InQuire 9.13

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Issue 9.13

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4th April 2014

kent fc disappointment

sport - back page

vermin in 24% of student housing: nus report Georgina Coleman

THE National Union of Students (NUS) has recently published a report that claims that almost one quarter (24%) of all the students surveyed had been affected by vermin in their homes.

The report, which surveyed 3,000 students, showcases the squalid conditions university students are now living in.

The report comes at a time of change in the private rented sector, with NUS Vice President Welfare, Colum McGuire, claiming that “discussion on student housing is based on generalisations and assumptions”, with students often regarded as having “no care for the conditions of their homes”.

One Kent student recently discovered a mouse in her bedroom. She was awoken at 4am by a rustling noise, whereby she switched on her light and saw a mouse darting across her desk.

After being too afraid to sleep in her room that night, she called the infestation services the next day, who used rat poisoning and bordered up the holes where the mouse had been. However, after all this, she then heard the mouse again five days later.

Claims such as this are in conjunction by the existence of damp, mould and condensation.

In total, 61% of almost 3,000 students surveyed admitted that they suffered with these issues, highlighting the unsafe conditions students now have to endure. Housing issues students suffer are often exacerbated

Student houses in Canterbury. The report does not specify any houses affected by vermin. Photo by Jonathan Billinger

by financial problems, with almost two fifths (39%) having difficulty paying their energy bills.

Just over half of the students surveyed (52%) feeling uncomfortably cold in their homes during winter, with 40% choosing to remain in university buildings to keep warm.

Furthermore, housing problems were not amended swiftly. 53% of those surveyed said they had experienced significant delays in getting

their housing problems fixed, with more than a third having difficulty even getting in touch with their landlord or agent.

It was also found that those who found their house through an agent (as opposed to a university or students’ union) payed on average £400 more to set up their tenancy.

These students were also two thirds more likely to have poor experiences when dealing with letting agents, such as pressure to sign a contract.Half of those

surveyed were uncertain that their deposit for their properties had even been protected. Two fifths having some or all of their deposit withheld from them.

Out of these, 76% disagreed with their deductions but did not get anything changed.

These statistics have encouraged many students to tweet their awful experiences, using #housinghell. Georgio Cassella tweeted: “Mice living in our house, EHO (Enviromental Health Officer) wouldn’t come

to investigate! Had to find replacement tenants before we could leave.”

The NUS have compiled a list of recommendations that call on the Government to help, with the hope that conditions will begin to improve.

Colum McGuire said how “it is time for both government and universities to take a real look at the plight of student renters and others, and consider what they can do to support them and improve their experiences.”

2

News Editor’s Note

Hello everyone, This is my last paper as Newspaper Editor! (And all the other editors’ last as well).

It’s not filled with teary goodbyes, much as we might have liked to flood you with memories, I don’t think you would’ve appreciated it much. It is a special issue to us though, and, dare I say it, I think it’s our best.

So, thankyou for reading.

You make all our hard work worthwhile, and I hope you continue to enjoy InQuire under it’s exciting new team next term.

Matt.

InQuireMedia

2013/2014 Editorial contacts: Alasdair Lawrence Chairman chairman Matthew Gilley - Editor newspaper.editor Chad Greggor - Website Editor website.editor Newspaper: Christopher Heron - News newspaper.news Ginny Sanderson - Comment newspaper.comment Emma Shelton - Features newspaper.features Rebekah Chilvers - Culture newspaper.culture Emily Adams - Entertainment newspaper.entertainment Dan English - Sports newspaper.sport Website: Simon Terhaag - News website.news Tom Vine - Comment website.comment Tom Hagues - Features website.features Caroline Wadham - Entertainment website.entertainment Natalie Turco-Williams Culture website.culture Hetty Sieling - Distribution distribution LaShanda Seaman - Promotions and Events events Daniel Barnby - Design design To contact the committee, add @ inquiremedia.co.uk to the end of the address under their name.

News 3

budget 2014: how does it affect students?

labour: student loans ‘time bomb’

nus president at kent union

InQuire Special Report CHANCELLOR of the Exchequer, George Osborne, delivered his Budget 2014 statement to Parliament on 18th March, revealing his plans to secure the eventual recovery of the economy.

The Budget focused on laying the foundations for future economic growth, with radical reforms of saving for the next generation of workers and a reduction in taxes for some sections of society.

Taking to the stage to give his proposal he declared, “if you’re a maker, a doer or a saver: this Budget is for you”.

Whilst the Budget aims to secure employment for a future generation, it appears to have ignored current students, leading to significant criticism.

Writing for The Independent, student Patrick Greenfield expressed many people’s opinions saying, “record

THE Labour party have warned the Liberal Democrats of a “timebomb” in the repayments of student loans.

According to Chuka Umunna, the Shadow Business Secretary, the announcement that 45% of graduates would not repay student loans means that the rise of fees to £9,000 may cost taxpayers more money than the £3,000 cap.

Umunna said: “I think this is actually catastrophic, for the Liberal Democrats in particular, because having trebled tuition fees in the name of reducing the deficit and saving the exchequer money, you are at best seeing it raise little money at all; at worst actually costing more.

“What this is a student loan timebomb that is actually already exploding under the government.”

In response, Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said that the figures were based on projections and that the

MONDAY 24th January saw Toni Pearce, President of the National Union of Students (NUS) come to the University of Kent to give an Open Lecture on “Making Students a Force too Powerful to Ignore”, and allowed her an opportunity to update students on NUS’ plans for the General Election 2015.

Her talk included discussions around the last General Election, which saw the NUS launch a campaign on Votes for Students. This asked MPs to pledge to not support an increase in fees for Higher Education students, and how students can effectively use their vote at the next General Election to back candidates that clearly work with the interests of students in mind.

Over 1,000 candidates for Parliament signed the pledge. This saw a result of Liberal Democrats and The Conservative Party forming a coalition government, but the pledge was dropped following negotiations between the two

Emily Adams Newspaper Entertainment Editor

numbers of under-25s live at home, youth unemployment is nearly a million, yet as graduates stagnate, old white middle England continues to borrow from our future”.

The Chancellor has, however, promised a rise in apprenticeships for young people in a bid to reduce the country’s youth unemployment problem.

Osborne proposed “extending grants for smaller businesses to support over 100,000 more”, as well as developing a new “degree level apprenticeships”, though it has been raised that this will support future generations rather than focusing on the unemployment crisis of current students.

In addition to this, the Treasury’s accompanying Budget document vowed to deal with “barriers in the postgraduate system that may be restricting the supply of… higher skills”.

Osborne highlighted that the focus would be on science and engineering projects,

with over £200 million being invested in new centres for Cell Therapy and Doctoral Training, in an attempt to increase postgraduate student numbers.

Though Osborne failed to mention other areas of postgraduate study, he told MPs: “If Britain isn’t leading the world in science and technology and engineering, then we are condemning our country to fall behind.”

The Budget also re-iterated plans to abolish national

insurance contributions for under-21s, to be introduced in 2015.

Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has also called for more emphasis on helping students now, summarising many people’s feelings on the Budget: “If the Chancellor wants to avoid a lost generation among today’s 16 to 24 year-olds, he must use the Spring Budget to help businesses take on and train up young people.”

Christopher Heron Newspaper News Editor

numbers “move around a lot”.

The news comes at the same time as figures released from the House of Commons Library which shows that for every £1 of investment into teaching at universities, £7.50 is spent on cancelling students’ debts.

Nick Hillman, formerly special adviser to the Universities and Sciences Minister, David Willetts, said that the

Photo from the Institute of Physics

risk of tuition fee rise after 2015 referendum on marking boycott

more uni places to state pupils

Dave Cocozza

Tom Hagues Website Features Editor

THE Universities and Sciences Minister, David Willetts, has refused to rule out raising tuition fees for students following the next General Election in 2015, sparking controversy among Parliament and some members of the student voice.

The comments came after an interview with Channel 4 News in which Willetts said on air that the current tuition fees system was considered by ministers to be “far more sustainable than any alternative”, and that the government would “have to see how the income of universities performs”, when asked whether he would consider raising fees after 2015.

However, as Willetts was asked the question again about the possibility of higher fees after 2015 as he was leaving the studio the minister replied “could be”.

One option known to be under consideration is the removal of the cap on tuition fees all together (the policy recommended by the 2010 Browne Review), currently set at £9,000, allowing universities to charge as much as they want.

It has since been reported that

the Labour party will lower the upper limit on tuition fees by £3,000 to a £6,000 limit.

This policy would cost £1.7bn to implement, which Labour argue would not cost anything due to the money already being spent on the recovering lost student loans.

A Labour Party spokesperson said in response to the reports: “Labour will set out our manifesto policy on tuition fees at the appropriate time – but Ed Miliband has set out a clear direction of travel on this.

“Under this government we’ve seen a trebling of tuition fees alongside a lack of action on widening participation and access. Now it has also become clear that the Government’s decision to raise tuition fees to £9,000 is unravelling and could actually cost the taxpayer more.”

A Conservative spokesperson said in response to the plan: “Ed Miliband is making an £800 million unfunded spending promise.

That will mean more borrowing and more taxes to pay for it - exactly what got us into a mess in the first place. It’s the same old Labour with no plan to secure Britain’s future.”

Keziah Walker KENT Union are holding a referendum on whether they will support a proposed marking boycott by the University and College Union (UCU).

The voting will take place from Thursday 3rd April until Thursday 10th April.

At the time of writing, the question that students will be asked has not been announced.

The UCU’s dispute is with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) over pay.

The UCU argue that the 1% pay rise they have been offered works out as a 13% pay cut since 2009.

They also highlight the large increases in Vice-Chancellor pay, saying that they have received, on average, a 5.1% pay increase.

A marking boycott by the UCU would take place from the 28th April if a deal is not reached.

UCU General Secretary

Sally Hunt previously said: “a marking boycott is the ultimate sanction, but an avoidable one if the employers would negotiate with us over pay.”

George Hopkin, a University of Kent student and a Union Councillor said: “It was great to hear that the board of trustees decided to give students the chance to vote on Kent Union’s stance towards the marking boycott.

I think it’s a terrific move for campus democracy, and one that will engage a student body that is seriously divided on the issue--especially with our degrees potentially at stake.”

The last Kent Union referendum to take place happened from 6th March until the 23th March over whether Kent Union should have a referendum to support industrial action.

The referendum failed to reach quoracy of 600 votes, with 82 voting for, 52 against and 6 abstentions.

THE Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) have released a study showing pupils from state schools were significantly more likely to get a 2:1 than their private school counterparts.

The study calls for universities to put more emphasis on the background of applicants when offering places.

130,000 students were tracked by the HEFCE from 2007, looking at schooling, background and ethnicity.

Of those who achieved ABB at A-level, around 69% of students from independent schools went on to gain 2:1 or above, compared with about 77% of students educated at state schools. Of those with a total of three Bs, 61% of independent pupils got a 2:1 or above compared with 70% of state

government had “got its maths wrong” with the introduction of the £9,000 tuition fee cap.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said that universities and other further education institutions were well funded.

They went on to say that “estimates can and will continue to change”.

school students.

Private schools defended themselves by highlighting the fact that a bigger share of its pupils overall got a 2:1 or above.

Overall, 67% of independent school pupils achieved a 2:1 or above, compared with 62.3% of state school and college pupils.

Since the results were published, the National Union of Teachers’ General Secretary, Christine Blower, has said: “The study shows when students are placed in a more equal environment without the advantages of private schooling such as smaller class sizes, state school pupils quickly catch up.”

The report concludes that “students who have remained in the state-school sector for the whole of their secondary education tend to do better in their degree studies than those... who attended an independent school for all or part of their secondary education.”

Dave Cocozza

parties.

Pearce reminded the room that voter registration for students remains particularly low, and that with NUS having seven million members they could sway the elections in favour of the student voice with every single member casting a vote for the candidate showing significant interest in the student movement.

The talk has come a few weeks prior to the NUS Leadership Elections, which sees the President and Vice-Presidents of NUS being elected at the NUS National Conference.

Part of this Conference looks to vote on policies to be adopted by the Union, some of which relate to the next General Election and seeks a ‘Fairer’ or ‘New Deal’ for students.

Students wishing to question the policies, view the manifestos of candidates and find further information are advised to search for “NUS National Conference Accountability” online, for which Kent Union has created an event on Facebook.

criticism of scottish uni fee plan

Matthew Gilley Newspaper Editor

PLANS for Scottish universities to continue charging students from the rest of the UK up to £9,000-a-year tuition fees in the event of independence have come under fire recently.

Currently, Scottish students and students from other EU countries pay no tuition fees, but since 2012/13, Scottish universities have been able to charge the higher fees.

Doubt has recently been cast on plans to continue that arrangement in an independent Scotland, with NUS Scotland calling them “morally wrong”.

Students from the EU receive free tuition because under EU law, Scotland cannot discriminate against other member states.

If Scotland were to become independent, students from the rest of the UK could fall under that law and a continuation of the status quo would almost certainly face a challenge under European law.

In February, a spokesman for the European Commission suggested the planned arrangement would constitute a “covert form of discrimination”.

Professor Pete Downes, representing Universities Scotland, called for clarification, saying, “We believe that a robust and legally-defensible objective justification needs to be in place, in the event of an independence vote, before the Act that would create an independent Scotland is enforced.”

A Scottish government spokeswoman said: “Our priority remains to protect places for Scots-domiciled students and ensure that access to education is based on ability, rather than the ability to pay.” It has been suggested that an independent Scotland

would have to charge either all students, including those from Scotland, or none at all.

Niamh Nic Shuibhne, Professor of European Law at the University of Edinburgh, pointed out the strength of the EU equality laws in question when writing for the Scottish Constitutional Forum. “All of this,” she said, “means that the Scottish government would face an extremely steep uphill battle to convince the EU institutions that it should be entitled to retain a practice involving systemic direct discrimination against one particular cohort of EU citizens.”

