Palatinate Issue 718

General Election 2010 Special The local and national perspective Palatinate, Elections

Gemma Arterton steals “and then I just chundered everywah!” the summer Our intrepid girls hit a Palatidating disaster indigo, Features

Exclusive interview indigo, Film & TV

PALATINATE

The official student newspaper of Durham Students’ Union since 1948

Thursday 6th May 2010 | Edition 718 | palatinate.org.uk

Undercroft’s Marilyn goes missing

Newsbox Students paying for essays

UKEssays.com reveals that Durham students have bought essays from academic ghostwriters Page 3

Pope declines invitation

The pontiff will not be visiting Durham when he makes his UK tour in September

Lyndsey Fineran

If you have noticed the absence of a certain lady during your latest visit to Castle bar, or a particularly glamorous new figure in the colleges of the Hill, chances are you are seeing the effects of one of Durham’s more daring stunts of recent years: the theft of Undercroft bar’s Marilyn Monroe mascot.

The statue has been a feature of University College’s bar for as long as many of us can remember. A beloved fixture and mascot of the college, the statue was recently stolen by a gang of Hill college students.

The idea occured to the group of four friends over a Friday night pint, the result of a conversation about the languishing Durham tradition of ‘trophying’ items of value from rival colleges.

Feeling that the current friendly competition between colleges need to be upped a level, the group quickly hatched their plan to steal the Castle’s icon and began to stake out the fortress to plan the feat.

The offenders have refused to give details of exactly how they made it past both porters and students on duty at the gate, noting only that “We’d like readers to imagine that we wore suits throughout and encountered some kind of alarmed laser grid.”

The statue safely in their hands, the students proceeded to take pictures and set up a Facebook profile and fan page in its honour under the name Norma Jean. The group soon attracted almost 1,000 fans and became a site for inter-college debate.

However, the group was shut by Facebook administrators, who viewed the page as an impersonation and thus a violation of their code of conduct.

Once in the group’s possession, the question arose as to what should be done with the statue. One of those involved said: “All four of us are from Hill colleges so it seemed only fair that the Hill should get her.”

The group then sent out emails (from ‘Marilyn’s’ Facebook account) to all Hill college presidents asking who wanted her, and who would guarantee her a suitable, secure spot. Following a crawl around Hill college bars, she was offered a new home on the roof of Van Mildert College.

As a final act of audacity, the group Continued on page 3

Page 4

Salaries soar for VCs

Universities face criticism after a Guardian report reveals some heads have received a triple pay increase over the last decade Page 5

Durham goes to the polls

Ahead of today’s election, Palatinate speaks to the leaders of the three main student political parties about their campaigns Page 6

Election 2010: Just who will the British public give the keys to government to?

Full report pages 8, 9 & 13

Durham’s parting shot

NUS censures Black Students’ Officer after Union Society email debacle Ed Mason

The National Union of Students (NUS) National Conference voted last month to censure Bellavia Ribeiro Addy, the Black Students’ Officer who co-authored with Daf Adley, LGBT Students’ Officer, the email that prompted Durham’s second disaffiliation referendum and resulted in its withdrawal from NUS. Controversially, however, delegates voted against a censure for Adley.

The motions were proposed by Durham Students’ Union (DSU) president, Natalie Crisp, on the final day of Conference as part of NUS’ Annual General Meeting. She immediately clarified that the motions were not a criticism of NUS’ No Platform Policy.

Ms. Crisp said: “That’s elected policy of this Conference and we [Durham] fully respect that.” She argued that it is was necessary to censure the officers “because of

their conduct and the tactics that they used towards my union which resulted in our disaffiliation.”

Crisp was interrupted by applause, before continuing by quoting from the offensive email, further citing Ribeiro Addy and Adley’s failure to contact Durham Liberation campaign officers.

Ribeiro Addy apologised for “Any misunderstanding over the letter” and stated that she had received death threats after her email was circulated on the Internet.

“My right to live free from discrimination and violence is not up for debate,” she said. On two occasions, the vote – delegates wave voting cards in the air – was too close for the Chair to determine the outcome.

In line with Conference procedures, the doors to the chamber were locked and delegates were counted individually. The motion passed with 113 votes in favour and 107 against.

Adley was visibly furious when he spoke in defence of his actions as a proud anti-fascist against the separate motion of censure, also proposed by Ms. Crisp. He reiterated his regret that Durham students had misunderstood “a sentence, or two” but said that he worried “how the BNP would jump on this... you’ve just censured the Black Students’ Officer for anti-fascism”.

Throughout his speech, delegates flooded into the conference hall. Of the thousand-or-so delegates at Conference, only some 250 had made the 9am vote against Ribeiro Addy after the previous night’s socialising.

By the time Adley was finished speaking, the number of his supporters had doubled and the motion was easily defeated.

Since Conference, several internet blogs and posts on social networking sites have Continued on page 3

indigo Ease your exam stress with

‘The Childhood Edition’

Thursday 6th May 2010 PALATINATE

2

Editorial Favourites, letters, corrections and editorial

PALATINATE Editors in Chief - Jodie Smith & Vincent McAviney - editor@palatinate.org.uk

Election and exam fever hits: it must be May May is an interesting month at the best of times. We leave the long, drizzly winter behind us and move into spring. You can smell summer in the air, and you find yourself longing for lazy days in the park or on the beach.

It’s when you’re sitting in an exam hall and staring out of the window that these thoughts really strike you, as May is unfortunate enough to bring with it the dreaded examination period.

It is for this reason, the avoidance of a revision-based meltdown, that we decided to provide you with some light relief, what with it being a new term and a new editorial team. Our ‘Childhood Edition’ of indigo provides a chance to reminisce on the carefree days gone by when you were just worried about getting a shiny gold star sticker on your work.

Of course, this particular May is made all the more exciting by the first general election to be held since 2005. Election fever has gripped the country, and sometimes it can seem like it is all the media is capable of reporting (bar the occasional Icelandic chuncano).

Here at Palatinate, we have included a double-page Election special to give the

momentous event the coverage and analysis it deserves.

For many of us today will be the first time that we have been able to exercise our democratic right to vote. This right should not be undervalued; it was long fought for in this country and indeed in many others around the world it is not yet established.

In our News Features survey, we asked over a hundred of you if you plan on voting today. The results show that this generation of students are not quite as apathetic and complacent as their predecessors, with a massive 89% heading to the ballot boxes.

What will be interesting is how the student vote will affect the outcome in this consituency. Durham City has been a Labour seat for over half a century, but in recent years the Liberal Democrat part have been gaining ground.

In 2008, Obama’s youthful, idealistic campaign managed to capture the hearts and minds of students. Neither Brown, Cameron nor Clegg have managed to achieve this on our campuses. Our antiquated electoral system means that we don’t get to elect our leader directly. We elect a member of parliament to represent Durham in the House of Commons; thus

it is our responsibility that we investigate the local candidates to ensure that we elect an effective advocate for our city, and by extension our university.

Research shows that nationally, students are more likely than other groups to vote Lib Dem. However, our survey shows that this is not the case for those who are planning to use a postal vote for their home constituencies, where the Conservatives gained a significant 40% share of your votes.

By this time tomorrow, we will know the outcome of the Election. If, as experts predict, we end up with our generation’s first hung parliament, the next few weeks in British politics will be intriguing.

It is an exciting time to be a student, and it is an even more exciting time to be a student journalist. News changes from moment to moment, and inevitabley much will have changed between us writing this and you reading it.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to interview Nick Clegg on the eve of the election. You can read our special report on his visit to Durham at www.palatinate.org.uk.

Let’s get student issues back on the agenda by turning out to the polls in our droves!

If you are interested in advertising in Palatinate, contact dsu.marketing@dur.ac.uk for more information

Dear Editors,

This short letter is to allay any misconceptions some students may have got from an article in Palatinate at the end of last term (March 16th, 2010).

Durham University’s student accommodation and facilities are both unique and amongst the best in the UK. In an independent survey last year Durham was rated second in the UK for University-provided student accommodation and first in the UK for non-University accommodation (‘University Business’, 2009). No other University has as many English Heritage Grade I and II listed buildings ranging from the 11th to 20th century. Our Colleges are special and much of our College accommodation is distinctive in character and architecture and consequently does not match standard specifications of new University Halls of Residence.

I would like to reassure our students that the University has no accommodation in use which is dangerous, as implied in the Palatinate article. Every property is regularly surveyed. We do indeed have a small number of ‘category D’ properties, but the survey quoted in Palatinate was out of date. For example, ‘category D’ properties in Old Elvet which formerly accommodated students from Graduate Society were vacated in 2006 when students moved to

Letter to the Editors

the newly-built Ustinov College and will be sold as soon as the property market picks up.

The University now has a long-term programme of refurbishing College accommodation, investing an average of £4M per annum. As students will appreciate, work can only be undertaken during the long vacation so getting round all the Colleges takes time.

During 2010 and 2011 the University is spending £8M on replacing the entire district heating system on The Bailey, which serves both Colleges and Departments, as the existing system is 60 years old, has reached the end of its useful life and is also very environment-unfriendly.

In addition to student accommodation, the University has a continuous programme of upgrading other student facilities. We are currently building and upgrading sports facilities at both Maiden Castle and Queen’s which will be completed early next year (£11M). The lecture theatres in Elvet Riverside were refurbished in 2008/9 (£2.1M), and other lecture rooms on the science site will be refurbished this summer. The Calman Learning Centre, arguably the best lecture theatre complex in the UK, was opened in 2008 at a cost of £11.9M. The ‘Gateway programme’, currently scheduled for completion in 2012, is an important component in reconfiguring

much of the University estate. It includes a major extension and refurbishment of the main library (£10.5M), a student services building (£13.1M) which will bring together in fit-for-purpose space our studentfacing support services such as careers, student planning and admissions, disability and counselling services, international office and the University executive, a stateof-the art Law School with new lecture theatres and seminar rooms (£9.7M), and enhancement and ‘greening’ of the external environment of the entire science site. Palace Green library is currently being refurbished to bring some of the historic reading rooms back into use and make our special collections more accessible to staff and students for research and study (£2.4M).

There is still more to do, and the University certainly has some properties which are not yet furbished to the standard we would like, but our ambition of ensuring the University not only has the most distinctive but also amongst the best student and staff facilities of any university in the UK is a key strategic goal towards which we are continuing to make very significant progress.

Palatinate News pages 3-5 News Features page 6 Elections pages 8- 9 Careers page 10 Profile page 11 Comment pages 12-15 Sport pages 17-20

indigo

Features page 3-5 Food page 6 Travel page 7 Fashion pages 8-9 Film and TV page 10 Visual Arts page 11 Stage pages 12-13 Music page 14 Books page 15 Games & Photography page 16

Favourites Profile page 11

Exclusive with President Porter

We talk to the newly-elected NUS leader Fashion indigo, page 8 & 9

Internship chic: tips for summer

Chris Higgins Vice-Chancellor and Warden

Office wear that’s not run-of-the-mill Comment Debate page 13

We’re looking for new editors, photographers and writers so why not get involved?And don’t forget to follow our tweets this term.

PROFILE EDITOR Profile is a diverse section that currently has a vacancy for a new editor. In the last few editions we’ve interviewed big names such as Bill Bryson, Nick Clegg, Sir Ian Blair and David Cameron. If you can picture yourself in the role, email profile@ palatinate.org.uk

06.05.2010 No. 718 Contents

Yours faithfully,

Palatinate needs you!

DEPUTY SPORT EDITOR We’re looking for three Deputy Sports Editors to join one of our most exciting and innovative sections. If you’re creative, committed and looking for a new challenge then contact sport@palatinate.org. uk for more information or an application form.

To have your say on anything featured visit palatinate.org.uk

QUEEN’S CAMPUS EDITOR With the two colleges in Stockton often forgotten about, Palatinate is very keen to increase this vibrant community’s profile and disprove some of the myths! If you are a student of John Snow or Stephenson College why not email editor@palatinate. org.uk for an application form.

Style over substance?

Do the parties’ manifestos actually matter?

Palatinate is published by Durham Students’ Union on a fortnightly basis during term and is editorially independent. All contributors and editors are full-time students at Durham.

Send letters to: Editor, Palatinate, Durham Students’ Union, Dunelm House, New Elvet, Durham, DH1 3AN. Alternatively, send an e-mail to editor@palatinate.org.uk

Editorial Board

Deputy Editor Matthew Richardson deputy.editor@palatinate.org.uk News Editor Jack Battersby news@palatinate.org.uk News Features Editor George Stafford news.features@palatinate.org.uk Deputy News Editors Alex Dibble Richard Lowe-Lauri Lucinda Rouse deputy.news@palatinate.org.uk Queen’s Campus News Editor VACANT queens@palatinate.org.uk Elections Editor Daniel Johnson elections@palatinate.org.uk Careers Editor Izzy Barker careers@palatinate.org.uk Profile Editor VACANT profile@palatinate.org.uk Comment Editors Thom Addinall-Biddulph Alexandra Bottomer comment@palatinate.org.uk Sport Editors Rajvir Rai Delaney Chambers sport@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Sport Editors Ellie Middleton-Ross VACANT deputy.sport@palatinate.org.uk Indigo Editors Ally Bacon Rosanna Boscawen indigo@palatinate.org.uk Features Editor Alex Mansell features@palatinate.org.uk Food and Drink Editor Lydia Ashby food@palatinate.org.uk Travel Editor Katy Balls travel@palatinate.org.uk Fashion Editor Antonia Thier fashion@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Fashion Editor Emma Spedding deputy.fashion@palatinate.org.uk Visual Arts Editor Tamara Gates visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk Film and Television Editor Alison Moulds film@palatinate.org.uk Stage Editors Daniel Dyson Sophie Zeldin-O’Neill stage@palatinate.org.uk Music Editors Olivia Swash music@palatinate.org.uk Books Editor Alice Graves books@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Books Editor James Leadill deputy.books@palatinate.org.uk Games Editor Jon Zhu games@palatinate.org.uk Chief Sub-Editor Louise Quarmby sub-editing@palatinate.org.uk Section Sub-Editors Katie Ashcroft, Lisa Paul, Joe Salmon, Mei Leng Yew Website Editor Chris Wastell web.editor@palatinate.org.uk Illustrations Editor Anthonie Chiu-Smit illustration@palatinate.org.uk Photography Editors Jonathan Allen photography@palatinate.org.uk Multimedia Editors Ali Barber Ben Swales multimedia@palatinate.org.uk

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PALATINATE Thursday 6th May 2010

For more news visit palatinate.org.uk

Durham News

Students pay ghostwriters for top-class summatives Richard Lowe-Lauri

Durham students are paying hundreds of pounds for tailor-made essays with a cash back guarantee if they fail to get a 2:1 or above.

UKEssays.com, one of the most successful online ‘essay mills’, has revealed students from Durham have purchased ghost-written essays from them “on many separate occasions”.

The website allows buyers to specify an essay title, word count and degree classification, and promises to test-scan the completed work to ensure it will not be detected by anti-plagiarism software like TurnitinUK used by the University.

A 2:1 essay usually costs £60 per 500 words, though for a three-hour turnaround buyers may pay up to £3,000 for a 2,000 word essay. A first-class undergraduate dissertation can cost as much as £22,500.

UKEssays.com, founded in 2003, insists it does not encourage dishonesty and says students are to use the essays as a “learning resource” and not hand them in as their

own work.

A message on the firm’s website said, “The service we offer is 100% legal, very legitimate and won’t make you a cheater”.

However, University academics and staff have widely condemned the practice as “stupid” and “fraudulent”.

“If a student has cheated, they can be given a zero for a module or expelled from the university” Professor Stephan Regan, head of the Department of English Studies, told Palatinate: “In English, probably more than in any other discipline, an individual writing style is vitally important and this just can’t be bought.

“Our students know that – they all have the capacity to write well – and they would

be loath to hand in essays that they hadn’t crafted themselves”.

A University spokesperson added, “We take plagiarism and cheating extremely seriously and we communicate this policy to all of our students throughout their degree studies.

“We have clear regulations making plagiarism involving any source, including online sites, a disciplinary offence.

“The overwhelming majority of our 15,000 students work extremely hard to achieve their grades and only very few individuals are tempted to cheat.

“If a student is found to have cheated, sanctions can have a significant impact on a student’s academic career as they can include awarding the student a mark of zero for a degree module or, in the worst cases, expulsion from the University”.

UKEssays.com is so confident in the quality of its 4,000 expert writers it promises £5,000 in compensation plus a full refund and a free re-write if plagiarism is detected in the work.

Professor Matthew Ratcliffe, head of the

PALATINATE PHOTOGRAPHY

Bored with Facebook and looking for a flirtatious distraction from revision? The allnew Fitfinder may be your answer.

Imagine Twitter meets the personal ads column of a newspaper and you will not be far wrong: Fitfinder enables its users to announce and potentially contact their library crushes. The website, launched by a University College London (UCL) student last weekend, has now arrived in Durham.

“Users are able to post a short, anonymous description of the ‘fitty’ they have spotted”

A first year Durham student suffering from cancer sadly died in March.

Emma Brown, from Collingwood college, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in July 2009.

