The Lion - Issue 3

National Demo

6

JT and Josh on the march

Fr McDade

4

We interview the College Principal on the cuts in HE

Heythrop Students’ Union

the

Volume 1 Issue 3 Wednesday 3rd November heythropstudentsunion.co.uk

Revolution

Ryan Boyd asks if revolutions are a thing of the past

8

Lion

New Heythrop Principal Appointed ENTRANCE: The College welcomes the new principal INSERT: Fr Michael Holman

Fr Michael Holman SJ will be take over in July of next year

Alex Hackett News Editor Father Michael Holman SJ is to be Heythrop’s next College Principal, it has been announced this week. Fr Holman will take over from Father John McDade SJ in July of this year, when Fr McDade will retire after “13 years of distinguished service”.

Fr Holman was born and brought up in Wimbledon, South London, where he was educated by the Jesuits, at Donhead Preparatory School and at Wimbledon College.

Fr Holman was the Headmaster of Wimbledon College from 1995 to 2004 and is currently the Provincial Superior of the British Jesuits. He will take up his appointment at Heythrop after the end of his six-year term of office as Provincial.

London Student defeats Censure Motion Gala Jackson-Coombs Comment Editor The first ULU Senate meeting was held on the 9th of October at Senate House. The meeting was an important one, with a proposed motion against the London Student for censure, put forward by a ULU Trustee.

The President of KCL also proposed a

motion, which was seconded by ULU president Clare Solomon, to remove the trustees from the libel – check of London Student. This precaution was originally put in place to ensure that there was an unbiased party to check the London Student for possibly libellous material.

However, as many trustees do not have the adequate training necessary to sufficiently check the publication, the ULU constitution has come into question.

Joe Rennison, Editor of the London

Student, wants to propose a different system, in which both he and a member of the London Student Journalism Support Network (LSJSN) receive training in media and libel law and check each issue themselves. The motion was carried and awaits the approval of the Trustee Board. The Lion, as a member of LSJSN, has been offered this position along with other papers of the University of London, such as the LSE Beaver, the Goldsmiths Leopard and the UCL Pi.

Student against the motion for censure, which was brought forward after the newspaper published the column The Tight Fist in its first issue. The Editor gave a speech to The Senate as to why the allegations against him and the London Student were inaccurate, and the article in question was not libellous or racist. The motion was then withdrawn.

Joe Rennison defended the London

Continued on P3>

There was more drama, as the President of Birkbeck walked out of The Senate

Fr Holman was educated at Heythrop Continued on P3> Advertisement

KENSINGTON CARS LTD

Fast, reliable service at competitive prices.

info@kensington-cars.co.uk

+44(0)20 7603 1000 Fax: +44(0)20 7603 2232

kensington-cars.co.uk

2

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

neWS Catering Improved as New Menu is Provided

theheythroplion.co.uk

First catering meeting with residents a success as a greater menu choice is provided by the College Catering

twitter.com/theheythroplion facebook.com/theheythroplion Alex Hackett News Editor After the first student catering meeting of the year, Alban Halls residents are to get some of the menu changes they asked for, it was announced this week.

Female welfare officer Rebecca FitzGerald spoke favourably of the changes, stating that “Progress is being made and at least now both the college and the union can work together to rectify the issues highlighted by the students”

Please recycle your Lion at one of the many recycle bins around college

Last issue, the Lion revealed that Rebecca FitzGerald and John Ord of the Welfare Team had created an online petition to centralise complaints about way food is provided to residents. The petition, which has to date hit almost 100 signatures, calls on the college to change the new college catering system that restricts residents to set portions of food at breakfast and dinner.

PETITION: Screenclip of Welfare Team’s petition reaching 99 signatures

Although not entirely the changes the Welfare Team had petitioned for, Rebecca remains optimistic, stating that “We are all waiting to see how these changes work out and if after a week or so people are still unhappy both the college and the HSU will all be one step closer to creating a system that people are happy with and that benefits them the most. If students are still unhappy with the system after the modifications to the menu then we (the HSU and the college) can look into further changes that are perhaps more in line with the system changes we originally wanted.”

News Editor

Alex Hackett

Alex Hackett

Co-Creator and Editor

Features Editor

Gala Jackson-Coombs

Editor

Katie Plumb The Lion is the independent student newspaper of Heythrop College, University of London. We distribute at least 1000 free copies during term time around campus and to popular student venues in and around Kensington.

The Lion is published by HackJack Ltd. and printed by Mortons Print Ltd. All Copyright is the exclusive property of HackJack Ltd. No part of this publication is to reproduced, stored on a retrieval system or submitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Alex Hackett

Comment Editor

Gala Jackson-Coombs

Culture Editor

John Arthur Craven Ord

Societies Editor Gala Jackson-Coombs Katie Plumb

In the articles “College catering sparks union petition”(Lion Issue 2 - 19/10/10) and “CCTV installed on Heythrop Campus” (Lion Issue 1 - 28/09/10) – Father Chris Pedley SJ was incorrectly referred to as ‘Mr Pedley’ not ‘Fr Pedley SJ’.

The Lion Editorial Board wishes to apologise for this mistake.

To view or sign the petition, follow the link off the HSU Website heythropstudentsunion.co.uk

the Co-Creator and Editor-in-Chief

coRRectIon:

editorial team

NEXT DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS

10.11.10

Please send your submissions to: comsandpubs@heythropcollege.ac.uk The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Editors or of the Heythrop Students’ Union. Every effort has been made to contact the holders of copyright for any material used in this issue, and to ensure the accuracy of this fortnight’s stories. © HackJack Ltd. 2010, 639 Nell Gwynn House, Sloane Ave, Kensington, London SW3 3BE Pages 1 -8 - Designed by Alex Hackett Pages 9 -16 - Designed by Gala Jackson-Coombs

3

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

Birkbeck Chair walks out of 1st ULU Senate

Heythrop

Halloween Editor Gala Jackson-Coombs gives the verdict on the Union’s Halloween Festivities

neWS

New Heythrop College Principal Appointed

Gala Jackson-Coombs Comment Editor

Alex Hackett News Editor

>Continued from P1

>Continued from P1

meeting, believing “the attitude and commitment of some...fellow Senators” was not acceptable.

as well as at Campion Hall, Oxford Weston School of Theology, Cambridge Massachusetts and Fordham University, New York. He holds degrees in Philosophy, Theology and Educational Administration.

Sean Rillo Raczka had proposed numerous motions to amend the current ULU constitution, and was frustrated when other members of The Senate had failed to read the necessary paperwork.

Raczka eventually left the meeting, stating it was “pointless to continue”.

ULU president Clare Solomon said she “completely understood” his reaction, and revealed that some of the amendments Rackza was raising had not been heard last year. Ms Solomon also took responsibility for some Senators not reading the proposed amendments,

In the college press release, now on the college website and the coursework uploading site HELIOS, it states that Fr Holman “will bring with him educational, pastoral, administrative and leadership skills to aid in the development of the College.”

Michael Malone-Lee, Chairman of the Heythrop Governing Body, has also said how pleased he and the body are with the appointment, saying that:

“

“

due to a non- updated email mailing list, which meant that some delegates were not sent their copy.

This was the first Senate meeting with the new chair of Senate, a law student from Kings College London. A motion was also passed by The Senate for ULU to become affiliated with the Coalition of Resistance, an organisation rallying against the proposed cuts to Higher Education.

For more information about the ULU Senate - Visit the ULU Website at www.ulu.co.uk For more information London Student Journalism Support Network visit the Lion website at www.theheythroplion.co.uk

“

He will bring with him wide experience and his appointment demonstrates the commitment of the Society of Jesus to Heythrop College

“

Birkbeck Chair Sean Rillo Raczka ..was frustrated when other members of the Senate had failed to read the necessary paperwork Raczka eventually left the meeting, stating it was “pointless to continue”.

ULU president Clare Solomon said she “completely understood”

Michael Malone-Lee Chairman of the Governing Body

“The Governors of the College are delighted to appoint Fr Holman as Principal. He will bring with him wide experience and his appointment demonstrates the commitment of the Society of Jesus to Heythrop College. Fr Holman will lead the College, which begins this year with 1000 students, towards the 400th anniversary of its foundation in 2014”

HALLOWEEN: Poster for London Stone Event BEHIND: Poster for Halloween Quiz

Gala Jackson-Coombs Comment Editor The HSU Halloween Party took place on 27th October. The Heythrop Students’ Union vowed to make this year’s Halloween Party even better than last year, and they did not disappoint.

The event was held at the London Stone on Cannon Street. This was the perfect venue for Halloween as it is decked out with eerie props, such as dusty vintage bottles, spider webs, gargoyles lurking above the bar, and skeletons hidden within the beams. The drinks were reasonably priced and many got free green shots with any drink bought.

The entertainment at the beginning of the night was our very own HSU President James, spinning the decks

with some retro spooky songs such as the Monster Mash and Thriller. The atmosphere in the small underground bar was electric, the room already full to the rafters by 10pm. Ghoulish guests danced wildly, and the drinks were flowing. Later, the music was taken over by another DJ, who played a mixture of 80’s rock and more modern classics. These seemed to go down well with the crowd, many singing along to all the words of Summer Of ’69 and Mr. Brightside. We danced well into the early hours the party finally winding down around 3am. All got home safely, most sharing taxis with friends to return to Alban Halls.

Another Halloween-themed event took place on Saturday 30th October, when The Greyhound hosted The Halloween Quiz Night in association with The Lion. The night consisted of a pub quiz with many different rounds, such

as recognising the film from the picture and building a model of the London Eye with paper plates, polystyrene cups and straws.

The night was a roaring success, with many students wanting it to become a regular night. The winning team was a Heythropian team of 1st year students, who won by one point to get the top prize of a £50 bar tab. The team who came second were the writers of the Lion, with the team name Inglorious Basterds, who also went home with a bottle of red wine.

We have discussed the possibility of another quiz night with the organisers, and another is currently being planned.

We will keep you updated when we know of the date. It was impressive to see the breadth of knowledge that Heythrop houses, and it was great to have an event which showcased that.

The Governors also recognised the achievements of the outgoing Principal Fr John McDade by confirming that Fr. Holman will “build on the legacy of his distinguished predecessor”.

On being given his appointment as Principal, Fr Holman said: “I am pleased and proud to be given the opportunity to serve Heythrop College in this way, not least as it prepares to celebrate the 400th anniversary of its foundation in 1614. Heythrop has a long and distinguished record of service to the Church and wider society in this country and around the world, providing as it does excellent resources for the study of philosophy, theology and psychology and for the formation of future priests and ministers. Together with all associated with the College, it is that Jesuit tradition of excellence which I plan to maintain and develop in the years ahead”.

