GUM Issue 1- 2012/13

gum 2012 / issue 01 / FREE

Glasgow University Magazine

features / art / fashion / politics / music / science

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Editors Letter Winter is heavily upon us, the air is filled with the smell of wet leaves and dark clouds, everyone seems to be in agreement that this is the season for days wrapped in black and nights crowded into pulsating clubs. GUM is no exception- this season we’ve gone noir.

From helping our bewildered Freshers to acclimatize to Glasgow’s big city life in ‘Intellectual Wasters and Philosophical Fuck-ups’ to a weekend swimming through Dublin and the colossal work inspired by it, the Features section is something to get your intellectually sharpened teeth into. With a special article dedicated to our very own Student Stop AIDS Campaign we touch moral base after being swept up into a world of obsession, desire, and Barthes in ‘How to become obsessed with someone who doesn’t particularly like you.’

In the Arts section we’re staying local, celebrating the vibrancy of our cities renowned arts scene with articles on Alasdair Grey’s new Hillhead subway mural and an interview with Glasgow based photographer Steven Edwards. Edwards’ atmospheric photography allows for a bit of visual therapy, transforming some of the sights we see every day into the nostalgic and the ethereal. Finally we have a review of Andrea Arnold’s film ‘Red Road’, which discusses the darker aspects of Glasgows’ urbanity.

BLACKOUT, our exclusive fashion feature, encompasses all this and

more. Think space age degeneration all within walking distance from the University, and with a wealth of Glasgow based designers to boot.

Editor

4 Features

Alexandra Embiricos Features Editor

Ryan McNab

Onto Politics and we make a broad sweep across the world before heading straight back to our front doors with articles discussing the Syria conflict, American tea party politics, a Left-Right debate focused around Scotland, and our own scoop on Otago lane. An interview with Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, gives that extra little kick to get everyone chatting.

It’s an exciting time of year in the music world, with new releases churning out and club nights left right and centre to combat those winter blues, the Music section is your go to guide for what’s big. With an exclusive interview with London based Hip-hop/ rap artist Mikill Paine to an exposé of our very own Subrosa night at Subclub, as well as an interview with Dog is Dead thing’s are getting heated. For those of you into the gloom, a feature on doom metal outfit Om should be just the thing- turn those speakers up.

Last but not least this issue celebrates the launch of the GUM Science section, marking a pivotal point in the integration of the arts and sciences, expect to see a lot more of GUM around the Boyd Orr and Engineering buildings. From the tiny components that constitute life on Earth as we know it to Mars and back again, this is for those who have a hunger for the mind bending.

Art Editor

Alice Healy- Smith Fashion Editor

10 Art

Rose Henderson Politics Editor

Daniel Patterson Music Editor

Lucy Molloy Science Editor

Alexandra Embiricos

15 Fashion

Design

Marcus Peabody Cover illustration

Richard Dalgleish Artwork

Russell Paterson

21 Politics

Photo Editor

Jessie Lawson

Writers

Isabel Dickens E.N. MA (Hons) Alan Wanders Helena Chapel

27 Music

Lottie Lewis-Smith Sara Wengstrom Harriet Lee-Holden Molly Farrell Joe Lee Henrietta Eagle Linus Sioland Hannah Yoken

32 Science

Tess Hokin Klara Kofen Michael Borowiec Paul Butterfield Zandi Coles Jonas Riisnæs Irina Zilke

Want some more?

glasgowuniversitymagazine.co.uk facebook.com/glasgowuniversitymagazine Interested in getting involved? Email:

editors@glasgowuniversitymagazine.co.uk

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Photographers

Any views or opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Glasgow University or the SRC

features / art / fashion / politics / music / science

Linas Justice Thomas Whitechurch Jessie Lawson Stephen Edwards Ralph Thompson

Street Katherine, 19, English Literature and French Molly, 20, English Literature Anthony, 20, Music and English Literature

Andrew, 18, Physics

Lyle, 21, Politics and Philosophy Fiona, 23, English Literature Sophie, 19, Archeology

Fashion GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Intellectual Wasters and Philosophical Fuck-ups Some ponderous ways to relax after a day of mind bending lectures

isabel dickens

If you’re anything like me, your mind after three hours of lectures can be equated to an alarm clock in a bell jar with the air being pumped out of it, making common sense and the ability to interact normally dwindle into nothingness. I am left in a dazzled state of mind, mulling over concepts that seem puzzlingly imperative, yet totally irrelevant to the reality of my life. This state of idiocy might be why a large number of us mop up the stress by soaking ourselves in Tenants, Buckfast, Red Stripe, pints of fun, white Russians, and every other beverage that Glasgow offers.

The stereotype of the bumblingly infantile academic is played out in a small way in the lives of every student daily. It may be at the point that they leave the oven on for three hours, burning up some optimistic home cooking; when they fall asleep sitting up at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, gently twitching in the lecture theatre in a sweetly childlike sleep; or in the de-

lirium that develops after ten hours writing an essay from start to finish.

Symptoms include: dark rings under the eyes, a slight frowning confusion lingering about the brows whilst staring into nothingness, a constant state of ‘I really should but I won’t’, and a burning desire to go out and ‘have fun’ even when it leads to experiencing what feels like total physical destruction.

Fresher’s week starts us all off with the (wrong) impression that a noholds barred mash-up is the main point of university, tempered only by occasional calm, and sporadic learning. The reverse is true, so here are a few tips on how to remain even slightly grounded, in the endless tunnel of university socialising and study.

Remember the things that you liked to do at home. Anything to do alone, which will allow you a momentary break from the endless collective student mentality, is a must. Distracting yourself with something creative will inject you with a little bit of self-esteem, and a little bit of home routine that can keep you sane in a new environment.

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Exploration! Getting to know Glasgow is a project in its own right. Step out of the West End. Yes, it’s a beautiful place filled with trees, grand and crumbling architecture, and 40 000 other beautiful people your own age, but it’s nothing in comparison to the whole diversity of Glasgow waiting to be explored. And no, this does not mean take a taxi to Sauchiehall Street. Exploring could also occupy your spa

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Perfect the art of the power nap. Long nights partying and early mornings in warm lecture theatres do conspire to create incredibly sleepy unproductive days.

A little sleep when you get home is always good; it’ll give your mind a much-needed opportunity to digest

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the whirl of experiences and concepts of the last twenty-four hours.

Avoid cabin fever: do not study in your bedroom. Separate life from work and study elsewhere. If not the library, there are hundreds of little cafes in the West End that can be used as a handy reading spot.

Don’t get depressed by staring at the same four walls day in, day out

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Be an open book and get chatty with people that you meet in the street. Conversing with anyone that you meet will a) help to dissipate the urban myth that most students are egotistical knobs, and b) put you in contact with the people you forgot existed (everyone who isn’t 17-25 or an academic). If anything, it might be a good reminder that the whole of life doesn’t need to be a twenty-four seven fucked up party and subsequent comedown.

Find a way to relate what you 6 study to real life. This means turning the abstract into practical.

This doesn’t mean that you have to start working on a career in first year, it just means finding practical things to do with your time that contextualise your degree and ground it into something worthwhile. It can be through a society, a voluntary position, or even just a personal project.

Any little bit of work generally makes the play sweeter so it can be a good way of deserving a seriously rowdy weekend.

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Let these tips enhance Glasgow, and gain a more vivid experience of the streets you’re letting loose in!

One Find a girl. You two should get along pretty well and feel sort of special connection to each other. If you find yourself sitting with your friends and telling them that you’ve found your ‘soulmate’, you’re on the right path (other words and/or expressions to use: ‘the one’, ‘I feel so close to her’, ‘she completes me’, etc.).

Two Directly related to #1: you should be sexually attracted to her (if you’re not, there are ways to make yourself sexually attracted to pretty much anyone (or anything) by establishing firm links between booming dopamine levels in your brain and certain types of sexual

How to Become Obsessed With Someone Who Doesn’t Particularly Like You

By one E. N. MA (Hons) N.B. Despite what you might think, these steps can be applied to anybody of any sexual orientation

thoughts and/or activities through a daily regimen).

Three You shouldn’t spend too much time with her. The girl in question is a focal point of your emotional and intellectual investments and you’re not really interested in her as a real person (remember, real people are more often than not disappointing) .

Please be mindful of how often you hang out with her; if you see her every week or, jeez, every day, you’re on dangerous ground.

Four Do not forget to think about her as often as possible. This will be most effective if you make sure that the thoughts are intrusive and interfere with your daily activities and your sleep patterns.

Five If she texts you, let’s imagine once in three weeks, do ascribe a hid-

den agenda to her actions and look for secret meanings. When she is around and you can see her face, the secret meaning could be (just a template) ‘There is a special twinkle in her eyes that is telling me how much she is in love with me.’

Six Never ask her if this is true, it is beside the point.

Upon successful completion of these steps, you should be pretty much obsessed with the girl. If you want to reflect on your obsession a bit more (advisable) please keep reading.

Seven This step is significantly easier to complete if you already have this unfortunate, time-consuming habit of reading books and watching TV/ films. Get hold of the following: Roland Barthes’ ‘A Lover Discourse’, ‘Arrested Development’ (please pay special attention to Tobias/Lindsey and George Michael/Maybe storylines), and (500) Days of Summer. These will show you how love and passion and sexual desire are all constructed and how little of the authenticity often ascribed to these feelings is actually there. Alas, the discovery most likely will rid you of innocence (intellectual and emotional) once and for all.

Eight When you’re finished with these pursuits (and I expect you to be comfortably lounged on the sofa or in the padded chair, feeling sort of drained and dazzled but also, interestingly, renewed), put the book or the monitor aside and think of how ‘constructed’ your obsession is. Think about how inauthentic and culturally determined, how immersed in rhetoric conventions and social codes it is.

Do try to twist a knowledgeable smile on your face. We’re almost there.

Nine Now, lean back and close your eyes and (optional) rub your temples.

Ten Suffer.

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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St ud St en op ts A ID C S am pa ig n Since it was first discovered, HIV and AIDS has claimed the lives of over 30 million people, and there is still an estimated 34 million people living with the disease each year. The treatment for AIDS has improved dramatically, with those infected on average having a longer lifespan (with access to treatment) than suffers of diabetes II. Clearly, AIDS does not have to translate into a death sentence and, providing there is sufficient medication, it can be very manageable.

It goes without saying that access is not evenly distributed internationally, and developing countries have to rely on foreign assistance to facilitate and provide both preventative methods as well as treatment. Until recently, response by way of funding by developed nations was successfully established (The Global Fund) and access to medication was improving on a yearly basis. However, with the current economic crisis and political disharmony , funding has stabilized and the likelihood of nations decreasing their contributions seems alarmingly high. This means that the next decade for AIDS treatment and prevention appears uncertain.