4

News

Comment 5

“it still hasn’t sunk in properly now to be honest. every so often i realise, ‘oh, i’m going to be union president next year’” Last month, University of Kent students voted in Tammy Naidoo as the new President of Kent Union. Will Shillibier had a chat with the President-elect about her experiences during results night, her future plans and summer plans...

Photo by Tina Stavrianou

So now the dust has settled, how do you feel as next year’s Union President?

It still hasn’t really sunk in to be honest. I guess it’s been a bit of an anti-climax because you win and then you have to go back to doing your dissertation!

It’s getting back to normal life for a bit. It’s also really exciting,.

We got an email the other day with dates for training over the summer and sorting everything out for next year. I’m really excited!

How was results night for you? We’ve all seen the pictures with the ticker tape and everything It was so nerve racking. All my friends were like “Tammy you look like you’re about to throw up”, and I think I nearly was to be honest.

I was so so petrified. When it happened I didn’t actually realise that it had. In that moment I wasn’t really sure what was going on. It happened and then I was ushered off the stage and I was like “ok... right...” I was a bit dazzled and in a state of shock.

How did you feel the morning after? Had it sunk in yet?

It still hadn’t really sunk in the morning after. The whole night I still couldn’t actually believe it.

It still hasn’t sunk in properly now to be honest. Every so often I realise, “Oh, I’m going to be Union President next year”.

Apart from that I think it’ll only

really sink in when I actually start and get going.

Have you had any meetings or chatted with the other VPs for next year? I know they’re all excited, same as you We went on CSRfm the other day, which was nice. And this coming Sunday we’re all going to the Woody’s pub quiz, a bit of Sabb bonding before next year.

They’re all really great and I’m looking forward to working with them. It’s going to be good.

but the one that I think is going to be the most challenging, so therefore the one that I will be most proud of will probably be working with the University on the deposit loan scheme.

What I want do is, essentially, when students have to put money down for their offcampus housing, a lot of the time it’s difficult to get the money together, especially if you don’t have support from your parents.

I want to work with the University to provide some sort of support for students, where the University provides the money that they need and then that gets paid back to the University when they’re finished with their letting.

Obviously we’re going to have to think about specifications, how we’re going to make sure the students do give the money back. Things like that.

It’s just so that students can go

to the university when they’re having financial difficulties instead of things like payday loans.

A lot of things I want to start work on over the summer.

Things like the Venue pass, the subsidised taxi fares and the gym membership, to try and get them in place for Freshers next year. I think that first years are the students who are going to benefit from them the most.

Have you got any plans for the summer?

I’ve found out that I only have a five-day break before I get started! I know I’m going to go back home to Italy and visit my parents, visit my dogs Pippin and Greg which will be nice.

It’ll be nice seeing them because the last time I saw them they were puppies and now they’ll be all grown up.

After campaigning and running for a Leadership position, would you recommend it to others?

The thing is that after campaigning was over, before the results came out I was sitting with my campaign manager and I was saying that even if I don’t win, it’s been such a great experience for me because before I chose to run, I wasn’t a very confident person.

Most of my friends were quite surprised that I chose to run.

The thing is that I’ve never been a fan of public speaking, never really liked speaking to large crowds.

And then over hustings, my public speaking has improved vastly. I’m a lot more confident going out and meeting and talking to new people who I don’t know.

Thanks for your time.

Francesca Brindle NO, I don’t think there is too much sex and violence in Game of Throne, because the content can be justified by the storyline and its historical context.

The books were based on a lot of European history, namely The War of the Roses of the 15th Century, drawing comparisons between the houses of Lancaster and Lannister and York and Stark. The ideology of the 15th Century is drastically different to the ideologies we hold now, but, in order to make the characters and storyline believable, it has to reflect the lifestyle as accurately as it can (not including of course some of the more fantastical elements of the series).

Critics have claimed that women in the programme are objectified by the overuse of nudity and sexual scenes.

I don’t agree.

Women are not only portrayed in these sexual roles, some of the main characters - and arguably some of the strongest characters - are women.

Daenerys and Lady Stark have integrity and passion and at points in the story are leading

the men. Cersei is arguably one of the strongest female characters because she has played the ‘game’ so well. That is, she is surviving the dog eat dog world of King’s Landing, and is referred to by Tywin Lannister as the daughter he wished were his son.

Prostitution is often heralded as the oldest profession and

in the 15th Century would have been some women’s only option. If the women were lucky enough to be part of Lord Baelish’s (Littlefinger) brothel we see here women are fed, treated with respect, given clothing and a home and are even taught how to get better at their job to earn more money.

Littlefinger recognises you have

to respect the women and give them the best if you expect them to provide their best for you, disproving some of the critics’ earlier claims.

If we compare Game of Thrones to any other TV programme depicting a similar point in history, such as The Borgias or The Tudors, we see similar amounts of sex and

violence.

I won’t be naïve and pretend the producers haven’t employed some of these techniques in order to create interest and drum up viewing figures but I don’t think they have included sex and violence out of context.

How else do you portray a battle scene in a TV drama centered around The War of the Roses without showing any violence?

If we compare Game of Thrones to any other genre of TV drama and violence such as Dexter or This is England ‘84, I would say it pales in comparison to the graphic and meticulous detail that goes into Dexter or the raw tragedy of watching rape and people beaten to death in the latter.

At the end of the day, Game of Thrones is rated 18, so as adults we should be allowed to make our own decisions about what we watch and what film or television we want made.

What’s more, as I have illustrated, the popular series uses sex and violence to maintain realism and ultimately the viewer’s engagement. I will definitely be watching series four.

budget 2014: why students should vote

Is there already a bit of harmony between you guys? Can you see bonds being formed?

Chad Greggor Website Editor I hate Russell Brand.

Wait, no, I love everything he’s done, the effeminate outfits, the obnoxious, perceptive humour, that scene in Get Him to the Greek where he strokes the furry wall.

I’ve even enjoyed some of his more recent rants: the surprisingly eloquent

We all got on quite well when we met up. I knew everyone apart from Nina [Mehmi] (VP Sports) before campaigning started.

With Tom Currie (VP Activities) I’ve done some work in my role as Keynes president to do with our duck pond, Megan Wells (VP Welfare) I’ve known because my housemate is part of the Kent Labour society, so I’ve met her. Same with Jack [Lay] (VP Education).

I didn’t really know any of them that well. I think we’ll all definitely get on!

Have you got a policy that you are looking forward to implementing? In a years time, when you look back, what is the policy you definitely want to have completed?

The thing is, my manifesto was made up of a lot of small policies,

game of thrones is not gratuitous

Photo by Tina Stavrianou

Photo by Tina Stavrianou

debunking of politics and politicians so identical they could be replaced by Ikea selfassembly cardboard cut-outs and no one would notice or care.

To contradict myself again: it is for this precise reason that I hate Russell Brand. I, like many other young(ish) members of my generation, look up to this detestable comedian.

His ideas are often scatty, seldom fully-formed, and yet

he always seems to strike a chord. I was horrified, then, to find him encouraging viewers of Newsnight not to vote during an interview with Jeremy Paxman.

He is effectively persuading an already politically-apathetic youth to be more apathetic, if that were even possible.

This is old news, but it is particularly relevant following George Osborne’s recent announcement of the 2014 Budget in parliament. In an outspoken attempt to distance young people from politics even further, Osborne rambled on about tax breaks for pensioners.

Some of the areas most distinctly engineered to attract the ‘grey-vote’ include reductions in pension tax, an above-inflation pension bond and, most bizarre of all, the halving of bingo duty.

If you could contain the urge to locate your dabber and rush down to your nearest Bingo establishment for just a second; I need to explain the significance of this.

My grievances are not with the elderly, of course, they’re lovely. It is with the politicians who pander to a greater portion of the electorate while young people get royally screwed time and time again (raised tuition fees, benefit cuts, the continuing problem of extortionate rent prices).

In 2010, according to Ipsos MORI stats, around 75% of over 55’s voted, 41% for Conservative. In contrast, a mere 44% of 18-24’s turned up, bedraggled and jaded in their baggy trousers or crop-tops, to apathetically place an ‘X’ next to the name of the next overlord/ party-leader.

Why, then, should the Chancellor of the Exchequer respond to a largely apathetic, mostly volatile generation of young people who don’t vote?

In spite of Russell Brand’s comments on UK Politics, we should vote.

Why shouldn’t we when there are issues that concern our age group so deeply? Just last

week the Guardian reported on the “fiscal time bomb” that is the student loan system. Most students today will reach the age when loans are writtenoff before they’ve ever repaid them, leaving a “huge potential black hole in the government’s budget figures,” according to Labour MP Adrian Bailey.

This will cause a significant problem for the future, but most of the politicians in government now will probably be dead by then, and we will, again, be saddled with the debt.

It is the ‘retrogressive planning’ which this party is guilty of, in other words, policies focused solely on solving the problems of the past, rather than planning for the future.

So, to repeat, young people should vote – en masse.

Not because there is much difference between the parties, or any chance of finding a political leader who does the right thing, but merely to have our age group on the record, to show that we matter.

6

Comment

Comment 7

madonna’s hairy armpit is fabulous Sophie Clark MADONNA recently posted a selfie on Instagram showing off her armpit hair with the caption “Long hair... Don’t care!!!!!!”, sparking comments of disgust and repulsion on social media.

But why are people so disgusted by female body hair?

Clearly there is a double standard going on here when it’s perfectly normal for men to have hairy armpits, legs,

faces, and even feet. Yet, when it comes to women, our society tells them that apart from on their heads, they should be pretty much hairless.

There are so many different products and treatments widely available allowing women to wax and shave their whole bodies. If women don’t adhere to this common practice, even if they don’t shave their legs, it’s seen as unattractive and disgusting, not only by men,

but by other women too. Why has it been decided that hair that grows naturally on women shouldn’t be there?

Of course, young girls are told that they should start shaving their legs and armpits not only by their peers, by also by celebrity culture. If you look at any red carpet event, every female celebrity’s legs are waxed and tanned, and women’s magazines teach them the best ways to achieve this

and, even worse, how to look good ‘for your man’.

Therefore, it is clearly important for celebrities like Madonna to break social norms, particularly in relation to body image, as they have such a huge influence over young girls and even grown women.

However, with the reactions that Madonna received from her selfie, it is clear that the public is set in its ways.

It can be said that growing their armpit hair long isn’t for everyone, but I do think it’s important to recognise that women shouldn’t feel like they have to make certain changes to their body just because everyone else does. The idea that

female body hair is disgusting contributes to the notion that there is a ‘perfect woman’ and that everyone should strive to be this way, when in reality it is impossible.

The concept of the perfect woman affects all females in their day to day lives, whether it’s wanting to grow out their armpit hair, or simply thinking they have to wear tights because they haven’t shaved their legs.

We should be congratulating Madonna for her bravery in challenging social norms, yet instead women are joining in with criticising her for doing something which could benefit them.

When women are held up to such high standards, I personally feel that Madonna is helping to change attitudes in a society where women have to go to such an effort just to be classed as ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’.

Although this progress may be slow, and people have certainly not been welcoming of Madonna’s actions, it is a step in the right direction.

should the ‘n’-word be banned?

Against Charlotte Smith I was recently introduced to a new word, and that word is ‘niglet’.

I came across the word, originally used as a racist term for an African American child, as a caption for an online image of Piglet from Winnie the Pooh.

This Piglet, however, was black instead of pink, and had an afro.

Whether you think this is harmless humour or deeply offensive racism, it is evidence of how the ‘N’-word has transformed from a word that was previously considered the ultimate taboo, into part of our everyday slang.

Perhaps it’s generational, but stuffy emphasis on political correctness seems to be a thing of the past; it’s not uncommon to call your friend a nigger or cunt all in the name of banter.

Having a racially diverse group

of friends myself, under the social custom of ‘harsh banter’ it seems you’re not really friends unless you can engage in casual racism with each other. Whether calling your black friend nigger or Chinese friend a chink, these words have been colloquialised to an insane degree.

Given its historical connotations I appreciate the argument that the ‘N’-word should not be said at all, but its integration into common day language is an irreversible change.

This said, I’m not defending the use of the word in every situation. It is vital to consider the context in which it is being used.

Differentiating between a tongue-in-cheek comment among friends and an abusive racial slur is something that is easily done; the line between the two is very clear. It is the intention behind the word that matters, not the word itself.

What is more outrageous is the insinuation that it is

unacceptable to use it as slang if you’re white.

The argument for complete non-use of the word stems from its racist origins and its counterproductivity concerning racial equality, and, whilst I am aware of the irony of arguing for the use of the word nigger in favour of racial equality, surely the key to equality lies in having the same standards for everyone, regardless of race.

If you’re black and can use it as casual slang, then a person of any other race has an equal right to use the word in the same way.

Perhaps we should even consider the possibility that making light of such a serious issue really is the best way forward, as reclaiming the use of the word as colloquial language has redefined its meaning, and to an extent eliminates it as a racist verbal weapon.

So, to those who look at the picture of ‘niglet’ and cringe and reel with anger, I suggest you get with the times, and maybe even find a sense of humour.

For Julia Mitchell LANGUAGE is a powerful tool, one that any competent user has long been able to manipulate at will. While in some situations words can be used to complement and enrich the lives of others, the ‘N’-word is an example that has historically possessed the capability to crush and undermine.

The word has the ability to injure or critically wound without the need of any physical action, although it can often still be associated with the racist violence of our past.

This is a word that human beings have well and truly abused.

For these reasons we as speakers are careful in our selection of language, and this word has long been deemed so inappropriate that it is rarely used in modern society. I find it disturbing that the ‘N’word, or ‘nigger’, is creeping

back into the vocabulary of many, particularly among black youths. How can it, when history has burdened the word with such horrific cases of abuse and injustice?