She later dropped out of the University, spending her time in and out of hospital receiving medical treatment for her condition. Yet despite all efforts, the cancer spread leading to her unfortunate death at eighteen years old.

Close friends say, “Emma was really strong and brave throughout the whole eight months and always had a positive attitude”. In memory of Emma, they will be running the Race for Life in Richmond Park on June 26th 2010 in a bid to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Elvet Riverside’s own essay-broker?

Department of Philosophy, says the only solution is to get the website shut down.

Welcomed to the site by the slogan “Let us witness the fitness”, users are able to post an anonymous short description of the ‘fitty’ they have spotted on their university’s Fitfinder.

Users are given the option to describe themselves, or provide contact details as well as commenting on the person who caught their eye. Others, including the targeted ‘fitty’, can then comment on the post.

For example, a student in the London School of Economics main library’s government collection made the witty post:

DELANEY CHAMBERS

added a wooden plaque to the statue’s base with an apt quote from Monroe herself, reading: “Well-behaved women rarely make history”.

Although the pranksters left a £10 note to “cover the cost of a damage”, it would appear that the event is now regarded as having gone further than mere college rivalry.

A source from Castle said: “We’re starting to feel a bit disheartened that some people completely misunderstood the idea of trophying, or believe that they have a right to steal our mascot”. Believing that the line between good-hearted prank and theft has now been broken, the college want her firmly back where she belongs.

At the time of going to print, Palatinate’s sources suggested that the statue had been located, and was being returned to its rightful home.

“Female, Black hair. Sexy girl: wanna see how hung my parliament is?”

Closer to home, an invitation from Van Mildert bar read: “Petite girl in a white top...

I want to butter you up and deep fry my love sausage on you”.

Fitfinder is the invention of Rich Martell, a third year computer science student

The site became live on Friday 23rd April and has grown rapidly since then. The UCL site had attracted 20,000 unique users by the end of the weekend.

Twenty universities currently have sites and with 25 posts on average per hour during the evenings, Fitfinder looks set to become the latest revision distraction.

Despite the website’s initial success, it is clear that Fitfinder’s creator remains lighthearted, maintaining that is “only a joke” – an attitude aptly reflected by the slogan “I met my wife on Fitfinder”.

YUM takes control of DSU Riverside Café

Conference censure

Riverside Café, situated on level two of Dunelm House, has been taken over by YUM following an extended period of loss making.

Management was handed over to the University’s catering company in an attempt to reduce the Durham Student’s Union (DSU)’s £130,000 deficit.

Natalie Crisp, the DSU President, said: “Riverside was losing an awful lot of money. When the DSU shop was closed, I had a backlash of students asking why they weren’t consulted.”

In a bid to ensure this situation was not repeated, Ms. Crisp set about publicising the decision for change. “We understand the decision why, but we needed to give people options as to what to do with the space.”

The first stage of the exposure was two consultation meetings, publicised through emails and Senior DSU Reps. The events were to explain what was “really going on,” with University representatives attending to hear students’ views.

Following this, an online poll was re-

condemned Wes Streeting’s votes for the censures. Streeting has responded on his own blog, writing: “I think the letter... was reckless and irresponsible for a number of reasons”.

He stated that the officers’ conduct, however “unintentional”, had reflected on NUS as a whole, causing Durham’s disaffiliation. Streeting further expressed his disappointment that both officers had not been censured, and that the vote had been conflated with the debate on No Platform, something Ms. Crisp had been quick to exclude.

In her blog, Susan Nash, Vice President: Society & Citizenship, voted against both motions but called for an end to abuse of NUS Executive members and the withdrawal of a petition condemning Bell’s censure.

She writes: “It particularly upsets me that the same people who claimed a vote for the censure could run the danger of being spun by the BNP, are now failing to show the same honesty, and clarity about the decision that was taken.”

Rhian Addison

Continued from front page

at UCL. He claims to have been inspired by his friends on the rugby team.

“When we’re revising in the library we all text each other when we see an attractive girl. That planted the idea in my head for a website”.

“The UCL site has attracted over 20,000 unique users”

An unsuspecting student finds she has been spotted whilst revising in the library

leased for students to vote on the decision.

Asked if they would “like a café to be provided in Dunelm House under YUM management”, a total of 81 respondents cast their opinion.

Ms. Crisp said: “It is a little bit disappointing that more people didn’t fill out the polls. I felt it was publicised through all of the available channels.

“We are now doing other things to further cut the deficit, making sure that the Union remains sustainable in the long-run.”

YUM settled comfortably into Riverside at the beginning of this term. Ms. Crisp was keen to assure students that “the space is exactly the same as it was before – the only difference is that YUM is providing the café provisions.”

The room will continue to be used for DSU events such as Planet of Sound and Revolver, and will remain open to student societies.

College meal tickets can now be redeemed in the café, which continues to offer sandwiches, snacks and hot and cold drinks. The success of YUM in Riverside now depends entirely on students’ pockets and tastebuds.

Collingwood fresher dies Minette Paes

Fitfinder website launches in Durham Sarah Ingrams

News in brief

Continued from front page

Durham eatery shortlisted for local award Alexandra Bottomer

The Picnic Basket has long been a favourite haunt of Durham students lunching between lectures.

Following nomination by a customer, the bustling New Elvet sandwich shop is one of three finalists in the running for a prestigious Smooth Radio ‘Love the North East’ award in the ‘Best Delicatessen/Sandwich Shop’ category.

They are the only Durham business to be nominated in any category.

Owner and founder of the popular lunch spot, Tony Moss, said it was “fantastic” to be nominated for an award which seeks to recognise the North East’s hidden business gems. “The award will put my business on the map - I’d like to thank customers for their continued support”. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on 20th May.

Student plans jump for charity Lucinda Rouse

Plans are afoot for a charity bungee jump off a 120 foot crane after the exam period.

Greg Chambers of St Aidan’s college is hoping to raise £6,000, whilst giving students the chance to take the leap off the construction next to St Aidan’s college.

He said, “This site will offer the best views of Durham, and it will undoubtedly be a breathtaking experience”.

The prospective date is Tuesday 8th June, and participants are required to pay £100 in two instalments. There are still 40 places remaining.

Greg, has organised the jump to fund his summer expedition to the Philippines with Coral Cay Conservation, a company specialising in the conservation of coral reefs, local marine life and rainforests.

For more information, e-mail greg. chambers@durham.ac.uk.

Think you could write a great investigative feature?

Want to gain experience in journalism?

Email news@palatinate.org.uk with any story leads or to join the news team mailing list.

Thursday 6th May 2010 PALATINATE

4

Durham News

News Durham

Pope declines Bishop’s invitation to visit Durham DUCK Officer’s Column Mel Punton

Hibalstow Airfield, 12pm. Writing my column from a hangar, having just watched 19 jumpsuit-clad DUCKers leap into oblivion (a.k.a a pleasant Midlands field) from 12, 000 feet. That’s one foot for every pound our skydivers have raised for charity so far.

If that makes you jealous that you haven’t done enough ridiculous things this year, never fear. After exams, we’re sending our second group of Jailbreakers on an epic adventure to see just how far they can get within 36 hours, with the aim of beating our November winners’ epic trek across Turkey.

If you fancy something a bit closer to home and more spherical, we’re running DUCK’s first ever Zorbing event – jump inside a giant inflatable ball and throw yourself down a hill.

You can also visit some of England’s finest cities on an all expenses paid Doxbridge Rag Raid Roadtrip, a brilliant to way to raise thousands of pounds in three short days with your own bare hands. Sign up to all of these things at www.duck.dsu.org.uk And if none of this sounds quite as exciting as falling through the air at 200mph from the height of four stacked Ben Nevises, come back next year for our even more epic Skydive 2011.

Tune in next fortnight to see exactly where our skydivers’ money is going, when we publish the hot-off-the-press results of our annual allocation process!

If you’d like to get in touch with your DUCK manager this term, please e-mail duck.charities@durham.ac.uk.

SCA Column

Rachel-Amy Parlett

“It would have been a privilege to welcome him to the Cathedral” The final itinerary for his trip to Britain revealed that only Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham and London will welcome the Catholic leader.

It was hoped that 2010 would mark the first ever Papal visit to the North East of England. With its rich religious heritage, Durham was also believed to be ideally placed to win the favour of the Vatican.

Prior to the announcement that Durham will not receive the Pope, Bishop Tom Wright said, “The close interlinking of Cathedral and University means that Durham is well placed to host an event which is simultaneously academic and ecumenically spiritual”.

After it appeared that only four cities in England and Scotland will host the 82 year

“The sheer logistics of his visit meant it wasn’t possible” The document, mocking the Catholic Church, suggested that the Pontiff should open an abortion clinic, bless gay marriage and sing a duet with the Queen during his time in Britain. It also said the pope could

Benedict XVI will travel to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham and London during his UK tour

show his hard line on child abuse allegations against Catholic priests by “sacking dodgy bishops.”

“There was never any question that the tour would be cancelled,” said a Foreign Office source.

MP bans troublesome ‘To Let’ signs Neo-Nazi branded a terrorist Jessica Gordon

Unsightly ‘To Let’ signs are to disappear from student housing as of next year. According to a spokesperson from the Durham University Accommodation Office (DUAO) , the decision has been made following liaisons between the City of Durham MP Roberta Blackman-Woods and University officials.

“It is going to make it more difficult to promote our properties to students”

Residents have argued that ‘To Let’ signs are a blemish on Durham’s historical cityscape

comply and it seems more than likely that many don’t”.

Richard Ribchester, from Q Student, expressed his concern regarding the verdict: “From a marketing point of view, obviously it is going to be more difficult for us to promote our properties to students”.

“The removal of ‘to let’ signs would improve the aesthetics of the inner city for inhabitants and visitors alike”

Mei Leng Yew

University Accommodation Officers explained that landlords will be expected to use alternative means of advertising.

Signs in windows will be permissible and the website ‘Studentpad’ on which all DSU approved properties are marketed, is to be promoted amongst students.

Without the intrusive ‘To Let’ signs, DSU Accommodation Officers hope that next year, students will not feel pressured into house-hunting too early in the year.

DAN JEFFRIES

Although the proposal has been under discussion for several years, the plan has only recently come to fruition as a result of pressure from local residents, who feel that the signs are a blemish on Durham’s historical cityscape. Their removal, they argue, would improve the aesthetics of the inner city for inhabitants and visitors alike. The

instigation of the decree is expected to help harmonise relations between students and the local population.

The University Accommodation Officers were keen to point out that there were further incentives besides the aesthetic concerns and the gratification of local residents.

They highlighted the issue of security, arguing that at present, the signs identify easy targets for potential burglars.

The initiative will also improve the reliability of the Code of Standards, which exists to protect students’ rights and to monitor living conditions. Landlords can opt to be checked against the Code as a means by which to be presented as both legitimate and trustworthy if they satisfy.

At the moment, certain landlords use the ‘To Let’ signs as a means by which to present themselves as ‘DSU Approved’ when they do not officially comply with the code. Removing the signs, the DUOA spokesperson claimed, should also raise the integrity of the Code of Standards.

The clause relating to advertising presently states that signs can remain erected for fourteen days. University Accommodation Officers emphasised the difficulties in policing this decree effectively, “Obviously it is very difficult to ensure that all landlords

DAN JEFFRIES

Easter saw the culmination of a year of planning, fundraising and organisation for the CATSS team, who took 22 ‘at risk’ young people away on a highly successful week-long residential. The Thurston Drama Club are also to be congratulated for their Showcase event, allowing thirty eager children to sing, dance and act in front of their friends and family.

As a new term commences, SCA enters exciting times with an enthusiastic new executive team. In the past year, SCA has excelled, establishing new projects such as Recorder Club and the Seaham Project, which organises day trips for disadvantaged youths, as well as improving existing projects and regular events like the oSCArs. With many new executive positions soon to be created, you could really make a change!

Spending an hour gardening, litter picking or helping out in a crèche can be a great way to escape from the exam blues. If you are considering volunteering now, or next year, it’s a great time to get your police check underway and get on the mailing list early.

To get information on any of our projects, pop into the SCA office on the top floor of the DSU, or e-mail community.action@dur.ac.uk to sign up and start making a difference!

Pope Bennedict XVI will not be visiting Durham during a UK tour scheduled for this September. The Pontiff had been invited by the Bishop of Durham and the University to give an academic address at Durham Cathedral.

old Pontiff, Prof Paul Murray, Director of the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University said, “Unfortunately, the sheer logistics of his visit to the UK and his tight schedule meant it wasn’t possible”.

The Very Reverend Michael Sandgrove, Dean of Durham, also expressed his regret.

“It would have been a great privilege to have welcomed him to the Cathedral as both a world Christian leader and a head of state”.

Despite the news, Father Christopher Jackson, spokesman for the Roman Catholic diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, remained optimistic, “I’m sure people from the North East will travel elsewhere to see him and welcome him”.

Meanwhile, there was widespread relief at the Foreign Office after a Vatican spokesman insisted that a leaked memo would have “absolutely” no effect on the planned UK visit.

FLICKR: SAM HERD

Alex Dibble

A 19 year old white supremacist from Annfield Plain, County Durham has been accused of preparing to commit terrorist acts and of helping his father set up an online neo-Nazi group.

On April 14th, a court heard that police discovered instruction manuals entitled “The Anarchist’s Cookbook” and “The Poor Man’s James Bond” on Nicky Davison’s computer last June. These manuals explained how to make explosives, letter bombs and poisons.

His father, Ian Davison, has already admitted to producing the lethal toxin ricin.

Prosecutor Andrew Edis emphasised that “simply having white supremacist views is not what Mr Davison is charged with” but that his involvement with his father’s group, the Aryan Strike Force, is indicative of “taking things a step further”.

According to their website, the Aryan Strike Force aims to “bring all national socialists, nationalists, racists and fascists together”.

The website hosts videos showing members at a training camp held early last year in Cumbria. In these clips, people can be seen dressed in balaclavas, giving “Heil Hitler” salutes and waving Nazi flags.

The accused was an active user on the site’s forum, helping to administrate it.

Although the teenager had not actually committed an act of terrorism, Mr Edis refused to underplay the seriousness of Niky Davison’s actions, “The Aryan Strike Force’s purpose was to be ready to act. If you were able to read all these documents, you could set about committing an act of terrorism”.

Davison has denied three charges of possessing a record containing information useful in committing or preparing acts of terrorism. His father has pleaded guilty to six charges and will be sentenced at the close of his son’s trial, which continues.

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PALATINATE Thursday 6th May 2010

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Durham, national and columns News

Tuition fees and DSU fallout on agenda at NUS conference The National Union of Students (NUS) held their annual National Conference last month, with over 1,000 students, delegates and representatives meeting at The Sage, Gateshead, to elect the 54th national president and to vote on policy proposals for the coming year.

Unsurprisingly, the agenda was dominated by tuition fees and the NUS’ response to the Browne review, due to be published after the general election.

Outgoing president Wes Streeting opened his final Conference, proudly reporting that over 700 parliamentary candidates had signed the NUS’ ‘Vote for Students’ pledge opposing any rise in tuition fees.

The presidential election was similarly focussed on fees and responses to Browne.

Aaron Porter, elected with 444 of the 678 votes cast, opposes tuition fees and co-authored the NUS’ Blueprint with Streeting that proposes a graduate tax of 0.3-2.5% of future monthly earnings.

His victory has been said to show that the majority of students accept that they

must pay, at some stage, for higher education. Rival candidates Bellavia Ribeiro Addy and Chris Marks, however, both advocated free higher education, citing research by Nobel prize-winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz which claims that for every £1 invested in higher education, Britain’s economy expands by over double this value: £2.60.

FLICKR: DREW STEARNE

Ed Mason

DSU President’s Column

“Unsurprisingly, the agenda was dominated by tuition fees” This was repeatedly slated as “pub economics” by Porter and Streeting, who argued that a similar failure in 2004 by NUS to face up to the reality of paying for university had left students worse off.

Durham’s disaffiliation was also debated both in the conference hall and in the event’s fringe events. DSU President Natalie Crisp proposed motions of censure against Daf Adley, LGBT Students’ officer, and Bellavia Ribeiro Addy, Black Students’

Bellavia Ribeiro Addy was censured for her role in events leading to Durham’s disaffiliation

officer, following the now infamous letter sent by the two NUS employees to the DUS, DSU and vice-chancellor last term.

Only the latter was censured, after Adley gave a rousing speech in defence of his support for the No Platform policy.

Salaries soar for university vice-chancellors Erik Polano

Universities across the UK have faced criticism after a Guardian enquiry revealed that the incomes of senior academics has soared over the last decade.

In the face of vast public funding cuts to the higher education sector, heads of universities across the UK are paid on average more than £234,000 a year – a salary exceeding even that of the prime minister.

The high income of the heads, generally known as vice-chancellors (VCs), is especially contentious given that whilst several of their salaries have doubled or tripled in the past 10 years, the average pay for higher education staff has only increased by 45.7%.