Student Stop AIDS Campaign (SSAC), a branch of the larger Stop AIDS Campaign, is committed to continuing awareness of the disease and pressuring institutions to work together to help accelerate better preventative methods. Their involvement in campaigns is many and varied, incorporating protests and demonstrations, lobbying, and grassroots activism.

One campaign is concerned with the medicines patent pool, and aims to pressure large pharmaceutical companies to forgo this with the intention of collaboration. In joining with UNITAIDS, SSAC has helped pressure many pharmaceutical companies, and big names such as ViiV, Gilead, Sequoia, and Roche have either already entered the patent pool

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Ryan McNab or in negotiations to. At the moment, the primary target is Johnson & Johnson. The company has displayed strong reluctance to relinquish its monopoly on the medication it currently provides in developing countries, arguing that ‘there is much to be learned’ before they can place their intellectual property into the pool.

This skepticism, which they present as mere circumspection, seems more to be rooted in greed, with capital overtaking the desire to combat the disease with real commitment.

In the developed western world, most patients are now afforded the access to effective medication due to the luxury of financial provisions. However, in third world nations, lack of financial opportunity means that these more successful, streamlined drugs are harder to come by and more expensive. Not only are there issues of logistics with distribution, but also the high prices of the drugs, due to the monopolies pharmaceutical companies possess, means that funding to buy the medicine in the first place is always an issue of uncertainty. Recent breakthroughs have meant that the risk of infecting a partner with HIV when taking the appropriate medication can be reduced by 96%, demonstrating how treatment can now be translated into prevention.

SSAC has been involved in successful lobbying of pharmaceutical companies in the past. One example is Abbott, a company whose actions appeared to reek of corner-cutting corruption. Their providing of low cost medication to third world nations was discovered to have been grossly ineffective, having failed to supply the heat stable version of their drug.

Furthermore, in 2007 the company also took seven essential medications off the market in Thailand, due to the Thai government seeking a cheaper alternative. Through successful lobbying, the Thai government was

features / art / fashion / politics / music / science

able to issue compulsory licensing to Abbott, meaning that the company wasn’t permitted to remove its medication from the market when presented with competition. SSAC’s method of protest is well documented – last year they dressed as corpses and lay outside the gates of the drug company Novartis, in protest of its proposed plans to change the patents laws in India, which would result in higher medication prices. Various other protests mean that there is certainly visibility when it comes to the activity of the group.

Locally, the Glasgow University branch has been actively involved in promoting AIDS awareness, their campaign for Worlds AIDS day last December was seen across campus, with red bananas scattered across the university. Matilda Lomas, Chair of the Glasgow branch, believes that AIDS education is essential to stopping the spread of the disease: “It is alarming when we hear people shrug off our cause... 27% of HIV-positive young people in the UK don’t even know they have it, so our society aims to tackle HIV/AIDS both at local and international level”.

In the first quarter of 2009, Glasgow was home to almost half of newly infected people diagnosed with HIV in Scotland. Evidently the threat of the disease is still very real and tangible preventative methods need to be continually hammered home.

Through education, there will hopefully be prevention.

For more information visit: www.facebook. com/gustopaids or email: gustopaids@ googlemail.com

Your world awaits you! www.glasgow.ac.uk/abroad

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Dublin 96 Years Later

Image reproduced from the original held in UCD Library Special Collections by kind permission of Helen Solterer.v

James Joyce

Alan Wanders

Image reproduced from the original held in UCD Library Special Collections by kind permission of Helen Solterer.v

Ulysses is a strange novel. Strange to me, as a novel I was yet to read, and strange to those who have already encountered it. Upon release it provoked conflicting and imaginative responses from commentators.

Virginia Woolf censured Ulysses as the literary equivalent of popping a pustule, whereas F. Scott Fitzgerald threatened to throw himself from a fourth-floor window in its defence of the novel. Hoping present-day Dublin would somehow elucidate Joyce’s magnum opus, I set off for a weekend in the capital with a copy of Ulysses lying dormant at the bottom of my rucksack. I was prepared to follow the novel wherever it happened to take me.

It didn’t take me long to identify glaring differences between Joyce’s depiction of Dublin and my own experience. Firstly, Ulysses boasts a lexicon of 30,030 words. My personal usage wouldn’t consist of more than about 200 words. Secondly, the multi-voiced narrative of Ulysses was unrepresented in conversations with the resident Dubliners. Expecting a rambling Irish folk tale, bawdy pun, or at the very least a sea shanty, I was dissatisfied with the receipt of helpful, concise advice on topics such as food, drink and accommodation. Further detracting from my image of being on a quest of sorts, maps bear the legend ‘JJ’ to point tourists to Joyce’s old haunts and so there was very little literary sleuthing done on my part. Without sounding like a divorcee, there was a lack of spontaneity.

Davy Byrne’s pub was one of the mapped points of interest. Protagonist Leopold Bloom stopped there for a gorgonzola sandwich and a glass of burgundy. The proprietor of the genteel establishment would be as eager to tell you this as he was to tell me. ‘A fictional character visited the pub a hundred years ago? And just for a sandwich and a glass of wine! Is that how you justify your prices!’ I once dined in the same restaurant as Derren Brown and no one batted an eyelid!’

Contrary to presuppositions acquired from the novel, I discover that in Dublin oysters are no longer a snack for poor folks, Instead I drink Guinness and try to read a little. I leave Davy Byrne’s for the old district in search of Joycean pub chat and more Guinness. I find to my dismay that where cobbled streets and old pubs should appeal to a romantic notion of the past, they instead appeal exclusively to American tourists and the brazen tackiness that seems to chase them up and down streets all over Europe.

I conceded, ashen-facedly sitting myself down in the corner of a ‘typical Irish pub’ and seeing where another Guinness would take me.

The problem I was having with Dublin is that it is no longer rough around the edges. Granted, there are a superfluity of dingy pubs in which a scruffy man desperately needs to tell you a shaggy-dog tale, but more often than not, it involves his ex-wife, rather than metaphysics or the perceived worth of Shakespeare. I don’t want to give the impression, through this statement, that Ulysses concerns exclusively high-minded matters; that would be false. Dirty jokes abound between the covers, along with legends, fantasies, folk songs, gibberish, varied conceptions of the universe, an intimate account of bowel movements, epic poetry, musing on death, and anti-Semitism.

Protagonist Harold Bloom drunkenly laments the suspected infidelity of his wife, which I suppose is similar to listening to a present-day Dubliner’s gloomy, boozy wheezing about his exwife. Not similar enough.

The longer I spent in the capital, the more fictional Ulysses became. The torrential rain beating the cobbles outside, however, was very much real. By the time I had rattled through most points of literary interest I was soaked to the bone and a little glum. Each reference to Joyce, be it statue, plaque or former residency, seemed trivial to me; a council-approved nod to the writer’s legacy, and in no way resembled Ulysses’ immense breadth, depth and length.

The longer I spent in the capital, the more fictional Ulysses became. The torretial rain beaTing the cobbles outside, however, was very much real

A little drunk, a little disillusioned, I resolved on visiting Fortyfoot, Sandycove. Eight miles south of Dublin, and the setting for the opening of the novel, the James Joyce tower (novel) perches on a craggy promontory, overlooking Fortyfoot baths, a formerly male-only bathing spot.

Nowadays, in light of the vast sums of money made on hip hop videos, the village elders deemed it profitable to permit females to bathe. Being no Warner Brothers studio tour, however, the tower was closed every single day of the year besides one: Bloomsday (Readers, Bloomsday a festival celebrating everything Joycean and probably the most opportune date to visit.) Irate at the inconvenient opening hours, I drunkenly began to climb the outer brickwork of the tower. This may sound very impressive, but the huge effort divested in reaching the top of the tower was entirely disproportionate to the size of the tower itself. Upon reaching the top, I surveyed from the very same place the very same ‘snot-green sea’ character Stephen Daedalus describes at the novel’s opening. Vast, dark and dropping unknowably below the horizon, the Irish Sea vaguely resembled the monolithic murkiness of the novel. It was then to Ulysses’ vastness and intangibility I finally acquiesced, reading a few pages more before descending my tower of smug self-satisfaction (formerly known as James Joyce tower) and reluctantly, but cheerfully returning to the capital.

If wanting to meet an author because you like his book is comparable to wanting to meet a duck because you like pate, then visiting a literary city is the equivalent of swimming in the duck’s pond. Sure, you get a sense of what it’s like to be a duck, but only to the detriment of appearing insane and smelling musty and peculiar. In other words, Dublin is a lively city, and Ulysses a fantastic, delirious read, yet the distance that lies between the two is frustratingly conspicuous, particularly if you have just a weekend to conquer both.

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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does alasdair gray paint in the nude?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will probably have noticed that SPT has big plans for the Glasgow Subway. Our Clockwork Orange, as it is affectionately known to the locals, is undergoing a revamp estimated to cost £287.5m, part of which funds the commission of a mural at Hillhead station by the Glaswegian writer, artist and all round Renaissance Man; Alasdair Gray. The mural is a view of Hillhead printed onto ceramic with the help of the innovative techniques of artist Nichol Wheatly.

It abounds with familiar sites, landmarks and perhaps most importantly, as it is titled, portraits and enchanting representations of ‘All kinds of folk and folk of all kinds.’

It is no surprise that Gray was selected to be part of the modernisation at Hillhead subway. He is an active presence within the West End having lived and worked in the district since 1969. What’s more he is no stranger to large-scale public art of this nature- there are another two major works of his within a stones throw of the newest arrival. Both are vast colourful murals, one in the auditorium of Òran Mór on Byres Road and the other sprawling around the walls and corridors of the Ubiquitous Chip, Ashton lane. They all share a theme which crops up time and time again in Gray’s work, both visual and literary- his fascination with people.

Public Art in Glasgow BY Helena Chapel

Historically, official public art tended to be monumental, depicting heroes or religious iconography. Gray’s work is filled with familiar faces, people who have contributed to the fabric of the are- leaders and heroes are replaced with a cast of real people living and working in the vicinity of the artwork. All three murals in the West End feature Gray’s charmingly quirky portraits of local characters, from waiting staff and regulars at the bar, to flower sellers and road sweepers.

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Gray’s work is often intrinsically linked to Scotland and this closeness to home is perhaps why most Glaswegians, regardless of their involvement with ‘the Arts’, have heard of him. Recently I mentioned to a friend that I was writing about Gray.

He pulled a slightly strange face and said, “So I’ve heard he paints naked, that true?” Well I have no idea if he paints in the buff or not, and the idea of googling ‘Alasdair Gray Painting Naked’ doesn’t bare thinking about.