We’re at a point in time where it is acceptable for the word to be used in certain contexts and social groups.

When used amongst groups of black youths, it often takes on a positive meaning-and it’s the same with some genres of music.

The word has been reclaimed by those it was previously used to insult, but it’s not equal, or fair for that matter.

As a young white female I would never dream of using ‘the n word’ to refer to another individual.

It feels uncomfortable to type, let alone voice. To use it would be insulting, and it’s clear that the word still reeks of racism.

It’s a sensitive issue, but I strongly believe that this word deserves to rot hand in hand with the bitter history that it is associated with.

the west should condemn modi Layla Haidrani

This article is a response to a Comment piece in the previous InQuire.

NARENDRA Modi is one of the most divisive figures to walk the Indian political stage for quite some years. A proud Indian?

Certainly. But a saviour?

Certainly not.

As India goes to the polls next month to elect a new Prime

Minister, the NDA candidate is set for a landslide victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

To India, Modi is a protector.

Yet to others who look on the Western world, he is anything but.

The longest-serving chief minister of Gujarat, holding office since 2001 and successfully re-elected three times, Modi seems like an idea candidate to lead India. A powerful economist, credited

with turning the fortunes of Gujarat’s economies and encouraging the arrival of industrialists, who better to lead than Modi?

Sounds too good to be true?

You wouldn’t be far wrong. A staunch Hindu, Modi has been (and certainly not unfairly) critiqued as a rabid nationalist, not unlike the UK’s to Nigel Farage.

Modi is widely believed particularly by prominent Indian writer Arundhati Roy - to have allowed the Gujarat riots of 2002. After a trainburning incident, in which 59 Hindus were killed, riots broke out and subsequently 10,000 Muslims died and thousands were left homeless. His visa was revoked by the US because of “very serious doubts” that remain about his role in the riots. When a man is connected with the deaths of 10,000 people, would you praise him on a national platform? No. So you can imagine my shock when reading last issue’s article

in InQuire by Karam Gill, who whitewashed Modi to such an extent he was unrecognisable.

Gill shows no understanding of the wider implication in supporting and promoting a man with such a dubious history.

As a history student, I have consistently come across political leaders who have charmed the population with promises of a better future.

From Robespierre to Franco, scholars and historians have written extensively about warning signs before significant events such as the Holocaust, and recent students have inquired why people were unable to see the warning signs.

Modi’s blind eye and disregard of responsibility towards the annihilation of a segment of the population in his province is concerning. Repeated criticism of him for being a ‘hatemonger’ is not far off - someone who is entitled to protect the country yet has proven to, at best, neglect it, at worst do the

complete opposite, is something that the Western world should be paying attention to.

The partition of India divided colonial India into two separate states (one with a Muslim majority - Pakistan - and one largely Hindu - India) and the mass violence that ensued is still a contentious issue felt by the majority of the Hindu population. It is little wonder then that many are turning a blind eye, for fear of further uprisings.

Narendra Modi’s election would destroy the legacy of Gandhi’s ideals of non-violence and potentially mark the beginnings of religious discord.

Modi may be an exemplary economist, but the Western world must sit up and take notice before harmony in India is destroyed.

We must take responsibility and seek truth instead of accepting whitewashing history as fact. Just because it isn’t front-page news doesn’t mean it isn’t important.

crimean referendum: a sign of peace?

Caitlin Webb THE competition for the peninsula off Ukraine and Russia seems to have concluded with Russian victory after the 93% referendum result. With pro-Russian troops in Crimea

is it fair to label the tactics as bullying rather than a fair fight?

This all started in November last year when students set up a peaceful protest against the oppressive government of the millionaire, President Yanukovych, who refused to sign the European association but opted instead for a stronger

cooperation with Russia to combat the Ukrainian economic crisis.

Corruption isn’t unheard of in Ukraine. In this country there is no tradition of a state with only external leaders, until their independence in 1991

when the economic decline of the country started. With a corrupt judicial and policing system, the peaceful protests were met with water cannon, combat grenades, kidnapping and new dictatorship laws. The Berkut, the special anti-riot force (which was disbanded last month) used molotov cocktails

and titushky (street fighters).

Maidan, Kiev started the protests with a Christmas tree in the centre square. This is now a memorial site.

Whilst this was all happening in Kiev, Putin moved his troops into western Russia and into Crimea to protect the 53% native Russians. Funnily enough Kiev did not take this lightly, and now with the pro Russian President voted out the Parliament sees this as an act of war.

The troops in Crimea arguably coerced the vote for joining Russia, whilst Putin sees the referendum as the voice of the people. Disregarding how the political tactics of Putin can be seen as opportunistic intimidation, the referendum was indicative of negotiation.

Crimea has changed hands many times throughout history - a peaceful handover now is welcomed. For 200 years Russia has had a stronghold on the Crimean peninsula and, with the population of native Russian speakers, the referendum can be seen as a sign of peaceful times to come.

93% of the votes were in

favour of the Russian Union but those who were against the proceedings boycotted the vote because they didn’t see it as fair.

Only 58.3% of Crimeans are of Russian origins and it is easily argued that if the vote were to have been fair they may have lost the referendum.

Does this mean that these actions should be met by threats of sanction, war and redemption? Does Russia, after the vote, now have a right to raid all the Ukrainian naval bases?

What started off as a peaceful political protest in the centre square of the capital has now led to Russian, American and EU involvement. With EU threatening sanctions on those they’ve listed as culprits with travel bans and asset freezes, will Ukraine ever have a fair system without coercion or corruption?

The will of the Ukrainian people will never be respected with Russia taking its territory and pretending that it is their will.

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Editorial & Interview

things i’ve learned with inquire Matthew Gilley Newspaper Editor THIS is my last issue as InQuire Newspaper Editor. This is my final year at Uni as well; in fact, by the time you read this I will only have one week left of my ENTIRE DEGREE, but, well, let’s not talk about that… anyway, this all means that I will not be returning to the paper in any shape, form or guise.

So I thought I’d do something of a farewell article, but not the emotional kind (I’m saving that for the student media awards night when I’ll drink too much and cry on everyone), more of a tribute to my favourite not-quite-fortnightly student newspaper.

Here, without further ado, are things I’ve learned with InQuire.

1. How to run in Venue It’s not easy. There are drinks, stairs, slippery floors and strange looks to be avoided

everywhere, but it can be done.

I’ve found that the best tactic is to treat it as a sort of slalom course and go for accuracy rather than speed. The SMC is also a lot further away from the Venue stage than you’d think, and as a man who has never once been to the gym, my cardio is not the best. Unfortunately, sometimes when you’re covering sabb elections night (which is genuinely thrilling, by the way, honest) it just has to be

done.

2. Some people really like socks Last term, I got regular PR updates from Socked, “a sock subscription service for discerning gentleman” (their words, not mine). None of the information sent to me has appeared in the paper, UNTIL NOW. Amongst other things, they have taught me that most men’s socks are over three years old (no comment), and

Photo by Matthew Gilley

that socks top the list of strange things men wear in bed, a list which itself tops the list of strange lists compiled by PR workers. So, Mr Mark Hall, consider your job well done, and I humbly apologise for ignoring every single one of your emails.

3. Google Mail is a lifesaver Obviously not the whole thing, which is largely just your regular, if slick, email service. No, I specifically mean the function that says ‘you’ve mentioned attachments in your email, but have not attached anything, you puny human imbecile’. That function has prevented me from making an utter boob of myself many a time.

4. Timing is key Sometimes this means no waiting around in court for two hours before finding out that the case you were going to cover was dealt with half an hour before you arrived. Other times it means running to court first thing in the morning without any breakfast to avoid a repeat

of the last time you tried to cover a case. And generally, it means actually making a note on your phone of when meetings are, so that you aren’t reminded of them after they happened.

5. Trolleys can never be trusted Wheeling a small trolley loaded with several hundred copies of the newspaper from the SAC along the gravelly, lightly potholed road to Eliot may well end in disaster. The sort of disaster that involves those copies of the paper being covered in muddy puddle water and your face being covered in a sizeable amount of metaphorical egg.

Distribution manager Hetty claims this means men cannot be trusted (since, so far, only men have managed this impressive feat). I disagree, but have no evidence.

And so this is goodbye, InQuire. You’ve taught me a lot (valuable lessons, for sure), and may you cause others stress, embarrassment and a mild ache in the limbs for years to come.

as the feeling of panic tightens my chest Hetty Sieling Head of Distribution AS the painful feeling of panic tightens my chest, I realise that third year is getting to me after all. I am lucky on the deadline front, my exam and essays having timed themselves thoughtfully.

I have no dissertation (third years, please don’t murder me in my sleep) and my finances have somehow worked out.

I do not feel the same grumpiness as this time last year when I had three deadlines on the last day of term and nothing to eat but cheap cream cheese and thin, stamp-sized bread slices. But the malaise of third year has gripped me nonetheless. The tight chest, solid shoulders, inability to concentrate. I would almost rather be in last year’s predicament, with last year’s easy attitude and clear thinking, than in this outwardly calm yet inwardly lost person.

I understand I must explain myself, because otherwise I sound like an irrationally

unhappy person living a ‘happy life’. The problem is the uncertainty about next year and the slow realisation (and panic) that the stability I hold dear is about to be taken away and, unless one day I miraculously take the last remaining Traditional Employment Vacancy, it shall never again be mine.

Living life in little one-year chunks is over. That panic I felt about how to get through the summer holidays without going nutty with boredom has now been magnified with the threat, no matter how far off or how avoidable, of unemployment.

(Mind-numbing employment does not scare me as it gives one structure and creative inspiration, and it doesn’t have to be The End.) I must clarify: this feeling is fleeting and will not get to me. It is not depression. I have talked it through with other third years and I know it is a symptom of transition and realisation.

I also know the remedy: spend time with people who make you laugh and talk through any worries with people you trust. There are some positive

side-effects, too. I am generally risk-averse, and tend to avoid anything out of my comfort zone most of the time, with a few exceptions where I take lots of big risks all at once.

Like a lot of people, the dayto-day risks I avoid are the ones that involve the most social humiliation.

But with a mind-set defined by an uncertain future, the

fears take a back-burner and I find the courage to take risks I have wanted to take for a long time, the rewards of which may be massive. Or it could go the other way. But you don’t know when you take it, that’s the whole point.

All in all I think we third-years have to learn the positive spin on our temporary, strange view of the world. I need to use my

confusion about the future to do things I wouldn’t otherwise do, go for a gander down a few paths I wouldn’t normally have looked at twice.

You never know, I might find the Answer is actually waiting for me. I’m not going to take dangerous risks, but outside of my comfort zones I can let life take one or two decisions for me.

STAY WITH KENT/DISCOVER THE WORLD Remain part of a world-leading research university with a global outlook and discover its European postgraduate centres and specialist programmes.

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£1,000 or 10% discount for new Kent graduates £8.5m postgraduate scholarship fund Kent’s Graduate School’s Global Skills and researcher development Stay part of your clubs and societies at Canterbury and Medway

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Visit www.kent.ac.uk/pg or come to the Open Evening on Wednesday 27 November, 5-7pm

iq theatre reviews iq entertainment and culture pgs. 15, 19 & 20 domestic violence against men, a feminist take iq features pg. 13

IQ Features 11

international year abroad round-up Markéta Zapletalová

best and worst films & comment on noah iq culture pgs. 18 & 19 who is alasdair’s composite celebrity? iq entertainment pg. 17

Course: Anthropology Where are you from? Czech Republic Why did you choose to come to England? I wanted to improve my language skills. I also saw it as a great opportunity to meet new people, discover new places and become more independent. Later in life, I would like to work abroad so coming to England was the first step in that direction. I’ve been studying English for several years.

I spent last summer at a language school and also took private lessons. I think it would be impossible to come here with only basic knowledge of the language.

Was this your first time in England?

No, I had travelled around the UK before, visiting London specifically with relatives and on school trips.

However, it is very different living in a hotel to living in residence on my own.

So far, I have been fortunate in not having any big problems and people have always been nice to me, helping me if it was needed.

Culture shock: was there anything you found particularly hard or you absolutely loved? To be honest, I fell in love with Canterbury immediately.

It is such a lovely town. Small and full of possible activities to do in your free

time. It is also close to London so I can visit it quite often.

What will you take from this experience? Was it worthwhile? When I realised that I was going to spend a year abroad, it seemed like such a long time, and I was pretty worried about what could happen. After six months of living here, I can say that coming to England was the best decision I have ever made. I have made great friends, and had a lot of fun. I am trying to not think about leaving for good.

Everything that has happened to me here has influenced me in some way and I am so happy I decided to do a year abroad.

Menghao Fu (Hayden) Course: Law Where are you from? Shanghai, China Why did you choose to come to England? Is it shallow to say that one of the main reasons for coming was because I love British TV? I loved the cosmopolitan London that I saw on Sherlock, I liked the small town life that I saw on Miranda, and I wanted to see a magnificent house like the one on Downton Abbey! Those are all important elements of British culture and they were fascinating to me.

Was this your first time in England?

It is my first time here so it’s an

Anne Sophie Jensen

Picture by matthewbainbridge

Course: English Literature Where are you from? Denmark Why did you choose to come to England? As I was taking an undergraduate degree in English Literature back in Copenhagen, England seemed the obvious location for a term abroad.

Was this your first time in England?

I had been to England several times before. Fortunately, the English culture and food are very similar to what I am used to at home. However, living on campus wasn’t something that I had done before so I didn’t really know what to expect in advance.