4

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

eXcLUSIVe

“The Arts and Humanities are judged to be not worthy of investment by the Government, I think that is deeply offensive.”

Heythrop Principal Father John McDade SJ talks to The Lion about the proposed cuts in Higher Education and what he believes is the purpose of studying at Heythrop

5

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

eXcLUSIVe Pottering outside John McDade’s clinically white door I wait for our Principal to arrive. He comes through a doorway, a threshold I’ve certainly never crossed, and welcomes me in jovially, “the dentist will see you now”.

It is a pivotal year for Heythrop in many respects. The Browne report has, rightly, caused a lot of discussion around campus. Respected by staff and students alike, Fr McDade’s opinion is always of interest, particularly as this year will be his last serving at Heythrop’s helm What is the purpose of Higher Education?

Some people have a very instrumental view of education, seeing it as the preparation of people who can be economically useful to the country.

In our age you have what are called the stem subject: science, technology, education and medicine. They are being prioritised for government funding and consequently the arts and humanities and social sciences are judged to be not worthy of investment by the government, now I think that is deeply offensive.

I take the line that while there are direct economic benefits that come from education, I hold that education is an end in itself and is not an instrument for something else. That being educated means developing not only skills but also some kind of fullness of the personality, self-knowledge, articulation of purpose, values and understanding, and qualities of respect, attentiveness and love that seem to be central to the business of being human. I think education is central to the task of humanness and it is up to our country to foster that for the good of its people because the good of people cannot be construed in economic terms, although that is important.

One of the difficulties we have as a culture is the demoralisation of people without a purpose through their economic situation. I think that the great contribution we can make is the intellectual contribution of being an important responsible source of thought and values Nietzsche said that great ideas are great events. I think that this college is in the business of studying the great ideas that are great events and evaluating them so that those who receive education here are working at their fullness as people.

Would you say that everyone at Heythrop is qualified to benefit from Higher Education?

Yes, yes, yes. What we offer people here is a context in which there can be an engagement with ideas and values in ways that are open, on one hand to transcendence and on the other hand, critical enquiry and discussion. Wherever people are coming from, where there is proper education happening, you have the imaginative engagement with great thinkers and important ideas, traditions of enquiry and traditions of faith. Fostering this in the present age is necessary for two reasons. Firstly religions, if they are unmodified by reason, give themselves over to the hands of the exploiters and the manipulators.

Critical enquiry in relation to religious truth is good for religion, that’s what theology is about.

IN THE OFFICE: Fr John McDade - Image © Heythrop Archive

“

It looks like the state is only going to subsidise the stem subjects and not the others. I think that is a very blinkered perspective.

“

Katie Plumb Features Editor Katieffbvb

Secondly, I think there is an important dimension of philosophy. Philosophy at its worse is nothing but metal flossing.

You take an instrument to your brain and learn to clean it. If that’s all philosophy does for you it is of a very limited value. I think philosophy is one of the self-implicating disciplines that press questions of purpose and meaning and value on you and in the process of doing it you have to be change. If you are not changed in terms of your grasps of what is real and what is true then you are “instrumentalising” philosophy. I think it is the beginnings of an inquiry into the fundamental questions. And as a theologian I want to say, a Philosophy that is not open to the possibility of a transcendence in absolute goodness and love and truth and reality that is God is a diminished version of philosophy.

Imagine Lord Browne’s proposals were completely accepted and you are an 18 year old undergraduate, would you study philosophy or theology?

Ha-ha what is happening with Lord Browne’s proposal is that the business of funding Higher Education is being shifted off the government’s books so that the government can have a clear balance sheet. If the government has a clear balance sheet it will be able to organise its financial operations on an international basis better, that is what props it all. So the way is to shift it from the government to the individual student. My expectation is that students and young people coming up to university will still want to go to university.

Not only because of certain financial advantages in the long term through having a degree, but simply because being able to spend three years at a transitional point of young adulthood, being able to study important foundational ideas and traditions, seems to be worthwhile. I don’t expect there to be a decline in the number of students wanting to do either Philosophy or Theology as a consequence of these changes. I think though that students will be more discriminating as to where they do this study. Universities that have a good reputation because of their standards and tradition of offering a good quality student experience will flourish. The phrase that everyone is using is “the money follows the student.” So it will be up to each college or univer-

sity to be able to show each prospective student that they could be a good place to study at. One of the disturbing things about it though is that young people, when they leave university, are suddenly burdened with something like twenty to thirty thousand pounds to pay back before they can get to the position of being able to buy a house, start a family or become a responsible person. That is difficult. I suspect that people will try to make adjustments within families. I think grandparents, uncles and aunts as well as parents will come to understand that directly supporting young people’s education at university is a necessary and additional thing that they will have to do that they didn’t have to do before.

and the student; it just means that in future that figure will come entirely from the student. That is not going to provide universities with more money though some of the larger universities are already talking about having fees of ten or twelve thousand. There are even suggestions that the University of Cambridge will go entirely private, in which case it could determine its own fees.

The worry at the moment is that this begins to look like the privatisation of Higher Education. I think that could be a difficult and dangerous and probably wrong path to take.

But universities are such important places for life so I expect them to flourish.

I think it puts more pressure on students to work part-time jobs because they have to find more money. Already, all the lecturers at Heythrop are aware of the pressures the students have. In some ways having a part-time job is almost a necessity for students these days, for many students to keep their head above water financially.. Every university is concerned about the kind of external and internal pressures that students have. We are very concerned here about the pressures on students that require a little bit of additional support in terms of counselling and therapy, because it is not easy being a student in this modern context. I have an anxiety that it will simply increase the pressure on students. I think it, in an important way, could benefit the College because it presses us to ensure that the student experience at Heythrop is a better thing than it has been because we need to ensure that if a student is paying this money upfront that they get genuine value for money.

I think that this College, indeed all colleges, need to be very attentive that students find that they are getting what it says on the tin. That’s no bad thing for students and no bad thing for the college to be pushed to do that.

Should people pay for their education?

That’s a very difficult question; someone has got to pay for it.

The argument at the moment is that the person who benefits from it is the one to pay for it. And I can see the logic in that.

I still think however that the burden of that should not be borne entirely by the student. I think that because the whole society benefits from what is done at university, the whole of society has to provide a considerable amount of what it costs to run universities. So I think it has to be something like a balanced economy between what the state contributes and what the student contributes. What bothers me at the moment is that it looks like the state is only going to subsidise the stem subjects and not other subjects. I think that is a very blinkered perspective.

How high will Heythrop’s fees realistically have to rise to counter these cuts?

Those are decisions we are having at the moment. The goal posts are shifting, even after Browne. Everyone is expecting the standard fee to be something around seven thousand pounds. My guess is that that is the kind of figure most places will go for. That is actually not much more than colleges receive at the moment from both the government

How will this affect the day to day life at Heythrop?

Lord Browne’s review is just the proposal. Are you prepared to fight it or are you resigned to the fact that it is just going to happen?

My expectation is that it will happen. I suspect that the protests are not going to be effective, largely because nobody sees an alternative to something like

this. Many of the Russell Group universities have been putting pressure on the government for something like this; indeed many of the others would like a greater scope to raise fees.

The expectation is that there will be a minimum fee but also a maximum fee however some universities want a max fee to be removed so they can charge what they want.

Nobody, I think, at the moment has worked out an alternative to what Lord Browne has proposed.

There is no way that the British system will go back to a high degree of government funding, you ask why, because the money is not there.

Am I too passive in the face of this? I think it needs modifying rather than abolishing; I am probably more of a realist.

Would you then not advise Heythrop students to protest as the NUS are urging?

No, I think that Heythrop students should protest because they are the ones that are being asked to carry a heavier burden. One of the issues that needs to be addressed is to ensure that there is sufficient access to university education for those who would otherwise find it difficult. I think that only if there is strong student opposition will this be modified. I don’t think it can be abolished but do think there are important ways in which protest can modify it and make it a more just and equitable system.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

It is very difficult for those who are poor and those who are students to make sense of a situation in which a greater burden is carried by them than by those in the financial world who caused this problem in the first place.

Bankers seem to have an astonishing ability to create chaos, screw the whole thing up and walk away untouched; meanwhile the rest of the population has to carry a huge burden. I can understand why students and those on lower incomes are resentful of this. There does seem to be something that feels deep-down, deeply unjust. Because those to blame should be those to pay, those who are not to blame should not be expected to pay.

6

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

SPecIAL

SICKNESS UNTO DEBT JT White and Josh Ferguson explain why they think you should march in the National Demo on the 10th November JT White and Josh Ferguson 1st year and 2nd year Undergraduates respectively Another government, another politician called Brown(e) and another who wants to shaft anyone who would favour stupid things such as intellectual growth or the advancement of British academia over good business acumen.

While I applaud Lord Browne for his novel and outside-the-box approach to higher education, one can’t help but wonder if he happened to learn joined up thinking in his own time at university.

Lord Browne (who resembles the lovechild of George W Bush and Pierce Brosnan, assuming George Bush could get it up without starting a war), has announced his plan to cut funding for the education of what he considers are not “priority subjects”. But don’t worry, John Browne is not like George Bush in the sense that ol’ Dubya is a cynical playboy descendent of crypto-fascist senators, born with a silver spoon in every orifice, the Bible one hand and a bottle of Johnny Walker in the other.

Rather Lord Browne is just a nasty little neo-Thatcherite, with a reputation for firing people who disagree with him and ruthlessly cutting costs. The esteemed peer of Her Majesty’s government has no experience in education and is an entrepreneur who has over 40 years of experience at BP, that same company which, earlier this year, broke the world.

Browne’s plans to remove limits on how much a university may charge students in tuition fees could lead to fees being hiked up to £90,000 over 3 years. Read that number again. Ninety thousand pounds. That’s enough for a house in the suburbs, or enough Johnny Walker to sink the Belfast. Lord Browne has defended his proposals claiming that “These reforms will put students in the driving seat of a revolutionary new system.” Although this is technically true, not all students will be empowered by these ‘reforms’ and the system is only ‘revolutionary’ in the Thatcherite sense of the word. As I recall, Wat Tyler was a revolutionary, and things didn’t go so well for him. These proposals are a part of the cuts agenda that could decimate the welfare state and reinforce a system of affirmative action for the rich.

