freepress

The secret history of Goldsmiths

Allen’s back on form

page 5

page 8

A chat with Tony Benn page 4

The Goldsmiths

Free

Press Issue 1 • March 2009

PEACE, LOVE

ROCK &

RO L L

Town Hall occupation wins scholarships

Lecturers refuse to spy on students

Jane Cranfield Our front-line correspondent

Laurence Phillips Lean, mean, journalism machine

On Wednesday 11th of February at approximately 12pm, 50 Goldsmiths students entered Deptford Town Hall, unveiling banners and chanting protest songs. The students made their way to the Council Chamber (the largest room in the Town Hall) on the top floor, (usually reserved for formal concerts) and hung a 6 meter ‘Occupied’ banner from the window onto New Cross Road.

The students were met 2 hours later

by Academic Registrar Hugh Jones who listened to their demands: the Palestine Twinning Campaign’s central ambition to attain 2 scholarships for the Students ’ Union’s Twin College, Al-Quds Open University, which has branches in both the West Bank and Gaza.

Hugh at this point in negotiations did not concede to the scholarships, calling the demands ‘impossible’ and saying if the students wished ‘to play power politics’ that he could too. In the evening Goldsmiths Anthropology Lecturer and vocal anarchist David Graeber spoke to the group and delivered an impromptu workshop on ‘The Merits of Direct Action’.

By Wednesday evening both the Admin Office and entire top floor of Deptford Town Hall was under student control and the Palestinian flag was flying from the roof-top.

The following morning of Thursday 12th of February at 7:30am students barricaded corridors leading to Senior Management Offices. Hugh Jones arrived

The government has introduced laws that require lecturers to hand over information on International students attendance to the ‘Border Agency’ as of next year. The UCU (lecturers’ Union) has dubbed this ‘spying on students’ and has passed policy against it, while Goldsmiths Students Union called for ‘lecturers to not comply’ with the legislation.

“There is no exact information on how it will work, whether staff members will simply upload seminar records onto learn.gold or directly to the Home Office” said Alison Hearn, Head of Student Support Services, at the recent Goldsmiths UCU General Meeting. Fears expressed at the meeting are that if lecturers do not hand over the attendance information on students from outside the EU, Goldsmiths could lose its license to admit International students. Goldsmiths lecturers passed a motion stating they will investigate whether the legislation ‘contravenes human rights law’ and then decide whether to boycott the regulations.

Uncontested International Students Officer candidate Moon Zheng said “this is ridiculous, why are they scrutinizing international students? We pay so much more to be here”. The Students’ Union motion also states how this new legislation ‘undermines the staff and students relationship of trust’ and the SU are currently mounting a campaign against the measures.

for work but upon seeing the stacks of furniture, notice boards and other items blocking the path at the top of the stairs, with 30 students behind the blockade fervently chanting an adapted version of the Gina G classic ‘A little bit more’ (“ooh ah, we want the scholarships, ooh ah, we want 2 more”) Jones made what was reportedly a ‘quick exit’. At 9:15am Hugh Jones was sighted with his papers in Loafers Café looking solemn.

Through out the Thursday students allowed only fellow students and academic staff into the occupied space. A series of lectures took place, a talk by Jewish historian John Rose from the Stop The War Coalition and author of the book ‘The Myths of Zionism’ at 2pm. At 4pm a discussion from Goldsmiths lecturer John Hutnyk on ‘the politics of institutions, role of Goldsmiths, knowledge industry andwar-commerce’ took place

with over 30 students from outside the occupation in attendance.

At 5pm Thursday evening Hugh Jones requested to meet with a committee elected by the occupiers; James Haywood, Jennifer Jones, Patrick Butterfield and Mathew Bumford were all chosen to represent the group. After half an hour of discussion, the 4 emerged and called an Emergency Meeting to announce that the demands had been won. This was the height of the occupation, with over 70 in attendance at the meeting it was clear the sit-in had grown significantly.

Patrick Butterfield addressed the group, stating that in total, Senior Management had offered 4 scholarships, 2 reserved for Palestine...

Continued on page 2

NEWS FLASH!

Have your say in how your Students’ Union is run.

Vote in the SU Elections from 2nd-5th March, inside Loafers.

2 News About the Free Press...

The Free Press is designed to fill a void in communication at Goldsmiths; the lack of a Student newspaper. Written for students, by students, and with articles solely about Goldsmiths, we hope to contribute to a community that knows itself better.

I’d like to thank the team of MA Journalism students who essentially carried the paper and our fantastic designer, without whom we’d still be quite literally at the drawing board. ~ Jennifer

Who we are...

Jennifer Jones Editor

Zarino Zappia Designer

Mei-Ling McNamara News Editor

Louise Ridley Culture Editor

Lena De Casparis Feature Editor

Abhijeet Ahluwalia Out and About

Leah Nedahl Politics/Debates

Enjoli Liston Comment Editor

The following lovely people also contribute to the Free Press: Jane Cranfield, Laurence Phillips, Adam Caris, Gareth Hart, Miranda Bryant, Laura Goldman, Alex Britton, James Haywood, Paula Walters, Lydia Harris, Alice Reed, Laura Evans, Holly Grand, William Zach, Kenny Oldham, Claire Mathews, Leah Nedahl, Julia Granersby, Jiaojiao Rong, Peter Jefferson, Assed Khan, Ashleigh Mason, Thomas Holcroft, Paul Collier, Jane Winters, Joe Longford, Amanda Watts, Jonny Barnes, Dave Potters, Rachel Wills, Martin Brooks, Rheem Al-Adhami, Alex Lambert

Growing pains for college nursery New survey results show the nursery waiting list is too long, but management still won’t budget Adam Caris Funny job title Goldsmiths Senior Management have refused to give way under pressure from the SU to renew plans for a bigger on campus nursery. Senior Management member Philip Broadhead responded to the SU demands with only a guarantee that “over the next 6 months focus groups will be set up”.

Currently Goldsmiths has a 35-place nursery but only 8 of the places are used by students. The Student’s Union campaigned to scupper plans to out-source the facility last summer.

Two years ago Goldsmiths Senior Management had detailed proposals to create a new 45-place nursery on campus. It was then discovered that estimated costs had been miscalculated and Senior Management was not willing to provide the greater funds required.

More recently, Management had argued that the project is impossible due to a lack of space. However, students point out that only last term discussions were held with property developers INTO, about the possibility of selling off some of the college’s land.

This Easter, Senior Management will create the Estates Master Plan, a document outlining planning proposals for the next 10 years at Goldsmiths. The Students’ Union is demanding that a 50-

New common room success Gareth Hart Common room-aholic The Common Room and SU Café have proved during the first half of the Spring term to be popular additions to the Students Union.

Dinam Sbardelotte who is heading the Café operating from the space on the 1st floor of the Tiananmen building said it had been “busier than expected”

place nursery is once again included in the plan, as it had been two years ago.

The Union has stated that “the (current) nursery always has a significant waiting list and it is clear that more places would be used by the College community if they could be made available”.

Goldsmiths has a large number of Postgraduate students and the Union is planning a survey to assess exact numbers of student parents.

In 07/08 Goldsmiths made a surplus of 3 million pounds. The Union argues therefore that a 50-place nursery is easily financially sustainable. Communications Officer Jennifer Jones said “What Goldsmiths can’t afford is making prospective students with caring responsibilities over-look Goldsmiths courses due to lack of provisions, and instead enrolling with our competitors.”

“We are asking Management to invest in a new 50-place nursery to ensure that for Goldsmiths students, being a parent is never a barrier to education.”

Results from last terms Student Parents survey are out, with findings such as ‘30% of student parents say they regularly find it hard to attend class because of their childcare commitments’ and that ‘the main reason for student parents not using the on-campus nursery is because the waiting list is too long’. Go to www. goldsmithsstudents.com/studentparentsurvey to see more results. and was hoping to “try new things, new food, different drinks, see what students want, whether certain dishes are popular” over the coming month before Easter break.

Karl Rosen Darrell said “the Café is the best thing that’s happen in the SU. I have to commute to college from South West London and it’s great to have a space to hang out where there’s no pressure to buy anything. It’s really created a thriving atmosphere. And I’ve actually visited the bar more once this shuts at 7pm, I’d never have thought of drinking in my own Union before. It feels much more like a community of students through out the whole building now”.

Occupation wins four scholarships continued from page 1...

Patrick Butterfield addressed the group, stating that in total, Senior Management had offered 4 scholarships, 2 reserved for Palestine, either Al-Quds Open University or Beizet University and 2 others ‘for students from any part of the world which is affected by oppression, persecution, political or military strife such that their human right to education is denied to them’. These scholarships will cover accommodation costs and flights. After 10 years a review of the scholarship scheme will be conducted at a 1 member 1 vote meeting consisting of entirely students.

Campaigns Coordinator James Haywood told us “it’s been an amazing success. The support from lecturers has been fantastic and security and senior management have been very good natured about it all. Usually I’m arguing whether we can do a cake stall in the Main Corridor with security and here they are commending us for managing an occupation so peacefully!”.

After a night of celebration in Deptford Town Hall, with music from local New Cross band United Vibrations, the occupation ended at 10am Friday morning of the 13th of February, less than 48 hours after it had begun. If you have any lost property from the occupation it has been handed in to the SU reception.

If you’d like to comment on or suggest anything for the Common Room or SU Café email rheemaladhami@yahoo. co.uk or pop into the SU offices.

Snowed in? Send us your photos!

On the 1st and 2nd February, over 6 inches of snow caused the college to close for the first time in 3 years.

Whatever you got up to in the snow,

Internal Communications would like to use your photos in the college prospectus and website. Email them to r.watts@gold.ac.uk

News 3

No easy ride for Chinese students

Miranda Bryant Funny job title Chinese students at Goldsmiths feel excluded by their European peers, describing their experience so far as “disappointing”.

‘A welcoming environment for international students’ reads the Goldsmiths website, but on being asked about their first few weeks of university, many said their first impressions of the college did not live up to expectation, citing exclusion from British and European peers, cultural and language barriers and New Cross’s proximity to Central London as their primary reasons.

Chinese students form 27 per cent of the college’s student population, paying around £10,000 – double that of home students – for an MA in the hope of improving their English.

“I think it’s unfair,” said Miss Ruili Liu, 23, who studies MA Media & Communication. “We [Chinese students] think that the UK government wants to earn money from us.”

Considering the cost, Miss Liu said she doesn’t think the course is good value for money, with only three classes a week devoted to English, she expects to struggle alone with her essays.

Socially, those interviewed said that they found integrating with non-Asian students difficult.

Miss Peng Lu, 22, at first says she suffered from culture shock, unable to contribute in class or socially on her

course. She said she felt “alienated” because she found it difficult to understand what people were saying.

