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Durham’s independent student newspaper

Palatinate Thursday 30th January 2014 | FREE

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News: Chancellor receives Queen’s Medal

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No. 758

News Features: Secret Societies

Plans unveiled for the new Ogden Centre, which will benefit from a £10 million investment. Full story on page 5.

Photograph: Libeskind

VC accepts another pay rise 14

Comment: Politicians and the centenary service

Sport: DHUC

18 Men remain top

Despite increasing backlash and an ongoing staff strike, Palatinate investigates Chris Higgins’ decision to accept the rise Amal Vaidya Data gathered by Times Higher Education has shown that vicechancellors of leading universities have received significant pay rises over the past year.

The revelation has provoked criticism from both student groups and teaching unions, especially in light of the recent tuition fee increase and the strike action taken by academics last month.

The information shows that during 2013, vice-chancellors of Russell Group universities received an average 5.2 per cent increase in overall benefits.

Durham’s Professor Chris-

topher Higgins received a pay increase of £14,000, raising his salary to £283,000. His counterparts in institutions like the Universities of Cambridge and Birmingham received even larger pay rises.

Michael MacNeil, head of higher education at the University and College Union has called the increase in vice-chancellor benefits a “startling hypocrisy.”

He said that: “Many vice-chancellors have talked down to their staff and told them to accept a one per cent rise as it is the best they can expect, while happily pocketing big sums themselves.”

However, not all university leaders have accepted a pay increase. Simon Gaskell, prin-

cipal of Queen Mary University, has donated his £50,000 pay rise to a scholarship fund, while City

“Many vice-chancellors have talked down to their staff and told them to accept a one per cent rise as it is the best they can expect, while happily pocketing big sums themsleves” Michael MacNeil University vice-chancellor has rejected a £42,000 bonus.

Professor Gaskell has said that he found it “inappropriate” to accept the pay rise, whilst adding that the decision was a “completely personal choice” and that he did not intend to make a judgement about vicechancellors who chose to accept pay hikes.

Neither leader has accepted a pay hike in the last three years.

Universities have claimed that the pay rises are tied to the individual’s performance. Robert Gillespie, chairman of Durham University Council, said that “competitive salary packages are essential to attract and retain outstanding individuals.”

Continued on page 4

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Editorial

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Time for an Epiphany: engage in the new year January threatens to be the month of ‘next time.’ It is the same ‘next time’ that sees me promising to start my next essay earlier, and to try to read the texts listed in the bibliography rather than simply the bibliography itself. Facing an untouched year, we are particularly vulnerable to the cultural pressure of New Year’s resolutions; of the ‘new year, new you’ mentality, believing that we have the time and the inclination to completely redefine ourselves. Inevitably, there is only so much energy one can muster to exact a personal enlightenment whilst still suffering the aftershocks of an indulgent Christmas. January thus rarely fails to witness more unfulfilled intentions that might be attempted once again – next time.

Fortunately, the holiday dates this year mean that Epiphany Term has kindly allowed us the opportunity to use the majority of January as a time for rest and reflection, away from the pressures of a new term. I am grateful to have had the time to consolidate my achievements and difficulties from last year and to prepare for the term ahead. For, as I begin the second term of my final year of study, I can see that the consolatory ‘next time’ that I had learned to rely upon is a fickle friend, and that my plans for 2014 should serve to equip me against him. These should not necessarily be about achievements – for implied in that word is a

great deal of commitment and sacrifice that, despite our best intentions, we cannot always afford –but about engagement with opportunities.

What has been evident to me from following the dialogue that was ignited by the Comment Competition in the last edition of Palatinate is the eagerness of our readers to engage with their peers and with issues of individual and wider social significance. It is exciting for me as an editor of Palatinate to help to facilitate this kind of interaction between students, and I urge you to take advantage.

The new term is already rife with opportunities such as Give it a Go Week, and elections for the new College Executive Committees. By actively responding to the opportunities that we are being offered at Durham, we are recognising ourselves to be vital components of this university. By then endeavouring to understand how these enable us to participate in the wider national and global communities, we are recognising that our lives do not begin ‘next time’, after graduation. It is the activities and affairs in which we choose to participate now that situate the cobbled streets of Durham in the context of a larger world of diversity and progression.

I was reminded last week, with the visit of the US Ambassador, that it is a world of which we are very much a part here at one of the world’s

leading universities. The road from Durham continues far beyond the city’s single high street, and the impact of the university’s research, its academic status and its value as an institution of tradition, history and culture are all elements to which we have the privilege of contributing.

This issue of Palatinate is a celebration of this, as we congratulate Professor Frenk on being awarded the prestigious Gold Medal for Astronomy, as we follow how the University will be supporting a local charity run, and as we look towards the plans to develop the Ogden Centre and the Centre for Innovation and Growth. It is a celebration of the engagement of Durham students and, as January draws to a close, should serve as a reminder of how we might best take advantage of how our university can help us to liberate ourselves from a tradition of broken resolutions this term.

Victoria Ferguson

While I admit this response is an issue late, it takes nothing away from the importance of the matter in question. Nutrition. While the response from Miss Spencer and Miss Walley in Issue 756, was appreciated, it epitomised the very essence of the problem, ignorance.

The catering issue does not concern the staff, nor the conversation, but those who decide upon catering budgets and packages. For a university with a highly focused sports program attracting athletes from around the world, nutrition cannot afford to be put on the back foot.

I must note that the issue does

“nutrition cannot afford to be put on the back foot”

not regard the catering staff. At my college, Trevelyan, the staff are more than hospitable, competent and friendly; enjoying many a conversation with the staff myself.

As for the remaining arguments in the most recent leg of the debate, I needn’t spend much time on them.

I find it surprising that college food was described as a luxury, as even though it is a timely convenience, we are still paying for said luxury; an important factor that should motivate one to ensure they are being provided with adequate re-

News pages 4-6 News Features pages 8

Business & Economics page 9

Careers page 10-11 SciTech page 12 Politics page 13 Comment pages 14-16 Sport pages 17-20

indigo

Editorial page 2 Books pages 3 Features pages 10-11 Music page 3 Visual Arts page 4-5 Fashion page 7

Food & Drink pages 14-15 Film & TV page 12

Vacancies

Krystina invites the University to comment on the issue of college catering to settle the heated debate one and for all

turn. With regard to food being a focal social and talking point, this once again is overlooking the underlying issue of nutrition. The dig at the constant mention of the prevalence of potato is misguided; the prevalence of potato is a means of demonstrating the lack of nutritional balance to those who would not otherwise be considering nutritional value at meal times. This carries into the argument that we are responsible for creating the diet we want; this is the problem, we aren’t being given that choice, or at least, the right choice.

Catering in itself is not always a choice, which brings us back to sport. Many of the top athletes participating in University level sport are here on scholarships, which include accommodation and catering. Those involved in University sport and living in college, those people you only see briefly in college, are involved in such an intensive training schedule that they are forced to rely on the aforementioned convenience of college food. Durham University is also associated with the expanding Durham Wildcats brand, currently comprised of the Men’s Basketball and Women’s football teams, both competing in top national levels and employing athletes through scholarships at Durham University.

Without implying the well-being of

Inside 757

Stage pages 8-9 Travel page 6

The Great Potato Debate: Finale

Krystina Emmanouilides

Thursday 30th January 2014 | PALATINATE

athletes on scholarships should be of any more value than that of other students, it is certainly an example of the somewhat unrecognised impact the ‘luxury’ of college food has upon the University as a whole. On a more relatable level, given 90% of Durham University students are involved with Sport at least at college level, a large portion of which

“we need to know what we are eating and where it is from in order to make the right choices”

live in catered colleges, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle should be a unified vision of the university.

Rather than having a fortnightly silent debate, I invite the University to comment on the issue.

How is college catering decided upon? Are there nutritional regulations to be met, and if not, how can we as a student body influence a positive change? As consumers, we need to know what we are eating and where it is from in order to make the right choices.

The facts behind college catering will be looked into in the next edition of Palatinate – Ed

News Features Editor

News Features is an exciting section that conducts in-depth investigations that expose the issues around Durham that are most relevant and interesting to our readers.

Music Editor

If you think that you could teach the students of Durham a thing or two about the musical talent that they should be looking out for, apply to be Music Editor.

Deputy Features Editor

Features is one of the most eclectic sections in Indigo, and our editor is looking for new ideas and input to create an even more diverse and exciting section.

To apply, email editor@palatinate. org.uk for an application form. You can also email us about any questions you have concerning the vacancies.

Letters to the editor Want to see your name in print on the editorial page?

We’d love to hear your opinion on our stories. If you have praise for Palatinate or a bone to pick with us, email editor@palatinate.org.uk.

Your letter could appear on this page in our next print edition.

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 University. 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 Editors-in-Chief Ben Hamer & Victoria Ferguson editor@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Editor Charlotte Bransgrove deputy.editor@palatinate.org.uk News Editor Justin Villamil news@palatinate.org.uk News Features Editor news.features@palatinate.org.uk Deputy News Editors Gabriel Samuels, Amal Vaidya, Benjamin Williams and James Poole Politics Editor Marcus Natale politics@palatinate.org.uk Business and Economics Editor Richard Morgan business@palatinate.org.uk Careers Editor Chloe Kopala careers@palatinate.org.uk Science and Technology Editor Sadie Bartholomew scitech@palatinate.org.uk Comment Editor Ellie de la Bedoyere comment@palatinate.org.uk Sport Editors Emily Beech & Madeleine Sears sport@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Sport Editors Thomas Dimaio, Lawrence Holmes, & Dominic Thurlow-Wood Indigo Editor Cressida Peever indigo@palatinate.org.uk Features Editor feature@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Features Editor Francesca Jaworska deputy.feature@palatinate.org.uk Food and Drink Editor Diana Grant-Davie food@palatinate.org.uk Travel Editor Philip Whitehead travel@palatinate.org.uk Fashion Editor Isobel Buckingham & Katie Shuff fashion@palatinate.org.uk Film and Television Editor Aalok Vora film@palatinate.org.uk Stage Editor Emma Dawson stage@palatinate.org.uk Music Editors Larry Bartleet & Sophia Smith-Galer music@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Music Editor Jack Collins deputy.music@palatinate.org.uk Books Editor Kate Wilkinson books@palatinate.org.uk Visual Arts Editor Lucy Edwardes Jones visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk Chief Sub-Editor Tom Willshaw sub-editing@palatinate.org.uk Sub-Editors Jordan Harries, Jacob Ratcliffe, Charlotte Hogg, Sraddha Venkataraman and Sam Courtney-Guy Online Editor Chris Somers online.editor@palatinate.org.uk Web Editor Rhiannon Mehta web.editor@palatinate.org.uk Photography Editor Emma Werner photography@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Photography Editors Rose Innes, Nicola Todhunter & Emma Wind Illustrations Editor Harriet-Jade Harrow illustration@palatinate.org.uk Blogs Editor Katie Winter blogs@palatinate.org.uk Publicity Officer Olivia le Poidevin publicity@palatinate.org.uk Advertising Officer Christopher Murphy advertising@palatinate.org.uk

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PALATINATE | Thursday 30th January 2014

Editorial

Website Redesign Over the winter vacation Palatinate Online underwent an upgrade, bringing the website’s design in line with the changes we made to the newspaper at the end of last year.

The website (www.palatinate. org.uk) is now fully redesigned – slicker, faster and more functional than ever before, along with a new dynamic, and smartphone-friendly, layout. Special thanks should go

to Courtney Edgar, whose superb implementation of design ideas made the new website possible.

The website is a great place to read about the latest news, opinions and events in Durham written

by Durham University students. It is also one of the best mediums to robustly engage with writers – commenting on the articles that you agree or disagree with. Indeed, this

The best of Palatinate Online

is an area that is becoming increasingly important in journalism. It is essential that you engage with articles you feel strongly about, either by commenting on the website, or even contacting us (editor@palatinate.org.uk) with an article idea.

We would love to hear from you.

Ben Hamer

Online Vacancies Deputy Web Editor Our online team is hard at work redesigning our website, and they need a helping hand. If you have experience in HTML and PHP, we’d love to hear from you.

To apply, email editor@ palatinate.org.uk for an application form. You can also email us about any questions you have concerning the vacancies.

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SciTech: Why you love statistics

Sport: Reasons to watch the 2014 Winter Olympics

News Features: Mature students seek recognition

Stage: Guys and Dolls reviewed

Blogs: Why not advertise against obesity?

Thomai Tsiftsi explains why you might like statistics more than you realise.

Five reasons why the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics are worth watching.

Justin Villamil investigates the work that the Durham University Mature Students Association is doing to further integration.

Samantha Ball reviews this year’s Gala show, and commends DULOG for another impressive production.

Charlie Vaux discusses the impact that a lack of education about obesity is having on our waistlines and our economy.

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News News in brief UNIVERSITY NEWS

USHAW LIBRARIAN HONOURED Reverend Dr. Michael Sharratt, Ushaw College’s long-term Archivist and Librarian was awarded a Doctor of Letters during Durham’s Winter Congregation celebrations.

He was presented with the award

by Vice Chancellor Professor Chris Higgens and nominated by Professor Paul Murray and Jon Purcell, the University Librarian. Professor Murray said: “Dr Sharratt has made a significant scholarly contribution to UK Catholic intellectual life and a wider academic contribution in relation to the Ushaw libraries.”

US AMBASSDOR VISITS DURHAM The US Ambassador to the UK, Matthew Marzun, met with US students and scholars last week as part of a visit to promote Durham University’s links with the US. The Ambassador confirmed by presenting his credentials to Queen Elizabeth II this August and his visit follows the annual meeting of the UK-US Fulbright Commission held in Durham earlier this month. 150 countries are currently represented at Durham among the staff and student body.

ENERGY RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP RECEIVES FUNDING

Durham Energy Institute and the London Borough of Haringey have announced that they have received a £90,000 investment towards a one-year pilot phase of their energy research partnership. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed this week which set out the partnership’s research interests, particularly developing low-carbon enterprise activity. Haringey was the first major local authority in England to commit to reducing local CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2020.

SCIENTISTS MAKE PLANT GROWTH BREAKTHROUGH Scientists led by experts at Durham University have discovered a natural mechanism in plants that could stimulate their growth even under stress and potentially lead to better crop yields. Plants naturally slow their growth or even stop growing altogether in response to adverse conditions, such as water shortage or high salt content in soil, in order to save energy. The research team including experts at the University of Nottingham and the University of Warwick.

Thursday 30th January 2014 | PALATINATE

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Physics professor awarded Gold Students’ Medal for work with dark matter Union Justin Villamil Professor Carlos Frenk, an Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics received the Gold Medal for Astronomy from the Royal Astronomical Society.

Frenk, who also serves as Director of Durham’s Institute for Computational Cosmology (ICC), won the award for his research into Cold Dark Matter, the substance thought to be central to the formation of galaxies.

The Gold Medal is the Society’s highest honour, the first of which was awarded in 1824.

“It is, of course, a huge honour to be awarded a medal whose history goes back to 1824,” Frenk said in a statement.

“To see my name listed alongside those of scientists whom I have admired all my life is a unique feeling.”

Frenk, who became a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2004, said that he credits Durham University and his fellow scientists in the ICC for supporting his work.

“The gold medal is awarded ‘in recognition of a lifetime’s work.’ Since I have spent most of my working life at Durham University, more than as a personal tribute, I see this as a recognition of the scientific contribution that my many collaborators at the Institute for Computational Cosmology, from PhD students to professors, and I have collectively made over the years,” Frenk said.

“It is also recognition of the strong support I have reContinued from front page

“Under the present vice chancellor’s leadership, Durham has achieved UK top five and a world top 100 university status, membership of the Russell Group of universities and has shown greatly improved performance in research and education.”

