He suggested that freezing council tax would put money back into people’s pockets, helping them in such a difficult economic climate by allowing them to spend

the money how they wish.

Homeowners in England, however, have enjoyed the benefits of a council tax freeze for one year already, Welsh ministers decided not to implement the same policy in Wales.

This meant that last year, householders in Wales had to pay an extra £30-a-year on top of normal bills after council tax in Wales increased by 3%. In England however, authorities either held or reduced charges.

Tory Welsh local government spokeswoman, Janet Finch-Saunders, said, ”At a time when families across Wales are tightening their belts, Welsh Labour ministers need to do more to support council taxpayers whose bills have more than doubled during 12 years of Labour rule. We look to Welsh Labour min-

isters to confirm how they intend to spend their additional funding from Westminster to support Welsh pensioners and families with the daily cost of living.”

However, the £40million is not specifically earmarked for this purpose and so ultimately the decision on what it will fund lies with the Welsh Government. There are

concerns that freezing council tax would not be as beneficial to the people, and in turn the Welsh economy, as the Conservatives suggest.

For instance, it must be noted that there are differences in council tax prices between housing in the two countries.

Welsh Ministers have consistently argued that council tax is considerably lower in Wales already. The average council tax bill for a band D property was 19% lower in Wales than in England.

In difficult financial circumstances, Welsh Ministers must decide whether it is best to put money back into people’s pockets, or people’s communities. If the money can be invested into more economically beneficial public funding than surely this would be a better option?

Political Editor Sophie Gidley discusses Russia and China's vetos against a sanction that was hoped to resolve the issues around Syria's governments regime

C

ivil war in Syria seems more of an imminent threat than ever before following the United Nations failure to pass a resolution sanctioning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s repressive regime.

The UN was called upon to debate passing a security council resolution which would call on Syria to stop using violence against its own people. However, both Russia and China used their veto to block the resolution and as a result an armed insurrection inside Syria looks set to gather momentum.

Russia and China were the only two nations to use their veto whilst nine nations voted in favour. Only South Africa, India, Brazil and Lebanon abstained.

EU nations had even watereddown a previous draft to try to win Russian and Chinese support. It referred to "targeted measures", rather than sanctions, if the crackdown continued but this clearly was to no avail.

President Assad has unleashed a military crackdown on Syrian civilians ever since protests against his regime first began which to date has resulted in over 2,700 deaths. With the memory of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the Srebrenica Massacre in 1995 ever present in the mind of the UN, it is of fundamental importance that the security council does not fail to intervene and prevent the suffering of the people at the hands of their leader.

Despite this, the two countries argued that imposing sanctions would not help in bringing peace

to Syria. Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, told the council after the vote his country opposed the resolution because it was "based on a philosophy of confrontation", contained "an ultimatum of sanctions" and was against a peaceful settlement. He complained that the resolution did not call for the Syrian opposition to disociate itself from "extremists" and enter into dialogue.

However Britain and the United States were furious at the decision.

Tensions were rife and frustration over the decision of Moscow and Beijing erupted into anger. The United States made the biggest attack against the decision, making a verbal tirade condemning the two countries. US ambassador Susan Rice even expressed her ”outrage” by walking out of the security council.

The foreign secretary, William Hague, accused Russia and China of "siding with a brutal regime".

He said, "We will redouble our efforts to work with other nations to increase the pressure on the regime wherever we can, and assure the people of Syria that they will not be forgotten."

He made his opinion clear as he spoke out against the veto and hailed the British government's role in the Arab spring. Hague called on

“

governments in the Middle East and beyond to respond to public grievances with "dialogue and reform, not with repression".

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the veto marked a "sad day for the Syrian people", and for the Security Council.

The Council "should raise its voice against a dictator who is massacring his people and seeking to stifle the Syrians' legitimate hope for democracy", he said.

Syria's newly formed oppositional movement also criticised the outcome. Dissidents from the key cities of Homs and Hama in Syria claim that peaceful protests are gaining greater violent measures as diplomacy continues to fail; protesters are becoming increasingly aggressive and armed. "There's no way out of this except to fight," said an activist from Homs. "For the people of Homs the international community are not with us and we know that for sure. Russia and China will continue to protect Assad and as long as that happens, he will hunt us down."