The highest-paid VC gets £474,000, and 19 get more than £300,000, including employer pension contributions. The prime minister currently earns £197,000,

plus a pension. Durham’s VC, Chris Higgins, earned £237,000 in the year ending July 2009, placing him as the 72nd best paid university head in the UK. A spokesperson for the University said: “it is not for the Vice-Chancellor to comment on his salary which, like other senior salaries, is set by the remuneration committee.

“Although the VC’s salary, like all other university staff, increased significantly in 2008/09 as part of national negotiations to bring university salaries in line with other comparable organisations, the VC and members of the executive declined to be considered for a pay increase last year”.

Despite this, the general secretary of the University Lecturers’ Union (UCU), Sally Hunt, has expressed her disapproval at this general trend amongst university heads.

She said: “the pay rises senior staff, and

in particular vice-chancellors, have enjoyed in recent years have been a constant source of ridicule.

“Durham’s Chris Higgins donates around £20,000 a year back to the University” “There is no transparency for the arbitrary rises they receive. Those at the top hide behind the clandestine world of remuneration committees as an excuse for their massive salaries”.

Certain vice-chancellors have been quick to point out that they try their best THOMAS WELCH

Minister defends Afghan campaign at Collingwood

the Taliban because they do not support women’s rights was undermined by a recent attempt by the Afghan government to uphold the right of men not to feed their wives if they refuse to have sex with them.

In response, Mr Lewis implied that the UK had to work with the lesser of two evils, suggesting that “sometimes it is not a choice between two great choices”.

“Al-Qaida are the biggest threat faced by this country in the modern world”

George Stafford

Ivan Lewis, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, has defended the war in Afghanistan in a heated debate with students and staff held at Collingwood College in March.

The minister delivered a brief 20 minute speech before taking audience questions in an address that left many members of the student body unimpressed.

The event was the latest in a series of discussions attempting to convince students across the country that UK troops should remain in Afghanistan.

The minister began by applauding the work of the armed forces. He went on to defend the UK mission by stressing the role of Afghanistan in terrorism threats to the UK. “Al-Qaida are the biggest threat faced by this country in the modern world. The fact that we have to deal with that threat in a foreign country makes it difficult for people to understand that”.

Mr Lewis stated that 75% of planned

to aid their universities by donating part of their incomes back to the institutions they serve. Bristol University VC Prof Eric Thomas decided to accept a pay freeze last year, donating £100,000 of his £309,000 income to the University.

Durham’s Chris Higgins donates around £20,000 a year of his own income directly to the University, much of which is used to support student activities. Part of this donation was used last term to support student societies when the DSU had commercial difficulties and had to withdraw some of its funding.

In response to a recent survey, over two thirds of VCs said that they should be allowed to raise the tuition fee cap to £5,000.

It remains to be seen how tolerant students and staff will be to these high salaries once the full effects of public funding cuts come into place.

Students fired questions at Ivan Lewis but felt the Minister’s responses were unconvincing

terrorist attacks in recent years originated either from Afghanistan or mountainous Pakistan, the home of Al-Qaida. The purpose of the UK mission was to support the Afghan government until it had built the police force and army sufficiently enough to ensure that the Taliban, and therefore AlQaida, would not return.

The minister pointed to numbers of Afghan children in schools and recent poll figures suggesting Afghan support for ISAF forces to show that the NATO mission was succeeding, adding: “there has been tremendous, well, significant progress”.

A number of questions were then asked by members of the audience, whose names

Mr Lewis took great care to use in his responses. Questioners raised their concerns about equipment, casualties, and the troop levels of NATO allies.

In the more challenging exchanges, the minister was confronted by the audience’s doubts over the integrity of the Afghan President and the UK government’s refusal to deal with the Taliban. Mr Lewis admitted that Afghan President Hamid Karzai was “a representation of enduring cultural corruption that runs through every aspect of Afghan society”.

One member of the audience also accused the minister of hypocrisy, suggesting that the policy of not negotiating with

Chris Wright from St Cuthbert’s Society was particularly sceptical of the minister’s performance. “I felt that if he had anything original to say on Afghanistan, or any deep insight, he certainly showed no evidence to that effect. I wanted to ask a question, but felt that his response would simply repeat the basic arguments that have been trotted out over the past 18 months.

“Either there is no new or coherent strategy in the region, or Ivan Lewis is not a senior enough government minister to have knowledge of it”.

The sceptical response by parts of the audience at Collingwood suggests that the government is finding it as hard to win hearts and minds in university campuses as it is in Helmand Province.

Visit www.palatinate.org.uk for a full interview with Ivan Lewis.

Natalie Crisp

Over the Easter holidays I attended NUS National Conference, which this year was held in The Sage, Gateshead.

This conference is the supreme decision making body for NUS, where policy is passed to determine its work for the year ahead.

There are also elections for the full time officer positions of NUS (president, and the vice-presidents welfare, society and citizenship, union development, further education and higher education) and the part time exec. It was an odd occasion. Given that we disaffiliated from NUS last term, this was one of the last times that Durham would be able to input into the National Union. We wanted to make the most of it.

Durham sent five delegates in total; Nicky Godfrey, your Education and Welfare Officer, Ben Robertson, your Societies and Student Development Officer, Sam Roseveare, my successor and Ghassan Al-Sammari, ex-Senior DSU Rep from Chads. For a full account of the conference all five delegates have written reports on their time there, which are available on the DSU website.

Feel free to email me at dsu.president@ durham.ac.uk if you have any thoughts.

So what happened at the conference you may ask? Many things were discussed but one of the most notable motions was on whether or not NUS should be lobbying for free higher education. When the vote was taken, policy was passed to ensure that NUS was campaigning to ensure that the cap on tuition fees was not lifted, and to look at alternative models of funding.

We also elected Aaron Porter as the brand new NUS president. Aaron has been to Durham this year when he attended the debate on higher education funding at the start of the year. And finally, DSU put forward a motion of censure against the NUS Black Students Officer and LGBT Officer following the letter I received when the Union Society organised a debate on multiculturalism and invited the BNP to attend.

The letter which Bell and Daf sent was badly worded, although I am sure at the time it was sent with the best of intentions. However, when I asked for clarification on several points within it, particularly their suggestion that I ‘sanction’ members of the Union Society, I received no reply. It was only after two follow up emails from me that a blanket response was sent out to any student who had contacted them at the time.

They contacted us at the same time as the vice-chancellor, going straight to the University and completely ignoring DSU and DUS’ autonomy. I also think it is an absolute disgrace that they failed to contact any of the Union’s liberation officers to offer them support or ask them what they thought about the issue.

In the end the censure against the Black Students Officer passed and the censure against the LGBT Officers did not. This is down to the fact that the conference doors were opened between the two and their supporters were able to flock in and vote the second censure down. Hopefully, though, a line can be drawn under the whole event now. Both officers offered a public apology about the wording of their letter which was gratefully received by all the Durham

Got a breaking news story?

Email news@palatinate.org.uk with any story leads or to join the news team mailing list.

Thursday 6th May 2010 PALATINATE

6

Durham News

News in Focus

Students campaign and vote in election too close to call

Palatinate investigates how students will be voting in today’s General Election. With Durham’s status as a swing seat and Labour on shaky ground, will the student vote end up playing a decisive role in the election’s outcome?

George Stafford and Jodie Smith

Last week, Palatinate took to the streets of Durham to find out students’ opinions on voting, TV debates, being political in Durham and, of course, the party leaders.

The survey found that the majority of Durham students intended to vote, with most planning to support either the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats.

Only a meagre 12% of those asked planned to vote for Labour, in addition to a few Green supporters and one defiant BNP voter.

Many of those who we asked expressed their disillusionment with politics by stating that they refused to support any political party.

Some said that they wanted to vote, but had missed the deadline to register.

It seems that most Durham students did not take the oppurtunity to support a candidate in Durham, preferring to vote either by proxy or postal vote for politicians standing in their home constituencies.

There was a difference in the voting in-

tentions of those casting their vote in the City of Durham, rather than elsewhere in the country. Support for the Conservative Nick Varley standing in Durham was almost half that of support for Conservatives in other parts of the country.

Instead, support for Durham Liberal Democrat candidate Carol Woods and the incumbent Labour MP Roberta BlackmanWoods was high, reflecting the fact that the Conservatives have little chance of winning in this particular constituency.

Response to the survey was diverse, with students ranging from extreme Thatcherites to pacifist socialists.

Conservative supporter James Blithe said he was voting Tory because “Labour have destroyed the prospects of our generation by condemning us to years of high taxes to pay off their debts caused by reckless spending.”

Liza Benedict told Palatinate that her vote would support Gordon Brown, because she was worried that a Conservative government would remove benefits for single mothers.

One girl, who preferred not to be named, said that she had been planning to vote Lib Dem, until “My Daddy told me that Nick Clegg was a fad and said I should vote Conservative.”

There was only one BNP voter, Billy Lucas, a Modern Languages student from Hild and Bede. When asked for his reasons

for supporting Nick Griffin, Billy’s only answer was “In my view BNP stands for Banter Nationalist Party.” Not all students take politics as seriously as us, then.

A small minority of Durham students have taken part in the election campaign.

Palatinate spoke mostly to canvassers and leafleters, but met one girl who was working as a “teller” for the Liberal Democrats on election day, ensuring that as many of Clegg’s supporters would get out and vote on May 6th.

Finally, the vast majority of Durham students watched at least one of the three televised debates. Few said the debates had changed their voting intentions, although many agreed that the debates had helped them decide. The majority of those who had changed their support due to the TV debates had moved to support Nick Clegg.

Palatinate talked to the leaders of the University’s political societies to find out what students had been doing in the run up to the GeneralHigElection...

“Vice-Chancellor gins said “there is little Conservative Liberal Democrat Labour Club value in comparing Association Society our estate with those of Name: Michael Karim Name: Jack Stallworthy Name: Callum Totten wildly different “Will the University College: Trevelyan College: Castle College: St Aidan’s institutions”.”

Course: PPE Course: German and Arabic really be able to sustain Course: Combined Social Sciences their building maintSociety Campaigning Activites: Association Campaigning Activites: Club Campaigning Activites: ance whilst financing Door-knocking, telephone canvassing and leafleting by a core group of around Door-to-door canvassing in Durham, participating in the NO2ID Campaign, Leafleting and canvassing mostly in other areas of the North-East because They have also participated in the ten very active members, plus occassional others. They have also set up a library supporting Liberal Democrat candidate Carol Woods in the debate at the Durham is not a Conservative target theseat.£60 million Union Society.

NO2ID campaign and supported their candidate in the Union Society debate. stall, and delivered direct mail to livers-in.

Durham Project?”

Why he thinks you should vote Lib Dem: Why he thinks you should vote Conservative:

Why he thinks you should vote Labour:

“Personally (as for the majority of Durham students) a vote for Labour won’t make me or my family any better or worse off financially. However, it will help to build the form of progressive society I want to live in and, unlike the Conservatives, we will not slow the rate at which we advance towards this fairer society for all. For Labour progress is a value, for the Conservatives it is a political tool.”

“This could well be an election to define a generation - given the opportunity with your vote, the Lib Dems can press for a politics that breaks up the LabCon consensus, pushing for values that I think match many students’ concerns: scrapping tuition fees, tackling climate change, protecting civil liberties, making Britain fairer, and tackling the deficit in an way such that when we graduate, there remains a thriving economy we might find a job in!”

“By voting Conservative we can build a ‘Big Society’ without the interfering, over-arching state that voting Labour or Lib Dem can only lead to, which is responsible for the heavily indebted, apathetic, broken Britain in which we live today. Only voting Conservative can result in less state intervention in our lives, ensure we don’t get five more years of Gordon Brown, and provide the change in direction that this great country of ours needs.”

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Thursday 6th May 2010 PALATINATE

General Election 2010 Special

Gaffe gallery Sarah Parkin

The moment Gordon Brown heard his description of Gillan Duffy as a “bigot” played back on BBC Radio 2’s The Jeremy Vine Show

Of course, it’s not just the Opposition who have managed to shoot themselves in the foot recently; Gordon Brown will be haunted by “Bigotgate” far beyond polling day. After talking to a pensioner in the street who challenged him on immigration, Brown thought it was safe to vent a little frustration about the “bigoted” woman he had just been “put with”.

He would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for that pesky Sky News microphone he was still wearing. Brown was “mortified” or “devastated”, depending on which senior Labour figure was defending him - so much so that he had to return to Oldham that afternoon to personally apologise.

There are many more gems of quotes to treasure in this election: Boris Johnson said that Cameron’s plan for a National Citizens’ Service should be “as compulsory as possible without cheesing people off”. John Prescott said of David Cameron, “It’s not the baby face that worries me, it’s the baby mind”.

One cabinet minister told the Financial Times that “Gordon isn’t going to make things any better for us. He’s just got to make sure he doesn’t make things any worse”. Maybe we should cast our vote for whoever amuses us the most - it’s just a shame the Monster Raving Loony Party never picked up on this tactic.

Candidates clash answering students’ questions at Union Society Daniel Johnson

F

our of the Durham City candidates engaged in a lively debate with students last Wednesday, in a ‘Question Time’ style forum in the Durham Union Society (DUS).

Roberta Blackman-Woods (Labour), Nigel Coghill-Marshall (UKIP), Nick Varley (Conservative) and Carol Woods (Liberal Democrat) faced questions from students covering a range of issues, including the manner in which the local campaign has been conducted.

In their opening remarks the usual scripted party lines, with some exceptions, came to the fore. Mrs Blackman-Woods, the incumbent, identified her priorities as “reforming our democracy... cleaning up politics” and “investing in high levels skills”.

Mr Coghill-Marshall, in a moment of perhaps self-defeating candour, admitted that sometimes he does “wonder whether I can do it”. He also spoke of his party’s desire to “reduce the level of the public sector”, in addition to increasing spending on defence by 40%, insisting that “UKIP is not just a one-trick pony”.

He also condemned the other three contenders for their lack of honesty regarding public spending, “They’re all singing the same song: ‘We’ll make some cuts, we don’t know where, we don’t know when’ ”.

Mr Varley, still a student himself, seemed most at ease in the environment, speaking humorously as well as authoritatively about his desire to “revolutionise schools”, making them “free from bureaucratic controls”.

When propounding what he believes are the three main reasons to vote Conservative, he quickly corrected himself, saying “honestly, there’s loads”.

“They’re all singing the same song; ‘We’ll make some cuts, we don’t know where, we don’t know when” With the Liberal Democrats coming second in 2005, Mrs C Woods was keen to stress that although it has been Labour for decades, Durham City “is a marginal seat”.

Clearly playing to the student audience, Mrs C Woods was eager to mention that “we are the party that says we will abolish tuition fees”, with the added caveat that this would only become reality long after those

reading have left Durham.

She insisted that “your vote here will make a difference”. However, the Liberal Democrat candidate quickly came under fire for the nature of her campaign literature.

Leaflets which compare Gordon Brown to Margaret Thatcher, encourage tactical voting, and heavily criticise the record of Mrs Blackman-Woods, were attacked by students as failing to live up to her party’s claim that they represent a break from the “old politics”.

“Carol Woods wants you to vote at 16, but if you stand as a candidate at 20 she’ll attack you” Mrs Blackman-Woods added, “The Lib Dems know they are telling lies... I think it’s truly appalling”. Mr Varley echoed these sentiments. In reference to the Liberal Democrat policy to give the vote to 16 year olds, he jibed, “Carol Woods wants you to vote at 16, but if you stand as a candidate at 20 she’ll attack you”.

DUS President Rory White-Andrews told Palatinate that he “felt the forum went brilliantly and provided an example of how a debate between the candidates should be. From the very first question, which focussed on negative campaigning, all of the candidates were forced to think on their feet and were undoubtedly challenged” Commenting on the performance .of the other candidates, he added that “the general consensus after the debate was that Roberta had probably won, whereas Carol was almost universally thought to have lost, even by her supporters”.

Whilst this was a good opportunity for students to engage with the local candidates, it failed to live up to the buzz and passion seen when Wes Streeting was forced to answer questions from students surrounding the cancelled BNP debate.

Perhaps too much respect was given to the candidates, as they were allowed to spout the national policy rhetoric, limiting the chance for student-speaker interaction.

Polling Stations Kentworthy Hall, St. Mary’s College St. Nicholas’ Church in the Market Place St. Oswald’s Institute, Church Street United Reform Church, Waddington Street St. Leonards RC School, North End

Roberta Blackman-Woods : Rebutted Carol Woods attacks over expenses well and stoutly defended her record as an MP. One criticism of Mrs Blackman-Woods’ time in Westminster, is that at times she seems too eager to vote with her party. However a notable exception is her opposition to tuition fee rises and influence within the party has enabled her to secure a good deal for Durham and the North East.

ROBERT BURGESS

There has certainly been a delightfully long list of monolithic blunders since the campaign began. Here’s some of the very best...

To start off, we should celebrate “Call Me Dave” Cameron’s spectacular interview with Gay Times, where he stumbled when questioned about the Parliamentary votes to allow civil partnerships in Quaker churches, as well as his MEPs’ extremely right-wing and allegedly homophobic allies in Europe.

