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UoK’s rowers were on fine fitness form to participate in a gruelling ergathon that continued throughout the entire first week back

Rowing Club raring to go for a good cause University rowers to raise over £500 for charity In true Kent rowing style, the university’s club members have not been easing themselves gently into the New Year. The first week back from the Christmas holidays saw the rowers taking on the exhausting five day task of an ‘ergathon’, a charity fund raising event in which they covered the 285km distance from Canterbury to Paris on one single ergo (that’s a rowing machine to the rest of us!).

The erging marathon, which was arranged in conjunction with Kent’s RAG and as part of the Sports Federation’s ‘Fresh Start’ week, took place at various public spots on campus. With the task designed to raise money

and awareness for the kids’ charity ‘Wooden Spoon’, for over five hours each day one of the rowers could be found pounding out the kilometres on the erg. Aided by a change-over time of only a few seconds between each athlete, the combined efforts of all the members resulted in the club smashing its original estimated target of 285km and rowing a total distance of 351km 802 meters, far beyond that of Canterbury to Paris!

Whilst rowing is ultimately an outdoor activity, land training is just as important a part of the sport as water training.

However, if asked, most rowers will claim that even the most brutal water session will never compare to the pain of the ergo.

One Kent rower states: “It’s an excruciating experience which

makes every muscle in your body burn; hated by rowers across the globe until it ends, the satisfaction of finishing the erg is one of the best feelings you gain from sport”.

Erg sessions, in which rowers will be expected to test themselves to their absolute physical limit, are not infrequently concluded with vomiting, fainting or the inability to move one’s legs; the undertaking of the erg marathon therefore was not one the Kent rowers took lightly!

All other land training in preparation for this season’s races ceased for the week so that everyone could dedicate themselves to completing the ergathon successfully.

Efforts paid off as students all over campus sympathised with the grunts of pain coming from

the rowing machine and charity buckets accumulated a total of £536 by the end of the five days.

The rowing club, which has had huge success recently with multiple wins at races such as the prestigious Marlow Head, also raised £1000 for the local charity ‘Kent Kids Miles of Smiles’ in a record-breaking gold at the gruelling Boston Marathon last term.

This year’s chairman, James Cooper, said of the club’s efforts: “Kent Rowing has seen massive growth and progress this year; I was extremely proud of the dedication everyone showed in raising money for charity during the Boston Marathon so had no reservations about asking them to help out when Raise and Give asked us to contribute to their cause this term.”

Gillingham lost in embarrassing fashion to exit the FA cup last Tuesday night. Accrington Stanley pulled off a performance that they will undoubtedly label a “giant killing” after seeing off the Kent side 1-0 on a freezing night in Lancashire.

This game was rescheduled after the initial date was postponed due to the heavy snow over the Christmas period.

The hindrance of the weather was not a shock to the Gills as their league game against Swindon last weekend was their first game in a month not to be the victim to the cold.

Gillingham entered this game understandably low on confidence, as they were (and still are) the only team in League One without an away win in all competitions this season.

Despite the gulf in divisions, the Kent side took heart from having won three of their four meetings againt Stanley, including both the fi xtures last season when the sides were together in League Two. An understrength Gillingham side found it difficult to assert themselves on the game as Accrington seized the initiative and produced an early scare for stand in keeper, Alan Julian by narrowly missing after only thirty-seven seconds! Things did not really pick up for the away side as they struggled to play football on the pitch which had only passed an inspection at 4:30 that afternoon. Julian was later twice tested in quick succession, first by a turning shot by McConville and then

by Grant six yards from goal but the striker’s attempt curled wide of the top corner. Playing against the wind first half, Gillingham’s luck got worse as their first shot on 19minutes was blazed over by Chris Palmer, and then midfielder Curtis Weston had to be substituted on the half hour mark with a suspected hip injury. continued on page 22

comment: why africa needs 2010 world cup - p22 basketball-fencing-korfball-trampolining

Sport: Comment - Discussing why

IQ: Kent Alumnus Ellie Goulding makes

Africa needs 2010’s World Cup - p177

the InQuire 2010 music hotlist - p12-13 Entertainment: Black Sun Down to play at Battle of the Bands - p17

Issue 5.0

Haiti quake claims Kent man’s life

Criminals of the biggest UK heist ordered to pay up Nicola Standley

Adam Silver The first British casualty to die in the Haiti earthquake has been named as UN worker Frederick Wooldridge.

The 41 year old from Maidstone, Kent is believed to have died in the collapse of the HQ building in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince.

Mr Wooldridge had been based in Haiti as a political affairs and planning officer since 2007, and had recently married his long-term girlfriend and fellow UN worker Teamar Melles, 34.

The victim’s family led the tributes and said in a statement soon after his death that: “Frederick was a much-loved member of a close family. He leaves behind his wife, his parents, brother and sister, grandmother and extended family.

“He had many friends in the UN and beyond, particularly Geneva where he loved skiing and mountaineering.”

These tributes were soon followed by that of the Prime Minister Gordon Brown who said of Mr Wooldridge that he was ‘hugely grateful for the work he and others were doing in the UN Stabilisation Mission’ and that his thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time.

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the Caribbean country on Tuesday 12th has taken thousands of lives and has left many still missing in the rubble.

Casualties are estimated at anywhere between 40,000200,000; Jean-Max Bellarive, the Haitian Prime Minister, be-

News BBCStockExchange

Gills see jaws of defeat in FA Cup

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Free - please take a copy

January 27th 2010

Jen Fisher

er spap nts w e A n stude f by so run tudent y of s i for nivers t the U Kent.

lieves that over 70,000 victims have been buried in mass graves.

In response, Kent’s fire fighters sent a team of six to help join the emergency relief in Haiti.

The crew that arrived in the country’s capital on Wednesday 13th January have since been involved in the rescue of an elderly man [pictured] who was found trapped under his bed having been thrown out of it during the quake.

A Kent Fire and Rescue spokesman said that: “Once he was located under the building, it took the Kent team seven hours of tunnelling to reach him. After rehydration, the lucky survivor recovered well and was

treated for minor injuries.”

The six-strong unit then moved 25 miles west of Port-auPrince to Leogane where reports suggest the town has suffered 80-90 per cent total destruction.

Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander, has praised the efforts of the six fire fighters by saying: “The people of Kent can be proud of the efforts of the search and rescue professionals from Kent Fire and Rescue Service.

“They are helping the people of Haiti at a time of dire need and their skills and experience are vital to the ongoing search for survivors.

“I would like to thank them on behalf of the British Government for their commitment and bravery as part of this international mission.”

These men have now safely returned to the UK having spent a week helping to prevent further casualties before the search for survivors was called to a halt.

Team Leader John Mazzey said that he felt privileged to be a part of such a global effort: “The reception from the local community was very good and it was excellent to be able to help, but it is important that we are not a burden to the country and so continued on page 5

The six men who plotted Britain’s biggest cash heist have been ordered to pay back almost £3.5m to the Crown.

The gang carried out a robbery in Tonbridge at Securitas in February 2006, stealing almost £53m in cash. Nigel Pilkington of The Crown Prosecution Service, Kent, deemed the act “a crime of violence,” as the gang members kidnapped Colin Dixon, his wife Lynn and their young child, and held them at gunpoint in order to gain entry to the building, where CCTV recorded 14 employees being tied up with cables. The men then loaded up their 7.5 ton lorry with cash until full, whilst warning the employees “You will die if you do not do as you are told.”

The hostages were then locked up in the empty money cages. The kidnapped child was the first to struggle free.

Although the raid only took 66 minutes, the court was informed it took the gang over a year to plan their criminal offence. The men were fitted with sophisticated prosthetic masks made by hairdresser Michelle Hogg, who was initially on trial.

However, she agreed to become the main prosecution witness when all her charges were cleared. Currently, she is in the witness protection scheme, but fears for her life.

The money to be given back by the criminals will go into a crime-fighting fund set up by central Government.

Together, the gang will serve more than 150 years in prison.

visit our website at - www.inquirelive.co.uk

2 Ne ws Kent Union will be hosting its Annual General Meeting [AGM] at 6pm on Tuesday, 2nd February in Eliot Dining Hall.

The event, which is open to all students at the University of Kent, is the highest democratic meeting of the year and offers those interested the opportunity to voice their opinion regarding Kent union.

InQuire will be documenting the meeting with a live web feed on its website, www.inquirelive. co.uk, in order to provide those unable to attend with any changes to the Union’s constitution.

Organisers of the AGM will provide a run down of technical terminology and union lingo prior to the commencement of the meeting and will be providing refreshments.

Editorial contacts:

‘Couch surfing’ to an ideal world Ben Rowan ‘Participate in creating a better world, one couch at a time’ is the slogan of couch surfing. org, a popular website that has grown annually in membership since its conception in 2004.

The service, which is funded by the generous donations from ‘couch surfers’ themselves, was designed to offer free accommodation for travellers at the homes of like-minded users of the site through social networking.

By signing up, the traveller is able to search for ‘hosts’ in the city they are interested in visiting; currently, accommodation can be found in over 200 countries.

To ensure compatibility, couch surfing works on a profile basis that allows travellers to check a hosts age, occupation and ‘missions’ before residing with them.

The ‘mission’ can be anything, ranging from the rational to the all-out bizarre; one example is a Finnish male who confesses his plans to ‘cross the sea on a bicycle’.

However, phrases such as ‘peace, love and unity’ are more likely to feature on member’s profiles, and have become a popular recurring theme on the website, emphasising the Utopian backbone of the organisation.

In addition to the obvious advantage of having a free bed for the night, couch surfing creates a unique opportunity for the traveller to mix with local inhabitants of the country.

Many hosts take pride in their city and act as tour guides for their guests, showing them the popular tourist sites and usually imparting some useful local knowledge along the way.

Despite the optimistic, community feel of the website,

several incidents reveal the weaknesses and hazardous disadvantages of exchanging hospitality over the internet.

Last year, a 29 year old Chinese tourist was raped whilst staying with a host in Leeds through couch surfing.

The number of males using the website is significantly higher and whilst feedback is generally good, people should be aware that some hosts use the service to elicit relationships.

Cases like this reaffirm the dangers of meeting strangers through the internet.

However, incidents of this nature are very rare and the risk can be dramatically reduced by travelling in groups.

Most hosts allow two or more travellers to stay with them at one time and it is possible to look at the feedback your potential host has received in the past.

As English is the most widely used language on the site, couch surfing is a useful and accessible tool for English students, allowing them to explore the world on a tight budget.

You are not required to provide your ‘couch’ to be eligible for the service but it is hoped you may return the favour in the future.

More success than you can shake a hockey stick at Hockey women’s thirds hammer home seven to crush opposition Leanne Bailey and Lucy Hoare

Effi Gournaris

AGM live at InQuirelive

Spor t 23

On the first BUCS Wednesday of 2010, the Women’s third Hockey team boarded the minibus and headed to Redbridge for a clash against St Barts.

The game got off to a rough start when ‘Dick of the Day’ Sarah “Peggy” Barton, broke her hockey stick and we were forced to bribe the opposition into lending us a spare.

Things progressed from there however; and our team played consistently well, scoring seven goals. Jess Green hit in a cheeky hat-trick for the score-sheet, and “Man of the Match”, Nanaco Pelletier scored another, with the other Kent goals coming from Sara

St Bart’s 3rds

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Kent 3rds

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“Welsh” Potter and the three’s captain, Leanne “Jav” Bailey.

The opposition broke through to score their only goal of the game whilst Lucy “Mex” Hoare rolled around on the floor after a fall and the rest of the team distracted themselves by indulging in a spot of laughter at her expense.

A great game of hockey and the first win of the season for the threes!

Next on the fi xtures list is against the University of Essex twos, on 3rd February. Hopefully more successes like this can help see us rise up in the table.

Vickie Campbell - Chairwoman Adam Silver - Newspaper Editor newspaper.editor@inquiremedia. co.uk

The return of the gentleman’s club

Nicola Standley - IQ Editor iq.editor@inquiremedia.co.uk Daria Oldale - News

Lisa-Marie Janes

newspaper.news@inquiremedia.co.uk Tinashe Mushakavanhu - Comment newspaper.comment@inquiremedia. co.uk Nik Williams - Culture newspaper.culture@inquiremedia. co.uk Jane Tranter - Features newspaper.features@inquiremedia. co.uk Anna Maysey - Entertainment newspaper.entertainment@inquiremedia.co.uk Sally Gower - Sports newspaper.sport@inquiremedia. co.uk Sam Hall - Website Editor website.editor@inquiremedia.co.uk Romana Roske - Web News website.news@inquiremedia.co.uk Yogini Jivanji - Web Comment website.comment@inquiremedia. co.uk Alex Wood - Web Features website.features@inquiremedia.co.uk Grace Evenhuis - Web Entertainment website.entertainment@inquiremedia.co.uk Carl English - Web Sport website.sport@inquiremedia.co.uk

A recent trend has led to an increase in male dominated groups within universities across the UK, including Oxford and Manchester, that celebrate and explore masculinity.

