Snowglobes, waterfalls & the Lindisfarne Gospels: Lumiere brings tens of thousands to Durham
Giant takeaway review: All your curry, pizza & Chinese delights rated and tasted inside
Indigo Cover Story, pages 8-11
Indigo Food, pages 5-7
No. 734
www.palatinate.org.uk
Palatinate Durham’s student newspaper since 1948
Tuesday 22nd November 2011 | FREE
Estate agents provoke housing panic again .
Despite official advice, freshers are beginning to sign housing contracts earlier than ever before
Chris Murphy Katie Pavid
Durham students have begun the search for a house for the following year earlier than ever before this term. Official advice from the DSU Livers’ Out Officer is to wait until after Christmas before signing a contract, but in practice this is becoming less and less frequent. Students going into their final year have not wasted any time getting their houses sorted, leaving first year students to worry about getting their own contracts signed and a group of housemates together just a matter of weeks into their time at Durham. Pem Tshering, the DSU Livers’ Out Officer believes that freshers have
“Our advice is that they wait until next term”
Pem Tshering, DSU Livers’ Out Officer begun to panic too early: “They have started a frenzied look for houses when they should be focusing on finding people that they’d definitely want to live with for an entire year, if not more! “Our advice is that they wait until next term, when they will be better placed to know who their friends are, and then go through the motions of acquiring a house for the next year”. Cole Sims, the Collingwood College Livers’ Out officer, commented: “The situation is made much worse by estate agents and landlords
putting up signs as early as the end of October. “Freshers haven’t been in Durham for a month, let alone picked their housemates”. It certainly seems that the boards around town and pressure from already-formed housemates are putting a lot of pressure on freshers. Some estate agents also offer incentives to students: for example, Q student is offering a £50 voucher per person for the café/bar Popolo if the contract is signed before December 15th. A third year Hatfield student commented: “What Q Student are doing is despicable and completely immoral within an educational establishment”. A Collingwood first year noted: “I don’t even want to think about houses yet. But it’s hard when you see people going round houses and you feel like you should be doing something yourself”. It seems that students in Durham sign contracts for houses particularly early in the academic year compared to some other universities in the country. Those living and studying in London often sign contracts much later, leaving it until the summer months to begin house hunting. A first year medic at Imperial College London told Palatinate that the process has not yet started: “Apparently we need to start deciding these things in about May”. A third year student at Nottingham University said: “Most people have signed a contract by February here, although there are always some stragglers that leave it until the summer! Because there’s a surplus of property in Nottingham you’ll never
Continued on page 4
In Sport: Ladies Football make it to the FA cup proper
Comment: It’s time to protest against longer lets
The DSU feels that freshers should wait until next term to sign for houses Photograph: Tamsin White
Fashion: Make the most of Durham’s charity shops
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Editorial
Tuesday 22nd November 2011 | PALATINATE
www.palatinate.org.uk
The politicised poppy and facebook 22.11.2011 Remembrance Sunday is a tricky issue. The abuse people receive for not wearing a poppy is completely outrageous, and utterly inappropriate given the context of the event. It’s a crass leftist argument to say it’s being taken over by the jingoistic right to provoke political patriotism. This is not altogether true. The heroism is still astounding almost a century after WWI, and this is still central to the vast majority of services. However, the poppy is becoming a symbol of pride, not remembrance, and this is completely abject. I have never really worn a poppy. This is not because I don’t appreciate the sacrifice our armed forces made. It is not because I am not effected by the intense emotions felt throughout the country, and it is certainly not because I personally don’t want to remember my own relatives that died in the world wars. I donate money every year, but I strongly resent the poppy move-
ment. I don’t need to show others that I remember. And I don’t expect others to assume, just because I don’t wear the symbol, that I don’t remember. Recently my Dad heard Baroness Greenfield, Neuroscientist and member of the House of Lords, speak and, because we’re cool, we discussed what she said. Her comments on the way social networking is changing our brains reflected interestingly on Remembrance Sunday facebook statuses. The rise of social networking is apparently doing interesting things to our brains. If we only interact with words our brain develops in a different way to the traditional interaction methods of speech, touch, hugging, taste, smell and pheromones. There is a possibility that this interaction deficiency will lead to a sharp decline in empathy. But most importantly in the context of this editorial, social networking means people are doing and say-
Super Wednesday: The highlights from Durham’s rugby match with Northumbria
The Library:
Lumiere:
PTV speaks to the organisers and artists behind the weekend’s light festival
Blurred Vision 2:
PTv reports on the changes to and future plans for Durham’s main library
The team get the student opinion on the Eurozone crisis
Vacancy: Editor-in-Chief
Want to follow in the footsteps of Jeremy Vine and George Alagiah? Apply to become Palatinate’s next Editor-in-Chief. No prior experience of Palatinate is required, but substantial experience of journalism is expected. You will be ultimately in charge of Palatinate, Indigo, www.palatinate. org.uk and overseeing the workings of Palatinate TV.
ing things just for the eyes of others, to affirm their existence in a void. The Baroness summarized this with the pithy line, “If you don’t look at me, perhaps I don’t exist”. Social networking is extremely self-referential. Some statuses are written to inform or to be funny, but most are really to just so people read about your life. It’s performance, and self obsessed performance at that. This is not appropriate when commemorating the ultimate sacrifice of nearly 100 million people. We have a minute’s silence, not a minute of “what this means to you personally”. Remembrance is private, and deliberately impersonal on a national scale. We stand in silence, awed by the sacrifice of millions. It is a moment to abandon self, and to embrace community, nationhood, and thankfulness. It is a humble “we will remember them”, not a proud “I remember them”. H.
To apply, email dsu.marketing@ durham.ac.uk for an application form. Applications are due in at 17:00 on Wednesday 30 November, and all applicants are expected to make a five minute presentation to the Palatinate editorial board on the evening of the 30th. Email editor@ palatinate.org.uk if you have any questions about the role.
Letters to the Editor Dear Editors-in-Chief, I was frankly appalled by your front page article in the most recent edition of Palatinate (Tuesday 8th November), not only because it was wholly against the proposal for 38week lets, making no effort whatsoever to remain objective and present both sides of the argument for 38week lets (which, to some extent, I can comprehend, seeing as your paper’s prerogative is to represent
No.734
Contents Palatinate News pages 3-10
Profile page 11
Careers pages 12-13
Comment pages 14-16
Sport pages 17-20
Indigo Editorial pages 2-3 Fashion page 4 Food & Drink pages 5-7 Cover story pages 8-11 Film & TV pages 12-13 Books page 14 Stage pages 15 Music pages 16
In Film and TV: Tintin reviewd, and a preview of Merry Pranksters
the student body as you see fit), but also, and more crucially, because the article contained so many errors that a primary school teacher would be outraged. As I mentioned, it is your aim and prerogative to represent the student body of the University of Durham, and as a top-flight university, I believe it ought not be represented by a newspaper containing nonsensical and unlettered articles, but rather by literate and competent writers. Joseph Williams
Palatinate is published by Durham Students’ Union on a fortnightly basis during term and is editorially independent. All contributors and editors are full-time students at Durham. Send letters to: Editor, Palatinate, Durham Students’ Union, Dunelm House, New Elvet, Durham, DH1 3AN. Alternatively, send an e-mail to editor@palatinate.org.uk
Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief Daniel Johnson Hugh Anderson-Elliott editor@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Editors Olivia Swash & Alexandra Bottomer deputy.editor@palatinate.org.uk News Editor Rowena Caine news@palatinate.org.uk News Features Editor Mei Leng Yew news.features@palatinate.org.uk Deputy News Editors Emma Charles, Emma Jones, Chris Murphy Katie Pavid, Tim Perry, deputy.news@palatinate.org.uk Business Editor John Zhu business@palatinate.org.uk Careers Editor Charlotte Seager careers@palatinate.org.uk Profile Editor Jessica Waite profile@palatinate.org.uk Comment Editor Charlie Taverner comment@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Comment Editor Olivia Rudgard deputy.comment@palatinate.org.uk Sport Editor Delaney Chambers sport@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Sport Editors Spencer Brown, Kate Houghton, Tom Ryder, William Warr deputy.sport@palatinate.org.uk Indigo Editors Hannah Shaddock & Rachel Aroesti indigo@palatinate.org.uk Features Editor Sarah Murray feature@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Features Editors Catherine Bradfield & Ellie Ross Food and Drink Editor Molly Fowler food@palatinate.org.uk Travel Editor Alexandra Groom travel@palatinate.org.uk Fashion Editors Rachel Bailin & Tom Weller fashion@palatinate.org.uk Film and Television Editor Christian Seiersen film@palatinate.org.uk Stage Editor Kathy Laszlo stage@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Stage Editors Larry Bartleet & Sarah Johnson Music Editor Jess Denham music@palatinate.org.uk Music Multimedia Editor Briony Chappell music@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Music Editor Will Clement deputy.music@palatinate.org.uk Books Editor Izzie Bengoechea books@palatinate.org.uk Chief Sub-Editor Florence Snead sub-editing@palatinate.org.uk Section Sub-Editors Kelsey Tollady, Alice Melton, Rebecca Lee, Rebecca Paul, Malik Al-Mahrouky & Gemma Neale Chief Web Editors Dori Beeler & Rhiannon Mehta web.editor@palatinate.org.uk Photography Editor Tamsin White photography@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Photography Editors Kartikeya Khanna, Delaney Chambers, Katherine Merchant, Sam Lipman deputy.photography@palatinate.org.uk Illustrations Editor David Drysdale illustration@palatinate.org.uk Palatinate TV Editors Ellie Onions & Danford Showan ptv@palatinate.org.uk Blogs Editor Julie Fisher blogs@palatinate.org.uk
News News Editor: Rowena Caine news@palatinate.org.uk @PalatinateUK Palatinate
PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
At a public meeting, residents complain that the town is becoming “saturated” with students Emma Jones
Residents suggest that Durham is “dying” under the weight of its student burden, a public meeting has been told. The meeting was prompted by Banks Property’s recent proposals to build a mixture of private residential housing alongside accommodation for up to 1,000 university students at Mount Oswald. A spokesman for the company has suggested that the provision of such accommodation “would go some way to solving the city centre’s problems”. With a community-embedded university, a key problem identified by residents is the difficulty they have in trying to escape the presence
and activity of students. The relocation of many students from the citycentre to the new South Road site has proved appealing to many locals. A concerned resident illustrated: “When I moved here it was all residents. Now we’re absolutely saturated with students”. Anxious about the unbalanced nature of the Durham community she described the situation as “a real tragedy”. A student from Grey College stated: “For a university as so large and so well respected, naturally the city will be full of students, you can’t get away from that”. She suggested that the University
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News
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Locals acuse students of ‘killing’ Durham
“Locals claim that student landlords have destroyed Durham communities”
The story of a student fighting to continue his education, p10
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makes a positive contribution to the well-being of the city: “If the University wasn’t here, the city wouldn’t be what it is”. Alastair Barber, a fourth year student added: “I do think the town is pretty much ‘saturated’ but I’m not sure where, if any, of the ‘blame’ lies for this”. He highlighted Durham’s size as the key factor: “It’s not like a big city such as Birmingham or London where there are so many different communities spread out across a wider area but rather one, relatively large student population which happens to be in the middle of town”. Responding to claims that student landlords have “totally destroyed” Durham communities, he admitted that “they could do much more to help create a better community spirit”. Students agree that the sheer demand for rooms amongst students looking to live-out has led to a situation where many landlords might not be sensitive to the needs of people already living nearby. A student from St. Chad’s elaborated: “They do seem to be able to buy any house and fill every single room with someone, which is obviously going to cause problems with noise and general overcrowding”. The concern surrounding the recent request for a variance allowing for up to eight unrelated occupants to live in the single-family houses at the intersection of Faculty and Mill Roads was prompted by these issues. As a result, this variance was rejected in order to curb disorderly activity in the town’s residential areas. The Town Council has also resolved to ask for legislation allowing municipalities to adopt licensing and inspection requirements for all nonowner-occupied rental properties.