Culture shock: was there anything you found particularly hard or you absolutely loved? I must admit I absolutely hated my first week here, not because people weren’t nice to me, but because I had never lived abroad before. Everything and everyone I knew back in Denmark seemed miles away all of a sudden. One thing that really horrified me was the lack of personal space in my flat. However, as I started to settle into my new surroundings, I began noticing all the positive sides of this country and the University. British people are more polite and friendly than Scandinavians

Another big plus about Kent Uni is the international diversity on campus.

Finally, I think I might have become totally addicted to English food, especially English breakfast.

What will you take from this experience? Was it worthwhile? I can already tell that my five months here have definitely been worth the while.

I have learnt so many things about myself, about other people and about the UK in particular. It hasn’t always been easy but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I have been well prepared for taking my MA degree in African Studies in September.

Abhinav Chatterjee Course: International Master’s in Actuarial Science Where are you from? India Why did you choose to come to England? I always find “Why choose to study in England” the toughest question to answer. The straightforward answer is that the Actuarial field and the Actuarial Society (FIA) in England is one of the most reputed in the world, so career wise, studying here will give me a huge boost. Apart from that, I came because I wanted to experience the English culture, see London and the beautiful countryside of England.

entirely new experience. And it’s been everything I hoped it would be.

I mean, I always pictured England (except for London) as a place with few commercial streets, beautiful houses with nice gardens, fields and sheep. Canterbury has all of that and it’s such a great place to live in.

Culture shock: was there anything you found particularly hard or you absolutely loved? I love the tea culture.

In comparison to China, the one here is more elegant and high-brow. A cup of tea and a newspaper may seem a little old-fashioned, but it really is a great way to relax. Meanwhile, the pub culture is very British, something I didn’t do back at home, and I love just having one drink (and only one) and talking to friends with the music or sport on in the background. Tea and pub seem so opposite but I enjoy a bit of both!

What will you take from this experience? Was it worthwhile? I am leaving in late April. The experience that I have gained of living alone in a foreign country will definitely help me some time in the future. Coming to England has been worthwhile. I have learnt so much from classes but all the other activities and the people that I have got to know make up the best memories of my stay.

Was this your first time in England?

This was my first time in England. So far the time spent here has been really amazing. Before coming here, so many people warned me about the terrible weather, that it rains all the time, but in reality, it didn’t turn out that bad.

Culture shock: was there anything you found particularly hard or you absolutely loved? Most people are relieved that it didn’t snow this year, but I was quite upset as I was really looking forward to it. Otherwise, I did have a fear that I would face racism here, but on the contrary, people were so friendly, polite and incredibly supportive. For example, when I’m waiting to cross the road, people will stop their car and wait for you to cross, unlike my country where that just doesn’t happen.

What will you take from this experience? Was it worthwhile? I’m on a two year Master’s course so I still have a year left. In my first year alone, I have made so many amazing life-long friends from different parts of the world. Thankfully, people here understand cultural differences and share their opinions with others in classrooms, kitchens, pubs and cafés.

I feel able to chat anywhere with anyone, which is a new experience for me.

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IQ Features

IQ Features 13

the rise of the sixth sense news in or just another glasshole? science Dave Cocozza

Meet Chris Dancy – he’s self-styled himself as “The Most Connected Man on Earth” and you’d be hard pressed to find him without around 10 different smart devices on him, including ‘wearable technology’. This is all because he wants to live in a world where he’s in a state of Zen-like calm, knowing that all around him, his daily life is being archived or monitored by an array of different devices – essentially, ‘life-logging’ his existence.

Photo by ChrisDancy

And, in the four years since he has ‘interconnected’ his life, he’s lost over 100lbs and the transformation has

happened all from being more ‘smart’ about his life, having his heart-rate continuously monitored, or his stress levels electronically managed.

But, do smart devices make smarter people? Hardly. If you walked into a GP’s surgery only to find a five year old child in an oversized cloak saying, “it’s okay, I will use this computer to diagnose you”, then I doubt you’d be convinced. Suddenly, it stops working.

That five year old’s source of Einsteinesque power vanishes in an instant, and you’re left being diagnosed by someone who only just yesterday figured out their wee is yellow. One can know everything, yet understand nothing.

Whilst a comical example, the same could be said about anyone whose life is connected to technology. Yes, Facebook and social media are wonderful, but the minute your phone or computer stop working, preventing you from telling everyone what shape your last dump was, a whole world of connectivity disappears and you’re left wondering what to do!

And that’s the problem with technology – society can rely too heavily upon it. I personally find we are becoming less inter-connected the more we are ‘connected’ to the real world happening around us. I only have to look around a class of 15 people to see half of them on their phones, and a few

on their laptops, with only a handful actually engaging with what the lecturer is doing. They’re too busy talking to their friends when they could actually go for a coffee or a drink with them after instead of focusing on the task at hand.

I admit I do it too, but with technology at our fingertips, and perhaps on our bodies in a few years, it’s a bad habit too hard to avoid.

Photo by ChrisDancy

Wearable technology is a great invention, but if you’re going to have 20 different devices on you to monitor your life, and neglect the value of a personal, real life connection, then frankly, there is only one piece of ‘wearable tech’ you need: a giant, prosthetic penis attached to your forehead, programmed to constantly talk vacuous self-obsessed nothingness.

inquire sudoku

Stefan Vassalos Sleep loss causes permanent cognitive damage in mice While it’s not always possible to avoid missing sleep, especially for the low-paid and overworked, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have produced only the latest evidence that chronic sleep loss could be far more damaging to mammalian functioning than we might like to believe.

In a study published on 18th March in the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists attempted to discover whether chronic sleep loss damages areas of the brain that keep us alert, and moreover whether that damage could be reversible.

As the team leader Professor Sigrid Veasey explained, there was already evidence to suggest that permanent damage might be caused by chronic lack of sleep. Cognitive functions such as attention span do not recover even after three days of sleep recuperation, but no study had yet shown that lack of sleep causes loss of brain cells.

In the study, mice were kept awake for periods of time equivalent to those humans experience when working long night shifts and after only three days, they had lost 25% of the neurons in the brain stem related to alertness and attention.

More research would be needed to determine whether humans suffer the same effects. If they do, there is hope.

Such a discovery, Dr Veasey believes, would lead to the development of a treatment.

Until then, perhaps it’s best to go to bed; binge-watching Hannibal can wait until tomorrow.

Photo by Navy_NADAP

recipe wrong actor for the character of the week Sam Howlett

Rosie Toy

Chocolate Brownies The main reason I love this recipe is because it requires fairly minimal effort and maximum enjoyment!

When I last made these brownies, after one day, I was left with a plate of crumbs and some very guiltylooking flatmates. They are also very handy for snacking on in between revision and essay writing.

Ingredients 125g butter or margarine 175g broken/chopped dark chocolate (although I’ve found milk chocolate works just as well) 225g caster sugar 1tsp vanilla extract 2 medium eggs, beaten 150g plain flour Icing sugar for dusting finish Instructions Set the oven to preheat at 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4 and grease a square cake tin (recommended around 8 inches), or line it with baking parchment to make washing up afterwards much easier.

Melt the chocolate and butter/ margarine in the microwave or in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

Transfer the mixture to a larger bowl, add sugar and vanilla extract, and then the eggs. Add the flour and fold it into the mixture.

Pour the mixture into the tin and place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, or 25 if you prefer your brownies on the slightly gooier side.

Once your wait is over, leave to cool.

Dust with icing sugar and cut into sizeable pieces.

Happy baking!

Photo by Nikita!

when we read books, we often visualise the characters as what actors we would like to play them in a hypothetical (but probably inevitable) adaptation of the book. Filmmakers must then put this into practice when transferring characters from page to screen, and more often than not they get it spot on. Can you picture anyone other than Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, or Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter? But sometimes, they get it wrong, and either cast an actor simply based on their big name or their physical resemblance. Here are a few examples of when Hollywood got it oh so wrong.

Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher in Jack Reacher Now don’t get me wrong, I really

Photo by ian_fromblighty

enjoyed this adaptation of Lee Child’s hugely popular Jack Reacher novel, and Tom Cruise actually has the perfect personality for Reacher: strong willed, sometimes cocky, the kind of action hero you actually believe could exist in the real world. But here’s the problem.

Jack Reacher is north of 6 foot high and 50 inches wide, and is described as a cross between Superman and a gorilla.

Tom Cruise is 5’7”. I know that the acting talent and personality is more important than physical appearance, but perhaps an actor such as Hugh Jackman or Aaron Eckhart may have been more satisfying for the book’s diehard fans.

Robert De Niro as The Creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein So many things are wrong with Kenneth Branagh’s clunky adaptation of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece, but the biggest misstep is casting heavyweight American actor Robert De Niro as the monster. Now, De Niro may be one the greatest actors of our lifetime, and has proven his versatility as an actor many times before, but some things are just wrong. De Niro hams his way through the film, desperately trying to lose his New York twang (but failing) and adopting an awkward lisp. Perhaps

this is the reason why Boris Karloff’s creature never said a word. Read the book instead.

Keanu Reeves as John Constantine in Constantine In the Hellblazer comics, on which this film is based, Constantine is a blonde, wry Liverpudlian supernatural detective with a cynical outlook and a hardboiled attitude. Why then was the near robotic dark-haired Keanu Reeves cast? Who knows, but there’s a TV version coming soon with a new actor. Hopefully we will see the Constantine the world deserves, and not this emotionless blank faced version.

Photo by annainaustin

feminism includes men too Jessica Mills

When I tell people I’m a feminist, more often than not the immediate assumption is that I am a ‘man-hater’.

Obviously, this isn’t true in the slightest, which is why I’m glad The Guardian’s article on male domestic abuse has had so much attention because it gives me a chance to talk about men and feminism.

As the article stated, increasing numbers of male victims are coming forward each year to report their partner’s abuse, but many still feel they can’t due to fears of being belittled, teased or simply that no one will believe them. Feminism should be a fight for gender equality. In order to do this successfully, men have to be educated and involved. Feminism isn’t equal unless it’s inclusive, and I mean completely inclusive: women of every race and religion, LGBTQ women and men.

Most feminists – and I do say ‘most’ not ‘all’ – recognise that in today’s hyper masculine society, men have an incredibly unrealistic expectation of manliness thrust upon them and this is problematic. In situations in which a man is a victim of domestic abuse, or indeed rape, this view is exceptionally

hindering to any kind of recovery on the victim’s part. We live in a society where a ‘girl’ is one of the most insulting things you can call a man, so how is one supposed to admit to being a victim of domestic abuse from female partners

Picture by matthewbainbridge

when all they will receive is ridicule, cruelty and a belief that it was their fault for not being ‘manly enough’?

Feminism is fighting to change this, and herein lies what many men don’t

realise: we’re fighting for them as well.

Getting rid of the negative connotations attached to being a woman benefits both genders. Women should no longer be seen as inferior to men, and in order to achieve this, at least some of the solution lies in combatting the intense focus on masculinity within society.

Of course, a lot has to change before this becomes a reality. More help centres need to be provided for both men and wome, and they need to provide safe confidential support in which the victim doesn’t feel blamed in any way.

Furthermore, education on the topic of domestic abuse and rape needs to be seriously improved. People need to be taught from a young age the importance of consent, understanding boundaries, that in situations such as abuse, it can swing both ways, and the outcome is never the victim’s fault, male or female.

Feminism isn’t about demeaning men; it’s about education, about opening people’s eyes to what the real problems are and tackling them together. I will always fight for people’s rights, whatever gender, race or sexuality they are, and that’s what feminism is really about.

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IQ Features

IQ Entertainment 15

“although i was scribbling earlier, i was a bit of a late developer.”

On Wednesday 26th March, Alan Hollinghurst, Man Booker Prize Winner, visited campus to give a short talk and reading from his novels during an evening hosted by the Creative Writing Department. InQuire was able to chat with him briefly following the event.

Emma Shelton Newspaper Features Editor

Photo by Nick Lansley

Where did you go to University and what did you study?

I went to Maudlin college Oxford, where I read English in 1972. I had a wonderful tutor called John Fuller, who was a poet and novelist, and he was very encouraging of writing. We had a very good poetry society in the college which met perhaps twice a term, where we all submitted poems anonymously

in advance and they were discussed. We had great fun. There was quite a good culture of encouraging writing. I stayed on there and did a second degree.

Eventually, I broke away to London to seek my fortune.

So when you went to Uni, did you know that you had this poet/ author career in mind?

I’m not sure I thought I would ever make a career of it but it was something I’d always done. I wrote poetry a great deal at school. Being at a boys boarding school in the late 1960s, which was quite a time of disaffection, writing completely incomprehensible poems was a very cool thing to do, so I got into that. It would be very TS Eliot, you know the idea of writing very anguished and fragmentary poems. I once gained a mysterious interesting kudos in doing that.

I think I thought I would be a teacher or something, I didn’t ever imagine that I would be or could be a professional writer, and I didn’t until I was forty.

What set you off on that career? What made you take that decision?

I suppose continuing writing and getting poems published here and there, starting and abandoning novels… The novel clearly had a hold on me, and I thought it was the real test, the thing you should do. I think in my case, it was partly the gay thing [Hollinghurst won the Man Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty, the first openly gay novel to win the prize].

When I was a graduate student at Oxford, I did a thesis about gay writers who hadn’t been able to write openly about their sexuality, like EM Forster, and wondering what the consequences of this kind of repression were. It was obviously very frustrating for them but actually stimulates all sorts of other cryptic feelings. It’s a rather fascinating area. Now it’s so common place to talk about writers like Forster being gay but then no one had really said it.

I think I had a sense I wanted to write what was more or less a gay novel, but obviously didn’t know how to do it and I had to pluck up my courage. It took quite a long while for that to emerge as being what I was going to do. Everyone has their own tempo. Although I was scribbling earlier, I was a bit of a late

developer. So my first novel came out when I was 34, which is hopelessly late.