However, societies of this kind have been criticised with accusations of gender stereotyping and sexism, with debates questioning the activities of these groups.

Supporters claim that such societies help young men with the pressures they face, while others oppose this view, stating that the groups are simply a front for macho-activities including beer-drinking marathons.

The first official MENS society was created by students at Manchester University, in spite of criticisms that it undermines equality for women.

Critics claim that men already dominate the political and economic spheres and that therefore, there is no need for any further celebration of masculinity.

One must highlight, however, that Manchester’s MENS society has women among its 306 members, and stresses not just male issues, but also focuses on raising funds and awareness for men’s

mental health, testicular and prostate cancer, as well as male rape and domestic violence issues.

At Oxford University, the group Man Collective, known as Oxford MC-O, has been launched as a response to the ‘current state of masculinity’; founder Alex Linsley established the society following a report on the high number of male suicides at Oxford.

However, the group has been branded by some as ‘reactionary and ridiculous’.

Linsley claimed that: “There

is massive confusion as to what being a man means, and how to be a good man. I want to create this forum for men, so men can learn from each other and discuss these issues and make a positive step forward.”

Supporters argue that such collectives could help men feel less vulnerable by discussing issues in an exclusively male environment.

Founder of Manchester’s MENS society, Ben Wild, further accented the role male societies play, asserting that: “So

Are exclusively male societies a step away from equality?

little was being done on raising awareness on issues specific to men, such as male depression, which occurs because they cannot live up to this very idealised traditional masculine role.”

Others have not been convinced by this argument, including NUS national women’s officer, Olivia Bailey, who stated that: “Discrimination against men on the basis of gender is so unusual as to be non-existent, so what exactly will a men’s society do?

“To suggest that men need a specific space to be ‘men’ is ludicrous; when everywhere you turn you will find male-dominated spaces.”

Professor Marilyn Davidson, an expert in diversity and equality at the Manchester Business School would disagree: “There is an obvious need [of such groups].

“One of the problems men have is that they don’t have the support networks when they are under stress that women do.”

However, the debate appears unresolved with Martin Daubney, editor of the lads’ magazine Loaded, arguing that: “I don’t think men are remotely confused about what it takes to be a man. They just get on and do it. My generation would not sit round and build a website about being confused.”

Interview: Katie-Marie Hardaker How a football scholarship impacts her life at Kent

What first inspired you to play football?

I’ve always wanted to play football, right from a very early age. I was about seven or eight, I think.

My Grandad was the one who first showed me a football, and I got really into it. By the time I was twelve, I was doing things like competing in the Chiltern Challenge, the soccer one, at least! I’ve played for Ashford, and I captained my school team for five years and with them, I won the Kent Schools’ Cup.

far away, so it helps with getting about from place to place. Generally it just really helps motivate me to do well. I feel really honoured to have the scolarship, it’s a wonderful opportunity for me.

Do you have any plans for when you’ve graduated?

I’d love to work in sports development somewhere. My ambition is to make women’s football much bigger, hopefully make it as good and as popular as men’s football.

Who are your sporting heroes and why?

My first sporting hero is David Beckham because I have grown up watching Beckham perform and have always been inspired to play like him.

My second sporting hero is Katie Chapman because I play in the same position as her. She has also done a lot for women’s football and she is my best player in the England women’s team.

What advice would you give to someone who had the same dreams as you?

In what ways does having the scholarship help you progress?

What do you feel are your top three sporting achievements so far?

Lots of ways! I now have sufficient equipment such as boots and that sort of thing. There’s also help with travel costs as I live quite

Playing for Charlton Women’s first team, playing for Kent, and playing against the Arsenal first team in a cup match

I would tell them to work hard and believe in themselves. Just to keep going until they’ve reached their dream, don’t give up. Believe and achieve!

Pride in sport: Social Wednesday 17th February

Trampolining competition Sunday 28th February

Varsity Wednesday March 10th

Kickboxing tournament 13th March

Inter College Basketball 27th March - Final

Kent Hockey have organised an event at Mungos, aiming to promote pride in sport at Kent, interclub relations, & women in sport.

The trampolining society plan to land both feet in Warwick for a competition against several other universities.

The biggest sporting date in the University calender as Kent attempt to defend their Varsity crown from last year’s triumph.

The kickboxing clan travel to Leeds in the hopes of fulfilling yet more tournament ambitions for the club.

Eliot college are currently sitting top of the Inter College Basketball league with the remaining matches being played this term.

Chapman

chairwoman@inquiremedia.co.uk

The next Katie Chapman: in action for Charlton

Upcoming events...

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22 Spor t The Telegraph

Comment: Discussing why Africa needs 2010’s World Cup...

The first World Cup to be hosted in Africa comes to life this summer. As part of the soccer extravaganza, South Africa has seen massive infrastructure upgrading, construction of stadiums in host cities and, linked to this, upgrading of the public transport - trains, airports, buses – as well as making the areas around the main events attractive to tourists.

But, we need to ask an important question: why have African governments been so keen for the World Cup? Why have they chosen to spend money on an event like this, when there are so many other serious problems in their countries? It’s a lame question, which unfortunately raises a lot of concerns about the whole project, and about who is really going to benefit.

Ok, let me put aside my cynicism and appreciate the good this event has brought and may bring.

Football is basically a workingclass sport in Africa and the World Cup will no doubt bring its diverse people together for a common purpose. Jobs in the construction and service industries have boomed in the last few years.

Transport and health services have somewhat been improved in anticipation of the influx of people to be generated by the event.

This is not a South African World Cup, but rather a southern African event. Other countries in the region are set to profit as well – Angola, Bostwana, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The benefit they all get is to make themselves known for the potential they have – either as investment destinations, tourist destinations, or even as sporting destinations.

But it’s always scary when politicians froth with passion when they talk football and the endless business opportunities the World Cup will bring. For sure, the big bucks will not be shared equitably across the social spectrum

Teach abroad with TEFL Chris Cheung

worldcupticketing.com

Tinashe Mushakavanhu

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa

or invested in the right places.

The fat politicos will line their pockets, send their kids abroad, and their wives to Harrods for extravagant shopping. The sewer pipes in the sprawling township of Soweto and Brighton will remain unrepaired. The potholes will remain landmine spots for

motorists. Schools will remain without relevant textbooks.

Africa needs the World Cup not because of how much money it will simply profit. Africa needs the World Cup because it is not just a continent of war and poverty; it is a continent of fun and sport and most important of all - people.

Bramall Lane to host finals Sally Gower It was announced last month that Bramall Lane, home of Sheffield United, is to host the BUCS football finals taking place on the 10th March this year.

The stadium is the world’s oldest professional football ground.

Opened in 1855, Bramall Lane is still witness to Sheffield United’s Championship football matches.

Throughout the BUCS Championships from 10th-14th March,

approximately 6,000 athletes of university ages will be gathering in the Yorkshire area, to compete in twenty-six sports and utilise the sports facilities.

Karen Rothery, BUCS Chief Executive said of the decision to have the BUCS football finals at Bramall Lane: “The inclusion of football is a great development for the BUCS Championships and it is very appropriate that we are bringing it to a city with such a strong football herit-

Conducted by: Aaron Shiret

Bramall Lane will play host to the BUCS Championships in March

age. Bramall Lane is a fantastic venue and the club has already

continued from back page

The Crown Ground: the original fi xture was postponed due to the snow

Due to the UK’s current state of financial crisis, foreign employment is becoming an extremely attractive proposition.

TEFL courses (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is just one alternative to Britain’s increasingly competitive job market, attracting potential students with the prospect of an international career.

There are numerous providers that offer intensive four week TEFL teacher training courses to students with a “fluent or near fluent” knowledge of the English language.

Recent trends documented by one TEFL provider, ‘i to i’, claim that interest in the courses has risen by 22%.

At present, over 50 countries play host to TEFL teaching centres.

Testimonials on various TEFL provider websites illustrate that many graduates use their employment as an opportunity to pay off student debts.

However, aside from the financial rewards of educating abroad, head of UK based TEFL organization Cactus worldwide, Jenny Johnson, warns that graduates intending to pursue a TEFL course need to prepare themselves; “Teachers will need a lot of advice and don’t know what to expect,” remarked Johnson, “Find out about educational parameters, find out about etiquette and gestures.”

Students considering a four week course should expect 9 to 5 tuition on weekdays, with up to four hours of private study per night.

To find out more, check out http://www.cactustefl. com/ for both British and internationally based courses.

Countless students work within the service industry, but at what cost?

Daria Oldale Recent studies reveal that 27% of students regularly miss lectures in order to work. The questionnaire, which was conducted on 1,339 undergraduates by student employment website www.studentgems.com, shows that over onethird of students found their job to be detrimental to their studies.

While almost half of the student population have a part time job during term, only 8% consider their employment relevant to future career plans.

The website made additional estimations, alleging the number of students substituting uni-

versity contact hours for work to be approximately 1 million.

However, for many a part time job is a necessary evil. “Students have to exist on such a small amount and the grants they receive are not enough, even with wages it’s not enough,” asserts Joseph Gilder, communications and campaigns officer at the University of Bristol Students’ Union. “The government drastically needs to change its funding system to ease students’ burdens.”

The National Union of Students (NUS) understand that additional funds are essential, as a high number of undergraduates find they have to work in order to cover basic living supplies.

However, NUS stresses the importance of establishing a balanced lifestyle, and do not recommend working more than 16 hours per week.

The majority of research conducted regarding the issue shows a distinct relationship; the more hours worked, the poorer the quality of the degree. The University of Cambridge has even gone so far as to forbid its students from maintaining outside employment during term time, although for many, this isn’t an option.

The high percentage of willing student workers has led to many cases regarding unfair treatment and dishonest rates of pay; those seeking employment are advised to familiarise themselves with their rights.

By law, employees must receive a minimum of £4.83 if they are between the ages of 18-21, and at least £5.80 if they are 22 or over.

In addition, all employers must provide workers with some form of written contract and cannot treat part timers any less favourably than full time employees under the law. For a list of rights, visit www.direct.gov.uk/employees.

Have Your Say: Are part time jobs damaging to student studies? bucs.org

Fortunately, this Christmas was a tad shy of the usual supplies of chocolate; therefore it would seem I’m still able to move about without the help of a crane. Similarly with alcohol, I found myself with the ‘lucky’ label of designated driver, on more than one or two occasions. This said; I’m not exactly able to run any marathons in current form, or lack thereof.

So, what with the endless fitness classes available in Canterbury, I utilised the near proximity to Kingsmead Leisure Centre. However, instead of a leisurely swim, myself and a friend put our bodies to the test and endured forty-five minutes of the aqua-aerobics class. The instructor was less than lenient, as she worked us harder and harder.

It wasn’t hard to believe she was a bit of a GI Jane “wannabe” as she ordered us to push floats through the water, mimicking something you’d see in the weights corner of the gym.

I remember muttering something about a “sadist” at that point, but in truth I am grateful for the tremendous work out and definitely plan to go to the next sessions, however gruelling they may get.

The benefits should, I’m hoping, be recognisable soon though, so I’m betting on having abs to rival those of Jessica Alba’s in “Honey” in the weeks to come. (I wish.)

I would highly recommend the class to anyone – it’s not just for your grandmothers…

Suffice to say; the more goals I give myself in terms of fitness, the easier it is to actually keep to them. Of course, it helps to start with reachable goals, so I don’t envision myself completing any triathlons in the too near future. (A half-marathon maybe...or is that still a touch too adventurous?)

While the jury’s out with that one, I’ll conclude with an update on the food front. During the holidays, I was often working long days with early starts, rendering my three daily meals something of a difficulty to adhere to. My discovery? A good breakfast works wonders.

Sally Gower

For the professions, the profits, or the people?

Don McPhee

Health & Fitness

One million students pressured to work through lectures

After half time the Gills started brightly and on the 53rd minute John Nutter collected a short free kick and struck a powerful long distance shot but the home goalkeeper’s dive pushed it to safety. However, the promising start was cancelled out by the underdog’s determination.