But it did get me thinking, public art is indeed like working naked in a sense. It is exposed, it is vulnerable and in my eyes, it is extremely brave.

Art destined for a gallery is selfaware in the knowledge that more often than not its audience has actively gone out of their way to view it. Public art ambushes people. It has come to see them. It meets them on their way to work; they stare at it blearily over their morning coffee. It includes itself in their lives, boldly and without invitation.

spires new hope. In short it can have a transformative effect on the community.

It is encouraging to see public art projects like this forthcoming in Glasgow; it shows that the significance and potential of public art is not going unrecognised. Art can have instrumental value in a communityit creates jobs, boosts tourism and even occasionally increases real estate value. It adds aesthetic value and generates public discussion. In times of hardship it boosts morale and in-

That is one of the reasons Gray’s work is so great for public forums; It is in and amongst us here in the West End. I hope that the subways latest addition can continue to surprise and impact those who come across it as a reminder that the city we live in is of cultural richness and that, as Gray so often emblazons on his work, we need to learn to ‘Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation’.

There is special significance for this in Glasgow, which possesses a wealth of interesting commercial and state galleries, one of the finest art schools in the country, a constant stream of world-class dance, theatre productions, music, comedy events and festivals. It has also spawned a seemingly endless supply of Turner Prize winners and candidates. But still, we sit in the shadow of Edinburgh- whose cultural scene, whilst more generously funded and of higher international profile, is arguably far more stagnant than our own vibrant ‘eco system’.

Contemporary art in particular, for which Glasgow is at the forefront, finds itself under fire for being alienating, elitist and inaccessible. Public art provides the perfect segway to debunk the myths surrounding what contemporary art ‘is’ and ‘the sort of people who like art’.

After the release of Andrea Arnold’s debut film, ‘Red Road’ (2006), the director said that the making of the film made her realise “that a lot of people who live in Glasgow don’t go to places like Red Road.” The flats of Red Road lie in the north-east of the city; designed for a population of 4,700, packed into eight multi-storey blocks with 31 floors. At one point in history they were the highest residential tower blocks in Europe. At the time of construction in 1964, the architect Sam Bunton was said to have “dreamt of building a Manhattan-style skyscraper.” As many had moved from worse conditions, the buildings became symbols of hope and a fresh start for the residents. Arnold’s thriller depicts the Red Road flats, and Glasgow itself, as a violent and disturbing environment. The city is presented as a place in which rape, drugs and physical violence are natural parts of the scenery - accepted as almost ‘normal’ by the residents.

The flats of Red Road are set to be demolished by 2017. Does this suggest a change in the way Glasgow will be represented through film? Peter Mullan’s 2010 film ‘Neds’ suggests not.

Set in the infamously deprived Glasgow of the 1970s, it tells the story of a young boy who is bullied for his intelligence, and the struggle he finds when he becomes friendly with a gang of boys. Lynne Ramsay (a prominent Scottish filmmaker- director of last year’s ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’) wrote and directed ‘Ratcatcher’ (1999) with similarities to ‘Neds’: they both follow young boys growing up in the brutal Glaswegian environment of the 1970s.

I think films can be important in the self-determinism of a place; they produce a cultural awareness of a city, helping to shape its identity. If you live in the ‘bubble’ of the West End, you might not have even heard of the

Red Road

by Lotte Lewis-Smith

Red Road flats, and the harsh living conditions of its residents. It’s ironic that the tower blocks of Red Road are visible, looming over the city, yet that side of Glaswegian activity is arguably ignored by many. Red Road is the giant elephant in the room. There is such a separation between those with aspiration and those without, which makes it difficult for either group to look the other directly in the eye and acknowledge its presence.

It is this contradiction between these two polar opposite sides of Glasgow that I find so interesting; the city is a living, breathing paradox. Occasionally, you get a glimpse of the other world that exists, as if the invisible lines that have been drawn through the city can be spontaneously broken, and you will be confronted by the reality that surrounds your everyday living. The other night at Murano student accommodation, I found myself listening to a Glaswegian communist who had wandered through the student village. He was talking (or rather, slurring) about the unac-

knowledged poverty that exists in the city; he said “the poor are getting poorer, whilst the rich are getting richer.” This is a sentiment echoed throughout the UK, and we can see Glasgow working as a microcosm for this ‘trend’; side by side, the contradicting communities sit. Glasgow has the highest rates of suicide in the UK, and a 2008 World Health Organisation report claimed that in the city’s Calton district, the average life expectancy for men is just 54 years old. Perhaps art needs this negative, destructive aspect to feed off and even flourish from. You’re probably less likely to find inspiration drinking tea and reading ‘The Guardian’ in your semi-detached house positioned perfectly between a good school for your children and a gym for your yoga sessions, than if you were to take a stroll through Glasgow’s East End. I find Glasgow as a city inspiring; it is brimming with culture and life, but it also reminds us that there is need for change - only possible if you dare to step outside the ‘bubble’ of the West End.

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Stephen Edwards It is no secret that Glasgow is a city bursting with talented and artistic people, nurturing a vivid arts and music scene. One of these people is Stephen Edwards, a photographer and recent graduate of Glasgow University. He has captured the city, documenting his life with a perceptive photographic eye. So what does he see in Glasgow?

We meet in a café on Byres Road, one of the few streets I have actually had time to walk down since arriving in Glasgow. Being new not only to the city, but also to the country, I find myself at the table with someone who has just completed the journey on which I am about to embark. Al-

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though not a born Glaswegian, Stephen Edwards has undoubtedly made the city his own. When looking through his photographs, the viewer is welcomed into his life, presented to his friends and invited to see what he sees on the rainy roads of this town.

“My interest in photography stems from a desire to document my life. I’m always thinking of the next photo, composing it in my head. I carry a camera around with me all the time; otherwise I will regret not bringing one” I ask him, coming from an obvious literary perspective myself, why he has chosen photography as his way

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interviewed

by Sara Wengström (photos by stephen edwards)

of storytelling. What can photography give that words can’t?

“First of all it’s fun and I enjoy it. I shoot with film, never digital anymore, and film is expensive, so I’m forced to carefully consider every shot. I like not knowing how a photo is going to turn out. There is an anticipation to it that’s addictive and a satisfaction when the photo does turn out good. And since I photograph to remember, it seems easier to take a photograph than to write about it. I’ve tried the diary thing, it didn’t work out.”

There is no question that his photographs, to be found on his blog ‘Real

Life’, tell a story, or perhaps multiple ones. Whether they are of his friends, girlfriend or the skateboard park in Kelvingrove, there seems to always be a hint of something outside the frame, something else going on.

“I want people to look into my photos, rather than looking at them. In my mind a photographer is someone who makes a difference to people’s lives, someone who sees things others overlook. It’s not about having a fancy camera. Being a photographer is about making people care enough to look twice. But whether or not people consider me a photographer isn’t all that important to me.”

As he takes out the camera currently stocked in his backpack to show me, an Olympus Mju II, I think to myself that there are without a doubt a lot of people who will agree with me in calling Stephen a photographer. He has clearly captured people’s attention, with his photographs circulating all over the Internet. He points out that sites such as Tumblr and Flickr do not only give him a big audience, but also allow him to form a community with other young and talented photographers around Glasgow.

“There are a lot of talented people in Glasgow taking photographs; I have worked on projects with others. We usually support each other and that’s created a nice sense of community among us, even if we haven’t met each other in person yet.”

He continues: “In this city it’s all about the people.

Glasgow can be beautiful, but often it’s dark and cold and wet… You end up being inside. I am lucky to have friends that are really confident in front of the camera. The people that I’ve met here have definitely been a main source of motivation and inspiration for me over the last couple of years. What I’ve come to appreciate is that interesting people make for interesting photos.”

Surely referring not only to the people being caught on film, but also to himself, I ask him where I should go looking for adventures in Glasgow.

He has, after all, five years of student experience in the city behind him.

“If you’re new to the city, you need to explore it. Go to all the little shops in the West End, go to tourist attractions such as the Necropolis and all the museums. Go to gigs! I think I went to twenty gigs my first year here. Go network at parties and get on the guest lists for all the club nights happening. I don’t think you can get bored in Glasgow.”

Life post university seems to continue in Glasgow for Stephen. At least for a while. He explains that he wants to be a true West End resident, maybe working in one of the numerous coffee shops and finally having more time to be creative before he pursues a career in science.

“I think in a way Glasgow forces you to be creative. From the comfort of the West End to the murky depths of the city centre at 3:00am on a Saturday night, there is so much that inspires me.”

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Could a game like

be the next Mona Lisa?

Harriet Lee-Holden

Thatgamecompany’s most recent creation, ‘Journey’, has become the fastest selling PSN game of all time. It has gained critical and commercial success and re-ignited the debate of whether video games can be considered art. This dispute is not a recent affair. Robert Ebert, a film critic for the Chicago Sun Times, has a strong opinion on the topic which he has discussed several times. He published an article titled rather bluntly ‘Video games can never be art’. The article received just under 5000 comments from people defending the video game genre and its potential to be seen as Art, arguing that Ebert’s refusal to play the games that he was criticising created a biased viewpoint.

In my opinion, there are many factors which make ‘Journey’ both a fantastic game and viable as a piece of art.

The visuals of ‘Journey’ are a crucial aspect of the gaming experience and show high levels of consideration and artistic intent. The creators have intentionally set the game in a desert to emphasise isolation. Along with the simple yet stunning colour scheme, it features some breathtaking settings which are, in themselves, highly artistic. For me, what completes this game was the online element. Occasionally on your ‘Journey’ you would meet anonymous players. You don’t

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know anything about them but you can complete the game together. You form an emotional connection and bond with your virtual companion, which furthermore heightens the sense of achievement in completing the game.

The makers of ‘Journey’ are not alone in trying to push the potential of the video game genre. In recent years more and more companies have been trying to create something unique. ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ is an example which many gaming enthusiasts reference when discussing the value of games as an art form. The plot, though straightforward, is powerfully presented.

It employs an overwhelming sense of scale as you are confronted with the Collosi, who tower above you.

A more current example is ‘Limbo’, which became iconic for its minimalist, monotone aestheticmany comparing it to early film noir styles. The artistic design of Capcom’s ‘Okami’ was based upon Japanese sumi-e paintings and cell shading, making it one of the most visually striking games of its generation. With its narrative based upon actual mythology, it created a vivid and diverse world to play in as you literally bring colour and life back into the land.

The phrase “art is in the eye of the beholder” is certainly appropriate here.