You said it takes a long time to get writing. How do you find the motivation or the inspiration to get started again?

It just happens, I can’t describe it really. Towards the end of writing a book I feel this little prickle of ideas which is slowly going to be another book. I never think next time, “Oh I’m going to write a book about X”. I just find over a period of a year or more, I’ve got this material and the connections which suggest themselves.

There is something oddly passive about it actually, it sort of comes to me, and then I work out what I’ve got.

Then you do have to take more active constructive decisions about how you’re going to use and shape this material. It is hard to describe but I can just sense there is something out there, or in here, slowly taking shape.

It must be very different if you write detective stories where you would start developing an extremely clever plot and then fill it in. But I laboriously do things the other way round.

should swearing be taught at school?

Georgia Dawson

Should swearing be taught in schools?

Your knee-jerk reaction would probably be a no, but some teachers are trying a different approach. These eclectic educators believe that by exposing children to swearing at an early age, the words will lose their taboo charm, preventing further profanities in adolescence. Let’s look at some examples.

Year seven pupils at Shafton Advanced Learning Center were given a worksheet called ‘Acceptable or Not?’ This sheet listed several situations which included using the C-word, telling your friends to fuck off and shouting fuck off across a public area. The new scheme is designed to teach children moderation of language and by robbing swearing of its forbidden appeal will make it appear less ‘cool’ to impressionable young minds.

In another case, a series of schools across Cromwell are explaining the meaning of explicit swear words in

graphic detail. Pupils aged 11-16 were asked to write down every swear word they knew. Teachers then described what each word or phrase meant with as vivid language as possible, hoping the shock factor would discourage youngsters from using swear words in the future. This is all endorsed under the Government’s Personal, Social and Health Education module. I think it’s necessary to try extreme new lesson plans like this one, even if only as a pilot, otherwise we would never improve on our current system.

Photo by vicki wolkins

America is also trying out some radical approaches to reduce swearing.

For instance, a teacher at West Linn Middle School wrote profanities on the classroom board and had students shout them out. According to school authorities, the goal of this lesson was to rob profanity of its mystique.

However, parents were outraged, with one spokesperson claiming “our children go to school to gain an education, not qualifications in swear words. Most kids had no idea what the words meant and were forced to grow up faster than their parents wanted.

Heads should roll for this”. Indeed, several critics argue these methods will merely give pupils a wider vocabulary of swear words, but surely they would learn these from their peers anyway?

Just recently, a controversial change in UK school rules makes it permissible for students to swear in class. First proposed by Education Secretary Michael Gove in order to de-stigmatise children with Tourette’s syndrome, this new scheme has been piloted in Lancaster schools and will be rolled out nationwide after Easter.

I for one am all for it. A child should never be singled out for a neurological condition they can’t control, whether it produces swearing or not. However, some teachers have voiced concerns that children may start pretending to have the disease, just to allow them to shout and swear in the classroom. In such a situation though, you think it would be obvious which children are faking by singling out the ones who can’t take the disease seriously.

Even swearing in young adult literature and school books has come under fire. “The Kite Runner,” “To Kill A Mockingbird,” “The Grapes of Wrath” and the “Twilight” series have all been banned at many schools across the UK, although I have to say, I’m not all that broken up about that last one.

In all seriousness, however, swearing is a part of life. It’s going to come up in books, just like it’s going to come up in the world around us. Swearing in class may be a bit too far, but at least the government is removing the horrendous taboo that comes with swearing.

events

the editors’ playlist

“if you haven’t seen hair yet... see it!”

For the final issue of the 2013/2014 committee, we thought it would be fitting to share the Editors favourite tunes in one ultimate playlist. Prepare yourself for the weirdest combination of music in history.

For the full playlist on Spotify follow the QR code below The Modern Leper - Frightened Rabbit Matt Gilley - Newspaper Editor Chance the Rapper - James Blake Chad Greggor -Website Editor Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova Emily Adams - Newspaper Entertainment Jenny Was a Friend of Mine - The Killers Caroline Wadham - Website Entertainment Born This Way - Lady Gaga Tom Hagues - Website Features Fader - The Temper Trap Emma Shelton - Newspaper Features Wonderful Life - Hurts Rebekah Chilvers - Newspaper Culture Afterglow - Wilkinson Natalie Turco-Williams Website Culture It’s Time - Imagine Dragons Chris Heron - Newspaper News Along the Road - Radical Face Simon Terhaag - Website News Leaving on a Jet Plane - Frank Sinatra Dan English - Newspaper/ Website Sport Mine - Beyonce Ginny Sanderson - Newspaper Comment New York State of Mind - Nas Tom Vine - Website Comment

Verity Tan Photography

Jessica Mills

Director Alick Draper wasn’t lying when he told me that the UKC Musical Theatre Society’s production of HAIR would be energetic. From start to finish, the two hour production was a whirlwind of uplifting musical numbers, quirky and memorable characters, and above all, energy. The entire cast were clearly having the time of their lives, and it made for an even more enjoyable performance.

I went into this having never seen a production of HAIR before, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, especially considering I’d never been a huge fan of musicals. But this production was certainly not your typical musical and I loved every second of it.

It follows the story of a hippie tribe in America in the 1960s, and throughout, we’re introduced to a number of rather fascinating characters. Claude’s story,

in particular, is very important. Played

by Duncan Mitchell, Claude is a young teenager whose parents force him to make a decision between going to war or staying with his tribe. Certainly in the second half, the reality of his situation begins to sink in and the performance takes a slightly darker turn. When I spoke to Duncan he said it was very much a case of head vs heart.

The audience have to make their own decisions about how they feel about it and what the right choice should be.

Despite the serious political undertones, many of the major issues are tackled with light-heartedness and humour, especially by the character of Berger (Luke Harding). He is the outrageous and crazy rebel of the group, incredibly arrogant but also loveable.

His extravagant personality provides a hilarious narrative of arrogance and pure silliness.

Berger’s three-way relationship with Claude and Sheila (Anna Hallas Smith) personifies the typical hippie ideal of free love. Sheila’s character is perhaps the most relatable, especially for a student audience. As a university student protesting against the war along with the tribe, she is “determined and passionate”.

When I asked director Alick why he

chose to do HAIR now, he gave me a variety of reasons. The continuing conflict in the middle-east and the current situation in Crimea means HAIR’s strong anti-Vietnam war ethos remains incredibly relevant. Alick himself has seen the production four times and, coupled with the success and enjoyment of RENT last year, wanted to do a show which was two hours of pure fun. He emphasised the importance that everyone gets, and the aim was for the entire cast to enjoy themselves, both in rehearsals and on stage.

I loved this production, and was genuinely disappointed I couldn’t see it all three nights. There was brilliant acting, singing, dancing and all-round commitment from every cast member, and I was crying with laughter for more than half of the production. For anyone who hasn’t seen any production of HAIR yet, see it. You won’t be disappointed.

Verity Tan Photography

evita at the marlowe: the return of a classic

Emily Bright

As the curtain of the Marlowe Theatre rises, the audience hush and are hit with a scene of misery, as the Argentine people learn of the death of their beloved Evita. From this point, Tim Rice’s lyrics and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music are combined to recount the historic rise of a struggling actress to a national idol. And despite its age, directors Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright retell it to great acclaim.

The real Eva Perón came from humble beginnings to seemingly steal the hearts of Argentina’s working class.

It is the complexity of her character and the questionable means through which she gained her political status that makes her a stage-worthy protagonist. Rice and Lloyd Webber have created a heroine whose likeability is questionable, yet whose depth is fascinating.

It is undeniable that leading lady Madalena Alberto had substantial shoes to fill, accepting a role already tackled by such megastars as Madonna and Patti Lupone. Yet Alberto takes to the stage with ease, appearing equally comfortable in her portrayal of Eva as a manipulating seducer and as a woman

dying of cancer. Such emotional range is epitomised through the musical’s most iconic scene, as Eva addresses her people, singing the powerful notes of Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, the audience gets a first sense of her true vulnerability.

Madalena Alberto and Marti Pellow

Marti Pellow steps up as Alberto’s accompanying lead, becoming both narrator and voice of the Argentine people through the character Che. The pop-artist turned musical theatre star fills his role as bitter activist well, making tangible the anger and rebellion. Such quality of delivery arguably makes up for a vocal strength which at times doesn’t match that of his co-stars.

The orchestra itself was flawless, doing justice to the diverse styles of Lloyd Webber’s big numbers. The Latin twang of songs such as On This Night of a Thousand Stars and Buenos Aires epitomises the musical’s backdrop through Argentine flare. Yet such dance numbers are contrasted with simplistic melodies. For instance, Sarah McNicholas, who plays the mistress of Eva’s husband, performed an emotive solo of Another Suitcase in Another Hall which showed skill that could challenge the leading roles.

As the musical came to an end and the actors returned to the stage to take their bows, the audience cheered with an energy which paid final testament to the quality of performance. A particular emphasis in applause was given to Mark Heenehan’s powerful portrayal of Argentinian President Perón and Nic Gibney’s often comical take on Magaldi.

Yet the entire audience was on their feet as Alberto returned to the stage, showing the leading lady to have fully met the demands of her challenging role. The production contributed effectively to the classic timelessness of Evita, creating a memorable performance well worth seeing.

16

IQ Entertainment

IQ Entertainment 17

radio & misc

music & tv albums on the go

Amy Bliss

Night Time, My Time - Sky Ferreira The long awaited ‘will it won’t it happen’ album has finally arrived and it’s worth the wait. This album would be the product of Katy Perry and Taylor Momsen taking a girl’s holiday - a mixture of pop punk sound and selfdeprecating, bitter-sweet lyrics that sound as if they were ripped straight from her very intense diary. Night Time, My Time is an unmistakable girl grunge fusion with pop.

The Coathangers Suck My Shirt Girl’s thrashing around with their instruments and growling vocals. The Coathanger’s latest offering to the altar of punk is one that surpasses all their previous efforts. Still as aggressive and raw as before, Suck My Shirt shows growth in its lyrics. The girls aren’t just screaming for the sake of it anymore, they have something to say. This mix of destructive music and abrupt opinions proves that The Coathangers are still a force to be reckoned with.

For more of Amy’s top album picks this week, go to inquirelive.co.uk/entertainment

bbc kent introduces tom williams and the boat

Jacob Cunningham

BBC Kent Introducing celebrated its

sixth birthday in style on Sunday 23rd March, bringing together five acts to the Marlowe Studio for a night of diverse yet consistently impressive music.

Beginning the night was Ophelia, a mixed cocktail of Eminem, Scroobius Pip and the feminist vibes of Holly McNish. She’s clearly confident as half way through her set she pulled off a costume change. Too much, too early?

Maybe not in this case.

Up next was Get Inuit, four young chaps making dirty pop music. Clearly Get Inuit had taken lessons from Spinal Tap and really turned it up to 11. For some highlight songs this tactic worked, and it was clear these guys have got some talent, but sadly for some other songs this showed that volume doesn’t always disguise unoriginality.

Third on the bill was Will Joseph Cook, a 16 year-old who couldn’t stay for the whole night because he had school the next day. Clearly plucked from the same branches as Jeff Buckley and James Blake, Will’s voice stunned the room into silence (sounding as much like someone on The Voice); it was smooth as silk. He just needs to find what sound to put behind the voice - some tracks funk, some disco,

ktv drama first draft triumphs Tom Turner

First Draft was not the drama I

thought I would make. Every aspiring filmmaker thinks they are the next Tarantino or Scorsese, imagining a career full of violence and profanity, but somehow my first dramatic production for KTV was a light-hearted romantic comedy about a boy who would rather fall in love than write his essay. But if writing awkward social encounters and deep insecurities is my forte, so be it. As for the accusations that some of the script was autobiographical? No comment.

The filmmaking process was equally rewarding and stressful. There were moments during production when I would laugh manically as I remembered how I had naively predicted First Draft would be finished before Christmas, and then weep at the thought of

the work still to go. However, I have to thank my fantastic cast and crew, who were immeasurably patient with me as production was hindered by delays and my general incompetence.

Whenever I was feeling pessimistic my cast would raise my spirits with performances so perfect they forced me to up my game as a director.

If I seem unbearably self-deprecating, it’s only because the alternative is blushing. Since its release, First Draft has received more praise than I know how to handle. I’m so grateful for everyone who took the time to watch and share a student made drama.

As for the future? The script for episode two of First Draft is receiving a final polish, and I have several other projects that I’m hopeful will begin development soon. Meanwhile, I look forward to the release of other KTV dramas such as sci-fi Encryption or road movie Beat to Windward. KTV is an incredible platform for developing student talent and I can’t wait to be insanely jealous of my peer’s successes.

If you want to see what all the fuss is about, head to the KTV’s YouTube channel and look for First Draft.

Tom Williams and the Boat

some standard indie pop maybe. Once he’s found that sound, there will be no stopping him.

The penultimate act of the night was Shy Nature, a band that would be excellent if The Strokes had never happened. But, people like The Strokes and people like people that sound like The Strokes, so who am I to judge.

Headline act Tom Williams and the Boat, an indie rock group, took to the stage at around 9pm, playing for an hour. Their set was filled with old crowd pleasers, as well as giving a sneak peak of tracks from their forthcoming album out in May. I managed to speak to Tom after the show about the gig and the new album “The gig was great. The venue was beautiful. It was a long old day, and we ended up going on stage about 10 hours

after we had originally loaded in, but once we started something clicked. The sound was great, the stage was big and the crowd were up for hearing some new songs they’d never heard before.

We made a right racket and left with some serious smiles on our faces.”

Heralding from Tunbridge Wells, I asked how big a part Kent has had in the bands development over the years.