Concerns were also expressed about safety in the New Cross area. All of the students interviewed had been worried about its notoriety for crime, and some had heard of incidences of specific attacks on Chinese students.

The problem could be widespread across the student Asian population according to Mr Jonathan Yip, 29, from Hong Kong. He said he found it difficult to befriend Europeans, who he said form an introspective group. He said, “I couldn’t imagine going for nights out with European students.”

Like many universities, Goldsmiths relies strongly on international intake for funding. But some of the students interviewed said they had been unprepared for the reality of New Cross and its distance from the city’s main sights.

The college press office said it was unable to comment on specific cases.

Despite fears higher education in this country may face a drop in Chinese intake this year due to the global shift in power from West to East, it reached a record high.

Nearly 5,000 starting higher education courses in the UK this academic year, bringing the current total to 75,000 students. The millions of pounds students bring to the sector is a crucial cash injection upon which universities are becoming increasingly reliant.

Democracy on trial Students split over possibility of student meeting Laura Goldman Funny job title Dubbed the ‘referendum on democracy’, the results of whether students want a Student Meeting back ended in a near tie, with the YES campaign losing a majority by just 35 votes. The referendums start was delayed by the snow fall and college closure, so was moved forward 2 days to Wednesday 4th – Monday 9th of February.

The week proved incredibly hectic on the Main Corridor with many students avoiding the area of the ballot box so not to be bombarded with leaflets. YES campaigner James Haywood said “it’s a shame we’re still stuck in a situation where students can’t make decisions in their own Union but we’ve at least proved there are some out there who do want to participate fully”.

The referendum, called by a petition of over 500 students had no organized NO campaign until the actual week of the ballot. The week before when a formal debate on the topic was organized in The Stretch lacked any speakers for the NO side.

Officially with 633 voting students, 299 voted YES with 334 voting NO. These results indicate students are split on the matter, with 47% voting YES and 53% voting NO. What’s next for the Campaign for Democracy? Womens Officer Rheem Al-Adhami told us “we’ll try and work with the sub-standard system we have now. We’d love it if someone not on the Assembly submitted a motion for us to vote on. We’ll see what students want next year, and until then, it’d be great if someone that wasn’t us called a referendum”.

Bye Bye INTO

Student and staff delight as college walks away from controversial international student deal Alex Britton Funny job title In a statement made to the Academic Board Goldsmiths Warden Geoffry Crossick said “INTO are an option no longer worth considering”.

The Students’ Union SAY NO TO INTO campaign conducted an online referendum last term with results showing out of 475 students voting, only 4 thought INTO would be positive for Goldsmiths reputation as an academic institution. Resultting in 471 (over 95%) voting that any proposal to sell off our land to INTO would worsen the colleges status.

Campaigns Coordinator James Hay-

wood gave us this statement: “I think it’s fantastic that joint campaign work between the staff UCU branch, Goldsmiths UNISON and the Students’ Union, all working together has paid off so well. This also really shows what can happen when we engage students in our campaigning and how much they respond if asked their opinions on matters and that management are moveable on issues when real opposition is galvanised”.

The SU will continue its Goldsmiths Not For Profit campaign into the next term, focusing more on support for the on-campus nursery and anti-scolarest work, now that all possibilities with INTO appear to have faded.

Did you know..?

Goldsmiths started life as a Naval College in 1843. By 1981, it had been re-founded by the ‘Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths’ (as in the gold and silver smiths and, now, jewellers).

So that’s where the name comes from, the Goldsmiths moniker still sticking even after the guild passed the college over to be part of the University of London in 1904.

4 Features

Being a male feminist James Haywood In touch with his inner feminist The fact that “male feminist” may seem an odd label speaks volumes about the ingrained values of sexism today. For example, a white antiracist seems perfectly valid, so why is it that when a man claims to be a feminist, (that is, a campaigner for women’s rights) this seems so out of place?

Let’s be clear, men will not lead the fight for gender equality. This struggle for equality must be led and fought for by women, with men supporting this in every possible way. Therefore this article is not a strategy or action plan to fight the decaying vermin of patriarchal society. However, being male and being brought up in the “laddish” culture of my teens, I do have some interesting perspectives of the feminist movement.

As an insecure teenager nestled within a group of male peers, laddish culture became second nature to us. It was a useful cover up for our inefficiencies and lack of direction in life. A successful night out was a “pull” with a “bird”; we wanted to be footballers for “girls, money and fame”.

In fact, in those years it was difficult to converse with the opposite sex without measuring up the possibilities of “hooking up” with her. If a female showed you any attention, “she fancied you”. Ironically the more we embraced “laddism” the more we pushed ourselves further away from our ultimate goal – women that were genuinely romantically interested in us. You see this is key to laddish culture, the woman is

the prize, like a medal you wear round your neck. A girlfriend was to be shown off in front of friends, sex with her was narrated to mates like a football game.

The reason I stress this episode of my life is that, when it came to embracing feminism, I was swept off my feet by the concept of raunch culture being supposedly progressive for the women’s movement.

The argument seems pretty simple: us men feel inferior, enslaved by women’s sexuality and beauty, we ogle at them sliding down poles in expensive clubs and haplessly part with our money for more; the power relationship seems indisputable. However this is a myth, how can anyone continually rendered an object, a sum of body parts, have any power? But for while this power relationship appears to favour the woman, looked up to, possibly admired; in reality what is created is the propagation of the female form as a sexual object to be used and abused as seen fit. If I put my 50p into the vending machine I expect that chocolate to fall in the dispenser for me to use; if it doesn’t I get furious and rock the machine until half the contents are in my possession. Equally, if a woman/machine doesn’t deliver to the man what he so demanded, the situation turns ugly. And this is no joke, let me illustrate...

My partner and her friends went to Paris recently to party in the City of Love. Whilst walking through a busy high street they were jumped on, almost continuously, by packs of men in full view of the Parsian nightlife in the most revolting manner. Bums were smacked, hair was pulled, abuse was thrown and

when my partner growled in anger at one of these hyenas, he immediately cocked his fist back ready to floor her.

On my way to a protest last November I encountered an old school friend on the train up; her story involved walking through a street in Croydon and having her rear end slapped. Her angry response earned her a punch in the eye so hard it knocked her unconscious, and the courteous gentlemen left her comatose on her own.

An interesting pattern is emerging here. It seems those women who wish to accept their space is their to be invaded, that sexuality is for sale and accept their status as a commodity, but for those who wish to opt out from this occupation society doesn’t seem so happy.

In fact it appears my 14 year old sister, donned in school uniform, still doesn’t escape the sexual harassment earned by the raunch culture of tabloids, as middle aged men working on a building site would interpret it.

Why are there such unbelievably high levels of rape in this country? Has the memory of the Ipswich prostitutes murdered by a sexually absorbed man, obsessed with violent porn, faded from the minds of those who propagate raunch culture as something natural? Objectifying women this way has horrific consequences and the vending machine metaphor doesn’t seem so abstract after all. We need to reach a point in society where power dynamics between the sexes no longer exist, where one sex is not continually objectified and where we have true equality, not the false version of ‘empowerment’ and ‘choice’ seen in the Miss University of London contest.

Can’t find anything to read? Make your own ‘zine!

Lydia Harris Unsatisfied with a narrow selection of glossy, brightly colored fashion magazines, more and more young people are venturing away from those media bibles filled with break-up remedies and weight-loss solutions by creating publications of their own.

Thanks, once again, to the wonders of the Internet, and more exclusively MySpace, everyone from twentysomethings to emo kids have developed

websites and online groups devoted to spreading the word about their ‘zines.

Here’s a 5 step ‘How To’ guide: 1. Gather a group of friends and decide a topic for the ‘zine. ‘Zines usually have a particular theme but this isn’t entirely necessary.

2. Nab pictures from other magazines or the net, and choose the ones which illustrate your wonderfully subversive and original articles best.

3. Plaster them with Prit-Stick over

whatever paper size you want your ‘zine to be. Make sure to match up the pages correctly or this will lead to much frustration later when it comes to putting all the pages on top of each other.

4. Draw all over the backgrounds... they’re dying to be filled with your doodles and amusing anecdotes.

5. Hey presto your ‘zine is here! Now head to the library to run off 500 copies.

If all your friends pitch-in that should only be around £20 on your college library card!

Two minutes with Tony Benn

Paula Walters Tony Benn spoke to over 300 students last term (200 were stuck outside as they couldn’t get in due to the capacity of The Stretch…) and was made ‘Students’ Union Honorary President’ at the end of last year.

Tony took two minutes with us to answer our questions...

What was your time at New College like? What was the political climate at Oxford like?

My time at Oxford was dominated by the war which we discussed endlessly and by the shape of post-war politics in which many ex-servicemen and women joined when they got back. There was very little social life of the kind which existed before the war and has come back now. Student campaigning revolved around that.

What do you think of the student movement today (in terms of campaigning, being vocal etc.)?

It’s very different and I suppose I’d like to see a resurgence of activism.

As a fomer Union president, what did you think of Nick Griffin of the BNP being asked to speak?

I would not have invited Nick Griffin to the Union. Most certainly not.

What role can students play within the anti-war movement?

Many students are now in the Anti-war movement and more would be welcome. Students make fantastic campaigners and I’m very proud of the students in Stop-the-War Coalition.

If you’re interested in the Stop-theWar Coalition go to www.stopwar. org.uk. The Goldsmiths Stop-the-War group meets every Tuesday evening at 5:15pm in RHB 143.

Local Hero

Famous 16th century playwright Christopher Marlowe was murdered in Deptford. His death was put down to a pub brawl, but rumours of him being an undercover spy have led some to believe his demise was a state sponsored assassination. Knife crime has since risen dramatically in the area.

Features 5

A potted history of Goldsmiths If asked to guess the activities of an average Goldsmiths student today, you’d presumably cite many creative, arty pursuits, along with a healthy dose of muso-ism, accompanied most likely by politically conscious debating and protest.

But rewind 150 years and the inhabitants of what is still the main building would have been engaged in rather different endeavours. Bizarrely enough, the spiritual ancestors of New Cross were not tortured artists, rebellious rockstars or committed activists – they were servicemen in the Royal Navy.

After 50 years of life as a sailorschool, a transformation akin to the Incredible Hulk’s began. Goldsmiths’ Technical and Recreative Institute was founded in 1891 and was dedicated to ‘the promotion of technical skill, knowledge, health and general well-being among men and women of the industrial, working and artisan classes’.

‘Artisans’ in that era meant pretty basic handicrafts, – nothing like your Damien Hirst or your Antony Gormley. And industrial, working classes meant just that - the local residents, not today’s national and international students.