For those with an open mind and a passion for games, being able to see the artistic value of video games is unquestionable. However, for the majority, it is difficult to take video games seriously as an art form because the medium is still in its infancy and has many negative associations in the media. When Film had just started out as a popular medium in the late 19th century, many did not believe it could hold the potential to be an art form, seeing it as only a cheap novelty. It was only in the early 20th century when film makers began experimenting and started creating movies which could be considered art. By the same notion, we have to consider that not all game makers, like many film makers, are attempting to create art. Many are trying to please a mainstream audience. Comparing games such as ‘Call of Duty’ with ‘Journey’ in terms of artistic merit, would be the equivalent of comparing ‘Die Hard’ with ‘Citizen Kane’.

To answer the question ‘Could games like ‘Journey’ be the new Mona Lisa?’, I would have to say both yes and no.

If you compare it on the same level as established art forms then it would struggle to keep up. On the other hand video games are a new medium, which can employ mind-blowing levels of immersion and depth in order to engage the player with the narrative at the same time as incorporating the exquisite artistic style of a painting. For it is not just the display and aesthetics of the gaming medium which distinguish it as ‘art’- but the emotional connection and immersive experience which it provides for the player. With the growing popularity of gaming and its taboos slowly becoming water under the bridge, there is room for developers to produce new interactive forms of art for us to play with and debate over for some time.

Fashion Boy London Interviewed by Molly Farrell

For the number of incredible people Stephane Raynor has worked with, sold to, employed and dressed, that today his name is relatively unknown except within certain circles is pretty shocking. During the 80’s and 90’s, his legendary label ‘BOY LONDON’ was eponymous with cool; it was a brand that was worn by every face of pop culture (the Sex Pistols, Boy George, Madonna and Andy Warhol, to name a few). Raynor was, and still is, the unsung pioneer of punk, acid rave and New Romantic fashion who is only recently again getting the recognition he deserves.

He started his first store, ‘Acme Attractions’, with John Krevine in 1972, two years before Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s boutique ‘SEX’ was established. Raynor’s outlet was the core of the burgeoning London punk scene, counting punk DJ Don Letts and current Rough Trade MD Jeanette Lee as its workers. In 1976, BOY was created. The spirit of the scene that surrounded BOY defined the Punk movement as it was and became the inspiration for the New Romantic style’s creation.

(Oh, and Billy Idol happened to work there…) In 1978, Raynor then went on to create yet another famed shop, ‘PX’, which was where he advised worker Steve Strange to start the original club kids night, ‘Blitz Kids’, at local bar Blitz; a place famous for turning Mick Jagger away for not being ‘trendy’ enough.

From then on BOY LONDON was iconic, and the brand spiralled to a height of international and commercial success that proved to be too much. Since then - and up until about five years ago - the label has been a memory stumbled upon by past fans and fashion enthusiasts alone. But with the opening of his latest East London store ‘SICK’, and its Urban Outfitters and Cobra Snake endorsements, BOY has experienced its rebirth and is tearing up our streets once again...

You’ve talked about ‘Pop Culture’ before in interviews as being what you see Boy to be about- what would you define that as exactly?

BOY LONDON: The pop explosion was the 60s in art, music, fashion... it changed the planet, creating everything that’s taken for granted now: the teenager, street fashison, media creation. I am part of that movement; creating the pop sub culture, pushing barriers, being the avant garde, crossing the line. I am the enfant terrible of fashion.

What are your views on personal style?

BOY LONDON: Never get stuck in the moment you’re in, always respect change don’t get comfortable in your style, don’t imitate, create, be the first on your street, take the blame.

Could you describe yours (if you think there is one) in 5 words?

BOY LONDON: I wear no logos, no labels, a blank canvas, ready to play in the background and love to be surrounded by my amazing entourage.

You’ve described how your brand suffered from brand theft and the copying of design in the 90s - how would you say that experience affected Boy? Do you think that’s something that you can ever really avoid in your industry?

BOY LONDON: I got fucked by the USA, if you make yourself big enough you’re gunna get shot down.

Name one person living/dead who you most admire and why.

BOY LONDON: As a girlfriend said 2 me - Steph why haven’t you killed yourself as all the great artists did? I don’t have any heroes as such, I like bits of them, plus it’s true, they’re all fuckin dead.

If you could give one piece of advice or ‘life lesson’ to us now, what would it be?

BOY LONDON: Depends who you wanna be. If you wanna be me? Don’t have friends, don’t live with anyone, don’t get married, don’t depend on anyone, fuck with everyone, have fun & get remembered.

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Black out

Leoan Dress - Lilly Wiggler - £225 Leather look leggings - House of Dereon at USC - £60 Glitter Wedge - USC - £40 Millan Collar - Obscure Couture - £245 photographer: Linas Justice model: Lauren Andrew stylist: Claire Stuart – beewaits.com nails: Diy Nails – diynails.co.uk hair: Lisa Farrell makeup: Ashkeigh Anderson

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GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Tibea Skirt - Obscure Couture - £125 Leather box top - USC - £28 Shearling jacket - USC - £65 Och Necklace - Bonnie Bling - £45 Stud Wedge - USC - £45

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Hollyhood Rose Hood- Chouchou - £55 Dip dye dress - Lashes at USC - £42 Meniseus Cardigan - Obscure Couture - £165 Crysler Bodysuit - Lilly Wiggler - £112 Grit and Glitter Knuckledusters - Bonnie Bling - £50 Stud Boots - Blink at USC - £52

ruth davidson politics

Interviewed by

joe lee Ruth Davidson has led the Scottish Conservativeand Unionist Party since November 2011. Only 15 of Scotland’s 129 MSPs are ConservativessoDavidson, 33, has her work cut out if she wants to change her party’s fortunes before the next election.After reading English Literature at Edinburgh, Davidson worked as a radio journalist beforebeginning a master’s degree in International Development here at Glasgow. Davidson, MSP for Glasgow, spoke to GUM about issues including Scottish independence, tuition fees and whether Glasgow is better than Edinburgh…

On the ways that students benefit from Scotland being part of the UK: If you look at the number of people that get jobs in Scotland with companies that are owned by other countries, we’re a great place for investment. Look at other benefits that people get from being part of the UK, like a working visa to go to Australia or New Zealand or being part of the European Union, which by right means that you’ve got free passage across the continent and the ability to work in any EU country. When an independent Scotland and its position within the EU are subject to so much debate, we shouldn’t be taking for granted these sorts of opportunities.

On Conservative support for the Union: We believe in the United Kingdom not just because of what Scotland gets out of it, but also because of the huge contribution that Scotland makes. I’m very proud of being part of that. If you go as far back as when Scotland and England joined up in 1707, that was the catalyst for the Scottish Enlightenment. People like Adam Smith and David Hume contributed to the rest of the world, not just the rest of the UK. I absolutely believe that Conservatives of every nation within the UK believe in the UK. On increasing the international aid budget at a time of reduced domestic expenditure: The pledge is to bring the aid budget to 0.7% of our GDP. Although we’re having a tough time in the UK, we are a rich na-

400,000 people voted Conservative in Scotland. I’m trying to attract new people who haven’t considered voting Conservative before and say look at the commitments we’re making to Scotland and what we’re offering in terms of our policies. Let’s engage on the actual issues. Hopefully, between now and the next election, I’ll have the opportunity to go out and see if we can get more of the small ‘c’ conservatives to be big ‘C’ Conservatives too.

tion. We shouldn’t balance our books on the backs of the world’s poorest. It benefits us for other nations to be better, to bring up children who have more life choices, and for these nations to become emerging markets.

Sometimes we haven’t kept a good enough eye on where the money is going. That’s why when the coalition government came in; they said they would spend a proportion of the aid budget on proper auditing so we can see exactly how it is spent.

On same-sex marriage: I recognise and respect different positions but for me, this is an issue of equality and fairness. I think that it’s, in many ways, a Conservative principle to have that commitment to a couple and family life.I just feel that institutionsshould not be forced to carry out marriages.I’ve got to agree with the Scottish government on that.

On support for same-sex marriage within the Conservative Party nationwide: I don’t think it is a party political issue per se. The biggest dividing line on this seems to be age. The younger you are, the more supportive you are likely to be. I think there may be people in my party who don’t agree with it. It’s one of these issues that if and when it comes to the Scottish parliament, my MSPs will be given a free vote.

On Conservatism in Scotland: At the last general election, more than

On university tuition fees: The Scottish Conservatives don’t believe in upfront tuition fees. We believe that there should be a gradual contribution so that people who have found a job that pays them over a certain amount pay something back.

We have a problem in‑ Scotland in the way in which the current funding system works.

Large numbers of students coming from EU countries who don’t have to pay. People from England, Wales and Northern Ireland having to pay. There needs to be a much fairer funding solution. Look at fifty years ago when 5% of people went to university.

Now, about 50% of people go to university. You have to reassess how it works. The SNP are happy for the binman to pay for the duke’s daughter to get a degree. And actually, it’s the duke’s daughter that is benefitting most in the end, so is it fair that the person who benefits most isn’t contributing the whole way through? That’s where I’m coming from.

Glasgow or Edinburgh?

Fife! No, for me, it has to be Glasgow. I lived in Edinburgh for three and a half years and I’ve lived in Glasgow for more than ten. So, absolutely, Glasgow.

Davidson faces an uphill battle in convincing students in Scotland that her party best represents their interests. However, her humble ascent and fresh approach to divisive issues such as tuition fees and independence sets her apart from her colleagues at Westminster and rivals at Holyrood. She may just stand a chance.

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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With a coalition government at work, the divide between right and left is ever present in British politics. It is often hard to look beyond the stereotypical views of the opposing sides.

Here, two students, Rob and Louise, who identify themselves as rightwing and left-wing respectively, discussseveral divisive issues, beginning with university tuition fees.

LeftRight Exchange

ROB: I think the main problem was the way the higher fees policy was introduced. It should have been presentedas a smaller contribution after you graduate.

LOUISE: It’s ridiculous that there are fees in the first place;education should be accessible to all. Scottish students are lucky with fees, but cuts, for example to transport grants,still make it difficult for lower income families.

R: I don’t agree with the principle of entitlement to tertiary education.

Universityhas a complex funding structure, and to make it sustainable students must make a contribution. Obviously it must be accessible to lower income families too, but since the rise, applications from middle class students actually fell by more than those from lower income students.

L: If that’s true then it shows the height of the problem.Even middle class families can’t afford the outrageous fees, despite the fact that universities are meant to attract people from every walk of life. With fees of £9,000, you’re disregarding most of society.

R: But the new, improved repayment system will address that. You talk about families not being able to afford it, but the principle of the reforms is that you pay it back afterwards. It’s measured in terms of potential income, rather than current income.

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henrietta eagle

L: This is what happens when services that should be public are private.

R: The term ‘privatisation’ is often used to talk about the NHS, or the police, but it’s not happening.