The kind of educational system favoured by Browne could have been drawn up by Allan Bloom, an elitist system where intellectuals pump out ‘great ideas’ which everyone else just memorises. If one considers where Lord Browne’s cuts and ‘Glorious Revolutionary Ideas’ may take the education system, one ends up with a dystopia that Orwell would have killed to dream up. David Cameron has given full backing to this proposal. It’s nice to have a Prime Minister who will do the best thing for the downtrodden common man while sipping brandy at the Bullingdon and braying like a newly neutered pony.

It’s ironic that the government is supposedly dedicated to cutting the deficit so that our children won’t have to live with the burden of our actions. While ConDem policy on education appears to be “Let’s ensure that our children have to live with the burden of our actions.”

This eases us gently into the main point of this bilious tirade. To ensure that you don’t have to live with this little scheme of Browne’s (which our Paramount Leader James Johnston detailed in the last issue) then you’re going to need to do a little walking.

This communal stroll will take place on the 10th of November, to enjoy the London sunshine, take in some sites on the way, and to kick arse all around the room and down the stairs.

Let’s take a short interlude to let our heads break the surface of hatred for a moment, to add the perfunctory note that Lord Browne’s report does have some good bits. Like the Curate’s Egg. On the other hand, the Curate’s Egg was still rotten, and it doesn’t matter how good the good bits are, you still throw a rotten egg away. Or at someone.

Like Lord Browne. In fact, if any readers happen to have any rotten eggs, by all means bring them along on the march.

On a more serious note, it is important to remember our status in this. When one mentions the word ‘students’ a whole list of pejorative phrases and negative images float into the mind of the public in general. This kind of activism is the kind of gesture that shows that students in London and across the nation are not going to take these cuts lying down. In a time when political apathy is almost a badge of honour in many circles, it is important to show that university students have a social conscience and are prepared to march and declare their opposition to unfair or unjust proposals. It is, if not an obligation, then most definitely your right as a student and a British citizen to protest. Change in government policies should come from the affected making their stance known. If the government is out of line, then you need to tell them so. If they will not police themselves, it falls to the public to express their dissent.

No good can come of this government, as it espouses the maxim “From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed”. Lord Browne proposes to treat institutions of learning and high thought as a business. He pays no heed to the importance of the arts or culture in our society. Short of actually calling him a bellowing philistine nin-

Image : demo2010.org

ny, we will instead simply say that Lord Browne intends to take institutions like Cambridge, Oxford and the towering latter-day Athens of Heythrop and treat them as a business because the cocaine barrel happens to be running low. It is interesting to note that Lord Browne (whose title, I just noticed, makes him sound like a Brummie pimp) put Physics as one of the “priority” subjects, as this happens to be the degree that he read at Cambridge. It also happens to be a favourite of predatory recruiters into the City, who will snap up scientific types like a vulture over carrion. Strange, then, that Philosophy, a subject that promotes individual thought and betterment of oneself and the world, has been relegated to the status of secondary priority and would, under Lord Browne’s proposal, have its funding cut. As Nietzsche once wrote “The Philistine detests all education that makes for loneliness, has an aim above money-making and requires a long time.”

The Browne report on its own merits could be deemed barbaric in its aggression towards the arts, but when consid-

ered as part of the cuts agenda of the Con-Dems it is constitutive of the ongoing annihilation of remnants of social democracy which began in 1979. Since Browne’s proposals carry the potential to hike tuition fees for medical students well over £100,000 we should think of our position at this point as defending what remains of an exemplary system of higher education. If Browne’s report becomes reality (not just a hideous speculative fantasy) then a new age of debt-ridden life of wage-slavery for students is ushered in. The deficit is cut, well done, jolly good show boys, now it’s the people who are carrying the strain.

At the risk of sounding like a thundering demagogue, I would say that it is your duty to attend this demonstration.

It’s relevant to you; yes YOU holding this paper in your sweaty little hand, because you don’t want to see yourself in debt for the next 40 years. It’s important for the country and for the university you attend. I do, of course, hate to think in such callous terms, but think of the money. The f**king debt you would be in would be bloody outrageous. Nobody likes being in debt.

Especially not to David Cameron, that

simpering toff gleefully rubbing his palms together and salivating, all the while perspiring with pleasure at the thought of a system that rations education according to affluence rather than intelligence.

And furthermore, if sticking it to the Conservative party doesn’t make you want to attend, then nothing will. Just conjure up an image of Lord Browne sharing a sweaty roll in the hay with David Cameron in a pile of bank notes paid by students toiling endlessly to pay off their debt, and feel your social conscience grow proud and erect*. It is absolutely vital to the core of education, the furthering of intellectual pursuits and the struggle for knowledge, that these proposals be opposed with the utmost sincerity and tenacity by students across the country. *Writer’s note: That is the worst sentence I have ever written in my whole life and I hate myself.

The demo will take place on November 10th. For more information, visit www.demo2010.org.

7

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

SPecIAL

“March with us and make student history” HSU President James Johnston explains why he wants you to march with the Union PROTEST: 60’s Student Protest - Image : Flickr/kaihaanj.com

Ask James Questions asked and answered on the President’s Formspring What’s your favourite newspaper?

I can’t read.

If up is down, and black is white, then what is Lady Gaga?

I don’t know. I don’t even know what I am.

Why does it hurt when I pee?

Because all that love in you just wants to get out. And sometimes it hurts.

Have you forgotten to do something today?

Probably. Remind me.

James Johnston President Lord Browne, among other things, has had the audacity to suggest that Arts and Humanities subjects are not priority subjects, and that funding should be directed elsewhere.

This ridiculous proposal is a disgusting insult to millions of students, and shows Browne’s blatant disregard for our cultural heritage.

Philosophy, Theology and Psychology ARE priority subjects, and if you agree, and care about the future of Heythrop, you need to start making some noise about it. It is not fair that students may have to pay £7,000 a year to study here, and it is not fair that hundreds of Philosophy, Theology and Psychology departments up and down the country will be facing savage, brutal cuts.

don’t BE a kANT don’tUR CUT OING FUND The Lion and 2010 - Produced by James Johnston Free Poster for DEMO-LITION Union. Designed by The Heythrop Students’

For those of you who don’t know, on the 10th of this month the National Union of Students (NUS) and UCU have organised a National Demonstration, where students and staff will take to the streets of London to protest against proposed education cuts and the Browne Review. I know that many Heythrop students are planning to attend, but I need your help to spread the word.

If you have been at all vocal about your plans to go to the National Demonstration, you will no doubt have heard various idiots arguing that it, and you, won’t make a shred of a difference to a decision that has already been made.

The same people will argue that the Browne review, and the devastating Con-Dem Education cuts are set in stone. So if anybody asks or argues with you just say this; Higher Education in this country is facing the most savage attack in living memory. Browne, Osborne and Cameron have declared war on students,

and the National Demonstration is one of its most important battles. Do NOT let apathy get the better of you. There is only a small window of opportunity to fight these proposals, and you owe it to so many people to do so.

I have heard from the NUS that the demonstration looks to be the biggest student march for 20 years. Thousands upon thousands of students are going to take to the streets to show the government just how much they value their education and their children’s and grandchildren’s education.

The march will be a physical manifestation of how millions of students are feeling, a way of showing how hurt, scared and spitting mad we are that a small group of people want to destroy something so many have benefited immeasurably from.

So march with us, and help Heythrop students, along with thousands of others to make history!

FREE DEMO-lition POSTER on the IBAck of this ISSUE

If I kill you, do I become you?

For your sake I hope not.

In a fight... who would win- Tom Crowther or Peter Gallagher?

That is a very good question. The outcome would depend on a lot of things, are knives allowed? How about guns? Knuckle dusters? Or are we talking about a battle of wits and cutting words?

I can mash potato, I can mash potato I can do the twist, I can do the twist Now tell me baby Do you like it like this?

NO. That is all.

Do you think God is overpowered? The closest other being to his power level I can think off is Kim Jong-il but even he is subject to time and as such being superseded by Kim Jong-un who undoubtedly will lead North Korea into an even more glorious age.

Oh North Korea, you so glorious.

What are your beliefs on the intrinsic abstract capabilities of triangles intersected with trapezoids?

I don’t believe in anything apart from life after love.

Who is your favourite MILF? The Queen.

Drawing of James by John C Ross - 3rd year Undergraduate

Post your questions to James at formspring.me/askthepresident

8

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

“COMMENT.” Edited by Gala Jackson-Coombs

Eugène Delacroix - Liberty Leading the People, oil painting 1830

Is Revolution a Thing of the Past?

Ryan Boyd 2nd year P.R.E. For perhaps the last forty years, the world I am most immediately aware of - that is the Western, democratic world - has been more or less stagnant in its political shape. Constitutional monarchies have stayed as constitutional monarchies, republics as republics, two-party systems as two party systems. The people may have changed - the attitudes too - but more or less, change has occurred within the pre-existing structure. Indeed, if we take that time-span down to twenty years, we can exclude the fall of the Soviet Union, and point to an even more settled time period.

Contrast that to the preceding forty years, and the number of political upheavals, revolutions of global significance and formations of new political movements dwarfs those of relative modernity. What can this mean? We are still dealing with roughly the same problems; the inadequacies of capitalism, poverty and war which sparked the revolutions of the past. The October Revolution and communism, the emergence of the Labour Party and the creation of the UN all occurred within thirty years of each other. So too did two world wars, and the unfortunate rise of totalitarianism. When the 20th century is studied akin to how the 17th or 19th centuries are studied today, the students will surely note the comparative dearth of radical change post-1950. The very fact that the most notable event of the latter half of the 20th century is undoubtedly the Cold War demonstrates

quite neatly the idea that inactivity was the byword of the semi-centenary.

Naturally, this as seen as inherently a good thing, since this stability has roughly ensured increased prosperity for those who experience it. It would be infantile to suggest that the first fifty years were in some way ‘cooler’ or righteous purely because they were more radical. No one would suggest either world war was in some way a sign of a more admirably decisive human spirit. Upheaval, per se, is not to be valued above stability. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, so it goes.

But, as I say, we are facing the same problems which caused the likes of Marx and Lenin to ferment revolution.

The idea that we have in some way forgotten how to imagine any other political situation other than capitalist democracy is one discussed by Zizek, who calls upon Fukoyama’s theory of the end of history (the idea that history no longer exists as a progression, a ‘grand narrative’, of humanity) in order to explain that one of capitalism’s features is its subjugation of the political imagination - it kills utopianism. Simply put: when Marx saw a problem, he thought that to solve the problem, one would have to get rid of the political structure which allowed it to be; when we encounter problems (world debt, poverty, etc.) we wonder how we can solve them within the pre-existing structure (usually by charity, or legislation to refine the law concerned), the structure which undoubtedly caused them in the first place.