The ascent into mainstream-university world began at the turn of the century, when the then fairly infantile University of London acquired the buildings. This was also the moment that the notorious “Goldsmiths’ College” comma was first born. The errors, hesitation and puntuational confusion it caused over the years! (Many a good man was lost investigating the mysteri-

ous grammatical affair of the genitive case.) Long decades of struggle ensued to rid the world of its pernicious influence…and one fine day in 1993, finally the name was rebranded and the ghosts of all those possessive goldsmiths laid to rest once and for all: it became purely ‘Goldsmiths College’. (Some people got a big kick out of the new found simplicity and in 2006 evicted the word ‘College’ as well but that’s another – equally fascinating – story.)

The drama didn’t finish there. During World War II the main building was gutted by an incendiary bomb, and in typical college fashion wasn’t repaired fully for seven years. Fortunately some bright spark had evacuated the students and faculty to Nottingham, but the Nazis strategical aim of disabling all production of still-life, landscape and self-portraiture in South East London is thought to have been achieved.

As the current crop of Hollywood movies remind us, the 1950s was a simply horrible time that should not be spoken of. Happily, in the 1960s, Goldsmiths, like all things that decade, basically got a lot bigger and better. In the seventies the only incident of note appears to be the rumoured behaviour of then Warden Richard Hoggart, said to have barricaded students protesters inside their occupied building and denied them food or water. Over the years sociologist Paul Gilroy, most members of Blur and Placebo, the odd politician, all British artists worth their salt and DJs Alex Zane and Rob da Bank graduated from our esteemed institution. The history of the future has, by definition, yet to be written.

Club Sandwich Etiquette Top 5 tips to surviving a Wednesday night…

Alice Reed

1) Alcohol.

Sandwich is about alcohol. Selling drinks at Sandwich is one of the main ways the Students’ Union makes dough (though Events over all reportedly lose over 25 grand a year… ouch). But too much alcohol can cause problems. It is fine to be drunk at Sandwich, but turning up absolutely smashed is going to cause issues. You’ll be struck as to why Sergio the polite Polish Bouncer won’t let you in. You’ll then start acting like a prat. If you get inside, your first action is likely to be pushing your way to the bar. We are in Britain remember and queuing is in our blood, no one will react kindly to your disregard of such cultural norms. You knock over peoples drinks, spilling Coroner all over someone’s lovely HnM skinny jeans. If you were in a pub you’d buy them another, but at Sandwich you don’t. Stop being an idiot and get some manners.

And if you’re so inebriated you’re going to puke, do it over the balcony like everybody else.

2) Outfit.

Two opposite problems have emerged in recent years. One is the lack of students dressing up for Sandwich. Most nights jeans and day-glow t-shirts are uniform for the boys, whilst colourful bangles and skirts for girls. Sandwich is once a week, not exactly a special occasion, but for god’s sake people make an effort. The other annoying Sandwich habit is of course over-dressing.

It’s not China White – you are going to get in. Sometimes without a Student Card (thanks Sergio). There is no reason to look like you’ve spent 5 hours in front of the mirror due the fact you’re wearing a) too much make-up b) a tie or c) an outfit that screams ‘I’m trying way too hard to be cool and appear to have been transported from 1980s downtown New York’.

3) “It’s getting hot in here; so KEEP ON all your clothes”.

Men, please, please take off your shirt in the privacy of your own room, when sober, and think long and hard about whether you can pull off wandering around Sandwich at 3am looking

like that. Some of you are severely offputting. Oh whilst we’re on the topic of inappropriate clothing (or lack of), and by that I don’t mean overly ‘sexy’, but that any leather jacket with spikes on, aside from being ridiculous, will result in a massively breaching strict SU Healthy & Safety regulations.

4) The Green Room.

The lower bar is where Sandwich for many comes alive. The ‘vaguely’ adrenalin filled, ‘sort of’ sweat-soaked raves put on down there have been some of my fondest Goldsmiths memories. But alas, I still have things to moan about. Firstly, don’t be a moron and try to either pull people down off the upper ramp area, over the metal bar, or try and climb up there to dance wildly above everyone’s heads. No one will think you’re daring and cool, plus you’ll fall and look obscenely stupid. It may be a closer environment, with lower ceilings and a much smaller room than The Stretch but this doesn’t mean you should automatically attempt to drunkenly grind against some poor innocent 1st Year in a fit of ‘I just fell over and am pretending not to care’ rage.

5) Freshers.

Freshers please remember that there are Second and Third years at Goldsmiths who still attend Sandwich even though we now have course-work that actually counts towards the final mark of our degree. Of course there are going to people you didn’t know existed.

That is no reason to pretend they don’t exist as you bulldoze through them. If I got Free Entry for every time I’ve been dancing in a circle with my friends (which is what everyone does right?) and in the middle of the song some 18 year old has barged through, I’d be at least £25 richer. Sandwich is where us Second and Third years leave the library and let our hair down. Let us do it in peace. If you don’t, kittens will die, you’ll go blind, be sent to hell and most importantly I’ll get irritated.

So there you are, 5 simple rules. Follow them and the ultimate Sandwich experience is yours. Don’t and you may as well quit now, rip up your unflattering ID card and apply for University of Arts whilst you’re ahead.

Stuck between two smug Oxbridge graduates at a dinner party?

Put them in their place with a list of Goldsmiths’ famous alumni...

Graham Coxon & Alex James, 2 members of Blur (muscians) • Brian Molko (Placebo singer) • Manya King (founder of the MOBO awards) Malcolm MaclareN (Sex Pistols’ manager) • Viviene Westwood (fashion designer) • Mary Quant (fashion designer) • Julian Clary (comedian)

6 Features

Interview your lecturer Dr Richard Grayson from the Politics Dept talks to the Free Press What University did you take your undergraduate degree at? And what was studying at that University like?

I was at the University of East Anglia in 1987-91 (I was there for four years because I was a students’ union sabbatical). University was quite different to now in that there were far fewer students. In particular, that made some special subject seminars much smaller than they would be now (no more than ten students), which could make for some very engaged discussions (if everyone did the reading beforehand!). In addition, we had nothing like the level of debt faced now as this was before even student loans. People used to think that a £500 overdraft was frightening.

Particular fond memories of being a student?

I suppose most of all it would be all the friends I made, plus managing to afford to travel down to London from

Norwich to see most QPR home games.

I also had a very interesting time as General Secretary of the Students’ Union in 1989-90. UEA was so left-wing that it didn’t have President which was, apparently, elitist, but General Secretary did all the presidential things, so I got a really good insight into student life generally.

What were the greatest challenges of student life for you personally?

In the early days, being away from home was hard. I also found the aggressive self-confidence of some students quite challenging in seminars, but most them calmed down in time.

Now you’re a lecturer what aspects of your subject interests you most?

In terms of the job as a whole, I find the balance of teaching and research just right and very much value the dialogue between the two – in fact, two students who have just completed their degrees

are reading drafts of my latest book and telling me how it can be improved. In terms of subject matter, the material that I am currently working on, relating to West Belfast and the First World War, is definitely the most interesting because it is at the cutting edge of history and politics, and uses a completely new methodology to map military service on a street-by-street basis.

What qualities/sentiments do you think best describe the goldsmiths student body?

I think Goldsmiths students are thoughtful, provocative (in the best possible sense) and generally pretty hard-working.

Dr Richard Grayson is Head of Politics & Senior Lecturer in British and Irish Politics at Goldsmiths, University of London: www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/ politics/staff/grayson.php

Student area under review: Telegraph Hill Laura Evans Likes hills, hates telegraphs Telegraph Hill is a leafy suburb to the west of Goldsmiths. This area boasts the highest property prices of the local area and is home to huge amounts of grassy park area that also features tennis and basketball courts.

Up-sides Due to its Victorian architecture and the fact its one of the safest places to live in New Cross, Telegraph Hill has become a highly desirable place. Due to its parks and lack of crime, the area has attracted many young families, and also due to its popularity with students, an excellent sense of community has developed. The suburb is ‘suburban’ in the most typical sense (think washing lines, trees and friendly neighbours walking their dogs) you’d almost mistake it for being outside of London, certainly far beyond Zone 2.

The politics of the area are somewhat progressive, certainly for Lon-

don, the same city that recently elected Boris ‘gosh how funny, what a legend’ Johnson. Telegraph Hill has two Socialist Party councillors and the political awareness of the area can be seen everywhere, from noticeable number of eco-friendly vehicles to the ‘No to Heathrow Expansion’ window stickers, the residents are obviously politically engaged to a higher degree than the rest of New Cross.

Down-sides Families aren’t simply the cheerful neighbours one would imagine. Most students have stories of parents descending on doorsteps at 10:30 at night to ask for music to be turned down due to little ‘Sebastian’s’ bedtime. I’ve had my own experiences of what happens if you park your Renault Cleo that slight inch too close to ‘Roger and Susan’s’ Rover estate (a cardinal sin in suburbia-land). These likable liberal families, so concerned with their recycling and Guardian subscriptions, suddenly become hell bent on explaining how the

parking space outside their house is legally theirs. Park there again and you’ll feel the wrath of written notes under your wind-screen wiper. Eco-friendly they may be but equally materialist and possessive as the rest of us they are.

Another minus to the area is the amount of children living in Telegraph Hill and presumably due to the aforementioned over-zealous parents writing letters to the council, the roads are littered with speed bumps and bollards designed to curb your speed. There’s nothing wrong with driving slowly, but the placing of these bollards and dead-ends mean that Telegraph Hill works much like a rabbit-warren with only one way in and one way out.

To sum up...

Telegraph Hill is an incredibly soughtafter area for a reason; it’s friendly, safe and has some of the most attractive living quarters in New Cross. It’s possibly, in my estimation and I bet anyone else who’s ever lived there, one of the best places to live in Lewisham.

What’s left to do?

Peter Tachell recently gave a talk at Goldsmiths called ‘What’s left to do’? as part of LGBT History Month. He answered our questions afterwards: What do you think of the current gay rights movement?

I think there’s a lot left to do and not enough people realise it.

Do you have a view in ‘queer politics’ or ‘queer theory’?

Queer when I started out in politics was a very different term and I use it today as anything that means nonheteronormative whether to do with gender or sexuality. I think this is its best use.

What’s your opinion on the organization Stonewall?

Stonewall have done some good work but I still believe civil partnership is unsatisfactory and we shouldn’t stop there. I don’t personally believe the state should be able to license relationships but if it does, there should not be a two tier system in place for homosexuals and heterosexuals. I think it’s wrong straight people can’t get civil partnered! We should all have the same system if one has to be there.

What role do you think the Student Movement has to play in LGBT Liberation?

An incredibly vital one. Young gay people have the power to decide where the movement will be in 20 years time.

If you could change one thing about the world what it be?

Oh, what a question! Less war, less oppression, equality for all…

Peter Tatchell is a member of the Green Party and in 1999 attempted a citizens arrest on Robert Mugabe at an airport in Brussels.