There’s a higher provision of private services being brought in, not separate institutions.

L: Privatisation is when services that belong to the state are turned into a competitive business, where people can make money. It’s happening across the board because it’s a rightwing way of organising society.

R: I think there’s a dogmatic view on the left that any private provider being brought into public services is immediately wrong, even if it provides a benefit to the public service. Allowing a private company to do police paperwork and to run systems allows more police to be out on the streets.It’s about allocation of resources.

L: I disagree. I think it’s foolish to bring something that’s nationalised into the private sector, because then they cease to be regulated. This is why we’re in the economic crisis, because the banks were deregulated.

There’s a free market system, which Thatcher introduced;before selling off most of Britain’s industry. Any privatisation brings about competition, which then means that they forget the priority - the people. The service becomes about money.

R: But do you agree that competition improves the quality of services?

L: It leads to other problems. I disagree with any privatisation of the NHS - the most beneficial thing to individuals in Scotland. It’s outstanding that we have this servic for everyone. If you mix money with health then it shows how much the government actually cares for your wellbeing.

R: The NHS budget was the only one ring-fenced by this government, and I disagree that it’s being privatised at all. The NHS’s principle of free healthcare isfantastic, but the cost of drugs and people living longer means that care is more expensive, and bringing in extra competition can drive the prices down and the quality up. If the state has a monopoly over the healthcare services then progress is unlikely.The point is to make people better, and often a private company can do this quicker, better and cheaper than the state can.Nobody’s going to have to pay for this; it’s just that the providerused is a private one instead of the NHS. L: So private companies are making money out of people’s ill health. Instead of hanging on to a state NHS, we are allowing companies to compete. If we had the right funding, the government would provide equal healthcare for people across society.

That’s democracy.

R: The principle of these reforms is that they’re based on quality, not cost, and whoever can do the job best should have the right to do so.

The opposing voices in British politics will always have differing opinions on the best way to run the country and that is healthy and essential for our democracy. However, the sooner politicians stop blaming previous governments and igniting partisan tensions, the sooner they can focus on changing things for the better.

While Europe tries to hold the Eurozone together, Britain attempts to steer clear of economic calamity and Syria burns, election season rages in the United States. The cynical might dismiss the circus surrounding American presidential elections as bizarre and overblown: sound bites generally trump substance and hate-filled vitriol blocks most constructive public discourse. Not that this stops me and other like-minded political junkies from readily indulging in the presidential election as our drug of choice.

The glitz and insanity Over There always seems to outshine the grey, technocratic administration of Europe (or, for that part, the Bullingdon Club’s shambolic Westminster run).

Failing that, it at any rate provides a pleasant distraction.

The Balanced commentary on American politics is rare in Europe, although to be fair, it’s probably even rarer in the United States.

While European media lack the ideological blinders and incessant talking heads of American cable news, they usually display a similar one-sidedness. While Fox News get precisely the amount of flak they deserve for bending truth, time and space to suit their political narrative, European media has a tendency to forget that the liberal media can be just as bad - albeit in an ideological context more

reminiscent of European politics.

While the liberally inclined might certainly appreciate media caricatures of a Republican Party growing all the more detached from reality, there are many reasons to take a closer look at the ‘Grand Old Party’.

This is the party that paired John McCain – a pragmatist famous for working across the aisle – with Sarah Palin, a little-known governor from Alaska. Dwelling on Palin’s eccentricity is a violent beating of the proverbial dead horse by now, but rest assured, I wasn’t alone in breathing a sigh of relief when the election result ensured she wouldn’t be just a heart attack away from the nuclear codes.

Grouchy Palin’s ascent is typical of the modern Republican Party, as is the influence of the radical Tea Party wing that adores her.

Whatever one might think about fiscal policy, a reasonable person should find it difficult to sympathise with a movement so hellbent on promoting their own agenda that they nigh on defaulted the United States’ loans.

While public opinion of the Tea Party has shifted for the worse since the August 2011 debt ceiling farce, its hold of the Republican Party is difficult to ignore. Their candidate might be Romney, the world’s most dap-

per automaton, but his running mate, Paul Ryan, is the rock star of the Tea Party. Vice-presidents have held sway over presidents before. Most recently when the malevolent goblin Dick Cheney lived large during the George W. Bush administration.

by linus Sioland Not only is there cause for concern vis-à-vis the increasing radicalism of the party’s far-right wing. In some cases, representatives of the party aspire to pure cartoon-level villainy. Several Republican legislatures have instituted or proposed laws that demand state-issued photo ID and/ or a birth certificate to be presented at the polls. This might sound uncontroversial, especially since the reason given for the reforms is a desire to address voter fraud, but those without state-issued ID are usually the old, the poor, immigrants and minority groups.

Many have never had a copy of their birth certificate. As these groups often vote Democrat and voter fraud is a minor problem in the US, it’s difficult to view the reforms as anything other than a disenfranchising of those who might vote for the opposition.

Old It’s easy to forget that the Republican Party is not only that of Gingrich, Bush Jr. and Palin; it’s also that of Lincoln, Eisenhower

and Teddy Roosevelt. The question is if any of the latter gentlemen would vote for the current incarnation of their party, given the stranglehold the Tea Party caucus and the Christian right currently holds. The same party that took its name from Thomas Jefferson’s idea of republicanism has been usurped by religious fanatics and uncompromising governmental minimalists. Indeed, Paul Ryan’s proposed budget plan would cut US federal spending outside of social security and healthcare to 3.75%, or that of Equatorial Guinea in 2009 (the only ones having spent less being The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic). With such chief ideologues, there’s no wonder the moderates are cowering.

Party Politics never stands still, and it’s difficult to say what the future might hold for the United States and the Republican Party. What can be said is that the last thing a country with a rigid two-party system needs is a more adversarial political culture. Times such as these require cooperation, compromise, and humility – not cross-aisle pie throwing, demonization, and an unwillingness to hear the other side of the argument.

One can only hope that the Republican Party will come to that realisation as well, and soon.

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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TURKEY

Syria Daniel Patterson

IRAQ JORDAN

“We need only look to history to gauge the human cost of inaction”

The outcome of the Syrian people’s struggle for freedom is likely to define the character of the world’s most volatile region for years to come. As the crisis in Syria ensues, the question of intervention is once again at the forefront of international politics. Is it ever right to compromise the sovereignty of a foreign power by interfering with its internal affairs? The decision to ‘go in’ to another country is not simply a matter of sympathising with oppressed civilians and feeling a call of duty to engineer their liberation. It is a decision that requires consideration of regional spill-overs, national interest, longterm consequences and the realistic potential for success.

Since March 2011, more than 300,000 Syrians have fled the regime that has turned on its own people.

Innocent citizens are targeted as they cross borders and children are maimed and killed in the streets by government forces. It is estimated that over 2.5 million people require humanitarian assistance and that 3 million are at imminent risk of food insecurity. In the early days of the conflict, the Assad regime seemed

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unsure of what the international community would tolerate. However, with Russia and China reluctant to act, it has since crossed most of the ‘red lines’ proposed by the West. The scale of the suffering inside Syria and the threat to the stability of fragile neighbours such as Lebanon and Jordan has led to calls for intervention from around the world. The shadow of the Iraq War looms large in any debate on the role Britain should have in resolving problems elsewhere. The 1945 United Nations Charter makes clear that unless a country is acting in self-defence or has the support of the Security Council, it cannot use force against another. But while we may not have the right to intervene militarily, with a death toll of 25,000 and counting, it is difficult to deny that we have a duty to take decisive action against the Assad regime.

We need only look to history to gauge the human cost of inaction. During the Second World War, Britain and the United States had reliable intelligence regarding the atrocities at Auschwitz-Birkenau for over two years before the camp was liberated.

For the Syrian people, diplomacy ap-

pears to be failing. Economic sanctions have not deterred the government from committing crimes against humanity. Yet the extent to which we should intervene remains unclear.

Various initiatives have been put forward; including a no-fly zone, a ‘boots on ground’ military coalition and a ‘humanitarian corridor’ to allow safe passage between Aleppo and Turkey.

So far, the West has provided the Syrian political resistance with non-lethal supplies such as communications and medical equipment. The decision not to arm rebels at least suggests that lessons have been learned from the 1980s when the Afghan Mujahideen received billions of dollars worth of weapons from foreign powers.

For many people, the Iraq War conjures images of a greedy, cynical U.S administration that exploited Saddam Hussein’s tyranny in order to secure oil supplies. Regardless of whether oil really was a factor or not, the public seemed appalled that U.S national interests would be considered under the circumstances. Yet several years on, with a different President and a global economic crisis, it is becoming increasingly common for politicians

and the public alike to seek proof of a direct national interest before advocating state expenditure on military and humanitarian assistance abroad.

Of course it is possible to claim that democratic transition anywhere is in the national interests of the UK, the USA and our allies. Regime change can result in renewed diplomatic and trade relations with a country; both of which can certainly benefit us. It is also in our interest that progress is made towards peace or at least stability in the Middle East. We would surely be a lot safer if the world was rid of a regime that harbours and finances terrorists.

Yet there is an appealing argument that national interests aside, foreign intervention can be justified on humanitarian grounds alone. We have a responsibility to protect the rights and freedoms that apply to every human, no matter where they live.

This is the sort of moral reasoning

that compelled Western leaders to use force in the Kosovo War, despite not having UN Security Council authorization. Despite the fact that the former Yugoslavia is now stable, the method by which that stability was achieved was highly questionable and could inspire hostile states to defy international law in order to pursue the ends they feel are morally correct.

While most would agree that the Assad regime’s crimes must stop, there is no consensus that an invasion would succeed in securing the best outcomes for the Syrian people.

The West is mindful of the years our Armed Forces have spent in Afghanistan fighting what many consider to be an unwinnable war. There, the enemy comprises a number of different groups which lack structure and unity. The problem in Syria is of an altogether different nature. The government remains a highly organised

force, with formidable resources, considerable support around the country and allies that include Iran. We need to identify cases where life has actually improved for civilians following a military intervention. Libya may now be free from despotism but it faces instable government, warring militias and a moribund economy. Bosnia on the other hand has achieved a number of political and economic reforms and is now well on its way to joining the European Union.

The plight of the Syrian people is worsening day by day. Over a million citizens are displaced and there are widespread food shortages. The full extent of the trauma this conflict has caused is unlikely to become clear for many years. Whether the international community decides to intervene militarily or otherwise, the Syrian people have asserted their desires and require our help in realising them.

Since March 2011, more than 300,000 Syrians have fled the regime that has turned on its own people.

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Save

by Hannah Yoken

Otago Lane

photo by Thomas Whitchurch

culture, but on the other hand it’s doing everything it can to get rid of it.”