Although this sanction resolution has not been passed Syrian turmoil needs to be addressed before full-scale civil war ensues. If the UN does not want more blood on its hands, a new strategy needs to implemented, and soon.

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Indian summer and its snake oil revolution

Paul Dharamraj comments on Anna Hazare, a single man against corruption, and on the challenges that face the indian government

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t is undeniable that the Arab spring was contagious. Large numbers from the middle class took to the streets in several countries over the last year, squaring off against their governments and demanding their rights. However, the media has been rather generous with the word "revolution."

While some of the events in the Middle East and North Africa were certainly a historical watershed, there were less significant movements that hoped to piggy back on the shoulders of these larger global upheavals.

Earlier this year, while the cameras trained on Damascus and Benghazi, the world's largest democracy was engaged with its own little "revolution." A 74-year-old man from western India was taking on the government in classic, Gandhian protest fashion: a hunger strike. Anna Hazare, an army veteran, disillusioned with growing corruption in public offices went on a public fast unto death in the country's capital. He demanded that the government pass a piece of anti-corruption legislation called the Lokpal bill, which has sat on the backburner for over four decades.

What ensued was an absolute media circus, with sensationalist news readers spinning this as a one-manversus-the-evil government act and news scripts worded like cast-off Bollywood screenplay. However,

this struck a chord with the country's middle class, who came out in large numbers to support the man they saw as channelling Gandhi's spirit of protest. In no time, the subcontinent was in the middle of its "Indian summer" and the word revolution was being bandied about quite a bit.

What's wrong with this picture? Plenty. At the outset, I don't deny that the Indian government, steeped in corruption, has had this coming for a long time. But having said that, the crisis was greatly exaggerated. The middle class, who hypocritically are probably the biggest cog in the corruption wheel, felt good about engaging in several rounds of politician-bashing. However, media reports found that very few people who actually hit the streets even knew what they were demanding.

“

There was mass support for the man they saw as channelling Gandhi's spirit of protest

The Lokpal Bill is on the end of a road paved with good intentions.

It looks to establish a central body to curb corruption at every level of Indian society. But in its attempts

to achieve this, the Lokpal comes across as possibly the most draconian draft of legislature ever put together. From searches without warrants to subverting the entire process of electing representatives, the "people's bill" is flawed beyond belief.

The bill also makes provisions for setting up a centralised corruption" super agency", which will have the powers to police society and hand out sentences. Such an unbalanced concentration of power, many fear, is hazardous to the country's democratic fabric.

Riddled with sections of ambiguity, the super cop/judge rolled into one is hardly accountable to anyone. The election procedure of its members has also raised several questions among sceptics of this bill. How long will it be before this Frankenstein-in-the-making is used as a tool of vendetta to settle political scores? A sizeable section of civil society has, in fact, asked Team Anna to re-work the bill.

But, Hazare (whose name, in a strange twist of Orwellian irony, means "big brother" in Indian languages) will have none of it. Until very recently, his team refused to allow the bill to be tempered with reasonable changes in the greater public interest. Media reports show that Anna himself has a dodgy past. Despite casting himself as democracy's knight in shining armour, the village he "transformed"

with social activist fervour has not had local elections for over two decades. Public flogging is employed to deal with alcoholism and petty crime. He called for the corrupt to be hanged and campaigns for right wing nutters like Gujarat's Narendra Modi (who was involved with the riots and mass killings on Muslims a decade ago) to be the country's leaders.

On the second of October, India celebrates the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, regarded as the father of the nation. Over the course of the freedom struggle, Gandhi always used fasts to show empathy for the plight of the nation's marginalised. Anna uses them to politically blackmail a government into giving in. This sets a very dangerous precedent for a democracy as it seeks to subvert the very institution itself. The last thing the government wants is Anna's blood on their hands and have caved in.

Meanwhile, the mainstream press in India went to town with this story, calling Anna's battle and supposed victory the "second freedom

struggle since 1947." While the feelgood vibe washes over the nation, it is only a matter of time before this celebratory bubble bursts. India, with its large constitution of laws, has time and again seen how draconian legislature fails to achieve any objective. We have tough-on-terror laws that impinge on personal freedoms. Yet, the instances of terrorist strikes all across the country have doubled over the last decade.