And it is not as if our docility comes

about because things are more-or-less acceptable; we know full well that the world as it is is a deeply flawed and desperate place to live. Climatologists repeatedly tell us that if CO2 emissions do not drop significantly in the short-term, hugely damaging climate change will be irrevocably set into motion; poverty still exists on a truly epic scale; civil liberties are regularly sacrificed in the face of exaggerated threats; huge disparities in wealth exist globally and, well, I will let you think of whichever near-fatal crisis you wish.

There is an almost obscene amount of them. And if these out of sight, out of mind crises do little to make you truly worried, then let’s air something more close to the wallet; the global financial crisis, as it’s been more or less labelled.

It’s baffling that despite the severity of depression, no one is suggesting radical alternatives as an option. Indeed, to the average person, there are no alternatives, outside the play within capitalism. They do not see the bubble they all operate within. Quite revealingly, David Cameron said recently that “We face a stark choice between capitalism and survival.” There is no other to capitalism, other than annihilation.

A good example of this political stultification and how it causes mass hypocrisy and circularity is the last thirteen years of British politics. 1997 and Labour is swept into power, achieving a landslide. Then setting about a programme of political reform and state investment (as well as a war here and there), they managed to put Britain into a position where its borrowing levels and budget deficit made it extremely vulnerable to an economic depression - but why think of that? Indeed, it has often been

commented (retrospectively, for no one could see past this at the time) that the very idea of ‘boom-bust’ that most people had accepted as part of overall prosperity had been optimistically thought to have been done away with - that it could well be possible to have only a steady, resounding boom. Then, when the recession did happen, the economy shrunk hugely, unemployment rose, and the other usual problems made an appearance. By the 2010 election, the Conservative Party, running on an economic policy of severe cuts to reduce the deficit essentially came to power (though they would have to “rely” on the Liberal Democrat Party - for what?

Their sheep’s clothing?). In the recent Spending Review, quite massive cuts were announced in all departments. To give you an idea of the scale, the Education Department’s budget for the next few years will have 60% less capital in real terms in order to spend than it did pre-Spending Review. Figures like this are not extraordinary in the Spending Review. Indeed, it is the biggest draft of cuts announced since immediately post-World War Two. And now, the liberal reaction is to want to spend more, not cut more - to go back to the Labour attitude of 1997-2010 - no one, even now, does not think “I want to get off this ride”. It is a constant forgetting; a constant insanity of thinking the same system will beget different results. To return to the boom/bust idea, it is quite absurd to think that Keynes could base his economic theory on this and not provoke immediate ridicule; a system that does not work for perhaps half the time, or for half the people (and half is being generous) is what we chose to live by?

I wouldn’t wish to portray the masses of us as stuffed to apathy with media, technology and materialism – the germ of revolution is still there. Take that hotbed of revolution, France. France, you may be aware, has form. From the Revolution to the failed 1968 riots, the Gallic politics has always been the European revolutionary spirit par excellence. We might, therefore, view the latest string of manifestations as a good example that capitalism doesn’t merely produce apathy. These protests are ostensibly about the raising of the retirement age from 60 to 62 – we are supposed to believe that three million people are protesting about this. Students, children, the unions, the normal homme on the street, all of them united to stop this hideous injustice.

But, I suppose, it is not absurd to see this issue as the catalyst, a flagpole on which to fly the red flag of revolution upon. Every revolution needs its catalyst, its small detail which lets the rest follow: in the 1789, a land tax which was so problematic it caused the summoning of the Estates-Generales for the first time in over 150 years, led to the empowerment of the Third Estate, the people. Naturally, if there had not been a huge gulf in wealth in the ancien regime, there would have been no such happening – but it needed a catalyst nonetheless. Three million people, however, and no one is listening: the law changing the retirement age was today passed by the French Senate (it was also rushed through the stages of debate by a parliamentary move appropriately termed ‘guillotine’). In 1968, the revolution failed. Post-1968, will the French, or indeed, anyone, be able to truly take over?

When one thinks of what is stopping them, it is haunting to think that your mind does not stop at a satisfactory answer until it reaches the factor of the military and policing force government has. Police brutality, especially, has been enough to crush any sense of revolutionary spirit in recent years; the protests at the Gx meetings, as well as the Iranian protests, have been easily crushed by glorified thugs in riot gear.

Government here is purely and classically totalitarian; it categorises protest as criminal activity and duly stifles it with force. Democracies are supposed to rely upon its citizens’ sovereignty, or its reason and sobriety. Why has force needed to be used? It can only be because democracy as it is in contemporary nations is irrational, drunk and its citizens disenfranchised by their lack of choice. Their sovereignty is then narrowed down the sole channel of the vote; any other expression of choice is seen as criminal and its approach to problems is to vacillate wildly from austerity to profligacy. If modern ‘democapitalism’ were a person, we would stage an intervention.

Why do we, on the whole, do nothing? Why is any murmur of discontent crushed? Fear. Democracy nor capitalism are no longer the best possible systems – the only way in which they truly succeed is in the manner of a Trojan horse; convincing us to let it in despite our doubts, and then, once in, showing its true colours. All we need do is to realise that safeguarding ourselves from its attacks once in is not enough, instead we must close our gates to it.

9

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

comment

Don’t Touch My Transvestite!

How American hit show Glee took one fishnetted step too far.

Hazel Dixon Student Last year, like many others, I found myself morbidly intrigued by the US musical comedy show Glee. Come on…

A bunch of misfit American teens singing covers of classic rock and Lady Gaga? What’s not to love? Issues with my judgement aside, I persevered.

Now, I was fine with putting up with the cheese, the religious undertones and the thousandth play of Don’t Stop Believin’ until now, but Glee has gone too far. They’re doing a version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

For those of you unfamiliar with the spectacle that includes the songs Time Warp and Sweet Transvestite, I suggest you make it a necessary part of this Halloween, but for the moment here’s a sweet summary. Rocky Horror can be best described as a cult horror comedy.

It is extravagant, brilliant and completely rock and roll. It centres around these two loved up newlyweds – Brad Majors and Janet Weiss - who find themselves knocking on the door of a crazy mansion filled with corsets, fishnets, science experiments and a transvestite, Dr Frank N Furter. Tim Curry fills this role with gusto, and makes the

film what it is. Dressed in a corset and high heels, he is perfectly and exquisitely camp, captivating the audience and wooing us with his charm, giving it the flamboyant and B movie cult feel that makes people want to throw on a pair of fishnets and a feather boa. As well as the doctor, there’s a humpback butler type called Riff Raff (played by Richard O’Brien) who gives the film that eerie and spooky feel. He also composed the music and was the bald presenter of The Crystal Maze, which is nothing but a good thing. There are also many dancing girls dressed in corsets, maids’ outfits and sequins and a Herculean young man dressed only in a pair of golden boxers. Oh, and Meat Loaf on a motorbike. There’s something for everyone in this asylum.

Taking all this into consideration, I hope you can begin to fathom the baffled anger I felt when I heard that some cheesy, American kids would attempt to rival the greatness of the original.

Not only that, but last night I managed to find (perfectly legal) copies of the Time Warp and Sweet Transvestite by the cast of Glee on Youtube and as an accompaniment to this article, I suggest you listen to both these versions and the originals. Let’s concentrate on the latter. Sweet Transvestite comes after the first appearance of Dr. Frank.

It is over-the top, teasingly devious and shows Frank’s as the marvel that he is.

In contrast, in Glee it is sung by Mercedes, a diva that has one of those beautiful and soulful voices reminiscent of Aretha Franklin. However, there’s something about the bravado and sarcastically fantastic essence of Tim Curry that unfortunately just does not lend itself to a female soul singer. Glee has that clean, recording-studio feel that can’t manufacture the dramatic rough edges that makes songs from Rocky Horror so amazing. I’m trying not to be some kind of Rocky-purist here but I feel that the essence of this film cannot be carried off by something as, well, normal as Glee. They all have brilliant voices, but you wouldn’t expect Pavarotti to sing Britney Spears. It’s just not right.

Maybe when the episode airs in the UK, it won’t be an absolute, all-encompassing catastrophe. There are hordes of devoted fans (or “Gleeks” as they like to be known) out there who might use this as s chance to see the movie and get into something I (and many others) really love. I could possibly go around with some pin badges saying “I liked Rocky Horror before it was Glee” like I assume people did when their cover of Don’t Stop Believin’ was released. Perhaps it’s a good way to celebrate Rocky Horror.

© Rocky Music

Oh, and Meat Loaf will be in it. Unfortunately, the whole idea of a B Movie legend like this being churned up by the mainstream machine, and spat out covered in American cheese, makes me want to throw up a little.

Let’s do the time warp again.

The Rocky Horror Glee show was aired on 26th October on FOX. The Rocky Horror Stage Show is being performed at the Richmond Theatre between 22-27 November. tion is simply a business transaction, as long as those involved are not coerced into the trade. In fact, I have been looking for a job for a long time and after repeatedly being knocked back by retail and food outlets for being overqualified, I started thinking perhaps the sex industry is for me! It is a well-known fact that between 10-20 percent of all female students in London work, or have worked, in the sex industry. Now as you all know I am taken and I would therefore not actually do it, but because of my very open views towards sex, nudity, and one night stands I believe I could. These women and men on the streets of Soho and Kings Cross are just making money and using one of the oldest trades in the world to do this.

If Prostitution was made legal in Britain, it would help sex workers by making trade fairer and more safe as well as helping to control human sex trafficking. This is a trade that will never end, as it is thriving here although it is illegal and things like prostitution and drug use do not seem to be affected by the recession, as the less money people have the more people will spend on having “fun“. It would also make it much safer for the clients of the trade as they would be further assured that the sex workers involved would have a clean sexual health record, which would in turn save the N.H.S. a lot of money. The only downside would be that England could become a haven for sex tourists akin to places like Amsterdam.

Should I Become a Prostitute?

Ms Mollie Puttock 2nd year Undergraduate Smoking a cigarette on the corner of the street by Victoria station, wearing my usual attire of a short black dress, Doc

Martens and a leather jacket, slowly running my fingers through my long, blonde hair just watching the people go by as I wait for my other half to arrive. A man of about 30 sidles next to me and lights his roll up, he has a short back and sides haircut, a tattoo on his chest visible through his white

shirt and a camouflage back pack (blatant squaddie). He takes a long deep toke, then turns to me and asks “how much?”. Now, had this been the first time in my life I had been mistaken for a prostitute I would have been shocked, surprised and confused but instead I simply said “you could never af-

ford this”. I threw down my cigarette, stomped on it with my boot and walked away into the night.