Tucked away in the heart of Glasgow’s West End, Otago Lane is a quirky meeting place that combines leisure and trade.

The lane is best known as the home of the bohemian teahouse Tchai-Ovna, which has become a staple landmark in the area surrounding the University of Glasgow. Otago Lane’s reputation is undeniable, though most of those aware of its existence will have heard of it through word of mouth. Some secrets are meant to be shared.

Though the weather outside is far from pleasant, inside Tchai-Ovna one feels welcomed and at ease. The teahouse has become a home away from home for many West Enders.

With its living-room-like atmosphere Tchai-Ovna provides people with a place to socialise, study or relax. The story behind Tchai-Ovna is a merger of innovation and opportunity. Founder and owner Martin Fell told GUM how the teahouse came to be: “I had lived in the Czech Republic for a year. My friends and I had had a fanciful debate over whether we should open up a teashop, like the ones in Prague. In 2000, when I was in my second year of university someone said that they had found this cool place and told us to go check it out. One thing led to another and we somehow managed to get the lease. We reconstructed the building funded on student loans.”

Though originally the brainchild of students studying at the University of Glasgow, the teahouse quickly became an integral part of a wider community. “We couldn’t afford to pay anyone. So anyone from students to ‘NEDs’ all came together. We

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The above is in reference to the Public Entertainment Licence law, which came into force earlier in 2012. The law is also known as a “tax on creativity”, as it demands temporary commercial exhibitions and shows to pay licensing fees from £100 up to £7,500, even if they are free of charge to the public.

ended up buying them cigarettes and they’d work for a day.

It became sort of a mish-mash not exactly a university thing, but more of a collective effort.”

Recently, Otago Lane has been in the public eye following Glasgow City Council’s decision to authorise a new housing development. The development would see 44 luxury flats and 4 townhouses erected on the unused land surrounding the lane.

The Council’s decision did not come as a surprise to most. Otago Lane has been under threat since 2009 when developers first voiced an interest in the property. Over the past three years plans have been withdrawn and reshaped repeatedly.

This past August, the endeavour finally came to a close. Following a visit to the lane by the councillors on Glasgow’s Planning Applications Committee, the City Council ruled in favour of the contracting company Otago Street Development Ltd. Those with growing concerns

features / art / fashion / politics / music / science

over the immediate fate of the lane can breathe a sigh of relief. The old buildings housing an array of retail units will not be demolished, since they do not belong to the contractor.

Instead the buildings will most likely be enclosed out of sight.

When asked about the historical significance behind building Tchai-Ovna Mr. fell explained: “The building dates back to 1825, predating all the buildings in the area. It used to be a stable. We still get elderly visitors who remember it as one.

And starting in the 1950s it housed numerous repair shops, in addition to providing a hiding place for gangsters. We have tried to stay faithful to the building’s original purpose, which is why the floor is tilted and made of cobblestone.”

The future of Tchai-Ovna is not the only concern Mr Fell has voiced: “Glasgow is a city of culture despite its prohibitive laws and procedures. The city is presenting itself as a city of

Tchai-Ovna’s contribution to Glaswegian culture has not gone unnoticed. The public have shown strong support for the bohemian lane and its community. Launched in 2009, the ‘Help Save Otago Lane’ petition has gathered over 4,000 signatures while the Facebook group ‘Save Our Lane’ has more than 5,000 members. Dissatisfaction with the Glasgow City Council has provoked a series of protests and demonstrations in George Square and around the West End. Even prior to the lane being under threat, Otago Lane’s success has been largely due to the DIY-mentality of its retailers and those supporting them: “I’ve never been very fond of asking people for help. It’s been a very independent lane. We’ve never had any financial support from anyone. We’ve always done everything ourselves.”

At the time of writing, the Save Otago Lane campaign was discussing taking further action against the Glasgow City Council. Even if the campaign is able raise enough money to pursue a legal case, there are currently no third party rights to appeal the City Council’s decision.

music Dog is Dead Interviewed by Tess Hokin

decision, as the album now feels familiar, comfortable, and, appropriately, almost like coming home.

A debut album just released, a cameo on Skins, 25 festival performances this summer, and a headline tour kicking off this month; for a gang of ‘quite strange’ lads from Nottingham, Dog Is Dead could be doing worse.

The five-piece ensemble have known each other since they were schoolboys. They’ve experienced the highs and lows of adolescence as a team, and just so happened to be making sweet, sweet music as they did it. Yet somehow there hasn’t been a Yoko Ono moment in sight; the boys even claim to be quite cliquey, which is hard to believe judging from frontman Rob Milton’s laughing, endearing voice. “It’s been explosive and a lot of fun being friends and in a band at the same time, but there’s never been any ‘Fuck you! I’m leaving!’ type-scenarios. I think we tend to all be against one outsider if anything’.

‘All Our Favourite Stories’ is their first full length album, and is full of impressive harmonies, chiming melodies and poignant lyrics of teenage nostalgia. It’s been a long time coming; like a good cheese, the ten track piece needed time to mature. Yet Dog Is Dead have hardly sat still, writing all throughout the long recording process and playing vibrant live shows in every crevice of the country.

“We taught each other how to make music. There’s stuff [on the album] from when we were seventeen, and stuff from now, so it really is like tales of growing up.”

The making of the album started in a big London studio, but when something wasn’t quite clicking, the boys decided to do a U-turn in production and go back to their roots, recording in an industrial estate in Nottingham. It was without a doubt the right

The fivepiece ensemble have known each other since they were schoolboys. They’ve experienced the highs and lows of adolescence as a team,

As anthemic and accessible as their lively tunes might be, however, they are carefully wrapped in a concise, somewhat artier blanket of tinkling glockenspiel, rolling saxophone and tight, dynamic vocals. Dog Is Dead’s debut single ‘Hands Down’ puts their flawless choral harmonies front and centre with not a note out of place; and the results are epic. Their latest single, ‘Talk Through the Night’ is a summery, uncluttered ode to schoolkid friendships. Coupled with its video, which reeks of boyish tomfoolery and brotherly bonds, it’s a knockout glance at their new album.

Musical precision sets Dog Is Dead apart from other emerging indie-popsters and has earned them plenty of critical acclaim, including praise from The Guardian and NME, who called the boys ‘Main stage stars in waiting’. As frontman Rob sums up himself when asked for ‘the shpeal’, the band “sonically pushes boundaries. We’re not bland and have tried to create a colourful record of anthems for our generation.”

Those anthems will be reaching young ears all over the UK and Ireland this autumn as the band embark on a month long tour which starts with an exclusive gig for their album release, which is to be held in Nottingham at Boat Club, a tiny, intimate venue with just 100 tickets for sale.

“It will just be mainly friends and family, we used to play there when we

were just 14 and 15, so we wanted to go back to our roots and do something really special for the album launch”. The rest of the tour will commence on the 23rd of October, and deliver rollicking live performances to 11 cities.

The quintet are no strangers to touring; they’ve supported acts like OK GO, Tribes, King Charles, and Bombay Bicycle Club (a band for whom they were once eager audience members) and have played the festival circuit year and year again. At Glasto 2010 they tore up the BBC introducing stage and caught the eye of the Skins scriptwriter, landing a performance on the finale of season five.

“We didn’t really know what it meant then,” says Rob, “We just thought, why not?”

Since then, they’ve run the gamut of UK festivals and played plenty of venues across the country. Their favourite? Our very own King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, where they’ll be playing again this year. They’re no strangers to Glasgae’s bar scene either. “Last time we had to plan an extra night in Glasgow so that we could stop by Nice N’ Sleazy’s and have some White Russians, there’s no way we could miss Sleazy’s.” Head to their favourite haunt again after their set on October 27th and you might be lucky enough to boogie with a band who are destined for big, big things.

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

27

“I drop gems like a clumsy jeweller,” claims Mikill Pane in I Got Money, the Danny Fresh-produced single released on the Internet in the spring of last year. I wonder for the umpteenth time today why no-one thought of one of the fast-rising north London rapper’s puns before him?

Fresh’s production lends the single in question a Public Enemy-cum-Beastie Boys feel. It’s a new testament to a long-established fact – that even the man whose first commercial success came with a rap over the background of Ed Sheeran’s The A Team, and who has plans for an EP to be released this year featuring collaborations with Example, Jakwob, and Katie Price (hush your gums, it’s the most minor of cameos) keeps some sparkling company.

The upcoming EP, titled You’ve Guest It, will be released with the intention of doing for Pane what Extended Plays and mixtapes have done for a slew of rappers, from 50 Cent to Tinie Tempah, in the past: inst­ igate his transition to mainstream prominence.

If it goes to plan, it’ll be everyone’s gain, because Pane has a talent and range that outstrips not only the two artists mentioned above, but just about anyone putting verses to tracks anywhere in the world today.

More impressive than his ability to make you smile with every punch line is his range: Pane riffs thoughtfully on urban banality in Party Animal and Summertime, takes storytelling inspiration from Slick Rick on I Can Feel It, and blows his own trumpet with The Return of Mister Pane. He takes an absurdist glance at a weekend spent in nightclubs on Read My Lips, then makes a bid to be played in them with Kings. On all of these tracks Pane exhibits the same smirk; that he

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“Six years ago [distributing rap music through the internet] worked great for a lot of people, but now everyone’s jumped on the bandwagon and sometimes it’s too crowded for talented artists to really stick out,” says Pillz in an e-mail correspondence I had with him about his career.

knows something he’s not letting on.

With a groundswell of support amongst DJs at BBC Radio, a star-studded address book and a breadth of exciting releases from rivals in the near future, Mikill looks set to join, or displace, some of British hip-hop’s elite within a year or so (those ready to mourn this changing of the guard are welcome to sample Pane’s Little Lady next to, say, Professor Green’s Astronaut in order to understand that this is no bad thing), and the upcoming You’ve Guest It EP could very well signal the last time you’ve never heard of him.

You’ve Guest It will be Pane’s third collection of tracks, following on from his previous works The Morris Dancer EP and The Guinness and Blackcurrant EP. When the history of his career is written, these tapes will probably be considered the genesis of his music. However, nowadays a mixtape or EP isn’t usually the first port of call for a prospective rap artist. Thousands of miles west of Pane’s stomping ground, Pillz, a rapper whose future success is far less assured than the Hackney native’s, is planning his own mixtape for release this year. Titled I Hope This Makes Me a Millionaire, it should be a more coherent collection of songs than his previous output – hitherto Pillz has mainly dropped freestyles over instrumentals like Lil’ Wayne’s Cannon (Cannon on Crack) and Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Niggas in Paris (Shell toes). With his sharp sense of humour and idiosyncratic flow, Pillz has the kind of talent that routinely emerges from obscurity to gain radio play on hip-hop stations in Canada and the USA, but he has found such success hard to come by thus far – the play count for his YouTube channel PillzTV, the surest (and most optimistic) measure of listener attention available, still counts just four figures.