However, Southampton vicechancellor, Don Nutbeam, received a £19,000 rise in benefits, even though the university saw a 13 per cent drop in undergraduate acceptances.

The news of a large pay rise in some universities, such as University College London (UCL), which awarded its president an extra £41,077, has caused a reaction

£14,000 pay rise

from their student unions.

Hannah Webb, a student officer at UCL’s student union said “It’s

ceived from my University and from research funding agencies both in the UK and Europe.”

“It can only be good for the department as a whole” Ben Robinson, Physics student

“It’s amazing that a professor at Durham won an award so prestigious,” Ben Robinson, a 2nd year Physics student told Palatinate.

“It can only be good for the department as a whole, and it brings a sense of prestige.”

Professor Frenk and associates pioneered the use of supercomputers to analyse the nature of Cold Dark Matter as the substance the-

Professor Carlos Frenk

orized to be 85% of the universe, and instrumental in the structure formation of the universe.

Previous winners of the Gold Medal have included Albert Einstein and Edwin Hubble, along with other astronomical luminaries.

When announcing Professor Frenk’s award, the Royal Astronomical Society said: “Professor Frenk’s leadership skills have been instrumental to the success of the Durham University Institute for Cosmological Computation, which is now acknowledged as a world class centre for theoretical cosmology.

“Professor Frenk has raised the international profile of UK astronomy and assisted the careers of a generation of young researchers and I congratulate him on this well-deserved award.”

Photograph: Durham University

completely unfair. The people who allow the university to function are at the lower level: the academics, the cleaners and the support staff. These are the people whose wages have been decreasing.”

Durham University has impressed, however, that the one per cent national pay rise for staff should not be viewed in isolation: “In addition to the national pay rise, many members of staff benefit from an incrememntal increase each year.”

But as vice-chancellor salaries start exceeding £400,000 in institutions like Oxford University and London School of Economics, there has been a call for increased scrutiny on university executives’ pay.

Some contend that without fair oversight, there is a danger of abuse.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of UCU said that “It is vital that we ensure there is proper scrutiny of vice-chancellors’ pay and pension provision if we are to avoid suspicion of one law for those at the top and another for the rest.”

A spokesperson for Durham University explained that this disparity is due to the fact that “with regard to all other staff at the University, salary negotiations are agreed at a national level. The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) represents HE institutions and negotiates national increases with the trade unions.”

Hunt, therefore, recommends that student and academic staff representatives sit on the university remuneration committees that determine vice-chancellor pay.

Russell group director Wendy Piatt insisted that the salaries of vice-chancellors “reflect their roles leading extremely complex international organisations with annual turnovers of more than half a billion pounds on average.”

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To share your opinion, visit www.palatinate. org.uk

President’s Column Dan Slavin As I sit and write this: the Riverside Café is full of Erasmus students enjoying each other’s company and culture, Swing Society are giving a taster session and there is live music in Kingsgate to raise money to help Stop Human Trafficking.

All this is happening in one night as part of Give It a Go Week Take 2. Another dedicated week of student led activities for you the students to get involved and do something different. Like last term credit has to go to the Activities Team in the Union, led by Krystina.

Moving away from Durham slightly and on to the National picture; there has been a recent announcement by government of a threatened cut to the Student Opportunities Fund.

This Fund is fundamentally different from access funding and makes it possible for universities to support the additional cost of recruiting and supporting harder to reach students.

Here in Durham it makes up roughly 10% of the University’s whole Widening Participation Budget. Should the Union back the Campaign led by NUS? The issue is up for debate at Assembly tonight; see you at 7pm in Dunelm House.

The Assembly agenda also contains motions on the prevalence of exam errors and whether the University should pay the living wage.

If issues like this are of interest to you or your passion burns stronger about something about something else: can you make a difference as one of the Officers of your Students’ Union?

The positions are open to every single student, not just finalists. If you want to know more drop me an email on dsu.president@durham.ac.uk and I’ll explain it further. The nominations open on the 13th of February, so don’t miss your chance to lead the student body here at your University.

PALATINATE | Thursday 30th January 2014

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News

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News in brief

Ogden Centre gets £10million makeover

LOCAL NEWS

Gabriel Samuels

NEW FORUM TO HOLD MEETING IN TOWN HALL A new group intended to improve Durham city centre is due to hold its first meeting with the public today in the town hall. Durham County Council formally recognised the Durham City Neighbourhood Planning Forum (NPF) this year after local residents voiced their outrage over the £200 million development of the city’s Oswald golf course.

Durham City Labour MP, Roberta Blackman-Woods, said “local communities should have a greater say in the areas in which they live and Durham City presents a unique set of challenges for the forum.”

ARNISON CENTRE’S MULTIMILLION POUND EXPANSION Plans for a multi-million pound expansion of the Arnison Centre in Pity Me, Durham, were announced last week. The proposals outline an additional 600sq m of floorspace for the centre, along with the relocation of Pets At Home to the former Comet unit. Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners, the town planning consultancy firm in charge of the plans, said “the expansion will allow people to meet more of their needs in one location.” No tenants have yet been confirmed and local residents have been asked to comment on the plans online by February 7th.

LONG-SERVING COUNTY COMMISSIONER DIES A former Durham County Commissioner, Becky Heron, has died at the age of 86 after serving the Board of County Commissioners for 30 years. Elected in 1982 as the board’s second woman and in 1994 as the board’s first chairwoman, Heron was an active member of the Animal Protection Society in Durham and the Eno River Association. Durham’s County Manager, Mike Ruffin, said that “Becky was special, I’ve been talking to county employees who are literally crying.” Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.

UNIONS ANGRY AT LAND REGISTRY JOB LOSSES Durham union leaders claim hundreds of North-East jobs are under threat due to Government plans to privatise the Land Registry. Business minister Michael Fallon has unveiled options for the future of the 150-year-old institution, which records land and property information and employs around 4,500 civil servants including 400 in Durham City. The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union believes the moves are “hugely risky” and the first steps towards privatisation.

Plans for a new £10million physics research centre on the Science Site have been unveiled by Durham University.

The original Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics, which currently houses a theoretical cosmology research department and the world’s first Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, was opened in 2002 by Tony Blair, and will be replaced by the new construction.

The new building, which was “made necessary by the Centre’s rapid growth and academic success” according to the department, has an eye-catching angular design that has already drawn approving glances from students and locals across Durham.

The blueprints were drawn up by Daniel Libeskind, the architect behind New York’s Ground Zero memorial and the Jewish Museum in Berlin,

Durham University announced that it had received £3.35 million towards the project from the Ogden Trust and £1.5 million from the Wolfson Foundation, enabling the plans to go ahead.

For the past twelve years the Ogden Centre has led research into the fundamental physical properties of the universe at both ends of the scale, from the smallest elementary particles to astrology.

University staff, students and members of the public were invited to a pair of consultation evenings at the Calman Centre on January 16th and 20th.

Residents who attended the events were led through a detailed rundown of the plans and voiced positive reactions to the concept.

The University has received criticism for its ambitious construc-

tion projects in the past, with locals displeased at the avant-garde style of much of its new architecture.

In February last year the newly unveiled Palatine Centre was branded a “monstrous townscape disaster” by the City of Durham Trust.

However the head of Durham’s Physics department, Martin Ward, believes that the construction is necessary and sees Libeskind’s plans as encouraging.

He said: “The prospect of a new building provides a tremendously stimulating environment and fosters even closer synergies between the two institutes’ research areas.

“It’s a building our department needs, and these initial plans look very promising indeed.”

As well as being a focus of re-

search, the Ogden Centre currently runs ‘Higgs to Hubble’, a Physics-based community outreach programme aimed at a range of schools across the Durham area.

The Vice-Chancellor of Durham University, Chris Higgins, expressed his delight at being able to unveil the plans.

He said: “Durham is at the forefront of Physics in Europe and these transformational gifts from the Ogden Trust and Wolfson Foundation will ensure that we remain leaders in unravelling the secrets of the Universe.

“We are hugely excited about this new project and thank our alumni for the generous donations they have already given”.

“It’s a building our department needs, the plans look very promising” Martin Ward

whose design studio will oversee construction of the building.

Artist’s impression of the new Ogden Centre Photograph: Durham University

10k “Town and Gown” charity run planned for Muscular Dystrophy Campaign in Durham Gabriel Samuels A new 10k charity race for Durham students and local residents will take place in the city in March.

Students are encouraged to take part in the “Town and Gown” chip-timed race, organised by the Muscular Dystophy Campaign, on Sunday 9th March.

It is hoped that the event will attract 500 local residents and students who live in Durham and the surrounding area, and will raise £15,000 for the charity. All participants are encouraged to wear something orange for the race, reflecting the charity’s colour.

Durham University student Lauren Tate is leading the campaign locally, having lost a close childhood friend last year from muscular dystrophy at the age of 19.

Durham is just the third city in which a “Town and Gown” race

will be held, with the event starting and ending at Maiden Castle and going along the River Wear.

Similar events in Oxford and Cambridge have together raised over one million pounds for the organisation, with the Oxford event raising up to £140,000 each year.

Toya Champ, the charity’s Challenge Events Manager who is helping coordinate the race, said: “We are very excited to be bringing the Town and Gown 10k series to Durham for the first time. Events like these bring more awareness to people - we’d like to ‘turn Durham orange’.”

She told Palatinate that Durham University’s links with the town were important in being selected for the race: “The universities are very much involved. We researched around the country for universities with a similar structure [to Oxford and Cambridge], so that hopefully everyone can get involved - the town,

the students and the local area.”

Muscular dystrophy is a condition that causes muscles to weaken and waste, eventually leading

“This is great news for Durham University staff and students who have always supported charities, organisations and events in the region, and many will be encouraged to take part” Quentin Sloper

to cell and tissue death. There is not yet any known cure for the

condition, which can significantly affect life expectancy.

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign is a charity funding groundbreaking research into treatments for muscular dystrophy and related conditions.

It also supports the 70,000 families in the UK affected by these diseases, of whom 3,000 are from the North East.

Quentin Sloper, head of sport at Durham University, told The Northern Echo: “This is great news for Durham. University staff and students have always supported charities, organisations and events in the region, and we expect that many will be encouraged to take part in this exciting initiative to help raise money for a good cause.”

Roberta Blackman-Woods, MP for the City of Durham said: “The run is for a great cause and all those participating are doing so to help find a cure for this terrible illness.”

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News News in brief NATIONAL NEWS

CUMBRIA UNIVERSITY ACCEPTS BITCOIN PAYMENTS The University of Cumbria has become the first UK institution to accept Bitcoin for the payment of tuition fees. Students will be able to use the online currency, which is accepted by thousands of retailers worldwide, for two of the university’s Economics courses. The university advised against students purchasing Bitcoin in order to pay their fees, saying that they should only use this facility “if they already have Bitcoin, or can receive Bitcoin donations in order to pay their fees.”

TAUGHT POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMS FACING PROBLEMS According to a recent story reported

by The Times, taught postgraduate programmes are set to run into financial difficulties cross-subsidising from undergraduate programs. Because of a recent drop-off in undergraduate numbers and a resulting fall in institution income, these institutions are no longer going to be able to devote as much money to graduate programs. Experts have predicted that this drop-off in funding could leave many students already facing higher-than-normal debt loads after university in a bad position to pursue a masters degree. As a result, some say, UK universities are facing competition from mainland Europe.

OSBORNE WARNED OVER CUTS

George Osborne was told to step back from forcing cuts that will cause damage to universities, according to a statement from the Universities UK President. Osborne, who recently considered scrapping a £322 million student opportunity fund that supports impoverished students, is now facing intense criticism from all sides as people try to protect the programme, warning that it would do irreparable damage to the British economy.

25 MOST INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES LIST RELEASED: CAMBRIDGE 25TH

The recently released report has the Ecole Polytechnique Federale of Lausanne first in the world for most international opportunity, while Cambridge in the UK took 25th place.

The rankings were compiled using a list of indicators from international student numbers, international staff numbers, and the proportion of its research papers published with a co-author from at least one other country. Noting that this is a global concern, The Times, which compiled the rankings, noted that global networks attract talent.

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Thursday 30th January 2014 | PALATINATE

World Class Research Centre Announced Ben Williams Durham University will see the introduction of a new Centre for Innovation and Growth (CIG) as part of a multi-million pound investment into research and innovation in the North East earlier this month.

The £10 million investment has come from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, including £8 million from the Regional Growth Fund. The University is hoping to increase this amount significantly over the period 2015-2020.

This first phase of funding is expected to focus on developing a ‘private cloud’ for data management, before a construction project to house the new innovation centre.

The centre will maximise Durham University’s current links with consumer goods company Proctor & Gamble in researching new technologies and will provide data processing and laboratory space.

Dr. Tim Hammond, Director of Durham University’s Business and Innovation Services told Palatinate: “The CIG is a combination of the use of existing facilities and activities as well as new bricks and mortar and is very much about a way of working with business to co-produce research.

“It is anticipated that the work of the Centre will enhance the student experience in a number of ways, possibly via project work, employability routes and secondment, and internship placements.

“Another potential opportunity may be that the Centre will enhance modules such as Earth Sciences in Society and the Physics Team Projects which rely on student teams tackling problems set by industry.” “(The Centre) will leverage Durham’s international reputation and use its very strong international business and academic partnerships to realise stronger business growth and boost the world class status of

“The Centre will leverage Durham’s international reputation... to realise stronger business growth”

Dr. Tim Hammond Business and Innovations Services Director Durham science.”

Dr Hammond later added that “the project is also is expected to produce as many as 28 new jobs in the short term, with significant potential to grow over the next 5-10 years.”

David Willetts, the Universities and Science Minister said: “Innovation is a key driver for economic growth in the UK. This investment will help to create a world class innovation centre in the NorthEast and provide exciting new job opportunities.

“Collaborative working between universities and industry is vital if we are to remain ahead in the global race for innovation and growth.”

Professor Roy Sandbach on behalf of The North East LEP, who made the investment, said: “The CIG is exactly what we need for the region, a strategic collaboration between a prestigious university and an innovation-centric corporate business partner with global reach.”

He added: “I’m hoping that the new Centre will catalyse even more creative innovation, managed with efficiency and momentum, and with broader collaborations.

“The rest of the world will sit up and seriously consider the NorthEast for innovation investment.”

Products currently being developed by researchers at Durham University and Proctor and Gamble include products to wash clothes at lower temperatures.

Developers have said that the location of any new building is still to be decided, however this is a more likely alternative than refurbishing university-owned buildings.

Future development of the centre could involve the creation of a new open innovation hub as well as further work with a range of industrial partners.

The news comes as a £90,000 pound investment was made this week to a partnership between Durham Energy Institute and the London Borough of Haringey, which seeks to reduce CO2 emissions whilst tacking inequality and raising prosperity.

90s TV show Robots Live to come to Palace Green for Robot Wars combat

Gabriel Samuels

The stars of cult 90s TV show Robot Wars are coming to Durham next month to battle it out at Palace Green.

Robots Live, which takes place throughout the February halfterm, will play host to Big Nipper, UFO and several other 100kg mechanical giants familiar to fans of the show.

A specifically designed combat arena will be erected in a marquee on Palace Green in preparation for the event, with drop down pits and flamethrowers for the competitors to negotiate.

The event was dreamt up by a team of robots-enthusiasts when Robot Wars left our screens back in 2003 and has since played to audiences up and down the UK. In addition to the customary

arena combat, the show will see 6ft tall robotic boxers going toe to toe with each other.

School pupils from across the Durham region have been invited to work with the University’s Heritage Learning Team in helping create their own featherweight robots to take part in the event.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for children of all ages to see some well-known robots and learn more about them” Dr. Keith Bartlett Cultural Engagement Director

Dr Keith Bartlett, Durham’s director of Cultural Engagement

said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for children of all ages to see some well-known robots and learn more about them.”