I later wondered why being labelled as a prostitute in no way offended me, I guess it is because in my eyes prostitu-

When I think about the sex industry from my own secular perspective, I just see women and men trying to earn a living wage by taking place in an animalistic event that the human psyche has always been wired to want in order for the human race to continue. Surely it is a much more natural and fulfilling thing to do than work in McDonalds!

10

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

COMMENT

Cardinal Newman Heythrop students discuss the beautification of the British Cardinal on the Pope’s visit to England

Principle of University James Barber 2nd year Theology Beatified during Pope Benedict’s visit, Cardinal John Henry Newman has become common reading for thousands across Europe. One of his most famous works regards university education and theological study which is relevant, especially when the budget axe hangs mercilessly over our subjects’ heads.

Theology and Philosophy in particular are lined up to be sacrificed on the altar of productivity as the money god breathes heavily down George Osborne’s neck.

Newman faced this same problem. It would seem that slaughtering these innocent victims holds a knife to the purpose of university, to teach “the whole”. Newman believes it defies reason to cut them: “Such a procedure, though defended by writers of the generation just past with much plausible argument and not a little wit, seems to me an intellectual absurdity; and my reason for saying so runs, with whatever abruptness, into the form of a syllogism: A university, I should lay down, by its very name professes to teach universal knowledge: theology [and philosophy] is surely a branch of knowledge: how then is it possible to profess all branches of knowledge, and yet to exclude not the meanest, not the narrowest number? I do not see that either premise of this argument is open to exception.” By definition the university must teach every branch of

knowledge, this is its purpose.

Knowledge forms one whole, the one universe we all study, both theologian and theoretical physicist alike and to cut such subjects as ours would, intellectually, be like playing football with half a football; you put in the effort but really you are going nowhere.

Suppressing theology and philosophy suppresses a free thinking people and cannot be justified by any means, especially when the philosophical rules of justification are ruled out with it.

Proposed cuts to our subjects threaten social structure also; by removing thinkers studied in philosophy and theology, society becomes robotic, concerned simply with production of goods and wealth without moral compass. I don’t stir occult rumours but might not these cuts push our society into a cold uniformity, not completely dissimilar to other historical examples of cold, uniform, and efficient regimes emerging from bankruptcy? My point is that threatening our subjects with homelessness threatens the ethical structure which the university as an institution was founded to uphold.

Philosophy and theology may not be economically productive, and though it must be mentioned also how little postgraduates produce commercially, Newman summarises the argument perfectly when he says that “.... philosophy [and theology] has a narrower province, but a richer one.” This must be the point we make in our actions to stop the government dropping the axe on philosophy and theology.

Britain’s Got Talent Tom Sojer Erasmus Pope Benedict XVI honoured the memory of Cardinal Newman by beautificating him on his recent trip to the UK. The son of this royal nation waited for beatification for over 120 years. John Henry Cardinal Newman was from right here in London. You might ask why Cardinal Newman could be considered great enough to deserve this honour. Actually, why not let John Henry answer this question on his own: The Lion: So, John Henry, what makes you worthy of such an honour?

J.H.: Yeah, well, I don’t think I am talented or a genius, but lots of people appreciate my thoughts about the meaning of life and religion and the way I tried to live my own life. Ben beatified me as some kind of example to others in how to live.

L: As such an example, what made your life so exemplary?

J.H.: I was interested in religion and faith since I was a teenager and I started to study Theology in Oxford at the age of sixteen. When I was 22 I became a professor and an Anglican priest at 24. In 1833, some friends and I founded the so-called Oxford movement, an intellectual wing of the Anglican High Church developing it into AngloCatholicism. By studying the ancient fathers of Christianity for several years

I decided to convert to Roman Catholicism and became a Catholic priest and a member of the Oratorians of Philipp Neri. In the following years I founded two Oratories, which is what we call our monasteries, in London and Birmingham. When I was 78, I became a Cardinal without being a bishop or staying in Rome by Pope Leo XIII. L: You had a very chequered life! But what was the special thing that makes Ben think it’s worth honouring?

J.H.: I don’t know if it is that honourable, but it might be that Ben appreciated so much my hard-line o living my life according to truth. Throughout my life I just tried to seek for truth itself and to live in the light of it. It was my maxim that if you really believe something to be true with your entire heart you have to defend your opinion even if it means losing your reputation, friends and status.

L: Did you ever lose your reputation, friends and status?

J.H.: Within the Anglican Church I had many friends and a lot of people who loved my work as a theologian. When I converted to the Catholic Church, I was treated like a traitor by my Anglican friends. Additionally, the Catholics mostly confronted me with suspicion and refusal.

L: How did you come through that and what would you somebody in a similar situation?

J.H.: I always believed in the fact that

truth will be seen in the end. Furthermore, I think it is important to defend your point and be idle. In my hardest time, I wrote the so-called Apologia pro vita sua. The whole book is an intellectual autobiography of all the steps and decisions I had made in my life.

It’s something very popular at the moment and lots of celebrities do it today.

I called it Apologia because it is a rebuttal of all the allegations against me.

L: As a theologian and thinker, what would you recommend to Heythrop’s students for their studies here at the college and in their lives?

J.H.: In my studies, the most important thing was that everything I believed in had to be founded on reason and rationality. For me, faith and reason go together and Theology should be seen as a real science, not only talking around abstract things. I encourage all students to go on the quest for truth without being distracted by mainstream thinking and popular concepts.

Truth always needs personal effort and commitment.

L: Lastly, you are known as a gifted poet, can you recite one of them to conclude?

J.H.: Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom - Lead Thou me on!

The night is dark, and I am far from home - Lead Thou me on!

Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene - one step enough for me.

Statue of Cardinal Newman in Brompton Road, London

11

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

comment

A Word About Welfare...

A message from the Welfare team on office hours and Counselling Services John Ord Male Welfare The article in this issue will follow up on the promises of last issue and bring you more information about the Union and how to contact us as the Executive Committee. There is also information about our wonderful counsellor Daisy Hayes and how a lot of the stigma surrounding counselling and individuals committed to student support is a load of old tosh.

The Union Executive have a basic collective job description that, in essence, requires us to keep the college running in a way that is positive and constructive for students. Each person on the Union has a more specific job description as well, and information about the posts can be found in the HSU Constitution (passed at the recent OGM) and information about the people currently holding the positions (including us as the wonderful Welfare Team) can be found on the HSU website. In addition to this, we now also have fixed Office Hours so that you can always come and talk to us in person. These are times when we will be in the Union Office (opposite the new Lighthouse computer room in the Basement near the Lounge – you know where we are!) and available for questions, comments and queries and all are welcomed with open arms. We love feedback. The times are as follows:

1.00-4 .00 Alex Nandris, Jazz Purewal 4.00-6.00 Philip Woods Friday 1:30-3:30 Bradley Smith James Johnston and Chris Nicholson have no set office hours due to the nature of their jobs. They are either in the office or in meetings the vast majority of the time.

Wednesday 11:30-1:30 Alex Hackett, Katie Plumb, Gala Jackson-Coombs 2:00-5:00 Bradley Smith Thursday

My final point is just to remember that

Tuesday 1:30-4:30 John Ord, Rebecca FitzGerald

Moving into Chaplaincy Fr.Dave Stewart SJ Here at Heythrop, many wonderful people have served the community as chaplains over many years. Fr.Rocco Viviano SX and Fr.Dave Stewart SJ have begun to walk in those footsteps as the latest two chaplains of the College.

One of us, Fr.Dave is a Jesuit; a member of the RC religious order that launched Heythrop almost 400 years ago and which runs it to this day. Dave will be here on at least 4 days a week, using the office in the Copleston Wing. Fr.Rocco is a Xaverian Missionary, from an Italian missionary order that he describes as “close cousins” to the Jesuits. Rocco, a Ph.D student here at the College, will

says, poetry is a way of cleansing and purging your mind of all the angst and stress that results in a healthier lifestyle (as was covered in the issue last week about a good exercise routine and diet).

be offered a coffee and a biscuit (if not, just take one anyway).

what more is possible?

The support teams of the HSU Executive Committee and the College Student Support Team are both readily available for you and are equipped to deal with a number of hurdles that you may encounter on your race through

university – just remember that university is by no means a sprint but more of a marathon. Take your time over things and pace yourself for the best results and don’t hesitate to contact someone in a support position, if you need a moment of support. If you have any questions about welfare issues feel free to email your Welfare Team: malewelfare@heyhthropcollege.ac.uk and femalewelfare@heythropcollege.ac.uk

And so to counselling at Heythrop College. We are very lucky to have recently had appointed a College counsellor for two afternoons a week. Daisy Hayes has worked at the University of Westminster for ten years now and is a highly qualified group therapist, active in many other circles as well. Included in this is her work on the website for Students Against Depression (www. studentdepression.org), which offers a blog for people to talk about their depression and to have constructive feedback on the issues that are challenging them. If any of you are familiar with the book series of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul then you will understand how powerful such instances of sharing can be and I encourage everyone to check out the website if you feel it might be of use to you or someone you know. The site also lists a great amount of resources for someone struggling with issues that can be resolved with only a little bit of help or fresh energy.

It’s this fresh energy is something that counselling is very good for. The stigma that only weak people with overwhelming problems go and see a counsellor is now so outdated it verges on the ridiculous, and it’s commonplace for someone to go and see a counselor every so often. So why do people find it so useful? One of the reasons is the input of a new mind to an existing problem. There are a lot of things that can be solved merely by looking at it from a different angle, or having a breath of emotionally fresh air run through it. It’s this breath that can be a relief to you and that may blow the cobwebs that were dragging you into a rut clean out of your mind.

Monday 11:30-1:30 John Ord 1:30-5:00 Alex Hackett, Katie Plumb, Gala Jackson-Coombs

the people on the support team are people, too. They’ve been through the ringer and they’ve come out the other side, so they know what kind of thing to expect and what can help you get through. Daisy harbours an interest in photography and Dominic McLoughlin is a keen poet who is interested in the connections between poetry (and, indeed, art in general) and health to such an extent that he gives talks on the matter to training psychiatrists. As he

be in the main building chaplaincy office on two days per week. Together, we form the Chaplaincy Team. We’re delighted about the opportunity we’ve been given and look forward to serving you all, however we can.