India's corruption problems are not as black and white as Team Anna makes it out it be. The bill is a one-size-fits-all solution that will not work in the complex Indian society, which thrives on political decentralisation. Instead, tools such as the Right to Information Act (a close cousin of Britain's Freedom of Information Act) are more effective in nipping corruption in the bud.

Hazare is far from being the messiah of the masses: his beliefs areanachronistic in modern India. And the Lokpal bill is far from being the revolutionary panacea that the media would have you believe.

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n Tuesday 27 September, Shadow Culture Secretary, Ivan Lewis, attained the distinction of presenting a policy that, based on descriptions given by the Guardian and himself, went from horrifyingly sinister to pointlessly benign in a matter of hours.

Specifically, at last month’s Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Lewis suggested that journalists guilty of malpractice should be “struck off,” presumably barring them from working in the industry again. This doesn’t sound like a half bad plan, until you consider – as most of the perma-furious internet did – the unnerving implications of such a phrase. Struck off what? An official register for journalists? Will anyone who wants to write, blog, comment or take photographs have to apply for a license from some shifty quango? Would Labour try to seize control, not just of what is reporting, but who does the reporting?

Bizarrely, if not entirely unexpectedly, Lewis countered the backlash with clarification of a policy so impotent, the Orwellian version sounded refreshingly proactive; this regulation, including striking off rogue hacks, would be the job of the industry professionals and not the state.

Again, such a concept seems fine until it becomes apparent that this, as an industry, is what we already do. And, let’s be honest, we’re not really that good at it.

Take the famously, toothless

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James Archer

Press Complaints Commission, a regulatory body set up by newspapers, ostensibly to enforce best practice and investigate complaints made against potentially unscrupulous writers. Research conducted by investigative reporter, Nick Davies, along with staff from Cardiff ’s own School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, found that out of 28,227 complaints made to the PCC over a period of ten years, over 90% were rejected without investigation, and a mere 197 were upheld with a formal adjudication. If you worked at a newspaper and printed something that broke the PCC’s code of conduct, you’d only have to fear a 0.69% chance that the very organisation whose rules you broke would act on it against your favour.

“ With such weak self-regulation, it’s not a huge surprise that some journos have run amok, shrugging off the possibility of consequence even if they were to get caught.

The recent phone-hacking debacle might seem a good example of this, were it not for the illegality of such actions that sent The News of The World flying, blowing raspberries at its victims, clean over the PCC’s remit and into the waiting arms of the Metropolitan Police. If a re-

porter or editor really is willing to do something that heinous, even an effective industry regulator is unlikely to act as a deterrent. They could be sacked, but if they’re willing to risk prison, where’s the fear in that? So, let’s consider an altogether less criminal case.

“ The Independent columnist and newly-noted Wikipedia troll, Johann Hari, recently admitted to plundering the written work of others, then passing it off as his own, particularly in interviews, as well as making malicious and defamatory edits to the Wiki pages of rival columnists he’d fallen out with. In addition, evidence suggesting he outright fabricated parts of his account of a trip to the Central Africa Republic, (a piece which helped win him the 2008 Orwell Prize, which has since been reclaimed sans prize money) is mounting up, and the pseudonym he used to make the offending edits, is identical to the name of a news editor at The Times whom Hari had known at university. Proof, as if needed, that unethical journalism isn’t just the sole dominion of the red-top tabloids.

This unflattering portrait of the

British press isn’t exactly something that proprietors, even crusty old supervillains like Rupert Murdoch and his sidekick James, can sweep under the rug, and it’s hurting the ability of honest reporters to be taken seriously. Back in 1993, a poll of 1800 members of the public, determined that only 10% of respondents trusted journalists to tell the truth. A worrying number, of course, for a business based entirely on truth-telling. In 2009, a YouGov poll, revealed that figure had dropped to three percent. For comparison’s sake, two percent of respondents, claimed to trust bankers, and this was at the peak of the worldwide financial crisis. It’s fairly reasonable to assume, that public mistrust of journalists, stems not just from bad practices, but from a failure on behalf of the industry to stop them. What became of Johann Hari?

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He was put on temporary suspension and went off on a journalism tuition course in the USA (as if lying and having total disregard for your readers is something that can be trained out of you), his job waiting for him upon his return. No wonder everyone hates us.