In addition, free entry to a current Robot Exhibition which runs at Palace Green Library until April 27th is being offered to all Robots Live ticket holders, where visitors can meet some of their favourite cyborg stars.

Robots Live organiser Alan Young said: “This is a rare chance to see our exciting family show, we will be making our North East debut in Durham and it promises to be a fun half-term event. We’re very much looking forward to it.”

Robots Live takes place at various times on February 21st, 22nd and 23rd and tickets are still available to purchase.

Admission costs £7.50 for adults, £6.50 for children and concessions and £25 for families.

To book, call 0191-334-2932 or visit durham.ac.uk/palace.green or ticketmaster.co.uk

DUCK Officer’s Column Naz Atkinson Hi everyone!

Welcome back to another term with DUCK! This term is looking set to be immense with DUCK Week, Skydive, the Cathedral Sleepout and a half marathon all happening in the next 8 weeks! We will also be pouring 10,000 ducks into the River Wear in the name of charity (worth going to see – we have to hire a tractor for Elvet Bridge!) as well as preparing to open applications for DUCK Allocations which you can read about later in this issue of Palatinate. All this and more will be taking place in Durham and at Queens Campus this term and this is your opportunity to have some fun and raise money for Charity before revision kicks in!

First up, is Formally Lost! This event, which was established last year and was hugely popular, combines all that we love about Durham with charity fundraising and Hitchhiking! Quite simply you get dropped off at an undisclosed location across the UK and the aim is to hitchhike back to Durham in your formal wear just in time for Castle formal! Not only is it one of the biggest social events on the DUCK calendar but for all those of you trying to tick off every college formal on your Durham Bucket list, this is the event for you!

A personal highlight for me was travelling down to Wales, in the minibus. with a DUCK T-shirt firmly tied around my eyes to stop peeking - an odd experience for both the teams and, I imagine, other drivers on the way! ‘The Laurels’, as we were called, also attempted to race the team, who had boarded the same train, to the finish line. Safe to say that war paint and SAS style ‘backpack running’ (which is always awkward!) ensued!

If you would like any more information please contact dsu. duck-chair@durham .ac.uk and GET INVOLVED! Naz Atkinson DUCK Chair

PALATINATE | Thursday 30th January 2014

News in brief INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UK COLLEGES CONSIDER FOLLOWING CHINESE MODEL FOR INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS According to a recent piece released by the Guardian, recent research into Chinese industry partnerships shows an impressive amount of technical investment into future generations by setting up partnerships with local businesses. This model, which authors considered much more effective than any in the UK, constructs training centers for businesses in vocational colleges. With many facing economic hardship in the UK, and the uncertainty of the job market, some are starting to consider the switch.

HARVARD AND MIT edX COURSES MARKED BY 95% DROPOUT RATES

A recent series of working papers from Harvard claims that though edX courses (an online-based education service that allows students from all over the world to take courses from leading schools such as Harvard and MIT) are marked by extremely high dropout rates, this is no way to measure the success of the project. Researchers are currently looking into ways of analysing the newly gathered data, after edX’s first full academic year.

GERMANY BEGINS OFFERING LESSONS IN ISLAM German public schools have begun offering classes in Islam to primary school students with state funds, state teachers, and specially written textbooks. This outreach to the Muslim community is in an effort by government officials to better integrate the nation’s large Muslim minority.

Additionally, some German officials feel that adding more moderate Islam courses to the school system will have the added benefit of countering radical religious thinking, a growing influence in the region. The classes have begun in Hesse State, and claim to foster social harmony.

LIBRARIANS PROTEST CANADA CUTBACKS A number of Canadian academics are currently protesting moves by the Canadian government to cut back the number of departmental research libraries. Fearing loss of data, trained personnel and overall damage to Canada’s research output. Arguing that the move would achieve only modest savings, and that the government acted without consultation, academics fear that long term harm could come to the country if the government proceeds in this manner. Many arguments have centered around the fisheries department.

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News Features

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Chancellor receives Queen’s Medal for Music Tom Fenton

Durham Chancellor and operatic baritone, Sir Thomas Allen, has been awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music 2013, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The prize is bestowed upon ‘an outstanding individual or group of musicians who have had a major influence on the musical life of the nation.’

Sir Thomas, 69, is the ninth winner of the award, established in 2005.

Previous winners include conductor Sir Colin Davis and soprano Dame Emma Kirkby.

He said in a statement, “I was surprised and thrilled to hear I would receive The Queen’s Medal for Music having had so much recognition over many years.

“This very special award means so much to me and I’m very proud

“I was surprised and thrilled” Sir Thomas Allen

to have been selected.”

Master of The Queen’s Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, said “Sir Thomas was a top opera singer who has become not only a top opera director but also a major force in outreach and musical education.

“Through the Samling Foundation, he has carried out utterly selfless work for charity and, above all, for young people.

“And it is for this achievement of a lifetime that The Queen’s Medal for Music Committee felt so strongly persuaded to award him the Medal.”

Launched in October 2012, the Samling Foundation is setting new standards in classical music for

young people from, or studying in, the North East.

Led by Samling in partnership with Newcastle and Durham Universities and Sage Gateshead, Samling Academy extends the reach of a successful Masterclass model to a new generation of participants.

The Vice-Chancellor of Durham said: “Congratulations to Sir Thomas Allen on receiving the Queen’s Medal for Music for his selfless work for charity and in particular for young people, through the Samling Academy.”

Quentin Sloper, Head of Sport, Music and Drama at Experience Durham said: “Sir Thomas Allen has already shown enormous commitment to Durham students and their music.

“We are delighted that he has agreed to perform with the Durham University Music Society chorus.”

“This will be enormously helpful in raising the profile of music at Durham.”

The performance is set to take place at St John’s Smith square London alongside the New London Orchestra on March 13th.

Sir Thomas, who graduated from The Royal College of Music in 1968, was appointed the twelfth Chancellor of Durham University on 11 October 2011.

He was born in the mining village of Seaham Harbour, County Durham.

After the help of Professor Arthur Hutchings of the Music Department of Durham University in arranging an interview for him, Sir Thomas won a place at the Royal College of Music in London in 1964.

It was Sir Thomas’ rise to stardom from humble origins which, according to the playwright Lee Hall, was the inspiration for his film Billy Elliot.

On his debut with the Welsh National Opera, he was described

Sir Thomas Allen

Photograph: Durham University

as “surely the best British lyric baritone singing in opera since the war”.

He has since won acclaim for both his singing and, more recently, directing roles.

In 2005, Sir Thomas starred alongside Judi Dench and Bob Hopskins in the British comedy film Mrs Henderson Presents.

In 1988, Sir Thomas was awarded a Doctorate of Music at the University.

He was made a CBE in 1989 and knighted ten years later. Both awards were for his services to opera.

He will be presented with the award by the Queen at an audience later this year.

the university last month.

The University regularly participates in student and staff exchanges with several universities in the United States, including Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of Washington, Seattle University and Duke University.

Matthew Barzun was nominated the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom by President Obama and was confirmed by the Queen in November 2013.

Sharne Procter, Director of the International Office at Durham University, said: “We are really honoured to welcome the Ambassador to the Uni-

versity as we are very proud to have such wide-ranging links with the US. “As an international university with staff and students from across the globe and over 500 students and staff from the US, we look forward to further strengthening our links with American organisations and universities.”

The University currently plays host to staff and students from over 150 countries worldwide and a number of academic fellows and students are funded by institutions such as the Fulbright Commission and the North American Foundation for the University of Durham (NAFUD).

American Ambassador pays visit to Durham

Ben Williams

The United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Matthew Barzun visited the University last week.

During his visit, the Ambassador met with US students and faculty members as part of ongoing collaboration with universities in the United States.

Ambassador Matthew Barzun met with American students who are currently studying in Durham, as well as scholars who have teaching and research connections

with the US. The visit comes after the annual conference of the US-UK Fulbright Commission, which was held at

“We look forward to further strengthening our links with American organisations and universities” Matthew Barzun American Ambassador

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Thursday 30th January 2014 | PALATINATE

The Secret Societies of Durham

Palatinate investigates the most exclusive

and dangerous student societies in Durham

Illustration: Harriet-Jade Harrow Exclusive ‘secret’ societies at Oxford and Cambridge have long been in the public eye – most notably the Bullingdon Club, whose alumni include the current Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Mayor of London. Likewise, the operation of ‘secret societies’ in Durham is (ironically) no secret.

In 2012, Palatinate revealed the existence of The Exiles, a group of ‘predominantly male, white, upper class students’ from Josephine Butler College (see Palatinate no. 736).

This was a society, created in 2006, the year of the college’s foundation, by ‘exiles’ from the more traditional Bailey Colleges from which they had been pooled and reallocated.

The backlash to this article was significant, and the very fact that such operations were being looked into was disapproved of by some.

Indeed, the exposition of The Exiles only scratches the surface of the secret societies that exist in Durham, with some of them operating far more invidiously than as a glorified drinking society.

Durham Secret Societies Secret societies at Durham can be broadly divided into two categories: those that actively seek to maintain secrecy, and in some cases, supremacy (with varying degrees of success), and those that are an open secret, with largely more light-hearted aims.

From the latter category we find the like of the ‘31sts’, who would apocryphally streak around Palace Green on the 31st day of the month before the clock finished striking twelve. That is, until the police real-

ised the pattern, with further incidents occurring at random, rather than on the eponymous date. Likewise, some might place Castle Fives under the broad umbrella of a ‘secret’ society, despite general public knowledge of them, along with the Red Poet Society, Elephant Polo Club, the Caelians and the Lumley Run Club, among others.

In reality, it is the first category characterised by their longevity, traditions and privilege that are the true ‘secret societies’. Access to these societies is, by their very definition, exclusive and clandestine. These are societies with largely no additional supervision or monitoring, without direct affiliation with the University or Students’ Union.

Networking At the heart of secret societies is the idea of helping one another out, something that is also said to make membership worryingly elitist.

Importantly, Palatinate has uncovered that some secret societies hold alumni databases, with the primary aim of providing contacts and links to the professions.

“it is obscene that the University allows these societies to continue to exist” JCR President

Regular club dinners and events are held in or around Durham, sometimes in University property.

These are complemented with alumni dinners, often in the prestigious members’ only clubs of London.

For many, a secret society can provide a valuable networking opportunity and a step-up both in student life at University as well as the wider world. Beyond this, however, Palatinate found no evidence of any serious intervention in University or student affairs.

Initiation One finalist from a Bailey College, who did not wish to be named, told Palatinate “I found a letter in my pigeon hole in Freshers’ week. It had a reference number for a book in the Cathedral Library and a deadline for response. The note made it clear that I should tell no-one.

“In the letter in the book from the Cathedral Library there was a card instructing me to arrive at a location at midnight in Black Tie.” Access to such groups is often invite only. The fact that often candidates are approached in their first weeks at Durham hints at the elitist and public school nature of the members. While the majority of secret societies consist of all-male membership, others have opened their doors to women, such as the Aeolian Society.

The Aeolian Society, named after the Greek god of wind, Aeolus, purports to be the oldest student society at Durham. The society is almost exclusively associated with University College. Potential new members are questioned by candlelight in a manner that, according to Sarah Richardson, a Durham alumna, treads a “fine line between garnering insight and

causing humiliation.”

Another secret society, largely confined to the Bailey Colleges, is known as ‘A.A.’ or Arcanum Arcanorum to those in the know. It is one of the better-attested societies, with even a scant online presence.

Initiation procedures largely revolve around being a ‘gentleman’: combining the necessities of a superficial knowledge of good manners and dress; psychological challenges; rudimentary, ritualistic team-building exercises; and, ironically, binge drinking… the staples of a traditional student secret society(!).

Initiations vary wildly with some being relatively benign as well as other instances where the explicit aim is to terrify candidates, from forcing them to eat dog food to simulating acts of rape. This is the true danger of secret societies: accountability and responsible oversight are too often anathema.

Wider awareness One JCR President, and a self-confessed former member of a secret society, told Palatinate “I think it is obscene that the University allows these societies to continue to exist.

“The ritualistic humiliation of applicants is disgraceful and brings all students into disrepute. I have no doubt that the traditions continue to thrive at Durham because the old boy network is so important for the funding and some of our more senior University figures were likely previous members.”

Whether members of current University staff were actually were members of such societies, or are even aware of the wider presence of

secret societies is unclear. However, a limited knowledge of such operations is obvious. Indeed, one senior member of the University referenced the Aeolian Society in an open letter (see Castellum no. 52, p. 4).

“as citizens, students are free to choose ... societies they join ... however, with rights come responsibilities” Professor Graham Towl When asked about the operation of secret societies at the University, Professor Graham Towl, Pro-ViceChancellor and Deputy Warden said: “We want students to have both a positive academic and social experience in Durham and we have over 180 societies with something to appeal to everyone. Students can become involved in clubs and societies either through their College or through the Students’ Union.

“As citizens, students are free to choose what clubs or societies they join. However, with rights come responsibilities as citizens too and we would anticipate that students would be mindful of this in informing their choices.”

Do you have any information about the operation of secret societies in Durham?

Have you been scouted yourself? Palatinate would love to hear from you. Get in touch with us at news.features@ palatinate.org.uk

PALATINATE | Thursday 30th January 2014

9 www.palatinate.org.uk

Business & Economics

Best bank bargains for students

Is it time for you to switch your account provider?

International Students

By Richard Morgan

Have you ever looked at your bank and asked: “can I do better?”

That’s the question the major UK banks are worried about and why the battle for student customers is heating up.

Banks are aware that once they get a student signed up, they are likely to remain with the same bank after graduation and throughout their career, as just 2.5% of all bank customers in 2012 made a switch.

There is an urgency to keep you on as a customer so that the banks can be there for the affluent time of your life when you invest, take out a mortgage and start pension funds later on in life after Durham.

Banks are increasingly trying to improve their appeal to students, and so each year the packages they offer are different. This makes it worthwhile to check each year that your bank is the best option for you.

Giveaways

The majority of banks are able to offer free online and mobile banking, which means that they mainly differentiate themselves through giveaways for signing up, customer service and their interest-free overdraft limits.

It is widely acknowledged that Santander offers the best giveaway; that of a 16-25 Railcard for four years that offers a third off rail fares. But these giveaways, according to the experts, should not be a deciding factor in choosing a bank.

Tracey Bleakley, of the Personal Finance Education Group, advises that students ”avoid the gimmicks, look at the small print and decide what the best account is for you in the long term.”

Students must choose a bank that suits their needs Overdraft Limits

Maximum interest-free overdraft levels for students remain a crucial clincher in the decision on banks, as they determine how much a student can borrow each year without getting stung by interest rates.

It is best to have a bank that gradually increases the amount of interest-free overdraft.

The banks’ maximum overdraft limits vary widely and are as follows: Halifax overdraft limits of ‘up to’ £3,000 are dampened by only the first £1,000 being guaranteed - the rest is decided on a case-by-case basis. For Santander, provided that £500 goes into your account each term, you can go into £1,500 overdraft until fines kick in.

HSBC maximum interestfree overdraft is the highest at £3,000, but the feedback from last year tells us that it is often only up to £1,000 by the end of year one. Furthermore at the beginning, it is only £500, then you have to request more if needed.

Lloyds TSB’s limit is £1,500, whilst Barclays offers a £2,000 interest-free overdraft from day one.

Royal Bank of Scotland’s interest-free overdraft starts at £1,000 in the first year, rising to £1,500 in the third.

Co-op Bank sets it at £1,400 in year one, £1,700 in the second year and £2,000 in the third.

This makes HSBC the leader, as it provides students with the most flexibility in how much they can borrow without going paying interest.

Interest rates beyond the overdraft limit

The most competitive interest rate for when students go over the limit is Halifax, at 7.2%.