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Mikill

• Pane • Pillz •

Paul Butterfield

“I don’t mind, though,” he continues, his manner beginning to resemble that of some of the superstars who launched chart-bothering careers from the kinds of first steps he’s currently taking, “It just means I got to pick up my game.”

And Pillz’s game is pretty picked up as is. His occasionally cartoonish vocals do nothing to hide how sharp his eye is for a mind-blowing lyric, and it’s when his subject is harsh reality (The song released as an early preview of the mixtape, Wasted My Life, is as melancholic as it sounds) that he comes across as that rarest of things: a rapper to be identified with.

Though the upcoming tape is titled ironically (“Not a chance,” was the reply when I asked if Pillz thought I Hope This Makes Me a Millionaire would, y’know, make him a millionaire), it will exhibit the work of a man not afraid of grand ambition.

On Motherfucker he mentions that he considers it his duty to defend hip-hop music from those who would demean it, and in the spoken-word preamble to the aforementioned Cannon on Crack he compares himself, albeit a little more modestly than is common in the genre, to some of its biggest stars. As with Pane, the real statement of intent will come when his next mixtape is dropped.

Mikill Pane’s You’ve Guest It EP and Pillz’s I Hope This Makes Me a Millionaire mixtape are both scheduled for release this year. Their websites are mikillpane.com and pillztv.com

OM Michael Borowiec

Living in the middle of nowhere for my teenage years I spent a lot of time in my room, in a haze of smoke, listening to Doom; Metal music infamous for extremely low tempos and a thick textured sound. For me, the balance in this world is maintained by four deities; Black Sabbath’s genre-defining first four albums; the silent giant from gloomy Washington, Earth; Melvins’ tongue-in-cheek experimentation, always muscled in by brooding guitars, and of course California’s sunbaked dragonauts, Sleep. For anyone interested and with one hour, three minutes to spare, I’d recommend a journey through their colossus song, Dopesmoker. Thus words cannot describe my excitement when I was told that I’d be interviewing Sleep’s bass player, Al Cisneros after his show in Stereo with his current outfit, Om. Om is a quieter, more spiritually intense sibling of its sister-band, consisting of Al on bass and Emil Amos on percussion, with the addition of experimental artist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe for their newest album, ‘Advaitic Songs.’ The atmosphere of the show was dominated by resonating bass groves, pounding drum patterns and an eerie ambience sustained by a variety of eastern instruments and influences.

As I enter the now empty basement-venue of Stereo, Al is up on stage, helping his road crew pack up the equipment.

Backstage I sit down beside Al, who joins tattoo-covered hands on his lap and looks at me expectantly. Although conforming

to the stereotypical appearance of a metal head, Al was disarmingly sincere and philosophical.

Nervously, I dive right in asking him about the progression of Om’s music, which over time has strayed from obvious heaviness and picked a more experimental path. ‘The records are just marks of time.” He explains. “As you go through life, you evolve and the music would correspond to it. It’s necessary for it to be alive; otherwise you’re just reciting songs. You can’t make art for anything other than it being a reflection of your life, or it’s just empty, you know?”

I investigate further, asking whether this musical progression means distancing from a heavy core in future endeavours. Al shakes his head; “I think that the music we’re doing now is heavier than any of the old albums. Volume is there, but heavy has become a synonym for volume. I don’t agree with that at all. It’s cheap, it’s shallow.

That’s not heavy.” What is heavy, I interject. “I consider heavy to be a combination of energy and sincerity, not volume and distortion. A lot of bands who just turn up the amp as far as they can are the opposite of it.”

I nod my head profusely and move on, inquiring about the themes mentioned in Om’s lyrics. As the name might suggest, the band explores the mystic aspects of life, their newest album features references ranging from John the Baptist to Sufi Islam. “I find it important to study, for myself, the question that I’ve always thought; what is the point of this?” Al

says, “What is going to last and what decays, what has meaning, what doesn’t” he confesses. I probe deeper, trying to discover whether any personal beliefs are attached to the themes, or whether it’s more a celebration of spiritual pursuit. ‘There can’t be subscribing to an idea,” he protests, “Because it is just an idea. It has really little meaning, they pass and you have to go on your own. For me, the lyrics are essentially poetry about the journey.”

I ask about one song in specific with a slow build up of the word ‘Lazarus’ chanted throughout, towards a final explosion of guitars and drums. It brings to mind a Biblical parable about a man resurrected by Christ, Al nods. “That theme is present throughout a lot of literature, a lot of art. It depends what tradition we’re speaking of, but it’s the same principle. Maybe beginning living instead of existing, and the difference between the two.”

During the majority of the interview, Cisneros presents a lot of philosophically ambiguous ideas, however his voice picks up substantially when mentioning critics, as does the frequency

of his swearing. “Condemning music from a negative premise, that’s not criticism; it’s just vain. They do it to these artists who put in everything, and some guy is sitting there at fucking Pitchfork or whatever, like, boom.” Om’s frontman seems to have a lot to say to music reviewers, even though his recent endeavour has been critically acclaimed. “[A modern critic] is a pseudo-academic writer that has never played an instrument in his fucking life.” He continues, “who doesn’t know what it’s like to tour or what it’s like to play.” at this I worry if I myself fall into this category, but Al continues; “I try to stay on the positive though, I feel very blessed that the people that do understand our music are there; otherwise we’d just record albums and not tour.” Feeling our interview coming to a close, he accurately concludes, before receiving a shower of gratitude from the music nerd in me: “It’s probably cliché, but it’s a feeling of music between the artist and the fan, that’s what fucking critics will never understand, it’s not about them and it never will be, that’s the coolest thing about music, it’s going to live beyond them.”

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Sub GUM goes undercover to bring you an expose on Glasgow’s most notorious Wednesday night at Subclub.

Information has been collated from a range of sources including the promoters, curator’s, photographers, DJs and drunken eye-witnesses. NB names have not been changed to protect identities.

Picture the scene; it’s a few month’s into their reign and the Subrosa boys Iain Budge, Troy Thompson and Duncan Steel are holed up in Murano, surveying their clubbing Empire via Facebook photo albums (supplied by loyal liege Ralph Thompson). Like all great rulers, they were not ones to let their sovereignty slip into a

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state of stagnation. Readily equipped with certified residents Ray Vose, Max Spittal and Junior G, they decided it was high time to invest in a new weapon for their party arsenal.

It had to be something special, something sexy and entirely senseless. So the Theme Night was born, a perfect fusion of house, parties and debauchery; which has spelt a ubiquitous end to generic mid-week clubbing.

It was a leap year when the series kicked off last February. We all had an extra day of the year to play with, but it was the Subrosa team who took full advantage of this. Hedonists were cordially invited to ditch the pavements and sub zero temperatures for

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the glamorous world of New York’s infamous Studio 54.

For anyone new to Glasgow, it doesn’t take very long to discover the strict licensing laws kill any fun that can be had on the streets. By the time reveller’s had flashed IDs, squashed down the stairs and paid their dues they were more than ready to be rewarded for their efforts. Those who made it were met with the clubbing equivalent of Eden. Two females clad in leotards were on hand dolling out complimentary champers, whilst Jasper James and Axel 6 mixed house classics for our aural pleasure.

Everything and everyone was covered in copious amounts of glitter;

Klara Kofen vs Lucy Molloy Photos by Ralph thompson

Rosa and there was even a bed in the corner to lounge on for those who needed a tactical disco nap. Now that’s what I call a party!

A couple of months later, rumours started circulating about the next theme night. Never ones to shy away from a well-rounded education, the Gentlemen behind Subrosa gave us humble clubbers a History lesson at their Cirque du Freak themed evening. Key eye-witness and curator Klara Kofen reports that they “took us back into the obscure world of 19th century freak shows and cabarets.” The only difference was that “unicyclists, magicians and bearded ladies swayed their deformed bodies

to the tunes of Optimo” as opposed to a monkey powered accordion.

As we all know from school- History has a tendency to repeat itself.

Since repetition is boring, we can only hope the inevitable recurrence of events is improved by Technology/ Culture. This was certainly the case for the 3rd instalment of the theme night saga; a tribute to the futuristic world of Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory. A trusty team of Art school enthusiasts treated SubClub to a tin foil make over that Blue Peter presenters worldwide would have been proud of.

After these three successful escapades, Subrosa celebrated their first

birthday in true style with a tribute to the New York Club Kids; which was said to be to be “the goriest and trippiest house party, Irvine Welsh’s favourite club cellar has ever seen.”

A chopped up mannequin in a bathtub took centre stage, surrounded by obscene amounts of fake blood. Whilst in the background a sheep’s head was being surreptitiously thrown around in the most ridiculous yet eerily innocent game of hot potato ever to hit a Glaswegian club/the world.

Clearly, the Theme Nights are here to stay. So for all those thinking of casually stumbling down the stairs next to the Casino on Jamaica Street in the near future, you have been warned.

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Curiosity

by Zandi Coles all pictures courtesy of NASA

When NASA’s latest exploratory rover touched down on Mars this summer, it arrived bearing the undying dream of discovering whether the Martian surface was capable of supporting life. But astonishingly, for the first time, scientists are hoping that they don’t find any water.

On the 6th of August 2012, the culmination of almost a decade of research, preparation and ingenious craftsmanship reached a glorious head when, at 05:32 UTC, one of the greatest feats in human engineering landed on the Red Planet. The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) deep space probe was launched a year ago on the 26th of November, and this summer, millions (myself included) across the globe held their breath in anticipation as they followed the excruciatingly tense descent of the rover module named Curiosity on the internet.

But why has this rover caused so much excitement in comparison to the three other rovers NASA has sent to Mars?

weight of the curiosity rover

1 ton

For starters, it’s the size of a car in contrast with the previous rovers –

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features / art / fashion / politics / music / science

the largest of which was the size of a go-kart and the smallest that of a dog – and where they had cameras only and limited equipment for analysis, Curiosity carries several drills, far more advanced spectrometers and even a laser to zap rocks and identify their components. Yet this is not the only payload it took on its journey: on board is a stowaway threatening to set fire to a scandal that has been rocking NASA for months.

Around six months prior to launch, a team of engineers took action to avoid a potential problem. Afraid that a rough entry onto the planet would damage the mechanism used to mount the different drill bits, they removed one of them from its sealed container and attached it manually in the hopes that if the mechanism

failed, Curiosity could at least use one drill. NASA protocol, as well as Article IX of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, states that approval by the Planetary Protection Officer, Dr. Catharine Conley, was needed – but no such clearance was given.