Residents find it difficult to escape the presence and activity of students Photograph: Matt Denny Banks Property’s proposals have subsequently struck at the heart the student housing issue which has long troubled Durham. The developers suggest that their plans for accommodation within a community ‘hub’, which will provide for the needs of the residents at the site, would relieve the pressure of trying to cope with vast numbers of students living directly in the city centre. Not all residents are in support of this potential relocation. Many local shop-owners fear the ‘campusbased’ system this might lead to and the loss of business that might result from students no longer being situ-
ated near their premises. Support for the proposals is far from universal. With Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Higgins denying that the university is heading in this direction, it seems that the fears of local businesses may be appeased. He has argued that unless the proposed accommodation at Mount Oswald is linked to colleges it will not happen, despite claims by the Banks Group. Appeasing those residents who claim Durham is dying will be significantly harder to achieve, for as Chris Higgins has confirmed, the University will not be moving anytime soon.
three or four years of our degree. As long as the city fulfils our needs for cheap housing, a supermarket, countless drinking establishments and a few pieces of architectural eye candy, we pay very little thought to the Durham’s long term development. The model of the university town only works well in a place with a naturally thriving econ-
omy. Yet outside of university terms, the city is moribund. As well as fulfilling the students’ needs, Durham needs to provide jobs, services and housing for the local population. In order to survive, Durham needs to become a town with a university, not just a university town.
Durham has more to it than just our university Charlie Taverner Commentary
Responding to the town-gown issue in Durham with the simple response that “the town needs the students” is narrow-minded and inconsiderate of the city’s permanent residents.
For many months of the year, we students do pour huge amounts of money into the economy and, admittedly, the University is inextricably linked with the UNESCO world heritage site which is the town’s main tourism draw. However, in a university with some of the country’s shortest terms, we only spend just over half the year in Durham and that is only for the
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Estate agents provoke house decisions Continued from page 1 be left out on the streets if you don’t sign a contract straight away; but of course, the good stuff goes first. “The University has a campaign and we get bombarded with messages at this time of year telling us not to sign for contracts now under any circumstances. You tend to get ripped off if you sign before Christmas, and
“Our landlord put wine in our fridge when we first moved in”
An anonymous student about their private landlord many houses haven’t even opened up for viewing”. However, cities like London and Nottingham are far larger than Durham, and will have a wider variety of properties, as well as a surplus of properties at any one time. One reason why students at King’s College London do not begin searching until late in the academic year is that the turnover of tenants in properties is very high and landlords are not interested in people looking to sign contracts eight or nine months in advance. One Durham student said: “You cannot compare Durham to such large cities like London. The property market is extremely different and perhaps smaller cities like St Andrews have a similar rush to sign contracts”. A Bristol University student said: “We usually start looking for housemates in October / November and usually aim to have a contract signed and sealed by January at the latest, though I think Bristol is a big scramble compared to other places. “That’s because Bristol’s innercity bus network is expensive and impractical... so if you don’t get in fast, you end up living a 40 minute walk from University, which really isn’t practical”. Aware of the early house search, Durham Colleges put on talks designed to help people think about what their priorities are and what kind of people they really want to live with. Castle College Office recently sent out a message to students, saying: “Landlords encouraging students
to sign as early as November is irresponsible behaviour, creating panic amongst students. Many students commit to rental agreements and the people they want to share with much too early”. They are inviting the University Counselling Service to talk about what to look for with regards to housing and housemates, agreements you need to draw up prior to signing, how to deal with possible conflicts and how to analyse your own needs. Many students are also unsure as to whether they should be signing a contract with one of Durham’s many estate agents, or whether they would be better off signing with a private landlord. On this issue, Cole Sims notes that: “There is very little difference between going with an estate agent and a private landlord as most contracts are very similar. DSU accreditation is a good way to see if your potential landlord is a good one”. However Pem Tshering points out that some agents give off a false impression that they have been approved by the DSU, but actually don’t comply with the DSU codes of conduct and advises students to watch out for this. The many estate agents in Durham, controlling hundreds of houses between them, have mixed reviews from students. Commonly the main issue relates to the time it takes to sort out problems arising in the house.
“Landlords encouraging students to sign this early is irresponsible” Castle College Office
One anonymous student commented: “I had a fairly poor experience with Q Student. They have so many houses that they don’t keep track of maintenance properly. “Both our oven and boiler broke several times and took a while to get fixed, which is not ideal in the winter. They would send builders round without warning us first which is obviously not conducive to a successful working environment. “This year we are renting from a private landlord who is so much better at keeping the house in good order and checking everything is OK. Students pay an extortionate amount to their landlords and often the land-
www.palatinate.org.uk
Tuesday 22nd November 2011 | PALATINATE
Many students choose to live back in college to reduce costs Photograph: Tamsin White lords do not fulfil their side of the bargain”. A second year geographer praised the way that their private landlord had dealt with them. She said: “Our landlord has a secretary, so most of what we need goes through her. “However whenever we’ve needed something sorted in the house, someone’s been round to look at it pretty quickly”. However, she still experienced problems: “A few days ago three men walked into the house to do some jobs. They had been sent by the landlord but we had not been told that they were coming and they just let themselves in!” Another anonymous student commented: “The landlord himself was brilliant, he was a local bloke, we never had any trouble getting hold of him, and he would always be really good at getting stuff fixed. “When our toilet was broken, I called him on a bank holiday and he was really apologetic that he wouldn’t be able to fix it that day and that I’d have to wait until tomorrow! “He put wine in our fridge when we first moved in and came round
to thank us for being really nice tenants when we were moving out! You couldn’t really ask for more”. Students renting from other estate agents have also encountered difficulties. An anonymous student said about JW Wood: “Last year, the people that lived there before us had to wait 3 weeks mid-winter for their heating to be fixed, despite phone calls. We’ve had similar problems this year.
“The sofas were covered in stains and there were holes in the fabric” A second year about Hope Estates
“A week before term started, both the contractor and the lady that dealt with our house were on holiday which meant that other agents had to deal with our requests and they weren’t dealt with for several days,
some for two weeks. “On the other hand, they always tell us if someone is coming into the property and they’re very friendly”. A second year modern linguist was unimpressed by the service provided by Hope Estates. “The house had not been properly cleaned before we moved in, and the sofas were terrible – covered in stains with holes in the fabric. “They are putting their prices up by £10 next year when all they are offering is broadband and line rental included on top of this year’s package, which doesn’t seem to add up at all”. A second year law student living in a Hope Estates house this year said: “Hope Estates have sorted us out with everything that’s needed sorting. We’ll be living with them again next year”. Many final year students appear to have chosen the ever present option of living back in college, not only to avoid the scramble to find a house, but also to enjoy other benefits that they feel living in college provides.
PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
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Youth unemployment exceeds one million Tim Perry The number of 16 to 24-year-olds unemployed in the UK has risen above one million. The figures released on Wednesday for the three months from June to September showed that 1.016 million young people are now out of work. This figure was a rise of 67,000 throughout the three month period and is another record high since comparable records began in 1992. The eighth consecutive monthly increase in youth unemployment means the unemployment rate among them is now 21.9%. 286,000 of Britain’s unemployed young people are university students seeking part-time work.
1.016m The number of young people out of work
John Walker, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Youth unemployment figures are truly shocking. The government must wake up and take action to turn this around”. Samuel Tombs, a British economist at Capital Economics, also expressed dismay at the data: “The rise in youth unemployment above the symbolic one million mark will increase fears of a ‘lost generation’ of workers”. But Chris Grayling, the government employment minister, defended the government: “Our challenge… will be to put in place additional measures to support growth and create employment opportunities, especially for young people”. Yet Christine Blower, General
Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, denied this was happening: “The government is attacking student life chances, social mobility and economic prospects. It is a disgrace that it is almost as expensive to keep a young person out of work as it is to create a job for them. “Young people are the future. The Coalition must put reducing youth unemployment at the centre of the political agenda. “We need to see practical support and help for students such as vocational training and apprenticeships that are linked to guaranteed employment for those who complete them”. Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, similarly criticised the government: “Today’s milestone of more than a million young people being out of work is the true mark of the government’s economic strategy”. “Government plans to offer cutprice work experience are woefully inadequate”. The government has however launched a series of schemes to help young people find work. These involved ensuring more young people benefited from apprenticeships and also to help employers gain the skilled workers they need to grow. The BBC reported that the initiatives aimed to employ 350,000 young people. Business secretary Vince Cable said that although youth unemployment was a “long-standing and deeprooted” problem, the government would provide a financial incentive to help the smallest firms recruit their first young apprentices. Mr Cable also said the coalition would remove legal obstacles that deferred businesses from taking graduates on. But Martina Milburn, chief executive of youth charity The Prince’s Trust, told the press: “Today’s figures
‘See it off’? Not at Durham, says survey Chris Murphy
A survey examining the drinking habits of students across the UK has found that Durham University’s students are by no means among the heaviest drinkers. The survey, conducted by student website studentbeans.com, put Durham in 45th place out of 68 with an average of 16.5 units consumed per week by its students. A second year Durham student
told Palatinate: “That number seems surprisingly low. We’d probably drink about 16.5 units in one night out let alone per week”. Leeds Metropolitan University was top of the table, with its students taking in an average of 26.7 units per week, whilst the University of Salford came in 68th place with 5.9 units. However Durham did rank above both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, which came in 59th and 51st place respectively. The survey also revealed other trends in student drinking. For ex-
The Jarrow march walked from Jarrow Park to London earlier this year in protest against rising youth unemployment Photograph: Gavin Havery are a wake-up call for Britain. It is critical to help young people into work for the future of our economy and society. “It’s time to redouble our efforts to ensure every young person, no matter what their background, is provided with the support they need and deserve”. Wednesday’s figures also revealed the total number of unemployed people nationwide went up by 129,000 to 2.62 million, with the unemployment rate highest in the North East at 11.6%. Meanwhile it has been revealed that up to tens of thousands of young people are being sent to work without pay for up to two months. As part of the work experience scheme recently launched by the
ample, 53% of those questioned confirmed that they had missed a lecture or a seminar having had a lot to drink the night before. The most popular drink on a night out was vodka, with 67% of respondents saying that it was their drink of choice. 59% had experienced some sort of memory loss but fewer – 37% – had woken up not knowing how they had fiund their way home the night before. English actor and personality Stephen Fry was the number one choice for someone that the students would most like to go for a drink with. Katy Perry, Fearne Cotton and Rihanna were the only females in the top ten celebrity list. The survey asked only those who drink alcohol; nevertheless 47% responded that they wished drinking alcohol was not such a big part of University life.
Government, an unknown figure of unemployed young people are participating in unpaid work experience placements in shops for up to eight weeks. The Guardian newspaper, who led the investigation, also revealed that unemployed people could be forced
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into work placements by job centre case workers. The Department for Work and Pensions was quoted as saying that once people “expressed an inter-
est” in doing work experience, they would lose their Job Seekers Allowance if they pulled out after their first week in the placement. Moreover the scheme does not guarantee the participants a job but only an interview, with many voluntary workers sometimes competing for the same job. One participant in the scheme at Poundland told The Guardian: “I was told [the work experience placement] was mandatory after I’d attended the [retail] open day. [But] no-one really knew what we were supposed to be doing. We were just put on the shop floor and told to tidy shelves. “It seems we’re being used as some free labour, especially in the run-up to Christmas”.
Durham was placed 45th Photograph: Claire Ungley
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DUCK Officer’s Column Archie Dallas
Jailbreak is fundamentally one of the strangest events in the DUCK calendar. This Saturday at 8am hundreds of students will sprint away from Durham prison with the sole intention of making it as far from Durham as possible. At this stage we cannot possibly imagine how well they will do. A large proportion of people will struggle to leave the UK and get friendly with the port staff from Dover. Equally, I’m sure that yet again there will be a suspiciously high proportion of students who ‘get stuck’ in Amsterdam (which I’m sure is due to their love of windmills and clogs). However, there will be a small percentage of people who have the ‘gift of the gab’ and manage to make it all the way to far-flung places. On the other hand, Jailbreak is a spectator sport as well. If you want to track the progress throughout the weekend on a funky webmap then go onto duck.dsu.org. uk where we will have a link. If your friends are jetting around the world in the name of charity then you can keep tabs on how well they are doing and just how exotic that postcard will be. If there is one thing that we do know, no two experiences will be the same. So don’t forget to donate to some fantastic causes; all money raised goes to charity!
www.palatinate.org.uk
Tuesday 22nd November 2011 | PALATINATE
Concern builds over Held appointment
College sources criticise the consultation process by which the former LSE academic was selected Daniel Johnson
There is growing disquiet inside University College over the decision to appoint David Held as Castle Master. According to college sources, the former LSE academic was appointed to the role despite a college panel deeming him “inappropriate” and one of the “least suitable” candidates for the role. One person from Castle, who preferred to remain anonymous, described the consultation as “utterly pointless”. They added: “I was told that the feedback to the University was that Prof. Held was not a desirable candidate for the Mastership; without clarity or any explanation as to why, the University took the exact opposite perspective. “I’d love to be excited about Prof. Held coming, but without understanding what was thought to make him so appropriate, it’s very hard.” Speaking at the time, Professor Graham Towl, Durham University’s Deputy Warden, defended the process. He said: “Professor Held was selected from a very strong field of
candidates from across the world following a rigorous interview process. “He has a particular passion for education at undergraduate and postgraduate level and also brings both entrepreneurial experience, for example in modern academic publishing, and a wealth of management skills which will prove invaluable in his role as Master.” Palatinate can also reveal that Castle’s previous master Maurice Tucker (a former Castleman himself) and the college’s Senior Tutor, were not invited to be part of the formal interview panel. A college representative who attended the informal meeting with the six candidates said: “David (Held) didn’t seem to want to know much about College, and seemed to wander from subject to subject in conversation, so didn’t impress.” Professor Held was an academic adviser to the Gaddafi’s son when he studied at the London School of Economics (LSE), and was caught up in the scandal earlier this year which forced LSE’s director Howard Davies to resign. Often described as an “informal academic adviser” of Saif Gaddafi, Held is leaving LSE ahead of the Woolf report into the scandal.
Held will take over as Master in January Photograph: LSE
Chairman warns universities of ‘consumer culture’ most completely ignoring universities’ research. The student experience should be discussed “less in terms of transactions and more in terms of relationships.” He also criticised the lack of funding available to postgraduate
Tim Perry
The Vice Chancellor of Sussex University used his first speech as Chair of the 1994 Group to criticise the Government’s Higher Education reforms. The 1994 Group, of which Durham is a member, promotes the interests of its nineteen member institutions. As the new Group Chair, Professor Michael Farthing will represent the Group’s interests on a national level. Farthing’s speech cautioned the Government against seeing students as consumers who are “purchasing degree certificates” and said that universities should not attempt to “sell off-the-shelf qualifications”. He criticised the White Paper reforms as lacking ambition, focusing on undergraduate students and al-
£19,500 Tuition fees for Masters courses at some universities
Farthing said that university should be discussed more in terms of relationships Photograph: Durham University
students. Farthing suggested that teaching grant cuts would affect taught postgraduate students as well as undergraduates. Although the new Student Finance scheme allows part-time undergraduate students to receive tui-
tion fee loans, postgraduate students are not able to access any Student Finance Company money. The only exception is PGCE students, who receive fee loans in a similar manner to undergraduates. With tuition fees for Masters courses reaching £19,500 at some Universities and Durham charging fees between £5,100 and £9,000 for one-year taught postgraduate courses, many well-qualified graduates are unable to go on to postgraduate study. Students taking four year Undergraduate Masters degrees are entitled to Student Finance loans for all four years of their course. From 2012/13 they will be charged £9,000 per year. Students who graduate with a Bachelors degree and continue to a Postgraduate Research degree at Durham will pay £3,372 per year for their research degree.
PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
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Tens of thousands flock to Lumiere festival
Durham was filled with thousands of visitors from last Thursday to Sunday, for the second ever Lumiere light festival in the city. Highlights included a huge equestrian snowdome in the Market Place, a waterfall cascading from the Kingsgate footbridge, and the ‘Crown of Light’ display, which projected coloured images of the Lindisfarne Gospels onto the Cathedral. Artichoke Co-Director Nicky Webb, who organised the festival, said: “being invited is great, people seem to like it here in Durham and it’s a perfect town for this kind of event”. Some students complained that the sheer number of people in Durham meant getting around became a “logistical nightmare”, in the words of one 3rd year student at Hatfield. He said: “it took me a frankly extraordinary fifty minutes to walk from Dunelm House to Hatfield. However, all in all, the inconvenience was worth it: the whole town looked absolutely phenomenal.” For full coverage go to Indigo, pages 8-11.
Over 35 installations lit up the city, bringing thousands to Durham Photographs: Delaney Chambers & Mat Ladley
Employers could be forced to pay interns Katie Pavid It has emerged that employers could be breaking the law when taking on interns and failing to pay them the national minimum wage. Government lawyers have released advice which could suggest that employers are acting illegally by taking on long-term unpaid workers, despite the recent movement from the government which encourages young people to turn to internships as ways into work. The status of unpaid internships in employment law has long been a topic under debate, as in recent years they have seemed a necessary prerequisite for employment in many sectors, including law, finance, consulting and the heritage sector. Now it has arisen that the Graduate Talent Pool, the website set up in 2009 and run by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, is advertising a very large number of potentially illegal placements; more than half of the positions advertised come with no pay. For instance, 92% of the arts-related positions on the website are unpaid.
It seems that the distinction between short-term “work-experience” placements and longer term “internships” has been unclear and has allowed employers to benefit from obscure guidelines. Government representatives claim that only “work experience” should legally come with no pay, whereas interns should be viewed as skilled workers who deserve the national minimum wage. However, it seems that many companies have been taking advantage of the uncertain distinction and a survey by Interns Anonymous, the largest online UK internship survey to date, has shown that 87% of respondents claimed they were paid below the minimum wage. A contributing factor to certain companies’ ability to exploit young workers is a loophole in minimum wage legislation, which lets employers decide independently whether to pay “those in full time education” who participate in internships. Only seven firms have been prosecuted by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for breaching minimum wage law since it was introduced, a statistic which reveals the government’s failure to secure increased
social mobility, which they claim to have made a priority in recent times. The value of internships has been a subject of debate among students, as many young people struggle to work for ten or twelve weeks unpaid, often away from home and with only their commuting expenses reimbursed. Many claim that the process is unjust, as long-term work placements are only available in reality to a se-
“I just can’t afford to work for free long-term” A Durham finalist
lect middle-class few, who have the means to support themselves financially whilst undertaking them. One third year finalist said: “I am worried about graduating and how much unpaid work I will have to do before I get a job. I just can’t afford to work for free long-term, especially somewhere away from home, but you can’t enter many careers without it. Internships seem to be a fact of life now.” Another said: “I was under the im-
pression that all internships had to be paid.” The increasing amount of unpaid internships means the ideal of a meritocratic system to get onto the career ladder is often being undermined, as those who are more financially stable have a headstart. London is often the only city in which companies run summer internships. Regional opportunities do exist but they can be scarce in some sectors, however London remains an extremely expensive place in which to live and work for a prolonged period of time. A third year scientist pointed out: “Sometimes even people on paid internships in London don’t gain anything once accommodation and travel is paid for. “To break even is one thing but to lose money doing an internship is exploitative. Companies underestimate the ability of some interns to do meaningful work. I consider unpaid internships like ten-week long assessment days.” The outcome of the advice remains to be seen, but it could mean that many people will receive compensation for past work they have completed.
Universities predict ‘jobs boom’ despite student number drop Harriet Line
Universities across Britain are predicting a ‘jobs boom’ as competition for the falling number of applicants for 2012 increases. Compared with last year, the number of applications made to UCAS has fallen by 11.9%. Although the deadline is not until 15th January, fears that the rise in tuition fees has deterred students from applying to Higher Education are growing. The decrease has been considerably more severe in certain subjects, notably in Mass Communication and Documentation subjects where applications have fallen by 40.6%. Education, creative arts and business and administration have all lost over one quarter of applicants, but this trend also extends to more ‘academic’ subjects such as Computer Science, which fell by 10.5%. First year student Paul Chambers hopes that the jobs boom is “reflected in better quality teaching, otherwise the employment increase cannot be justified.”
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Tuesday 22nd November 2011 | PALATINATE
Psychiatrists warn of “pressing need” to improve welfare Experts say mental health and well-being services in Britain’s universities must evolve to meet the needs of a changing student population Briony Chappell & Mei Leng Yew
The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) has warned that the current provision of mental health services available to students is inadequate and urgently needs addressing. However, the College has also raised concerns that universities may see counselling and support services as an easy target for cuts. In a report titled “Mental Health of Students in Education” the authors write, “In general there is a pressing need for an increase in the availability of comprehensive assessment and treatment services as well as mental health promotion activity both at organisational and individual level.” Previously released in 2003, the new report has been updated to highlight the current state of mental healthcare for university students in the UK. The report suggests “psychiatric disturbance is widely prevalent in the student population, and may have a significant impact on academic performance.” Over the past decade a number of social, cultural and economic changes have influenced the demographics of the student population, and university applications are becoming increasingly diverse. This consequently affects the way in which the NHS tries to support students and the way in which they provide mental healthcare at a university level. For all students, especially those with experience of mental illness, university is considered a fresh start. Ideally, the university setting should offer work, leisure, accommodation, social life, medical care and counselling within the same environment. However, rising tuition fees, moving away from home and the social pressure to ‘fit in’ means that for some, becoming a university student is a particularly stressful transition. One of the report’s authors, Dr.
John Callender, stated “many [students] are having to work long hours in paid work on top of full-time academic studies. Many are less wellsupported by their families than was the case in years gone by.” This problem has predominantly arisen due to an increase in the rates of marital breakdown, leading to diminished family support. Dr Callender also said that the increased number of “students being drawn from poorer social backgrounds” were amongst those likely to find themselves less prepared for university, in terms of financial support. The tripling of tuition fees next year suggests that this is an irresolvable issue as potential applicants must ask themselves if higher education is worth saddling themselves with
4%
The percentage of students who used counselling
what some would regard as crippling financial debt. The economic recession and fears that surround securing a job are similarly stressful issues for current students. Scott Parker, DSU Education and Welfare officer, commented, “I often refer to university life as a pressure cooker whereby students have a huge number of commitments and expectations on a day-to-day basis that they are expected to cope with.” The pressures of juggling academic, extra-curricular and social schedules often result in students feeling over-burdened. Studies show that during their university career, around 4% of students will visit a counseling service. Research also suggests that these numbers are rising and will continue to do so. The services tackle a range of emotional and psychological difficulties, but do not treat severe men-
tal illness. The report suggests that young people aged 18-25, in education, are one of the most likely social groups to develop a severe mental disorder, such as schizophrenia. Studies also show that there are higher numbers of female students visiting counsellors than male. If counsellors believe that a student may have, or be in the process of developing, a mental illness that needs clinical treatment, they can refer them to a GP or the NHS. However, one of the major problems faced by the NHS is that mental healthcare services are not scheduled around the timescale of student life. Students receiving treatment may endure long periods of time on a waiting list for specialist clinical psychology or psychotherapy. Furthermore, when their appointment does come, it may be during exams or in the holidays. This is a particularly complicated issue for students who live abroad. International students regularly come to the UK to study and then have to cope with the strains of being far away from home, and for some, studying in a second language. Some also arrive with high hopes of academic success, and can become extremely troubled if their academic performance falls short of their own or their family’s expectations. The RCPysch report suggests that collaborative healthcare is the way to improve the mental healthcare of students in the UK. This means that university-counselling services must establish a closer relationship with the NHS. The authors also suggest that academic staff should receive more training, and that GPs interested in running dedicated health services for students should be offered greater incentives. Earlier this year ‘Mental Wealth UK’ launched a national campaign, “25 by 2012”, to tackle the issues surrounding the mental health of students. The campaign aims to es-
Speaking to a friend or to a member of your college welfare
“Are universities doing enough to look after students’ mental health?” Zenobia Homan, President of Durham University Happiness Society There is a wide variety of answers to that question, but here in ours we have DUCK standing up for charities all over the word, SCA looking out for the wider community, and Nightline to listen to our students. At the heart of all that lies Durham University Happiness Society. With a little happy message every day (ranging from comedy, to music, to philosophy) Happy Soc aims to give Durham University a happy studying environment. Life can truly beat you down some times – whether it is serious depression or just a bad essay mark. In Durham, you will always find someone who wants to cheer you up. Even if no cheering up is needed – happiness is a great commodity to share.
Happiness comes in many different forms: to some people it comes in hugs, to some in cups of tea, to some in a good book. While happiness can embody playing hide-andseek it can also take shape in a deep conversation. We ask our members what makes them happy every year; comments include ‘drunkenly playing video games’ and ‘lazy mornings spent spooning’. Happy Soc embraces all kinds of appreciation of life, the universe and everything. Durham students support Durham students. That is how we do things here. E-mail Zenobia on happiness. society@durham.ac.uk to join the daily mailing list and receive a happy quote, photo, video or philosophy every day.
PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
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News
University launches Centre for Sex, Gender and Sexualities Director Jo Phoenix explains why our newest research centre is so significant
Director Jo Phoenix (right) with inaugural speaker and queer theorist Prof Kathryn Stockton (left) at Thursday’s launch Photograph: Mei Leng Yew
team can relieve stress and improve emotional well-being Photograph: Sam Lipman tablish 25 student-led mental health and wellbeing advocacy groups by the end of the year. Edward Pinkey, founder of Mental Wealth UK, feels that “student-led initiatives are going to play an increasingly important role” in challenging the problems of mental healthcare. In Durham, Scott Parker stands firmly behind the University’s own campaigns. He commented, “Mental health and well-being is of paramount importance when we consider what a high pressure environment university life is. “We should recognise this and be responsive in ensuring that all students have access to information and support if they have concerns about their well-being.” The DSU does a great deal to promote awareness of mental health and wellbeing. Each year it holds a Mental Health and Well-being Week, encouraging students to become more aware of their individual wellbeing. The collegiate welfare system is also regularly praised by students as being an excellent listening service, providing peer-to-peer support and easy access to sexual health supplies such as condoms and pregnancy tests. Durham University’s Mental Wealth group has recently been reestablished, and is likely to be active by December.
10 ways to look after your mental health Photograph: Mental Health Foundation
It is very difficult to convey my excitement at being able to launch the Centre here in Durham and my gratitude to all who have taken the time to support us in doing so, so I will begin by telling you a tale. It was just over 29 years ago that as an 18 year old, I left my childhood home of Texas, by myself, and moved to the UK. I could tell you any number of reasons for that move, but underneath them all was a single, inescapable reality. I was a stubborn uncompromising young lesbian who did not accept the image of myself as a young woman or a young lesbian that was imposed on me by my peers, my teachers and many of those around me. I left in order to find a place that was more comfortable to be me, where I could get some critical distance to understand how things came to be like they were. How things change, because now, a centre is being launched that pulls together a team of over fifty academics whose research interests cohere around sex, gender and sexualities - academics of arts and humanities and of science. As if that was not enough, we are launching this centre in the third oldest university in England, and the third best in the UK. To do so with the full support of University senior management is, quite frankly, a tremendous mark of the changing times as well as a mark of just how forward thinking and progressive Durham University is. My excitement is also framed by the sense of enormity of what this Centre stands for. Sex, gender and sexualities are not marginal issues, confined only to women, or to LG-
BTQ communities. The study of them is, at core, the study of what it means to be a person. Every human alive today will have a life that is, in some fashion, shaped by sex, gender or sexualities, whether that is through our choice of partners, the opportunities presented to us in schools, the ways people respond to us, to name just a few of the most obvious. You may ask why another centre on gender and sexualities is important. I’d respond by saying that despite the seismic cultural changes that have happened in many western countries in relation to diversity and equality, there is still much to be done, both intellectually and politically. We need to drive hard to create the critical mass of expertise that will enable us, at Durham University, to be a centre of excellence and research so that we can drive the search agenda in new, novel and creative ways. The vision for the Centre is broad, ambitious and bold. It will tap into interdisciplinary, cutting edge scholarship and research. It will support students through a series of scholarships and grants. It will fund visiting scholar programmes to enable the best in the field to come to Durham. it will also support research stakeholders and users through a programme of targeted engagement and impact activities in which the work of the Centre can be used for maximum social benefit. In short, our ambition is to become nothing less than an international beacon for the study of sex, gender and sexualities.
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Tuesday 22nd November 2011 | PALATINATE
University student fights to continue education Rowena Caine Palatinate was recently approached by a Durham student born in Afghanistan who, due to an uncertain immigration status, is fighting a battle to continue his studies at the University. Sharif Naseri came to the UK when he was fourteen-years-old because of his father’s past. He came without a visa and was granted Discretionary Leave for three years. This is a grant of limited leave applied for one of a many reasons. For example, in the case of an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child for whom adequate reception arrangements are not available in their country. Sharif was granted another Discretionary Leave in 2011, after two years of waiting. Sharif had been in the UK for over five years at this point and should have been given Indefinite Leave to Remain - an immigration status granted to someone who has been admitted to the UK without any time limit on their stay and who is free to take up employment or study, without restriction. “I was so desperate and so grateful to stay that I didn’t ask them for an
Indefinite Leave to remain. I had no idea that this would cause problems.” Sharif will get his Indefinite Leave to Remain when the three years of his Discretional Leave runs out. Sharif was cared for by the Social Services until the age of eighteen. He has had no contact with his family since he moved to the UK and has moved in and out of foster homes. He attended a comprehensive school and then a grammar school
“England is my home, life and everything” Sharif Naseri
where he attained eight GCSEs and four A-Levels (one A and three Bs). He speaks Farsi, Urdu, Persian and English. Sharif applied to study Biomedical Science at John Snow College, Durham University expecting to pay the £3,375 tuition fee paid by ‘settled’ citizens. However, he recently realised that due to his status, he would be charged £15,300 a year. To pay his way through University,
Sharif worked at various places on his gap year including five months as a waiter at one of Jamie Oliver’s restaurants, where he will return during the holidays. He earned on average £1,200 a month. During this period, he stayed with his brother in London – a Human Physiology student at the University of East London. His brother, who has a British Passport, pays home-rate tuition fees. Sharif told Palatinate: “I would pay those fees if I had the resources – but I just can’t afford them.” Currently, the Social Services pay his accommodation fees. But that is the only support that Sharif gets for his education. Unable to qualify for Student Finance, Sharif must fund his own way through University. “The Social Services support me as long as I am in education. If I don’t go to University, they will pull the plug. “I’ve worked since I’ve been here to pay for everything myself. I’ve never asked anyone for money. “I wanted to get a job as soon as I got here. However, there is no work in Stockton and due to the complication of this situation; I don’t yet have a campus card so I have to pay £6 to get to Durham and back.” Sharif has contacted various or-
Sharif has lived in the UK since he was fourteen Photograph: Sharif Naseri ganisations to work out a solution. “I’ve spoken to refugee camps, citiWhen ringing the Immigration Solic- zen advice bureaus and many more. itor they said that he was not an im- But no one has come across a case as migrant and referred him to Welfare complicated as mine.” Education, who referred him back to “I don’t want to think about what the Immigration Office. I would do if I couldn’t complete my Despite having a GCSE in English degree at University. and four A-Levels, the University “When you speak to other peomade Sharif take the International ple, they assume you have a family, a English Language Tests (ILETs). The home to go to and support. But I have University Admissions office told none of that. Sharif that they could not make an “England is my home, life and eveexception for his circumstances. rything.”
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PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
Profile: Ali Smith
Profile Editor: Jessica Waite profile@palatinate.org.uk
‘The myth of Ali Smith’ Jessica Waite talks to the esteemed novelist and playwright at the Durham Book Festival
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ne of the festival chaperones leads me to a beautiful, grand room upstairs in the Durham Town Hall and quickly disappears. A major literary force in the UK, I’m expecting to immediately spot Ali Smith, as if she’ll have a sort of sheen about her as renowned celebrities always seem to. I know what she looks like (granted, there were only a handful of photos available of her when I did my research)… but no-one stands out in the room. After about five minutes, I nervously approach a lady, dressed head-to-toe in dark clothes and quietly curled up on a sofa chair, to ask if she is the real Ali Smith. She’s shy, but not untalkative, speaking quickly, thoughts spilling out as they form. Sentences take off in different directions as if she is trying out ideas as we speak, and everything we talk about is peppered with literary references and allusions. Described in The Guardian as an ‘unashamed literary voice’, it is fitting that she is reading when we meet. Born in Inverness, Scotland in 1962, Ali learnt to read from looking at the labels on her elder siblings’ singles collections. “I could read from the age of three. I think reading is what produces writing, rather than anything else. It is at the absolute root of writing. [So] the only advice I’d ever give anyone who was going to write anything… Read, read, read. Even things we haven’t enjoyed, or don’t think we’ve understood, or haven’t even noticed we’ve read – like things on the sides of buses - what you read will become part of your make-up”. Ali’s parents left school at the age of thirteen, but “they were clever. They worked hard in order to put us all through university”. It was a struggle, she says, to persuade them to let her study English
as opposed to a subject like law, which would lead to a “steady job”. Ali attended the University of Aberdeen – where she wrote, by her own admission, “very bad poetry” – and did an undergraduate and postgraduate degree. She then went on to the University of Cambridge to do another postgrad though she “never finished it”. It was at Cambridge that she began to write plays. “I wrote about nine, two or three of which are published – they’re not very good (besides a couple of radio plays)”. It is at this point in our conversation that the force of Ali’s modesty and perhaps self-consciousness really hits me. I recall that she famously planned to throw away the manuscript for her award-winning novel ‘Hotel World’… I wonder whether she is being unfair to herself by downplaying her clear writing talent? “I never think anything is very good”. I splutter. “But I don’t think it’s unhealthy! I think it’s a good thing. It keeps you looking the whole time, to see whether [what you write] adds up or not in the right way. I
“I never think anything is very good, but I don’t think it’s unhealthy!”
never quite believe that it’ll do the thing I wanted, expected or hoped it would do. You have to have that lack of faith to have faith. You have to keep going in the face of it. It’s a constant conversation with exactly that insecurity”. Although Ali’s heart clearly lay in writing, her working life initially began in lecturing at the University of Strathclyde. “[My position] lasted about two years before I left. I didn’t
Palatinate caught up with Ali Smih at the Durham Book Festival Photograph: Sarah Wood enjoy being a lecturer at all. I felt like I was lying, I felt like I was having to give people rules. There was the class - and classes were suddenly magnified in size from when I was in university, so it’d be a room full of around 90-120 people – all wanting to know the answer to ‘To the Lighthouse’. And there is no answer to ‘To the Lighthouse’. It’s a book. Emily Dickinson says, ‘Split the lark, and inside you’ll find all these little squirrels of song’… Well, if you split the lark, you have a dead bird. Just write a poem”. Ali speaks with such urgency and seriousness that dry witticisms like this are almost missed, and even her laugh – a Scottish-sounding giggle – seems rushed. I begin to understand what other journalists have meant when they’ve said that interviewing Ali is an intense experience. Many times in the past, cameras and recording equipment have (reportedly) spontaneously broken during interviews with Ali and she puts it down to her ‘energy’. About half way through our conversation, we notice that my Dictaphone, which has never let me down before, is beeping. It has stopped recording and half of the interview, I discover later, is lost. “I do have a tendency to break these things,” She assures me.