Next is Barclays 8.9%, and Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB both set their rate at 8.2%.

Other banks such as Santander would penalise you with a flat fee of £5 for every day, capped at ten days a month if you go beyond their overdraft limit without first gaining their permis-

Photograph: Emma Werner sion.

Natwest forbids borrowing beyond the interest-free amount.

Customer Service

When it comes to banking, everyone wants friendly and knowledgeable help.

A Telegraph poll from 2013 found that 93% of First Direct bank customers gave it a ‘great’ ranking.

Co-op Bank ranked second, with 75% of customers stating that they received great service.

Santandar received 62%; HSBC, 44%; Halifax, 53%; Barclays, 48%; Natwest, 48%; and Lloyds TSB, 44%.

It is crucial to find a bank that employs well-qualified staff that deal with a range of the banking problems that students can face.

That is why, in addition to the general statistics, it is important to ask fellow students about their experience with their bank and how they were treated.

For international students, the difference between banks is really in the charges for unpaid direct debit and charges for unpaid standing orders (an arrangement with the bank to have your sponsor pay money into your account at set times).

Banks are charging the same amount for both categories with: Barclays at £8; Lloyds and Halifax, £10; NatWest, £5; Santander, £25. Meanwhile, HSBC do not charge for either.

International Students have to be careful with managing their account because hardly any of the banks offer a free temporary overdraft when there is less than £10 in your account.

Ultimately there is plenty of choice for all students and the decision should be based on your own personal financial needs - don’t be afraid to switch.

Best bank deals

Overall winner: HSBC

Its got the highest interest-free overdraft, does not charge international students for unpaid direct debit and standing orders, and 85% of its customers are at least reasonably happy.

Runner-up: Barclays

From the beginning of your first year they offer a £2,000 interest-free overdraft, providing a cushion for students who need to borrow.

Best of the Rest Co-op Bank

It has great customer service but does not give the level of interest-free overdraft that Barclays does until the third year.

Halifax

Whilst it has the same interestfree overdraft ceiling as HSBC, it is based on a case-by-case basis; beyond the £1,000 overdraft mark seems too uncertain.

Changes in the music industry: all you need to know about the best deals

By Richard Morgan Durham students will always love listening to music on their way to lectures, whilst working out and chilling with friends.

But the business side of the equation is currently uncertain as the industry expands from the dinosaur age of CDs in the 90s and the downloading days of the former decade into the

music subscription era.

Whilst downloads still account for 71% of the $5.6 billion music industry market, digital music subscription services like Spotify, Deezer and now Beats Music are expanding with paying subscribers now at 30 million.

An unnamed record executive of one of the three major record labels said “Downloads are slowing down as heavy users of iTunes are figuring out that

they’re better off on a streaming service.”

Yet many musicians are unhappy with the change. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke feels that these services do not pay artists enough.

He points to the fact that a song would need to be streamed one million times on Spotify to make $7,000- the equivalent of just 12,000 download sales.

The problem lies in streaming services offering a free service

with adverts; just six million of Spotify’s 24 million users pay.

Faisal Galaria, a former vicepresident at Spotify said: “At the minute they’re being given a choice between [paying] £120 [one year], or free, so most people are choosing free.”

The music industry remains obstinate in its belief that if it offers new features like enhanced audio quality, people will be swayed to buying a premium subscription.

It seem unlikely that the majority of cash-conscious consumers will take this premium subscription deal when companies are offering a free service that to all but the most discerning ears is of perfectly good quality.

If the music industry wants to make the subscription age a success, it will have to make its prices for premium subscriptions more competitive. Let the price wars begin.

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Careers

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Thursday 30th January 2014 | PALATINATE

Challenging misconceptions in business

Elizabeth Bailey discusses her journey to becoming winner of last year’s Blueprint Challenge Elizabeth Bailey

When I was younger, I never considered that business was something I would want to go into, or remotely capable of doing. As a shy teenager, I thought to be successful in business you had to be incredibly confident, great with people, and some kind of inventor who could create a new product no one else had thought of. I definitely didn’t think that those were skills I had and I had no concept of the fact that businesses could be something far more than that, with a social and powerful cause behind it.

What I didn’t realise that I was already on the journey which would eventually lead me to develop a social enterprise that could help hundreds of people. When I was a teenager, I suffered from severe mental health problems for 5 years. I thought it would never end, but I discovered that teaching myself to love my body was my key to recovery, and it enabled me to learn techniques to tackle all negativity in my life. While I recovered, I became ever more passionate about the effects that developing a positive body image could have on people’s lives.

I had seen the way it had opened up opportunities for me, and I knew

“the only thing holding me back was this misconception that business was something I couldn’t do”

that there were so many other people struggling with their body image who could benefit from learning how to love themselves. So when someone asked me what my dream job would be, teaching people about positive body image seemed like the only answer. Upon hearing this answer, I

was asked the simple question – ‘why don’t you do it?’and it occurred to me that the only thing holding me back was this misconception that business was something I couldn’t do.

The idea frightened me somewhat – we’re so frequently told that businesses fail all the time and how hard they are to succeed in. But I figured that at least if I gave it a try, and it failed then at least I would have tried, and I’d know I’d given my dream job a chance.

Getting to university and not knowing quite where to start with my idea, I decided to enrol in the Blueprint Competition as a way to keep the momentum going while I adjusted to university life. It was quite nerve wracking at first, especially seeing myself around other people who seemed to know so much about business and entrepreneurship, and I didn’t even know what ‘turnover’ meant. But I was very lucky at this point to discover just how much help was available to me.

At the end of my first term (December 2012), I went to the Careers department to catch up on what I’d missed, and I met Suzanne, who is the university’s Enterprise Co-ordinator.

She was very helpful and talked me through the Blueprint process, mentioned that there was a business adviser available who I could talk to. I was a bit nervous of this, because I was afraid of going to this appointment and being told that my idea was ludicrous and had no potential – but with Suzanne’s encouragement, I booked up an appointment for the beginning of the new term.

When I met Phil, the resident business advisor, he was incredibly supportive and friendly. I was very surprised to find out that they actually thought my idea was really good and had great potential. It was just the validation I needed to get really stuck into my business, and spend the next couple of months going through extensive planning and brainstorming, with the support from the Careers and Enterprise department with me the whole way. In particular, they

found out about a grant I could apply for to get funding to try out my venture, from a social enterprise support organisation called UnLtd. I was successful in my application, and was able to use the money to pilot my first body image workshop, going into a school in Cambridgeshire to teach a group of year 7 students. It

and many students tend to forget this.

You may think you did well, but how you follow it up is what makes the difference and could determine your future with the company. To help you out, here is your essential interview follow up checklist from Graduate Recruitment Bureau to teach you how it’s done:

can send them a follow up email to ask for the status on your application, knowing that you won’t be pestering them or show your disinterest in the role.

“Running a social enterprise can be a challenge, both practically and emotionally”

was the most rewarding experience I’d ever had and I knew at that point that this was definitely what I wanted to spend my life doing.

From there, my experience with

LookPositive has been a bit of a whirlwind. I continued in the Blueprint process, and benefited from many different and varied workshops on planning and running a business that were invaluable in the coming months, as I brought my business closer to being launched. I submitted my business plan to a panel of judges and completed a pitch and was completely shocked to find out I had won second place. From someone who came into the Blueprint competition knowing nothing about business, I couldn’t believe how much had changed. At the same time I developed my school workshops and my marketing materials and booked my first set of school workshops. Suzanne also helped me secure another grant from the same organisation, for £5000. This was invaluable in helping me lift the business of its feet.

Since then I’ve been contacted by lots of schools, and done full days of

workshops with hundreds of young people, and I’ve been able to make a real difference to the way many of them feel about their bodies.

Running a social enterprise can be a challenge, both practically and emotionally, and especially as a student entrepreneur there are days where you can wish you were a normal student, not trying to juggle a degree with a business. But Phil, Suzanne and everyone in the Careers Centre have constantly supported me.

To access the amazing support that Durham has to offer, email enterprise.support@durham.ac.uk, or visit http://www.durham.ac.uk/careers/ enteprise For more information about LookPositive visit www.lookpositive.co.uk

Elizabeth receving the Highly Commended award in the Blueprint regional final Photograph: Paul Sidney

Next steps: Post-interview checklist Yasmin Codron

Yasmin Codron is a Blogger and Marketing Assistant for Graduate Recruitment Bureau. Her work involves writing insightful, advice based articles aimed at graduates, students and job hunters.

Once your job interview is over, don’t think you can just sit back and wait for the result. Following the interview up is just as important as your actual performance in the interview itself,

Find out what to do next At the end of your interview, always ask what the next step is. Find out when they will contact you, so if you don’t hear back from them when they said they would contact you, you

Send a thank you letter As soon as you get home from the interview, write a thank you letter to the employer who interviewed you. Refrain from sending an email, as handwritten letters show you’ve made more of an effort to show your gratitude.

Remind them of your interest If you haven’t heard back from the company you interviewed with, don’t assume they aren’t interested. Take action. Send them a short message showing your interest in the role, and make sure you come across as friendly and professional.

Leave a voicemail Leave a polite voicemail to show your continued interest in the role, stating you appreciate the time they took to interview you, and that it was a pleasure to meet (the name of your interviewer). Then inform them you

are looking forward to hearing their response. Keep it sweet!

Follow on Social Media Pretty much every company will have an existence on social media these days. If you haven’t already, follow the company on all their social media channels. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google + are the key platforms to look for them on, then search if they have a blog. Comment on what they publish and engage with fellow users. It is also worth connecting with the employer on LinkedIn too.

PALATINATE | Thursday 30th January 2014

11

Careers

www.palatinate.org.

Jayne Morgan on journalism in South Africa Jayne Morgan talks about her wide experience of broadcasting, from Radio Four to Podcart Ben Hamer

The following features are the penultimate part of a series of interviews with ex-editors of Palatinate which took place over the summer vacation.

From being Features Editor at Palatinate how did you go into media?

I was very hung up on the idea of leaving Durham knowing what I wanted to do. The problem was that I had no idea what I wanted to do. I came from a comprehensive school, a very progressive sixth form college, and felt a degree of stress from that, because it was the first time I had to question my place in the world as other people were doing so.

I felt initially that I had to know what I wanted to do. I narrowed it down to either advertising or publishing. What would have been sensible would have been to leave university and gain some experience, but I was set on getting a job upon leaving and do the management trainee route. I got a job with Maxwell Communications because it had some publishing connections.

I ended up in an educational equipment factory in Leeds. This wasn’t exactly where I was thinking of, I was

thinking more Bloomsbury.

I did English and Latin joint honours. I loved doing Latin and the joint course – I was the only student doing it and one of the things I would say is that many early career experiences people were interested about why I was doing that course at degree level.

I was interested in writing and journalism. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do and so I ended up in Palatinate for features, starting the consumer column. When I look back at it I feel I could have done it so much better!

“you actually don’t have to make one decision ... in fact it can be fairly inconsequential”

I ended up doing a marketing job that I didn’t really want to do. I very vividly remember that I had done the wrong thing. At that stage you have to make a decision, and if you make the wrong decision it could be disastrous.

My career, I think shows how you actually don’t have to make that one decision, certainly when you’re twenty years old, and in fact it can be fairly

inconsequential.

What did you do when you realised you wanted to go in another direction?

I realised I was in the wrong position, so I answered a job advert in the Guardian for a researcher on Radio Four, going back to the idea that I wanted to be in the media somehow, working for Melvin Bragg on Start the Week.

I was with Radio Four for six years doing features programs. I ended up a senior producer and absolutely loved working for the BBC and Radio Four.

I had brought up listening to Radio Four and it felt like I was at the centre of the world.

Why did you decide to move to South Africa?

I’d been with the BBC for six years and I’d always wanted to live outside England but stay in broadcasting. In January 1995 I decided to go to South Africa and got a job with SFM the National English network in South Africa, which modeled itself on Radio Four.

The BBC did civilized things called ‘career breaks’, so I had two years and could go back to a job in the BBC. Half way through the first year I realized it wouldn’t be enough. I fell in love with the country. Doing what I did here did

a huge amount for me. I decided to stay another six months and during that time I met the man I got married to. Essentially, I genuinely forgot to go home, I just never got around to it.

The BBC isn’t generally somewhere you leave. They don’t understand it. There were moments where I though ‘what have I done?’. But I am glad I did it. I moved to the Institute to the Advancement of Radio Journalism as head of Radio Training, which was very interesting, before getting back into radio with 702 producing their show, a talk radio show.

I ended up running their productions department and ended up having children and so decided to go freelance. South Africa allows a great deal of leeway in this regard. I started writing when my children were very small.

When they got older I was missing my radio background so I got involved in podcasting when it was beginning to become something people were talking about, starting Podcart.

On the back of the Mail and Guardian, a very good South African weekly, asked me to start podcasts and the business was built on the back of this.

I now live in Grahamstown in the eastern cape.

When I first arrived there I was involved in a community media project working with the community radio

station, so I realize my career trajectory from the BBC to radio Grahamstown. On paper, that doesn’t look ideal! But the experiences I have had and my own satisfaction it’s a fantastic career trajectory. I now do media training for executives, podcasts, writing and an MA in creative writing.

It’s easy to get bound up to this idea that you have to be very focused, and in some ways you do, but it’s also good to be open to things. When people ask me what I do, it’s difficult to answer because I do so many different things.

“don’t get hung up from that early decision”

I remember very specifically in my early mid-thirties I remember thinking ‘I’m a failure because I’ve never done anything long enough to be really good at it and progressed to the top.’ I was really quite miserable, and for some reason I remember the moment vividly, walking along a beach in Thailand, I though I’m quite the opposite, every time an opportunity has come up, I’ve taken it.

I’ve done a range of things I’ve taken enormous joy from. I’d say don’t get hung up from that early decision.

Adrian Wells on careers and committent

Adrian Wells, head of International Development at Sky News, discusses his career in the media

You did the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) course before coming to Durham?

Yes, I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to come to University, I was in a hurry to become a journalist. My politics degree was something I thought would be interested, I almost decided it by chance. I did the newspaper course with the intention of joining a local newspaper.

At the time, Fleet Street still existed and all the newspapers were based there. When I was a late teenager I used to go up to Fleet Street late at night when the papers were coming out and get them hot – as they had literally got off the presses.

When my grades were better than I expected rather than going into a local journalism I thought that university would be a good experience, but I still wanted to combine it with journalism. I was in a hurry to get to work, if you like.

I spent the first two years of my university life almost completely devoted to the newspaper and doing other media things within the Students’ Union to the great detriment to my course work.

I was very keen to get involved.

That was the progression for me – continuing journalism. Unlike Jayne I knew exactly what I wanted to do, I just had to achieve it.

This was a great luxury in a way –

“these accountancy firms would dice people up from universities like Durham to quite comfortable city jobs”

if you didn’t know what you wanted to do these accountancy firms would dice people up from universities like Durham to quite comfortable city jobs, and the most unlikely people were becoming city accountants.

That was the default position and I was lucky to get involved in editing Palatinate.

You weren’t put off by the late nights?

It was a terrific experience – the main thing in that sense was that we were

committed to the paper. I’m not sure why, but certainly I sort of knew why I was, as I wanted to make a living of it after university but we become somewhat fixated on it and threw a lot of energy into it, perhaps too much, at the time.

When I left I desperately wanted to be a journalist and applied to fifty different positions and only got one offer: the BBC. For me it was a lucky step into a ready-made career for a conveyor belt of an introductory course for two years, where Jeremy [Vine] ahead of me did the same thing, to try different bits of journalism and broadcasting from current affairs, daily journalism, regional journalism, reporting, producing, directing and at the end of it you were sort of guaranteed a job somewhere, and that’s what happened to me.