Cringeworthy enough that he hesitated and insisted that he didn’t check MEP votes, the interview was abruptly ended at Cameron’s desperate request. He then claimed that doing a TV and press interview simultaneously was confusing him, hence, all he could think of to say was “Can we stop for a second?” If you haven’t seen it, it’s an interesting study of where laughing stops and cringing begins; definitely one for the Hall of Fame.

After this, the last thing the Tories needed was another blow to their gay rights credentials. An honourable mention goes to the Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling, then, who was recorded at a meeting at the Centre for Policy Studies saying that bed-andbreakfast owners should be allowed to refuse entry to gay couples.

An impressive display, as this managed to set Grayling at odds with the equality legislation that he would have to enforce in government, and rumour persists that his face is still firmly attached to the dartboard in the party’s PR office.

Congratulations, Chris.

Labour and Lib Dems CHRIS WILLETTS

Gaffe: (n) An unintentional act or remark causing embarrassment to its originator.

Also informally known as a “boob, booboo” or “clanger”.

For our exclusive interview with Nick Clegg, log onto www.palatinate.org.uk

Nick Varley: Unsurprisingly, Mr Varley proved to be a hit with the Union Society audience but he wasn’t afraid to highlights points of disagreement with his own party. In particular, his opposition to tuition fee rises, as well as his desire to maintain a mostly appointed House of Lords. However, his inexperience, and the Conservatives’ traditional lack of support from Durham voters surely makes his election to Westminster extremely unlikely.

Constituency Profile

The City of Durham has been a Labour stronghold for the past 60 years, but it is a much closer fight t this time around than it has been in living memory. Since the end of the Second World War, the con- v stituency has been represented by just three men: Charles Grey from 1945 to 1970, Mark Hughes W until 1987 and Gerry Steinberg until 2005.

The Liberal Democrats are clearly targeting the constituency as a winnable marginal seat this e

General Election 2010 Timeline Week One Day 1 (April 6th): The Prime Minister heads off to the Palace, to ask the Queen for a dissolution of Parliament, with the BBC’s helicopter following him every metre of the way. With wives at their sides, (in Nick Clegg’s case, his political wife Vince Cable), the three leaders begin a month of intense campaigning at breakneck speed.

Day 2: The final PMQ’s of this discredited, rotten Parliament. Cameron portrays Brown as a man in denial of reality, as the proposed NI rise continues to dominate the agenda.

Day 7: Labour unveils their manifesto and how they plan to build “a future fair for all” (notice the emphasis on the future). Amusingly, Lord Mandelson describes it as a “Blair plus” manifesto, no doubt to the displeasure of Brown.

N d i h w

Week Two Day 8: In their manifesto, the Tories reach whole new levels of rhetoric, offering an “invitation to join the Government of Britain” to the electorate. With a hint of JFK and Obama, Cameron declares that we need to “trust in the wisdom of the people”.

Day 9: The Lib Dems’ manifesto launch is a decidedly lower key affair. At this point, Vince Cable, the self-termed “elephant man”, was their most prized electoral asset, thus the manifesto had a strong economic focus.

Day 10: The first leaders’ debate:

an undoubtedly historic event. It is not only the first of many, but it’s the first time the Lib Dems are finally able to portray themselves as genuine contenders. Clearly Gordon Brown’s favourite line of the night (“I agree with Nick...”), did not serve him well as Labour plummeted to third in the polls, with the Lib Dems surging to roughly 30%. Shame about ITV’s 80s-style studio.

Day 14: One poll declares that Nick Clegg is more popular than Winston Churchill. Boris Johnson however, with typical candour, describes Clegg’s rise as “the biggest load of media-driven nonsense since the funeral of Diana”.

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PALATINATE Thursday 6th May 2010

Follow us at twitter.com/palatiELECTIONS

General Election 2010 Special

ROBERT BURGESS

battle for Durham

Jack Battersby

Lib Dems accused of dirty tricks Callum Totten

T

he City of Durham’s Labour and Conservative candidates have accused the Liberal Democrat candidate Carol Woods of being involved in a campaign to smear Labour MP Robert Blackman-Woods, just one day after the election was called.

The story emerged after the Conservative candidate, Nick Varley, received a phone call from Parish Councillor Ian Fawcett offering involvement in an attempt to attack Roberta Blackman-Woods, the incumbent Labour MP.

“The Lib Dems described the affair as ‘a complete non-story’ ”

Carol Woods: Woods is realistically the only candidate with a chance of beating Mrs Blackman-Woods in this election. Standing in both the 2001 and 2005 general elections, Woods has gradually reduced Labour’s majority. Yet in this debate, she seemed nervous and struggled to defend herself when criticised about the negative manner in which her campaign has been conducted.

TweetMinster

CHRIS WILLETTS

The alleged smears concerned the MP’s attendance at a West Rainton Parish Council meeting. However, Mr Varley told Palatinate “there’s absolutely nothing wrong with what Roberta had planned to do…I have rejected the smears absolutely”. He also said that the Councillor had offered to do “anything to discredit this woman”.

In an issued statement, Carol Woods described the affair as “a complete nonstory”. She added, “the individual involved

was a disgruntled ex-member of the Labour party who announced his resignation from the Lib Dems weeks before he made this call”.

In a counter-offensive criticising Labour’s “failure to deliver fairness”, Mrs Woods claimed that “the fact that Labour would prefer to talk about an answerphone message rather than try and defend their record, shows just how scared they are of losing this seat at the General Election”.

Mr Fawcett, who had formerly been a Labour County Councillor, had recently returned from a six month suspension from the position of Parish Councillor after allegations of misconduct and bullying.

Fawcett has made no statement concerning the allegations.

These allegations came amidst wider criticism by the Labour and Conservative candidates of the Liberal Democrats campaign strategy for the use of negative personal attacks.

Roberta Blackman-Woods claimed that the smear campaign “is the kind of thing we have come to expect in Durham where the Liberal Democrats have been personally and erroneously attacking me for many years”.

Although the Liberal Democrats polled just 7% less than Labour in 2005, these allegations have the potential to hinder the Liberal Democrats’ claim to be the only party capable of cleaning up politics and to stand for a different type of politics to the

How did you tune in to the leaders debates? Over the past three Thursdays, millions of viewers followed these historic events using two screens – a laptop perched on the knees in front of the television.

This was a major innovation, making it possible for social networking sites to use “sentiment analysis” to understand how viewers felt about what they were watching.

During the third and final debate, Twitter users posted a peak of 51.7 tweets per second. Linking to blogs, YouTube and political websites, these 140 characters of insight have become a firm part of the electoral landscape.

Counting positive tweets only, analysis by Cambridge-based firm Linguamatics found that Nick Clegg came out on top – attracting 37% of attention, with Brown and Cameron lagging behind on 32% and 31% respectively.

But despite all the buzz around ‘Election 2.0’, critics and commentators are still unsure of how important social networking will be.

It is clear that television has defied the internet to lay claim on the best moments of this election.

A couple of candidates have cost themselves their political lives by their ill-advised use of Twitter. The Labour candidate Stuart Maclennan forgot people would read his description of the elderly as “coffin dodgers” and Nick Clegg as “a bastard”. Unsurprisingly, he was hastily reprimanded.

Over 1, 000 PPCs support NUS ‘Vote for Students’ pledge Azeez Siddiqui

T

Nigel Coghill-Marshall: UKIP’s candidate instantly gained some sympathy from the audience due to the fact that he is self-funding his campaign. Mr Coghill-Marshallmade some interesting contributions to the debate, particularly on defence yet struggled to sufficiently establish himself as a serious contender in this election. Unfortunately, he was an easily forgettable whilst likeable candidate.

time around, as Nick Clegg visited the seat just one day before election day (For our exclusive interview with the Lib Dem leader go to www.palatinate.org.uk).

In the 2005 general election, the Lib Dems polled 40% of the vote, restricting Roberta BlackmanWoods’ majority to just 3,247 votes. The split between the local and student vote adds another element to this campaign.

Week Three Day 17: In a moment of frenzied panic, on the morning of the second ITV debate, the Tories’ PR deparment desperately try to halt Clegg’s rise in popularity, with headlines such as “Clegg in Nazi slur on Britain”. This time aired on Sky, the debate focuses primarily on foreign affairs and Cameron’s marked euroscepticism chimes with a segment of popular opinion. Clegg manages to contain the damage of his party’s proEU policies and mostly sustains his meteoric rise in the polls. Thankfully, Adam Boulton’s chairing is far better than that of Alastair Stewart, who just seemed to intermittently bark, “David Cameron!”

Day 20: Nick Griffin is secretly filmed comparing East London with Nairobi.

Week Four Day 23: The “Bigotgate” scandal envelops Gordon Brown in a whole new world of electoral pain. It doesn’t get more schoolboy than describing a stout Labour supporter, Gillian Duffy, as a “bigot” while your microphone is still attached.

Day 24: Enter the calm serenity of David Dimbleby, and the final leaders’

he National Union of Students (NUS) campaign ‘Vote for Students’, has been signed by over 1, 000 Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPC), who have pledged to vote against any increases in tuition fees in the next Parliament.

The candidates who have signed the pledge include 200 Labour candidates, 400 Liberal Democrat, 200 Green and 200 UKIP. In contrast, just 13 Conservative candidates have signed the pledge.

The four main candidates for the Durham City constituency have also signed the pledge, with other notable signatories including Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and the Labour Immigration Minister Phil Woolas.

The pledge reads: “I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next Parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative”.

debate on the BBC. ‘It’s the economy stupid!’ Yet honesty regarding where the axe will fall regarding spending cuts, is in short supply from the three party leaders.

Day 25: Labour brings some desperately needed glow to their campaign, in the form of Tony Blair and his formidable tan of course.

Day 27: Cameron launches his “contract for jobs” whilst Gordon Brown hits 10 constituencies in one day: I hope for his sake it wasn’t “Sue’s idea”.

Day 28: Ed Balls publically encourages Labour supporters in Lib DemTory marginals to vote Lib Dem to keep the Tories out of office in a moment of electoral desperation.

Day 30: Nick Clegg visits the Durham Union Society. Head to www.palatinate.org.uk for our exclusive interview.

Wes Streeting, NUS President, said “Our pledge will highlight to students in a straightforward fashion which candidates plan to defend student interests”. Aaron Porter, NUS President-Elect added, “It is encouraging that so many of those likely to be taking seats in the next parliament have made a commitment to protect the system of student fees from further damage”.

However, as a Palatinate poll shows (page 6), the majority of those questioned said their vote will not be cast in Durham, reducing the effect of the student vote in the Durham City constituency.

Students represent nearly 15% of the voting population, and the NUS research suggests 75% of students will be voting on polling day. Yet, the degree to which an NUS survey is an objective source is perhaps debatable,and the signatories of 200 Green and 200 UKIP candidates are almost irrelevant as the overwhelmingly majority are unlikely to be elected into Westminster on May 6th.

Week Five Day 31 (Today): Polling day. After just over four weeks of incessant poll watching, TV debate spin rooms, outcome predicting and the political battle of the three leaders lives, it’s finally time for us all to cast our vote.

Content taken from the General Election 2010 Blog. Thanks to all those who contributed!

Stuart Maclennan, the Scottish Labour candidate who was suspended for making offensive comments on Twitter. He has since admitted his comments were “very stupid”

“Bigotgate” was the product of a joint effort between the 24 hour news cycle and, interestingly, a radio interview. The most memorable footage of this election is likely to be that of Prime Minister Gordon Brown hand-on-head after hearing his comments played back to him live on Radio 2.

“You’ve got to remember that this was me being helpful to the broadcasters with my microphone”, argued a semi-defiant Brown.

It isn’t surprising that a nation accustomed to the world of reality TV was ready to pounce on the debates.

The message to politicians is clear: the internet alone does not yet have the power to win elections. For the majority of voters, television, newspaper and radio continue to play the biggest role in shaping perception.

Follow us at: twitter.com/palatiELECTIONS for more news & views on the general election.

Read our Election 2010 Blog at www.palatinate.org.uk Want to write for Elections?

E-mail the section editor at: elections@palatinate.org.uk to join the mailing list.

10

Thursday 6th May 2010 PALATINATE

News and Information Careers

Careers Is traditional careers advice outdated?

Catherine Adamson

The view from the dizzying heights of the top

Many Durham students want top jobs, but do they know what employers are looking for?

Tom Mitura

CHARLES CROSBIE

Source: www.notgoingtouni.co.uk

The latest news in the graduate jobs market Advice from the Careers Advisory Service

H

aving scored well in their A-levels and been to a top university, most Durham students hope to go on to have successful careers, with many aiming to head out into the City. However, top jobs in business and finance are incredibly competitive to get into. Investment banks receive hundreds of applications from good universities per place, so the truth is that for every student who secures a placement, dozens will graduate without the glamorous City job they expected to walk into.

The most important thing people tend not to realise is just how early the application process starts. Most firms recruit on a rolling basis, meaning places are filled up as soon as the applications are received.

Though most firms say their deadline is in December for interns and November for graduates, unless your application is in before mid-October, your chances of hearing back will be severely narrowed.

“Top firms will receive 150 - 350 applications for each place”

Each firm will then have its own assessment process, but most will begin interviewing and making offers as early as October. Many firms will give as many as three quarters of their graduate job offers to interns, so securing a good internship in your penultimate summer is very important.

The second mistake people tend to make is being sloppy with their CV. If you are aiming for a top career, it is not enough to get a 2:1, do a bit of sport, and slap together a scruffy CV. Top firms will receive 150-350 applications from good universities per place, of which they will interview 10-30, and then make only the one offer.

Internships and graduate jobs in the city are increasingly hard to come by, so get by with a little help from Tom Mitura

To be chosen for interview, your CV needs to stand out. Presentation skills are key.

Most people will put together a CV when they come to apply by thinking of the various things they have done. A much better approach is to think in advance what your long-term aim is, and what firms in that area will want to read on a top candidate’s CV. Then, get involved in those things.

Make your CV relevant to the profession you are applying for; do not just list everything. A private equity firm could not care less that you played the violin at the age of fifteen. However, make sure you include a few sentences that give an idea of what you are like as a person. If you are very involved in music and play in an orchestra, then put in a section about your participation in music. But the most important focus should be on your skills and activities that are directly relevant to your business. And finally, never lie. All firms will perform detailed background checks on everything you tell them,

so there is no way you will get away with it.

Finally, there will come the interview stage. The key thing here is to show that you would fit in as a top employee. Do not arrive looking like a student, with big messy hair, a cheap suit with wine stains, and stand in the corner biting your lip and looking through your notes. Imagine instead you are a professional from a competitor firm, and have come to negotiate a deal.

terviewer wants to hear. Think of how your boss would want to see you represent the bank or your team at a meeting; that is what they want to see at the interview.

Get reading on the industry and firm you are applying to. Firms may make you give presentations about how much you know about them. For business and finance an understanding of world economics is crucial. If you want to be an investment banker, read up on securities and valuation techniques. Know exactly how much money each investment bank has. Also, find out what tests you are likely to take at assessment centres, and practise them to perfection.

And finally, make and use as many contacts as you can. Do not be afraid to ask for people’s business cards and send them a few emails; they do it themselves. If you are smart, switched on and socially comfortable, most people will be happy to put in a good word for you.

“The most important focus should be on relevant skills”

You want to look as smart and reliable as all the professionals, be polite, but at all times remain confident. Shake hands hard, hold eye contact, and talk in a controlled voice. Give answers that are personal to you rather than general ones you think the in-

Intern, beware: you’re being exploited!

Organisation Intern Aware campaigns for the minimum wage to be extended to interns Lyndsey Fineran

The future for interns appeared a little brighter this week, with the launch of a new campaign to push for minimum wage for all interns.

The movement, led by the campaign organisation Intern Aware, was started in response to the government’s pledges on the Milburn Report in which the need to improve social mobility in multiple areas of the professional and educational world was highlighted.

The report, issued in July last year, saw former minister Alan Milburn calling for a fairer professional world and “a second great wave of social mobility”. Arguing that access to high status jobs should be widened, Milburn stated that top professions such as medicine and law are being closed off to all but the most affluent families. “We have raised the glass ceiling but I do not think we have broken through it yet…what we have got to do is open up these opportunities so they are available for everybody”.

Ben Lyons, co-director of Intern Aware, noted how “Fair Access to the Professions identifies the corrosive effect of internships on our society and the future prospects of our young people. In accepting these conclusions, the government is to be lauded.

But they do not go far enough”.

A crucial way for aspiring professionals to get their foot on the career ladder is through the internship process. Yet, as

less affluent backgrounds.

“The answer to the problem of social mobility,” continued Lyons, “lies not in kitemark standards or small-scale loans 20TH CENTURY FOX

The vast majority of students will have experienced careers advice at some point during their lives in school. But what is the actual value and use of this advice? New research carried out by notgoingtouni.co.uk found that schools leavers feel pressured into attending university by teachers and careers advisers. 28% stated that their parents expected them to choose an academic route and 20% felt that this was the only route presented to them by careers advisers.

The government announced last month that they are setting up a ‘careers profession taskforce’ to help school careers advisers become better informed.

Traditional careers advice has been shown to consistently fail to provide young people with information about the full range of options available to them. With one in four students in the UK dropping out of university, it is clear that something needs to change.