“Something about my spirit”. Having been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome shortly after leaving lecturing, Ali became a full-time writer and (unusually) kick-started her career with the critically-acclaimed collection of short stories, ‘Free Love and Other Stories’ in 1991. She has since been short-listed for the Booker and the Orange Prizes for both her second novel, Hotel World, and her third, The Accidental, for which she received the 20005 Whitbred Novel award. Despite continued success, Ali’s isn’t a prominent face in the book-related media. Indeed, it’s often said that Ali is publicity-shy, but I wonder whether there is more to her decision to be a little selective about what promotion she partakes in. “I’m happy to talk about them [my works], but what I say won’t be any more relevant than what anyone else says”. Does Ali subscribe to the fairly Sartrean philosophy that literature should be judged independent of its author? “Yes, yes, yes. Once it’s done, and you’ve taken it as far as you think you can, it doesn’t belong to the writer anymore. If you read something by me, it belongs to you, not me… We all take and bring different things to everything we read. My favourite
books are those which ask us to be present in them as readers. If I have an ambition it’s to do that; [encourage readers] to help construct, in other words, take part and connect in the text”. Shying away from the limelight doesn’t just apply to her writing
“If you read something by me, it belongs to you, not me...”
career. When I ask how she’d like to be remembered, Ali quickly replies: “I’d like to be forgotten. I’ve got no interest in being remembered. I’d be quite happy in this world of recorded information and images –” [Ali asked us not to take a photo of her] “not to ask people to remember something else. It’s quite a relief to let yourself go”. If not a death philosophy then – she laughs - does Ali have a life philosophy? “You know what, if you have one, life will trip you up”. When prompted, however, Ali suggests a simple thought and, fittingly, it’s a reference to Forster’s ‘Howard’s End’: “Only connect”.
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Careers
Tuesday 22th November 2011 | PALATINATE
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The advantages of a gap year Surveys find that many employers favour students who took a year out
Careers Editor: Charlotte Seager
careers@palatinate.org.uk
@PalatinateUK Palatinate
There is no longer a corner of the globe which gap year travellers have not been to Photograph: Joe Thomas Amy Sandiford-Watts
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lmost half (46%) of 250 UK HR professionals surveyed this summer by YouGov said they would be more likely to employ a graduate with gap year experience involving independent travel, working or volunteering overseas than one without. Another survey carried out by Opinion Matters found that managers in the HR, travel & transport and healthcare sectors were the most likely to believe gap years are as valuable as a degree. Conversely, those in the engineering sector were most likely to prefer traditional university degrees.
Employers believe that gap years allow students to develop ‘soft skills’ useful in working life in which the average graduate may be lacking. These include willingness to learn, teamwork, oral communication, reasoning and independence and initiative. A gap year that is career focused and targeted at the industry you want to work in can be very appealing to employers within that industry, however voluntary work and independent travel are also seen as desirable - although a long holiday or overly-structured volunteer programmes don’t necessarily impress as participants are likely to have faced very few real challenges. According to a Barclays recruitment manager “Graduates using
their gap years wisely to learn new skills, stretch themselves and gain an insight into the ‘real’ world have great impact with employers when seeking careers.” However, according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters’ annual survey, when asked what advice to give graduates in the current jobs climate, graduate recruiters seemed less positive about those taking time out in the form of a gap year, preferring them to accept temporary or unpaid work or undertake skills training. Post-university gap years can also cause problems when it comes to availability for applications and interviews, so graduates should research the application pattern for their chosen sector and structure their gap year accordingly.
Vitally, gap years must be presented well on CVs and at interview so that employers are convinced of their benefits. Employers want graduates who are able to articulate what they have learned from their gap year, yet many complain that, at interview, applicants do not use their gap year experiences to their best advantage. In response to this, gap year organisation BUNAC advises participants to evaluate their experience and break it down into more recognisable skills, and be able to talk about not only what they did, but what they gained from it. If graduates fail to adequately communicate their skills when applying for jobs, or to capitalise them once employed, gap years aren’t of benefit to anyone.
company that was looking for trainees and what seemed a promising offer for graduates outside of the capital. I submitted my CV straight away, and rushed up a cover letter, so was taken by utter surprise when I got an immediate call back to suggest I had been shortlisted for an interview. It all seemed rather too good to be true, but I had received a phone call with a contact name, and an interview time so at this point had no reason to question what had been served up. However, alarm bells were ring-
ing much later when I couldn’t find an address, nor a website to trace the company. Whenever I made calls to the deceptively sweet receptionist, she simply directed me over the phone without giving street names or numbers. Whenever I was questioning what I had been told, she firmly answered me that full details of the job description will be made known at interview. I finally arrived to what seemed like a fancy street of Victorian terrace business offices, and only when I got
to the second floor was an empty space, and two typically smarmy salesmen to greet me. The so called office was in fact a bare room, and no staff were present, and to my own estimation it turned out to be a street canvassing job that was only commission based. The interview was brief, and I decided to go ahead with doing it as I had clicked well before this point what was up. No further details were divulged at this point, and I was to be kept guessing for another day when I had to come back to shadow some-
Durham student caught up in fake job scam Louisa Robinson
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For more, visit palatinate.org. uk
Like all desperate graduate job seekers these days, I thought a simple job search of what and where into a well known search engine was a good start, which you would think would deliver a list of reputable recruitment agencies and companies. After having compiled a list of legitimate companies in the field I was seeking, all of which had a website and contact details, I came across a
PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
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Careers
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Careers advice: using social media Social media consultant Colette Mason speaks to Palatinate about using all the tools at your disposal
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olette Mason runs an international online consultancy which shows businesses and entrepreneurs how to use the internet and social media to boost their business online. With an IT background, which started in support and development and moving on to usability and online marketing techniques, she has worked on some of the biggest projects in Europe. Colette is also author of social media guide ‘Social Media Success in 7 Days’, available from Amazon. According to jobsite.co.uk in their 2011 study, only 37% of jobseekers are using social media. With some savvy self-promotion, why not get yourself into the limelight and sidestep the 63% who aren’t? It’s never too early to start building your credibility online. Whether you’ve got a way to go, or you’re leaving after this academic year – it’s time to start boosting your professional image now. Here are 4 ways to showcase why you’re the perfect choice -
• www.behance.net - online portfolio site If you’re a creative type, you can create a profile on behance where you can upload your 2D digital design work and videos. Embed your profile in LinkedIn. • www.youtube.com – show them with video If you’re a journalist or do audio-
“It’s never too early to start building your credibility online”
visual work, add your showreels to www.youtube.com. Remember: add your linkedin profile link (including the http://) in the description box so people can contact you. • www.slideshare.net – say it with presentation slides Slideshare is great for communi-
cating with PowerPoint. Come up with a solution to a business problem, or have done some cutting edge research? Create slides about it and upload them for free. Add a voiceover explaining the bullets. Embed this in your LinkedIn profile too. • www.linkedin.com – pimp your profile LinkedIn is your online CV, but are you making the most of the recommendations feature? One of the best ways to show you’re worth hiring is to get as many genuine recommendations as possible. Opinions from other people add more weight to positive information that’s said about you. It’s more credible than you “bigging yourself up” on your CV – even if you really are an awesome genius that walks amongst the mortals. Don’t just rely on your work placement contacts; ask other people who can vouch for you - voluntary workers, academic tutors etc. Think “the more the merrier!”