Alex Zane (presenter) • Lucian Freud (artist) • Anthony Gormley (artist) • Damien Hirst (minted artist) • Julian Opie (not quite so minted artist) Darren Johnson (Brockley Green Party councillor) • Tessa Jowell (Labour MP) • Harry McCarthy (yachtsman and renowned gangster)

Out and About 7

453: A London Odyssey Why the bus is the best way for Goldsmiths students to go sightseeing

Creative jobs in the ‘real world’ Holly Grand

Abhijeet Ahluwalia There are two kinds of people in the world – those who love sightseeing and those who just couldn’t be bothered. Now I wouldn’t suggest for one moment that the latter are lazy, boring and uninspired, mostly because I fall under the latter category as well.

But one has to admit, it gets uncomfortable when friends and family ask what you’ve seen in London and Amir’s chicken is the only reply you can muster. So you can either start telling your folks you’ve gone and seen the Marquis of Granby and hope they never bother to google ‘him’, or you can hop on to Bus no. 453.

In many ways the 453 is like a tourist bus started specifically for Goldsmiths students new to London. Plying between Deptford and Marylebone, it stops right in front of college. What follows can be effectively called a London Tour. You’ll hit Westminster Bridge road soon, which is where London Eye is located. For those who may not have heard of this landmark (shame on you!), the London Eye is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the UK, with over 3 million people visiting each year. On a clear day you can get a bird’s eye view of the city from a height of 443 feet! Big Ben is straight across the bridge, so you can visit both

in one go.

Parliament Square is the next major stop, with Trafalgar Square less than a mile away. Both are quite popular with tourists, and a great place to get some nice looking photos to show your friends later. The real fun starts at the next few stops though, since you’ll now be passing Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street a.k.a. shopper’s heaven.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a major brand or label that doesn’t have a store somewhere here, and you could spend hours walking around all the shops in the area. Window shopping is just as much fun if you’re on a tight budget.

Best of all, Buckingham Palace is less than a mile away, and Hyde Park is only half a mile away from the Palace!

The last leg of the route takes you to Baker Street tube station, literally the front gate of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, a landmark that needs no introduction. As an added bonus the Sherlock Holmes Museum is only half a mile away on foot.

A one way trip is guaranteed to take up your entire day, so keep aside plenty of time. You can purchase a one day bus pass from any bus stop, which allows you unlimited use of any bus for £3.50, so you can get around without going bankrupt. And when you’re done, the 453 will drop you right at the college doorstep!

A common anxiety shared by many students concerns their graduation prospects; in the wake of a new academic year it can be difficult to find your footing in such an overwhelming environment. With such an active student population, it’s easy to feel lost in a sea of creative ambition and feeling you can’t distinguish yourself from the crowd.

Most students feel the same way.

This may be less reassuring for those still irritated by the treatment of their degrees in the hands of the popular press and academic elite. It certainly doesn’t inspire or motivate to hear those awfully repetitive accusations of creative degrees being “Mickey mouse” or “soft degrees”.

However, employers are increasingly recruiting from creative subjects and 40% of all graduate vacancies do not specify a particular subject. Perhaps this serves to dismiss such opinions as cultural elitism from an archaic minority With that said, it’s also easy to become enchanted by Goldsmiths’ glittering artistic alumni, links into industry and reputation for unconventional, innovative teaching, many overlook the practicalities involved in what is undeniably a competitive area. The popularity of degrees in creative arts has increased 9% between 2006 and 2007, 3.4% above the subject average, according to a study published by the Institute of Careers Guidance. This means you are competing against an increasing number of graduates for employment. Whilst it would be delightful to simply graduate with unlimited potential at your fingertips with which you can carve your way through the industry, distinguishing yourself from the competition will inevitably be an active process in addition to achieving qualifications.

Believe it or not, this article doesn’t intend to dishearten or terrify, but to bring your attention the huge wealth of resources available that many students simply don’t think to consult during their time at Goldsmiths. The careers service is still under-exploited despite the bright magenta posters peppering the campus walls. Many graduate with

little to show that they’re prepared to go beyond what is expected of them, which is precisely what employers are looking for; Park Human Resources published a survey of top employers in 2007 that revealed they ‘are more concerned with transferable skills and work experience than degree discipline’.

The Free Press spoke with the careers department based here at Goldsmiths to hear their take on the situation and the subject of conversation certainly highlighted the importance of going ‘over and above’. Fostering genuine interest for your study area outside of your degree programme is essential.

During the interview, it was suggested by the head of department, Anne Francis, that perhaps the title “careers service” is somewhat restrictive in describing what the department actually does. (Many may be reminded of those terribly inanimate compulsory CV workshops during high school, when you were too young to have achievements worth mentioning). Even the word ‘careers’ bears connotations of formality and restriction to very menial and bureaucratic placements. This is, of course, misleading; for many typical Goldsmiths students, their academic undertaking means much more than just a ‘job’ – it represents a wider lifestyle choice, which the careers department aims to facilitate. Being affiliated with the University of London, it has access to a cornucopia of opportunities available exclusively to you that far exceeds the capabilities of a standard university-based service.

As well as the college’s Creative Enterprise society (which organises frequent talks with industry representatives and also runs great creative workshops), there are many initiatives out there to help students based in London that cater for every type of student, from the truly bewildered in need of some kind of vague starting point, to those with a much clearer picture of what they want to achieve. The fact of the matter is that with increasing numbers of graduates every year, competition is stiff. With an estimated 30 applicants for every graduate vacancy, according to the AGR, students can no longer rely on their degrees alone to guarantee employment. There is no excuse to procrastinate!

Did you know..?

Hirst’s £50m skull marked a welcome departure from chopping up cows

Goldsmiths has produced more Turner Prize winners and nominees than any other University.

These include Anthony Gormley (won 1994), Damien Hirst (1995) and Steve McQueen (1999)

8 Culture Film reviewS

Music review

Lilly Allen does ‘self-aware’ Claire Mathews

Valkyrie William Zach Valkyrie is the new Tom Cruise film where soldiers in the German Army attempt to assassinate Hitler. Any film with Tom Cruise in usually sends me running to weep at the feet of Danny Boyle, but in this, as with Interview with the Vampire, poor Tom actually manages not to ruin the entire film.

I left the cinema believing the soldiers involved in the plot against Hitler were the most courageous men who’ve ever lived. However I discovered the film has received massive criticisms about whether it accurately depicts the ‘true-life’ events it’s based on.

In reality the soldiers involved in Hitler’s 15th assassination attempt had served as high ranking Nazi Officers for years, complicit in war crimes, concentration camp atrocities and only revolted when it was clear the war was lost and their number was up.

These men are remembered around

Germany, celebrated at holocaust museums, but why is their resistance, in the latter stages of the war, equated with those who perished because they resisted from the very beginning? A film about the up-rising in the Warsaw Ghetto would’ve been far more worth while. The distortion in this film of the high-ranking soldiers as self-less heroes is total misrepresentation and belittles those who did not put self-preservation over what they knew was right.

Valkyrie has an excellent script with impressive cinematography, but if you do intend to fork out £10 to see it, remember it’s largely a work of exaggerated fiction. It’s very easy to get caught up in how powerful the film is and as a viewer you’re forced to invest in the soldiers, praying for them to be successful (though as we know from history they met a very sticky end…) so do root for them, but keep in perspective that the story in real-life was not nearly as ‘Hollywood’.

Woody Allen returns to form Kenny Oldham Woody Allen has not had a money making hit since Match Point – a film that whilst audiences flocked to buy tickets, it disappointed many of his fans in its move away from New York and away from his usual distinct Allen-esq. style. What ‘style’ do you mean? Well, it didn’t mention psycho-analysis, the holocaust and scream ‘identity crisis’ every 5 minutes. So does Allen need to stick to a simple formula or is pleasing everyone impossible?

After another attempt at murder mystery with Scoop (zero dollars, but cult fans love it), Allen sticks with current muse Scarlett Johansson in new

film Vicky Christina Barcelona, one that has scored at the box-office, alongside critics and has set die-hard Allen fans raving.

Without revealing too much, if you’d like to see Penelope Cruz kiss Scarlett Johansson whilst also reminiscing about what a marvellous auteur director Allen is, then this film is for you.

Woody makes Barcelona seem like the most beautiful place on earth, while the plot twists and turns in Allen’s trademark way, with romance and sexuality implicit at the films centre. Allen relies on yet another cast of rich, white people to carry the plot, but if you can stand that feature Vicky Christina Barcelona is the must see of this month.

Lilly Allen’s new single ‘The Fear’ has shot straight to number 1. With lyrics like “I want to be rich and I want lots of money” and “I want loads of clothes and fuckloads of diamonds” the irony could be lost if she didn’t end this particular verse with “I heard people die while they are trying to find them”.

It seems Lilly has become critical of the life of fame and fortune, deciding to scorn celebrity (“I’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless, ‘Cuz everyone knows that’s how you get famous) and even taking a pop at The Sun newspaper.

What someone should remind Allen is that though she may be lambasting the Britney’s and Paris Hilton’s of this world, she still chooses to operate in the same industry and has to present been entirely willing to make herself into a sexual commodity. Even if it’s a slightly different one that isn’t as typical (not size zero, not blond etc).

She may not take her clothes off but appearing on the front of gay magazine GT saying “I’ve snogged lesbian twins” isn’t a million miles away in terms of titillation.

The whole message of Allens song is evident in the title, this supposed ‘fear’ she sings that she’s ‘being taken over’ by. Actually, though young women do think “Now everything’s cool as long as I’m getting thinner” Lilly Allen is not breaking the mould half as much as she believes. If she truly thinks celebrity culture and the music industry are exploitative (I think we can take Amy Winehouse as Example A) then why doesn’t she leave? Because actually it’s a lot easier to keep making money and enjoying your success. Songs like ‘The Fear’ simply alleviate some of Allen’s misgivings about her chosen career path.

Lilly and her management probably think this song is subversive (and worth big bucks), and it is a vague attack on the Big Brother generation who’s motto is undoubtedly ‘get famous quick any way possible’ and I hope it seeps into the minds of youngsters reminding them not all is rosy in the celebrity world, but I suspect it will in fact encourage more to join the throngs queuing for X Factor auditions.

BOOK review

Still On the Road, by Jack Kerouac Leah Nedahl I recently decided that it was about time that Jack and I became acquainted. This ‘to do’ was accelerated when I knew that I’d soon (and rather ironically) be visiting Florida, Kerouac’s death-place. So I’ve finally done it.

I’ve read On the Road.

It’s one of those student must reads and arguably the quintessential American Novel. Not only is it a truly fascinating book, with fantastic scenery, linguistic points of interest and a plot that twists more than the Spaghetti Junction, but Kerouac unhesitatingly yanks the reader on an exhilarating ride with his well-rounded characters Sal and Dean (based on his Beatnik buddies), jamming us all together in an old banger of a Buick going for gold at 110 mph.