The pressure was shown by gaffer Mark Stimson as he introduced striker Mark McCammon to try and break the deadlock. Unfortunately it was not to be and Gillingham were killed off by a smart

been extremely supportive in the organisation of the event.”

finish by John Miles after a long free kick and flick on fell neatly into his path in the 81st minute.

Things need to improve for the Gills in the second half of the season, with upcoming fi xtures with high fliers Colchester United and an away fi xture at mid table Hartlepool. Despite not chalking up a win so far in 2010, the Gills can assert a glimmer of hope as Febian Brandy, their on loan Manchester United striker has extended his deal with the Kent side until the summer at least.

Josh Jones

“During term I don’t make much money at all.

I only went home for Christmas for three days, as I was working 40 hours a week.

I work every Saturday and Sunday, which means the only time I have for study is the evenings.”

“I had eight jobs over the summer to get me here, and I have to be in Brentwood by 10 o’clock tomorrow morning; I have to leave at 7 am; what do you think?”

Casey-Claire Enkel,

“I have to work part time because my loan literally covers my rent and I need money to live with. We should get a bigger loan and receive the same as London universities.”

Gemma Vaughan

English and American literature (2nd Year)

Mary Macbeth

Drama and Theatre Studies (2nd Year)

Social Anthropology and Social Policy (2nd Year)

James Evans

Social Anthropology (4th Year) “While having a job at university is good for your wallet and mind, managing time can prove challenging. Organisation is everything. Regrettably, in particularly financially difficult times, prioritising a lecture over a shift isn’t always a given.”

David Crew

Law (2nd Year) “It makes a massive difference; it keeps me out of my overdraft. At university specifically it hampers my social life because the work I would do at the weekend I have to do during the week.”

4 Ne ws UoK’s £3m donation to Medway Park to benefit sport students The University of Kent contributed £3m to the Medway Park sports project during an official ceremony in December.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Julia Goodfellow signed an agreement with Medway Council, which will help to fund the transformation of the Black Lion leisure centre into an £11.1m regional centre of sporting excellence.

The project has also received an additional £5m from the government and a further £1m from Sport England.

Thanks to the size of the area

and through the careful subdivision of spaces, Medway Park will be able to offer several twelve-court multi-sports halls, an eight-lane athletics track, upgraded swimming facilities and a gymnastics centre.

“The new centre will lie at the heart of the community and bring direct benefits to the residents,” assured Prof. Goodfellow.

The Park will be open to both Medway residents and students at the University of Kent who will be able to use the site both for training and academic purposes.

Those at the University’s Centre for Sports Studies will benefit from the specialist fa-

cilities at the new centre, such as the rehabilitation gym, the environmental chamber and the various sports laboratories that Medway Park will provide.

The project will be complete by the end of January 2010 and is set to become one of the most technologically advanced training sites in the UK. Thanks to its innovative architecture and modern facilities, the sports centre will be able to host a variety of national and international competitions.

As the London Olympic games of 2012 are fast approaching, Medway Park will be utilized by national teams for training sessions;

Olympic organizers have selected the site as a pre-game training camp for thirteen Olympic and eight Paralympic disciplines.

The facility has also been selected to host this year’s Modern Pentathlon World Cup, which will take place from 8th -11th April.

BBC News

Edoardo Quadri

Artist’s impression of the athletics track at Medway Park

Labour to renovate ‘Elite’ professions

Take Note: Creative writers Yewande Odunubi Canterbury Festival is running a local competition for new and unpublished prose writers from around the Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable areas.

Two successful applicants will be offered the chance to receive intensive, one-to-one critical and professional support from mentors of the Canterbury Laureate Squad over the course of 2010.

The Squad, who are headed up by internationally acclaimed poet Patience Agbabi, are a creative collective of poets, writers and novelists who boast first-hand experience in tutoring creative writing.

Agbabi, the most recently appointed member, has worked in a variety of dynamic venues from a tent at Zimbabwe’s International Book Fair, to being an in-house poet at a Londonbased tattoo and piercing studio.

While she is most commonly recognised as a performance poet (Agbabi has performed at prestig-

ious UK literature and music festivals including the Edinburgh Book Festival and Glastonbury), the poet has also worked alongside the British Council.

Agbabi claims to be very aware of the creative spirit within Kent, after lecturing on Creative Writing at the University of Kent in 2005 and herself residing in the county.

The other four writers that make up The Canterbury Laureate Squad include awardwinners Andrew McGuinness, Danny Rhodes, Gary Studley and University of Kent alumni Vicky Wilson, who graduated with a degree in creative writing.

Her poems have since been published in various literary publications, including Acumen, Brittle Star and Equinox.

The deadline for competition applicants is 4pm, Friday 12th February 2010; however, those with previous work published in either anthologies or monographs will be disqualified from taking part.

Government plans to broaden the recruitment pool in top professions have been revealed as the Labour party’s most recent attempt to revive stalled social mobility in Britain.

Proposed measures include giving up to 130,000 free university and college places to highly achieving students from deprived backgrounds.

In addition, Gordon Brown revealed a set of improved internships after former Cabinet minister Alan Milburn discovered that social mobility had reversed within professions such as finance, law and media.

Studies have found that a high number of young people from upper-middle class backgrounds secure so called ‘elite’ jobs due to their advantage of social and family ties in top professions.

This is further emphasised by the fact that only 7% of the population receive a private education, whilst 75% of judges and 45% of civil servants went to independent schools.

The government plan to take action, aiming to set up a Social Mobility Commission to offer young people with a lack of connections more opportunities.

Professional organisations will be asked to detail what they have done to widen accessibility whilst the commission will report annually on progress towards a fairer and more mobile society.

Universities will be particularly targeted by ministers who

are encouraging them to consider “contextual information” about applicants, including their background and schooling, when determining grades.

A training program at King’s College London will be spearheading the social mobility plans as the course offers students the chance to train as doctors, despite the fact that they did not attain top A-level grades.

Gordon Brown announced: “We cannot be a truly aspirational society if some people are still denied the chance to get on, and although we have raised the glass ceiling, we have yet to break it. That is why our priority will be to remove all the barriers that are holding people back.”

However, the plans have been ridiculed by the largest union representative of lecturers and academics after the government announced to cut university funding.

The General Secretary of the University and College Union, Sally Hunt, commented: “The government is right to be looking at ways to ensure that people from all backgrounds can reach university. The reality, however, is that unless the government is prepared to back higher education and reverse plans for damaging cuts, then the plans will remain a fantasy.”

Moreover, many find these plans inequitable as employers may be swayed by law to pick an applicant from a deprived background, regardless of who is the ideal person for the job.

Student Comment

“

I like the idea of having equal opportunities open to more people but I find that these proposed changes are too unrealistic and ambitious for there to be any real change.

Liam Blackwood [2nd year]

”

www.elections.org

Adam Silver

Lisa-Marie Janes

Ne ws 5

22-28 FEBRUARY 2010

WORLDFEST

continued from front page

we took our own food and accommodation. As soon as the rescue phase was declared over and our skills and training were no longer needed, we returned home.”

MUSIC DRAMA FILM DANCE WORLD MARKET COMEDY SPORTS LANGUAGES FOOD

UN worker Frederick Wooldridge

and much more

Middle class students to be denied up to £7k

Sports

Comedy

Food

Film

Drama

www.kent.ac.uk/worldfest

The highly esteemed international reputation of British universities may be at risk due to the UK’s current financial situation.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union remarked: “We are in real danger of being left behind as we try to get back on track economically”, depicting the situation that has been affecting many UK universities in the last few months.

Current trends show that the number of students who opt for an international education is gradually increasing; last year alone, the number of teens who crossed the Atlantic to study at Ivy League American universities rose by 4%.

While the US seeks to promote higher education by injecting money into universities despite the recession, the UK and other European countries are being let down by the economic crisis and plan to cut state funds in the educational sphere.

Research on a national level shows that because of this, a high number of redundancies at many institutions have been unavoidable; 1,318 academics were laid off last year, while it has been estimated that a further 5,097 may be threatened.

Andrew Halls, head of King’s College School, Wimbledon, believes that there is a “crisis of confidence” in UK universities that is gradually pushing

students to leave the country.

In the 08/09 academic year alone, 8,701 British students chose to study in the United States.

While US universities are notoriously expensive, they also offer very substantial scholarships – an initiative that explicitly reflects their interest in attracting bright students.

Furthermore, numerous American recruitment agencies travel to the British Isles every year in search of the best academics that the UK has to offer.

The UK, on the other hand, has a gradually diminishing number of students which could possibly contribute to a drop in international reputation.

However, recent research studies have shown that Barack Obama’s election into office may have had a significant impact on the increasing influx of British students, due, in part, to the atmosphere of renewal and hope associated with his figure.

Whether the recent popularity of American universities is a long-term consequence or, hopefully, a temporary solution to the economic crisis, it cannot be denied that UK universities are suffering a gradual but dramatically counter-productive loss in both students and reputation.

The hope shared by many is that the government will alter its policies towards education so that British institutions can once more occupy a position in the highest ranks of world education.

Mirror.co.uk

US vs UK: Why increasing numbers of students head Stateside for an education Eduardo Quadri

a celebration of the University of Kent’s international community

Aid is slowly reaching the hardest hit areas of Haiti, with most still in desperate need of food and clean water. Charities across the world, such as UNICEF, are appealing more than ever for public donations; those wishing to donate money towards the relief effort in Haiti can do so by visiting the UNICEF website at www.unicef.org.uk.

UNICEF ON CAMPUS has also been doing its bit in raising money for Haiti with a cake sale that took place on Tuesday 26th with the estimated total raised believed to have been in the region of £200.

The society also has plans for an art exhibition sometime in March, which is to be held in the new drama building, with the team hoping to collaborate with art galleries in Canterbury and art students at UoK.

Lord Mandelson asserts that the £950m budget cuts are unavoidable

Amy Clemens A government review of university funding announced last week that students from middle-class families could face a £7,000 cut to their funding.

In what has been termed as a “double whammy,” middle class students are set to be faced with the prospect of losing out on grants and loans as well as with being charged for higher tuition fees.

Lord Browne, who chaired the government review, has the task of providing universities with more funding without any extra cost to the taxpayer, after Lord Mandelson, the first Secretary of State, announced the £950m cut-backs to higher education.

Lord Browne is also under pressure to recommend raising annual tuition fees from the current limit of £3,225 to above £5,000.

Both Labour and the Conservatives are in favour of cuts to middle class students after Conservative George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, announced last week that his party would slash benefits for those with higher incomes.

The crisis surround-

ing university funding originates from Gordon Brown’s introductory reforms in 2007.

This entitled families on middle incomes to apply for increased student support - a decision that was welcome at the time but now it seems the bubble has burst. As early as August 2009, the think tank, The Institute of Public Policy Research, announced that bright, poor students were missing out due to the expensive nature of attending university and the limited number of places available.

Critics of the student loans and grants system have seriously questioned whether the govern-

ment has lost sight of directing aid to the families who are most in need, as subsidies are currently allocated to students whose families earn up to £60,000.

The new reforms, which are set to add £7,000 a year to the cost of university for middle class students, will be officially announced after the general election this year.

Accommodation fees are currently rising at a rate of 10% a year and consequently account for over half of the average student’s final debt.

University has become an expensive business as the majority leave with over £23,000 outstanding debt. Currently, a fulltime student whose family earns an annual income of £50,000 is entitled to up to £7,970 a year in support, a sum many consider essential to university life.

Vivienne Davies, 21, in her third year of a BA Joint Honours in French and Spanish, believes that the announced proposals raise some difficult questions: “I get a grant and it’s really helped me, but there are pros and cons. For those whose families are earning more than £50,000 but can’t afford to pay their child’s rent it is quite unfair. Essentially, though, I like the idea that we are all being treated equally at the moment.”

Daniel Cooper, 20, a final year Law student, also disagrees with the proposed cuts: “I don’t understand why certain people should pay more if we’re all receiving the same service. I also don’t appreciate being told how my parents spend their money; they never take in to account how many children a family is actually paying for.”

Further implications we can expect as a result of Lord Mandelson’s cutbacks to higher education: • • • • • •

Students may be forced to sit ‘fast-track’ two year degrees Universities may be forced to raise tuition prices to over £7000 per annum Significant reduction of teaching staff; estimated 5,000-14,000 jobs aT risk Larger class sizes Termination of certain courses/modules British universities struggling to compete with European institutions

Have you got a news story?