Our warm congratulations go to the HSU and the team responsible for The Lion. We’re grateful, too, for the invitation to contribute a piece for the paper and shall do so regularly. Today’s piece from us is more of an introduction to ourselves and a few of our plans. Future columns will probably comment on widely varied topics. For now, we want to say “hello” and we hope that you will drop into one of the Chaplaincy offices to say “hello” back to us. If you do so, there is a very good chance that you’ll

It’s a Jesuit College and thus takes its place among several thousand Jesuit educational institutes around the world. I’ll write more about this dimension in future columns. Let me say for now that what’s common to each one of those places should mark our living and our learning here: cura personalis. cura personalis is a Latin phrase that means care of the whole person, of every person, as a uniquely valuable child of God, and the aspiration to become Men & Women for Others, a phrase coined by the great Jesuit Pedro Arrupe SJ (d.1983). For Arrupe, any attempt at religious, authentic living which did not have, at its core, this concern for the other, especially the poorest and weakest, would be “a farce”. We are fond of using the Latin motto “AMDG”; which means, “for the greater glory of God”. As Arrupe himself once said,

We hope here to continue these great Jesuit traditions. In the profoundly humanistic tradition of Jesuit colleges, nothing of this is for Roman Catholics only – a reality that can occasionally surprise, if not dismay, some people.

Watch for proposals for opportunities to be of service to the poor here in London. Watch for developments in creating a Chaplaincy group which will promote links with agencies such as CAFOD, the Jesuit Refugee Service and Christian Aid. Watch for opportunities for prayer and meditation, using the tools bequeathed to us by St.ignatius, founder of the Jesuits. And watch for your two chaplains, who promise to make themselves available, should you ever need a listening ear or a spot of personal support.

We agreed from the very beginning that one of the great strengths of this

place is its diversity, be that religious, ethnic, political or prior experience.

We want to honour that and uphold it.

Accordingly, we’ve already announced that the Chaplaincy is exploring ideas for moments of prayer and activities which would bring together members of the Heythrop community (students and staff) from different Christian denominations. The work for the unity among Christians (ecumenism) is an important priority for us, and we aim to form a team of people to coordinate such initiatives.

It’s good to be here and it’s good to look ahead, among so many sharp minds that are looking for the truth and wanting, as Principal John McDade has said, to live by it. In our way, Fr. Rocco and I hope to contribute to that search and that discovery. God willing, we’ll be able to help in living it out too. AMDG

12

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

CuLTUrE

Literature: Devil Bones Josh Ferguson 2nd year Undergraduate I wanted to write a review for this fine new publication. However, all of the books, CD’s and films I recently bought are hardly new. So I’ll settle for this, a book I found on the Tube. Devil Bones is the twelfth instalment in Kathy Reichs’ ongoing series. The series follows the adventures of the ludicrously named Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist by trade. I haven’t actually read instalments one through eleven, but I got the gist.

Experience has taught me to read the blurb on the back of books very, very carefully before I buy them. Aside from the story teaser and gushing praise from second-rate newspapers, what caught my eye were the photograph of the author and a small box of text informing me that, like the protagonist, the author is a “top” forensic anthropologist. Below was the assurance that thrillers don’t get more real than this.

Right away a set of alarm bells went off, and I knew exactly what was in store.

Most obvious was the shared job between author and fictional creation, meaning there was most definitely going to be some massive author-insertion going on. I was, as always, right.

The character of Temperance Brennan is an independent, free-spirited divorcee. She has a Stakhanovite work ethic and a smart mouth, cracking wise and making sarcastic asides during narration, which aren’t funny and really start to grate about four chapters in. Temperance also has a problem with alcoholism (OH, I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE) and some lingering romance issues (because in this genre there’s no way of dodging that particular narrative bullet if the protagonist is an independent woman).

Another effect of the author and her

The series Bones was based on the Kathy Reichs Novels

author-insertion-fantasy-personaprotagonist sharing jobs is the level of detail. Far too often there will be a moment when a particular forensic process is mentioned, and the protagonist will say, “Let me tell you how it works”.

Cue a long, detailed and very, very dull elucidation on said forensic process. All this does is serve to bring narrative flow to a grinding halt, and I am left screaming at the pages “Don’t tell me how the machine works! Just tell me the damn results!!” It makes for a massively frustrating read.

Another peculiar foible of Kathy Reichs’ writing style is ending every chapter on a cliffhanger. This is, in itself, not hard to understand; it’s just to keep the reader turning pages. And it did just that with me, if only because the cliffhangers hinted at some excitement over the next page, and I’d almost been lulled into a deathlike torpor by the dreariness of the last chapter. It’s not just the asides into the nuances of forensic science. Reichs has an aversion to mixing exposition and events. Wellwritten stories manage to weave exposition into the narrative, which this fails to do spectacularly. Also worth mentioning is the characterisation. There’s a certain Uncanny Valley-esque effect to the dialogue, which makes me, as the reader, uneasy. All the characters speak like aliens who understand the concept of being human but don’t quite grasp the subtleties. As a result, it makes none of them the slightest bit relatable.

It’s also rather irritating that while the (largely occult-related) plot makes a big thing of religious tolerance and the defence of alternative religions such as Wicca, Voodoo and Santeria, Reichs has no problem linking human sacrifice and devil-worship with the Church Of Satan founded by Anton LaVey, which a) doesn’t worship the Devil or believe in his existence and b) deplores the idea of harming one’s fellow man. Perhaps

Ms. Reichs should have done a little more research in this area to avoid looking like a bigot who should have done her research.

Finally, there’s one dialogue near the end between the protagonist and her old flame (natch) that stuck in my craw so hard I actually physically choked. It boils down to the protagonist farting

out this longwinded diatribe on the importance of religious tolerance and accepting people for who they are, like America ought to (cheerfully ignoring her own casual demonising of the Church Of Satan).

So, in summary, it seems that Ms. Reichs has missed the point of the thriller novel. What parts of this book didn’t

bore me I found awkwardly written with un-likable characters. I certainly won’t be reading any of the other books in the series. And I’d like to finish by saying that if the person who left this book on the Circle Line is reading this, I can understand why you left it there.

If you’d like it back, please get in touch and I will gladly return it to you. But I doubt you want it back.

Venue: Acoustic Night at The Greyhound Steve Megahey 3rd Year Undergraduate Any good Heythrop student is aware of the local pub, The Greyhound, what you might not be aware of is the fantastic little acoustic night they now run every Thursday. I went down last week expecting to see basically an open-mic night, with the usual mix of one or two good performers, but with some bad karaoke-esque ones as well. I was very pleasantly surprised. The night seems to have built up a large base of regulars over the last couple of months since it launched, the crowd seemed a healthy mix of the young and the vibrant cre-

ating an almost electric atmosphere.

People seemed to have arrived in fairly large groups and were chatting away contentedly over drinks and pub food as the acts were setting up. I had a chat with Jamie, the organiser of the night, and he told me a little about how the night works and how it’s going to continue to evolve in the future. It’s open to most people who want to perform, although the organisers check their music before they’re booked to play to make sure that it’s in-keeping with the quality of the rest of the night. This screening process is certainly reflected in the quality of the performing on the night. The performers were varied and without exception fantastic, including Heythrop’s own Amy Simpson who

kicked off the night by setting a very high bar for the rest of the musicians.

The evening had clearly been designed so that the crowd could treat the music in any way they wanted – there were people who clearly came just to watch the artists perform, some who had come out for a relaxed drink and a good time, and some who wanted to have a nice meal with some good live music in the background. Perhaps the highlight of the evening was the performance by Kay Jay (of ‘Last Night a DJ Saved My Life’ fame) who appeared with her band singing songs off her new EP ‘Intuition’.

The music was sensational and Kay Jay and the band worked brilliantly off the crowd, making everyone in the room feel thoroughly involved in the music.

Amy Simpson performs at The Greyhound

Overall, the night provided a great platform in which to experience a hotbed of acoustic musical talent. Highly recommended for all Heythrop students, and for those of you who play music or are in a band, I can’t stress how much of a good idea it would be to get in touch with the organisers to see if you can play a few sets.

If you want to find out more about Kay Jay’s New EP, go to www.kayjaymusic.com (I’d definitely recommend giving this a look, especially if you’re into modern funky soul).

13

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

Film: The Social Network Sartaj Singh 2nd year Undergraduate I was lucky enough to catch an advanced screening of The Social Network and I went in with high expectations because David Fincher is one of my favourite directors. In terms of the subject matter I was curious, but also a little sceptical, questioning whether a movie about Facebook would be at all interesting. It was written by Aaron Sorkin (writer of The West Wing) and was based on a book called The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich. Well, fear not movie goers of all ages, David Fincher has crafted another fantastic movie that can be added to his long resume of spectacular films. From the opening to the very end, I was gripped.

The Social Network tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg, who after getting dumped by his girlfriend creates a webpage called “Facemash” where male students have to choose which of two girls is more attractive. As a result of this, he is hated by most of the female students at Harvard and is slapped with six months of academic probation. What follows is the creation of Facebook. One of the things that really stood out is the script. From the opening scene where Zuckerberg is talking to his girlfriend Erica, I was drawn in with what the characters had to say.

The dialogue is everything you want: funny, sharp, witty, intelligent and insightful. It comes at you like a bolt of lightning, demanding you sit up and pay attention.

Jesse Eisenberg who, in my humble opinion, deserves at least a Best Actor Oscar nomination at the Academy Awards next year plays Mark Zuckerberg. I was taken aback by his performance. He plays the part with a witty arrogance; he knows he is the smartest man in the room and doesn’t care about who else is the in room with him, be it hot shot lawyers, his former best friend or his competition. He also plays the character with a chilling demeanour that makes him appear like a robot that is only programmed to create the website. Absolutely nothing will get in his way. This is best shown in some of scenes where he is talking to his best friend and co-creator of Facebook Eduardo Saverin. However, there are moments where Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg with some suggestion that this character has a heart and probably the best scene that shows this is after the betrayal, he tells off Sean Parker, claiming he was too hard on Saverin.

Eisenberg also plays Zuckerberg with

an element of sadness which is best shown in the final scene. There is a great irony to Mark; socially speaking he is quite inept yet he goes on to create the ultimate social networking website. Is Zuckerberg creating Facebook out of a need to get back at his ex? Or maybe out of a need to be more socially accepted, or even to get back Saverin because he may have been jealous? A final hypothesis could be that he created Facebook because it is the only way he can best represent himself. He is truly one of the finest characters to grace the silver screen this year.

Andrew Garfield plays Eduardo Saverin and I had seen Garfield in two things.

The first was in an episode of Doctor Who, where he played a minor role; the second was in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In quite an underwhelming movie, Garfield proved to the one of the best things, delivering a knockout performance that came very close to rivalling even Heath Ledger.

After seeing him in The Social Network I am convinced of two things: that he is one of the best rising stars to come out of the UK in a while; and that I am absolutely convinced from what I have seen of him that he will make a perfect Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the upcoming reboot movie hitting cinemas in July 2012.