Before the travels have gotten fully underway, Sal (and perhaps Kerouac)

views the American dream as ‘the last thing […] what you can’t get’.

However, Sal has something of a revelation when he feels that ‘the whole world opened up before [him] because [he] had no dreams.’ It seems that The Dream is always just out of reach when it is being hunted, but attainable once the dreamer has completely let go of everything, even hope for this reverie.

Kerouac succeeded in tying together the idea of The American Dream with the concept of The Great American Novel, merging the two holy grails to create a formidable force in the literary canon. The book traces the everyman’s desire ‘to go someplace, find something’ and because of this, is still highly relevant for the modern reader.

Feeling a bit lost and need some direction? Slightly off track perhaps?

Then follow my lead. Grab On the Road, a pocket atlas to pronto guidance and get yourself a piece of the dream.

Of the 8331 students studying at Goldsmiths, roughly 20% are from outside the UK.

And speaking of culture shocks, we couldn’t help laughing at these shocking translations... http://tinyurl.com/funnytranslations

Culture 9 Art & Exibitions

Student Culture

Roni Horn at the Tate Modern

Culture Shock

Julia Granersby

Jiaojiao Rong

When I came to Goldsmiths many of my fellow students were aghast about the fact I’d never visited the Tate Modern. It’s not due to lack of interest in Art, it simply never happened. On school trips I was always in the group that had to visit the London Eye for the 9th time that year and since sixth form I’ve simply spent too much time getting drunk/ cooking/watching television to visit.

I will be visiting on the 25th of February however, to see one of my favourite artist’s exhibitions open; a collection of work by Roni Horn. She’s an American artist who has been making work since the 1970s. Her work channels the legacy of minimalism yet allows clear development for her own concerns with memory and identity. Next month at the Tate Modern will be her first major museum show in the UK. Using rubber, glass and gold, Horn’s work has an immense beauty and sensuality to it. Least that’s what the website (and me!) claims.

The exhibition explores ideas that interest the artist about mutability and place. Her round, colourful cast-glass sculptures seem to have a liquid surface to them, and many of her photographs analyse the nature of water. Though based in New York, Horn is engaged with the landscape of Iceland, as a place which is constantly in a process of formation. In You are the Weather 1994–5, a set of 100 close-up photographs show a beautiful woman’s wet face with changing expressions emerging from hot pools around Iceland. She also photographs the landscape and animals, the geysers and lava fields. Horn is interested in the idea of pairing and doubling. Many of her intricately constructed drawings feature paired clusters of cut-up lines. She often uses two identical photographs in a single work, breaking up the images to give the viewer a sense of déjà vu, such as in Dead Owl 1998, two photographs of a stuffed snowy owl.

After looking at previews the whole owl/human interspersed thing I must admit it does look a bit creepy. However, I’d encourage all Goldsmiths students to attend this exhibition due to the gently woven ideas underlining Horn’s work, there’s far more to be discovered than any dead sheep or any message a dishevelled bed can convey!

When Christine Chen arrived at Heathrow Airport in August after 17-hour flight from Taiwan, she found what unfolded before her had nothing in common with her imagination of the capital where the sun never sets.

“I could barely see a face of White British, let alone their black umbrellas. The airport staff was Indian. Faces of Asians and Africans dominated the Terminal 3. I asked myself where I am indeed,” recalled Christine, a 22-yearold Goldsmiths MA student in Media and Communication.

After two months’ stay in London, Christine has gradually learned where she is – a truly unique world city of 270 nationalities. Over 250 languages are spoken in the city and it is home to Londoners from a huge array of backgrounds, traditions and cultures.

To trace this multicultural flavor, just make a start in Brick Lane to the north-east of the City, which the local Bangladeshis call a ‘home from home’.

Visiting Green Street in east London is almost like being in India. The spiritual home of Chinese London is Chinatown in the heart of London’s West End. Green Lanes in north London is the hub of Greek life. Edgware Road is the heartland of London’s Middle East community.

“There isn’t one type of Londoner - a Londoner these days could be a

white, British male from a deprived borough of the city to a wealthy Nigerian advertising executive,” said Susanna Lenton, 26, working for a marketing company in London.

“When I first moved to London, I lived in Shepherd’s Bush. Taking a look at the people on the bus around me, I realised that being white and British made me a minority in the make up of Londoners in that area – it felt like Somalis, Lebanese, Ethiopians or Australians were more likely to be the most typical Londoner there than someone like me,” said Susanna.

Chris O’Brien, 28, a freelancer who has lived in London for nearly three years after moving from Essex, defined a Londoner “as feeling a sense of belonging to the city and being willing to embrace the diversity it has to offer.”.

“I felt that London was a place I had a connection with - the energy it exudes, the cultural scene, a staggering choice of what to do and see. I enjoyed having the opportunity to tap into different communities whether it be shopping in a Lebanese supermarket or just walking through the Whitechapel market area,” said Chris.

“Unshockable” is what Adele Scott, studying Anthropology and Media at Goldsmiths, described what makes a Londoner.

“Nothing can surprise a Londoner.

We have seen it all and done it all. It is such an open city that you have the

freedom to break the norm and reinvent yourself,” said Adele, 23, who was born in London after her Jamaican parents emigrated in the late 1980s.

Proudly classifying herself as a Londoner, Adele said she didn’t feel alienated to her own culture, because “London allows you to follow your own culture and provides no barriers with other cultures.”

Katharine O’Brien agreed. “I think the multicultural background does raise London’s profile, and it makes it attractive to a variety of people and that helped us in our bid for 2012,” said Katharine, 20, a third-year student in St.Mary’s University College.

As London is often defined by visitors by those key buildings from classical history like Buckingham Palace or the Tower of London, Susanna thought that “London is really defined by the people from all around the world who have passed through it over the years and brought a little bit of their culture”.

Indeed, as Adele enjoyed her favorite Jamaican Jerk Chicken from back home, while calling the Topshop at Oxford Street her second home, and hanging out with her Hungarian and German friends, she said being a Londoner was all about “not pigeonholeing yourself.”

“Here in London, identity is fluid.

You can absorb, mix and match from other cultures without losing your own,” she said.

Are the Olympics in London are good thing?

In this issue’s debate, two Goldsmiths students give two very different perspectives…

10 Debate: the London Olympics FOR: The Olympics are to be celebrated

Britain has a proud sporting history.

We led the world for years and only in the last few decades have us wet, pasty types not dominated the global stage. The fact London won the bid to host the Olypics in 2012 means we are now a city on the map. We will be thought of as a global hub of activity for years, attracting greater levels of tourism and with it, big business.

Though Boris seems to be going on a spending spree with his budget of billions allocated for 2012, ordinary Londonders still stand to make money. Local businesses will gain more customers as foreigners pour in to support their countries teams. More jobs will emerge in construction as we prepare the infasstructure needed to host the event.

Anyone who believes politics are inherently mixed with the Olympics

should leave their pre-determined views at home. Protests over China were a bit far-fetched; the Olympics is simply about the athletes, not their government, it’s about showing which countries boast the major players in different sports, not about how they live back home.

The Olypmics also serves a fantastic job getting youngsters involved with sport. There are many children from deprived economic backgrounds that will not have the same opportunities in education as the rest of us. They can become socially mobile through other roots, and sport is just one of those roads.

I’ve heard rumours that college are planning to screen the Olympics on the backfield when 2012 comes and though I won’t be here to see it (fingers crossed for graduation), I’ll feel proud that we can collectively support or nations athletes and I’m sure it’ll create an amazing atmosphere on campus.

Cartoon courtesy of Chris Madden – chrismadden.co.uk

Peter Jefferson

Against: Boycott the Olympics Assed Khan For idealists, the Olympics are about men and women at the peak of their physical fitness competing in their specialised field, representing their respective countries.

For the realist, it is political, a war, a battle by another means. Countries face each other in the ring, pool and track fighting to top the medal table; America and China always near the top. The 2008 Olympic games, held in China have presented an opportunity for the western media to focus and scrutinise Chinas human rights record, one party state and anything else the ‘West’ frowns upon.

Before the games began, the Western media were suggesting political leaders boycott the games because of Chinas Human rights abuses and failure to pressure Sudan to act on the Darfur crisis.

Hilary Clinton called on George Bush to boycott the opening ceremony. The torch relay was disrupted in Britain and France, by protesters as Western politicians rallied, self-righteously, to boycott the Olympics. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg urged Gordon Brown to boycott the opening ceremony saying Gordon Brown should “take a stand for human rights”. Gordon Brown did not attend the opening ceremony, but insisted that it was not a boycott. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ca-

nadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper both decided not to attend the opening ceremony. Film director Steven Spielberg withdrew as artistic advisor for the Olympics.

At the opening ceremony, the media eagerly pointed out to viewers that no mention of the Tiananmen Square massacre or Tibet was made by China. The BBC described China as a “closed society” that was “xenophobic at times”.

British protesters scaled heights in Beijing with a free Tibet banner, and found themselves deported back to Britain.

All this self-righteousness seems hypocritical. The principals of opposing human rights are not applied consistently, namely Britain, America and Israel.

In the light of all this I would like to call for a boycott of the Olympics. Political leaders, dignitaries and anyone else of political worth should boycott the Olympics. Human rights, environmental, and all other form of activists should converge on the Olympics. Brandishing placards and banners, taking part in different types of direct action even try and disrupt the Olympic torch relay.

That’s right! I’m calling for the boycott of the 2012 Olympics to be held in London, Britain.

We should apply the same standards to Britain as we do to China. Britain has been involved in extraordinary rendition – flying prisoners to countries where the USA can torture them. The

illegal occupation of Iraq orchestrated

by America and Britain resulted in the deaths of over half a million civilians. Britain topped the arm sales list, no doubt due to the massive arms deal with the un-democratic Saudi regime.

Our treatment of asylum seekers, immigrants and Muslims is deplorable. The Sun, consistently, publishes a plethora of stories blaming minority groups for the ills of society. Britain’s refusal to use its political influence with Israel to stop the atrocities committed in Palestine. Palestinians subjected to a siege, constant attack, cut off from their relatives and livelihood by a wall, declared illegal by international law.

Britain has still not granted justice to the Chagossians who were forcibly removed from their island, in the Indian Ocean, to make way for an American military base. Britain continues to occupy Afghanistan in the name of stopping terrorism and spreading democracy.

How would Britain react if human rights activists scaled Big Ben and unveiled a banner; ‘let the Chagossians return’, ‘Free Ireland’ or ‘End the Occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine!’? It seems acceptable for us in the West to travel around the world and point fingers; tell people how they should be living their lives. If the boot was on the other foot, our media would react in the racist and xenophobic way it so attempts to hide. Will our media

down play any protests? Something they accuse China of doing.