For more information visit www.colettemason.co.uk
Statistical modelling in action
You don’t have to be an accountant... turn data into knowledge
www.atass-sports.co.uk/careers
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Tuesday 22nd November 2011 | PALATINATE
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The tuition fees protest failed to excite the passions of Durham students Photograph: Chris Willetts
38-week lets: it’s time for students to make a stand Olivia Rudgard
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he issue of 38-week lets first reared it’s ugly head earlier this year, when the option for freshers to sign up for the standard 33 weeks mysteriously disappeared from several colleges’ websites. The decision to do this had apparently been taken back in November last year; yet it seems no student representative bodies were aware until Easter, when the websites were changed. From then on the story is a catalogue of misinformation, secrecy and deception. Last year’s DSU President Sam Roseveare was censured for failing to represent student opinion accurately, a facebook group was set up in protest and College JCRs and Presidents Committee fought the University, eventually forcing a swift retreat. Now it seems the University has decided to switch tactics. Stealth has been replaced by denial. Last year they decided to keeping quiet about a major policy change with an impact upon the lifestyle and bank balances of thousands of students before unilaterally bringing it in and hoping no-one would notice. Now they are now denying completely that anything is happening so as to avoid debate. Their state-
ment that protest is ‘premature’ is laughable given the fact that they are clearly willing to decide important policies without any consultation whatsoever with student bodies. If anything, protest is overdue. Their attitude should be seen as part of a greater trend of preserving the privilege of the few at the expense of the majority. Recent protests in London were a reaction to ‘privatisation’ in universities across Britain, as well as the increase in tuition fees. Because at most universities it is the government who is the customer, not the student, and because universities are essentially businesses, students’ interests are being consistently sacrificed in the interests of income. Education Minister David Willetts claims that Government policy puts students ‘at the heart of the system’. This is simply untrue. The rise in tuition fees means that poor students are being priced out of the market in the interests of profit for the government, just as longer lets mean students will struggle to pay their rent so that the university can make money. On neither policy has the student had a say; neither the Government nor the University has listened to the people who are actually going to be affected. Fears that a Conservative party in government would fail to act in the interests of the disadvantaged seem to have been realised. The massive privileges of businesses and corporate giants which sparked
the Occupy movement are relevant in every sector, not least education. Tuition fees have shot up, the NHS is threatened and the Government shows no sign of seriously chastising the financial sector for its shoddy ethics. We can, and will, make a fuss about 38-week lets. The University’s management of the issue has been outrageous, and it is an almost universally unpopular policy with
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Civil disobedience is our only source of power
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students. The reasons for this are extensive and have been discussed elsewhere; suffice to say that however much spokespeople for the University talk about ‘enhancing the student experience’ and ‘offering flexibility’, everyone knows that the real reasons behind the move are financial, pure and simple. The University gets more money in exchange for fewer services. This, whichever way you look at it, is a
seriously bad deal for students. The problem is that by protesting we are at best simply delaying the policy. The University backed down last year, only to try it on again this year. This is not something they are going to give up easily. Longer lets are not an isolated policy. They are part of a greater trend of commoditisation in our education system, both at Durham and nationally. However, this does not mean we should give up. Jokes about Durham students being apathetic are all very well, but we need to take serious action to ensure that we are not being taken advantage of. We must start to see ourselves as active members of the Student Union and present a united front, otherwise we have no hope of stopping the University from doing literally whatever it wants. Civil disobedience is our only source of power. Even if you don’t usually protest, even if you are uninterested in politics and even if you happen to agree with recent coalition policy, you have to recognise that this issue is more than worth missing half a lecture for. It’s something that is going to have a direct impact on all of us and it is being done, without our consent, right under our noses. A stand desperately needs to be taken nationally on our culture of privilege. Let’s start with this issue, here and now, by showing the University that students will not be walked over in the name of profit.
PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
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Alcohol plays too a big a role in our lives Elgan Alderman
Why is bingedrinking such a big part of Durham life?
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or many, freshers’ week will be a week they will never remember. But don’t worry, that’s usually a sign that a good time was had by all. Freshers are now faced with a series of questions. Will I be able to continue partying every night and stumbling home at 4am? For how long will my student loan last if I keep up this unsustainable spending? Will my liver be able to handle all the alcohol I plan on imbibing during my time at university? The short answer to all these questions is, quite simply, no. But the question I can’t help but ask myself, is why do we Britons have so much pride in our binge-drinking? It is all too often that the picture of a group of paralytic youths is plastered all over the front pages of the British press. Those in favour of excessive alcohol consumption will happily claim that alcohol allows people to loosen up, and to have much more fun. But is this really true? What exactly is stopping us from having fun without alcohol? I suspect that the majority of people may never even have tried to have a good night without alcohol, or perhaps the absence of alcohol in an
evening makes people assume they are going to have a bad night, and thus not even try to make the most of their time. But are these claims that alcohol loosens one up incorrect? Kate Fox, a social anthropologist, claims that alcohol does nothing of the sort. She argues that it is not the physical consumption of alcohol that disinhibits us, but rather the assumption that it will do so. Such a hypothesis can easily be proved. On a night out, give your friend a drink and tell them it’s alcoholic – despite the fact it isn’t – and they will probably start acting like they’re drunk. Another reason for our obsession with binge-drinking is the supposed freedom it gives us. All too often people will use the presence of alcohol in their system as an excuse to do things they would never even consider when ‘sober’. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon you wouldn’t pick a fight with a stranger and then urinate down a side street, so why do it at 2 o’clock in the morning on the way back from a night club? It always strikes me as strange that someone would quite happily drink upwards of ten pints in an evening, yet no-one would drink that many
pints of water, or coke, or lemonade. This problem of excessiveconsumption is deep-rooted in our society. Other countries of the world look at us with their jaws firmly on the floor, disbelieving that a country can be so out of control when it comes to alcohol. Take France for example. They drink alcohol as an accompaniment to a good meal or
night out, whereas here we focus on alcohol as being the sole purpose of the night out. On a number of occasions for me, a quiet chat in
the pub with a few mates has been transformed into a series of drinking games, whereby what has thus far an enjoyable social evening has turned completely anti-social. Supermarkets and bars use this obsession with alcohol as a marketing tool, offering several shots for a remarkably cheap price to entice clientele into their establishments. Whilst you can’t blame them for making good business, one can’t help but wonder that it is a sign of just how far Britain has sunk in the binge-drinking stakes. Now before it is assumed that I am simply a killjoy – an inevitable conclusion of an article such as this – I see nothing wrong with people having a good time. If you want to go out for a few drinks, that’s fine by me. But why must alcohol be the center of our attention? Why must we concentrate on getting as drunk as possible in as short a time as possible? It seems to be a common notion that if you can’t remember how a night went, it must have been good. So if on a night out, you decide to get absolutely ‘gazeboed’ and stagger and vomit your way back to bed, by all means do it, but I won’t be the one clearing away the sick…
while they juggle the change in workload, the independence of living alone for the first time, and a new social life. Many also take on extra activities and sports. Adding house hunting to all of this is enough to overwhelm even the most capable of students. Forcing students to wait until after Christmas to find houses would not disadvantage anyone. In fact, it
would give those who aren’t so certain more time to make those decisions. It might be hard to implement but it has to only be a good thing for the welfare of all involved. Delaying the house-hunt would mean that come the new academic year and students once again have to adjust to a new way of living, that adjustment is made easier by the comfort they feel in their new home.
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A quiet chat in the pub has transformed into drinking games
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The pre-Christmas house-hunt should stop Joanna Thom
The University should take action to stop the early rush for houses
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t’s that time of year again. ToLet signs are rapidly going up in front of houses, people leave meetings early just to attend viewings, someone whispered it and now the entire fresher population has begun to form house groups. Five weeks into term is too early. Despite being guaranteed a year of college accommodation and the possibility of more if it is desired, most first years enter university with this one worry at the top of their minds: who will I live with next year? It’s evident on the first night as nervous students assess their neighbours at dinner, trying to see whether they’re compatible. The signing of contracts so early into term is premature for all students. In order to calm students in their fears over accommodation, the university needs to enforce a rule where decisions about housing cannot be made until after Christmas. To decide who you will spend the next year, possibly two, with, having known those people for just over a month could end disastrously. Clinging to peers in the first few weeks to avoid being left without any future housemates is something that many do. Being left alone is a situation that no new student wants to face. But although some will develop life long friendships in the first weeks, even in the first few days, for many it will
take much longer. This isn’t a result of being unsociable or being hard to make friends with, and those that are in this situation shouldn’t be disadvantaged when it comes to finding a house. It would be far better for students to wait and live in a slightly worse house but be happy with their fellow residents, than be left in a great house but uncomfortable, surrounded by people who they don’t really get on with. Leaving the decision until after Christmas would calm most students’ insecurities about the decision so that when it came down to it, they were happier as a result. The pressure of having to sign a contract five weeks into term prevents students from being able to explore other options. The possibility of spending a year abroad can be enticing, but the uncertainties that it may cause over housing for the next year, hinders students from being able to really broaden their education. Banning any contracts from being signed until after Christmas would allow students to explore their options and be clear about the next year’s plans before they have to decide on accommodation. In addition there are the practical considerations. The first term is busy enough for most students
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PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
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The myth of ‘just war’ should end While wearing remembrance poppies, we should question why we still go to war Omar Naboulsi
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ourning for the deceased is among the most natural of human instincts, paying special respect to those fallen in combat the same. So the British don their blood-red poppies, symbols plucked from the fields of Flanders, and so there is an air of heightened sensitivity when it comes to the mourning of the battle-dead. This sensitivity now and then rises to the surface, a recent example being the row over FIFA banning the use of the poppy on football shirts. So too is there a certain amount of friction surrounding even those who refuse - or neglect - to partake in this nationwide process of remembrance. Robert Fisk, renowned political commentator, recently said in The Independent that “those who flaunt the poppy on their lapels [...] mock the war dead”. It is a view motivated by the horrors his father suffered in the First World War combined with the
incompetence and disregard for human life that the leaders in that war displayed. But should the objection over the intentions and capabilities of the military leadership have any amount of bearing over how the dead are mourned? The question is whether such losses are ever necessary. There is a consensus of sorts that the appalling deaths of the First World War were needless and avoidable and that the leadership of the time was largely at fault for them. The losses of the Second World War, on the other hand, are generally considered tragic but necessary in the face of the Nazi threat. But the poppy honours the fallen of the past and present. So where do the current conflicts stand? No-one quite knows what is being fought over in the Middle East- certainly not what the British are fighting for. The usual suspects readily present themselves, with “combating terrorism” normally muscling its way to the front. Terrorism, that Lernaean Hydra of a beast whose tail no-one can tell from its myriad heads. Never mind the fact that Britain had not tasted terror until well after
Photograph: Andrew Dunn its troops sunk their boots into the sands of Mesopotamia, does anyone truly believe that ransacking Baghdad will lessen the amount of potential terrorists- rather than increase the number of people who
have lost everything and are willing to exact crazed revenge in any which way they can? There is, in a sense, no better manufacturer of terrorism than the War on Terror itself. Another justification is that these wars are to free the natives from their local despots, be they groups or individuals. But just as the British public were not asked whether they were willing to pay with the lives of their children, these families, one day waking up to the sounds of bombs and infants both screaming, were also given no choice. And they, unlike British soldiers, did not even sign their names on any army roll. But as balm to the bereaved families of servicemen, is there any harm to this rhetoric of self-defense and promulgation of liberty, even if it is through bomber jets? Should not those who have lost their children at least feel that it was for an undeniably just cause? This seems to be the sombre consensus that overcomes the country when the poppies are clad. But the answer is yes. Yes there is much harm. To both sides, to humanity as a whole. The longer these losses are explained, rationalised and justi-
fied, the more they will happen. The longer people accept these unexplained wars as necessary, the more good servicemen and women will be lost, and the more terror will be born of the devastation. It is a brutal cycle. Yes, children lost in war should be mourned by mother and motherland, and honoured too, but in defiance of the leadership that sent them out to be killed, not hand-inhand with it. The longer we keep convincing ourselves that their deaths were necessary, the longer we keep the spirit of the Great War alive: that serpent which whispers words of glory, honour and freedom into our ears whilst blinding us with its venom from the needless destruction that those empty words leave in their wake. That old lie told to children ardent for some desperate glory is more alive than we would ever like to imagine, and is now being murmured to mourning mothers too.