Whatever the hell Ivan Lewis was trying to say, it wouldn’t have worked. Registration and license schemes for journalists are at odds with the very notion of a free press, and handing over the power to get rid of unsavoury elements to industry leaders, has already and demonstrably failed.

So, if we can’t effectively punish bad journalism, let’s be smarter about nurturing good journalism.

Reporting the news well should be easier and more rewarding than doing it badly – hiring more staff, reducing individual workloads and allowing more time for fact-checking and investigative work, would be a good start. Incentivise consistency and accuracy with modest bonuses and make sure editors are journalists, not businessmen. Maybe we could take a leaf out of politics and carve the faces of really good writers into the side of a mountain.

The good, honest, ethical press isn’t dead – it’s just been on the wrong end of a kicking. Let’s not forget, the scope of The News of the World phone hacking which was discovered not by the police, a crusading politician, or Hugh Grant, but by journalists. The good guys.

If the press is going to get up and lick its wounds, we need to be taking care of them, and not wasting so much time tutting ineffectually at the bad guys. Because it’s not just alienating our readers, it’s hugely damaging to ourselves.

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Angharad Tye-Reeve Science Writer With the aid of a family from South Wales, members from Cardiff University have identified a gene linked to the cause of motor neuron disease (MND).

An international team, including scientists from the Cardiff University School of Medicine, studied a large group of Finnish patients and a Welsh family living in Gwent.

Both groups have lost many relatives to the disease.

For most patients with the condition, there appears to be no genetic link to other family members, but in some cases, families are affected by familial MND; the Gwent family traced their link to the disease back to the 1940s.

The researchers found that the Welsh family and Finnish patients shared “a changed genetic segment on the short arm of chromosome 9.” This chromosome has been studied for some years, but until now, scientists have been unable to find the specific gene that causes

the disease.

Dr Huw Morris, based at the Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics at Cardiff University and the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, has worked with the family for the past 10 years. He says, “Six weeks ago we knew very little about the cause of this condition and now we know the primary cause of the disease within this family and similar families in other parts of the world.”

There are over five thousand cases of MND in the UK. It is a progressive degenerative disease affecting the motor system, causing muscle weakness and wasting. The disease currently has no cure, with diagnosed patients given two to five years to live.

Famous sufferers of the disease include the actor David Niven and rugby player Joost van der Westhuizen. Prof Stephen Hawking, is also afflicted with MND, although his condition has progressed more slowly than the majority of those diagnosed.

Since the discovery of the gene, a member of the Gwent family said,“I

Science19

can't really describe how I felt when I heard that the cause of motor neuron disease in our family had been discovered, […] we have been waiting for years and years for this to be found.”

The work of Dr Morris and his colleagues is undoubtedly a medical breakthrough. This poignant discovery has advanced the understanding and knowledge of this devastating disease and perhaps, in the future, could help save lives. This research, coupled with the possible development of genetic screening for the illness, will allow families to be prepared for what is to come and allow the possibility for early treatment plans to be put in place.

Dr Morris concluded: “Although this work is the end of our long hunt for this gene, it is the beginning of our search for therapies based on this discovery that can stop this brutal disease in its tracks."

Dr Morris’s findings, along with other scientists working on the study, have just been published in the leading international journal Neuron.

Welcome, the Seven Billionth Person on Earth Tom Clarke Science Writer Most people struggle with big numbers. It’s not surprising when you think that our lives are defined by small amounts of various things: one copy of gair rhydd a week, three meals a day, eight hour shifts, ten pints of beer in the Taf. Seven is a nice, small, manageable number. However, when billion follows it, it becomes an unimaginably vast quantity. Try counting to seven billion. Go on. I dare you.

This month, the population of Planet Earth will, in all likelihood, pass seven billion. I know the earth is a big place, but even still, it’s starting to get a bit crowded. The UN predicts (because no-one really knows for sure, and unless you fancy a round the world trip with an abacus, we never will) that the seven billionth child will be born on October 31 probably somewhere in China or India.

Since the industrial revolution and the advent of cheap healthcare, the world’s population has skyrocketed. When Jesus was wandering around, he would have been one of 300 million souls on earth. By the 19th century there were a measly one billion workers slaving away in the factories. Yet, here we are today with a population of (soon to be) seven billion and counting. Growth will most likely continue well into the middle of the coming century, with demographic prediction of population figures levelling out at around nine and a half billion around 2050.