Even though the drill bit was mounted in a near-sterile environment, approximately 250,000 microbes were spread throughout Curiosity. When Dr. Conley was informed of this it was too close to take-off and with next available launch window being in 26 months, the launch had to go ahead. This, among other reasons, was due to the fact that Curiosity is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, which cannot be turned off and begins to run down as soon as it is built. Because the launch

of all this it remains highly unlikely that contamination of the planet will occur, not least because of the specific choice of landing site.

had already been delayed by 2.5 years, waiting until the next window would mean the power source would be half-depleted. On top of this, the parts of the rover are designed with a lifespan in mind, and a delay can introduce all sorts of hitherto unforeseen potential problems. Indeed, it is thought that the reason the Galileo probe’s antenna jammed was because of launch delays.

The MSL mission is a geological one, and was not tasked with finding water: as such, it landed in the equatorial Gale Crater which has slimmer prospects of harbouring life than the poles. The sub-zero temperatures of the region, UV radiation and Martian atmosphere comprised mostly of carbon dioxide would have killed most of the microbes in minutes. There is, however, precedence for some microbes surviving: in 2008 the European Space Agency put a colony of microbes outside the International Space Station to test the possibility that any would survive – amazingly, many of them did. Just this year, soil samples from volcanoes in South America (having similar conditions to Mars) were shown to harbour a plethora of microorganisms. In spite

$2.5bn

total cost of the MSL project

In an interview Dr Coley said “[the] Gale Crater is very near the equator, and observations suggest there is a minimal chance that the Curiosity rover could contact water ice near the surface. Without water, in the conditions at Gale Crater, there are no known Earth organisms that could grow.” David Lavery, Program Executive for Solar System Exploration at NASA adds “Water or ice near the surface in Gale Crater was not a significant probability. We weighed that against the risks of not having a bit mounted in the drill prior to launch, and the spectre of not being able to drill any holes at all on Mars.

Of course, there is always a possibility that Mars will surprise us.” Andrew C. Schuerger, a microbiologist at the University of Florida and the Space Life Sciences Lab at NASA has done extensive research into this field using NASA’s Mars Simulation Chamber and found that UV light especially was very effective at killing the bacteria tested. How this research will stand up now life has been found

at the volcanic sites – not to mention the fact that Curiosity will be drilling far deeper than we ever have before on Mars, where any potential bacteria will be sheltered from UV radiation – remains to be seen.

Nowhere is the unpredictability of scientific discovery more evident than in interplanetary exploration: just last month Curiosity found what appears to be an ancient stream bed, the most viable evidence yet that water once flowed on Mars. If Curiosity does find water it can still perform some tests, but will be forbidden from drilling as the potential risk of contaminating the planet with life from Earth is far too great. It could lead to the future re-discovery of Earth species being mistaken for alien life which would severely undermine NASA and all the pioneering work it does. Not only this, but it will probably be used by opponents to reduce funding not only to NASA, but to other government-funded research, from particle colliders to stem cells.

Perhaps most devastatingly on a human level, however, it would once again dash the hopes of those who long to know we are not alone in the Universe.

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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Transistors

www.thouronaward.org

Explained by JONAS Riisnæs

If you were to reach into your pocket or backpack right now what would you find? An Ipod?

A smartphone? Chances are you will be reaching towards some of the most sophisticated technology ever achieved.

The creativity and understanding of our world that has enabled us to create these tools has evolved over centuries, along with the amazing scope of vision and effort which have made these tools so easily accessible, goes far beyond the capacity of a single article to discuss.

Perhaps there is no better place to start than with what is considered to be the fundamental building block of our modern-day electronic devices: the transistor.

So what is a transistor? The simple explanation would be to imagine it as a switch. Just as we are the ‘controllers’ of a light switch when we go to turn off the bathroom light, the controller of a transistor is a small electrical voltage. A deeper and more thorough explanation is more complex, but at the same time it will give us a glint of how the technological evolution has made us able to manipulate the smallest parts of our universe.

What controls the transistor is a sequence of commands that turns it on and off, these sequences of commands (or the program) are in turn controlled by you. In essence, then, we can think of ourselves as the light switch controller just as when we turn off the bathroom light, only in our phones or computers we’re controlling thousands, millions or billions at the time.

These switches are so small; you can fit thousands of them on the

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width of your hair.

Fully Funded Study in the USA

What gives the transistor its functionality? Volts and currents are essential in the operation of the transistor, therefore its vital to have some understanding of what volt and current actually is. An analogy for this is to imagine a lake up in the mountains and a lake down in a valley, between these two lakes there are a river. Since the lake up in the mountains is higher up than the lake down in the valley, water flows from the lake higher up to the lake further down. For the same reason that earth keeps us from flying in to space, earth also pulls the water in the river down so it reaches the lake in the valley.

The energy difference between the two lakes is a potential energy difference, the water in the mountain lake has a higher potential energy than the water down in the valley. The difference in potential energy, we can imagine as the voltage difference, the current is the water itself flowing in the river between the two lakes. In electronics, instead of water flowing in the river we have current flowing through a wire, from a higher voltage to the lower voltage.

Up to TEN awards, each with a total value of approx US$80,000 per year, covering tuition fees and living expenses, including travel in the USA, will be available (for one or two years) from 1st September 2013 for candidates who wish to pursue a postgraduate programme at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.

So how are these tiny transistors made? To create really small devices as the modern transistor it is incredibly important to have ultra pure materials with a crystal type atomic structure. In a crystal all the atoms are aligned in a symmetric structure, this is necessary to be able to control the flow of current at these very small scales. The material most comely used which after processing get these crystal properties is silicon. The silicon which is delivered in wafers are

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Applications are invited by 5pm on 1st November 2012 from UK university graduates, including forthcoming summer 2013 graduates, who are British citizens normally resident in the UK. Thouron Awards were created by Sir John and Lady Thouron for the promotion of academic exchange and experience in international friendship between the UK & USA. Please visit www.thouronaward.org or contact Jennie Eldridge, Award Administrator on +44 (0)20 7848 3376 quoting ref TA12.

cut to their required seizes, the cuts which are going to make up one chip is then put on a series of protective masks. These masks each have different patterns of openings in them.

These masks are placed on top of the piece of silicon one after the other in the order indicated, to create the transistor. In the picture two transistors are created simultaneously aside each other, but in a real chip there will be billions created simultaneously by the same method.

The boron mask is the first of the masks, these help us to only dope the chip with boron atoms in the area where there’s openings in the boron mask. The atoms penetrate deep into the silicon chip and immediately starts stealing electrons from the silicon bonds, creating ‘holes’. The boron mask is then removed to put on the phosphor mask. This mask has slightly smaller openings where the phosphor atoms

in association with

can penetrate into the already boron doped silicon. Since the phosphor doping is of a higher concentration than the boron in this area, the regions exposed in the phosphor mask become loaded with free electrons that manage to escape the phosphor nucleus. The last mask in the process is the oxide mask. The openings in the mask is bombarded with oxygen atoms creating an insulating layer.

As a last part of the transistor creation metal connections are mounted, this is to be able to connect the transistor with the rest of the circuit.

Armed with this knowledge the only question left is where do transistors progress to next?

With prototypes being made of biodegradable transistors- solely comprised of proteins found in the human body- perhaps the future is not as far off as we think.

Is Space Travel Space exploration often seems like something out of Star Wars, a science fiction far beyond our grasp. But the technological advances derived from aerospace science are very much real, affecting us in more ways than we know.

For thousands of years humankind has been looking up to the night sky to explore the origin of life, from Plato to modern day Cosmologists.

Ironically the Cold War was the spark needed to thrust space exploration to never before known heights; the launch of the first satellite Sputnik and the moon landing brought important scientific developments and fulfilled one of mans greatest aspirations. However, the exploration of our universe has been an economically demanding one, as well as exceptionally risky to human lives. We learned the hard way that space science is still in its infancy when in 2003 the entire crew, consisting of seven members, died on the Space Shuttle Columbia on their return flight home.

Yet finances are not reason enough to put space exploration on hold, though many would argue that the loss of human lives is. Nevertheless, without aerospace engineering our world would look completely different; many of our daily comforts are a direct cause of it.

Aerospace engineering is likely to be by far the most important science of the 20th and 21st century. Starting with simple things such as food supplements, initially invented for astronauts to prevent a vitamin D, K and calcium loss during space flight.1.

How about those running trainers?

You’re probably wearing shoes that use technology invented especially for Neil Armstrong’s famous moon boots which reduce the impact on your legs and feet.

Worth The Cost

?

Irina Zilke

Anything from vacuum cleanersoriginally created for Apollo 11 astronauts whose main task on the moon was to collect rock and soil samplesto the motorsport, fire fighting and military industries have all borrowed technology created solely for space.

Non- combustible suites, made of Polybenzimidazole (PBI), were made available on the private market in the early eighties.

The fact that the technology behind mobile phones and cameras was actually devished for spacecraft systems is a great example for a gadget easily taken for granted. Although the first digital camera was put on the market by Kodak in 1975, the pioneer of photo sensors digitizing light signals was an engineer working for NASA. Arguably the most important invention of aerospace engineering, is the satellite. Created by NASA and adapted to make long distance telephone calls a possibility we now have approximately 200 communication satellites circling our earth each day.

So what is the next plausible step on our upwards march? It can only move towards the consumer- Space Tourism. The company Excalibur Almaz, based on the Isle of Man, is planning to send six people to the International Space Station next year. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is also preparing to send tourists into the orbit. It is estimated that by 2020 the number of space tourists will have increased to 120. This might also mean

that voyages to space in the near future will become cheaper and attract more customers. The company Space Exploration Technologies, founded

by Elon Musk who also owns PayPal, successfully transported cargo to space via the Dragon Spacecraft which also plans to ship humans.

Another interesting aspect for our economy is Planetary Resources, an organization of Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin which plans to mine asteroids using robots to search for precious metals such as Platinum. Co-founder Eric Anderson claims that: “(...) anasteroid 50 meters in diameter could contain $50bn of platinum at current market prices.” The company is planning to bring the first metals that have been mined to earth in 2020 that could provide fuel or gas for other vehicles aiming to explore space.

Finally the ultimate question… Remember how scientists argue that Mars is very much Earth-like (Curiosity already delivered evidence of former river streams in the Martian rocks) and that henceforth humans could live there, too? There is a high chance that we could feel strangely at home there as, according to some scientists, the human species originated from Mars, travelling as bacteria and organic molecules on an asteroid to planet Earth, but who knows? Maybe by venturing into new worlds to make them habitable like our red neighbour we actually are coming home...

GUM / issue 1 / 2012

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