E-mail the News Editor, Daria Oldale, at newspaper.news@inquiremedia.co.uk

Enter tainment 19

6 Comment InQuirer on Tragedy in Haiti There are few things in this world more overwhelming to humanity than natural disasters.

The recent earthquake in Haiti struck without warning, ending thousands of lives and devastating many more, prompting truly heart-wrenching accounts of Haitians who have lost their families. The search for missing loved ones is still ongoing. Injury and starvation increase the death toll of this disaster daily, as aid struggles to get through the wreckage to try and provide for the survivors.

However, as much as witnessing the destruction caused by this earthquake and the immense loss of life is upsetting, it was not this that was disturbing. Instead, it was the intense division of opinion in response to Haiti’s plight. I am not a religious person, but I am of the very firm belief that those who are able should help those that need it. For this reason, it gave me a very strong sense of unity and pride when I read of the generous donations given from governments, organisations and millions of individuals all over the world to help Haiti. On social networking sites alone, such as Twitter and Facebook, there were dedicated petitions to raise money for aid.

It seems that not all are so willing to provide for those in desperate need of food, shelter and medical care. Bizarre and, at times, seemingly insane theories about why this has happened to Haiti infect the media, including one particularly zealous American celebrity who claims Haitians have brought it upon themselves by making a deal with Satan.

I am not alone in failing to understand these particular reactions, when innocent people have lost their lives to a catastrophe far beyond their control.

I applaud the efforts of every aid worker and donator displaying their human decency and reverence for life, and suggest to the authors of the uncaring, bigoted comments that they show compassion for their fellow Man instead of focusing on what they perceive as insurmountable differences.

Kim Goodacre

Debate: Should fathers attend childbirth?

Elspeth Davies

Men keep away from child birth Miranda Athanasiou According to one of the world’s leading obstetricians, Michel Odent MD, a child birth specialist a father’s presence at child birth complicates the procedure and has adverse long-term effects. Some agree, while many others agree to disagree.

The birth of a child is momentous for any couple - some see it as the moment where a family is finally created, and others say it is the point in which the couple present their love to the world. I see it as the death of romance.

Whilst I can appreciate the female desire to have your partner at the child’s birth, I can’t really understand the logic of it. Marriage has enough obstacles without probable loss of sexual attraction. Because let’s face it, whilst pregnancy is a beautiful thing, childbirth is not, it’s messy, tiring and generally an unflattering experience for the mother. Ladies, surely you don’t want your partners to be a witness to this?

Michel Odent and I seem to be in strong agreement. He further claims that “the possible influence of the participation of the father at birth on the sexual life of the couple afterwards” has not yet been explored in enough

detail and could well be a major factor in a couple’s separation after the birth of a child. Odent also introduces the idea of ‘male postnatal depression.’ Now this is more than just a concept created by men to elicit some awareness to their feelings of displacement.

Indeed evidence seems to suggest that after the birth of a baby many men develop issues that Odent argues can be avoided in the physical and emotional distancing of men from the actual process of childbirth.

There seem to be an ever-increasing number of reasons why, in the event of childbirth, the man should run in the opposite direction of the birthing room and sip coffee, until (and not a second before) he hears the cry of his baby. Mothers-to-be, do not be disheartened at the thought of giving birth without the support of your hand-shaped stress ball because Odent has some good news for you; he assures us that he is “convinced that the most common reason by far for long and difficult childbirth is the presence of the father”.

With that nugget of knowledge in mind perhaps more mums will consider braving it without their partners. Child birth is hard, which is why it’s best left to women.

BBC Introducing and the Youth Music Initiative

Couples need to go it together Matthew Cozier The miracle of birth is painful, stressful and traumatic for any mother to experience. So why should they go through it alone?

Why can’t men be part of this special ceremony? Surely when the contractions start and the midwife arrives you would want your partner, the father of your child, close by.

Since the end of the NHS’s military style approach to childbirth at the end of the ‘60s it has been the expectation of most mothers that their partner should be by their side, calming them down and providing them with a warm and familiar face in the manic circus of the maternity ward.

Yet the child birth specialist, Dr Michael Odent, believes that the presence of the father can have an adverse affect on the mother. Odent even goes so far as to cite the presence of fathers as a possible reason for the increase in caesarean births.

Surely, this can be attributed to attempts at avoiding dangerous complications during delivery as well as an increasing desire of

mothers to avoid a painful conventional birth altogether.

The scientific assumption here is that, as a father, your presence is to blame for the stress the mother goes through, and therefore it is better that you are there at all. Odent goes on to say that witnessing this ‘happy event’ could lead to a man losing some of his sexual attraction to his partner which is probably in some way true.

It takes a strong stomach to listen to screams of agony whilst watching a new life erupt from somebody’s nether regions, but again isn’t that our responsibility as fathers - to support, to comfort, to be there for our partners and mothers of our children?

Moreover isn’t it right that we should be there when someone we love is bringing a part of us into the world?

On the surface it may seem rather daring to request a ringside seat at one of the most gory and yet most precious and intimate of life’s events. For so many men and women out there, childbirth is a family affair and that is the way it should always be, all the time.

If you’re looking for a helping hand into the music industry the BBC is launching a new Youth Music Initiative in conjunction with BBC Introducing that might be just what you need. BBC Introducing is a multi-platform enterprise across BBC Radio 1, 6Music, 1Xtra, the Asian Network, Switch and over 35 BBC Local Radio stations working together to provide a network of resources dedicated to showcasing the hottest new talent from across the UK. Since launching at Glastonbury in 2007, the BBC Introducing Stage has been firmly established at many of the UK’s major festivals including Radio 1’s Big Weekend, T in the Park and Reading and Leeds. Success stories from the initiative include, Florence & The Machine, Chipmunk and The Ting Tings.

Bands and artists can now upload their music on the BBC Introducing website giving them the chance to be played out on BBC Radio and on the BBC Introducing stages at the major

Ongoing festivals. Launching earlier this year the websites uploader has already been utilised by almost 10,000 budding young musicians with a total of 23,000 tracks. The site also offers a hub of practical advice and information for new artists wanting to take the next step in the industry.

There are over 100 videos featuring BBC talent, industry experts including agents, managers, publishers and promoters as well as a variety of bands

and artists who are also using the initiative to get involved in the industry. There are also a number of successful artists willing to share their advice such as Maximo Park and The Gossip.

The section covers advice on song writing, recording, how to get gigs and engage with a new audience and much, much more.

Check out the website www. bbc.co.uk/music/introducing/ for more information and to get your tracks uploaded. If you’ve got something to say with your music the BBC Introducing scheme is a great way to get your voice heard.

For more information, full listings or booking please call 01227 769075 or visit www.kent. ac.uk/gulbenkian.

Highlights Saturday 30 Jan 7.45pm: David O’Doherty: David O’Doh-Party His comedy is kind of like when you’re going down a flight of stairs in the dark, and you think there are two steps left, but there only turns out to be one.

It’s like that for a whole evening.

Tickets £12 Tuesday 2 Feb 7:45pm: Dudley Ross: Even Rock Stars Have to Wash Up-Guitarist Dudley Ross returns to the Gulbenkian after a fantastic show in April 2009.

Tickets £12

g For more information, full listings or booking please call 01227 769075 or visit www.kent. ac.uk/gulbenkian.

Highlights 29 Jan-1 Feb: Where the Wild Things Are. Wes ‘Rushmore’ Anderson does Dahl (Fantastic Mr Fox, 11 – 14 Dec) and fellow indie spirit Spike Jonze adapts Maurice Sendak’s dark children’s book with all the bizarre imagination we’ve come to expect from the director of Being John Malkovich.

29 Jan- 3 Feb: Nowhere Boy. Sam Taylor-Wood’s feature début is a sensitive portrayal of the formative years of John Lennon and his inspirations.

Pappy’s comedy group return to the Gulbenkian The well known drama threesome from University of Kent return Daria Oldale Numerous performers have used both theatre and comedy to attempt something inventive and memorable, but none quite like Pappy’s. The critically acclaimed comedy troupe endeavour to not only make a lasting impression on the audience, but also on world records by striving to perform no less than 200 sketches in an hour.

Whilst the ‘record attempt’ is the principal idea behind the show, Pappy’s stress that success is not guaranteed; outrageous characters and ridiculous sing-songs, however, are certain. If anything, the main purpose of the record attempt idea is that it allows the troupe to perform highly amusing, yet irrelevant sketches without having to explain themselves.

Originally known as ‘Pappy’s Fun House’, the troupe consisted

Thursday 4th of four members that obtained a cult following after several performances in London.

Their original approach to comedy pleased both fans and critics, which led to a nomination in the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2007.

Things only got better for the per for mers, as they continued to win numerous prizes such as the Chortle award for best sketch act.

The group received notable national attention in 2008, which included a stint on BBC Radio 4 as well as an appearance on BBC 3 programme, Comedy Shuf-

fle. The team were then given the opportunity to record a self titled series for Channel 4; unfortunately, producers decided not to pursue the show.

However, Pappy’s popularity only continued to rise after selling out large venues at Edinburgh Festival and receiving enormous praise from critics last year: Guardian critic Brian Logan gave the show four stars and said that ‘even less than their best is better than most,’ whilst l i kening t heir act to ‘a carnival of gaiety that is silly – but without

the laziness or cynicism that can make silly hard to take.’

Following the departure of Brendan Dodds, the remaining threesome made the decision to shorten the troupe’s name to ‘Pappy’s’, and have embarked on their largest national tour to date with a revised version of the 200 sketches in 60 minutes show.

Notable past sketches have incorporated both the surreal and ridiculous with imaginative and well thought out performances; take, for instance, the bank robbing skittles that argue over the exposure of ‘pin’ numbers.

University of Kent alumni Pappy’s will be performing at the Gulbenkian theatre on Thursday, 4th February, with tickets sold at £12.

For more information regarding the show please contact the Gulbenkian Theatre on 01227 769075 or e-mail the box office at boxoffice@kent.ac.uk.

18 Enter tainment

Comment 7

Russian Ice Stars dazzle at The Marlowe Arena 20-24 January

The Marlowe Theatre, whilst technically not currently in operation, is still pulling off some fantastic performances, the latest of which is Snow White on Ice at the Marlowe Arena (which some of you might know as the big blue tent near Sainsbury’s).

This two hour performance by some of the world’s leading skaters is a sight truly to behold, even for those with little (or no) knowledge of ice-skating.

Caverliere Giuseppe Arena, a former Principal dancer at La Scala Milan Ballet Company who danced alongside Rudolph Nureyev, worked with Wild Rose to interpret the Brothers’ Grimm classic fairytale. A specially commissioned original musical score from Italian composer Maestro Silvio Amato provides a musical backdrop to the latest national tour.

Wild Rose producer Vee Deplidge, pioneered the concept of Theatre on Ice by creating full length ‘Ballet on Ice’ productions, designed to fit theatre stages throughout the world allowing audiences to view moves close up in the comfort of a warm theatre and with full stage sets, as opposed to views gained during ice arena productions. The popularity of Vee Deplidge’s previous shows lead to a personal request from Prince Rainier in Monaco for her company to perform Cinderella in honour of the 50th anniversary of his reign. He invited Wild Rose’s Russian Ice Stars to perform for him every year until his death. In 1995, Wild Rose presented The Phantom of the Opera on Ice followed by Carmen on Ice in 1996. New productions of The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella followed in 1997 and 1998.

In addition to touring major British theatres, the shows found appreciative audiences at venues as diverse as Hong Kong, Monte Carlo, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Germany and Cyprus. In 1999, Wild Rose returned to Monte Carlo as part of its European tour of Peter Pan on Ice at the request of Prince Rainier. New shows followed, including Barnum on Ice, Nutcracker on Ice, a tenth anniversary show, Sensational Ice, and a re-staged Phantom.

Then followed the most lavish versions of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty each receiving national acclaim. Having established strong links with the Russian Circus (which became apparent when the dwarves- sorry, woodcutters- started juggling anything they could get their hands on), productions were enhanced with specialist aerial effects, adding a new and exciting dimension to performances. “While watching

Reflections on a decade of political rhetoric and empty supermarket shelves Tinashe Mushakavanhu

A

Wild Rose Ltd

Anna Maysey

Adam Keaney

Valdis Mintals and Irina Tkachuk

Our very own Entertainment Editor performing a spiral with Svetlana Kurpina and Irina

Top events of the fortnight...

Wednesday 27th Showing you everything and telling you nothing.