Whilst protestors are in London, they should take the opportunity to protest against America as well. Since Britain, of late, seems to be an extension of America’s imperialistic arm.

‘Troops out of Iraq’, ‘Stop polluting the Earth’ and ‘down with fences and walls, against people who are only trying to return to their land!’ should be some of the slogans brandished at the 2012 Olympics.

I also expect the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics will show Britain’s role in the Slave trade, occupation of Ireland and Iraq. China boasted how they invented paper and the printing press in their opening ceremony, Britain can boast that we invented? Racism.

We in the west are in no position to point fingers. In no way am I justifying Chinas actions in Tibet or against its own citizens. However the double standards of the West cannot go unanswered.

Britain and America have killed millions, colonised and continue to support un-democratic regimes. The West’s legacy still scares the Earth, from East to West. The destruction of the environment lays testament to the West’s disregard for people in favour of corporate profit. Let the movement for the boycott of the 2012 Olympics begin.

People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Obama and McCain were smallfry.

The election of the century is only just starting... the Goldsmiths SU Elections, that is.

Remember to vote inside Loafers café from the 2nd-5th March.

Politics 11

No sweat at Primark?

I spotted this sign in a Primark window, put up, no doubt, as a response to all the recent documentaries calling Primark’s ethics into question. Many well-meaning people have since called for a boycott of Primark’s goods.

Now, I could be totally wrong but, alone, this strikes me as an idealistic response that rids the government of any responsibility.

I am a stern believer in collectivism but it must be understood within its context and coupled with other actions. There’s a reason why people shop at Primark and it’s not because of the delicate stitching and long lasting quality. People shop

there because it’s cheap. You try telling people living on Hull’s council estates that they should cease paying £8 for a pair of skinnies and dish out £80 for a pair of ethical jeans - it’s not going to happen.

The turn over of fashion is immense; you can buy a top that no-one would be seen wearing a month later. Therefore, cheap child/slave labour will continue in the current free market model as long as this intense demand for fashion exists.

The same issue arose with Nike back in 2000 where details emerged in a panorama documentary titled ‘No Sweat’ of the child labour that was being exploited to make their goods. As with Primark people demanded that we boycott Nike look where that got them: Nike’s profits rose by 28%. True it did raise awareness and Nike made a concerted effort to en-

sure that the opportunity for a repeat of such bad publicity was eliminated but it hasn’t rid the world of the problem.

Primark, Nike, Gap or any other company will continue to seek mass suply as long as there is a demand. This demand will persist unless we witness a culture change that runs against the increasing current of globalisation.

Boycotting goods are good for highlighting issues but to effect real change we need to be demanding our government looks to deal with the root cause of the issue rather than attempt to remedy them as and when they come.

We also need to ask ourselves what sort of world we want to live in and and whether our consciences will rest knowing we’re contributing to the poor living standards of many people across the globe.

static and one poor American student exclaimed drunkenly to me that he “no longer had to fee ashamed” about where he came from. But the fact of the matter is that everyone wants a hero and when you become part of the establishment nature demands your business card reads: Occupation: Villain.

What this President requires is a little bit of realism with dashing of perspective.

Obama’s most redeeming factor was his opposition to the war on Iraq from the outset so it’s really a case of America when choosing between McCain and Obama, that they’re picking two dots either side of a thin line rather than between a revolutionary and a conservative.

Obama’s success is undoubtedly a great symbolic victory in a land entrenched with the guilt of slavery. It suggests that significant small steps are being made in the fight against intrasocial racism. Nevertheless, a factor I think is often ignored is the increasing role and dominance of economic-globalisation and capitalism in the US political structure which has to take some credit for Obama’s inroads. It has lead to a significant internal reduction in the prominence of identity politics due to the evolution of a system that does not discriminate on gender, race or sexuality but rather on class, wealth and ideology (Condoleezza Rice anyone?)

[N.B. that regarding race the latter

three factors have lead to its exploitation as a means of production and used as a tool to rationalise social hierarchies due to the global concentration of wealth in the West and the need for mass cheap labour in a protectionist free market.]

I’d like to clarify that in no way do I condone the ideological American system Obama is bidding to steer and understand its vast limitation in terms of dealing with social and economic injustice – it is for this reason I have not been as shocked as others with the fact that within the first week as President he bombed the board of Pakkistan.

What did we honestly expect? He’s a member of the US Democratic Party, the same party as Hilary Clinton, a party that exists to the left of the Republicans but one that openly declares its position on the Middle East as: Obama is not Che Guevara; his potential election will not remedy the US and the world’s ills. But, Obama’s commitment to holding talks with Iran with no prior requisitions means that his election could potentially stall or stifle another disaster on the level of Iraq.

Obama’s election will not miraculously elevate the inner city ghettos and working class but it will provide avenues for greater health care and educational subsidies for those that can not afford it.

And although Obama has promised to eliminate the threat of Iran he has made it clear on many occasions that

he wishes to do this through “aggressive personal diplomacy” as opposed to Hilary’s pervious statement that she will look to “annihilate them” or McCain, a man that thinks that Shia Iran is funding Sunni Al-Qaeda.

I am not delusional. Obama will not bring peace to the Middle East, he will not end world poverty, conditionalities, the World Bank, cease proxy wars and foreign intervention etc etc. But, I stand by the notion that the Americans have made the right decision over McCain (of course they could’ve picked Ralph Nadar, but that’s another debate) and that Barrack Obama is the best of a bad bunch.

Ashleigh Mason

Barack Obama

Does what it says on the tin Thomas Holcroft So, Barack Obama’s officially the new President of the United States.

As expected everyone appears to be going a little wild waxing lyrical that the Obama Presidency is either the greatest historical milestone since the 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution or hysterically calling for his crucifixion coupled with cries of ‘Judas’ for his apparent political U-turn. Obama has not pulled out of Iraq, or set a date for Afghanistan, and has bombed Pakkistan since taking office. The fact Obama is black will not meracuously change the fact that 1 in 9 black men in American are in jail right now.

The Goldsmiths students who watched him Obama the election, far across the pond in The Stretch bar, were happy to see him win. Some were ec-

“The Ian Gulland Lecture theatre has got smaller since last year. It has! It’s become yellow and they’ve moved the walls in.”

“Goldsmiths is where fashion comes to die. Well, it’s either here or St Matins.”

what I could to change the church’s attitude towards lgbti people. Change from within.

The lgbti community have learned that we bring about change not so much by winning arguments but when people get to know us and recognise that our difference does not make us less human. The more publicly visible we are able to be, the more rapid is our acceptance throughout society. The same is true of the Church of England, and after being elected on to the General Synod (“the Church’s parliament”) since 2000 I have been pleased to have been one of those able to contribute as an openly gay priest to debates here at the highest levels of the Church. When discussing the question of Christianity and homosexuality it is powerfully different to change the debate to one about “us” in-

stead of about “them”. So it was a huge affirmation for me the other week when a recently retired Bishop congratulated me by e-mail for “holding firm in uncomfortable places, for your speaking of your mind and for the warmth and strength with which you’ve done it.”

In a kind of reverse parallel, my role as a Chaplain at Goldsmiths has had a similar character. I am not here to win arguments nor to campaign for religion, but by being a visible presence in the College, and making a positive contribution to its life and ethos, to present a face of faith which is thoughtful, inclusive and able to sit comfortably within an educational institution.

It strikes me that this sense of “occupying the space” is a model that can be applied to many situations in which individuals or groups have a sense of their own identity and integrity which conflicts with the majority view or with the institutional structures. Allied to the notion of non-violent protest, it is a costly strategy that requires patience and endurance. Sometimes tactical judgments have to be made about the nature and level of visibility – aggressive campaigning can be counter-productive, but if we are never accused of being too strident and too demanding, then we

are in danger of beginning to collude in our oppression. But if we can achieve this sense of balance where we occupy our space with honesty and integrity, it is often possible to forge relationships of mutual respect with those who are in opposition to us. This in itself may represent a deep and powerful shift in attitudes greater than that achievable by strident or, at its very worst, violent protest.

When the British Government enabled same-sex couples to register a Civil Partnership, the Church of England’s response was to state that this was only allowed for Clergy on the basis that it would be for reasons other than the legal recognition of a lesbian or gay relationship. Since my partner and I registered our Civil Partnership in June 2006, I have come to the view that my sense of integrity now leads me to decline to continue to function as a priest in the Church of England. I will be moving on from my position as Chaplain at Goldsmiths after Easter, and have to work out what new directions my life will take, and in what new ways I can contribute and fit in Church and society.

My wish for anyone reading this is that in you will find your own way of occupying the space.

ing remedial driving lessons), you’re likely to be one of the privileged few to have started Goldsmiths life back in the days of October 2005, when men were men, and women were still blinking in wide-eyed disbelief of being allowed to enter Universities for any other purpose than doing the laundry.

“A fourth year?”, the more tender amongst you exclaim, “but surely that means you’re as thick as two short

plans and have deferred a year”? Not true, kiddies – there are a few of us still hanging around reliving the glory days, either because of cruel banishment to the sunnier corners of Europe in the interest of language learning, or because we’ve made the mistake of entering into what’s known as ‘post-graduate study’.

One of the most unfortunate elements to my wrinkly and decrepit state is the cynicism with which I greet almost every facet of life in The Cross.

Freshers’ Week heralded not five days of bacchanalian feasting on vile alcopops, but rather a confused sense that someone had organized an Access visit on the Quad outside the canteen and mistakenly told the school kids to stay too long.

“But no, Jane” I hear you roar in protest, “your cynicism is a product of your sharp sense of humor, your wryyet-challenging take on the world, your devastating wit, but at heart we know that you too subscribe to the Goldsmiths dream. Right?”.

“No young Anakin” I reply with a twinkly smile (because for some reason in my head I am now a Jedi warrior and in the film version of my life am some-

what unexpectedly being played by Liam Neeson), “it’s because I’ve seen it all and done it all before and frankly, I don’t give a shit about your A Levels, your schooling, your opinion on modernist poetry or whether you’re on the Union Exec, because I was, and it has made a less than infinitesimal difference to who I am, now give me back my lightsaber and let me get back to my dark corner of Raymont Hall.”

So if you see me in College muttering and cursing under my breath, just keep your distance. I’ve either been mistaken for a librarian (do I look like as librarian?...no, don’t answer), or in my head am scripting the scene where I bring Jabba the Hut to the Naked Fundraiser Disco at the SU.

Overheard in Loafers 12 Comment

Occupying the space Paul Collier Goldsmiths Chaplain As a gay Christian in the Church of England I was fortunate to be in a place (South London) and a time (late 80s) when it turned out to be just possible for me to be honest about my sexuality while being considered for ordination, without having to make a commitment to celibacy. I did however have to declare that I would “accept the discipline of the Church”, and that I would “not campaign on the issue” (of homosexuality in the Church).