By rights our planet simply can-

not support this number of people.

We have two options. One is to go along the Chinese route and restrict population growth with a one child policy. It hasn’t proved effective in China, however, as their population continues to grow with a whole host of demographic problems alongside it.

The alternative, is to grow more food with the space we have. Advances in fertilisers and new strains of crops, have boosted yields to sustain our burgeoning population so far; however more intensive methods will need to be developed if we are to continue with our population growth.

We’ve done it before, the green revolution in the 1970s boosted rice yields in India. The premise was simple: replace traditional rice varieties with more productive strains.

It was wildly successful, with India going from a state of near famine to a food surplus.

If the lessons learned in India could be applied elsewhere, especially Africa, it would go a long way to alleviating the food shortages currently afflicting that part of the world.

Modern genetic engineering, whilst controversial, will undoubtedly have a role if we are to feed everyone. Projects such as the Golden Rice initiative to combat Vitamin A deficiency in the developing world are paving the way. It is likely that these projects will face misguided opposition from the anti-GM movement. However, if we are to feed everyone it would be imprudent to disregard such a powerful tool.

Perhaps more than any of these

initiatives, the most beneficial means of supporting a growing popualtion may be the better distribution, rather than production, of food. It is morally reprehensible, that whilst people are starving we waste so much of what we eat.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the world already produces one and half times the amount and quality of food needed to feed everyone alive today. Last year the FAO estimated that 925 million people in the world were undernourished. That's nearly one billion people.

Now try to get your head around the idea that there is the potential for almost one seventh of the world's population to be undernourished.

The world is getting more crowded, but we can be confident that modern science can rise to the challenge. On October 31 we should all celebrate the birth of a statistically significant, but no less miraculous, child.

Follow @GairRhyddSci for the latest news and info on future articles.

Societies

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Monday October 10 2011

gair

So many ways to make a difference!

Isabelle Roberts Societies Editor

A

s if all the wonderful volunteer opportunities at Cardiff were not enough, some students like to go the extra mile…this time literally. Conor O’Brien, in order to aid Childreach International, is going to be performing the oh-so-simple task of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Childreach International runs all kinds of events, from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, to climbing to the Everest Base Camp. You also get the chance to visit one of the charity’s in-country projects, giving you the opportunity to see first-hand some of the projects and children you have helped through your fundraising efforts. The charity works with local communities in the developing world to help improve children’s access to healthcare, education and protection.

Conor says “Where I come in is something called a ‘Challenge Event’. These are run across the country and are targeted at University students. I’m the Team Leader for Cardiff. The project basically involves fundraising over the course of the year, before travelling to take on one of these events. The fundraising is done mostly individually, but also in groups as well.

I’m going to run a triathlon for some of my money, but cake sales and ‘take me out’ evenings can all be done!” The event based in Cardiff is ‘Climb Kilimanjaro for Kids’ and, in Conor’s words, “you have the chance at an amazing experience and also raise money for a worthwhile cause. It also has the added bonus of boosting your CV and the obvious point is how much fun it will be.” If this sounds like your kind of challenge then there is a stall in the Students Union reception today (October 10) so visit the stall for more information on getting involved or helping with the fundraising.

S

tudent Volunteering Cardiff (SVC) is a huge part of the volunteering societies that go on in Cardiff. SVC operates outside other organisations (like Nightline) but the projects are run by students and there are many different projects. For instance, for those interested in teaching, one of the six school projects might appeal to you.

Whitchurch High School is one such project. This project involves assisting year seven and eight pupils, aged 11 - 13 years, who need extra help and support in their reading. Volunteers work in an assigned room for about one and a half hours with pupils on a one to one basis. A volunteer from last year, Vicky Shirley, commented that she found helping children with their reading a “rewarding experience,” and so might you!

There is also a project called Watch, which works with the homeless at an open door drop-in centre and hostel. Meanwhile, the volunteers on the Weekenders project organise day trips for Cardiff children who are young carers, or the siblings of children with learning difficulties. The aim of the project, is to provide a variety of trips and activities for children who may not otherwise get the opportunity to go to places that may be available to their peers; trips are run twice a month during term time. The trips include activities such as swimming, ice skating, laser quest, bowling, trips to Bristol Zoo and more.