A documentary style photographic exhibition that tests and manipulates the viewer’s perception.at the Horsebridge Arts Centre.

Free Entry

Monday 1st

an ice show in 1991, I was struck with the thought that marrying danger and speed with the beauty of ballet could be totally spectacular,” says Vee. “I had always loved theatre. Transferring it to the ice was long overdue and would allow a whole new range of movement while giving a much broader appeal to the traditional interpretation of popular stories.

What makes Snow White on Ice so different is the quality of the skaters- The Russian Ice Stars includes more former World, European and Olympic competitors than any other theatrical ice show. The end result is truly magnificent.” Having seen the show, I must agree. However, it was not best seen at the Marlowe Arena,

which was purpose-built for Peter Pan and was lucky enough to be able to host the Russian Ice Stars for their five night run.

Rigging and flat seating resulted in anyone sitting in the stalls being unable to see the skaters’ feet which is sort of the point- if I hadn’t personally skated on that stage not five hours previously, I could have quite easily thought that the skaters were on Rollerblades which is frankly an insult to the stunning choreography and spectacular skating performances that the Stars gave the audience. Nonetheless, this was without doubt an unparalleled example of some of the finest skating in the world partnered with an age-old and much loved plotline.

for more, visit: www.inquirelive.co.uk

Friday 5th

Marlowe Comedy Club

Oxygen Bar

The very successful comedy club returns, with a chance to see some of the biggest names on the UK comedy circuit at Bramley’s Bar.

Your chance to experience the sweeping (and slightly retro) trend of inhaling recreational oxygen at SWITCH! at the Venue.

Tickets £10.50

£4 Entry

THE ESSAY: Growing up in a tyrant’s colony

Saturday 6th Russell Kane’s Fakespeare-7pm Russell Kane brings you his celebrated adaptation of modern woes into hilarious Shakespearian verse.

Horsebridge Arts Centre.

Tickets £5

Friday 18th Invasion The first T-Shirt-crosscampus bar crawl is here, with challenges in each bar, a free t-shirt and free Venue entry! £10 T-shirts from RaG stall at Refreshers’ Fayre.

decade is a life time in history.

I know what politics is. It is a swan song of broken dreams and chocolate coated rhetoric, which the teeth of our impoverished hearts crave for. I know too that democracy, sovereignty and independence are just words to screen from view the hollowness of the political system.

There’s an excess to political language which to people’s disadvantage always protects politicians and their self interests.

For all the ideals that independence from colonialism in Africa is supposed to represent, it’s the same old ox-wagon of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. That is how the lean silent majority always remain the compost heap upon which tyranny flourishes.

In Zimbabwe, in the past decade, events moved so fast that people couldn’t keep up with them. The place became unbearable. What would you do if you are stuck in one place and everyday is the same and nothing you do matters? When everybody you know is a PhD. When the whole township is

Robert Mugabe, controversial Zimbabwe president

full of PhD’s. When everyone is a Permanent Home Developer and yet an ideal life should be about going to work and getting home and going to work again.

Most of my generation passed their days sitting at the footbridge in Mukonde Street, on the steps at Mhishi Shopping Centre, at Defe’s tuck-shop, at the OK bus terminus, everywhere. Waiting, hoping something or someone

will turn up. When you live in deprived circumstances for so long, you learn to accept your condition, and believe that that’s what your life was meant to be.

What was frightening is this inner restlessness, this fear of the unknown, this fear of not knowing what would happen, this anxiety of waiting for something that may or may never happen.

There was this political party

and that party and a faction of that party and that party, and people just didn’t care anymore. They got fed up. Maybe, it was just me going to pieces.

When something is permanent you learn to live with it and accept its ominous presence. Ours was not a permanent condition.

Ours was a human orchestrated famine of the flesh and spirit.

The scary bit was the amount of media play that the Zimbabwe crisis generated around the globe.

More than ever, the myriad stakeholders who lurked in the shadows were coming into the light and telling us what’s good for us and setting out how democracy was shaped, organised, led, managed, evaluated and supported.

Their views conflicted, as they jockeyed for position, some voices were louder than others and some of their sentiments were just plain mad. And while all this noise was all around us, nothing changed.

Ordinary people endured their struggles. Power outages became a daily reality. Water taps went dry. Banks ran out of money.

Shops became empty shelves.

The violent land grabs in 2000 and the unbudgeted huge payouts to the so-called war-veterans and youth militia so that they could butcher innocent people manifested instead into a post-

colonial problematic. The ghosts of colonialism certainly came to haunt Zimbabwe and Britain.

Land reform is a complicated issue throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In many countries, white farmers, who gained title to their property during the colonial period when race still defined opportunity in Africa, own the best land. In the years since these nations gained their independence, pressure has mounted for a more equitable distribution of land.

Mugabe’s land reform policy had little to do with righting a wrong but much to do with holding onto power. With growing political opposition to his long rule and polls showing waning voter support for his government, Mugabe resorted to a Draconian policy of seizing land from white farmers without compensation and parcelling it out to his supporters.

Sometimes what he was saying, especially about the imperial powers, was true. But of course, telling them the truth does not make him any less of a cruel dictator. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

That does not absolve him from his bad deeds. A tyrant is a tyrant. Big tyrant, small tyrant!

Please send us your views on this piece to: newspaper.comment@inquiremedia.co.uk

The snow came, and the country went into meltdown Rebecca Bright It is no secret that the British love to talk about the weather. And if one thing surprises us the most, it is correct weather in the correct season. So this sudden snowfall provided ample opportunity for conversation starters. The snow came and the country went crazy.

Snow? In winter? Inconceivable!

You could not turn on the news without the headlines proclaiming the effects of the snow and seeing pictures of frozen Britain.

But while all the snowmen, sledging and snowball fights were wonderful at first, the novelty soon wore off. Dangerous, icy roads – many of which were not gritted – made for treacherous driving conditions and

there were countless reports of injuries, abandoned cars and power cuts. Anyone wishing to get into or out of the country was left stranded. Most were left hibernating indoors, watching their chance of getting out and having a social life diminishing with every falling snowflake.

While many other countries have several feet of snow every year, Britain grinds to a halt when we experience mere inches. We Brits are rather amusing when it comes to the weather.

We long for snow but when it finally came, we complain!

Snowy winters were a regular occurrence forty years ago, as my parents kept on informing me, but I cannot remember a time that the UK has had as much snow as this and caused such a

great deal of trouble. The main problem is that Britain is just not prepared for such weather. We may not usually have as much snowfall as we did this year, but every winter brings hazardous problems of ice on the road, causing troubles that never seem to be fi xed. First and foremost the government should supply councils with ready – to – hand salt for the roads. It’s no good trying to transport it once the snow has already come, the closed roads and traffic jams making it impossible for the salt to reach its destination. In countries such as Canada cars are equipped with tyres made especially for icy and snowy conditions, and this could be another – albeit rather expensive – precaution that we adopt.

Snow certainly has its pros and

cons, though after weeks of being stuck indoors during the holidays I am only seeing the downside. It was fun for a time but I’m sure many would agree snow is bet-

ter in theory than in practice. But I’m sure that by next December I will have forgotten all about the problems and will be wishing for a white Christmas again.

Enter tainment 17

8 Editorials

I

’m not the sort of person to coo over a baby scan photo, or even raise a smile at that cute cat playing the keyboard.

But one sight which is almost guaranteed to make me melt is that of an old woman and older man holding hands. I like to imagine how long they have been together; were they childhood

sweethearts? Were they introduced by friends? I wonder if their wedding day was a luxe, extravagant affair or just a simple ceremony followed by drinks down the local. Whatever the answers to these questions may be, I sadly expect that this image is not one which I will have the pleasure to witness for much longer.

Everyone loves a wedding- the optimism, the chance to dress like Cinderella or Prince Charming and the guaranteed spectacles of ‘Dad-dancing’ to Come on Eileen.

But it seems as though the real importance of a wedding day, the promises of ‘for better or worse’ are rapidly losing their meaning.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that almost half of British marriages are likely to end in divorce, so whether you go through one yourself or get caught up in one of your friend’s or family’s, divorce will at some

point, affect all of us in some way.

I think I know why this might be.

Today, we live in a culture where everything is given to us instantly; food, messaging, pornography, we have access to everyone and everything everywhere, all at the touch of a button or via an iPhone app. It seems that this constant influx of opportunity and information has made us reluctant to wait for anything, and has certainly depleted our commitment to working towards something and to wait for gratification. Clearly, this attitude has started to spill over into our personal lives, most devastatingly to our relationships. We have lost the will to make sacrifices for another person. And why should we? As Dolly Parton sings it, it’s much more easier to D-I-V-OR-C-E. I remember watching a documentary about the rise in divorce rates a few years ago. One

married couple were interviewed, (a very similar couple to those I often see holding hands) and when asked what their ‘secret’ to a successful marriage is they replied: “hard work”. If something is worth having, then surely it is worth working for? It is all too tempting to give up at the first, second or even third hurdle, and whilst I’m not at all suggesting that people should stay in an unhappy marriage, I would argue that they owe it too themselves, each other and the institution of marriage to at least give it a go.

Perhaps I am too old-fashioned in my beliefs, perhaps marriage is simply not ‘cool’ anymore. But when I see an old man look at his wife with love and warmth, still, after all their years together, I honestly can’t think of anything cooler.

Vickie Campbell Chairwoman

Turning 21- a rite of passage?

H

aving just celebrated my 21st birthday, I am forced (reluctantly, I quite like being spoiled) to question why the big 2-1 is such a big deal? For those of us who spend a lot of time in America, of course turning 21 is an important rite of passage, as it’s the first time one would be allowed to legally drink - not that it has stopped many, I’d imagine. My mother, sister and I went on a cruise from Fort Lauderdale around the Bahamas

last Christmas and originally were booked on an American cruise line- until I found out that, as I was 19, I wouldn’t be allowed to drink, smoke or gamble on the ship. My enthusiasm swiftly faded after that and we were forced to change cruise lines. I should, at this juncture, point out that going on a cruise around the Bahamas is not a normal holiday for my family, in case any reader gets the idea that I am, for lack of a better phrase, a spoilt precocious whining brat- which admittedly is how I’m coming across. I just like to drink at Christmas, whether it’s in my hometown of London or on a big boat somewhere near tropical paradise. But I digress.

In Britain, the legal age to have sex and buy lottery tickets or scratch cards is 16. You used to be able to smoke but the government has since shattered the dreams of 15 year olds being able to buy cigarettes without coming across the Spanish Inquisition. At 17, you can start learning to drive and take your test and once you

hit 18 you can get married without your parents’ permission, be eligible for a mortgage or loan, drink, smoke and go clubbing until your heart is content or your body gives up - whichever comes first. But what can you do at 21?

Either I’m dreadfully ignorant of the age laws nowadays, or turning 21 is no longer the “coming of age” ritual that it used to be. My sister wrote in my birthday card “Don’t believe people when they try and tell you you’re an adult now- I started regressing again at 24 and have been having a fantastic time!”. So where does this come from? Why do people of the generation before us believe that turning 21 is, for some reason, a time where we all come of age? I thought at first that maybe it had something to do with the turning 21 phrase of having ‘the keys to the door’, but even that is now in association with turning 18 - well in Clinton’s anyhow.

Perhaps then, it has something to do with responsibility. At 21, I am certainly more likely to start

considering things like marriage, babies, my career and all the associated trials and tribulations but there is no law to say that at 21 I am allowed to do so. It’s far more personal than that. More to the point, at 21 a lot of people are still at university having taken a gap year or merely being the eldest in a school year. Once I got to university, I realised that I had no restrictions legally upon what I did here and as university is the ivory tower of real life for some people (myself included) I could learn to do things like budget, run a home, buy insurance and deal with Sky (see my last editorial) without completely buggering everything up. In fairness, I have learnt to do so, and have just turned 21. So maybe that’s my coming of age, my rite of passage. It’s nothing to do with the law and what I’m allowed to do. It’s what I, and many others, have learnt to do in those 21 years that make us all “adults”.

Entertainment Editor Anna Maysey

Send your comments to the InQuire Editor at newspaper.editor@inquiremedia.co.uk and see them published in the next issue

Anna Maysey Kent University originated band Black Sun Down have gone from strength to strength, including playing for none other than the InQuire Christmas social. Their humble beginnings sparked a group who, with humour and seven different guitars, entice you with their music.