Although my friends thought I was mad to want to be part of an institution so stridently homophobic, I felt that I could fulfil my vocation and at the same time maintain my sense of personal integrity if I committed myself to doing

May the Fourth be with You Jane Winters 1) Are you legally old enough to run for parliament?* 2) Did you ever have a crush on Katy Hill from Blue Peter? (Now there’s a woman who wouldn’t have rigged a phone-in contest).

3) Are you a bitter, friendless individual, continually whinge-ing about the “good old days when Sandwich meant exclusively cheesy music and Dave the barman wasn’t the only person I knew in the bar”?

If you have answered yes to any, or (god forbid) all, of the above, chances are you’re either John Hutnyk or a fourth year. As John Hutnyk is rumored to be on sabbatical** (academic code for tak-

*Ed – Jane has been away for so long she doesn’t know you can now run for parliament at eighteen. She may also like to know that women, homosexuals and even poor people are also all allowed to vote. **Ed – John Hutnyk has not been on sabbatical since 2001. And he would like everyone to know he passed his test with flying colours.

“I’ve been to 4 lectures this year.

Plus maybe 5 seminars. And I’m still heading for a 2:1.”

“The G-Shop is like a sanitised news agents... and I like it”

“People say New Cross is a ghetto?

They should look round my house.”

Comment 13

Psychobable

Not Graduating in the Great Hall?

How could they!?

Joe Longford

Amanda Watts

If you are lucky enough to know any Third year Psychology students, chances are you will have been asked to take part in tedious experiments.

Maybe you’ve been argued into foolishly putting your hand in a freezing bucket of cold water? Or more boringly have simply been harassed to fill in out countless questionnaires.

Practical experiments range from brain scans to behavioural analysis, and mostly take place in the outer Hebrides of the backfield known as the Psychology Department, over in the Whitehead Building (yes the one that used to look as if Hurricane Katrina hit it). Being the kind hearted soul that I am, I decided to stop badgering students and I personally took one for the team by crossing the Irish Sea armed with hundreds of questionnaires in search of some sectarian conflict. For those of you who care, I was interested specifically in any residual negative relations between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland from the times of ‘The Troubles’.

As it turns out, some free chocolate and the chance to win £50, coupled with a dazzling smile were enough to lure volunteers back to my house. Here, Protestants and Catholics alike were left alone in my front room for half an hour to fill out surveys. Luckily, no sectarian violence ensured.

All around university, and indeed the country, such experiments are taking place, usually also without sectarian violence. Psychology students of all different types conduct this research not only because they must, but also because the findings the experiments produce are both interesting and important. The results in studies such as this having reallife implications in a wide range of areas, and are a pre-cursor to professional psychological research, which genuinely changes lives. Therefore, I strongly advise that the next time someone offers you a bag of crisps, wads of cash or sexual favours in return for a short mount of time (even if it involves electrodes attached to your scalp…), just say yes!

“It’s a scandal! It’s an outrage!” On our manhood it’s a blot”! For lovers of musicals these words will be easily recognizable from Oklahoma. To those of you who don’t like musicals, they will mean practically nothing. Take it from me, however, that they are not an appropriate or proportional reaction to the news that I will not graduate in the Great Hall this September. For one, I haven’t got a manhood, and I don’t really care.

Talk on the matter has been limited, reactions have been low-key. Maybe the shock has been too much to take in.

Maybe not. When straw-polled, prospective graduates in both the 2nd and 3rd years made comments such as “oh right, never mind” and “where is the Great Hall anyway?”. Apparently what makes this announcement cruelly ironic is the fact that those graduating in 2009, will suffer the INDIGNITY, SHAME AND VIOLATION (and I’m not one to capitalise lightly) of being the first in over 30 years FORCED to graduate elsewhere since 1972 when the Great

Trousering Jonny Barnes Imagine, if you will, that you are Geoffry Crossick. You are a successful academic, a leading authority in your field, now Warden of an Art college (And not even a rubbish one like Camberwell).

Comfortable, respected, content. It is a slow Monday. You have crushed the Goldsmiths access scheme in your all power palm. You feel good. You get up around midday, read some Machivelli for inspiration, and make a pot of Darjeeling. Wandering to the window to survey your domain your eye falls upon a strange sight. Could it be…yes…it is! It’s another product of that horrid, ghastly, access scheme, the uncultured swine. It’s that Jonny Barnes, who you reprimanded so forcefully last term, trousers down, hobbling indecorously around your beloved back-field, perused at full pelt by a whooping, holler-

Hall was amusingly closed for emergency asbestos removal. It is as if we are cursed. Note also, that in our first year, Surrey House cat Willow, disappeared. And, according to Wikipedia a whale exploded in Taiwan.

In a genuine attempt to do some real world investigative journalism, I emailed someone in the Admin Office to get some answers for my tough, uncompromising questions. Since they didn’t answer I thought fuck this, and went back to finding ways of getting the exploding whale into my article. The best thing about it was that it didn’t just spontaneously combust, it was already dead you see…so the locals blew it up to get rid of the carcass.

Basically, two facts explain everything (that’s right, blew it up), 1) the Great Hall means very little to me. I once went to a rubbish concert there. But aside from this it has been of less significance to me during my time at Goldsmiths than the The Stretch. It’s fair to say that the Goldsmiths Chapel has probably been graced with my ing gang of excitable hooligans. What you wouldn’t know, you in your Ivory Tower of admission lotteries and class war, was that John had just suffered a face worse fate than even a Saturday night to The Venue.

He had been 7 balled. In the world of Goldsmiths Union pool the 7 ball is spoken in hushed, reverent, fearful tones, the ultimate defeat – to lose without potting a single ball. To lose without potting a single ball means a hasty trip around the backfield, and often a hasty trip on your face due to the dual impediments of a pair of trousers round your ankles and a mob of dastardly ruffians in close pursuit. There is absolutely nothing dignified about the experience, and bumping into the Lewisham locals/ your tutor/ the Warden, only makes it worse.

Yet the thrill of the approaching 7 ball is difficult to beat. From the groan when the potential perpetrator loses their nerve, or the potential victim, boringly pots a ball, to the cheers and unbridled admiration of your peers if you manage to sink that crucial black, it is a feature of college life. Yet, recently

presence only marginally more often.

Frankly in order for the whole event to be properly significant I should probably graduate in one corner of the SU bar, which will remain dear to my heart for reasons of which I will not speak (whales are up to 16 metre long!).

2) Graduation, like Freshers induction talks, mean very little. Structurally they are nice clear start and end points for ones university career, movement for reflection and jubilation and the sort of pontificating and wet-eyed parental soliloquy which sets my teeth and stomach on edge. But what matters are the 3 or 4 years in-between, and if you’ve ballsed up or otherwise wasted those, no amount of pompous Latinate ceremony will do much to help (I mean, the debree scatted over a 4 mile radios! Hardly an overwhelming success).

Ed – Goldsmiths Admin Office can assure readers that all Goldsmiths students graduating this year will do so in the Great Hall and that Amanda Watts is talking absolute nonsense. there has been a spate of highly disappointing yellow-bellied refusals to fulfil the obligations levied on the 7 ballee by their humiliating loss. The more extreme amongst us may call for this dereliction of duty to be punished by firing squad outside the Canteen, but here I merely call for the performance of all outstanding backfield runs, starting (at the request of Wired radio host and notorious peeping tom Sam Welch) with that of one Leanne Gilmore-Dean, a quiet English student who was sevenballed in the bar recently. Pluck up the courage and get round, you will be fine.

As long as you don’t run straight into a wall and get rushed to hospital like one of your predecessors. And since you simply can’t be as stupid Tom Payne (the new mascot of Loring Hall?), I wouldn’t worry.

Ed – We’d just like to note that Geoffry Crossick is actually a big fan of Access Schemes.

Did you know..?

What is now the Iceland opposite Loring Hall was the worst hit single area of London during the bombings of World War II. We’re not still sure what Hitler had against cheap’n’cheerful frozen goods.

14 Comment

Survival of the Fittest Dave Potters eats his greens and not much else…

Dave Potters When I first came to Goldsmiths for my interview, I was impressed when quizzed by the dinner lady as to whether I really was vegetarian, as the vegetarian option in the Canteen was so popular there might not be enough. Why so many veggies? I decided smarter people (and maybe ethical arty people…) just make better choices. So it was on this happy thought that I looked forward to dining in the Canteen every day during my time at Goldsmiths safe in the knowledge there would be enough to

cater for us non-meat eaters.

Sadly, the truth doesn’t often live up to expectations. Just look at the dinner menus, frequently we’re offered vegetable cutlets, with potatoes and carrots, or a promising roast vegetable bake or roast potatoes and bean bake. What choice! Sometimes we’re delighted with assorted vegetables, vegetable casserole, new potatoes and peas. It’s like Russia era 1935. I know we’re called ‘vegetarians’ but that doesn’t mean we solely live off vegetables!

We have essays to write - we need sustenance! Having been offered baked

The Reinvention Intention Rachel Wills The first time I tried to get my nose pierced this summer in Camden Market, I passed out. The very unimpressed needle wielding caveman who owned the parlor reluctantly called my mother from my mobile and within minutes she stormed in looking like she wanted to scratch my eyes out with her car keys. I was the sheepish rebel-without-a-cause, now sadly also withouta-nose-piercing and she capitulated herself into the role of Horrified British Conservative Mother. I think we both probably quite enjoyed it. But what had bothered her about my failed attempt to have ironwork shoved through my nostril wasn’t what the women would say down at the tennis club, nor was it the gangrenous possibility of her daughter having to have her nose amputated. It was the fact I had tried to defile something that she had passed onto me. In her eyes, I had tried to squander my facial inheritence: she liked her Roman nose and was offended that I had tried to skewer mine like some sort of nasal kebab. “Mother”, I said to her, “I just want to look cool ok”.

Since coming to Goldsmiths I’ve watched students walk down the Main

Corridor as if it’s a catwalk rather than the path to Loafers. All this posturing and image conscious behaviour makes me feel under pressure to return to my days of reinventing myself, as if that’s a way forward to a better existence.

Work on the outside and the inside will radically change. It seems to work for them, so why not run out, buy some vintage frocks and begin striving to be ‘cool’ (whatever the bugger that is).

Some students at Goldsmiths seem to think that attire and haircuts count for more than personality. In fact it’s these same individuals that once allured by their trendy looks, you discover they don’t have much to say for themselves. Combed-back hair? Jeans so tight the circulation must be fading fast? I’m afraid I no longer buy into it.