Volunteering, means you give up your time for a worthwhile cause, develop transferable skills and have fun at the same time. A full list of projects can be found on www.svcardiff.org/projects/category/ or, you can visit SVC on the third floor of the Students Union. Each project has one or two project co-coordinators, who you can get in touch with if you think you would like to volunteer.

Law Society

Second Hand Book Sale

Labour Society By-elections

6.30pm in Humanities 3.47

Creative Writing Society Workshop

7.30pm - 9.30pm Rowan Griffiths Room of the SU

Act One Auditions

Main Building 6pm - 10pm

Traffic (DJ & Clubbing) Society Event at Cardiff Arts Institute

Duke of Edinburgh Society Expedition Skills Day at Garth Hill

Art Society Fashion Market

7pm Cardiff Arts Institute

Broadway Dance Society Taster Classes 6.30pm - 9.30pm Great Hall of SU

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

22

Listings

Monday October 10 2011

gair

ty in Bounce of the year!

Fun Factory is an absolute institution the main room to listen to ____ in curry at the end of your night!

r e h Ot s to e c a l p try!

Friday

IV Lounge, Neuadd Meirionydd, Ifor Bach, 11 Womanby Street

night, check out Soda Sundays for the different on your Friday night, head

News Opinion Politics Feature Science Societies Listings 20 8 - 11 17 22 1-6 12 - 14 19

Monday October 10 2011

Sport 26 - 28

Puzzles23

gair

sudoku.

INTERMEDIATE

CHALLENGING

word wheel.

How many words of three or more letters, each including the letter at the centre of the wheel, can you make from this diagram? We've found 20, including one nine-letter word. Can you do better?

Four people come to a river in the night. There is a rickety bridge which can only hold two people at a time. Because it is dark, a torch has to be used on every crossing, however, there is only one torch. Person A can cross the bridge in 1 minute, B in 2 minutes, C in 5 minutes, and D in 10 minutes. When two people cross the bridge together, they must move at the slower person's pace.

E T

Reese's riddles.

P T F

A U

L R

answers.

-flareup -aflutter -tearful -flatter -flutter -fatter -platter -earful -artful -fault -after -flare -flute

EASY

INTERMEDIATE

CHALLENGING

-fate -felt -fear -fart -turf -leaf -flea -flat -fur -flu -elf -fat -fuel

word wheel.

Sport

26

Monday October 10 2011

gairrhydd sport@gairrhydd.com

Wales and England have a tough road ahead

The competion for the two teams so far and the possibility of a semi-final clash.

Dale Jones Sports Writer

North in particular has now taken on Jamie Roberts’ role, as the goto man in the backline, which has s the pool stages allowed Roberts the freedom to reof the RWC 2011 draw to a close it’s discover the form he showed when becoming man of the series in the time to take a look 2009 Lions tour to South Africa. at how two of our Only Australia and hosts New Zeahome nations have land have managed to score more fared so far in the competition, tries than the men in red so far, and since they could very well meet with Wales impressively combining one another in the semi finals. Also their attacking instincts with hard discussing whether either of them working forward play, led by caphave the form or talent to seriously tain, Sam Warburton and backed by challenge the three Southern HemiNewport Gwent Dragons players, sphere giants for the tournament’s Toby Faletau and Luke Charteris, top prize. it looks like the Wales team will apAfter a desperately disappointing proach the knockout stages of the 1 point defeat in their first pool fixcompetition brimming with confiture against reigning world champidence. ons South Africa, Wales, have gone England have qualified for from strength to strength. the knockout stages in a Earning hugely impresless comprehensive sive victories over and a far more Samoa, Namibia Head to Head: c o n t r o ve r s i a l and Fiji. fashion.

Off With injuEngland vs. France the pitch, the ries to Shane squad has Wi l l i a m s, been impliJames Hook England and France have met on 94 occacated in a and Stesions England leadin on wins 51-36 number of phen Jones i n c i d e n t s, in the backEngland beat France in the semi-finals of which have line, Wales both the 2003 and 2007 world cup caught the have turned eye of the to the youth England have won four of their last world’s mein the squad, five test matches against France dia, and there with George is the question North, Rhys of whether this atPriestland and Scott tention is affecting the Williams, catching the team’s on-field play. Either it eye with some breathtaking is, or England are simply performrunning play.