Tim Abbott began speaking to Joe Green about forming a band in mid 2008, and when they agreed to go ahead with it Tim decided to move down to Canterbury and start University at UoK. With freshers’ week approaching, Tim began looking for a bassist and drummer. He soon began talking to Adam North on a Freshers’ Forum, and also discovered he would be moving in with drummer Marc Piper.

Their first jam in the OTE practice room went well, and it was not long before they were performing in Woody’s for the Live Music Society. Following this

Wednesday 10th success they spent the next few months gigging around Canterbury and London, and playing with many great local bands.

At the end of the last academic year they auditioned for Keynestock festival, and not only got through, but were given one of the best possible slots, just below good friends “The Legacy” with front man Liam Carmichael.

Soon after this enormous success, however, Marc Piper was

replaced by a long time friend of Tim and Joe’s- Chris Burgess.

This set the band back a long way, and they spent most of the summer practising and re-learning all their own songs. Chris showed everyone exactly what he could do when Black Sun Down played at the Rock Societies Alternative Freshers Ball in 2009, just before headliners Nya. Buoyed by this great reception, Black Sun Down continued to play all over campus and Canterbury, and have now been accepted into the first stages of Surface Unsigned, a Lon-

don based Battle of the Bands.

The lads say: “We would greatly appreciate anyone who has ever seen us play to come out to support us; you guys have constantly helped us get gigs by turning out to every single one.”

Surface Unsigned Battle Round One kicks off on Wednesday February 10th at the Boston Music Rooms in Tufnell Park, London.

Tickets are £7 on the door, so if you are in London around that time and feel like supporting some fellow Kent students, get yourself down there for a night of talent.

In past years Thursday nights at the Venue was the place to be if you wanted to hear RnB and hiphop acts such as Ragged Edge and N-Dubz. However, for this term the entertainment guide has no such acts on its Thursday list.

After a few incidents in which Police have had to be called to Thursday’s RnB nights, the management are now looking for other acts to take their place. So instead we’ll be seeing a more varied mixture of entertainment in the venue on Thursday nights.

Hands On Jack The Ripper Murders Tour@Trader’s Gate, Tower Hill Follow in the footsteps of the notorious - and still unidentified - serial killer in this guided walk around Whitechapel and Spitalfields Mon-Fri 6pm, Sat 3pm. £6

Exhibition

This wacky museum charts over a century of consumer culture from Bird’s Custard to the Wombles.

Entry £5.80

Music

Metalhead revolution questions the Powers That Be Chris Monahan

London’s Calling

The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising@Notting Hill

Possibly Thursdays Currently planned is ‘rockaoke’ (this Thursday), battle of the student DJ’s and a couple of ‘Dub ‘n’ Bass’ nights. All rounded off with some special ‘skint Thursday’ drink promotions.

However, for many this isn’t change enough in the right direction. Metal lovers have turned to Facebook, forming a group called ‘Metal Night at the Venue’ to express their desire for sounds such as Metallica, Alestorm and Megadeath (to

name but a very few) at the Venue.

There are 300 enthusiastic supporters for the ‘brutal idea’ on Facebook, some of whom lament the lack of live music and compare Kent Union with other universities such as UEA: “Why doesn’t the student union actually book a big half decent metal band? Every other uni seems to get them.” is a lament on the group’s Facebook wall. While this may be somewhat unfair as there seems to have been no communication made between the group and Kent Union and therefore they cannot be expected to jump right into finding metal bands,

Mike Armstrong

‘Til death do us part?

Black Sun Down to fight at Battle of the Bands

many more feel the same way.

Such a night would probably be run in conjunction with Kent RockSoc and would no doubt be of great appeal to “metal heads” with the amount of DJ’s apparently quite happy to do a stint in the Venue for Metal Night. Given this niche appeal, however, some on the group have worried that the classic and thrash metal sound they’re looking for would be compromised for a more mainstream or contemporary sound: “I’d gladly go to a real metal night, but I know even if a “metal night” does turn up, it’ll be all nu and ‘core. Shame, really”.

Well, you can’t please everyone.

However, please don’t lose faith - Kent Union will be approached with the idea, although possibly not with group creator Mike Armstrong’s comment: “The union complain about making losses every year and they wonder why. Maybe it’s due to lack of variety and the rubbish playlist. Clearly people want something new rather than the same songs and some so-called celebrity waving at us like we care”.

Maybe so - but the Union can only do so much.

Reel Big Fish@Koko, Camden The ska-punkers are continuing their nationwide tour, with their well-known cover versions as well their new record.

Tickets around £15

Theatre The Lady or The Tiger@ Orange Street Theatre, Richmond This is a light comedic 5-person musical where the opening of a new arena in a barbaric kingdom causes distress to a princess. Theatre in the round Tickets from £10

Outdoors The Phoenix Garden@ Phonenix St, Charing Cross This tiny garden tucked behind the church of St. Martin’s in the Fields is a beautiful haven for city wildlife and perfect for an alternative day out in the city Gwen Wordingham

For more information on up an coming events check out the website at: www.inquirelive.co.uk

AWARD SEASON IS UPON US, WRITING HAVE YOU HAD YOUR SHOTS? CORNER This year’s award season has stalked, and is now upon us.

The multi-clawed beast of red carpets, camera flashes and numerous golden figurines, statues or plaques has surrounded us and deep down we know the journey to the Oscars isn’t as long as we first thought. Last week the Golden Globes blotted out everything else on the US’s social calendar.

Seen as a warm up, a dry-run to the Oscars it can generally plot the trends and front runners, but unfortunately this year was as predictable as any previous year. The predictability is furthered when you examine the nominees for the BAFTA award as many films are mirrored and have the potential for a gluttonous season.

Avatar walked away with best film and best director at the Globes and eight BAFTA nominations (including nominations in all technical fields except costume design) but while the BAFTAs are meant to champion British

films alongside their American counterparts, the nominations do more about following the American led charge this season.

At the Globes, alongside Avatar was an unlikely ensemble of big budget studio fi lms such as The Hangover, critics’ favourites such as Michael Haneke’s, The White Ribbon and more lofi indie orientated dramas such as Crazy Heart; so while last year’s Oscars took on a more independent, artistic bent with films like Slumdog Millionaire and Milk taking home the little shiny man, this year’s awards season seems to be bridging the gap between large and small productions.

Is this year’s award season more about an overall sense of success and excellence in film making as a field, instead of a targeted campaign for individual films? It is not a stretch to see the nominations for James Cameron and Avatar as more of a nod towards the new technology in fi lm making and the benefits it will bestow on the field itself.

Avatar is a film to be

Every week a new poem will be published in the IQ section from the UoK Creative Writing Society.

If you are interested in joining the society please contact: president.cws@googlemail.com

Ultimatevipevents.com

Nik Williams

marvelled at, in a technical sense no question, the actual job of filming it was daunting and should be awarded but in the face of such innovation I am worried that the judging bodies for these awards maybe blinded by his work, ignoring the films that didn’t have such technology available but still made impressively poignant pieces. But is this the trajectory of film-making nowadays? Striving to still fill the cinemas in an atmosphere

of downloadable feature films and exorbitant cinema prices, have the award bodies adorned James Cameron by solely creating a fi lm that requires, nay demands, cinema attendance?

Whatever upsets, clean sweeps or drama that unfolds at any of these events, they will keep people talking about the future of film making and from this year’s nominations and awards, no one needs to lose faith. Not yet anyway.

IQ

21st Century Courting He paints his target and sets in for the kill Of the girl with the purple skirt with the frill.

He thrills her with his overconfidence and Hence she goes along with the pretence.

Flattery (and drinks) will get him anywhere, he thinks.

And as I catch sight of the fright of his tongue in her mouth And his hands headed South, I realise He’s right.

HAITI

-Rebecca Dawkins Short stories to follow on: Inquirelive.co.uk

OBAMA

TOLSTOY CENTENARY MARKED BY BIOPIC Leo Tolstoy, one of Russia’s most culturally significant figures, is being honoured on the centenary of his death with a feature-length biopic, detailing his life, his work, and his death. It features no offcamera voices and is composed entirely of newsreels, music and subtitles taken from Russian archives. Alongside this, 2010 also features the release of The Last Station, a film about Tolstoy (as portrayed

by Christopher Plummer), his wife, and his final days.

Born to aristocracy, he initially began writing after joining the army to escape heavy gambling debts. His writings were informed by a growing disillusionment with the State and a political radicalism that only increased over his lifetime, ultimately placing his marriage under considerable strain. He rejected

maggiesfarm.com

Edward Bowles

his inherited wealth, founding schools with a libertarian educational philosophy and bequeathing the copyright to his earlier works to ‘humanity’.

His best known works, Anna Karenina and War and Peace, are universally regarded among the most important literary works ever produced, and is widely held to be among the greatest authors ever to have

lived. His contemporaries gave him especially high praise; James Joyce remarked, “He is never dull, never stupid, never tired, never pedantic, never theatrical!” Anton Chekov went one further, and wrote that: “When literature possesses a Tolstoy, it is easy and pleasant to be a writer; even when you know you have achieved nothing yourself and are

still achieving nothing, this is not as terrible as it might otherwise be, because Tolstoy achieves for everyone. What he does serves to justify all the hopes and aspirations invested in literature.”

Despite this contemporary praise, and his general regard as being the best author of all time (War and Peace topped a meta-list of the top 100 books ever written), one country is strangely indifferent; Russia.

At the time of writing, there are no major state-planned celebrations of his life or work to mark the centenary of his death to take place in Russia.

The Last Station director, an American by the name of Michael Hoff man, stated that he had dearly wished to film on location in Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy’s rural estate, but the support required in order to film simply wasn’t there the cost was prohibitive. The producer, Andrei Deryabin explained that “There wasn’t

the infrastructure. The hotels were lousy. Nor were there any security guarantees for the actors. In the end, fi lming in Russia proved far too expensive”, perhaps betraying a lack of investment in the area, despite Tolstoy’s standing as a giant of Russian literature.

A slightly less serious tribute to the man and his work is the forthcoming novel Android Karenina (from the series that brought out Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), the classic love story set in a steampunk dystopia, featuring “robotic butlers, clumsy automata, and rudimentary mechanical devices” as well as Vronsky, Anna, Kitty and Levin; their stories interleave in a world where “copper-plated machines begin to revolt against their human masters”.

It has been ‘co-written’ by Ben Winters, who is also credited on Sense and Sensibility and Sea-Monsters, and is due for release on the 6th of August.

TOLSTOY

2010 HOTLIST

STUDENT ADVICE CENTRE

Barack Obama: In Rude Health?

What a difference a year makes

IQ Review

MUSIC REGARDS

in terms of sound, and musically speaking it’s disappointingly bland for a new act.

Edward Bowles

‘After Many A Summer’ Sam Bates

Amazingly, a year has already passed since those heady days in January 2008 when Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. Time flies when you’re having fun - or not, as the case may be for Obama.

It has, for many commentators, seemed a surprisingly stale first year in office when much of what was promised is as far away from reality as it was when he started. The American public have shown the first signs of dissatisfaction in the polls (Obama’s approval rating has fallen to around 50% down from 65% in the months after he took office).

More tellingly the recent election in Massachusetts for the seat vacated by Democrat legend Ted Kennedy was lost in a shock result that has seriously jeopardised Obama’s ability to see through his flagship legislation on health and climate change.

When he was swept to office in the historic first election of an African-American as President, the wave of euphoria that accompanied him appeared as though it would see him through a successful tenure. However, one year on the atmosphere around Obama has changed from one of optimism to one of doubt, and this is one change the President would rather we didn’t believe in.

There will of course, always be a certain amount of opposition to Obama from those who never wanted him elected in the first place.

These hardcore detractors on the right have ranged from those who called Obama a communist over his healthcare plans, to those who questioned his very legitimacy as a president over extremist claims that he is not an American. This element of opposition, with its barely concealed racist undertones, has been given a degree of acceptability by the more sensational

Has the change Obama´s campaign promised so vehemently been forgotten a year on?

aspects of Fox News (a major American news service) but is not widespread.

Whilst this is regrettable, it is also sadly inevitable, and not the apparent reason for Obama’s current difficulties given its marginal support.

It is not this then that Obama should be most concerned about, rather the worryingly sturdy and consistent moderate Republicans who have so far opposed everything he has tried to do.

On health care reform, one of Obama’s key policies (which became a crucial but divisive issue in the election campaign) he has achieved some success.

After a long and extremely heated national debate on the subject which saw Republicans characterise Obama’s plans as socialist and an attempt at bringing the NHS to America, his senate majority at the time got the bill passed. This achievement should not be underestimated; several presidents have attempted

previous efforts at reform with little or no progress.