The predominantly British cast is superb. Sally Hawkins (Happy-GoLucky) stands out as the timid, yet victorious Rita; her quivering voice gaining strength as she inspires a na-

David Fincher`s direction also has to be hugely credited. He delivers a pace so quick that from frame one you have to tune in otherwise you’re going to miss something. His editing is also very good, he cuts quickly from scenes when he has to and leaves all the time in the world for those nice slow scenes as well.

Another thing I was impressed with

The Student Hob: A Real Winter Warmer

was Fincher’s inclusion of CGI. There has been a lot of debate among critics that writer Aaron Sorkin is really the main reason this movie is good and that this movie is not really a David Fincher film. I would beg to differ; this movie absolutely belongs in his canon. For one thing, the visual style is perfectly in sync with his previous movies, particularly Fight Club.

Overall, despite my reservations going in, The Social Network has proved to be the sleeper hit of the year. Like the perfect storm it has a compelling story, with great characters matching with a masterfully written screenplay as well amazing directing. I believe that that Fight Club and Pulp Fiction defined the 90s. Come 2020, I would say The Social Network is easily in the running for the movie that defines this decade.

tion’s women to strike. She is not the typically strong female one might expect for such a part but she makes Rita believable as a 1960’s worker, mother & wife. Watch out for her in the coming year; she looks to be increasingly present on our screens. She is supported in her role by Geraldine James (Calendar Girls) as the broken yet persevering Connie and joined by Roger Lloyd-Pack (Only Fools and Horses) as

Now that the leaves are falling, the wind is starting to seep through the hinges of single-glazed windows and all the bonfire night event posters are up, we are all starting to feel the chill.

All the supermarket magazines are advertising winter warmers such as hotdogs made with stone-baked baguettes, slow-roasted sausages and caramelised onions and such. Admittedly, that sounds wonderful but let’s face it, that’s not the sort of food you are likely to find at the Clapham Common bonfire night – and we’re even less likely to go to that effort ourselves when just setting off fireworks in the garden! My idea of a real winter warmer is something hearty and healthy that’s cheap enough to buy, simple to make and will last throughout the week.

1 small onion – chopped (or half a tin of ready fried onion) 1 bunch of fresh parsley – ripped up both stalk and leaves 2 medium potatoes (anything but new or salad potatoes) - peeled and diced 1 Butternut squash – peeled, gutted and diced (not going to lie, this will take a little effort) ½ litre stock (either vegetable or meat) Boiled bacon (or fried rashers or leftover sausage/chicken etc) 1 tsp of ground ginger 1/2 red pepper – chopped In a large saucepan start to fry the onion in some oil or butter (unless you are using the tinned onion which already has oil) until it begins to soften. Next, add the squash, potato and pepper and stir. Once the vegetables have started to go a little soft and paler in colour, pour in the stock and bring up to the boil with a good couple of pinches of salt and pepper to season. After about 5-10 minutes allow the mixture to simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally until you can easily squash the veggies with the back of a fork. Then throw in the parsley and ginger, give it a stir and take off the heat. Lastly, just before you mix in your meaty pieces blitz it up or mash it with a potato masher to turn it into a yummy thick soup and serve up with some fresh crusty bread. Don’t forget to let the rest cool before putting it in the fridge!

Justin Timberlake plays Sean Parker, the creator of Napster. For me he was probably the biggest surprise of the movie, delivering a performance that is worthy of great critical consideration. His introductory scene where we find out that he created Napster has to be one of the funniest introductions to a character I have seen this year. Sean Parker is the character that takes Zuckerberg’s idea and tries to expand it.

Saverin opposes him and all the way through I was questioning who this guy really was and whether or not he would expand the Facebook idea with his ‘contacts’.

One of the things that really elevated the movie for me was the score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). The defini-

Francesca Gosling 2nd Year Undergraduate

If you have a spare hour or two one evening and a relatively large saucepan at hand then why not try making what I like to call “butter-bacon” soup – this recipe makes about 6 bowls.

Garfield as Saverin brings a great amount of likability to the role. In a movie where pretty much every other character is unlikable in some way Eduardo Saverin seems like the only one you want to root for; he is a loyal friend to Zuckerberg and a great advocator and believer in his idea of Facebook.

He is also very funny; one sequence involves him talking about a chicken that will have you in stitches. However, the character is not all black and white.

Long after the movie was over, I was questioning whether or not the direction he wanted to take Facebook in was good or not.

Film: Made in Dagenham Katie Plumb Editor

tion of a good score, in my opinion, is something that causes you to emotionally react without realising it. And the score of The Social Network delivers that in spades. The score made me feel on the edge; seamlessly placed in the movie it’s almost as though you don`t notice it. It’s not a big booming score that you would expect from John Williams or Danny Elfman but a different beast, one that rewards listeners upon repeated viewings.

cULtURe

The great thing with a recipe like this is that you can take bits out that you don’t like and add in flavours you prefer. I first made this in my lovely grandmother’s kitchen and her and her friends were instantly giving me useful suggestions e.g. add some chopped ripe tomato in with the cooking vegetables or a spoonful of curry powder instead of ginger.

© Eric Delcroix

George. Although he does not feature often, he provides some much needed depth. The after-effects he experiences from the Second World War give both historical placement, beyond the aesthetics of props and costumes, and a glimpse of a society who had already suffered much in their living memory.

Other notable members of the cast were Bob Hoskins (Mrs Henderson Presents) as Albert, Daniel Mays (Ashes to Ashes) as Rita’s strangely sexy husband Eddie and Rosamund Pike (An Education) as the beautiful yet stifled Lisa. Pike ought to try and get out of her shift-dress be-

fore she gets typecast as a sixties’ pretty girl; she is a fabulous actress and it would be a shame for that to be wasted.

A film just for girls? It has the necessary beehives and Biba outfits to keep the fashion-minded amused but this is no Sex and the City; the costumes merely aid the plot. As with many films nowadays it is obviously romanticised.

It seemed a waste of such prime actors to let them not do justice to those who did suffer decades ago.

Continued on p15 >>

If you are the kind of person who likes to get their soup on, then Jamie Oliver is just the chef to look up – particularly recipes from “The Return of the Naked Chef”. Also, if you do give this a go and would like to give some feedback or tips on your own variation to appear in the next article, just send me a message to francesca.gosling@heythropcollege. ac.uk.

And, finally, have a wonderful bonfire weekend...remember to keep your pets indoors!

14

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

cULtURe Gaming: Medal Of Honour Michael Edwards 2nd year Undergraduate First Person Shooter Xbox 360/Playstation 3/PC Developed by EA and Danger Close (Single Player) and Dice (Multiplayer) 1 player offline 2-24 players online Rated 18 Played on Xbox 360 The day Medal of Honor came out (again I had pre-ordered the game) it arrived but I was not there to play it; I had gone home to Manchester, so I only got to play it when I arrived back at midnight on Friday. Nevertheless, I turned on my Xbox, forsook my health and body clock and played into the night.

One of the main selling points for this installment in the Medal of Honor franchise is that it is not about the Second World War like most (or probably all- I haven’t Google-d that) of their games. It is concerning a conflict in Afghanistan involving a coalition of British and American troops that is going on right now. This seems like a gimmick but actually it gives it a sense of reality. We could separate ourselves quite well from the horrors of the Second World War because we did not experience them, but the Afghan war is something we do have experience of; we remember it beginning, some of you may know someone who is currently there, who has been there or someone

who even lost their life there.

Before people claim that it is disgraceful or insensitive to ‘exploit’ this conflict it is important that we consider the military consults for this game. They are the Tier 1 Operatives, a real group made up of the best of the Special Forces from all of the coalition forces that are at the forefront of the war. They agreed to help and to do their comrades justice in this game, while making sure their identities were still unknown for their own, and others’, safety. Anyway, I’ve noticed that I seem to drag on justifying things before talking about the game, sorry.

My first impression was one of intrigue.

The opening cinematic, once I had started the campaign (on Normal), was depicting some soldiers- who would later turn out to be the protagonistsin a helicopter at night. They suddenly come under fire and the helicopter spins out of control, which creates a great atmosphere of tension and desire to know what will happen next. I was pleased because I had heard mixed things from various sources, some of which were rather damning - well this is my review and I’ll say what I bloody well like and what I think.

One thing I didn’t like about the opening mission was the generic ‘zoom into the back of the head’, however, it can be forgiven because the mission was involving and immersive, a nighttime incursion into either an AlQaeda or Taliban-held town as a team of Tier 1 Operatives, and as such we are undercover and hiding in plain sight but it feels worrying as we move through a checkpoint frequented by about ten armed militia. After a couple

Theatre: Me and Juliet John Ord Culture Editor The small Finborough Theatre has been home to many successful shows in the past, including another Rogers and Hammerstein musical, State Fair, in 2009 which was also directed by Thom Southerland. The show was received so well it was transferred to the West End at Trafalgar Studios. A repeat of this seems unlikely for the entertaining and innovative Me and Juliet.

The cast give superb performances all round with the characterization utterly convincing, which is truly remarkable for a show where some of the characters are only on stage for a short time.

Stephen McGlynn succeeds in making you hate his self-obsessed character after his first scene and Jodie Jacobs characterises the ambitious Betty and bounces her off Dafydd Howells’ authoritative Mac, bringing out the nuances in both of their characters. The quality performances are almost too many to name as I could list each cast member individually but I think that a standout mention has to be given to Robert Hands’ Larry. From his first song (‘That’s the Way it Happens’) you can see that he has a talent for us-



ing the music to highlight and advance his characterisation. He captured the defining moments of struggle and strength in Larry’s journey with assured naturalism so that you never doubted the reality for a second. His relationship with Laura Main’s timid and impressionable Jeanie is delicately played and fashioned with the tenderness that you would expect of the pair if you were to meet them backstage of a real show.

The abilities of each individual seemed to multiply when they were on stage as a group; the show really is a masterclass in ensemble musical theatre. The ease with which the cast handles the various transitions between scenes, characters and even musical numbers is remarkable. If anyone is in any doubt about the advantages of ensemble theatre in any form I recommend keeping an eye on Thom Southerland, who seems to have a knack for it.

The stage was set for the action in what nobody could doubt as being an ingenious use of what little space was available. The small stage was full of surprising innovations; it seemed like every time the scene changed another part of the wall had become a table or a desk or a dressing room station.

Curtains falling from the ceiling acted as neat partitions when coupled with the smart and flawless lighting setup.

minutes of being eased into the game and being led through all the controls (as if the controls for an FPS have changed dramatically since the last couple hundred of them) we storm through buildings search for a ‘contact’ named Tariq.