A

What the pros are saying:

@SBetsen

England going to play 2 No10s like 2003. It's going to be a big battle up front. Really exciting.

@SamWarbuton

Just arrived in wellington to prepare for weekend. Thanks for all messages of support ing well below their best.

Back in November, Ashton and his support blew away Australia at Twickenham with fast, counter-attacking rugby, that then went on to win them the Six Nations. However, Johnson appears to have reverted back to the, pick and drive, pick and drive style of play.

An underwhelming opening win against Argentina was followed by a scare against Georgia before an impressive, albeit it expected, rout against Romania before the pool decider against great rivals Scotland.

“

If these sides are to meet in the semi-finals they both have a lot of work to do

A Scotland victory had the potential to send England out and with 10 minutes remaining, it was on the cards. England’s power eventually told however, as the forwards created space for Flood to send a beautiful pass over to Ashton, who finished off the move in a corner, breaking Scottish hearts and sending Englishmen up and down the country into hysteria.

If these sides are to meet in the semi-finals, they both have a lot of work to do. Wales meet Ireland in a battle of the Celts, by far the pick of the quarter-final matches. If Wales can carry their form and style into

the match, along with securing more set-piece possession they have a great chance against Ierland.

However, a phenomenal Irish pack, led by player of the tourna-

“

Wales have gone from strength to strength

Follow @GairRhyddSport for the

ment so far Sean O’Brien will pose latest a tough opponent, one which Wales will have to show mental toughness sport and info on future to beat O’Driscoll’s men. England on the other hand remain firm faarticles. vourites to overcome a French team in complete and utter disarray.

If England are to go on and challenge for the trophy, they need to use the French fixture as a way of reverting back to their counter-atHead to Head: tacking game and rediscovering the magic and buzz that was in Wales vs. Ireland the squad a year ago.

Ultimately in a final, form and record books go out of Wales beat Ireland 13 - 6 in the pool stages the window and 15 men face of the 1987 World Cup up against 15 men. If both England and Wales make it In 1995 Ireland narrowly beat Wales 24 - 23 through to the semi-finals, I in the pool satges have no doubt that the winner can overcome whichever giant Wales beat ireland in last years Six they come up against in the fiNations nal and bring the trophy home.

Alternatively, if neither makes it that far, we’ll all just have to support Ireland.

News Opinion Politics Feature Science Societies Listings 20 17 1-6 8 - 11 12 - 14 19 22

Monday October 10 2011

Sport 26 - 28

gairrhydd

Sport27

Max Eshragi looks at why Lacrosse is not played until University level and demonstrates the excitment coming from the rise of the sport in amongst Cardiff Students.

-

A

sk a person in Cardiff University to explain football and you'll get an informed and confident response. Better still, ask them to explain rugby, Chances are you won't get them to shut up.

Ask them to explain or even describe Lacrosse and many will reply with a question of their own; "what is that?"

Despite gaining a foothold in Britain in the late 90s, it has not ingrained itself on our sports zeitgeist in the same way as some of the world's most popular sports.

Why has this intense, dynamic and exciting sport failed to fully capture our collective imagination?

Like the best of sports, it promotes teamwork and camaraderie.

It requires the hand eye co-ordination of hockey, with the strength of rugby and the stamina of football.

This sport is the natural next step in athletic evolution. Just one year ago, the Cardiff lacrosse president, Oliver Raban, hadn't even picked

“

Out of seventy men, maybe six had played before.

up a stick, this demonstrates how easy the skills come.

Here at Cardiff, around 200 people turned up for the first training session. Out of around 70 men, maybe six had played before. These figures are demonstrative of the demand but also worryingly highlight the lack of prior opportunity.

But why is this?

Widely perceived as a staple sport of our Atlantic cousins, lacrosse has developed a stereotypical image as an American College sport.

To dismiss it because of this, is as ridiculous as dismissing rugby as a sport for New Zealanders.

Another deterrent, is that it has an association as being a "rich kids" sport, somewhere on the ladder between polo and horse -riding. This is ironic to those who know that the sport’s origin is Native American.

Lacrosse, with the pricey stick

alone, just does not have the luxury of the availability of Football. A sport that simply requires a pair of feet and a ball and can be played in the street, in a field or a backyard.

This is unfortunate for Lacrosse but again not a reason to damn it entirely.