Americans have always been fiercely defensive over the privatised system and sceptical over the amounts of money required for reform.

The president’s plans were hardly radical by European healthcare standards but in the American climate they are significant and will see 30 million more Americans gain health insurance. However, with the aforementioned election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts, the republicans now have the ability to scuttle the reforms before they even get off the ground and have already signalled their intention to do just that.

When it comes to foreign policy, Obama’s approach has, as expected, been radically and welcomingly different to that of the much maligned George W. Bush. Early on the Obama administration signalled its intent when he spoke of offering an open hand of diplomacy to Iran and the Arab world in the

historic Cairo university speech which was only met with a lukewarm response.

He also ‘reset’ relations with Russia amid much fanfare after a deterioration had occurred over the ‘star-wars’ missile defence system that Bush was pushing for, which Obama has also shelved.

The defining foreign policy issues of the year were unsurprisingly over Afghanistan. Here the President struggled with balancing his opposition for the war with the reality that the situation still requires American involvement, and an immediate withdrawal would be tantamount to abandonment.

Obama was faced with a demand for more troops from his generals which he decided to consider with lengthy deliberation. This attracted huge criticism from Republicans who accused the president of dithering on a matter of national importance.

Eventually after nearly three months the decision was made to send additional troops in an attempt to bring the war to a conclusion. This is an example of how Obama’s methods have not gone down as well in real life as they did when he talked about leaving the gun-ho attitudes of Bush in the past. It is also an example of how the Republicans and the American media have perhaps been unfair on Obama as they cannot have it both ways. Of course sometimes taking a more sensible and considered approach will mean slower results, but Obama can argue that this is infinitely preferable to the rushed and ultimately botched decisions that saw America enter a war in Iraq that they never should have.

On Guantanamo and climate change the President has also frustrated many supporters who don’t think he has done enough. However, here too, the improvements from Bush can be pointed to. Anyone who suggests that there has been no progress on climate change is mistaken as Bush never

even formally recognised its existence. When it comes to the economy the situation he inherited has always meant that things would be difficult, but he saw through the stimulus packages that appear to be helping the economy to recover.

President Obama promised radical change and consensus politics, increasingly it seems as though he will struggle to achieve either fast. His first year, has not been the walk in the park that the massive over-expectation foresaw.

The election of Scott Brown will only serve to make things much harder. The democrats have lost a seat that had previously been a stonewall safe one, and with it Obama and his party have lost the 60/40 majority they need to force legislation through in congress. This has left Obama and his key policies on health reform and climate change in a state of uncertainty. The republicans who have so vehemently opposed Obama’s health plans thus far now have the numbers on their side to force inaction, they have signalled similar objectives for any climate change bill.

There is little doubt that Obama is capable of achieving many things, perhaps great things in his tenure; it has been and will continue to be difficult, but a term in office is four years long for a reason. It is far too early for the death knell to sound over his presidency, but the question remains for Obama and the Democrats as to whether they can reverse this malaise and bring at least some of the Republicans on side. If the answer is no, then unfortunately it seems that the hopes and dreams of so many just a year ago will come to nothing. This will leave the millions across the world who believed in change in a state of dismay, not least one Barack Obama. He is in danger of going down in history as the president who arrived with everything and left with nothing.

film ‘A SERIOUS MAN’ The new fi lm from the Coen brothers is a comic character study - loosely based on the Old Testament’s Book of Job - following the hardships of a middle-aged Jewish family man in the late 1960s. Pundits have already pointed out that this is possibly the Coens’ most personal fi lm to date; its main thematic focus being on the struggle to make sense of faith in a world full of hardships.

There is a beautiful sense of circularity to this fi lm. The Coens’ focus on a main character, Larry, a middle aged Jew, and use him to explore the ins-andouts of life for followers of a hugely traditionalist religion in the decade of social revolution; which was the time that Joel and Ethan Coen were being raised and Bar Mitzvahed themselves.

A Serious Man is undeniably

an extremely Jewish fi lm at heart, and I daresay that those who are more familiar with Jewish custom will get more out of it than those who aren’t. But this is not important – all that matters is that the Coens have managed to sum up the struggle to make sense of a chaotic universe, and to find meaning in a senseless reality, in a way more beautiful than anything I’ve experienced since Kafka. This being said, the fi lm’s ending couldn’t be more perfect.

Jacob Brant

10/10

A Stafford-born four-piece who cut their teeth in Liverpool’s thriving underground music scene, Regards’ debut single “After Many A Summer” was released early last month. Self produced and released, this single demonstrates the bands fiercely independent hold over their music.

My initial reaction to their single was lukewarm - the melody is mildly catchy, but the band’s passion comes across and the overall song definitely bears repeating. Their sound is initially reminiscent of early Franz Ferdinand, except (admittedly) less interesting; however, the sound later develops into clear post-punk territory. They don’t advertise their influences, but a recent post on their MySpace listed their favourite songs of the past ten years - totally unsurprising to see entries such as “Last Nite” by The Strokes or “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand.

Musically speaking, it’s decent, commercially viable alternative rock. That said, it doesn’t offer anything truly new

5/10

LOSTPROPHETS ‘The Bretrayed’ Listening to this album a few times, Ihavecometotheconclusion that this record is indeed by Lostprophets. Those who thought, or indeed hoped, that the Welsh quintet would deviate from their tried-and-tested formula will be disappointed.

Having worked out that their two best-selling singles were the excellent ‘Last Train Home’ and the rather less excellent sludge-fest ‘Rooftops’, both of which are mass sing-alongs, Watkins and co have ramped the anthem factor to eleven.

On one hand this has given

us the cringeworthily woeful ‘Where We Belong’, which sounds like something U2 would write when they were feeling particularly uninspired; but on the other, we also get the SMS friendly ‘Dstryr/Dstryr’, which harkens back to days of yore, the sound of their sophomore album ‘Start Something’.

Sadly, the album feels so straitjacketed in its scope, that it leaves you wondering about their creative process that led to this heaving load of anonymity. It’s Lostprophets by numbers, and what’s more, it’s still reminiscent of the particularly uninspired ‘Liberation Transmission’-era.

The album is almost saved by the final track ‘The Light That Shines Twice as Bright’, a brooding lament that almost turns towards Nine Inch Nails towards the end, but sadly the rest of the album shows little ambition from a band that really should have moved on from teenage angst by now.

Nick Batley

5.5/10

THE ROAD TO THE OSCARS? Laura Cullum With the recent influx of postapocalyptic movies, it may be a struggle for any single one to stand out. The Road has achieved this among its many accomplishments. Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Cormac McCarthy and directed by John Hillcoat (The Proposition) the fi lm follows a man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) as they run, fight and scrounge for their survival and in turn the very survival of humanity. Their chances are bleak from start to finish as they face starvation, the threat of cannibalism and homelessness but none of that detracts from the poignancy of their relationship.

Mortensen’s portrayal of the single father tested to the extremes of human survival has been tipped for an Oscar nomination.

The Road takes the genre of disaster movie and turns it on its head. Although it is within the same branch of fi lms as 2012 and The Book of Eli, it is very different.

The main one being the fact that the cause of the Earth’s demise and the loss of most of the population is not actually shown and only briefly referred to; that is to say the audience does not know what happened and it is questionable that the characters really know themselves. For high-speed scenes of the Earth falling into ruin while the hero narrowly makes an escape then 2012 might be better suited to the title of disaster movie.

The Road has none of these but that does not make it any less tense and it could be said that it is this fact that makes the characters more real and ultimately more relatable. In a way, The Road shows the true desperation behind the end of the world as we know it as it has moved away from the Hollywood glamour of car chases and booming soundtracks and instead focuses on the gritty, dirty and

often violent reality of humans on the brink of extinction.

One of the most striking things about The Road is the silence, something not often present in disaster movies. With the loss of all the animals, birds and most of the human race little is left to create noise and the soundtrack compliments this. The soundtrack,

by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, is mainly made up of sparse and haunting piano pieces that reflect the dreams and memories of life before the apocalypse.

The prominent colours in the fi lm also add to this; the deserted landscapes are void of colour, blacks, whites and greys dominating the palette.

The Road is a disaster movie with a difference. Although the setting is gloomy, the bond between father and son is enough to inspire hope even in the heaviest of hearts. With impeccable performances and stunning cinematography, The Road is a fi lm that should not be missed and once seen will not be forgotten.

Editor’s Playlist • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

The Besnard Lakes‘Albatross’ Owen Pallett- ‘Lewis Takes Action’ Spoon- ‘Don’t Make Me A Target’ Phoenix- ‘1901’ The Mountain Goats‘Genesis 3:23’ Dawes- ‘Love Is All I Am’ Broken Bells- ‘The High Road’ Jesus and Mary Chain‘Sometimes Always’ Mos Def- ‘Supermagic’ Balmorhea- ‘March 4, 1831’ Explosions In The Sky‘Yasmin The Light’ Rogue Wave- ‘Lake Michigan’ Sleeping States- ‘Planning My Escape’ Jonsi- ‘Boy Lilikoi’

HAITI: THE CATASTROPHIC CONSCIOUSNESS

On the afternoon of Tuesday the 12th of January, the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas were devastated by an earthquake measuring over 7.0 on the Richter scale. Even now, weeks on, the death toll cannot be accurately measured; it is estimated anywhere between 50,000 and 200,000 people with over a million people left homeless.

Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, has seen its geographical and social makeup shift abruptly and for the near future, Haitians are now trying to get used to a refashioned, fragmented home country. But from here in the UK it is seen by us in the way everything is and that is by the TV or newspapers. It will be categorised on the shelves of our collective sub-consciousness alongside the tsunami that hit southern Asia in 2004, hurricane Katrina in 2005 and numerous other events that we watch, read or hear. But as we grow up in this ever-changing world do we do each catastrophe a disservice by hungering for as much information as possible? Do grief stricken areas slowly dissolve into constructions of statistics, facts, blog posts, photos and video footage? In a time where natural and manmade disasters populate the news reels to such an extent as to make us almost expectant of the next, do we risk forgetting the true pains of something as tragic as Haiti?

Haiti has a history and heritage that can only be defined as resilient. Formed by freed slaves and led by Toussaint L’Ouverture, it endured and withstood both the French and English armies to establish itself as a country or paradise for the free. Throughout its tenure it has withstood many things including a brutal three decade long dictatorship led by Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and a violent coup in 2004, but this catastrophe has brought this proud country to its knees. I had to look this up, I am ashamed to say, I did not know enough about the region; its heritage, history or culture. But due to the earthquake I now know these pieces of information but the thing is, I probably would not have without the earthquake. We as a population, as an audience,

Haitixchange.com

Nik Williams

have become acclimatised to tragedy and through 24 hour news, forever updateable and interactive, we have grown numb to these catastrophes that in reality should remain unknown, unquantifiable and unable to comprehend. But we have learnt how to understand them through the templates of tragedy we have come to own and as a result the details and specifics are exchanged for statistics, maps and blogs; generalities that can be cast from one tragedy to the next.

There is, of course, a flip side to 21st century media. It can be the great persuader of the masses, can loosen people’s prejudices and hopefully, eventually their wallets. Hollywood stars, fresh from destroying the world many times over on fi lm, have clubbed together to host a telethon.

Headed by George Clooney and including stars such as Jay-Z and U2, it hopes to channel their stardom to raise substantial awareness and money. Aside from the numbing nature of 24-hour news, media has begun to use its power for charitable ends. When media’s goal is as conscientious as this, it redirects the control and manipulation and at its best it can amplify the needs of those trapped, or without a voice, but at its worst it can drown them out.

An air of the mythical has encircled Haiti; in such hardship and suffering the human spirit is shown to be sturdier than first thought: the will to help grander and more generous than ever imagined and the urge to continue

against the staggering pressure is evermore strengthened and it is through this, that the groundwork that created this liberated country can never be dismantled, trodden under foot or forgotten. Stories are emerging from the rubble that solidifies their resolve, such as the population of Cité Soleil who defended their township from violent prisoners, released from prison by the quake, the community stood up when no one else would and, even among the fragments of their lives, they are resilient. Other countries are reaching out a hand in more ways than monetary aid; the Senegalese government has come out stating that it will offer any Haitian a home and land or, dependant on numbers, a region to call their own. Many Haitians’ origins have been traced back to Senegal where their ancestors were kidnapped and sold into slavery and it is this kind of help that may allow this country to endure and to recover.