Why did you decide to switch from the BBC to Sky? I spent fifteen years with the BBC and it’s a big thing to leave, there are plenty of people who still spend their entire working lives in the one instituation. I had spent much time working abroad, first off in Northern Ireland during the Troubles; Russia

during the Yelsin years; in Brussels; three years in the Middle East.

When I came back I thought that I would like to pursue my career back in the headquarters. A key job didn’t come up my way and came up with a rival company and I moved.

You’ve been involved in the Rory Peck Trust?

I used to be a trustee and chairman of the trust. Rory Peck was a freelance cameraman who was killed covering the events of the Moscow Coup in 1991. Although his pictures were being used by many international broadcasters he wasn’t on anyone’s payroll, which meant that when he died there was no insurance and noone to pick up the tab for the arrangements for his death and for his family.

Off the back of this, a number of people, the BBC chief among these, contributed to a charity where freelance journalists are supported when they get into trouble and to support intrepid freelance journalism. It supports freelance journalists not necessarily supported by a big broadcaster. More and more that work is international, supporting journalism in places where journalism can be a

dangerous profession.

Any advice for Durham students?

I would say be committed to what you’re studying. All of use probably weren’t committed enough to what we’re studying. Wandering around our old university town we all felt to

“be committed to what you’re studying”

differing degrees that we didn’t put in enough work into our academic course work, and if you don’t go onto do a master’s or further postgraduate work this might be the last time that you have for full-time study in your life.

It’s an amazing privilege and period to have in your life. Don’t take your studies for gratned. I wouldn’t say that I did that totally as I focused in my third year, but I would have liked to focus more and have a bit of a pang of regret. BE committed. Be it a variety of aims or one single goal, but be committed.

12

SciTech Reader’s Scigest A QUICK LOOK AT SCIENCE

FALLING ON ITS FACE-BOOK Researchers at Princeton University have predicted that Facebook will have lost 80 per cent of its users by 2017, by comparing its growth to the growth curve of an infectious disease. The researchers have described a social media epidemic, and argue that people are slowly becoming immune to the attractions of the 1.2 billion-user site.

The research was based on data from Google trends, which records the number of times ‘Facebook’ is searched. According to these data, the number of people Googling the site peaked in December 2012, and have been trailing off ever since.

FLU WOULD’VE THOUGHT IT?

Flu remedies may be harmful instead of beneficial, according to recent studies. Sufferers of the flu are generally advised to take paracetamol and aspirin by medical professionals but, while alleviating the pain and symptoms, they may also lower their fever, which can cause the body to produce more flu virus and prolong the time they have the viral infection. A team, led by David Earn, have created a mathematical model and used data from a 1982 study of ferrets to estimate the increase in the number of flu cases caused by the suppression of feve - which could result in 2000 extra flu deaths each year in the US alone.

WATER DISCOVERY!

Water vapour has been detected on Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. Scientists using the Herschel space observatory have identified water rising off the dwarf planet, an observation that confirms that Ceres has an icy surface and an atmosphere. This marks the first time that water has been detected on any object in the asteroid belt.

www.palatinate.org.uk

Thursday 30th January 2014 | PALATINATE

Snowden’s warning: through the telescreen Sadie Bartholomew “A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all.”

So said Edward Snowden in a recent recorded message designed to alert the public to the governmentregulated system of mass surveillance that he helped to expose and asking explicitly for such “spying” to end.

His warning begins by referencing 1984, a novel by Eric Arthur Blair (pen name George Orwell) which can be seen as a vision of the chilling control enforced by a totalitarian government, including their ubiquitous surveillance.

However, he says, the spying technologies in 1984 are “nothing compared to what we have available today”. Let’s take a closer look. Do present governments have surveillance technologies at their disposal as powerful as those used by Big Brother?

The most prominent contraption in the novel, the telescreen, is unquestionably realisable today. Doubling as televisions and security cameras, telescreens are large screens attached to the wall, constantly monitoring citizens on behalf of the Thought Police while broadcasting propaganda in non-proletarian houses in Orwell’s dystopian world.

They also allow for two-way communication, although this is not their main purpose. In reality, of course, both the televising and video-taking aspect have been available and commonplace in developed countries for decades, though to be the “oblong metal plaque” that Orwell envisioned, it would require the more modern flat-screen LCD or plasma display variety, not the bulky cathode ray tube.

A combination of the two would require a way to incorporate a camera and sensitive microphone able to detect a heartbeat into a thin screen.

Though expensive to build, technological companies could certainly create a real-life telescreen - the only

difficultly being the ultra thin dimensions. However, recalling Snowden’s caution, perhaps there are screens more threatening than the telescreen residing in our homes already.

There is no Orwellian computer to draw direct parallels to – presumably Ingsoc would have seen their capacity for granting self-expression and aiding rebellion thus not permitted them to be created by stifling relevant scientific advances.

Yet, in the real world most people in developed nations own at least one computer or device that can connect to the internet. Our cyberexistence could be as invigilated as the physical existence of characters in 1984 – supplying the eavesdropper, whether the government or a hacker, with countless information about our lives.

On social media sights such as Facbook, information such as our likes, location, beliefs and friendships are often explicitly listed, our thoughts and reflections recorded, our experiences disseminated in shared photographs and still more and more information about us is becoming digitised.

Some of the latest apps measure your weight, manage your music tracks, determine your sleep cycle and analyse it- all with the option to share the information on social media.

Significantly, the speakwrite is a device which converts speech into text in Orwell’s 1984 – a process which could, and has, become an authentic app. Technologically, the speakwrite is not quite a reality. With the great variety in the articulation and pronunciation of words and the use of colloquialisms absent from the dictionary, transcribing speech is no easy task even prior to consideration of the myriad languages spoken around the world to be processed. In Winston Smith’s world, there is only one language called Newspeak and it is deliberately greatly condensed, with ant2onyms and synonyms removed.

If the same was true of reality, it is

1984 in 2014? Photograph: Frerk Meyer on Flickr likely that a near-perfect voice recog- this respect. He really can see you all nition app could be made in the very the time, providing you carry your near future. Plus, it is not just infor- smartphone. mation that we knowingly add to the Then there is the most evasive internet that is documented there, technique of all for removing our freely available for the opportunist to privacy: extracting our thoughts and access. Countless websites hold data memories. “Nothing was your own about us; for instance there are direc- except the few cubic centimetres intories of our past addresses sourced side your skull” Winston observes in from electoral roles. Additionally, in- the novel. In this day and age, there ternet service providers keep a log are even technologies (albeit in the of the websites we access and keep development stage) that can literally these details for up to a year. True read our minds. privacy in cyberspace is almost imHigh-resolution MRI, computer possible. modelling and shape recognition What technology is out there, the software have been combined to internet aside? Our mobile phones determine the image that a person can be used to pinpoint our location is looking at, for instance. The only to within a few metres using GPS or a way in which information could be process called triangulation. extracted from a person’s brain in Companies like taxi firms already 1984 was through torture – forcing track the routes of their vehicles but the person to divulge; Winston is soon privately-owned vehicles may shocked electrically and exposed to also be tracked, using techniques in- his greatest fear in Room 101. cluding automatic number-plate recOf course, there is torture goognition – a sinister step up from the ing on in our world, but we may be odd speed camera. heading towards a future where such In 1984, there is no mention of extremes are not even needed, with mobile-like devices (surely not per- technology capable of deciphering mitted by Ingsoc for the same reason the mind directly. as computers) or elaboration on any It appears that Snowden was cormonitoring of the transport in Air- rect; although the Orwellian tools strip One. However, it does not seem of surveillance are daunting, all are that Orwell’s vision stretched as far capable of being created today, and as to include technology that could moreover there are several powerlocate a person in the absence of a ful technologies in use or in developtelescreen; Winston manages to re- ment that Orwell didn’t envisage. The main largely unmonitored while in problem, then, lies with government the prole district. to ensure that these technologies are The real Big Brother, then, is even used responsibly, finding the delicate more powerful than the fictional in balance of monitoring relevant infor-

couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.

Our town was safe, but many others were not. Now, as the enormous clean-up operation begins, many are linking climate change to the extreme weather experienced both here and in the US. Some in the US have even compared the recent “polar vortex” to the giant freezing storms seen in sub-par apocalyptic disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow.

One scientist who has set out to research this is Professor Myles Allen, of the University of Oxford.

His previous studies of data on the floods of 2000 had to rely on public funding; along with several others in his field, he has proposed a fund-

ing increase from the government to research extreme weather, climate change, and whether humans are responsible for it.

The evidence so far is compelling; with the massive increase in our use of fossil fuels since the start of the Industrial Revolution, there could well be enough CO2 in the upper atmosphere to produce the greenhouse effect.

In the last few hundred years, global temperatures have increased by a few degrees; 2012 was, in fact, the hottest year on record.

This may not seem like much, but a change of just 5 oC could be potentially life threatening for many organisms, including humans; desta-

bilising ecosystems, changing ocean currents and potentially causing extreme weather.

Current research uses very powerful computers to simulate weather patterns; the conclusion reached after the 2000 floods was that global warming made them two to three times more likely. Is it really all down to humans, though?

For all our CO2 emissions, green energy and heated (pun intended) climate change debates, we might just be making a fuss over a perfectly natural geological change.

We often forget that the Earth is still coming out of its last ice age, which started 2.58 million years ago.

Granted, we are in one of the warm-

Raining in the facts on the UK’s recent extreme weather Bryony Hockin One of the most distinct memories of my childhood is of the autumn of 2000. It rained for months – 500 mm between September and November, in fact.

When the river in my town burst its banks one night very few people had any warning. More than 10,000 homes were flooded, destroying lives that in some cases have taken fourteen years to repair.

We were lucky; the water came within feet of our front door and no further, but this Christmas, as torrential rain fell all over the country, I

er periods, otherwise it would be a balmy -6 oC in summer.

However, since we don’t know how long this warmer period is supposed to last or indeed if we’ve finished warming up yet, it stands to reason that we need more research on the issue.

The investment required for such research would be approximately £10 million per year, with results likely within two years.

It seems ironic that the UK government hands over billions of pounds in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, and yet is reluctant to invest in a strategy such as this, which in many ways could be crucial to our survival.

PALATINATE | Thursday 30th January 2014

@PalatinatePol

13

Politics

www.palatinate.org.uk

Gay rights in 2014: to break the Western belt Luke Andrews “We’ve reached a moment in history where it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to go back.” These are the uplifting words used to describe the progress made in 2013 by Eric Marcus, author of Making Gay History.

This has been an unusually successful year in the battle for gay rights in some countries, both in a legal and cultural sense.

It is in the United States, however, where the biggest step forward has been made.

The Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA) vs Windsor case has been heralded as an even bigger step than the Stonewall riots of 1969. When Edith Windsor’s wife died, in order to inherit she was slapped with $363,053 in tax because their 2007 same-sex marriage was not recognised by the state. She called this discriminatory to gay people and in 2010 filed a law suit against the federal government.

It has taken 3 years of fighting to eventually win her case; first came support form the Obama administration then the District Coucil in South New York ruled in her favour, and then the Supreme Court followed ruling for Windsor 5-4.

This is a massive step for the US, where seventeen out of 50 states have already legalised same-sex marriage. It reflects how all marriage is now considered equal by law and influenced progress elsewhere.

States like New Mexico rapidly moved to allow same-sex marriage and Proposition 8 collapsed in California, which had banned same-sex

marriage since 2008.

President Barack Obama has also used his influence to bring the issue into the public eye, ensuring increasing acceptance. The influence has even touched the Republican Party where one third of its members now support same-sex marriage.

In turn, legal progress has been made in Western Europe, where France is now the latest country to legalise same-sex marriage.

Further progress has been made by the church. An institution that has previously condemned homosexuality as “intrinsically evil” (John Paul II), changed its tune. The new pontif, Pope Francis from Argentina, a country that recognises same-sex marriage, has said, “Who am I to judge,” on the issue.

He says that although homosexual acts are sinful, their orientation is not: “Does He [God] endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?”

This change represents strong progress in the right direction, one that the Church of England is struggling to follow.

This increasing acceptance is also reflected by celebrities, the most famous recent announcement coming from Tom Daley. In a self-made YouTube video he told his fans: “I’m dating a guy and I couldn’t be happier.”

You only have to go to Klute in Durham to see the impact he and others have had. Here, I was casually asked by another man: “Are you gay?” The secure feeling that such a question can be asked without any fear of that person’s response shows quite how

far we have all come.

Nonetheless, 2013 has remained a harrowing year in other parts of the world. The biggest shock was in India.

The world’s largest democracy has recently reinforced article 377 in law which bans sex that is “against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”, previously struck down in 2009.

This has reminded people of the fluidity of progress, and how in India especially conservatism on the issue remains at large. Equally disastrous events have occurred in Russia. The new ‘anti-gay law’ enforces the banning of “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations.” Effectively, this strangles all gay pride movements. They can no longer campaign; hence they, and the issue, become invisible.

This is bad news; in a country

Gay Pride flag Photograph: Ludovic Bertron where homosexual people are repeatedly violently assaulted, the issue is now being pushed further ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ Igor Kochetkov, head of LGBT networks, an NGO for gay rights in Russia, says that this move “was totally expected.”

This reflects the increasingly hopeless situation in Russia. Breaking this law will result in up to three years in prison. Rebuffs came in 2013 through smaller acts such as Turkey’s banning of Eurovision because it showed homosexual acts.

Clearly there is still a long way to go in most of the world. Only fourteen out of 196 countries support same-sex marriage. This tiny proportion is largely comprised of a small group of countries in the Christian/ Western world.

Yet, 2013 has been a year of progress in those countries that recog-

nise gay rights and same-sex marriage. However, countries yet to embark on this trail are seen to be veering away. Surely, the biggest progress of all would be when the Western world seal on the issue is broken, and countries like Saudi Arabia at least remove the death penalty associated with homosexual acts.

In hindsight, 2013 represented big progress towards the day when people no longer feel the need to ‘come out’, and people are no longer treated differently based on their sexual orientation.

It is likely that the UK will lead this progress into 2014 with the legalisation of gay marriage.

the main political parties regarding the UK’s membership of the European Union.

He insisted that there was a variety of opinions on show in the House of Commons.

As a beneficiary of a grammar school education, he was also pressed on whether they should be restored.

Whilst acknowledging that they provided a good education for him, he stopped short of calling for their restoration.

Lord Hennessy worked as a journalist – earning himself the description of the “gossip columnist of the British establishment” in the 1970s – for the Times, the Financial Times and the Economist before heading into the world of teaching as Professor of Contemporary History at Queen Mary and Westfield College in 1992.

He has written several award-

winning books, including Having it So Good – Britain in the 1950s, a study of the rise of Harold Macmillan which won the Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2007.

He was created a life peer in November 2010, taking the title of Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield.

Lord Hennessy on Britain’s place in the world

Spencer Brown Lord Peter Hennessy, the distinguished political historian and constitutional expert, recently delivered a lecture at Durham University on ‘Britain’s place in the world’.

In a talk, for the Van Mildert College Trust Annual Lecture, Lord Hennessy explored topics such as threats to national security, membership of the European Union and Scottish independence.

It was a sweeping and engaging mixture of personal anecdote and broad analysis, as he openly tackled Russia’s alleged dismissal of the United Kingdom as just a ‘small island’ before explaining how he has queried his country’s place in the world since the Suez Crisis of 1956, which he remembers as a nine-yearold boy.

He attributed the decision to stay out of Syria as a case of “intervention

fatigue” after the unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but believes the UK’s prominent and influential place in the world “will endure.”

Although he admitted that as a nation the UK is not content to “tuck ourselves up in the EU,” and that the union as a concept “is very hard to sell,” he believes that retaining membership is the best option, primarily for economic reasons.

He is also an avowed supporter of the Commonwealth, and praised the Queen for been such a unifying figure throughout her reign.