There is a lack of space in our football crazy, rugby mad culture.

Between Match of the Day, Soccer AM and the endless Rugby Union, where does Lacrosse fit? Simply?

Nowhere. There's no British cultural pride in Lacrosse. Not yet anyway. However, at the turn of the 20th Century there wasn't in rugby either. It took the work of Webb Ellis to turn that around. Know he has a pretty important cup for his troubles.

A quick Google search of why Lacrosse isn't popular, will lead you to many comments read something like this; "it's just plain boring," "it's not violent enough." For these Internet "trolls" to suggest that Lacrosse isn't as intense or violent as rugby or football demonstrates ignorance.

For some, violence equals popular-

ity in sports. By that reasoning, Lacrosse should rank higher than football and somewhere below cage fighting.

It's the number one growing

sport in America and I believe it will soon catch up over here. I urge joining up now, so as not to be left behind.

Sport

Why lacrosse is on the rise? << Inside

As Cardiff University Snowsports prepare for a new season, gair rhydd sport review last years successes.

Kirsty Hatcher Sports Writer

C

ardiff University Ski and Snowboard Society had an extremely successful season last year, bringing home an array of medals. Recording their best season ever, the team travelled the breadth of Europe, with trips ranging from Edinburgh to Essex, Les Deux Alpes to Leeds, the year was littered with medals and fantastic performances.

The year began with a visit to Edinburgh for the British University Dry Slope Championships. All three female Cardiff competitors finished in the top 40 of the slalom event out of 150 competitors. Kirsty Hatcher, a second year Journalism and Sociology student, placed 8th in Giant Slalom after a tough race in wet conditions.

In the team event, Cardiff ’s mixed team placed 5th overall, beating some hot favorites in the

competition.

Last year’s Official Cardiff University Ski Trip was to the French resort of Les Deux Alpes, for a week of incredible skiing, before getting back into the swing of things in the Kings Ski Club races.

“

Cardiff had their most successful year to date in 2011.

The Kings Ski Club university races are divided into regions, the top six teams from each league then qualify for the Kings Finals in Essex. Cardiff competed in the Western league, where competition is fierce. Cardiff Snowsports are pleased to say that they won two out of four rounds last year.

Cardiff dominated the regional rounds of the competition with the first team finishing second overall; the second team came in at a respectable 8th place.

The Ladies ski and snowboards

team both won the regional rounds overall, with great performances all round. Including race captain Kirsty Hatcher, finishing 10th in the individual slalom finals.

In February, the Snowsports team travelled to the Milton Keynes snow dome, for the British University Indoor Ski Championships.

A strong Cardiff team of 20 made the journey to compete, divided into leagues The university competed in the team and individual events and qualified for the finals.

In the regional round, competing against universities such as Swansea, Birmingham and Loughborough, the Snowboard team came out victorious.

In the individual competitions, Rosie Read, a third year English student, placed 2nd in the snowboard slopestyle, Tom Bayles, a second year Civil Engineering student ,was 4th in the snowboard slalom.

The year was rounded off with the BUCS main event; competitions ran throughout the week, with over 50 different universities attending.

Sarah Hoefflin, a second year Neurology student, took free-styling to a whole new level through winning the Big Air competition and coming second in the Slopestyle and Halfpipe events.

Not only did Sarah take home some silverware, but also a brand new pair of £300 twin-tip freestyle skis. India Cairns, a third year Sociology and History student, placed 2nd in the Big Air competition and also 4th in the Slopestyle and Halfpipe.

India was on-hand to demonstrate her racing skills too, placing 12th in the Giant Slalom. John Anderson and Kirsty Hatcher placed themselves 16th and 9th in the Skier X, whilst Grace McCutchan came 14th in the Slalom and Kirsty finished 10th.

The Ladies team won the dual slalom race, thrashing Durham’s first team in the final and becoming BUCS champions Cardiff ’s team also placed 2nd in the mixed competition, following battling performances against

Newcastle and Loughborough, they then battled it out against Southampton University, coming a respectable second place.

If you’re a budding skier or snowboarder, competitive or just

“

The ladies team won the dual slalom race

like to have fun, make sure you check out the Cardiff Snowsports team this year.

Look out for: Next week Sport catch up with Cardiff Devils player Luke Piggott