“It was BBC Kent Introducing that gave us our first radio play which subsequently led to national airplay on Radio 1 and us playing Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Glastonbury and Latitude. Our HQ is also in Kent, near Chiddingstone, and we rehearse in a huge brewery which potentially couldn’t be more Kentish.”

The band played a lot of new stuff, but even though the crowd didn’t know the songs, there was clearly a great vibe going on. So when can we hear those new tracks?

“If people want to our hear songs off the new record, the best bet would be to pre-order it over at our Pledge Music page.”

Overall, the night was a great success.

Some new bands got some new fans, and some old fans got some new material to mull over. As my housemate said “Yeah, definitely worth £8”.

ktv encryption drama update

Arnie Voysey

Production on the first episode of the drama Encryption has been very successful and enjoyable. As a director, I am incredibly fortunate to have an amazing cast and crew who are making the story of Sam Cross, an obsessive coding genius, come to life and shooting for the drama has now passed the halfway marker.

Here’s some insight into the production of a television drama: On set at every shoot are the Producer/Assistant Director Georgia Moir and the Production Manager Mark Simmonite who do a fantastic job of leading both the actors and the crew.

Before each shoot, the entire team meet up to discuss the list of shots and then Georgia works closely with the actors as they rehearse. Additionally, Mark organises the large team of amazing crew members.

The average shoot lasts for around three to four hours with the longest being an eight hour shoot for the largest and most complex sequence in the drama. Shooting for the production will be completed in the first few weeks of April and then the post-production

the ultimate artist according to alasdair

Alasdair Lawrence Chairman

Some people are the best at what they do in the world. But a great singer is not guaranteed to be a great dancer or actor. What if there were some way to combine the stellar qualities of one or more of our greatest artists to create a super-celebrity? Below are just a few of the names I would throw into the mix.

The acting chops of Daniel DayLewis If you haven’t seen Lincoln, There Will Be Blood or Gangs of New York already, I urge you to watch them all back to back and appreciate that Butcher Bill, Mr. Plainview and Lincoln himself are played by the same person - an Englishman, no less, with an impeccable talent for accents, who doesn’t drop character, even off-set. For Butcher Bill he mastered an extinct 19th Century New York accent and at one point tapped his character’s ‘glass eye’ with a real knife. All that stood between his eye and the razor tip of the blade was a contact lens. This is a man clearly committed to acting.

The voice of Gregory Peck Go to YouTube right now and watch Gregory Peck’s performance as Atticus Finch in the courtroom scenes of To Kill a Mockingbird. If I was going to create a celebrity so talented and famous that I’d never stop hearing about him in interviews and films, I’d want him to have a voice I’d never grow tired of, and

A match made in heaven Gregrory Peck, Daniel Day-Lewis and Edith Piaf

the deep, charming, intense drawl of Mr. Peck would suit me just fine.

The singing skills of Ivan Rebroff and Edith Piath Born Hans-Rolf Rippert, Ivan at some point in his life decided he was Russian and spent his life walking around

dressed like a Cossack, singing all the famous, old Russian folk songs. At 6’5” he cut an impressive figure but what was more impressive was his singing range - four and a half octaves. That’s three quarters of a Grand Piano. In one song he could swing from so high he broke mirrors and made dogs whine to so low the ground shook.

Of course, if I was willing to introduce the world to a hermaphrodite superhuman, my next choice for singing skills would be Edith Piaf. This one needs no justification - if you haven’t heard Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien or Sous le Ciel de Paris then you’re either deaf, living under a rock, or both. Edith Piaf is one of the greatest voices of the 20th century and will remain one of the greatest for centuries more.

The artistry of Bob Ross If you’re like me, you didn’t grow up in the USA in the 1980s, so you’re probably unaware of Bob Ross outside of a Family Guy reference. Ross was a painter who ran a series called The Joy of Painting and painted pretty, pleasant rural images. What made Ross a joy wasn’t just his paintings but his philosophy. How can you hate a man who said, in the calmest voice possible, “any way you want it to be, that’s just right” and “we don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents”. His world is so sweet, calm and peaceful that it fills you with tranquil joy. We need more people like Bob Ross in the world.

csrfm has their say on the future of radio Boosh, Mitchell and Webb, and The

Director Arnie Voysey Photo by Ben Gregory-Ring

will take several months. Overall, it has been an amazing experience and I am so grateful to have such an amazing and passionate team.

I thoroughly enjoy being the director as I am able to work with an amazing group of hard working and talented cast and crew whose passion for the production motivate me at every shoot. On set, I work with all the crew members but I always want them to have control over their own equipment and tasks as Encryption is a group effort and I have an amazing team of crew.

For more information visit the website encryptiondrama.wordpress.com or like the Facebook page Encryption TV Drama.

John Harris

In a world where you can hold your entire music collection in a ‘cloud’ and watch a HD film on your commute, it’s fair to say that the wireless in the corner of the room can seem somewhat old hat. So the question “What is future of radio?” is valid and vital.

At this point I think it’s only fair to point out my vested interest; I work for the student radio station here at Kent, CSRFM, hosting a show and sitting on their committee, so I’m duty bound to say the future is strong. That being said, I do genuinely believe that and I come armed with statistical evidence.

In February of this year, British radio listening figures were at the highest they’ve ever been since records began, with over 48 million people tuning

in to the audio medium. That means that over three quarters of the British population still find the time to listen to the radio on a weekly basis. In the past week Chris Evans’ Radio 2 Breakfast Show garnered more listeners than any television show on the terrestrial small screen, and he manages that feat every single weekday.

So, how has radio gone from strength to strength? With DAB and internet radio, the station options are genuinely endless and truly international, meaning that if you want to listen to two men from Australia host a live breakfast show while you eat your dinner, you can just tune in to Triple J, which is pretty disorientating. Also, due to generally lower budgets, radio is a place to test and fine tune panel shows, drama and comedy. Little Britain, The Mighty

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy were all adapted for radio before finding themselves on television.

The future of radio, however, seems to lie in coupling audio with visual.

Most interviews and games on radio are in some way visualised, whether it be simple photos on Twitter, or live video streamed chats with A-list celebrities.

Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 interview with Kanye West has had nearly two million views, and well over twelve million YouTubers have seen Chris Stark from Scott Mills’ show making a fool of himself for the entertainment of Mila Kunis. These, however, are merely ways in which radio tries to stay one step ahead. In a world where people work in offices, drive vehicles for a living and generally need audio distraction on a day-to-day basis, there will always be a need for radio to act as a companion and to entertain.

listen, watch, use and follow

Emily Adams Newspaper Entertainment Editor Listen: #Selfie by The Chainsmokers Somewhere, in some hip and happening place, this duo of DJs are sitting back, counting their dollar and laughing, mocking (and secretly thanking) every selfie-taker out there for helping create this crazily catchy anthem. I love a good selfie. Come on, we all do. But even more than that, I love that The Chainsmokers are making fun of it. I’m just going to listen to it again. But first #LetMeTakeASelfie Watch: Kristen Bell’s Sloth Meltdown It’s the Ellen Degeneres Show, it’s Kristen Bell and it’s her hysterical obsession with sloths. She loves sloths.

No, she worships sloths. Well, this is what happened when she came face to face with one. Go to YouTube, type that in and don’t say a word for the next 3 minutes and 42 seconds of sloth mania. Trust me on this. And once you’ve become fully acquainted with it, take a look at the auto-tuned version.

Use: LEGO Movie The app to end all apps is here. Those multicoloured plastic blocks awkwardly waddling across the cinema screen was the most exciting thing I’ve seen in the last 12 months (I’m not one of those cool, indie, artsy editors… I like films about plastic blocks). This app makes dreams come true, letting you create your own LEGO movie with your own figurines.

How cool is that?! Mum, send me my LEGO! Now! Who needs a degree anyway?

Follow: @EmrgencyKittens “Emergency! I need cheerin- awwww a kitten! I feel so much better now.”

Yep, that’s right, that’s how it works.

Emrgency Kittens is just pictures of kittens and oh so ca-ute ickle puddy cats, there for whenever you need some cheering up. I retweet them everywhere so life can be full of cute bundles of fluff... and rainbows and sunshine and unicorns and cuddles.

(N.B my life comes with a genuine fear that one day I’ll become that crazy cat lady.)

18

IQ Culture

that can’t be true...

I love a good Guinness World Record. When you think about world records, you tend to think about the tallest man or the person with the longest fingernails, but trust me, there’s so much more to choose from.

Here are a few which couldn’t really be further from the norm.

1. The world’s largest biceps belong to Mostafa Ismail from Egypt and were measured for ‘left arm flexed’ at 25 inches.

2. The oldest gymnast is Johanna Quaas, who is aged 86 and a regular competitor in the amateur competition LandesSeniorenspiele in Germany.

3. The tallest mohican measures 113.5cm and belongs to Kazuhiro Watanabe from Japan.

4. The tallest living dog is a Great Dane called Zeus from the USA, who measured 1.118m.

5. The shortest bull is Archie, who measured 76.2cm and is from Northern Ireland.

6. The heaviest rideable bicycle weighs 750kg and was built by Wouter van den Bosch from the Netherlands.

7. The largest collection of Hello Kitty memorabilia belongs to Asako Kanda from Japan, who has 4,519 different Hello Kitty items.

8. The most balls juggled is 11 and was attained by Alex Barron from the UK, who managed 23 consecutive catches.

9. The most spoons on a human body world record belongs to Etibar Elchiyev, who had 50 metal spoons magnetised to himself.

10. Jin Songhao from China has the world record for the longest time spent in direct full body contact with snow - he spent 46 minutes and 7 seconds in there.

There’s snow reason for anyone to do that to themselves - not even for a Guinness World Record!

IQ Culture

noah film: should art and religion be separ ate entities?

Emma Brazell

Darren Aronofsky is a man known for taking risks. The director of Black Swan was always going to be one who laughed in the face of controversy. Before you start worrying, this isn’t an article about Black Swan 2: Return of the SelfMutilating Ballerina. Aronofsky’s new film, simply titled Noah, portrays the well-known story of the patriarch Noah, who built an ark upon receiving an order to do so from God. Contrary to first impressions, the film is not your typical Sunday school cartoon story; it is described by its director as “a dark parable about sin, justice and mercy” in which Noah must decide who is good enough to come on the boat to save civilisation.

The film has been accused of contradicting the teachings of Islam (which considers Noah a prophet), which specify that a prophet should not be depicted amid worry that it will lead to the worship of a person rather than God. Aronofsky’s effort has, perhaps unexpectedly, led Muslims to unite with Christians who similarly claim that the film is inappropriate. Russell Crowe, who stars as the title character, has recently had a private audience with the Pope, however, and reportedly gained his “blessing” for the film.

Personally, I’m a firm believer that whether one be atheist, theist or

agnostic, due respect must be given to each and every person’s individual beliefs. Yes, the film has been banned in Indonesia, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, but my question to the increasingly opportunistic worldwide media is, so what?

Maybe it’s just me, but if a film goes against a country’s beliefs, was it not always a given that it wouldn’t be shown? Despite the media’s need to create fire before sighting smoke, the banning of Noah invites an interesting debate concerning art and religion; namely, should art avoid religious topics and depictions?

This debate is one that has a lengthy history; Noah is certainly not the only piece of art to be forbidden by various religious groups. Riots took place in Tunis in 2011 after a private television station screened the animated film Persepolis, which contained a depiction

of God. The manager of the TV station was later charged 1,200€ after being found guilty of an attack on the sacred.

Disputes are not just confined to the Middle East either, with Harry Potter becoming the most banned book in America for its alleged attempts to indoctrinate Christian children as Wiccans.

To me, the suggestion that one can separate art from not just religion, but from anything, seems obscene. If commentary on politics wasn’t allowed, we wouldn’t have Picasso’s Guernica; if opinion on the law wasn’t permitted, Dickens’s Bleak House would have just been a cutesy story about Esther and her toy dolls: and if we weren’t allowed to talk about sex, the steamy Jack and Kate car scene would be floating in a cinematic black hole. Not to mention the aftermath of Ryan Gosling’s “I wrote you 365 letters” speech in The Notebook.

The definition of art is notoriously hard to determine, but to me, art is religion, politics, sex, law and many other topics that are likely to make someone in the world feel uncomfortable, at one time or another.

Wrapping one’s head around art without religion is like salt without pepper, snakes minus ladders, Homer with no Marge. Ambitious definitely. But ultimately thoughtless, futile and messy.

should ‘real’ people be in vogue?

Georgia Dawson

A lexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue, has recently claimed that people do not want to buy any magazine which features a “real person” on the cover.

She feels “bored” with the question of why models are thin, considering such debates a timeless, never-ending chore of the fashion industry.

Speaking with pop icon Lily Allen on BBC Radio, Shulman admitted “Vogue is a magazine that’s about fantasy, to some extent, and dreams: an escape from real life. People don’t want to buy a magazine like Vogue to see what they see when they look in the mirror, they can do that for free.”

Indeed, Adele’s British Vogue cover was one of the worst-performing in the magazine’s history, and this could arguably be due to her more ‘conventional’ body shape. Some readers claim, however, that the issue didn’t sell well only because editors opted to do a very close crop of Adele’s face, rejecting her body entirely. After all, the public can’t be put off by a body shape they don’t even see.

Former editor of Australian Vogue, Kirstie Clements, finds herself much

more disgusted by modern model choices then her British counterpart.

She describes a very frightening thinobsessed culture: the staple foods are laxatives, cigarettes and diet coke.

Models are proud to be anorexic and young girls will happily resort to dangerous surgery when they feel a diet just won’t cut it.

In one memorable beauty shoot, Clements noticed scars and scabs on a model’s knees. When asked about them, the model nonchalantly replied “Oh yes.

Because I’m always so hungry, I faint a lot”. Apparently, she thought it was normal to pass out several times a day.