Notgoingtouni.co.uk highlights the fact that the majority of school pupuls are not being presented with enough information about vocational careers, despite this option rising in popularity: in 2009 approximately 230,000 people joined an apprenticeship scheme compared to 183,700 the year before.

This has been heightened by the recent economic recession, as around 80% of apprentices finish their course with a qualification and go straight into paid work afterwards. This is in stark contrast to graduates, who are generally laden with debt and struggle to find work when they leave university.

In addition to this, employers also feel that those students with vocational qualifications can be more useful than those without. When questioning employers about their views, 52% of those asked believed that the job market was littered with people who have purely academic qualifications, and 68% of employers thought there were too few candidates with vocational qualifications and practical skills. 56% of employers also believed schools place too much emphasis on academic achievement.

Sarah Clover of notgoingtouni. co.uk had this to say of the findings: “notgoingtouni.co.uk was founded in order to give young people an honest and unbiased view of the wide range of options open to them when they leave school. Despite the name we are in no way against university, but sadly experience has shown that many career advisers are ill equipped to provide guidance on apprenticeships and other vocational opportunities, leaving young people feeling that university is the only option available to them”.

In order to ensure that young people undertake a study or training method that suits them, career advisers must be made to learn about the options outside of the traditional university route and also to understand the benefits of such training programmes. We welcome the government initiative to get careers staff motivated and knowledgeable about the full range of opportunities available to our young people and hope that it ensures the right advice is given out to everyone when faced with making decisions about their life after school.”

Follow us on Twitter @palatiCAREERS

Are unpaid internships restricting access to professions and stifling social mobility?

many young interns find, the fact that most intern positions are unpaid means that the internship becomes blocked for those from

to interns. It lies in the government’s own national minimum wage legislation. Currently interns are being treated as employ-

ees, without their rights - or, crucially, their wages”.

Progress is being made, however, with the Reading Employment Tribunal ruling in November of last year that expenses-only internships are illegal.

Lyons concludes: “Intern Aware believes it is only through clarifying and implementing this law that real change can be made”.

Intern Aware is the UK’s only campaign organisation working for fairer internships, currently led by three young people who are all former interns themselves, and exists as a network of campaign teams across British universities. It has amassed support from various bodies, including Unite (parliamentary branch), MPs, including former Labour and Conservative ministers, and the NUS. Susan Nash, vice-president of society and citizenship for the NUS, wrote: “NUS is proud to support the Intern Aware campaign. Interns are too often exploited, overworked and undervalued, doing work which employers should pay for.

“As someone who undertook an internship, I understand first hand the challenges facing interns in parliament and beyond.

NUS looks forward to working with the Intern Aware campaign to fight for better rights for our members”.

13

PALATINATE Thursday 6th May 2010

Check out our archive of interviews at palatinate.org.uk

Profile

Interviews Profile

Look inside the minds of today’s big movers Interviews with those shaping the world

Aaron Porter: NUS President Elect

The next NUS President talks to Palatinate about degree classfication, dissafilitation and higher education funding Vincent McAviney

The National Union of Students (NUS) held its annual conference in Gateshead over Easter and aside from reprimanding renegade officers, delegates elected a new President.

The successful candidate Aaron Porter, a University of Leicester English graduate, was elected with an overwhelming majority (65%) of the vote in the first round of counting, defeating current NUS Black Students’ Officer Bell Riberio-Addy (27%) and Chris Marks, Vice President (Education) of Hull University Students’ Union (4%).

Described by outgoing two term NUS President Wes Streeting as “the right person to deal with the challenges students face in the coming year” Palatinate interviewed a jubilant Porter shortly after his victory.

“The right person to deal with the challenges students face in the coming year” P: So what are the first issues on your agenda to tackle?

AP: It’s a really significant period that we’re going through, so as far as I’m concerned it’s celebrations over and time to really focus on the challenges that lay ahead.

Most immediately it’s thinking about how students can make a difference to the upcoming general election.

NUS has been successful in putting a simple pledge to all candidates from all parties and that pledge is asking them not to vote for an increase in fees in the upcoming general election. Now we’ve managed to get 1000 candidates to sign up which is more than any other campaigning organisation on any other issue. What we need to do is ensure that students make an informed decision about who they choose to vote for.

P: Do you think that the Browne Review was specially timed to take higher education funding out of the election?

AP: I would say almost certainly that there was cross party consensus amongst the Labour and Conservative parties to ensure that it wouldn’t report back until well after the general election. It’s given all of the main parties the excuse to try and hide behind so that they don’t have to lay out their position and from our point of view that is simply not good enough.

P: Aside from the ing of the review, how do you feel the process is going and do you

tim-

think it’s consulting wide and thoroughly enough?

AP: The terms of reference are very broad for the review and that’s something that NUS welcomes. I think a narrow focus on undergraduate fees wouldn’t have been good enough and actually there is the opportunity to look at the whole way in which higher education is funded. Looking at students in full and part time study, undergraduate and postgraduate.

I have to say in credit to the review group, so far, I think they are genuinely looking at all aspects of how higher education can be funded. We wait to see how they will process that information and the recommendations that they will make.

P: Do you think students will have a better outlook under a possible Labour Liberal Democrat government or a Conservative one?

AP: In the run up to the General Election I am going to ramp up the dialogue that we have with the Liberal Democrats which has already been significant but make it even more so.

Clearly the Liberal Democrats have benefited at previous general elections and I believe they will benefit at this general election because of their position on fees. Now that it looks like they may well for the first time in decades actually have a prospect of being part of a government.

I want to see them put their money where their mouth is and for me I want to send a message directly to the Liberal Democrats and I plan to clearly take this directly to Nick Clegg in the coming weeks. But I would want to see the Liberal Democrats make education funding a deal breaker in any possible coalition whether that be with Labour or indeed with the Conservatives because for them to have gained the electoral advantage that

they have over this issue I would want to see it translated into actual policy.

I should also caveat this by saying that we also need some urgent clarity from the Liberal Democrats on student numbers.

Yes their commitment on fees is appetising and lots of students are voting for it as a result, but they have given no detail on the number of people going to university and this is something that NUS continues to believe should be afforded to all of those that have the ability to be there because that benefits individuals but it also benefits the state.

“I want to see the Lib Dems put their money where their mouth is” P: Durham’s Vice Chancellor Chris Higgins argued that Durham and other elite universities should be able to charge more for their degree, how are you going to combat this call from these universities for a variable scale?

AP: On the issue of variable fees I think that’s deeply damaging because what it does is ensure that students make decisions on where to study based on the amount of debt they are prepared to take on and not so much about their abilities to perform at a particular institution. But worse than that I don’t believe that the institutions that want to charge the higher fees will necessarily be delivering better quality just because one institution might charge twice as much as another. I don’t have confidence to suggest that fees will correlate with quality.

However, I don’t completely reject what Professor Higgins says: if we can evidence why a particular degree is more expensive to teach at one institution compared to the next then I think there is a case to say that the funding from government, not from the student, but from the government, could be contested such that where it’s more expensive at one institution they get a higher level of funding. I think its slightly irresponsible for vice chancellors to go around making these claims when they haven’t properly evidenced what they are saying or provided the concrete figures as to why a particular degree at Durham deserves more money from government than that a same degree from another institution.

P: How do you feel about Durham disaffiliating from the NUS? AP: Clearly it’s disappointing that Durham students chose to disaffiliate, however I recognise the anger that two of our officers caused on campus and I think it was right for them to apologise and I think it was right for Wes to apologise directly to the students of Durham. I now focus on supporting Durham Student Union and the students of Durham as effectively and closely as we can during the remaining period they have as affiliate members. I think this sends a clear message to NUS that we need to be sure that we get serious about articulating our benefits to all students and I hope that at some time in the future we can make the case to the students of Durham again that them being part of NUS helps us to be stronger but also that we can make the lives of students at Durham better too.

P: In your election speech you stated that you wanted to make NUS more than just a discount card, what benefits would you highlight to show Durham students why they should have stayed affiliated?

AP: I think there is a range of different things we could do to make the value of NUS more pertinent and relevant to students on the ground.

“I don’t believe that the institutions that want to charge the higher fes will neccessarily be delivering better quality”

Firstly I would say it’s about helping to ensure quality leadership within the students union but also it’s thinking about the day to day issues that students face on their course. NUS has the clout to kick up a fuss if contact time isn’t enough. NUS I believe will play a significant role in ensuring fees don’t go up as much as some people would want to see them up, and I believe we can still win on ensuring they don’t go up at all.

Also just in the last few weeks we’ve managed to ensure that students in houses of up to £200,000 get their deposits back within a guaranteed time period. These are things that students experience when they are at university and I have to say that in the absence of there being a national union many of those things wouldn’t be one but I do recognise these are testing times financially for student unions and so we want to make sure that if you’re going to affiliate to us you’re going to get value for money and something that’s relevant to the students at Durham.

P: If the Cambridge, Durham or Oxford Union Societies attempted to put on a similar debate in future, how would you respond?

AP: Firstly I think its imperative that NUS learns lessons from what happened, and when there are serious issues like this I have pledged that I will take personal responsibility for them and that would be open and constructive dialogue with the stu-

dent union and I may well write to the student union and the debating union about why I think the BNP on the campus is dangerous. There is factual evidence that shows when the BNP visit a campus outbursts of violence rise. However, it is not NUS’s right to dictate to any union what they should be doing. We will simply make a case using powers of persuasion, we will not dictate and we should certainly never threaten.

P: Something else that has been in the background recently is the classification system of British degrees. Lord Mandelson would like to see a different system to the current classifactions of first, second and third class degrees. What do you think about this and do you think there is a better alternative system?

AP: I’ve been explicit on this in the past, I believe the current degree classification system has long since passed its sell by date. It’s setup around a system set up several hundred years ago when there was an element minority of the population going to university and so it was fine when there were 3-4% of the population going to university, but we are not in a mass higher education system and I simply don’t believe the current degree classification system is fit for purpose.

Over the last two years I’ve been working with Professor Bob Vergers who’s the vice chancellor of the University of Leicester on a new system called the Higher Education Achievement Record (HEAR). A more detailed description/report of what a student achieved both academically and would also include some non-academic achievement of students during their time in higher education. I believe that after three or four years of study students deserve more than a simple number for their achievement. We should have a breakdown of their module scores, brief descriptions of what each module entails and a breakdown of the types of assessment, exams, coursework, group work etc, so students can be better equipped to articulate where their strengths lie but also employers are able to make a more informed decision about whether a particular student would be well suited to their particular work environment.

P: What would you have liked to achieve at the end of your one year/two year presidency if re-elected and where would you like to take NUS? AP: I want to see NUS having been at the forefront of a fairer deal for students off the back of the Browne Review but also I want more students to be able to say that they believe that NUS has delivered something for them. We’ve got to utilise every possible form of communication to articulate what we do and we’ve got to ensure that our structure is as transparent and open as possible so that students that want to get involved with us feel that they can and ultimately shape what we do.

For more of our interview with newly elected NUS President Aaron Porter head to the profile section at our website: www.palatinate.org.uk.

We currently have a vacancy for Profile Editor. If you are interested, in applying or would like more information, email editor@palatinate.org.uk

Thursday 6th May 2010 PALATINATE

12

Comment Featured article

Comment From the Union With the most important General Election for a generation set to take place this Thursday, it is more important than ever for students to take an interest in events happening in the wider world.

Although the unwelcome prospect of exams is currently dominating most of our lives, taking time to reflect on a subject other than your degree can be refreshing and revealing. With debates on the state of private education, the World Cup in South Africa and also the file-sharing of music, I hope that the DUS can provide some form of escape from the tedious monotony of revision.

One of the Union’s greatest strengths is that it is offers its members quality events throughout the year, and hopefully this Easter term will be able to meet the high standard of debates and socials that happened in both Michaelmas and Epiphany.

Despite being back only a week, two events have already taken place this Easter. On Wednesday 28th April the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and UKIP candidates for the City of Durham took part in a special ‘Question Time’ style General Election forum.

With a wide variety of questions, which covered a range of subjects including negative campaigning, the future of Trident and how to save the environment, all of the candidates had to be at their very best in front of very engaged and passionate audience.

In contrast to the leadership debates, which were stifled by overly oppressive rules and regulations, the forum was lively and combative, especially when Carol Woods, the Liberal Democrat candidate, was confronted by both Nick Varley and Roberta Blackman-Woods about her apparent use of negative campaigning.

At the first Friday night debate of the term, the Union debated the motion ‘This House would reintroduce National Service’. Speaking were Lieutenant General Robin Brims CBE DSO, Godfrey Bloom MEP for the proposition and Major General Andrew Ritchie and Professor Michael Bohlander for the opposition. In what proved to be highly entertaining debate, the opposition eventually triumphed despite the valiant efforts of the proposition.

Upcoming Events In the next seven days the Union is hosting a number of high profile events.

On Wednesday, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, will be doing an address in the Chamber. This Thursday, the Union is hosting a General Election Night Party in 24 North Bailey.

Tickets cost £6 and can be purchased from our office. The final event of the week will take place on Friday when we will be debating the motion ‘This House believes private schools are not in the public’s interest’. With two former candidates from ‘The Apprentice’, a headmaster and the director of ‘Teach First’, it should be a fantastic and entertaining evening.

Our writers discuss topical matters This edition: Do the manifestos matter?

What can we all learn from Iceland’s volcano?

The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull has caused problems, and yet there has been a good side Ally Bacon

A

s I write, volcanic ash is still amongst the clouds disrupting air travel and leaving over 150,000 Brits stranded across the globe. Durham skies, by contrast, are bright and clear with housemates happily stuck somewhere off the coast of Spain sipping sangria.

Simply put, people cannot fly. That is the basic problem, and it’s not like being “stranded” in an exotic location for a few extra days does anyone any particular long-term harm. What has become apparent is that instead of zipping across the sky we have a moment of pause and reflection amongst the pandemonium.

Of course, however, there are the upsetting tales of people missing weddings, funerals or chances to say good-bye to dying relatives, or spending life-savings on taxis home (as John Cleese did all the way from Norway). The aviation industries have currently lost over £1bn with share prices in British Airways and others literally plummeting as I write. Naturally this can’t be good for our economy, for fruit and flower farmers, for parents stranded with small babies, for Iceland’s reputation, and for those who may actually be hurt by the volcano directly or indirectly.

“Dozens of rabbits were reported darting across empty runways at Heathrow”

Barely clear of the turbulence wreaked by the global financial crisis, it’s a terrible time to be in the travel business right now.

“Airlines are still weak,” Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at brokers BGC Partners in London wrote in a note to clients six days into the event. “This will have made them a lot weaker”. But judging the eruption’s impact on the European economy, which was itself knocked off course by the recent financial storm, is far trickier. “As each day goes, the situation will impact more on the wider business community and economy”, Wheeldon wrote.

Nonetheless, I look up at the skies right now and they are vacant. People everywhere are reflecting, communicating and empathising with one another. Bird song has not ceased since the early hours, and dozens of rabbits were reported darting across empty runways at Heathrow. Rarely do I see so many strangers speaking to each other on the train up to Durham, yet a couple who bought bicycles in Rome, and spent the last few days traversing up through France to Calais and across the Channel, entertained the carriage with tales of their epic journey; the pair left with nothing more than sore arses, sunkissed skin and a brilliant story to share.

Of course, a few anecdotes and bunny rabbits are not going to stand much in the way of the rotten losses to an already bludgeoned European economy. Yet the initial impact of events much like the volcano may appear to be dramatic now but, months down the line, they should be little more than a glitch on the economic graphs and charts. Not many can remem-

ber the explicit details of the scare story of that ‘Big Freeze’ during the winter for instance. The global financial crisis left many banks and businesses scathed and bruised but are now still standing relatively tall, the disaster predicted by many was averted and countless lessons were learnt.

From a journalistic point of view, right now this particular story is a gem. It is not often that something covers so many areas of interest and expertise, from the lesser-known scientific mechanics of a volcano eruption to the dramatic effects on the British and European economy and people’s personal lives. It has also quite literally overshadowed the General Election for a brief period of time.

It has, personally speaking, been rather pleasant to switch on the news and not see Cameron’s shiny face quite as often. Good timing Mr. Volcano.

If anything, the event has given Brown a platform again; he is after all, as I write, still leader of this country and regardless whether or not the massive Navy ship rescue operation was a political ploy, it remains interesting to see how those in power react at a time of genuine crisis, proving a fair deal about their respective capabilities and co-ordination skills. Furthermore, many other countries have been affected too, resulting in productive dialogue opening up between world leaders and aviation industry executives of Spain, France, Germany, the States and countless others in trying to solve this volcanic transport mess.

Man has always been a problem-solving creature. We love our puzzles. If we find ourselves stuck at the top of a mountain, there is a good chance we will find an ingenious way to get off it, much like those clever folk who managed to navigate themselves from as far away as Beijing back to London without hitting the airways once.

We love spooking ourselves with both big disaster and epic adventure stories, as much in real life as in the film world too.