He believes it is very unlikely that Scotland will vote for independence in 2014, but added the disclaimer that he has a “terrible record as a political forecaster.”

He also wondered what the UK would be officially called if Scotland did become independent, suggesting that “the country formerly known as the UK” is unlikely to have much

clout on the world stage.

As the author of the book The Prime Minister: The Office and its Holders since 1945, he commended Prime Ministers for the way they handle such a “high-pressure job,” and believed the general public would be surprised with how much time they have to spend on foreign policy.

“gossip columnist of the British establishment”

On more than one occasion he expressed his belief that the Prime Minister should have a “chief historical advisor” to add a deeper perspective to policy-making.

After the talk the floor was opened to questions, where he was challenged over the homogeneity of

#PALPOLL Voting Intention: CON 35%, LAB 38%, LIBDEM 8%, UKIP 19% Job Approval: Cameron (-15% net.)

39% Approve 54% Disapprove

Polling Data: YouGov / The Sun Newspaper

14

Comment

Thursday 30th January 2014 | PALATINATE

www.palatinate.org.uk

Feminism has changed, but the backlash has not Francesca responds to the Comment Competition, ‘Feminism: an outdated term?’

Francesca Moll

I am a feminist, and I am tired.

Tired of having the same old debate.

Tired of being boxed into the same old stereotypes. Sick to the teeth of answering the same old arguments from people who appear to have a patchy idea of what we stand for.

Reading the latest Palatinate Comment Competition was particularly exhausting. A narrow debate on the semantics of the term inevitably degenerated into a condemnation of the whole movement, with only the single pro-feminist piece exclusively debating language. The other pieces ranged from making some pertinent remarks to relying on the same old depressing stereotypes that have dogged the movement from its start.

I’m suspicious of the feminism being “outdated” debate. It wasn’t even a century ago that women couldn’t vote. And that is only the most basic recognition of citizenship. It was barely fifty years ago that contraception became widespread, twenty when women really started breaking into the workplace. To expect the legacy of thousands of years of women being second-class citizens to just vanish in this miniscule amount of time seems to me logi-

cally...well, a little daft.

People who praise these gains but feel current feminism goes “too far” forget how deeply contested that progress was at the time. Fun fact.

We rightly celebrate suffragettes and suffragists, who campaigned for basic human rights. But at the time they were hated and condemned in

that women have mostly achieved equality- which, echoing my teacher, I would certainly deem “woolly.”

much the same terms as modern feminists- google “anti-suffragette posters”. And while you’re at it, look up the campaign for women to graduate from Cambridge in 1896. At a time that could conceivably have been within living memory when we were born, people rioted at the thought of women receiving full recognition for their studies.

People who feel that feminists

are illogical, unreasonable in their demands or simply unnecessary should be aware that these attitudes have been around right from the start. Perhaps at this point the latest rash of criticism is a logical response to feminism. But to me at least it looks a lot more like the same old story than a new one.

Reading through these articles, I found myself mentally doing the same thing as a formidable former teacher of mine. At points where our essays got a little vague or were backed up with insufficient evidence, she would scrawl in the margins “woolly!” or “yes, but?” or simply an irate “so?”. Obviously, I don’t wish to dismiss these opinions out of hand. But it was a shame some intelligent points were shot through with these unfortunate stereotypes.

For one thing, I would like to take this opportunity to bust once and for all the myth that men aren’t involved in feminism. At the university FemSoc, which I’m involved in, the men make up some of the most committed members. Nicholas Burbach is currently treasurer of Castle FemSoc. Even Cuth’s Rugby has been cooperating with FemSoc last term. Feminism recognises that all genders suffer from rigid societal roles, and to say that feminism can’t include men is what is truly divisive.

A couple of articles maintained

through headlines about politicians who are exploiting the centenary to score political points.

“Government accused of ‘social engineering’ over WW1 plans” (The Telegraph). The most recent controversy accuses the Government of focusing on the contributions of black and Asian servicemen in the war and neglecting to acknowledge the role of Australians and New Zealanders in

planned commemorations.

Britain relied heavily on aid from all over the Commonwealth to prevail in the war; 62,000 Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders died.

Meanwhile, from South Africa, around 12,000 men were killed. Although this number is by no means menial, it is not difficult to see that the government has political motivations behind plans to

focus on minorities. Politicians are neglecting to honour these men in favour of their own reputations which has no place in the planning of national commemorations.

“Jeremy Paxman criticises David Cameron’s WWI comments” (BBC).

Last October Jeremy Paxman attacked David Cameron for turning the centenary into a “celebration of war” after Cameron said he en-

“

It wasn’t even a century ago that women couldn’t vote. And that is only the most basic recognition of citizenship

”

“

There is discrimination that goes deeper than legal restriciton. Attitudes may be hard to pin down, but they matter

”

There is discrimination that goes deeper than legal restriction. Attitudes may be hard to pin down, but they matter. What is a little girl going to think about female sexuality today when a popstar twerking is more widely condemned than any atrocity committed that week? And there are still instances of genuinely jaw-dropping sexism - look up the man called Kim who was only employed when he made it clear on his CV he was a man.

Finally, there were the downright

bizarre views that cropped up - like the idea that feminists condemn women for wearing dresses and make-up, or were obsessed with legislation and “red tape.” If any of the writers were to come to one of FemSoc’s weekly meetings, they would see people wearing dressesand even a touch of eyeliner or mascara here and there. We’ve so far restrained ourselves from barring them from discussions.

And if they came along, they’d know that legal restrictions are not our main concern. Mostly what we’re about nowadays is social change; for example, calling out everyday instances of sexism. Look up the Everyday Sexism Twitter project to get some idea. Another big development, which none of the writers acknowledged, was the growth of intersectional feminism, which looks at how different forms of oppression- race, class, gender, sexuality, mental health- interconnect. It’s one way in which the movement remains new and exciting today.

In fact, I’d like to invite all the people who critiqued feminism in the competition to come to one of FemSoc’s meetings, and see what we’re actually about. Then perhaps we can leave these old stereotypes behind for a more productive, honest discussion of equality.

Politicians are exploiting the The First

Alex Cupples On 28th July 2014 it will be exactly 100 years since Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, initiating ‘The Great War’. Already we are publically remembering the event.

Unfortunately, thus far it is being remembered

visaged “diamond jubilee”-like celebrations. By organising celebratory events for the centenary Cameron may, as Paxman puts it, “gratify his vanity”, but in doing so, he will lessen the war’s severity and importance.

Although it may be a controversial view that the First World War was a futile massacre, undeniably, a generation was destroyed and

Thursday 30th January 2014 | PALATINATE

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Anelka’s “quenelle” is no laughing matter On a chilly afternoon at Upton Park in late December, Nicolas Anelka coolly slotted away an equaliser to bring his West Brom side level with West Ham at 1-1.

As he celebrated, Anelka pointed one arm diagonally downwards palm down, while touching the shoulder with the opposite hand.

Celebrations can range from the simple fist pump to the most extravagant somersaults, so fans were probably underwhelmed by Anelka’s odd gesture, as would many viewers would have been watching the coverage on Sky Sports. However by the time the final whistle had blown, this seemingly innocuous gesture, the ‘quenelle’, had caused outrage in France, provoking widespread condemnation of Anelka by Jewish organisations, eventually leading to the end of the club’s sponsorship deal with Zoopla.

Bewildered by the reaction, the British public and media soon learnt of the vile associations of this gesture, why it provoked such fury, and of its more fitting name, ‘The Reverse Hitler Salute’.

Anelka has since been punished with a 5 game ban, but only after great hesitation, requiring the prompt of Zoopla’s withdrawal.

The ‘quenelle’ was invented by controversial French comedian Dieudonné, a close friend of Anelka’s, who has now been banned from performing in France. Used first in a routine in 2005, Dieudonné defined his gesture, in crude terms, as an ‘up yours’ to the establishment. The gesture became a surprisingly popular viral trend in French culture, adopted by the French youth in particular, who believed it to be rebellious and anti-system. However this indicated a dangerous lack of understanding.

Dieudonné has a reputation within France for being a vocal anti-Semite. Dieudonné vehemently refutes this allegation, describing himself instead as “Anti-Zionist”, as represented by his incorporation of the gesture into his campaign poster for 2009 European election campaign poster for the ‘Anti-Zionist party.’ He threatened legal action to any journalist that accused his gesture of being prejudicial to Jewish people. Yet as the trend developed, the prejudicial nature of the gesture became very apparent.

Many photographs appeared on the Internet of people performing ‘quenelles’ outside emotive Jewish landmarks i.e. concentration camps, memorials. French authorities soon realised this salute was from innocent roots, but intrinsically antiSemitic.

Performed in these sort of locations, the gesture is illuminated for what it really is, an inverted Hitler salute. In January 2014, The Interior

Ministry of France announced the “quenelle’s connection to extremism and anti-Semitism. Therefore a Premiership footballer being caught on camera, openly performing this inverted Hitler salute on a football pitch, televised for millions across the world to see, must be an unacceptable violation of the FA’s antiracism laws.”

Dieudonné has been banned

therefore a ‘diamond jubilee’-like celebration is vastly inappropriate. The centenary should be about honouring the men who fought, but at the same time understanding, reflecting on and learning from the tragedy of war.

Just a few days into the centenary year, Michael Gove wrote an article about The First World War in the Daily Mail which accused the Black-

adder series and “left wing academics” of being “unpatriotic”, sparking a furore amongst actors, academics and politicians.

Gove directly criticised Richard Evans, professor of History at Cambridge University, for suggesting that the men who enlisted in 1914 were wrong to think “they were fighting a war to defend freedom.” Gove’s manipulation of the war into an at-

Kieran Moriarty

derland manager in 2013, who performed fascist gestures as a player, the FA should have been far quicker to act.

Anti-Semitism is a problem in football. Tottenham fans are subjected to disgusting references to the Holocaust by idiotic opposition fans, yet continue to call themselves “Yids”, wearing the insulting term as a badge of honour, inviting further provocation.

A reluctant five match suspension for Anelka will do little to change this.

from his profession for his usage of the gesture. West Brom’s sponsors, Zoopla, co-owned by Jewish businessman Alex Chesterman, have withdrawn sponsorship from the club. So why, more than three weeks after the transgression and armed with such knowledge, did it take so long for the FA to punish Anelka?

The problem with the ‘quenelle’ for the FA in this situation is the same problem the French authorities have faced in the past with Dieu-

donné. They felt that the ‘quenelle’ was too vague a gesture, and were unsure whether it was being used in the popular viral sense, or the antiSemitic way.

Anelka maintains that he performed the gesture in support of his friend, not anti-Semitism. However top sports journalists do not buy this defence. Henry Winter believes that Anelka deserved “a suspension substantially beyond the five-game Football Association minimum” and argues that, at 34 years of age, Anelka should have been far more intelligent. An experienced, intelligent player like Anelka, who has played all across the world, should have been fully aware of how unacceptable it is to perform any sort of gesture on a football pitch that can be linked to racism.

Yet the fundamental problem here is why has the FA taken so long?

Considering the damage caused by racism cases in recent history to the FA’s credibility (Luis Suarez/Patrice Evra, John Terry/Anton Ferdinand,) or the disgust at the appointment of Paolo Di Canio as Sun-

tack on teachers and academics is a cheap, political move. His article essentially argues that we should not analyse the causes of the war, but uncritically honour the men who fought; an opinion which undermines the work and prerogative of many professional historians. And yet, this is the man trying to overhaul the history curriculum.

It is disturbing that

politicians have chosen to exploit the centenary. The commemorations should be a chance to learn about the war, whilst paying respect to those who fought in it; instead it is turning into a political battleground. The war deserves a subtle and respectful commemoration, not a celebration, which honours those who fought, without political bias, but also sees the First

World War as a tragedy, not a proud part of our national heritage. In the build up to the 28th July it will be interesting to see how the government reacts to these headlines and whether the celebratory atmosphere is really fulfilled. My prediction would be that it will.

“

why, more than three weeks after the transgression, did it take so long for the FA to punish Anelka?

”

Photograph: Khnelma

World War to score political points

Painting; Irina Szutkowski

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The case of the ‘benefit Mark Duggan: an imaginary scroungers’ martyr?

Jade Azim

Earlier in January, Channel 4 broadcasted a programme entitled Benefits Street, a contribution to what some have called a growing trend in ‘poverty porn’ that includes the earlier ‘Oscar-worthy’ production We All Pay Your Benefits from those left-leaning chaps at the BBC. These are almost direct printto-screen adaptations of headlines from popular tabloids which churn out sensationalist stories about mothers on benefits living in mansions which bear next to no relation to the reality of the many millions scraping by on Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA), at a time when jobs are few and far between and, when actually available, offer wages that fall far below the recommended living wage.

This trend has, to much surprise, coincided with similar rhetoric from those other chaps in Westminster. Indeed, George Osborne has ‘spoken out’ about “the shift worker, leaving home in the dark hours of the early morning, who looks up at the closed blinds of their nextdoor neighbour sleeping off a life on benefits.” His later reference to “hardworking people” can roughly be translated as “not unemployed” and most certainly “not claiming benefits”, reflecting a long-standing tradition of pitting the working poor against the unemployed poor, who have become scapegoats in a long list (beneath immigrants and pregnant teenagers) used to shroud tax evaders and banks in smoke and mirrors.

It is this rhetoric that has led to fabrication on such a scale that the largest deficit of all is not the national debt, but instead the knowledge, or lack thereof, of the general public.

According to polls by YouGov, four out of ten people think benefits are too generous and three in five believe the system has created a culture of dependency. However, people who know the least about the facts are the most hostile towards claimants: more than half of those who were least informed believed benefits are too generous, while fewer than one in three of those giving the most informed and accurate answers agreed with benefits.

Frances O’Grady, the Trade Union Centre General Secretary, said: “It is not surprising that voters want to

get tough on welfare. They think the system is much more generous than it is in reality.” Apparently this falsehood not only poisons public opinion, but determines our social and economic policy which, according to O’Grady, is conducted on the same “basis of prejudice and ignorance.”

Ministers use this demonization to justify their slashes to the benefits system. Since Osbourne’s decision to cut a further £25 billion to welfare, many experts have questioned whether these cuts are the only possible ‘tough choice’ Osborne could make to meet deficit targets.

Many alternatives involve raising taxes in areas in which – surprise, surprise – Tory voters and donors make up a steadfast population.

Among the potential alternatives are a ‘Robin Hood Tax’ of 0.05% on banks’ financial transactions which could raise up to £20 billion a year; cutting the tax relief of wealthy pensioners that could earn the state another £1.8 billion; implementing the Lib Dem and Labour backed Mansion Tax which would put a 1% rise on properties worth more than £2 million and raise £2 billion a year; and the most notorious, cracking down on tax evasion which costs £35 billion, according to the HM Revenues & Customs.

And yet, these alternatives are rarely spoken about in a public forum, least of all are they the focal point of a vast array of documentaries. In fact, it would seem that where the elite cost the state an excess amount of money – in most cases billions more than the 3% of the welfare budget spent on Job Seeker’s Allowance – there seems to be very little in the way of transparency or exposure. There are certainly no documentaries called Banker’s Street or indeed We All Pay For Your Tax Evasion.

Similarly, there are no documentaries for the complete opposite of the spectrum either; there is no documentarian insight into the 400,000 now using food banks, a number that has swelled under welfare cuts.

So how is it, then, that we as a nation can stand by while JSA which accounts for 3% of the DWP’s budget suffers 100% of the negative media attention?

It is often said that you can judge a nation by how it treats its poor.

Unfortunately the prognosis for the UK does not seem too bright.

Josh Newmark

It is not often that I find myself in agreement with what the Daily Mail has to say. However, the title of an online opinion article in the wake of the Mark Duggan verdict, made a point which I feel that a lot of people are missing: “Mark Duggan was a gangster, not Nelson Mandela.”