Sometimes, Clements continues, you would see the tell-tale signs of anorexia where a girl develops a light fuzz on her face and arms. This is her body’s way of struggling to stay warm.

At least there seems to be some hope for the future of fashion: Olga Taylor, 62, was spotted in a TK Maxx store and is now the face of the brand’s new ad campaign. This makes Taylor one of the oldest brand faces in history: a definite improvement from the industry’s notorious obsession with pretty young things barely out of puberty.

Even Shulman hopes to see some bigger models on the catwalk, though, just so long as they stay off the pages of her precious Vogue. She continues that “a lot of people do find the fact that models are thin extremely annoying and I don’t understand why designers don’t get a bit more real about it”.

Well, that seems a bit hypocritical.

How about you take a look at the problems in your own magazine, before you start bashing on designers?

the best and worst films ever

Ginny Sanderson Newspaper Comment Editor Best Film - Pulp Fiction I’m sorry to all the film aficionados out there - I haven’t seen every film and I haven’t chosen a foreign film, though many do grace my top ten. My favourite film ever simply had to be...

Pulp Fiction.

It is Tarantino’s masterpiece, a mosaic of all that makes him great - dialogue, narrative, eccentricity, and homage to classic cinema. There seems to be an excess of memorable moments here – “I shot Marvin in the face!”, “the one that says ‘Bad Motherfucker’”, “Big Kahuna Burger”, etc. Actually, this is too much.

I think I might go and watch it again.

Worst Film - The Little Unicorn There are just so, so many bad films out there. I couldn’t draw the line at a film that was truly, truly bad, so bad that it’s actually good – like, for instance, the entire Lake Placid series.

Equally, spectacles like MegaShark versus Giant Octopus (which I haven’t seen, maybe it’s underrated) will not achieve the shittest-film-ever status because they know they’re bad.

Choosing them would be, in a perverse way, cheating.

Ultimately, there can only be one winner. This is a film my Dad once brought back from Blockbuster and we all laughed at him and only got about ten minutes in: The Little Unicorn.

Stuart Smith Best Film - Fight Club Considering the title, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a one-dimensional, overly macho film that Jason Statham would star in, but Fight Club is so much more. Watching it for the first time will have you questioning your values and sense of self-worth. On a second, third or fourth watch you’ll pick up new things you never noticed before. It’s not an obscure film so you’ve really no excuse for not having seen it yet.

Worst Film - Youth In Revolt I could’ve picked any Michael Cera film really (God, I loathe him) but Youth In Revolt gets the nod because it’s the first film I remember seeing him in. I had a lot of trouble picking out definitive worst parts of the film but managed to narrow it down to the corny dialogue, Cera’s acting, and the general plot. It almost makes me want to cry that Steve Buscemi, who is a wonderful actor, makes an appearance in this abomination.

Hetty Sieling Head of Distribution Best Film - Atonement For craftsmanship and emotional intelligence, whether you have read the novel or not: Atonement. Joe Wright presents a complex story in a structured, well-researched, beautiful couple of hours. Impeccable actors (Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan) bring across the urgency of romance in a wartime setting. It was more like a parable on envy than the book, but because of Robbie and Cecilia’s potential relationship, memory is the overriding theme in the mind.

Worst Film - Keeping Mum For bad taste and poor use of good resources: Keeping Mum. This monstrosity mixes together a good deal of talent - Maggie Smith, Rowan Atkinson, Kristen Scott-Thomas and Patrick Swayze - with a pastoral setting and a despicable screenplay. No laughs.

There are clichés, seemingly for an American market rather than as part of a knowing parody. Sex jokes aplenty, but all lacking in punch-line, originality or taste. It aims to be blackly comic but instead it’s creepy, especially in its unconvincing finale.

t24’s the great gatsby review

Rebekah Chilvers Newspaper Culture Editor

T24’s stage production of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, was exciting, passionate and full of 1920s pizzazz. That’s not to say it was unflawed – but what adaptation of Gatsby isn’t?

Fitzgerald’s masterpiece has been tried and tested for decades since it was published in 1925 and it’s been seemingly impossible to capture his words perfectly for anyone – though, saying that, this adaptation does a pretty darn good job.

For starters, the acting was, for me, the best part of the whole spectacle. Our narrator Nick Carraway was embodied impeccably by Toby Foster, who was the glue of the show, carrying the majority of the lines: the idea of him telling the story on reflection to a friend worked well, effectively tying up the loose ends of the Gatsby tale.

On a side note, it was very slightly distracting how much Foster looked like Leonardo DiCaprio – who recently took on the role of Gatsby in Baz Lurhmann’s film adaptation – but this, obviously, could not be helped, and it wasn’t so much a hindrance as an observation and coincidence.

Connor Charles Quinn (Gatsby), Becky Gibbs (Daisy), Andrew Martin

Jeffs (Tom) and Belinda-Jayne Duffy (Jordan) were all fantastic in their respective roles also, each giving a passionate performance and never stepping out of character – perhaps most notably in the scene in New York when Gatsby and Tom finally clash over their affections for Daisy.

The tense heat of that debate was faultlessly exemplified by each and every single character in that scene – building the suspense for the tragedy which followed.

Verity Tan Photography

Directors Luke Ofield and Pip O’Neill’s choice in music was a huge part of this production, and when it worked, it worked extremely well. The mix of the traditional 20s jazz with contemporary music was effective – the inclusion of London Grammar, Lorde and Florence And The Machine all suited the dark, sombre mood of specific scenes wonderfully.

My only issue was that, at certain

points, the music overpowered the speech and the lyrics were so loud that they became distracting to what was happening on stage, which was a shame.

In addition to this, the live singing from Freya Bellew was a highlight, adding to the jazz of one of Gatsby’s great parties, but the later a cappella version of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ Thrift Shop felt out of place, although it did score points for originality.

Other highlights included: the costumes – the glitz and glamour of 1920s New York was mirrored perfectly through the use of outfits (Gatsby’s pink suit was notably eccentric), the scene of Gatsby’s demise was well-constructed and well lit – the use of fake blood was an unexpected extra.

And the conclusion to the play was near-perfect, with the whole ensemble coming together and departing along to Nick’s final emotional and philosophical lines which left just Gatsby and Nick on stage to see Gatsby give his evercharming yet complex smile.

T24’s production of The Great Gatsby was full of glamour, substance and passion, just as the novel deserves; for a top-notch adaptation of Fitzgerald’s most famous novel, look no further than University of Kent’s own theatre company.

19

in other news...

JRR Tolkien’s translation of the Old English poem Beowulf is to be published for the first time, almost nine decades after it was finished. Beowulf: A Translation And Commentary has been edited by his son Christopher Tolkien.

A university in New York state is to run a course on the sociology of Miley Cyrus. The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media at Skidmore College will reportedly use Cyrus as “a lens into cultural conflict”.

Tickets for Kate Bush’s upcoming tour have sold out in less than 15 minutes. The singer, who has not played live in 35 years will be playing 22 gigs in total, starting in August this year.

Kevin Spacey is set to play Sir Winston Churchill in a biopic of the wartime Prime Minister, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

A letter from Harper Lee, in which the To Kill A Mockingbird author defends herself for not giving interviews, is to be auctioned. Lee, who has not been interviewed since 1964, said in her letter that “I simply don’t give interviews, because it takes great skill to ask meaningful questions and very few people in the media have it”.

20

IQ Culture

pause for thought It’s nearly Easter, so get your

deadlines out of the way as soon as possible and replace that empty void with chocolate.

Isn’t that what Easter is about?

Chocolate and fluffy animals, that is... No? Well, here’s Oscar Wilde’s poem to remind us of the original meaning of Easter.

Easter Day The silver trumpets rang across the Dome: The people knelt upon the ground with awe: And borne upon the necks of men I saw, Like some great God, the Holy Lord of Rome.

Priest-like, he wore a robe more white than foam, And, king-like, swathed himself in royal red, Three crowns of gold rose high upon his head: In splendour and in light the Pope passed home.

My heart stole back across wide wastes of years To One who wandered by a lonely sea, And sought in vain for any place of rest: “Foxes have holes, and every bird its nest.

I, only I, must wander wearily, And bruise my feet, and drink wine salt with tears.”

Oscar Wilde

the massacre at paris review

Matthew Gilley Newspaper Editor

A rriving at the Cathedral, we’re ushered down the stairs and into our seats in the furthermost portion of the candlelit crypt. This is the setting for Fourth Monkey’s production of Marlowe’s The Massacre at Paris, part of the Marlowe450 series.

The play dramatises the 1572 massacre of Huguenot Protestants by Catholics in Paris and an ensuing cycle of violence and revenge in the French court. The massacre is orchestrated by the Duke of Guise – played with flamboyance by Reuben Beau Davies who swings wildly between sly sneers and shrieks of rage – and it is his subsequent downfall that forms the main narrative arc of the play.

It’s a typical tragic structure, except that Guise is contemptible right from the start. The only time he merits even a little sympathy is in his fantastic death scene, where Beau Davies writhing on the stone floor and clawing at his enemies’ feet is the very picture of panic and frustration.

Over the years, The Massacre at Paris has been accused of being too nakedly sectarian, anti-Catholic propaganda.

It’s easy to see why, given the Catholic

violence and that King Henry of Navarre, the foremost Protestant in the play, is the most noble and victimised.

But the real target seems to be sectarianism itself.

As the cycle of reprisals rolls on, they seem ever more pointless. At one stage, when Guise has been named a traitor, two of his relatives are perfunctorily dispatched, in a way that seems to deliberately lack drama. Even Navarre is not free of the dogma and scheming that Marlowe attacks, as he ends the play by promising to massacre the Catholics in return.

The cast of trainee actors handle the play well, and it’s a difficult one. A cast of 24, with many playing multiple roles, makes it initially difficult to follow. With a few exceptions, the acting also tends towards the stiff and melodramatic. This is arguably a fault of the material, which is heavy on

the broad strokes of plot and rhetoric but light on nuances of emotion and character.

A couple of the actors, however, manage to bring something else out of it. Guise has already been mentioned, but his muse and manipulator the Queen Mother also deserves to be picked out. Alice Trow plays her with selfish, scheming wiles that turn to a brilliant horrified petulant when her own turn to fall comes around.

The real star of the show, however, is the crypt setting. Although at first its sound seems to be problematic, everything comes together in the early massacre scene. At this point the actors turn the reverberations to their advantage, whirling up a cacophony of percussion and screams that the Cathedral gladly amplifies to match the chaos of bodies running and dying on every side. For much of the play lingering clangs tremble in the air, the candles suffuse the space with gloom and an occasional whiff of burning emphasises the grim horror being played out.

This atmosphere lets the play overcome its few failings. Perhaps more than anything, The Massacre at Paris makes an excellent case for the crypt being used for theatre more often.

should our society #banbossy?

Julia Mitchell

The recent Ban Bossy campaign, headed by Sheryl Sandberg, has sparked an awful lot of controversy, and diverse opinions on the matter have been springing up left, right and centre.

The movement revolves around the claim that females who lead are much more likely to be viewed in a negative light than males, a trend that begins in the classroom and continues on into adulthood.

The campaign has identified a supposed inequality in the labelling of young children who are unafraid to assert themselves, and speak up more in class. Young girls are much more likely to be perceived as bossy, while a young boy in the same position is more likely to be branded as a leader.

The apparent ‘solution’ to these

inequalities is to Ban Bossy - a campaign that is actually just as bossy as the label that they are working to eradicate. How wonderfully ironic.

On viewing the website, we are encouraged to “pledge to ban bossy” by sharing the message on social media pages, spreading the hashtag, and passing on facts associated with the campaign. They even have Beyoncé supporting the cause.

It’s all very pro-women, and as much as I like to see powerful females asserting themselves in the world, I can’t help but spot that the movement is studded with flaws.

Is it really true that little girls are much more likely to be labelled as bossy than little boys? And if a girl really does know what she wants out of her life, it’s doubtful that a mere word will stand in the way of her ambitions.

True, the confidence of some girls may be dampened by such labelling, but I don’t believe for a second that this reaction is unique to the female gender. Boys are open to criticism too, I’ve definitely seen males who are just as bossy as females, and they get called it as well.

Ban Bossy naively forgets that every individual is different. Not every little girl, or little boy for that matter, will have the desire to lead, and this will

continue on into adulthood.

Some may not want to shoulder the responsibility that comes with being a leader, and others may (God forbid) wish to stay at home and raise children.

And you know what? That’s okay. What concerns me is that individuals who simply don’t have the desire to lead won’t be branded as bossy, but they’ll be seen as failures. That’s not fair, and it’s not true either.

I understand the concept behind this campaign, as there are fewer women in positions of power than men in this world. Ban Bossy wants to change this, by promoting equality in the classroom with the hope that this will follow through into the workplace.

But, with so many flaws and massive generalisations, I just don’t believe that the campaign will be able to rectify this.

Equality is enormously important, but so is individuality, a factor that Ban Bossy fails to realise.

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22

Sport

Sport 23

inquire meets sprint star adam gemili

Ahead of a busy season, InQuire caught up with Kent-based Olympian Adam Gemili, to discuss all things sprinting in the run up to the Commonwealth Games IT has been a whirlwind two years for you after emerging and starring at London 2012, how are you keeping up?

I’m all good thanks buddy, just been a crazy period for me but I’m all settled down.

What are your plans for this year?

Do you have any pre-race rituals you do?

I don’t really have anything I do apart from just stay relaxed and always try and enjoy my running.

After switching from football, would you ever go back to the sport?

This year, my aims are to make it to the Commonwealth Games and European Championships, and do well at both those events.

I always say that one day I would love to, because of course I miss it loads but as time goes on and my career in athletics progresses, it seems less likely.

How is training going in preparation?

What are you studying at University?

ATraining is going good, I’m based between London and Loughborough, so it’s a lot of travelling.