That is why this event is so attention-grabbing. We should, however, not ignore that Mother Nature was pretty much vomiting on the Earth by way of magma and ash. The way we treat our world is, as we all know, doing damage to our ecosystems and atmosphere; the copious science behind this need not be listed, despite the Daily Mail often trying to grant Man excuses by claiming “it’s not our fault”. Fact is, the aviation industry is relatively culpable for climate change.

It’s not to say that the volcano was caused directly by climate change, but what it has done to lessen the effects of carbon emissions is remarkable. Levels of CO2 have tumbled dramatically over the past few days. According to the research of scientists at www.informationisbeautiful.net, the European Aviation industry alone pumps out 344,109 tons of CO2 per day. This is in stark contrast to the approximately 150,000 tons of CO2 emitted by the Icelandic volcano. Sure, it’s a hefty lot of emissions still, but over 206,465 tons is being saved by 60% flights being cancelled across Europe. Yes, we have lost a heck of a lot of money, and I do not envy those stuck without food or phones with work to do and people to see but, as the dust settles, and perhaps it has done so completely by now, we can reflect on everything that has happened. Man was stopped in its tracks by nature, now we need to listen to its message.

Business people will hopefully realise that a video conference worked just as effectively as being there in person, thus spending a few hundred quid and wasting

ÖRVAR ATLI ÞORGEIRSSON

Rory White-Andrews

Debate with us on Twitter @PalatiCOMMENT

The fiery eruption of Eyjafjallajökull has, at least temporarily, changed the face of our world

time travelling for an hour long meeting in New York City will be proved unnecessary. This is especially so if one is able to afford added pampering and luxury on these flights and a five foot Toblerone in duty-free.

Chris Moyles, the Radio 1 DJ, managed to conduct his music show in a New York recording studio without worrying about rushing home, so why can self-important CEOs not just do the same, and stay put without blocking out half a week in the diary with a “very important business brunch” in Milan?

“Having to wait a day for a ship to arrive to rescue people taught us patience and humility” Having to wait a day for a ship to arrive to rescue people taught us patience and humility. It is not often that we have to wait that long for anything at all, with packages from Amazon arriving swiftly the next day, and the ability to get information almost immediately by simply typing a few words into Google. Waiting this long for things is unusual for us.

Are these acts of kindness in carshares, of international co-operation, of unity and empathy a brief flame of the goodness of humanity rather like wishing everybody glad tidings at Christmas time? Or can we learn from nature, and ground ourselves with the basic skills of patience and problem-solving once again?

Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy penned an ode to grounded Britain on the fifth day of grounded flights, and though it might not resonate so much for the hundreds caught up in the mess, it offered us a chance to reflect with her on the quiet skies.

There are good lessons to be learnt from Mother Nature, man is not as in control as we love to believe we are. We have been humbled. Perhaps as fresh new faces enter Parliament, and people defined and moulded by their unique travel experiences begin to scatter back into the UK, we shall see that many lessons have been learnt from this so far and must be absorbed. And the witticisms as a result of all this that have flooded Twitter and Facebook have been a delightful distraction from revision, with Cheryl Cole the only thing no longer blowing ash a personal favourite. As Duffy thus put it in her poem ‘Silver Lining’: Five miles up the hush and shush of ash, Yet the sky is as clean as a white slate — I could write my childhood there.

Selfish to sit in this garden, listening to the past (A gentleman bee wooing its flower, a lawnmower) When the grounded planes mean ruined plans, Holidays on hold, sore absences at weddings, funerals ... wingless commerce.

But Britain’s birds sing in this spring From Inverness to Liverpool, from Creith to Cardiff, Oxford, Londontown, Land’s End to John O’Groats.

The music’s silent summons, That Shakespeare heard and Edward Thomas and, briefly, us.

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PALATINATE Thursday 6th May 2010

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Debate Comment

Do manifestos actually influence the election outcome?

In the wake of the TV Election Debates, it remains to be seen if policy or popularity will win over the electorate CONSERVATIVE PARTY

Chris McQuillan YES

NO

O

S

ix months ago, not even Nick Clegg’s wildest dreams would have seen the Liberal Democrats sitting atop public opinion polls just weeks before the general election. Their sudden and meteoric rise has taken opposition parties by surprise.

The cause of this sudden swing? Simple.

The sudden exposure of the Liberal Democrats programme for government on a public platform.

Whether feasible or not, Nick Clegg’s proposals for a Lib Dem government have struck a chord with the electorate up and down the country, with previously committed Tory and Labour voters deciding to switch allegiance. In the first televised debate, Clegg was on a stage with two vastly more experienced candidates in terms of national media exposure. With Brown’s experience and Cameron’s charisma, it should have proved difficult to find any collective weakness. In the end, he did not need to find one: Clegg presented a policy-based manifesto and outlined a government that promised what the people wanted to hear.

“The endless bickering between Cameron and Brown for many voters has grown tiresome” The endless bickering between Cameron and Brown for many voters has grown tiresome: in difficult economic times, voters care less about who’s airbrushing whose posters, and more about policy that will help them and their families recover. And in the aftermath of the expenses scandal, David Cameron “lost” the first TV election debate - will it damage the rest of his campaign? with the Conservatives and Labour tak- matter of policy. The arrival of the third par- government he presented came across as ing the brunt of the media attack, the Lib- ty has shattered the foundations of the old being more thorough, more logical than eral Democrats have managed to emerge traditions, and transformed this election at those of his opponents. Even though the relatively unscathed (at least until the other least into a question of policy once again. Liberal Democrats’ policies have been subparties lock Nick Clegg’s colleagues in their The “top two” parties have long opposed jected to less scrutiny than the other parties, research crosshairs). Against this backdrop the idea of a three-way leadership debate, and thus their implausible pledges have yet of recent events, when an alternative ap- and after seeing the upsurge in support for to be truly exposed, they resonate with the pears preaching promises of fundamentally their smaller rival, it’s easy to see why. The voter. rebuilding the House of Lords, scrapping comfortable peace is gone. tuition fees and giving people the power Whether or not this swing in the polls to sack corrupt MPs, the electorate posi- reflects a real change in the voting choices tively purrs with satisfaction. The others are of people across the country remains to forced to limply “agree with Nick” for fear of be seen, but Clegg’s party seems to have looking utterly out of touch with the wants enjoyed relatively sustained approval since of millions. Even plans to scrap the Trident the first debate. People – it seems – have Nuclear Deterrent, which have opened remembered what they heard, and rememLabour’s manifesto is perhaps the most the Lib Dems up to criticism from many bered how much they liked it. realistic, being very upfront with where analysts and experts, go down well with the The other parties have, of course, since they are going to have to make their cuts. electorate. “They would scrap something rounded on the same Liberal Democrats Sadly, in politics, honesty is scarcely rewardnuclear, and it would save us all money”. As to whom before they sidled up, promising ed. The electorate will gravitate naturally buzzwords go, they are rather striking. a bountiful alliance should we vote for a towards the programme for government hung parliament. But now the “king-mak- that benefits them the most, provided the ers” have become outside contenders for programme gets enough exposure. the throne itself, the best way to stop them Whether the Liberal Democrats can afis to distract them; drawing them into the ford the promises they make or not, their battle of personalities. policies hold promise for many. They have, Suddenly, in recent days, there have in short, got people excited. been attacks on Clegg that are of a far more Realistically, of course, it is extremely unpersonal nature. The aim seems to be to likely that Nick Clegg will be our next Prime take attention away from policy once again. Minister: constituencies and the first-pastJust how big a difference the Liberal Dem- the-post system are heavily weighted in the ocrats’ programme for government will Labour Party’s favour. make depends on how well Nick Clegg can But one thing is certain: for better or for Thus, the leaders’ debate – broadcast to stand up to these attacks, and keep reaching worse, the Liberal Democrats programme some ten million people – has changed the the people with his policies. for government has made people take nonature of the electoral game. Gone are the After all, Clegg did little on stage in the tice, and come May 6th the composition of days where the riders in a two-horse race first debate that made him stand out from the House of Commons may be very difhurled insults at one another, making the Cameron or Brown in terms of presenta- ferent than anyone would have predicted a election a popularity contest rather than a tion. It is simply that the programme for year ago.

“Sadly in politics, honesty is scarcely rewarded”

“Whether or not this swing in the polls reflects a real change in voting choices remains to be seen”

Alexandra Bottomer

h, if only policy was paramount.

Can you imagine an election where manifestos actually mattered? A vote where objectivity reigned over popularity? A fairytale where people voted on issues, rather than personality?

“No” is the answer which springs to mind.

An election invigorated by sensible policy fuelled debate? Don’t be daft. Anyone who seriously believes that a party’s proposed programmes for government critically affect the outcome of the election either has failed to notice the vast influence of the media furore or is idealistically deluded.

I am not wishing to underestimate the intelligence of the British people or to overestimate the ability of the media to influence the masses. It cannot be doubted however, that our electorate is fundamentally lazy. The apathy of the voting public is astonishing and incredibly worrying. In 2005, only 37% of 18-to-25 year olds voted in the general election. This translates to more than three-fifths of potential votes in this age group alone being lost in the ether of indifference which has anaesthetised many elections of recent years. So many people, rightly or wrongly, are so disengaged and alienated by politics that voting is just no longer on the list of things to do. With all three major political parties (and several of the more minor parties too) squabbling over a narrow strip of centrist ideology, it becomes easy to claim that any vote is a wasted vote, as the differences between the three leading parties are negligible. This could not be further from the truth. Yet, the only way to discern clear difference between the parties is to closely and astutely analyse policy.

Being realistic, how many people sit down and objectively read each party’s manifesto in order to conclude which candidate will best represent them in Westminster? I imagine very few. Furthermore, how many people carefully consider their local candidates policies for representing a constituency?

Estrangement and a lack of knowledge seem to be a common, yet under-reported phenomenon in British politics. Take the party leaders, for example: Nick Clegg was born and raised in the Home Counties, went to school in London, studied at Cambridge and yet is MP for Sheffield Hallam.

David Cameron, born in London, raised and schooled in the Home Counties is MP for Witney in West Oxfordshire. Prior to winning his seat, he had previously stood for election in Stafford, which is even further removed from his home turf.

“Being realistic, how many people sit down and objectively read each party’s manifesto?”

Gordon Brown does represent a constituency which is not too far from his home town; however, this is all too often the exception to the rule rather than the norm.

Quite how any MP can fairly and sensitively represent a constituency when they have little empathy with the local electorate is a bafflement frequently overlooked in our political system. No amount of research, polling or canvassing can substitute genuine

knowledge and concern for a constituency.

The purpose of a General Election is not simply to choose a Prime Minister to be the face of Britain on an international stage. It is also an opportunity to choose an MP to represent the collective interests of a constituency in Westminster. Yet, I think it is all too likely that at the ballot box, the names of local candidates will have been forgotten and instead, Messrs Brown, Cameron and Clegg will be at the forefront of the electorate’s decision.

The leaders’ debates have added a whole new dimension to this election. Suddenly the public and the media are closer to their leaders than has ever been possible before.

For the first time the electorate have been given the opportunity to question their leaders about the issues that matter most to them (well that is the theory, the “representative audience” and the questions asked are carefully selected by TV producers – a truly free debate would be a bit too risky, one would imagine).

“At the ballot box, the names of local candidates will have been forgotten and instead, Messrs Brown, Cameron and Clegg will be at the forefront of the electorate’s decision”

Yet, this newfound freedom on behalf of the electorate has only succeeded in adding further confusion to the fray. Some would argue that the TV debates have allowed the politicians to be quizzed on policy and grilled on their political approach more than in any other election. However, as a swing voter and as a TV viewer, instead of concrete policy all I have heard is the same old rhetoric from all parties and nothing to really make anyone sit up and listen. It seems I am not alone: 9.1 million viewers tuned into the first debate, as opposed to only 4.9 million for the second debate, a shocking downturn if ever there was one.

The so-called “Clegg Effect” following the first debate has been churned over in the British press for weeks now. Yet, I would argue that it is not his policies that caused the surge in support but the fact that the public were able to encounter a fresh face on the scene.

I suggest that it is not the differences in policy which point towards a hung parliament, but the perceived similarity between parties which makes it impossible to choose between the parties.

It seems as though all campaigning between debates has ground to a halt. People now wait in earnest anticipation of the next debate, where they can listen to policy being made up on the spot, hear important decisions glossed and spun to the hungry media and follow snapshot popularity polls on a minute-by-minute basis.

By the time this edition is in print, the third debate will have been aired and the country will be going to the polls. It will be interesting to see if the electorate has finally decided to put policy at the forefront of their decision-making, or if, instead, they have succumbed to the X-Factor style popularity contest the TV debates have engendered.

Thursday 6th May 2010 PALATINATE

14

Comment Opinion

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SexyT v. MoD: when discrimination claims become sexist Tilern DeBique’s lawsuit against the Ministry of Defence is an affront to many years of work towards women’s rights

J

ust when women thought the workplace was becoming a more equal environment, the very laws of equality originally passed to support and encourage women are becoming more detrimental to their careers and sexual equality than a chauvinistic employer.

Feminists the world over have been fighting for decades for the same rights and treatment as the world’s men and are slowly but surely winning the fight against bigoted views to allow women to partake, contribute and enjoy a fair and equal society. However, their valiant efforts may have been in vain.

“By making her claim, Tilern insulted soldiers who have not received such huge payouts” Like all laws established to protect the rights of those prone to prejudice, some will exploit them for compensation. I am not talking about those who have an acceptable claim to compensation such as soldiers badly wounded and no longer able to work or women who are genuinely victims of sexual harassment in the office, I’m talking about those voracious enough to take advantage of the nanny state that we are fortunate enough to benefit from, should we have a legitimate reason to do so.

Tilern DeBique or SexyT, was recently

awarded over £17,000 after suing the Army for a farcical sexual and racial discrimination claim. Thankfully, the payout was just one percent of what she was demanding because I dread to think of the lethal effects that a £1million loss for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) would have on our soldiers and their equipment shortages out in Helmand.

She is a typical example of individuals believing they have a right to everything and anything. Yes, we do have rights; but I feel that it works both ways and that a citizen should not necessarily earn those rights but should respect them and appreciate them, not abuse and exploit them. So many, all over the world do not have these simple rights. By making her claim, Tilern insulted soldiers all over the world who, having suffered extreme levels of psychological and physical trauma, have not received such huge payouts and women who have to suffer extraordinary levels of sexism every day and yet cannot do anything about it.

Her case was particularly absurd owing partly to the fact that whilst she was complaining of a lack of adequate childcare provisions from the MoD, who had offered her a job with childcare at Blandford, she was also applying for a post in Afghanistan. This would mean months away from the child – not really the actions you would expect of a devoted mother who claims she cared so much for her child that when she was forced to choose between the army and her child, she chose the latter. And not only that, her ridiculous claim cost the taxpayer over £100,000 – I think as well as better equipment, the MoD need better lawyers.

The army’s decision to discipline her for missing parade is, in my opinion, not sexist in the slightest. If you apply for a job, especially one as demanding, timeconsuming and unpredictable as a soldier, you need to make sure that your home

US ARMY KOREA- IMCOM

Natasha Coral

Discrimination claims like the one made by Tilern DeBique are forcing employers such as the armed forces to think twice about hiring women

life does not become disruptive. A single father would not be able to claim sexual discrimination if he missed the parade to look after his child, so why should she?

It had nothing to do with her gender.

I’m not saying that mothers, or indeed single fathers, should be limited in their employment opportunities. I believe, in fact, that women should be able to pursue any career they so desire and should have the support to do so. Companies should provide childcare for single parents; however, the MoD is not a normal office job.

Alas, having children does limit employment opportunities in all sections of the economy and not just for women. If one wishes to procreate, that is a downside that has to be accepted – life changes and the

boundaries of individual freedom do too.

The reason I disagree with these types of claims, especially from women, is that they are paving the way for more sexism - albeit perhaps indirectly. Employers are becoming increasingly scared to hire females because of the legal baggage that accompanies them.

“Unfortunately, a few badly behaved women ruin it for the rest” Women these days know their rights down to a (sexy) T which, although empowering, causes feelings of distrust and

antipathy towards potential female employees especially when employers are aware that they can drag you into a nightmare for a simple and often fallacious sexual harassment or sex discrimination case. And why not? When calculating women like Tilern are those potential employees. I certainly would not want to hire them, so why should anybody? Unfortunately though, those feelings extend towards all of us – a few badly behaved women ruining it for the rest.

Regrettably, I have just been rejected for my 479th work experience application so to cover the embarrassment of this and my obvious failure as an undergraduate, I have decided to sue for sexual discrimination because it’s obviously the fact that I’m female that is putting them off - thank you SexyT.

The START treaty is a guiding light for UK nuclear policy

The recent pact between the US and Russia provides inspiration for renewed efforts on nuclear non-proliferation THOMAS HAWK

Richard Lowe-Lauri

I

f, like me, you revised far too little over Easter, or grew astonishingly bored of the endless election campaign coverage spewed out by the media, you may have heard something about the nuclear arms deal agreed between the USA and Russia last month.