Although the actual article was filled with unnecessary and rather self-undermining fits of unsubtle snobbery (suggesting that Carol Duggan resembled “Vicky Pollard’s mum”, for example), its title rings true; suddenly, people have forgotten their concerns about knife and gun crime and cry out against the epidemic of police brutality which blemishes our happy society.

Mark Duggan, aged 29, was shot and killed by police in North London on the 4th August 2011. An inquest into the lawful nature of his killing has ruled that the killing of Duggan was indeed “lawful” provoking outrage in the media and the public.

Firstly, the man did not deserve to die; like any other human being, he deserved a fair trial. The police made a mistake and should not have opened fire on a man who wasn’t posing an imminent threat. However,

being pursued is an actual criminal being pursued for their actual crimes. The way that some people are bringing up the tragic shooting of Charles de Menezes in the wake of 7/7 as proof that we are living through an age of constant police brutality illustrates just how shortsighted these police-haters actually

“

Mark Duggan was a gangster; not Nelson Mandela

”

are. Two fatal mistakes in eight years, only one of which applied to a totally innocent person out of hundreds or even thousands of armed-response operations, is obviously not few enough, but is nevertheless an exceptional record.

Perhaps people who have not been victims of knife or gun crime ignore the fact that every day innocent people are victimised by armed criminals. They forget that we as a

lent crime.”

Mark Duggan should not have been shot, but that does not mean that the police set out intending to shoot him. People bemoan the “media conjecture” about Duggan himself, while latching onto conjecture about the police’s reasons for shooting him, with very few actually recognising the jury’s verdict.

The shooting was ruled a mistake, and undoubtedly the police will try to reduce the chances of another incident like this. As a society we have accepted that armed response units are a necessity to protect people from armed criminals, and that if you arm yourself, you should expect to be confronted by them. Police marksmen have the right to carry a gun because society has decided on this necessity, and because they are highly trained and bound by rules of engagement and high levels of scrutiny.

Making one mistake does not change this, but it is astonishing to see how many people get so worked up by a narrative of police brutality which is so clearly invented nonsense based on a tiny number of mistakes. People need to remember how they felt about armed criminals prior to Duggan’s killing, and realise that imaginary causes cannot have martyrs.

Rioters and Police in Croydon during the 2011 London riots triggered by the shooting of being wronged does not suddenly make somebody into a good person, and making a mistake does not make the armed response units some kind of trigger-happy militia.

People are talking about racialprofiling, apparently forgetting that it is not racial-profiling if the person

society have demanded a strong response to knife and gun crime and gang violence. They latch onto Carol Duggan’s advice to “lock away your children” from the police, when just a day before the Duggan verdict, it would have been “lock away your children, to protect them from vio-

P

Have a different opinion? Share it with us by emailing comment@palatinate.org.uk

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College Sport

Collingwood hold on to narrow lead In what is turning out to be one of the closest college sport competitions in recent years, reigning champions, Collingwood, have maintained a 111-point-lead over their nearest rivals, Hatfield.

The Hill College have their Cup successes so far to thank for their retention of a lead which they have

KEY DATES

Rowing Novice Cup 8th/9th February Men’s Football Knockout Cup (quarter finals) 9th February Men’s Hockey Knockout Cup (quarter finals) 22nd/23rd February Women’s Hockey Knockout Cup (quarter finals) 22nd/23rd February Men’s Rugby Floodlit Cup (final) 14th March

Sport

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held since the beginning of the academic year. Collingwood have earned 161 cup points so far; 93 points more than any other college. In terms of league form, they are actually five points down on Hatfield who have not only racked up the most league points, but also are the top college in terms of points per student.

Rounding off the top three are Van Mildert who this year have shown rejuvenated form, however have been let down in their cup performances so far this season leaving them 157 points behind Collingwood. Meanwhile Hild Bede are currently lying in fourth, over 200 hundred points behind despite their good start to the season.

The reigning champions are without a doubt in a strong position as the competition passes the halfway mark. With nine teams still in knockout competitions more big cup points will be expected, especially from the Men’s Knockout Cup where Collingwood have no fewer than four

teams in the quarter-finals.

To put that into context, Hatfield have five teams left in ongoing knockout competitions while Van Mildert have four.

As expected, Collingwood have picked up a large number of points in the Men’s Football division where they have ten teams competing and currently sit second in the Men’s Premiership. Elsewhere the college lie second in the Women’s and Men’s Squash competitions, and in the Mixed Lacrosse league, however a top spot in any Premiership division is still eluding them.

Hatfield, meanwhile, are holding on to top spot in both the Men’s Football Premiership, and in the Men’s Rugby Premiership (joint with Hild Bede). As Premiership results count for a larger number of points, this is where the Bailey College will mount their charge to the title from.

In third place, Van Mildert are looking strong in the Netball competition where they have teams top-

transportation and kit provided by Team Durham.

The main reason behind the competition is to give students who may not get to play University level sport to represent their respective establishment through their successes at College level. To help aid this, no University 1st team players will be

allowed to compete.

York Sport President, Cassandra Brown, said: “We wanted to give College Sport a level of competition similar to the platform University level athletes get at Roses [the York Varsity against Lancaster].

“College sport at York has grown dramatically in recent years and College Varsity is an ideal opportunity to develop our programme even further.

“Playing Durham will provide our athletes with healthy competition which will add to their experience of University sport and help them grow as individual athletes.”

The College sport system at York University is on a smaller scale than at Durham; there are only eight colleges compared to the sixteen at Durham taking part in fifteen different sports. However, it is hoped that the competition will be such a success that it will continue as an annual fixture with the 2015 event already

TOP OF THE TABLE

by Maddy Sears COLLEGE POINTS TABLE 1. Collingwood 1194 2. Hatfield 1085 3. Van Mildert 1037 4. Hild Bede 981 5. St Cuthbert’s 902 6. Castle 834 7. Grey 829 8. St Mary’s 813 9. Josephine Butler 811 10. Trevelyan 795 11. St Aidan’s 778 12. St John’s 539 13. Ustinov 532 14. Stephenson 505 15. John Snow 424 16. St Chad’s 331 17. Staff 79 ping the Premiership and Division Two. Elsewhere Mildertians are also going well in the Men’s Badminton Premiership where they lie joint top of the table with Grey College.

It would be a mistake, however, to predict the outcome of this year’s competition with the number of fixtures still to be played, and many leagues such as Tennis, Rounders and Cricket, yet to get underway.

What is certain is that if Collingwood are to retain their title for a third year in a row, they are going to have to fend off some strong competition in the process.

Men’s Badminton Prem- Grey A & Van Mildert A, Div 1Trevelyan A, Div 2- St Chad’s A & Van Mildert B Men’s Basketball Prem- St Mary’s A, Div 1- St Aidan’s A Men’s Football Prem- Hatfield A, Div 1- Collingwood E, Div 2- Josephine Butler B, Div 3- Castle B, Div 4- Van Mildert E Men’s Hockey Prem- St Cuthbert’s A, Div 1- St John’s A Men’s Rugby Prem- Hild Bede A & Hatfield A, Div 1Collingwood B Men’s Squash Prem- Hild Bede A, Div 1- Grey A Mixed Badminton Prem- Josephine Butler A, Div 1- Grey A Mixed Lacrosse Prem- Castle A, Div 1- St Cuthbert’s A Ultimate Frisbee Prem- St John’s A (champions), Div 1Van Mildert A (champions) Women’s Badminton Prem- John Snow A, Div 1- Grey A, Div 2- St Chad’s A & St Cuthbert’s B Women’s Basketball Prem- Stephenson A, Div 1- Van Mildert B Women’s Football Prem- Trevelyan A, Div 1- Josephine Butler A (champions) Women’s Hockey Prem- Ustinov A, Div 1- Van Mildert A Women’s Netball Prem- Van Mildert A, Div 1- St Aidan’s B, Div 2- Van Mildert C Women’s Rugby Prem- Graidans Women’s Squash Prem- St Aidan’s A Overall Pennants Series (Rowing) St Cuthbert’s *Information correct at time of printing

York College Varsity announced A new College Varsity competition is set to take place for the first time between Durham and the University of York later this term.

Set to take place in York on March 2nd, College teams will have the opportunity to represent Durham University and take on their counterparts from York in the first tie of its kind between the two.

Discussions have been ongoing since October last year, and it has now been decided that students will compete in eight sports: men’s and women’s football, mixed basketball, mixed volleyball, mixed hockey, mixed badminton, men’s rugby and women’s netball.

Each University will select two teams, A and B, from each sport.

The teams will then play one match against their counterparts, ie. Durham A vs York A. Colleges from Durham will be invited to send teams which have performed well over the College Sport season so far, with

“We wanted to give College Sport a level of competition similar to the Platform university level athletes get” York Sport President, Cassandra Brown

scheduled to take place at Maiden Castle.

Derwent College have secured the College Sport title for the last two years at York, and are currently in second place behind James College in the 2013/2014 season.

York University boasts impressive sports facilities with a 25m swimming pool, an outdoor cycling circuit, and floodlit tennis and netball courts to name just a few.

The two Universities have strong links already, including a ‘sister college’ system in which colleges from both Universities are connected.

With the selection for the Durham teams taking place over the next few weeks, it gives even more reward to those performing well in the current college league. Teams battle it out not just for the league itself, but for the opportunity to represent the University at the College Varsity.

York College Sport James Derwent Halifax Goodricke Langwith Vanburgh Wentworth Alcuin

262 254 202 184 163 157 155 153

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Thursday 30th January 2014 | PALATINATE

Promotion: a prize or a curse in disguise?

Lawrence Holmes It’s taken as a given that the ultimate quest of any fan of any lowerleague football team is to see that team get promoted into the English Premier League. And yet, in the modern-day atmosphere of parachute payments and global branding, is promotion really worth it?

The financial benefits of reaching the promised land of the Premier League are constantly mentioned.

No match report of a play-off final game gets written without mention of the multi-million pound prize that awaits the winner.

In 2008, Hull City’s Dean Windass scored the £60m goal in the Championship play-off final. 3 years later, Swansea City’s promotion allegedly earned them £90m and by 2013, the figure had risen even higher, with Crystal Palace raking in £120m for beating Watford.

But there are question marks over these figures. In reality, they may be purely superficial media tag lines, sprawled across newspaper headlines and shouted out in Sky Sports montages purely to generate attention and excitement.

The increased revenue that Premier League football offers (largely from lucrative TV deals and sponsorship) is offset by higher costs.

After their 2008 promotion, Hull’s wage bill more than doubled, rocketing from £7m to £15m in 2008 thanks to promotion bonuses alone.

New players were signed (such as Jimmy Bullard for a club-record £5m fee) and the wage bill rose to £38m.

In 2010, the Tigers were in £40m of debt and staring down the barrel of liquidation, before being “saved” by Egyptain businessman Assem Allam.

After launching plans to change the club’s name to Hull City Tigers and telling supporters they ‘can die as soon as they want’, several fans are questioning whether Allam really did save their club after all.

Similar trends can be seen elsewhere. Vincent Tan, Cardiff City’s Malaysian owner, oversaw promotion to the Premier League but then changed the Bluebirds’ kit to red, changed the club’s badge, booed his own players and sacked popular manager Malkay Mackay.

Modern football is becoming increasingly dictated by money. Promotion from the Championship, the quick-way at least, requires heavy spending, and - in an increasing number of cases - wealthy, foreign owners.

Tan and Allam may have achieved success on the pitch, but in rebranding their clubs, they have alienated fans and attacked heritage. The crucial, community role of football clubs as sporting bastions of their local areas, binding communities and generating local pride, is threatened by an alternative view of football clubs as money-making businesses.

Other Championship clubs have spent huge sums of money in a desperate attempt to get promoted.

Blackburn Rovers, relegated under

the ownership of Indian chicken processing company, Venky’s, continued to spend big despite relegation, paying £6m for Jordan Rhodes.

Other clubs like Leicester, Nottingham Forest and QPR have gambled millions on promotion.

Then there is the question of what actually awaits newly-promoted teams. Gone are the days of Brian Clough, Howard Wilkinson and Don Revie when promotion from the second-tier could be bettered the following season by a top-four finish in the top division and cup silverware.

Most newly-promoted teams can hope for survival at best. Although there have been some exceptions in recent years (Swansea City for example finished 11th in their first season) the top four places are lockedout by the established, and wealthily backed, clubs.

Richard Scudamore, CEO of the Premier League, has aimed to distance the top-division from those below it, through a system of parachute payments that financially advantage newly-relegated teams from others in the Championship. Such a strategy has also reduced the importance of traditional, previously nationallyrevered competitions, such as the FA Cup. This narcissistic sense of self-importance, combined with the potential loss of heritage and enormous expenditure it necessitates, makes Premier League football increasingly unattractive. England’s top-division remains the promised land for all lower-league fans, but at what cost?

All the latest news from the Christmas break...

Emily Beech Whilst most of us were wallowing in a sedentary post-Christmas chocolate slumber, the more sporting members of the university were busy preparing for the season ahead or competing in various holiday competitions.

Being 450 points behind 1st place Loughborough but only 250 points in front of 3rd place Bath, the Palatinates still have everything to play for this term. Preparation games are crucial as there is no time for teams to ease themselves gently into competition.

The men’s Basketball 1sts haven’t had a dream start to 2014, having lost two out of their three matches thus far. The first game brought suc-

cess against Surrey United as the Durham Wildcats brought home a 79-69 victory.

However, top-of-the-table Worcester proved stiff opposition; beating Durham 90-66. The Wildcats will have to turn this score line around if they are to hold any ambitions in obtaining the BUCS Cup as they are likely to meet Worcester in the knock-out rounds.

Finally, the Wildcats suffered a 9081 defeat to Plymouth despite leading at half-time. It was some excellent three-point shooting in the third quarter from Plymouth that put the game beyond Durham’s reach.

It was mixed news for DUHC as well. The women’s 2nds beat York 2-0 to move to within one point of the league leaders. The men’s 2nds meanwhile enjoyed a 2-1 win against Preston, made even more outstand-

ing by having lost 8-2 away to them earlier in the season.

Continuing their good form, the women’s 2nds drew 1-1 away to top-of-the-table Liverpool. Unfortunately, less can be said for the men, who were punished by a second-inthe-table Oxton side 9-1.

A few warm-up fixtures took place over the holiday period including the men’s Rugby 1sts who travelled to Cambridge University and dispatched the light blues 44-17.

Even more impressively the Men’s Football 1st Team managed to claim a 3-0 victory over a Newcastle United side. The side included under 18s, under 19s, some reserves and even their new £450,000 signing. This certainly bodes well for the boys, who were sitting in 4th in their BUCS league at the time of the match.

Photograph: Emma Werner

DUHC Men remain top Emily Beech There was plenty of hockey action at Maiden Castle last week with both men’s and women’s 1st teams in action. The men’s were looking to maintain their spot at the top of the BUCS Premier League which they did against Sheffield Hallam 1sts.

However, with a 2-1 score line the game wasn’t without some nervous tension on display at the touch line from gathered supporters.

The Palatinates however, were firm in their resolve, demonstrated their worth and worked well for each other to secure the victory.

Special mention must be given to Sam Driver who scored an incredible individual goal to make it 2-0 for the home side. Skipping past numerous defenders at speed, Driver curled his reverse-stick shot up and over the helpless Hallam keeper.

Elsewhere for the men’s teams it was civil war between the 3rds and 4ths with the former narrowly beating the latter 3-2. This is good news for the 3rds as a win puts them sec-

ond in their league, two points behind the leaders. Despite this, leaders Sheffield Hallam 2nds have a game in hand, making the likelihood of Durham topping that league slim but not impossible.

The 3rds’ next fixture, against Northumbria 1sts who currently lie in 3rd, will be crucial to whether they see themselves as serious contenders.