I’m in a good place and have no major injuries so everything is where it needs to be at the moment.

I’m studying at the University of East London doing a degree in Sports and Exercise science.

hard to juggle training around lectures.

But if you manage and plan your time its doable.

Plus, I have a University who are very accommodating and help me out as much as they can.

Do you already have your eye on Rio 2016?

Rio 2016 is fast approaching, so

it’s obviously one of the goals for the future but I’m just hoping to stay injury free to be in with a chance of making it. It should be amazing after London 2012 so its eagerly anticipated.

Which sprinter do you aspire to emulate and why?

Sprinting has not always been shown in the greatest of lights but one man I think who has

carried the event is Usain Bolt.

He is on another level with his speed and such a great role model for young sprinters like myself.

He enjoys his running and you can see that on the start line, so I try and emulate that to enjoy it and show sprinting isn’t all about getting angry.

George Dagless

THE 2014 MotoGP season got off with a bang in Qatar as an old hand indicated he isn’t thinking of hanging up his leathers just yet.

The stats will show that the race at the Losail circuit was won by defending World Champion Marc Marquez, but it was legendary six time champion Valentino Rossi who took the plaudits.

The Italian, nicknamed ‘The Doctor’, started the race in 10th place and it looked as though Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo would be Marquez’s main threat as he led into turn one.

That’s great. Good luck!

How hard is it juggling your sprinting career and your university course?

AG: It’s going well, but obviously

are owners ruining football?

this year’s boxing bouts assessed

Henry Sandercock

Stuart Smith

EVER since 2003 when Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC, the premier league has attracted owners from around the globe.

All of them are rich beyond any comprehension and some have even turned money into success on the pitch but are these people good for the English game?

Abramovich’s is a success story and although he has occasionally meddled a little too much in the club, particularly with managers, he has given us a glimpse of the ideal owner.

However, apart from him and a handful of others, the vast majority of owners appear to either be lunatics or egotistical children.

Vincent Tan, Cardiff City’s owner, is an example of an incompetent owner. Since his takeover in 2010, Tan has successfully taken Cardiff to the Premier League.

But he has also encroached on the club’s history, by changing the club colours from blue to red; Cardiff had played in blue for over a hundred years.

Whether it was out of sheer ignorance of Cardiff’s history or pure foolishness we’ll never

can valentino rossi win motogp one more time?

know, but Tan has effectively blotted Cardiff’s record.

The sight of him booing his own team at matches sums up his ridiculousness.

Assem Allam of Hull City is another hap-hazardous owner.

He is not mad like Tan, but is simply used to doing whatever he wants.

In 2013, Allam set out plans to rebrand the club by changing its 109-year-old name to Hull City Tigers.

Why? Because, as he said in The Guardian: “in a few years many clubs will… change their names to something more interesting and I will have proved I am a leader.”

The two “I”-s in that quotation show where his interest really lies: in himself and himself alone, not in the club or its history and certainly not in the supporters.

Prospective owners must therefore be vetted more closely and must be educated sufficiently in the history of English football, if they are to own a club.

If not, the beautiful game could lose a significant part of its heritage in the near future and that simply cannot be allowed to happen.

OVER the last 20 years or so, Britain has produced some great boxers.

Lennox Lewis is to this date the last undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. Joe Clazaghe held the WBO Super Middleweight title for over 10 years and retired undefeated, and more recently David Haye overcame the monstrous Nikolai Valuev for the WBA Heavyweight Championship (before losing the belt to the younger Klitschko brother and retiring).

At the forefront of British boxing now is IBF Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch, and his opponent come May, the underdog who won the nation’s collective heart, George Groves.

The two squared off in Manchester in November 2013, with the result being a more than dubious TKO in favour of Froch, despite all previous rounds being carded to Groves.

Uproar from Groves’ camp and the general public has led to an eagerly anticipated rematch at Wembley Stadium in May. Groves will enter into the bout with infinitely more supporters

than he did in the first match, but I don’t see it ending well for the battling Chelsea fan.

After a more even opening to the match than was seen in November, Froch will start to assert some dominance and will knock Groves out in the ninth round.

Not long after, in late July, we’ll see another two Brits slugging it out for the chance of facing Wladimir Kltischko for one (or possibly multiple) of his Heavyweight titles.

The arrogance and selfimportance of both boxers means that they’re not particularly well-liked by most, but they will put on a spectacle nonetheless.

Neither are quick or agile boxers and you should expect to see them trading heavy blows in the middle of the ring for the majority of the time.

Fury stands at 6 ft 9 inches, that’s 7.5 inches taller than Dereck Chisora, and has a reach of 85 inches – 11 inches further than his opponent.

For Chisora to have any chance of a victory, he’s got to fight Fury on the inside. If he stays at distance he’ll be jabbed into obliteration. But I don’t think either tactic will work well

for him.

Fury’s size advantage will shine through from the start and the fight will be over within five rounds.

Another fight scheduled for early May sees Floyd Mayweather Jr facing off against the Argentine Marcos Maidana.

Mayweather held a vote on his Mayweather Promotions website which asked fans to choose who his next opponent would be: Maidana or Amir Khan.

Much to my disappointment, Maidana won the vote and will no doubt lose to Floyd without much of a contest (just as Khan would’ve done also). Essentially this is a non-fight.

There are two distinct top boxers in the Lightweight/ Welterweight divisions at the moment who should easily beat anyone in those divisions unless they come up against each other: Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao.

This is the fight that every boxing fan wants to see and we can only pray that we’ll see the bout after Mayweather disposes of Maidana.

If it happens, it would be the most anticipated fight since Lewis vs Tyson in 2002.

However, Lorenzo’s winning aspirations were soon eradicated after he lost control of his bike and had to retire without completing a lap.

Meanwhile, teammate Rossi was scything through the field as he hunted down the lead.

Quickly the Italian had moved up to third behind the young Marquez and leader Stefan Bradl, who in lap nine relinquished his lead as he too ended up in the gravel and out of the race.

The stage was set then for Marquez and Rossi to go head to head at the front of the field.

Both drivers exchanged turns leading as they left the rest of the competition standing. The penultimate lap proved to be the race’s decisive factor as the lead changed hands twice before falling to Marquez as they went into the final lap.

This is how it stayed as the young Spaniard took the win by the tightest of margins, finishing 0.259 seconds ahead of a resurgent Rossi who looked like a rider returning to the peak of his powers.

Testament to Rossi’s pushing, Marquez set his fastest lap of the race in the final lap to keep the Italian at bay.

It begs the question then, is Valentino Rossi set for another world title?

Of course it’s only one race and there is still a whole season to be played out but based on this performance ‘The Doctor’ looks back to his best after some time in the MotoGP wilderness.

Having put an unsuccessful spell at Ducati behind him, Rossi signed for Yamaha in the hope of rekindling the old magic.

Last year showed signs of improvement as he finished fourth in the championship.

Certainly if anyone can do it at the age of 35, it is the Italian.

He has the experience, the skill and once again the bike to challenge at MotoGP’s top table.

He faces stiff opposition from the substantially younger chargers of Marquez and Lorenzo, but one thing’s certain, it’s going to be thrilling watching him try.

irish rugby celebrates six nations win is darts’ phil taylor finished?

Henry Sandercock ALL good things must come to an end and this year’s Six Nations championship was no exception.

30 thrilling matches of topdraw rugby culminated in a tense finale which saw Ireland seal their second Six Nations title by the narrowest of margins.

‘Super-Saturday’ began with England, France and Ireland tied on points and with Ireland playing France in the day’s final game, the scene was set for a tense ending.

England were up first, against Italy. After a nervous start strewn with errors, Mike Brown consecutively went over the tryline to score his third and fourth tries of the tournament and emphatically sealed his place as England’s player of the series.

England managed to ratchet up an impressive 52 points which put them within touching distance of Ireland, although a late Italy try scuppered their hopes of beating Ireland on points alone.

England’s title hopes rested on a close French victory.

Ireland had only beaten France in Paris once in 42 years, so the omens looked good for England. However, Ireland’s form leading into the game and France’s lack thereof meant that there could only be one winner.

It was an extremely tight game however, with the lead yo-yoing between the two teams and France finally showing us what they are truly capable of.

It all boiled down to the last five minutes of play, when Damien Chouly scored what would have been a match winning try for France. It wasn’t.

Pascal Papé gifted the result to Ireland as his forward pass ensured the Irish the win, and the championship they deserved.

So what have we learnt?

Well to begin with, the myth that France always wins championships following a British and Irish Lions’ tour was thoroughly dispelled.

All of the nations involved in that tour, with the exception of Scotland, came above France in the final table.

Not only this, but a lot of the Lions’ players had fantastic tournaments.

Rob Kearney was electric, Brian O’Driscoll was Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Roberts was ever-present and Owen Farrell was a solid hub for England’s activity and creativity, although his bizarre scoring celebration, where he entwines his index fingers together, will never catch on.

We also learnt that England are firm contenders for next year’s World Cup. Barring their blemish against France in the first game of the series, they were in scintillating form.

A lot of the young players that Stuart Lancaster has put his faith in have begun to blossom and the prospect of them in an England shirt, with another year of international experience under their belts, is very exciting.

Their tour of New Zealand this summer will be a steep but vital learning curve and they will only get better as a consequence of it.

This year’s edition of the Six Nations was intriguing, however 2015’s will be even better.

It will be a World Cup year and as a consequence, every team will be hitting their stride.

Stuart Smith WHEN you think of British sportsmen, you probably think of Wayne Rooney, Andy Murray and Kevin Pietersen, whilst possibly the most successful British sportsman is forgotten because his sport is seen as less than glamorous: Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor.

Taylor has been on top of the darts world for 20 years but now he appears to be slipping slightly.

His poor start to this year’s Betway Premier League Darts season has prompted many to ask if his time at the top is up.

Whilst Taylor languishes in mid-table (a few weeks ago he was in the relegation zone), his rival for as long as I remember, Raymond van Barneveld, sits in third behind Peter Wright in his first season in the Premier League and darts’ new golden boy Michael van Gerwen.

Admittedly, Taylor’s start to the season was well belowpar but a recent resurgence indicates that it was just a blip and Taylor will be competing on all fronts for at least a few more years.

In late 2013, Taylor himself claimed he expected to be in the sport for four more years before retiring, but that means nothing really.

Sir Alex Ferguson teased his retirement almost every year for the past decade until he finally gave up the Manchester United job last summer.

At the time of writing, Taylor has two games remaining: one against ‘Barney’ and a slightly easier match to finish against Robert Thornton.

Wins in these two matches, which is more than possible, will likely push Taylor into a play-off spot and any thoughts of him being on the decline will be long-gone.

For more sport news check out our website at www.inquirelive.co.uk Do you have a sporting competition or fixture coming up? We’d love to know! Email your sport events to: newspaper. sport@inquiremedia.co.uk

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InQuire sport kent fc suffer play-off heartbreak

Photograph by Daniel Barnby Rex Ejimonyeabla AFTER a successful season that saw Kent FC retain the BUCS 1A title, they were unable to progress from the playoffs for a consecutive year.

Reminiscent of losing both playoff matches last season to Gloucestershire and Cambridge, Kent were tasked with defeating Exeter over two legs but were unable to gain promotion to the Premier division after losing the home leg 1-0 and the away leg 3-0.

The first leg, played on 19th March at the Oast House, was a rather dull affair as the two teams had to try and gain the every advatange over each other.

The home side were made to pay for their sluggish start after nonchalant play between

the goalkeeper and the Kent defence resulted in a loose ball which was intercepted by an alert Exeter striker, who then lofted the ball over Adam Ball to give Exeter a 1-0 lead just before half time.

The second half saw a more spirited display from Kent who again was supported by a substantial number of fans, as has always been the case this season.

Despite greater purpose shown from the flanks by wingers Matthew Ackee and Jamal Simms, who supported lone striker Ross Goodman-Brown, Kent were unable to infiltrate a disciplined Exeter defence that weathered a potent offensive in the beginning 15 minutes of the second half.

The game ended 1-0, disappointingly for the

home side, but they had the opportunity for redemption on the away fixture a week later.

On Wednesday 27th March, Kent had to make the five-anda-half hour journey SouthWest to Exeter and needed to win by two clear goals in order to achieve promotion to the Premier division.

Captain Stephen Purcell deemed unfit to play, was ably replaced by Chris Kinnear in the centre of midfield and Jamal Simms who was preferred to Matthew Ackee on the right side of the midfield were Kent’s only changes to the outfield starting line-up.

Kent started with an inevitable fervour, which would have been necessary to claw back the 1-0 deficit suffered in their home fixture.

Contrary to Kent’s applied

pressure, Exeter broke on the right defensive flank of the Kent back line and a precise cross was met with a directed header by an unmarked Exeter striker to beat goalkeeper, Alex Jones, 15 minutes into the first half.

This goal left Kent noticeably crestfallen as they would now have to score three goals away from home in order to win the tie.

Exeter’s confidence, on the other hand, was augmented by their early goal, and manifested in their growing comfort on the ball in the middle of the pitch.

They continued to press via the channels when their left midfielder drilled a low pass across goal, which was pulled back to the edge of the box and struck low past Alex Jones five minutes before half time.

Things did not improve for

Kent in the second half as Exeter’s applied pressure only increased in intensity and Alex Jones had to be called upon more than once to keep the score line respectable for Kent.

A tired Kent suffered an onslaught of Exeter attacks but the Kent side were determined to finish the game with a level of pride and dignity personified by the remaining ten men who had to battle against the unforgiving heat of the sun and exhaustion.

Their resilience could only last for so long as they eventually conceded one more goal in the dying minutes of the match which gave Exeter a 3-0 home victory and a 4-0 aggregate victory.

Kent were disappointed to end the season on a low note, however, despite securing the BUCS 1A title.