If not, let me enlighten you. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), signed by US President Barack Obama and his Russian equivalent Dmitry Medvedev in Prague on 8th April, limits both powers to 1,550 nuclear warheads and 700 deployed and non-deployed launchers. This is a 30% reduction from the previous ceiling established in the 2002 Moscow Treaty.

It has been hailed a historic landmark that Mr. Medvedev claims will “create safer conditions here and throughout the world”.

Now, I’m all for unilateral disarmament, but the cynic in me never misses an opportunity to use the phrase ‘fat chance’. After all, 1,550 nukes remains a lot – enough to unleash apocalypse several times over. Cutting an incredibly large figure to a smaller but still incredibly large figure that retains the capacity to do exactly the same damage as the original incredibly large figure is bizarre.

And, of course, the weapons being scrapped are cold war relics, not the latest in nuclear weapons technology. Considering

the billions spent keeping them functional every year, it is no wonder the critics are calling this deal a political stunt. On the surface, it’s just another bit of international diplomacy that will affect our lives diddly-squat.

Yet there is much more to it than that.

Are we naïve enough to expect both superpowers – the two nations that hold over 90 percent of the world’s nukes – to throw all their weapons down together at once and call “timeout”? Sure, arsenals might remain considerable, but the treaty’s real significance is not in facts and figures.

Its importance is as a benchmark in international security and non-proliferation.

“Considerable arsenals remain, but the treaty’s real significance is not in facts and figures”

The nuclear bomb remains a danger to us all

For one, the agreement (which two decades ago would have been unimaginable) heralds a significant improvement in USRussia relations, and opens the possibility of further cooperation between the USA and Russia in other global issues. Such a diplomatic breakthrough also gives President Obama a significant boost ahead of this month’s review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – the strengthening of which is crucial to the US leader’s efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

It places extensive pressure on noncom-

pliant states like Iran to renounce any nuclear weapons ambitions too. By reinforcing the legitimacy of non-proliferation, the deal makes Iran’s refusal to come clean on its nuclear programme seem unreasonable, and may increase support for sanctions from hitherto reluctant powers such as China.

And what of the UK’s own nuclear deterrent – Trident? I say deterrent.

It’s more an outdated virility symbol most of us assume we cannot do without (lest Doctor Who is finally ‘exterminated’ and a Dalek mothership appears on the fringes of our solar system).

We need to follow the example set by the USA and Russia and join in the pursuit of a nuclear-free future. It is no longer good enough just to sit back and pay lip-service to multilateral disarmament; this is a global issue that necessitates a global response.

Even if a world without nuclear weapons is an extremely difficult and far-away goal – and perhaps one unachievable in our lifetime – that does not mean it’s not worth striving for.

It is absurd, then, that the question of a Trident replacement programme is currently excluded from the 2010 Strategic Defence Review (SDR), due to take place after the election. Call me an idealist or tell me (like Gordon Brown so eloquently put it to Nick Clegg on national television) to “get real”, but the value of any nuclear deterrent requires serious evaluation.

Given the present state of our economy, it’s rather difficult to justify spending the estimated cost of more than £80 billion

replacing the fleet of submarines. That is a lot of money – money that could be spent on frontline troops, military training, aircraft, armoured vehicles, frigates, artillery and air defence, landing craft and assault boats, infantry section equipment, engineering equipment and logistic vehicles, surveillance and communications equipment and even counterterrorism work.

Why instead do we insist on pouring our resources into replacing a nuclear programme we will, in all likelihood, never use?

“We can still play a leading role in achieving a more secure, less dangerous future” Of course, there are more affordable alternatives to a like-for-like replacement, and whoever wins this election is obliged to give those options equal consideration.

Yet the case for disarmament must not be suppressed by that oft-repeated politician’s maxim, “we live in an uncertain world”; Trident or its replacement, however expensive, is hardly going to make it safer.

We cannot ‘uninvent’ the nuclear bomb, but we can still play a leading role in achieving a more secure, less dangerous future. For that end, it is time we reasserted ourselves as a global player, not by replacing our nuclear deterrent, but by scrapping it altogether.

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PALATINATE Thursday 6th May 2010

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Opinion Comment

Democracy should not be taken for granted by the West Thom AddinallBiddulph

T

oday is a major day for the United Kingdom. Some might call it a historical crux point. Those people would, frankly, be exaggerating, but it is undoubtedly true that the general election being conducted as you read this will be of major significance to the country.

Deciding on who governs us, and how we want them to govern, is one of the most important rights, and arguably duties, we have; it is sometimes one we take for granted, though, failing to consider the nature of government and of democracy.

At this juncture no doubt you will be worrying this is moving into a rant about political apathy. That is not my intention here. The reason I have been thinking about this is due to various stories from around the world that I have been following recently.

Whilst we obsess over whether David Cameron’s purple tie in the second leaders’ debate was a come-on to UKIP voters, nations all over the world are going through real, physical struggles concerning their government. I have particularly been paying attention to Sudan, Niger, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, and Thailand.

Here, with the threat of an apathy rant passed, you are probably fearing a rant about how the West should stop navelgazing and count its lucky stars that we have a functioning liberal democracy. That is not what this is either. My point is more about the government, democracy, and the assumptions we may make about them.

If we look at the West African nations I mentioned above, Niger and Guinea-Bissau, we see unstable coun-

tries both of which have recently faced military coups or attempts at such.

It’s a measure of how depressingly frequent and predictable these coups are in Africa that my first reaction on reading what had happened in Guinea-Bissau was to Facebook my co-editor with a message along the lines of ‘remember when we said there’d be another coup in Africa soon enough…’, which we had indeed mused when pondering content for this term.

BRIAN GLANZ

Recent coups and uprisings around the world remind us that, for many, government is more complex than a vote

“We are forced to ponder if our model of democracy does work” The apparent coup in Guinea-Bissau does now seem to have passed, though not before the deputy army chief threatened to kill the prime minister. A successful coup would have followed a recent West African model. Niger’s civil government was deposed earlier this year, whilst Guinea has excelled itself by executing a coup against the government, establishing army captain Moussa Dadis Camara as president, only for a second coup to be executed a few months later against Camara, who was replaced by his deputy Sekouba Konaté.

Meanwhile, in the east of the continent, Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir has just been reelected president in an election from which most of the opposition parties withdrew.

We have long since moved past the racist colonial view of people from the non-Western world as ‘savages’. Thus we are forced to ponder if our model of democracy does, necessarily, always work: in nations as unstable and rife with corruption as these, the devil’s advocate would argue that sometimes coups become necessary. This has certainly been the view of successive mili-

Despite aggressive Western foreign policy to spread democracy, many people do not value the maintenance of active democracy at home

tary leaders in Pakistan. This seems a ridiculous and outdated thing to be saying, and I am not arguing for coups over democracy.

It only occurs to me that, in the comfort of our fairly definitely secure democracy, we may not often consider exactly what it takes to govern in different circumstances.

“We may not often consider exactly what it takes to govern” I also mentioned Kyrgyzstan and Thailand. These are two nations that have recently undergone democracy of a very literal kind: the forcing out of Kurmanbek Bakiyev from the presidency and the country in Kyrgyzstan, and the protests and counter-

protests going on in Thailand against, and for, the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva.

What interest me about these countries is the apparent impossibility of a fully democratic solution as we would understand it.

Bakiyev became president only in 2005 on the back of the ‘Tulip Revolution’, that ousted his predecessor Askar Akayev. Many people in Kyrgyzstan have turned against him because they believe he has been increasingly as corrupt and authoritarian as Akayev. There is now a provisional government in place under Roza Otunbayeva. We have to wonder how long her administration will last. After all, the Orange Revolution that brought Viktor Yushchenko to power in Ukraine in 2004 was swept right back out again in a legitimate election this year.

In Thailand, meanwhile, protests have been raging for several years now between supporters of the ousted prime minister

Thaksin Shinawatra, the so-called ‘red shirts’, and the ‘yellow shirts’, who support the current government. As long as Vejjajiva or his allies remain in power, the red shirts will never be satisfied. If supporters of Thaksin return to power, the yellow shirts will be furious. How exactly this situation can be rectified has yet to be discovered.

If this seems like simply a catalogue of recent uprisings and coups in far-flung places, it is. Though we are unlikely to move away now from liberal democracy in the cultural West, that trend is by no means set elsewhere, and even where it is it can cause- and I phrase this carefully- a problem with accepting any government that is not universally liked or perfect. So, as you vote today, perhaps to cast Labour from office, take a moment to consider what you would do if you lived not in Durham, but Conakry, Bissau, Bishkek, Khartoum, Niamey or Bangkok.

A hung parliament would be disastrous for Westminster

The voting public should carefully consider the problems which a coalition government could spell for UK politics SIGMA DELTA

Mark Harmstone

N

o matter what numbers David Dimbleby and Jeremy Vine read out tonight, no matter whose face we see in Downing Street in the morning, there is going to be a lot of talk about democracy tomorrow, and how broken it is. In 2005, Labour won a comfortable majority in the Commons on just 36% of the vote, yet Blair and Brown’s legislation affects all of us.

An injustice, certainly, but despite all the Lib Dems’ posturing there is no such thing as a perfect electoral system. Our first-pastthe-post system at least has the advantage of (most of the time) producing a clear winner; the programme of government is the party’s manifesto, rather than being the hotchpotch inevitable under a coalition.

Any change to the system would mean a hung parliament in perpetuity, and despite what Alexandra Bottomer wrote here a few weeks ago, this would only lead to London becoming Athens-upon-Thames. With a national debt rising by half a billion a day, we need decisive action to reduce the deficit; Britain cannot afford the fiscal horsetrading that either a hung parliament or Proportional Representation would bring.

Quite apart from that, democratic illegitimacy is not necessarily a bad thing. For nearly thirty years, successive Prime Minis-

Will voter apathy skew the outcome of the election towards coalition and a hung parliament?

ters have been labouring under the illusion that a political mandate was also a moral mandate. The rot started in 1983, when Thatcher made seat-belt wearing in cars compulsory. The role of the state changed from preventing us from killing each other, to preventing us from killing ourselves.

“Democratic illigitimacy is not necessarily a bad thing” The flow of bad and illiberal legislation has not been stemmed at all in the meantime. So many laws now seem designed to “send a message”, rather than address a legit-

imate grievance. The Dangerous Dogs Act immediately springs to mind, as does the ban on handguns following the Dunblane massacre. No country can prosper if its leaders are not wiser than the general public, but time and again we have seen Parliament used to satisfy a hysteria whipped up by the tabloids. The brand new Digital Economy Act is also a case in point: “Filesharing is killing music” is all it says, and the fact that it violates due legal process is seen as irrelevant. Peter Mandelson seems to have confused a Bill with a press release.

Perhaps it is understandable that politicians, who owe their livelihood to their popularity, would subscribe to the fallacy of vox populi, vox Dei, but just because something is popular does not make it right. Increasing the level of popularity needed to govern, as

PR would do, would only exacerbate the problem. We have democracy for the same reason we have juries: to prevent any gross infringements of liberty. Gordon Brown learnt that only too well with his abolition of the 10p tax band: he increased taxes on the poor, and his poll ratings never really recovered. Had there not been an election looming, no doubt he would still be impersonating the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Yet despite the advantages of our semidemocracy, the big losers are the minor parties, especially the Liberal Democrats. At the last election, they won 23% of the vote in Great Britain, yet fewer than 10% of seats in the Commons.

Paradoxically, the Lib Dems’ worst enemies electorally are, well, the Lib Dems.

That is, individual members have their political careers scuppered by the party machinery. There is no coherent Liberal Democrat philosophy; of its two brightest stars, Vince Cable used to be a Labour councillor, and had Nick Clegg not been in school at the time, he surely would have been right at home in Ted Heath’s cabinet.

The United States manages perfectly well with both first-past-the-post and a two-party system, but the American parties are much more nebulous. Primaries ensure that candidates cannot be imposed from above; there is no American equivalent to Tristram Hunt or Priti Patel. Consequently, a Republican is Massachusetts is likely to be more left-wing than a Democrat in Texas. Had we the American system, individual Liberal Democrats might

have already been in power for years. The best bits of the Liberal Democrat manifestos might now be Acts of Parliament.

Britain’s problem is that the electorate has been infantilized into believing that any disagreement within a party is a “split”.

“There is no such thing as the perfect electoral system” There is no Conservative or Labour philosophy, but a continuum of rightwing and left-wing ideas. UKIP belong within the Tories, just as all the myriad socialist parties belong within Labour.

Ninety-five per cent of political opinions could be accommodated within looser party structures, the outliers being those who refuse to compromise – in other words, the BNP. The only MPs who ought to be from a minor party are the various separatists: the SNP, Plaid Cymru, perhaps the odd one from Mebyon Kernow. That was the case for much of the 19th century, with Parnell and his retinue forming much of the Irish contingent, and there is no reason why it should not also be true of the 21st century.

Therefore, were the power of political parties dispersed, we would see much fewer injustices: both in the composition of the Commons, and in the nature of the legislation it passes.

17

PALATINATE Thursday 6th May 2010

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Sport

Sport

Inside: Easter success for cycling, rowing, and sailing. Men’s UCCE start season in impressive form, plus latest college news

The politics of sport: Britain’s sporting future hangs in the balance

The week before the general election, Palatinate’s Rajvir Rai puts the three main parties’ sporting policy proposals under the spotlight “...and ensure we use it to reintroduce competitive sport into school”.

The Liberals, meanwhile, make some impressive promises, such as claiming they will “give people from all backgrounds and generations the opportunity to participate in sports”, but, apart from stating that they will protect local playing fields and use dormant money in betting accounts to help support clubs and facilities, their manifesto lacks detailed specifics.

In contrast, for all their supposed failings up to now, Labour’s manifesto is the most comprehensive and goes some way to explaining how they will “create a world-class sports system, from elite level to the grass roots”.

If Labour deliver their promise to provide “more resources to give every child the opportunity to do at least five hours’ sport per week” through “extended schools, community sports clubs and 3,000 new Olympic-inspired sports clubs” then they can be sure that, while this may not create a “world-class sports system”, they will, at the very least, keep young children active and healthy.

As important as the Olympics are, there are other issues that must also be addressed: namely the mess that is English football and the state of British tennis.

Most intriguing, though, is the Liberal’s declaration that they would look at bringing back ‘safe standing’ areas to English stadiums nearly 21 years after the Hillsborough disaster.

FLICKRID: TOMPAGENET

Continued from back page

The elected government must ensure that the 2012 Olympics Games live up to expectations

Similarly, the Conservatives say they will review current regulations if there is enough support.

Labour, however, remain more cautious and their Minister for Sport, Gerry Sutcliffe, told The Independent that “it would

need a dramatic shift in football authority opinion backed by clear evidence before government would look at supporting any change to existing policy”.

In the larger scheme of the election this may seem an insignificant issue, but the ramifications for football in England’s top two divisions could be huge.

What is being proposed is not open terracing but the option for fans to stand next to their seats in certain areas of grounds.

Proponents of the controversial change believe it will lower ticket prices and improve atmosphere. They point to Germany as proof that it is safe.

Conversely, cynics believe that families could be deterred from coming to games, the cost of such a change would be huge and that it may increase anti-social behaviour. The fact that this is a sensitive issue and that many football fans still harbour painful memories of the Hillsborough disaster indicates that any change is still years away.

If ‘safe standing’ is to return, the relevant authorities must ensure that the safety of fans is their foremost priority.

Clearly, then, whoever becomes Minister of Sport tomorrow morning has no time to celebrate or bask in their achievements as there are pressing issues that need immediate attention – none more so than the Olympics.

Imagine the outcry if the government failed to deliver an Olympics that lived up to the high standards that we saw during the 2008 Beijing Games - I for one would not want to be the minister saddled with that responsibility!

Party Profiles

Labour: -93% children now participate in two hours of PE a week -Proposed development of 3,000 Olympic-inspired after school clubs -Established free swimming for children and the over 65s -600,000 more adults participating in sport since Labour came to power in 1997 Liberal Democrats -Propose to use dormant money in betting accounts to support clubs and facilities -Bring back ‘safe standing’ areas at football stadiums Conservatives

-Only dedicated 99 words in a 131-page manifesto to sport -Want to support Olympic-style sports competitions in schools

Thursday 6th May 2010 PALATINATE

18

Sport

Have your say at palatinate.org.uk

Hatfield still on course for double after semi-final victory The men’s Floodlit Football Cup semifinal featured St Aidan’s and Hatfield, who promised an exciting game despite the difference in league positioning between the teams.

Aidan’s won the kick-off, but failed to keep possession in the opening stages of the game.

Hatfield made the first attack of the game, with Will Christiansen cutting in from the left flank and whistling a shot wide of the upright. The Aidan’s keeper berated his defence for their lacklustre performance.

Shaken, Aidan’s began to take control in the game, but much of their possession came from Hatfield errors. Forward Jamie Blackwell did particularly well at holding the ball and harrying the composed Hatfield back four.

Hatfield continued to play most successfully, though, with incisive runs down both wings creating havoc among the Aidan’s defenders.

Despite Aidan’s lack of possession, the sides were still locked goalless with nearly half an hour gone.

The biggest chance for a goal came from the throw-ins of Hatfield’s Will Nicholl, yet the throws generally fizzed in and around the edge of the six-yard box, with defenders unsure whether to attack or wait for the rebound to clear.