As for the women, the 1sts lost to top-of-the-league Birmingham 1sts 5-3. Unfortunately the Palatinates let the formidable Birmingham side into the game too early on, with the first goal coming in the opening two minutes.

The Durham ladies were 3-1 down quite quickly and despite some good chances, the score remained at 3-1 for most of the match.

However, in a mad ten-minute spell of hockey the score jumped to 3-2, to 4-2, to 5-2 and finally to 5-3.

However, the 4ths delivered an emphatic 12-0 victory over Hull which included a hat-trick from Georgia Nokes. The 4ths now go four points clear at the top of their league.

Men’s 1sts prevail in fencing Hamish Woodhouse It was victory for the Men’s 2nds against Leeds 1sts as they beat them 132-107. Having only narrowly beaten Leeds 1st last term, and missing a key foilist, the 2nds match this Wednesday was likely to be the toughest yet. Not only was it against the team’s closest rival, but a win would secure the 2nds a place at the top of the league.

The foil was just clinched at 45-39 after a tense set of bouts in which Durham only just kept the lead.

However, Durham’s form began to dip as the sabre was then lost 4542, with Leeds staying consistently ahead. With the Durham sabreurs struggling to stay in contention and only leading by a narrow 3 points,

the epee team took to the piste. Durham lost the first bout which evened the overall scores.

The game now poised to fall either way; Durham’s George Lane-Fox proved his worth by proceeding to win his first bout 8-2. Durham now held a lead they would maintain for the rest of the match, winning the epee with a 22 point lead to give an overall score of 132-107.

It was certainly a big win for the team, and hopefully not the last in Durham men’s 2nds unbeaten streak, which they hope to carry on all the way through to the Northern Conference Cup which starts next month.

Elsewhere the women’s 1sts lost to top-of-the-table Edinburgh 13595, but remain hopeful for their next match against York.

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Call ups add to Rugby success Emily Beech It was a successful Christmas for the DURFC who managed to beat Cambridge University 44-17 in a friendly.

Not only this but three of the Club’s players were honoured with being selected for the England Students teams.

1st team Captain Simon Hammersley, a Hild-Bede third year, is amongst those who have been selected. Hammersley also currently plays for Newcastle Falcons and

made his debut for them at the weekend. Geography student and winger Murrary Galbraith-Lowe and physics student and second-rower Sean Robinson are the other two Durham players selected.

All the men’s Rugby Union teams were in action which produced a varied set of results for the Club. The 1sts’ match against Newcastle 1sts ended 28-17 to Durham and entertained the supporters with good, fluid and clever play from both teams on occasions.

In particular Durham’s third try

DUWRFC close in on play-off spot Heather Kerr A recuperated and refreshed 1st team squad returned from the Christmas holiday for a week’s rapid fire pre-season with coaches Cameron Henderson and Michel Entwhistle in preparation for the last two games of the Northern Premiership: Nottingham and Newcastle.

The Palatinates managed to secure a 22-0 victory despite missing some key faces in their opening tie of 2014 against Nottingham, giving them a crucial bonus point. Durham started the game with the kick-off and play began with a scrum to Durham for Nottingham’s knock-on. Durham’s play in the first 15 minutes was somewhat rusty; the ball changed hands regularly, causing a number of knock-ons and unsuccessful mauls.

As the team relaxed the patterns of play started to become more fluid, with a number of backs breaking through contact and making ground whilst the forwards worked hard to secure the ball on the ground.

Durham then started to pile on the pressure and remain on Nottingham’s 22 for a few phases of play.

This promising play came to no fruition as the attack broke down and Nottingham were awarded a scrum.

It was then Nottingham’s turn to ask questions of the Durham defence. After a scrum was awarded, the home side began to creep their way into Durham’s 22. Fighting to defend the try line Durham put in some big tackles, and regained possession; it was left to centre Beth O’Brien to call for the ball on the 10m line and launch it with her boot deep into Nottingham’s half over their defensive line.

Prop Heather Kerr chased the ball downfield as the Nottingham’s fullback and another forward closed her down. Another kick along the floor saw the ball bobble over the line, to be leapt on by Kerr giving the first try of the game. At 5-0 and with 20 minutes of the half still to go, Durham pulled up their socks and upped the

work rate. Nottingham were persistant; if it wasn’t for Gen Moody’s smashing tackle, the home side may have found a foothold in the game.

After a tough team talk, Durham came back a better side in the second half. The back line worked hard, giving centre Miriam Gannon the room to blast through Nottingham’s line to gain some ground. Possession still switched between the teams but Durham quickly smothered any threats from the opposition. Ten minutes of the second half passed until full-back Sophie Lee easily scooped up the ball and strode through both teams to the try line.

Things got even brighter as hooker Alex Webster stole the ball to give O’Brien a break, supported by Gannon who was tackled just before the try line. A quick recycle from scrumhalf Becki Gough and Durham took advantage of the overlap, allowing Lee to score on the outside. A great team effort was capped off with a conversion by O’Brien.

Two substitutions were made before the restart as Diotte and Skinner came on for Broadway and Smith.

Nottingham however, weren’t in the mood the take a defeat easily with their forwards setting up a number of mauls to get the ball near Durham’s 22. A knock-on gave Durham a defensive scrum and a big drive from the pack enabled the away side to work their way towards the halfway line. The final try was born from Marianne Skinner’s storming run up the pitch. Despite being cut short of the try line by Nottingham’s winger, the ball was finally kicked for Lee, lying in wait to catch and take her hat-trick.

The match ended with the score 22-0 in favour of the Palatinates.

Next week the First XV face local rivals Newcastle to finish off the league. A win on Wednesday will secure Durham 2nd place in the league, for the 3rd year in a row, behind Leeds Met. The Second XV also resume their league campaign against York St John.

of the day was an excellent team effort, coming from a fantastic drive towards Newcastle’s line. Eventually the ball was scuffled over the line and Durham was able to capitalise with yet another conversion from their kicker, who made every other conversion in a terrific performance.

However, it was bad news for the 2nds as they lost 36-11 to league leaders Birmingham 1sts. The 2nds now sit in 3rd, behind Nottingham Trent 1sts as they still have a game in hand. Other than Loughborough, Durham is the only 2nds team in that

league, which is testament to the depth of quality in DURFC. The 3rds also went down 14-13 to Newcastle 3rds in tough pitch conditions. The team has now lost their unbeaten record but remains a solid eight points clear at the top of the table. The 4ths meanwhile made an easy Wednesday for themselves as they received a victorious walkover from Leeds 4ths putting them 2nd in their league.

Photograph: Emma Werner

Netball club start new year in style Emi Berry DUNC kicked off the second part of the season on incredible form this week with several teams facing tough oppositions and playing some tense matches. This week consisted of the 2nds and 4ths having the home advantage against Leeds 3rds and Northumbria 5ths respectively, while the 3rds played Leeds 4ths away.

First on the court at MC were the 4ths, who got off to a nervous start against Northumbria 5ths losing the first quarter by 1 goal. However, the girls were determined to win and eventually finished the game 23-19.

Although heads dropped a little as the score fluctuated in and out of Durham’s favour, the girls had an absolute stormer of a last quarter with every player on court giving it their all. After great work from defence Hetty Gittus and Laura Taylor made sure the opposition barely got a look-in and the centre court players, particularly Julia Stichbury (MVP), worked the ball down and over the heads of the opposition into GS Gemma Tyreman, who consistently popped the goals in.

The close score reflects the tension of the game with each team working

tirelessly to keep possession. It was a very deserved win for the 4ths who are in the running for promotion out of the Northern 7B league.

Next on were DUNC 2nds who faced a difficult match this week against Leeds 3rds. The score was close throughout, with both teams competing for continued possession, but ended in a Durham victory of 34-28.

Some great interceptions and continuous exertion of pressure on the opposition from Anna Simmonds and Rosie Smith in defence helped prevent Leeds from taking the lead.

Cosi Mockett and Maxime Rowson were strong in centre court and Freya Russell was on form at GS. Though a frustrating match at some points, the girls worked incredibly hard in the final quarter, securing a 34-28 win over Leeds.

Finally, the 3rds faced Leeds away this week. Alice Whitehead played brilliantly at GA on her debut for the squad and worked well in the circle with Lydia Woodward at GS. The match was at times infuriating, given that at half-time Durham were up by 4, but despite some skilled interceptions and turnovers from defensive duo Louisa Carruthers and Nicole Weir, Leeds still managed to sneak by and gain a lead.

The team fought until the final whis-

Sport Sport in Brief BADMINTON: The Men’s 1sts dispatched Sheffield Hallam 2nds 8-0 but the Women’s 2nds lost 6-2 against Sheffield 1sts. The Women’s 1sts managed to draw 4-4 against Leeds 1sts but in a mixed week for the Badminton Club, the 3rds lost against Hull 1sts 8-0.

BASKETBALL: In Basketball there was only the one fixture with submitted results. The 2nds lost to Teeside University 1sts 93-51.

FOOTBALL: It was win, win, win for DUAFC as the men’s 1sts beat Sheffield Hallam 1sts 1-0 to move up to 3rd in the Premier League. The 2nds beat Northumbria 3rds 3-2 at Maiden Castle which ensured they would maintain their mid-table position. The women’s 1sts meanwhile remain unbeaten this season with their 1-0 victory over Nottingham Trent 1sts. The side are now 9 points clear at the top with just one game left to play against bottom-of-theleague Leeds.

GOLF: In Golf, the 1sts beat Leeds Metropolitan 2nds 5-1 to keep hold of their top spot. Meanwhile the 2nds beat Newcastle 2nds in a walkover.

LACROSSE: The 3rds were the only male team in action for Durham and they lost 11-0 to Sheffield Hallam 2nds.

The Women 1sts meanwhile continued their tremendous form this season by beating Nottingham 1sts 12-4.

VOLLEYBALL: The Women 2nds were given a walkover victory against Sunderland 1sts as did the 1st team against Sheffield 1sts.

TENNIS: The Men’s 1sts beat Stirling 2nds convincingly 10-2 whilst the 4ths beat Sheffield Hallam 2nds 12-0. The 3rds beat the York 1sts in a similar fashion, thrashing them 12-0. Meanwhile the Women 4ths lost 12-0 to the Northumbria 1st team. Finally, it was an easy Wednesday for the Women 3rds as they received a walkover victory from Newcastle 2nds.

SQUASH: Most of the Men’s results were yet to be submitted at the point of writing this report. However, the 4ths did beat Newcastle 3rds 2-1.The Women’s 2nds also beat Newcastle 3rds 4-0.

tle, which unfortunately marked a close victory of 25-24 for the opposition.

Next week the 1sts and 3rds face Northumbria away. The 4ths play away at York St John, while the 2nds are at home to Newcastle.

Photograph: Emma Simber

Sport

Thursday 30th January 2014 | PALATINATE

University Sport round-up All the latest news and results p. 19

The latest College Sport news

See who is leading the race to top spot p. 17

The darker side of Premier League promotion Can the rise to the Premier League do more harm than good? p. 18

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Alumni Games

A student tackles the Snowboard Big Air

Photograph: David Murphy, Palatinalps

Palatinalps light up Tignes Lucy Harris

This year’s Palatinalps saw 1,650 students descend on the French ski resort Tignes. Epic events ensued including a mountain-top rave, a pool party and Sub Focus for the Final Night Party. With this list you may think that Durham just partied their way through the week; but you’d be wrong.

During the trip Durham Universi-

1650

The number of Durham students in Tignes ty Ski and Snowboard Club (DUSSC) hosted the intercollegiate championships. Durham students were given the opportunity to win college points in five competitions over three days taking place while showcasing their snow sports talent.

Tuesday saw the first competition of the week, the ski/boardercross. The daunting course facing

the competitors was made even worse by clouds dropping in. Fred Ahern (Grey) secured 1st place in a particularly physical four man male ski-cross final while Elysa Hubbard (Hild Bede) took the crown for female skiers. In the boarder-cross Alex Assim (St Mary’s) and Bex Dawkes (Collingwood) won their respective categories.

Wednesday was the main competitions day and we were blessed with bluebird skies to create the perfect backdrop to the day’s events.

The day started with Big Air. A formidable kicker towered over the competitors but Durham stepped up and showcased some amazing talent with 360 hand drags, superman front flips, and much more.

Durham’s freestyle captain Tom McAlpine (Hild Bede) threw a technical rodeo 540 in the final but failed to stick the landing. Jonny East (Collingwood) was crowned Big Air skier champion by nailing a huge double backflip. Collingwood cleaned up the Big Air with Sam Cocum winning the male snowboard with a clean 540 and Katie Brown picking up gold for the female skiers.

There was drama in the team dual slalom competition from the start as last year’s reigning champions were

knocked out in the first round. Being a straight knockout contest the overall winners would be the undoubted ‘best skiers on the mountain’. An all-Collingwood final ensued with Collingwood D being crowned

“Durham students were given the oppurtunity to win college points in 5 competitions.”

champions, Collingwood A claimed silver and St Chad’s won bronze.

New to Palatinalps 2014 was the rail jam. Two rails were set up outside après with DJs, vin chaud, some incredible tricks and painful looking bails. Needless to say a huge crowd quickly gathered. Henry Wakefield (Hild Bede), a newbie on the rails, won the award for best bail after a cataclysmic attempt. The overall winner of best trick was Sam Cocum, who after a few attempts won the

crowds over with a 270 on, 270 off.

Thursday’s giant slalom was set on a more challenging course than in previous years, including an ominously steep final pitch. The soft snow conditions caused considerable ruts for those with higher starting numbers and Michael Sills (University) DUSSC’s ski captain was one of those to suffer. In spite of crashing out he managed to finish a very impressive 2nd; losing out to eventual champion Jon Willetts (Collingwood) by a tenth of a second.

In the female competition there was a clear winner, Immy Yardley (St Cuthbert’s) who finished more than two seconds faster than the runner up.

Overall the competitions were a great success. Some amazing talent was displayed, with Big Air being a particular highlight. If you want to get more involved in skiing and snowboarding throughout the year, whether you’re a beginner or an expert, check out our website: www. dussc.co.uk.

Want to help run Palatinalps 2015? Keep an eye on our Facebook page, details on how to apply coming shortly.

Over the Christmas holiday it was time once again for Durham Alumni and current students to battle it out on court, pitch and the River Thames. The annual Alumni Games, taking place on 5th January, saw hockey, netball and rowing competitions but unfortunately due to poor weather conditions, lacrosse and football were cancelled.

To celebrate the occasion, before the competitions, The Boathouse, Putney, hosted a drinks event on the Saturday evening, after which Durham students took over Clapham Grand nightclub – a more glamorous version of North Road’s Academy!

There were a few bleary-eyed competitors at the Quintin Hogg Memorial Ground, Chiswick, the following morning, but nevertheless, the Palatinate competitive streak set in and the Games began.

Mixed boat crews meant that alumni were put through their paces in order to keep up with their GB team mates! Naturally, the purple crew were victorious. The reunion was made even more special as lots of celebrations were had for the official naming of the new 8s boat recognising Durham alumni and Olympian, Arne Serck-Hansen.

In hockey, the current Men’s 1st XI beat Alumni 7-4; however the Women’s 1st XI narrowly lost to Alumni 2-4 during penalty strokes.

The mixed women’s hockey side beat Alumni 4-1 whilst the men’s mixed squad had a very tight game, drawing 3-3 with Alumni.

Past netballers proved they had not lost touch as the Alumni team beat the current squads convincingly 35-19.

It was great to see past and present Palatinates back in action, highlighting the strong alumni network we have set up here in Durham. Thank you to Luke Lobo, Alumni Relations sabbatical and Beth Barratt, Events and Sponsorship scholar, who arranged the event, as well as all competitors who made the Games such a success.

We hope you can join us in 2015!

Hannah Lowther

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