Anyone who spends that long perfecting a certain image in my books, is a bit boring, has too much time on their hands and as they’re so obviously ‘trying’ to appear one of the elite, happy and casually fashionable, I just don’t believe they are. So do what I did, listen to what to music you want, wear what you want and take pleasure in the fact those boring buggers stressing over what they look like are not half as content as you.

beans with spring rolls and on one occasion given avocado pizza, I’ve decided it’s best to fend for myself at lunch. This doesn’t result in exactly self-imposed famine but having to skip eating in the Canteen every day feels terrible – where else are you going to catch up on the college days news? So I’m torn, I can either chat with my friends and hungrily sit wasting away, or nip over the road alone to find something decent. What’s a veggie to do?

At school I used to embellish all my meals with mound-sized portions of grated cheese, so investing a pack from

Sainsbury’s and smuggling it into the Canteen remains an option. If, however, you’re inclined to fret over the sanctimonious red and amber traffic light wheel on the packet, go for marinated tofu from the 24 Hour Tesco on Lewisham Way, it tastes good and doesn’t need any cooking. Unfortunately, after the trek there and back you may find you’ve eaten it all before getting back. Failing that, just pile as much salad as you can onto your plate, then go to Southern Fried Chicken for chips so you’re actually full. The salad and grease will cancel each other out.

So, let’s pray Scolarest aren’t around for long. Maybe we should enlist the help of Jamie Oliver? I hear the Union are doing Vegan/Veggie options in the Common Room now so maybe health freaks and anti-carnivorous types like me can be full up by 2pm lectures.

Why Goldsmiths Historians are a Superior Breed Martin Brooks In order to enter the intensely secretive world of Goldsmiths historians, it is first necessary to grasp a few of our key features, namely our relaxed attitude to lecture attendance, aversion to sunlight, and tendency to treat books as family friends. Aside from this, we’re a fairly straightforward bunch (with one notable exception being Alex Brent, who is neither straight, nor forward).

Though if, through reading this, you wish you were us, then don’t fret. By virtue of our superior social skills, we historians move in virtually every circle and you probably know at least one of us. The benefits of having time to spare are varied; aside from not going to lectures, and skim-reading, we’ve got one over on the Psychologists on campus in the sense that our work is actually interesting. It’s at this point that the urge emerges to dispel some of the more unkind rumours about our subject. No

facts, you say? We’ve got plenty, only they’re more fun than yours because we can make them up. The inevitable scientific jealousy at our marvellous ability to balance ample leisure-time with a superior subject is just one cross that we historians have to bear.

Fresher historians are furthermore remarkable for their unrivalled “community spirit.” Aside from the particularly sordid experience that was the History Society free drinks evening 2 years ago (we’ve been banned from the Students’ Union ever since. The rumours about my lack of attire whilst in The Stretch are however totally untrue) and the questionable behaviour at last week’s Club Sandwich, Goldsmiths’s 1st Year historians can rest assured that theirs is a happy ship in which to sail.

All in all, we’re pretty funky people and you really ought to get to know us better, if not for the questionable value of our friendship, then at least for our handy history quiz trivia.

Got comments for the next issue?

Email them to jennifer.jones@gold.ac.uk

Did you know..?

Your Students’ Union is working with consultants from Jamie Oliver’s 15 Foundation to create a realistic model for Goldsmiths’ in-house catering.

This includes local food sourcing, a living wage for staff and a training scheme for apprentice chefs from Lewisham College.

What’s On 15

What’s on in the world of New Cross food?

Abhijeet Ahluwalia Some say the one secret to perfect happiness and bliss is good food. Any student who has had to spend time and effort to find a good food joint knows the truth behind these words. We at the Free Press empathise with your pain, so we’ve short listed the best take away restaurants around Goldsmiths for you.

The selection process was entirely scientific – our expert team of foodaholics stuffed their faces in every restaurant they could find around the college and quickly named their three favourite, before signing up for Overeaters Anonymous.

So, the top three choices are...

1) Goldsmiths Café

2) Square Pizza

Just past Chesterman House, towards New Cross station, this nondescript shop sells the best value for money pizza you can get in walking distance from Goldsmiths college. You can buy a 10 inch pizza for just 4 quid, and it certainly doesn’t skimp on the quantity either. As an added bonus, the guys behind the counter are extremely friendly as well!

3) Go Sing

Right opposite the library, this cafe is a fairly popular food joint. You’ll get excellent breakfasts here, with any number of combinations of toast, eggs, baked beans, sausages and bacon. Don’t fret if you missed breakfast though, they also a brunch breakfast which does the job just as nicely. The burgers are highly recommended as well – if you like your food spicy, nothing beats a Goldsmiths cafe chicken burger with chilli sauce. Still not convinced? Goldsmiths cafe is endorsed by our very own student union, who gave it the award of best local business for 2007/08.

This Chinese take-away is located just a few shops down from Goldsmiths cafe and they serve excellent stuff, even if the name of the shop sounds a bit dodgy! There is a special student menu which lets you choose from a variety of preset meals-for-one, for just 3 pounds.

The quantity is good enough to be a full meal for one person and it tastes really good too, so it’s excellent value for money!

Go Green Week

23-27 Feb 2009

A week of eco-friendly events organised by the EnviroClub

Mon 23rd: Big Green Gig

A Night of Music and Poetry. 8pm in The Stretch, Students’ Union.

Tues 24th: Green Tea Party

Tea, Cakes and Vegan Pancakes, Plus the Go Green Edition of ‘Hyggelig’; Bring Old Stuff, Make New Stuff! 4pm in The Stretch, Students’ Union.

Thurs 26th: Workshop from Embercombe ‘From Knowledge to Action - Find Your Unique Way of Contributing to Positive (Environmental) Change!’ 5pm in the Committee Room, Students’ Union.

Fri 27th: ‘Recycling & Sustainable Living’ Environmental Organisations Talk and Panel Discussion. 2pm in The Stretch, Students’ Union.

Message to Goldsmiths Senior Management:

Build a new nursery on campus www.goldsmithsstudents.com/studentparentssurvey

16 Sport

Give Goldsmiths a sporting chance

The weird and wonderful world of sport at Goldsmiths Alex Lambert

Rheem Al-Adhami Goldsmiths is perhaps not known for its sporting prowess, despite the lion on the emblem. But even arts students enjoy a kick about and do occasionally break into a sweat so why are sports at Goldsmiths not regarded as anything to shout about? As Women’s Football Captain I struggled to find any support from the Students’ Union. We were left without a pitch because the university decided to kick us off the backfield where we’ve been training for as long as anyone can remember. They didn’t find us an alternative venue (we did) and have not given us any assurances they’ll fix the drainage problems or lighting issues on the backfield, despite promises in 2007-08 that they would.

This is just one of a long list of complaints about the University and Students’ Union sports arms shared by many clubs.

But while Universities like Loughborough rely on their sporting reputations for student recruitment, Goldsmiths rests on its Damien Hirst-type claims to fame and artistic liberalism.

There’s nothing wrong with that and I’m pleased to be at Goldsmiths where I’ve received tremendous amounts of support and enjoyed the academic side

(mostly). But we could do a bit of both.

There’s no need to groom players for the Olympics as some of the bigger Metropolitan Unis do but sports should be more supported and encouraged.

It’s widely acknowledged that sporting activities are beneficial to health and general wellbeing. There is also evidence that sport improves cognitive and academic ability. But it seems we’re left to our own devises when it comes to actually playing. While over 60% of the population is female, in team games like Women’s basketball and football teams often struggle for players for games (7 & 11 players required respectively). While training is usually well attended, the lack of support offered for matches means many students feel out of their depth.

Competitive games are brilliant ways to build confidence, meet new people and develop team skills but students won’t feel like they can commit to a particular sport all year round if we don’t support them fully. Engaging in sports is rewarding but it requires time, effort and often cash (paying for referees, travel etc) and unless students get as much back from College as they’re required to put in, sport at Goldsmiths will remain a pace behind.

Missed re-Freshers Fayre this term?

You can still get involved. Goldsmiths has sports and activities available for whatever you’re into. At a University level every interest is catered for. The clubs you can join vary from the typical football, volley ball and cricket to the more unusual pursuits such as the fairly new Dance Club.

The University of London Union (commonly known as ‘ULU’) has a whole range of sports clubs open to Goldsmiths students (and we pay them a good 40 grand for the privilege) that aren’t catered for here. Make your way down to Mallet Street and you could make a splash in the Water Polo Club, perhaps archery will hit the target, or you may be blown away by the Wind Surfing Club. I’ve heard that cycling is wheelie good, and I’m told the Walking Club is a real stroll in the park.

Anyway, from Ju-Do to Cheerleading, you can and should get involved.

All the Goldsmiths teams compete in the ULU Cup. For those newcomers I should probably explain the ULU Cup is the very simple concept of an inter-college tournament for which pride, respect and reputation are very much at stake. Goldsmiths has a rich

(ish) history of success in the ULU Cup, especially for a small sized college containing a high proportion of non-sporty Art student types. How does one run whilst wearing skinny jeans you ask? Well, enquire with the rugby team next time you see them.

Goldsmiths is a bit short on some of the more ‘exotic’ sporting events, in fact last time I checked we didn’t even have a tennis team? So this term, if you’re wanting to start a club of any sort (the once highly popular leg-kicking Swing Dance only started two years ago) email Activities Officer H.Bott@ gold.ac.uk. Whether its to create a gokarting team or mountain-climbing club, we welcome more variety. My personal hope is that maybe this year Goldsmiths will gather a ‘Life Saving Team’ to enter in the ULU Cup. I can only image points are lost for your casulty drowning and points are won for reciting the Baywatch theme tune.

So if you’re not too busy during the Spring snowed under with essaying writing, get yourself along to one of the practices listed on the SU website goldsmithsstudents.com and maybe you too could be at this year’s AU Dinner, paying £35 for a tiny 3 course meal and proudly chanting vaguely offensive rhymes about rival teams.

The latest Goldsmiths sports results 16/02 14/02 11/02 09/02 04/02 01/02 01/02 01/02 01/02 31/01 26/01 21/01

Mens Football 1st vs. Royal Holloway 1st (ULU) Mens Football 3rd vs. St Georgies 3rd (ULU) Womens Hockey vs. Royal Vets 1st (ULU) Womens Basketball vs. UCL 2nd Team (ULU) Netball vs. Royal Free + UCL Medics 2nd (BUCS) Mens Basketball vs. LSE End (ULU) Mens Hockey vs. Imperial 2nd (ULU) Womens Football vs. Royal Free + UCL Medics (ULU) Volley Ball vs. Kings 1st (ULU) Mens Football 2nd vs. LSE 7th (ULU) Netball 2nd vs. St Georges 3rd (ULU) Goldsmiths Rugby vs. Canterbury 1st Team (BUCS)

Please recycle your copy of the Free Press when you’re finished with it.

Lost Won Lost Won Won Lost Lost Won Lost Won Won Lost

3-2 3-2 3-0 52 - 53 36 - 22 44 - 40 1-0 10 - 0 3-1 3- 1 26 -25 58 - 0