The stalemate was eventually broken with thirty five minutes on the clock. Hatfield drove in a low cross from the right hand side, and, the ball fell straight to the foot of Richard Offord, who obliged by

NATASHA CORAL

James Oram

to avoid a disastrous third goal.

Aidan’s made several promising attacks in the final few minutes of the half, but these were blunted by strong defending.

“Hatfield enjoyed most of the possession and were able to come out on top: 2-1”

Hatfield’s impressive season continues as they record a 2-1 win over a spirited Aidan’s side to book their place in the floodlit final

turning the ball into the back of the net: 1-0 Hatfield.

This goal was Hatfield’s reward for some probing football, and now the tension among the Aidan’s players became appar-

ent. The referee warned a few for petulant behaviour, no doubt a by-product of frustration over Hatfield’s consistent pressure.

Soon afterwards, Hatfield added a second goal, when the keeper was forced to

punch another enormous Nicholl throw.

Ross Guthrie then slammed home an important goal.

The Aidan’s side then dropped a couple of players into deeper positions to attempt

After half time, the first thirty minutes passed without much incident, as Aidan’s attacks were time and again thwarted by the Hatfield side, who were now content to sit back on their lead.

Still, Hatfield enjoyed most of the possession with centre-half Alun Morris and midfielder Freddy Steele picking promising passes.

However, Aidan’s captain Ben Riad scored a composed penalty with ten minutes left.

After this, the tone of the game slightly changed, with the largely untested Hatfield keeper Oli Durrell pulling off a fine save in the closing stages to prevent an equaliser.

As the final whistle blew, Hatfield were able to breathe a sigh of relief that they were able to come out on top, at 2-1, despite squandering some useful possession.

Hatfield succeeded in winning thanks to their successful defence, and will go on to compete in the final.

Richard Johnstone

In a repeat of last year’s semi-final match, Collingwood A came up against arch rivals Collingwood B in a highly anticipated contest where more than points were at stake, as both teams had a reputation to uphold.

After the A’s loss against Hatfield earlier in the week and the B’s earlier win, the B’s had high hopes of causing an upset.

Despite setting a relatively competitive total of 149-9, the B’s weakened attack was unable to contain the powerful top order of the A’s who took only 14 overs to complete a convincing victory.

“It became clear that the attack from the B’s had been unable to create the pressure required to defend the total” The B’s started well by winning the toss, and elected to bat so as to post a defendable score.

Once the first over had been dispatched for 11 runs, the captain’s decision seemed to have been justified.

However, the game soon swung the way of the A’s when a comedy run out saw opener Johnstone removed, and tight bowling at the top of the innings saw them left at 29 for three after six overs, with captain James Clulow having also been dismissed.

It was debutante Guy Perkins who saved the innings game, compiling a chanceless 73 before finally departing in the 20th over.

The B’s were then able to scramble towards respectability, regaining face. The B’s score was never likely to be good enough, though, with a short boundary to one side of the wicket.

Only four of the B team’s batsmen reached double figures, too, which was perhaps the real problem behind the B’s failures.

The A’s were able to restrict the score with their bowling attack. Perkins’ bowling power, though, succeeded in holding back A team batters Mousley and Wells, as they conceded 21 and 22 respectively in one over.

Chasing 149, the A’s set off at a fast pace and maintained it to win comfortably, surging ahead after only 14 overs.

Openers Adam Winchester and Anth Brown put on 65 for the first wicket, with Brown reaching 56, not out by the end of the chase.

Charles Sindrey swiftly finished the game at number three and proceeded to score a rapid 53 off just 18 deliveries.

He managed to take 26 off just seven balls from Henry Ashman, who was unable to contain Sindrey’s hitting.

The A’s comfortably won the game, and had they gone on would have likely posted a score resembling that of last year’s semifinal. It became clear that the weaker attack from the B’s had been unable to create the pressure required to defend the modest total.

The result restored the A’s hopes of reaching yet another finals day despite their recent league defeat, which was their first in two years.

The B’s can take solace from the positive performance of Perkins and the promise of more to come from returning players who could help propel them toward a repeat appearance at finals day, perhaps a derby once again.

For now the bragging rights of Collingwood College Cricket Club remain with the successful A team, who won the game by eight wickets and proved the stronger team against their college rivals.

The B’s, though, remain strong enough to challenge many of the better teams in the league.

In the highly contested Collingwood derby, the A’s needed only 14 overs to overcome the target set by the B team, and won by eight wickets

ROBERT BURGESS

Collingwood A secure bragging rights with eight wicket win

19

PALATINATE Thursday 6th May 2010

Whatever your game, get into it at palatinate.org.uk

Sport

DUBC confident after impressive HORR showing ROB HYAMS

Ladies sail to second in BUSA event Edward Fox

Durham 1st 8 attempt to keep up a gruelling pace as they take on the Thames: in a field of 400 boats they finished a respectable 25th and with key regattas coming up they look in good shape

Delaney Chambers

Durham University Boat Club finished the Head of the River Race over the holiday with varying degrees of success. The men’s race, held on March 27th, had over 400 entries, with both university and club teams from Britain and abroad.

The women’s race took place the week before, with record entries and stiff opposition.

In the days leading up to the race, the forecast predicted unfavourable weather

conditions. Despite waves on the river the day before, though, the day of the race dawned with perfect conditions.

Going into the race, the men’s 1st 8 knew they would be the underdogs against rivals Oxford Brookes and Queens, Belfast.

During the race, the 1st 8 found themselves sandwiched between the Polish U23 boat and Imperial College’s top 8.

At times the 1st boat found a good pace, but as the race went on, they struggled to maintain it.

In the end, the men were disappointed

despite finishing a competitive 25th, while arch rivals Brookes came 5th .

The Durham 2nd 8 succeeded in their goal of beating Newcastle’s 2nd boat, who finished 104th.

Both the 2nd 8 and the Lightweight teams finished in the top 100, at 90th and the 94th respectively.

The women’s competition saw a tidal wave of success for Durham.

Impressively, out of the 300 entered boats, the Durham Women’s 1st 8 came in 4th, winning the university pennant and

finishing higher than any other qualified university.

The women’s 2nd 8 came 55th; another desirable finish.

After training abroad following Head of the River and seat racing in Durham, the Durham crews have a busy season of summer rowing ahead of them.

The BUCS Rowing Regatta takes place the first weekend in May, followed by the local Boat Race against Newcastle, in which Durham hope to avenge last year’s defeat.

Cycling club pedal to success over Easter holidays

Durham’s men and women riders bring home 3 gold and 2 silver medals as they race up the BUCS standings The Easter holidays saw Durham University Cycling Club participating in three of its most important annual events. The first weekend saw the BUCS Mountain Biking Championships in Ae Forest, Scotland.

The men’s cross country race started early Sunday morning. Despite a smattering of crashes and mechanical problems, Durham saw Matt Wilson finish 15th and Pete Ward 22nd.

The men’s Cross Country Championships followed, with Hamish Batchelor lining up as No. 1 at the start, complemented

by Ewan Brown, Tom Hards and Olley Pearson. Batchelor stormed the course and finished first with a lead just shy of four minutes, succeeding in lapping other cyclists. Ewan Brown was the next rider home for Durham in a respectable 33rd.

In the women’s Championships, Hannah Read, Jenny Marshal and Lizzie Dingle rode in their inaugural BUCS Mountain Biking race. Hannah was riding strongly until someone pushed her off her bike, forcing her to retire through injury; Lizzie Dingle and Jenny Marshal finished in 23rd and 24th places respectively.

The next BUCS event was the three-up Team Time Trial, in which Durham entered its largest ever roster of five teams. In favourable conditions, Hamish Batchelor, Alex Clayton and Ben Howard were going to post a club record on the 50km course in

ANDY CHARLESWORTH

Matt Daniel

bridge for the BUCS 10 Mile Time Trial.

Durham’s women proved themselves yet again. Mathilde Matthijsse completed the 10 mile course in 23:12, capturing the individual women’s gold and setting a new BUCS record. Matthijsse even succeeded in beating Beijing silver medallist Emma Pooley.

“Matthijsse captured the individual women’s gold and set a new BUCS record”

The cycling men’s team have recently dominated their competitions, earning several medals

Buckinghamshire.

Despite Ben receiving a puncture, they clocked 1:07:42, just three seconds off winners Cambridge.

The women equalled the men’s team silver medal. Hannah Read, Mathilde Matthi-

jsse and Kat Broadbent finished in 1:24:56, second after Leeds Met’s Ewan Brown, Ed Garrett and Nathan Edwards who finished 8th, bringing in more BUCS points.

On the last Saturday of the holidays, Durham’s time trialists headed to Cam-

Hannah Read put in a top performance to pick up the women’s team gold with Matthijsse – beating silver by a margin of four minutes.

Alex Clayton finished in 10th for the men, placing 7th in the team category with Ed Garrett and Sam Hatfield.

Durham riders have picked up at least one medal from every event this year, promising results for the club racers who look to continue this success in the upcoming BUCS 25 Mile Time Trial.

The club is pushing its way up to the top of the league table, having accrued four gold, two silver and two bronze medals over the season thus far, reflecting on the efforts of both riders and club coach, John Holmes.

After an impressive performance in the qualifying stages of the competition, Durham Sailing sent two mixed and one ladies team to the British Universities Sailing Association (BUSA) finals at Bristol’s Chew Valley on April 7th-9th.

Last year, the ladies finished as runnersup and the 1st mixed team finished joint 5th in their respective competitions. This year, the Team Durham sailors looked forward to another successful event.

The first of three days saw even the best university sailing teams struggling with the light and shifty breeze, which meant consistency was essential.

It was in this area in particular that the ladies excelled.

Coupled with textbook moves and excellent communication, the ladies were able to win all of their races and set their sights firmly on winning the title this year.

The mixed 2nd team, unaccustomed to the characteristic light conditions of southern sailing events, struggled to find the form that served them so well in the qualifiers.

“Ladies were able to win all of their [first day] races and set their sights firmly on winning the title this year” However, they persevered and joined the Durham 1st team in the Silver fleet, who secured solid wins against eventual runnersup Southampton 1st and Portsmouth.

Day two of the event saw even lighter winds, so racing was postponed until later in the afternoon.

The ladies’ team continued their good form, but unfortunately suffered a crucial loss against Southampton ladies 2nd.

This was an infuriating defeat for the Durham ladies team, as the race was lost not due to their failures, but rather some questionable umpire decisions.

Ladies’ helm Natasha Lister said: “had we sailed that race again, under proper umpiring, we would have won it.”

This loss proved crucial to the whole event, depriving them of the gold medal they deserved.

Meanwhile, in the mixed racing event, the 1st team struggled to get to grips with the light conditions.

It was at this point that the 2nd team succeeded in winning three of their four second-day races, which put them in an impressive second in the Silver fleet.

Day three dawned with the ladies’ team desperate to avenge their loss from the day before.

Sadly, the necessary wind never appeared, and the whole last day of racing was replaced with a scene of frustrated athletes vainly willing the wind to appear.

The ladies’ team had to settle for a wellearned second place, while the 2nd mixed team finished a commendable second in the Silver fleet, with the 1st mixed team mid-fleet.

Satisfied with their successes, sailing now look forward to their summer season, which involves training on Tuesdays and Thursdays after exams.

With the BUSA season behind them, the sailors can make plans to go big next year.

Thursday 6th May PALATINATE

20

Sport Back page

Sport

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Inside: what the election has in store for sport’s future, BUSA sailing, HORR rowing and the latest college news

DUCC hit Loughborough for six to top table

Charlie Morgan

DAN JEFFRIES

Freshers invigorate cricket club who continue good early season form with victory over arch rivals

Culminating in the comprehensive defeat of Loughborough in the MCC Universities Championship, the Durham side have made a very promising start to the season.

Galvanized by a large intake of first years, Durham hope to put the past two years behind them and face the upcoming season better prepared.

Their crushing win at the Hazelgrave Ground this week has seen the 1st XI storm to the top of the table.

Last year at Loughborough, Durham were bowled out for 42; victory over the same opponents this time around was doubly sweet.

With only two defeats from the first seven matches, the side will now look to maintain their fine start in the upcoming BUCS fixture against Leeds, before taking on the might of Durham County Cricket Club in a First Class match on May 5th.

A key element of Durham’s early season form has undoubtedly been the form of the top order batsmen, an area that has improved astronomically from last year.

Already this season, Seren Waters, Tom Westley, Greg Smith and Luc Durandt have registered centuries, notably Smith’s determined effort against Nottinghamshire.

Waters and Durandt, forming a complimentary opening partnership of commanding elegance, are two first years who have taken to university cricket with success.

It was their partnership of 163, Durandt careering to an imposing hundred before lunch, which took a firm hold of the match against Loughborough.

From that point on, Durham were relentless as skipper Westley consolidated his decision to bat and, alongside Smith, compiled the day’s second stand of over 150.

In the hot Midlands sun, the home side’s bowling attack toiled with very little success and Durham’s captain, particularly strong through the leg-side and down the ground against the spin of Alex Welsh, duly reached his second century of the season.

Luke Patel, Luke Blackaby and George Harper have shown grit and flair in equal measure this year and will have a vital role to play in the rest of the season.

Batting on the next morning to set the daunting total of 436 for nine from their alsts lotted 112 overs, Westley eventually caught Last Wednesday, Durham’s Women 1 bounced back from their away defeat at Loughborough by recording an impressive 145-119 victory over arch rivals Cambridge at the Racecourse. The team look to build on this win in their next game against Leeds Met Carnegie on May 5th at long-off for 142, Durham set about attacking the Loughborough side on a wearing pitch. the dangerous David Murphy was outwitGale finished the job for Durham, cre- settle for the first-innings win as LoughborThough wickets have been hard to ted by Harper’s left-arm swing and the rot ating severe indecision in the minds of the ough limped to 42 for one in their second come by this year, there is variety in the started. middle and late-order batsmen. innings.

Palatinates’ bowling attack this term. Chris Soon after, Glover came up against Alan Collecting his four wickets for just 24 Coach Graeme Fowler would have been Roper, another fresher, has provided an ef- Cope, feathering a gorgeous delivery into runs, Gale also overtook James Morris as delighted by the manner in which his men fective foil to third year John Glover, who the safe gloves of wicketkeeper Jamie At- the highest wicket-taker for Durham since completely outplayed their celebrated ophas hit the seam regularly and at good pace kinson for a duck. the establishment of the Centre of Excel- ponents. with the new ball.

Roper then produced a brilliant spell, lence; a great achievement.

With just three games until the break Though the match seemed in the bal- clean-bowling both Harveer Gandam With the victory on first-innings for exams, Durham need just one win from ance at the interval with the score at 41 for and Rob Taylor, who seemed unsettled wrapped up just after tea, there was still their last two games in the MCCU Chamone, when play resumed in more overcast throughout his brief stay. time for Durham to enforce the follow-on. pionship to reach the final at Lord’s. There, conditions, Loughborough were completeWith Loughborough severely wobbling However, though Harper continued his we shall hopefully witness a great match. ly overwhelmed.

95 for five, Westley called upon the left-arm great start to the season by trapping the unCatch up on the latest sports news at Half an hour into the afternoon session, spin of Daniel Gale. fortunate Tavare in front, Durham had to www.palatinate.org.uk

Party sport policies investigated Rajvir Rai

During an election year the domestic, foreign and economic policies of the major parties come under intense scrutiny. Yet, with the Olympic Games less than two years away, sport has taken on a greater level of importance during this campaign.

This decade, billed by the current government as ‘the decade of sport’, will see Britain host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Rugby League and Union World Cups and potentially the Football World Cup in 2018.

Thus, with such a mouth-watering menu of top quality international sporting competition to look forward to on our shores, it is essential that whoever moves into 10 Downing Street tomorrow morning is capable of focusing on sport in order to deliver world class events that fans will never forget.

But what exactly are each of the three parties promising if they win the election?

Labour promises to “ensure that the Olympics are delivered on time and on budget, to the highest standards”.

Yet, they seem to have forgotten that when bidding for the games they estimated that it would cost £2.05 billion: recent figures estimate that it will actually cost in excess of £12 billion.

The question is, then: what exactly is “on budget”?

Furthermore, one wonders, considering the global financial climate of recent years, whether the Liberals or the Conservatives could have actually done a better job than Labour has done thus far.

However, more important than budgeting costs, is what the 2012 games will leave behind: Olympic stadium, £547 million; hosting an Olympics, £12 billion; leaving a lasting legacy and inspiring a nation, priceless.

In a recent interview with The Independent, Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat Shadow spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport, and Hugh Robertson, the Conservative Shadow Sports and Olympic spokesperson, attacked Labour for failing to deliver its pledges.

However, while they are quick to criticise, their respective manifestos are rather ambiguous regarding what they themselves will do if elected.

The Conservatives only dedicate an appalling 99 words, in a 131-page manifesto, to outlining their sport policies.

Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, informed Palatinate that the Tories “want to introduce an Olympic-style school sport competition to capitalise on everyone’s interest in sport Continued on page 17