The story is well driven and the voice acting is as good as one comes to expect from such a game. I found myself being completely immersed in the game through the good mix of tension, story and gameplay, when I was suddenly yanked back to the reality of sitting in my pajamas on the couch with a bottle of Lucozade for company. This was because, despite being disguised as militia ourselves, we happen to be carrying our night vision goggles, and are asked to destroy a fuse box and then activate them to give us an advantage against our foes. Here comes the part where I go into the broom closet and come out in spandex as ‘Super-Geek’.

Night-vision goggles, in reality, are extremely bulky and noticeable, not to mention expensive, and as such militia would not be carrying them around and having just been inspected at the checkpoint previously mentioned you might think they would have been noticed. This was put together with the fact that your pistol has unlimited ammunition and that you can ask your team mates for more ammo whenever you’re running low.

Later, another thing started niggling at me: there were some fantastic cutscenes of epic set pieces, some of which looked like they were probably inspired by the beach landing from Saving Private Ryan, and I just wish that I could have played these parts; it would have been fantastic to play such exciting opening pieces. However, I will let this go due to one particularly memorable scene that we do get to play. Four American soldiers (one of them being the player) are trying to secure an LZ (landing zone to those with lives/girlfriends) when

they are ambushed by militia who are swarming down the mountainside towards you. The squad takes up a defensive position and it falls to the player to provide most of the covering fire, our fault for having the LMG I suppose. So as we empty round after round into the mountainside towards the oncoming enemy, we realise that they’re not stopping, you’re running out of ammo and your teammates can only give you so much, and they’re running out also. Suddenly it has gotten tense, I’m totally swept up in this scene, determined to fight to the last man, our cover is being slowly destroyed and I’m afraid what might happen to my character; I don’t want him to die.

That particular scene was so involving for me that I am totally comfortable with letting the not so perfect vehicle sections slide. Other general aspects of the game were done very well.

The weapons, for example, were well balanced and well varied, although most of the time the American/British ones were much better than anything you could pick up - except when you were told to pick up a specific weapon.

To sum up the single player in one sentence it would have to be: very enjoyable if frustrating at times.

The multiplayer was developed by Dice, Danger Close having made the single player, and as such is a spiritual brother of my favorite online multiplayer FPS, which is Battlefield Bad Company 2 (an epic game, check it out if you have the money/’cahones’). Dice are a fantastic company and I have loved playing the multiplayer, in fact I’ve been playing far too much. The average gaming session is 2 hours a day, I was doing more like 7-8 hours a day over the last week, more when I could. It is, to say the least, addictive. At first I was close to ‘ragequitting’ but I stuck with it and, despite the steep difficulty curve (which the single player does nothing to prepare you for) I was totally hooked as soon

as I began to level up. There are three classes, Rifleman (assault rifles and LMGs), Special Ops (sub-machine guns and shotguns - although it contains an M4 which is technically an assault rifle) and Sniper (you guessed it, sniper rifles).

I tried to play as many of the different modes as I could but I found myself skipping only between Team Assault (team deathmatch in disguise), Objective Raid (one team defending, one team attacking, two objectives) and Hardcore (generally Team Assault with less life and less help but can take the form of the other modes). I managed to level up to levels 6, 5 and 6 for the classes respectively. This might seem low by other games’ standards but a kill is only 10 points and there aren’t points awarded for taking part or winning, so it is more or less ‘kill as many people as you can to get to the top’.

For me, the multiplayer outstrips the single player so easily I think EA should have just asked Dice to do the whole game (unlikely seeing as Medal of Honor has always been a Danger Closepreviously DreamWorks Interactive).

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the game as a whole, which pretty much justifies buying it (for me anyway). I recommend it but I will admit that some might find it ‘generic’ or ‘samey’ in places. If you’re still unsure, you can always rent it, or ask nicely to borrow my copy, you never know... it could work.

When I arrived to secure my booking on what was set to be the first night I was told that the opening had been postponed due to technical difficulties.

Having seen the remarkable use of the space that doesn’t surprise me at all, though there was absolutely no technical difficulty on stage as the ensemble neatly maneuvered around the ever changing set with precision and confidence; testament to the skill of Thom Southerland and his design team.

Another remarkable use of the space was the jazzy choreography. Being someone who is easily impressed when it comes to showy dancing I must admit to having thoroughly enjoyed what was a veritable cavalcade of dance numbers, including hats and canes, maracas and even what was a delightful, if noisy, tap routine.

Welcomed into the auditorium to the piano already playing, the masterful Joseph Atkins at the keys, is a better way to enter a theatre than most and it was a pleasing harbinger of what was to come. The arrangements gave the actors a chance to really enjoy themselves and even though I was present on an evening where the audience were something of a lackluster giant the fun that the ensemble were having performing the numbers rubbed off on the audience. Numbers such as ‘Keep it Gay’ and ‘That’s the Way it Happens’ showcase the quirkiness of the show with bouncing rhythms and intelligent phrasing, while ‘The Big Black Giant’ speaks in a more melodious way of the passage of time and audiences in general; ‘Intermission Talk’ could have been written by Sondheim for all the more

unusual rhymes and rhythms.

Production and music aside, however, the show lacks a certain depth. The story is too simple with very little by way of subplot and very little, even, by way of primary plot. It’s in a very matter-of-fact way that we find out that it’s been five months since Betty joined the company and that Larry and Jeanie had fallen in love and were married in the morning. There was very little build up to this at all, which was perhaps necessary.

The shortage of any engaging plot seems odd, especially since the second act felt very short. Development was definitely needed and I think that

there was plenty of room for it to be included. It had the feeling of a script that couldn’t match up to the music quite so easily and even though there were some strong numbers in the score, there were also some weaker numbers. Richard Rogers said that in writing Me and Juliet they wanted to ‘have some fun’, and the show, as a whole, is certainly fun.

Unfortunately, neither the book nor the lyrics is able to match the brilliance with which the ensemble brought them to life.

Written by Rogers and Hammerstein; directed by Thom Southerland at the Finborough Theatre; musical direction by Joseph Atkins; choreography

by Sally Brooks.

15

WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER | THE LION

Sport & Societies Badminton Society

First Writers’ meeting Firstly, it was wonderful to see so many of you at the first Lion Writers’ meeting; we weren’t expecting such a great turnout with such little notice, so thank you all for attending. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have written for the paper thus far, the sheer quantity of articles we receive is fantastic, without your contributions and quality content, there would be no paper. We really enjoyed meeting our budding writers’ team; it was a great opportunity to put faces to the names of those who have written. We completely underestimated the amount of food we needed so next time we’ll bring some more. If anyone has specific suggestions of what they would like to eat, please email us at the usual address and we will see what we can do. The Writers’ meetings are a time for us to discuss up-and-coming issues, the themed issues and possible article content. There were some great suggestions in the last meeting such as a Spotted column featuring stars around Kensington and a poll for students. In regards to these, we are planning to start the Spotted column from next issue, so if you see any stars, quickly tweet it to The Lion’s Twitter Feed. Try and get a snap on your mobile too! Also, we are working on the first poll for the website so remember to check back and get involved! We are also working on the framework for an Editor’s Board to govern the future years of the paper. More details of this are to be announced in the next Writer’s Meeting.

If you didn’t make the last meeting, don’t worry, we will always welcome new writers, designers, photographers and coders. It’s a great opportunity to meet similarly minded people in College and bounce some ideas around. Please do come and meet us, we would love to get you involved and support you in your writing. Thanks again to everyone who came; I hope it was as helpful for you as it was for us. The next meeting is TODAY (Wednesday 3rd Nov) at 1.30 in the Quiet Room. These meetings will then run fortnightly. Hope to see you there! the

Lion editorial team

Heythrop Football Team Results ULU Division 4 League Table 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

St Barts &the Royal London Men’s 3 ULU School of Slavonic & East European Studies Men’s 2s ULU Royal School of Mines Men’s 1s ULU Royal Free & University College Medical School Men’s 4s ULU Heythrop College Men’s 1s ULU King’s College, London KCL Football Club Men’s 6s ULU Imperial College, London Men’s 7s ULU Royal Veterinary College Men’s 2s ULU St Barts &the Royal London Men’s 4 ULU Imperial Medicals Men’s 4s ULU St George’s Hospital Medical School Mens 4’s, ULU

P 5 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 4

W 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

D 2 1 0 0 2 1 1 3 2 1 1

L 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3

F 18 11 16 11 3 7 11 9 6 2 2

A 3 3 5 5 10 7 18 14 9 9 13

Diff 15 8 11 6 -7 0 -7 -5 -3 -7 -11

Pts 11 10 9 9 5 4 4 3 2 1 1

Tanya Leonard President of Badminton Thanks to those who came for the last two events. If you missed them, don’t worry, as there will be plenty more to come. We play every week on different days dependent on when the hall is free! I am hoping once everything settles down, I can set a regular day! Anyway, each month there will be a social for everyone who is involved. It will be a great way to get to know your team mates (and opponents), so check your email and Facebook inboxes! If you’re still not convinced by our Badminton Society, then you’d best come to check it out and prove me wrong. It is a fun and relaxed society so come along whether it be in jeans and a t-shirt or you could even go the whole nine yards wearing tracksuit bottoms! However you feel most comfortable to play! Also, if you have badminton racquets can you please bring them along! If you don’t then its fine, we can provide a few.

The next practice will be in the Loyola Hall next week. I will let everyone know the date and time by our mailing list. If you are still not on the list, but would like to be then send me an email to tanya.leonard@heythropcollege.ac.uk Hope to see you there!

Continued from Page 13 Maybe American audiences cannot handle raw drama but this should not dictate how British films are made. We, as a nation, are full of resilience and determination and the script should have more effectively portrayed that.

Not British film at its best, but it’s certainly worth watching again. This, along with films such as Billy Elliot and Calendar Girls, is likely to become a Christmas season. To its credit, it effectively depicts how far we have come in terms of equal pay, but highlights to the modern viewer that we are clearly not finished on our journey. Women shouldn’t be grateful when they are treated the same as men; it is to be expected. As Rita says, “Rights, not privileges.”

Fixtures Sat 30th Oct Royal School of Mines 10 Heythrop College 0 Wed 27th Oct Heythrop College 0 St Barts &the Royal 0 Wed 20th Oct Royal Veterinary 0 Heythrop College 0 Next Match : St. Barts &the Royal Wed 3rd Nov

don’t IBE a kANT t ’ n do R U O CUT G N I D N U F Free Poster for DEMO-LITION 2010 - Produced by The Lion and The Heythrop Students’ Union. Designed by James Johnston