There may be people lost, never to be tracked or recovered, but as a nation we need to retain the specifics of this tragedy, it cannot be fi led away in the catastrophic sub-consciousness as so much would be lost. While we read numbers and statistics, never forget the fight for the individual person lost; a son, a child, a father, a sister, a loved one. Populate your mind with stories of the unknown and the unheard, know Haiti not solely by how many died but by how the earthquake disrupted and destroyed a specific, vibrant culture. How a country that

formed out of the forceful desire for freedom has been violently ripped apart by an uncontrollable natural calamity. Once every catastrophe is given its identity back, they can shrug off the restraints of the tragic template and can inform us more than any collection of statistics 24 hour news has to offer.

DONATE YOUR MONEY TO: UNICEF www.unicef.org.uk GLOBAL GIVING www.globalgiving.org OXFAM www.oxfam.org.uk BRITISH RED CROSS www.redcross.org.uk CHRISTIAN AID www.christianaid.org.uk CLINTON BUSH HAITI FUND www.clintonbushhaitifund.org ACTION AID www.actionaid.org.uk

• George Orwell has been named

by Penguin authors as their most beloved author.

• The mother of Rufus and Martha Wainwright, and renowned folk singer in her own right, Kate McGarrigle died at the age of 63, losing her fight with cancer.

• Aerosmith are holding auditions to replace their gyrating clothes hanger mouthed lead singer, Steven Tyler.

• Andrea Arnold, director of ‘Red Road’ and ‘Fish Tank’ has been taken on to direct an adaptation of ‘Wuthering Heights’.

• A fi lm about the elusive but influential graffiti Banksy is planned for the Sundance Festival.

• Oscar laden director, Danny Boyle is returning to the stage to direct an adaptation of ‘Frankenstein’.

• The creators of Mamma Mia! have started work on Spice Girls, the Musical.

• Stephenie Meyers is planning a graphic novel version of her world famous vampire series, ‘Twilight’. Yes it surely never ends, never.

• The winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year has been stripped of his award as the judges question the wildness of the wolf in his entry. They say it’s probably a trained ‘model’.

• You’ve got to enjoy a strange Prince story. He has recorded a fight song for the Minnesota Vikings NFL team. Their aged Quarterback, Brett Favre, may need as much help as possible.

• A self- portrait of Lucian Freud with a black eye is valued at £4m as it is a painting that no one knew existed.

• Never

ready to slow down, Martin Scorsese has lined up ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’ as his next directorial job. No gangsters here, keep looking.

• Poet Philip Gross won the T.S.Eliot prize for his collection, ‘The Water Table’.

• REM’s Classic ‘Everybody Hurts’ is being used by Simon Cowell as the basis for the Haiti charity single.

THE SALVATION ARMY www.salvationarmy.org

That is all for now, Nik Williams

The Student Advice Centre: Here to lend a helping hand Katherine Graham

With the government’s planned budget cuts in university funding imminent, student finances are a primary concern for more students than ever not just those from lower income families, but also middle class students who are increasingly feeling the pinch. As students, there is often a worrying tendency for us to keep our problems to ourselves, in the hope that they will disappear.

The Kent Union offers us a brilliant alternative in the form of the Student Advice Centre. Located on campus in the Mandela Building, many students are unaware or simply ignore the fact that the centre offers each individual practical advice for their specific financial needs.

The Student Advice Centre’s remit is to “provide help on all sorts of financial matters, such as debt, budgeting, fees, loans, parent’s learning allowance, childcare grants, council tax, welfare benefits (including income support, housing benefit and tax credits), housing, employment and consumer matters”. Therefore, it is a service that can and should be used by students for any sort of financial issue. However, it is not just student finances that the Advice Centre can help with; a comprehensive list of every service they offer, along with how to contact them, is available under the “support” section of the Kent Union website at www. kentunion.co.uk.

The Student Advice Centre also holds many events on campus, such as Student Housing Week. However, their work doesn’t stop there; throughout the year the centre offers advice on housing, living, visas for International students, employment advice, as well as many other services. They have a wealth of information, as Teresa Ashley, one of the Advisors said: “We are

basically Citizen’s Advice Bureau for the students of the University”.

The centre is full of trained advisors that are completely impartial to your situation.

Their worry is that students are concerned that they will be criticised for allowing their situation to escalate. Teresa Ashley would like to stress, however, that the Advisors are not there to judge, but to help you. She also emphasises that prevention is better than cure, and that the sooner an individual goes to them, the easier it will be to help them.

It is important to bear in mind that the Student Advice Centre is not a first stop if something irritates you; for instance if your landlord has not fi xed a dripping tap quick enough for your liking or if you have had an issue with your student loan and have not first tried to resolve it yourself. The centre is for those of us who have tried to remedy a difficult situation ourselves and are still not getting anywhere. If you are

truly at a dead end then the Advice Centre is there to help you and can step in and act on your behalf if necessary.

The majority of the Advice Centre’s meetings are by appointment, these can be made by telephone, email or dropping into the Mandela Building. The centre is aware that such a system may not reach a vast number of UoK students; and is therefore being proactive in extending their services to us. For the rest of the academic year, the Student Advice Centre will be holding “Advice Surgeries” across campus offering general information for students. Along with centre staff, there will also be the various College Welfare Officers and the local Police Community Support Officer present. This will be a chance for students to get advice, pick up leaflets and make individual appointments for longer discussions.

On top of this, the Student Advice Centre is also running “Money Week”

in collaboration with the Financial Services Scheme.

On 28th January the centre will also be participating in the Housing Fair, offering practical guidance on student housing in Canterbury as well as information on tenancy agreements. For the following two weeks after the Housing Fair, the advice centre is running a “drop-in” tenancy check service and rent advice for students preparing to live off-campus.

The Housing Fair perhaps best summarises what the Student Advice Service is

all about. They are a service dedicated to offering practical advice on all issues, both long term and topical, that any members of the University, whether Undergraduates, Postgraduates, single parent students or those financially independent of their parents may have. They say that no problem is too small, as it is often these smaller problems that lead on to bigger problems. Remember, it is better to deal with them sooner rather than later, as prevention really is better than cure.

Need some advice?

• • • •

For a noncomplex issue you can ring the Advice Centre on 01227 827724 Alternatively, you can email them at advice@kent.ac.uk An advisor is available to answer your queries Monday - Friday To book an appointment you can either go to the Mandela Building or ring them on 01227 824824.

The Student Advice Centre is a severely underrated service at the university, but one that is able to help us with good and practical advice.

Jane Tranter

NEWS IN (Y-FRONT) BRIEFS

The Student Advice Centre is located in the Mandela Building and can offer individual advice to all University of Kent students

KYLIE GRANT Film Whip It is the directorial debut for Drew Barrymore. It is a feisty tale of a young girl’s route to freedom that includes roller derbies, alter egos and of course some caustic wit. A must see if you miss the sly humour of Juno.

Book Diamond Star Halo- Tiffany Murray ‘A seductive story of fate, magic, and rock ‘n’ roll, Diamond Star Halo shows what happens when a family and a farm become the breeding ground for fame.’ Already heralded by the Guardian it promises to be a great read in 2010.

Book Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism-Natasha Walter Apart from the fact that I hope her title is ironic ( did sexism ever leave?) her front cover certainly makes up for it, a naked woman with a Barbie placed on her crotch certainly sums up where feminism is at the moment. A book that attempts to assess gender, sexuality and New Feminism in the modern age is one to definitely look out for.

Music Lights- Ellie Goulding. This is not just because Radio One likes her, I promise.

She truly has one of the best voices I have heard for a long time. Ethereal but grounded, it puts most electronica to shame.

2010 201 10

Festivals 2010 might be the year of the book festival! Edinburgh and Hay on Wye arethe favourites but a whole host of others have sprung up for this year, so instead of getting hideously drunk and having sex in a dirty tent, why not do it with sophistication this year? Wine and philandering poets, that’s more my style.

t s i l t o H

NIK WILLIAMS Music Joanna Newsom’s new album, Have One on Me promises to follow in the spectacular footprints of Ys. Anything she lends her beautiful fragile voice and complex but luscious arrangements to will always be worth the wait.

Film The film Howl is about to trace the Sundance route across America. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeff rey Friedman it traces the story of the infamous poet, Allen Ginsberg and his poem Howl and the resultant obscenity trial.

Book Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. After releasing his books online it will be exciting to feel a spine in my fingers. This book has focused on the pressure the American war on terror exerts on the youth of such a damaged country. Looking forward to his dry sardonic sense of humour and the poignant plotlines he deftly delivers.

Music Yeasayer’s follow up to All Hours Cymbals called Odd Blood will be a treat for the hedonistic rhythmic side of anyone. If the single Ambling Alps is anything to go by we are in for an amazing album by the Brooklyn band.

Film You always have to hold your breath when Chris Morris makes something, but you know you will always laugh and laugh and laugh and Four Lions doesn’t seem to be up to breaking the mould. The genius behind Brass Eye has turned his caustic eye to terrorism so you know you have to watch.

NICK BATLEY Music I’m really looking forward to Christina Aguilera’s new album, Bionic.

She’s reinvented herself with each release, and after working with class acts like Sia and Le Tigre, this record is bound to be spectacular.

CONRAD ASH Film Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, and is essentially just Ellen Page on rollerskates; I see no problem with this.

Film Also can’t wait for Alice in Wonderland, as I love Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, so this is a minefield of joy for me.

Book I’m looking forward to Stephen Fry’s part two to his autobiography, since part one, ‘Moab is My Washpot’ is a literary masterpiece, and an honest delving into one’s own soul, that few memoirs achieve.

LAUREN ELSDEN Film Tim Burton is renowned for his wacky and eccentric style of film making and Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp, promises to continue what he does best. This film will undoubtedly be a blockbuster that’s not to be missed.

FilmMartin Scorsese is recognised to be one of the leading film directors of our time. His newest film Shutter Island explores the horror mystery genre that he has not previously visited. Starring Hollywood’s leading man Leonardo DiCaprio, this fi lm is sure to tempt cinema audiences.

Book Called Three Days Before the Shooting, this posthumous novel was written by highly acclaimed author Ralph Ellison, who previously won the coveted National Book Prize for Invisible Man (beating Ernest Hemmingway), and it promises to be one of 2010’s most anticipated new books.

Music Singer/song writer Ellie Goulding previously attended Kent University before she secured a recording contract. Now in a whirlwind of success she has acquired much critical acclaim and has beat tough competition to top the BBC’s Sound of 2010 list. Her album called Lights is out in March.

Music After the success of their first studio album Oracular Spectacular, MGMT’s second album Congratulations is expected to include new songs that are hopefully just as catchy as Electric Feel, Kids and Time to Pretend

Film Iron Man 2 is promising to be a decent show; this shiny sequel is set to challenge the mantle of the most awesome superhero film, undoubtedly held by The Dark Knight. And even if you’re not a Robert Downey Jr fan, with the addition of cult stars Mickey Rourke and Don Cheadle thrown into the mix, there’s a favourite actor for everyone.

TV Doctor Who Season 5 is on the horizon and not only will we see a lovely new doctor, Matt Smith, and lovely new assistant, but also the return of one of the doctor’s not-so-lovely, and in fact most terrifying antagonists ever to chill our hearts – the return of THE WEEPING ANGELS! Seriously, don’t blink.

Music Valleys of Neptune- Jimi Hendrix. With 12 previously unreleased studio recordings from the guitar-gnashing legend, including his version of Cream’s ‘Sunshine of your Love,’ and cover artwork by the man himself, this is one album that guitar heroes definitely should not miss.

Game Final Fantasy XIII is back and I hope all you geeks out there are wetting yourselves over this, otherwise it’s just me. After much anticipation, FFXIII is finally in sight. This game will definitely mark the death of your revision.

Book Robert Downey Jr: The Fall and Rise of the Comeback Kid, by Ben Falk. A book written by a dude about a dude who played a dude disguised as another dude, this bio offers a probing insight into the ups and downs of one of Hollywood’s most prolific actors. If all you know about Downey Jr is that he once had a problem with drugs I can guarantee he’ll surprise you.

The New Year is upon us, after the champagne has gone flat, the sausage rolls have gone soggy and the drunken uncle is peeled off the sofa our minds turn to what the year ahead has to offer. For our eyes, ears and minds it is a blank slate where trends can be forged, cult favourites discovered and classics to be noted and there is not another part of the year that heralds so much excitement and optimism about what is to follow. Five writers have revealed what they are holding their collective breath for and just from this snippet it may turn out to be a very good year for culture.

-Nik Williams, Culture Editor