rhifyn 1122 issue 1122
gair rhydd
22 hydref 2018 22 october 2018
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Cardiff University’s student paper | Established 1972
Water, water, everywhere: the damage of Storm Callum C
Should extreme views have a mainstream platform? by Callum Sloper
ertain figures like Tommy Robinson may seem extreme to some, but it’s almost guaranteed that just as many back him. Even the most unpopular of opinions in Britain will receive some form of a platform from the mainstream 12
#easytoASK campaign takes off by Ashley Boyle
T
he Food Standard Agency’s new #easytoASK campaign is looking to encourage 16-24-year-olds with allergies and/ or food intolerances to ask more questions when eating out and 6 ordering food.
JOMEC relocation Feature by Emma Videan
Storm Callum: Cardiff Bay was hit hard by the storm. Photo credit: Ben Salter by Matt Tomlin
O
ver the weekend of Friday ,October 12 to Sunday, October 14, Storm Callum and its impacts were pronounced in many parts of Wales. Overall, Carmarthensire, Powys and Ceredigion were reported as being the worst affected areas of Wales due to excess rainfall. The storm caused the worst flooding for Wales in thirty years as rivers in West Wales such as the Towy, which reached critical levels in Carmarthen on Saturday evening, and breached the town’s nearly thirty-year-old flood defences. A 21-year-old man also died on his way walking to work following a landslip in Cwmduad, Carmarthenshire. Pontargothi, also in Carmarthen-
shire, experienced major levels of flooding. The impacts included over 70 sheep in the area being ‘washed away’ and a 93-year-old woman waking up to flood water as high as her mattress and subsequently having to be evacuated immediately, according to her son. In Ceredigion, the Teifi reached 4.5m (15ft) on Saturday, October 13 and consequently burst its banks, flooding Lampeter and Newcastle Emlyn. Potentially serious structural damage is being looked into. The town of Crickhowell, South Powys, was described by locals as an ‘island’ for a certain period over the weekend, as exit routes were cut off by water. In Brecon, also in South Powys, Llanfaes Bridge was almost
submerged and a similar situation was experienced with an aqueduct in Aberdulais, near Swansea. Mermaid Quay in Cardiff Bay was also submerged, but the clear up efforts in the bay were swift and the bay has since been cleared of debris. Natural Resources Wales, who were posting updates online consistently throughout the weekend of Storm Callum, are planning to conduct a ‘large review’ about the threats of flooding in Wales, according to Operations Manager Huwel Manley. The Welsh Assembly has promised £350m to National Resource Wales and local authorities for reducing the risks of future periods of storm flooding, as well as flooding created by coastal erosion, according to Welsh
Environment Minister Hannah Blythyn. With UK flooding having intensified over the past 100 years, and particularly since 2000 according to the Met Office, the effects of climate change on rainfall are becoming an increasing problem for emergency services and local authorities in both Wales and the UK as a whole. The Government’s UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017 highlighted flood risk as a major cause for concern with the increased precipitation created by climate change. Its section dedicated to Wales stated that more action was required by the Welsh Government with regards building and sustaining flood defence structures and procedures.
Divesting from fossil fuels at Cardiff University
by Danny Brown
P
rofessor Colin Riordan, Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University said back in March that “Environmental sustainability is a core value of our strategy ‘The Way Forward 201823’ and the decision to divest from fossil fuels is the latest milestone in our journey”. This came after it was officially announced that Cardiff University will
fully divest from fossil fuels by 2021. In September of 2015, a freedom of information request was submitted to Cardiff University, asking that they release the total value of their investments in the fossil fuel industry. It was revealed that the University was investing over £2 million in companies and corporations in the fossil fuel industry. A University spokesperson, at the time, had been re-
corded saying “that this is a complex issue but do not consider that University disinvestment from the fossil fuel industry is the action”. Soon after the release of the information, students began protesting and petitioning to get the University to divest in the industry. Previously covered by Gair Rhydd, the “Oil Spill” event saw students involved with the nationally spread environmen-
tal society, People and Planet, encouraging other students to sign their petition by lying outside the Students’ Union and getting covered in oil. The protesting has continued since and culminated in March this year with, what most already know, the graffitiing of the Main Building and the hunger strike performed by two students. 22
G
air Rhydd investigates how students are reacting to the Journalism, Media and Culture faculty relocating from the Bute Building to Two Central Square. With over a hundred responses, 12 make sure to give it a read.
Holding down a job at uni by Sam Saunders
I
t’s an unfortunate reality of modern university life that many students have to work alongside their studies in order to support themselves. This week Sam is be dishing out some advice on the jobs available and where 26 to find them.
Arriva Trains to be replaced
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