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St. Paul’s protestors must move on They have made their point, it has been rejected, so they should just go home
Hugh Westlake
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t the height of the blitz, relentless bombing by the Luftwaffe caused St Paul’s to close its doors for four days. The protestors can therefore be very proud of themselves, as their protests have achieved what Hitler could not: the closure of one of Britain’s finest buildings for a grand total of seven days. Unfortunately for them however, this is about all that they will achieve. The problem with anticapitalist protests is that they don’t actually know what they want. Anyone watching Question Time this week would have seen Benjamin Zephaniah ask why we don’t “create a new capitalism”. I have no idea what he means by this. I’m sure he doesn’t either; it just sounded nice for the cameras. The question has got to be asked what these people actually hope to
achieve. Do they actually want to go down the route of communism? These protestors do not realise how lucky they are to be living in the
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Capitalism neither can nor should be changed
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UK under its democratic and capitalist system. Do they really think they would be treated so patiently by the police in a communist state? The belief that one can get rid of capitalism implies that you can change human nature and you
can’t simply criticise something as embedded as capitalism without offering an alternative. Of course, the protestors would still want to be able to access Facebook from their Iphones or Blackberries, while looking forward to whatever presents they’ll receive at Christmas; so we can assume they don’t want to scrap capitalism altogether. If we examine what they’re actually against we can further see the ridiculous nature of this protest. They’re against poverty, inequality and injustice; well let’s be honest, who isn’t? However my democratic beliefs are that only those elected should claim to represent our views. I certainly do not feel represented by people who decide to protest outside one of England’s finest Cathedrals. Indeed why on earth are they protesting in a graveyard of a cathedral? Not only is this disrespectful to those buried there but to the church which itself fights inequality. As with all irritating protests, this too has had people jumping on the bandwagon. The protests include signs against sex trafficking for example. And although people like to
blame the bankers for most things, I do find the link between HSBC and sex traffickers slightly tenuous. The Church needs to start standing up to these people. Instead of saying that they won’t press charges or put into force actions that they legally can in order to remove them, they need to take the actions that they’re entitled to.
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Total number of days that St. Paul’s was closed
We have an Archbishop of Canterbury who, instead of criticising these people for closing the cathedral which has resulted in both tourists and worshippers being disrupted, is instead pushing for a ‘Robin Hood Tax’. What the Archbishop needs to remember is that these protestors have caused St Pauls to lose a huge amount of income because of its closure. As much of the cathedral’s
money comes from donors, Rowan Williams should carefully consider any further taxes to them. A cathedral spokesman, when asked whether an increase in taxation would lead to a drop in donors, replied that they had not thought about that. In order to do this they need money; money generated through capitalism. I know how wrong inequality is and I can see how sometimes capitalism can exacerbate some of these problems, as would any other economic system, but we simply can’t blame all our problems on “corporate greed”. A lot of this criticism stems from jealousy and to be honest I feel that these protestors are been equally selfish by letting their protest disrupt ordinary lives. Capitalism neither can nor should be changed and however much people hate bankers, they are not responsible for wider problems such as Sex Trafficking. It is time these protestors moved on. They have made their point and it has been noted and rejected, and it is time to allow others to use the Cathedral for what it was intended.
Sport Sport Editor: Delaney Chambers
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PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
York University’s James College compete in tournament against Collingwood Kate Houghton
Collingwood College recently hosted a competitive sporting weekend against visitors James College from York University. The annual tournament originated in 2009, when the two college presidents and sports captains saw an opportunity for their students to experience life at another university through playing competitive, college sport. It was Collingwood, who first made the journey to their newly found rivals in February of 2009. 35 Durham students were welcomed by James College who treated them to a night out in York on Friday, before commencing the competition on Saturday where Collingwood were victorious. Since 2009, the tournament has aimed to remain an annual event, however due to adverse weather last year, the weekend was unable to take place.
Joe Elliott Collingwood Principle
boost for uni tennis
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Collingwood host York
“The traditional Collingwood spirit of intense competiton and sporting largesse”
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Nevertheless, with ideal weather coniditons as well as excellent organisation from Ellie Woodcock, Jess Brown and Charlotte Bradley; Collingwood’s president, this year, the two colleges could battle it out once again. It was Collingwood’s turn to host this unique weekend of competition and camerarderie between the two colleges, and after James arrived late on Friday evening for their exclusive night in Durham, the stage was set for a comprehensive programme of sporting contests to be followed on the Saturday. Seven fixtures were fought out ranging from squash to mixed lacrosse with each side securing three wins and a draw apiece resulting in an honourable draw overall to finish the weekend.
POOL & SQUASH
Collingwood seized the early initiative and set the tone for a dramatic day with a 10-7 tie-break victory on the pool table, but James responded with a comfortable 4-1 win in the squash.
Chris Musgrave, right, of Collingwood battles with a James player Photograph: Delaney Chambers
LACROSSE The first half of the lacrosse was played with the unfamiliar rule of no tackling, which could possibly explain the thrashing that Collingwood received, losing the match 6-2, though Ben V Hook, Katie Stirrup and Genevieve McCormick put in strong performances. Despite the reintroduction of tackling into the game at half-time James were able to maintain an unassailable lead. Aaron Rolph, a James tutor and mixed lacrosse player enjoyed the whole experience. “When you play sport for a university it can be very serious, so it’s good to be able to play competitively in a friendly and fun atmosphere,” he said.
FOOTBALL
Regardless of having already smashed Josephine Butler 6-1 that morning, Collingwood A produced another solid performance, winning 2-1 against James A’s and a late equaliser from the penalty spot earned Collingwood B’s a draw against the visiting team. Collingwood A team football captain Billy Phillips was proud of his players’ spirited performance
against the York visitors, especially after the high-tempo win against Jo Butler less than half an hour before. “We were happy to grind out a win with tired legs in what was a great contest. Thanks should go to James College for making the trip up,” he said.
NETBALL
The netball court was the setting for a dramatic climax, as Collingwood A’s eased to an 18-9 triumph giving them the overall lead. A tie or win was all that was needed from the Collingwood B team to secure a victory for Durham overall and from the first centre pass it was obvious this was going to be a tense game. Collingwood finished the first quarter with a 5-4 lead thanks to accurate shooting from Captain Lizzi Yentumi and robust defending from Susie Graves and Kathryn Rothwell. The girls battled hard and managed to stay in front until the third quarter, however the pressure from James’ attack was ultimately too great as they agonisingly edged ahead in the final quarter. The game finished 17-19 to the York side. After the game, Yentumi was filled with admiration for her players. “It was such a closely contested game; I was on edge the whole time,
but I’m so proud of my girls,” she said. The trophy was shared at the presentation ceremony in the Collingwood Bar that evening, where Professor Joe Elliott, Collingwood’s Principal, praised the event’s atmosphere.
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Number of wins gained by each team
“Perhaps the most satisfying part of the weekend was the way in which Collingwood students provided such a warm welcome for our visitors. All the games were conducted in the traditional Collingwood spirit of intense competition and sporting largesse,” he said. His counterpart Provost Neil Lunt at James College raised the possibility of a return leg next term. “We’re looking forward to the return leg in Spring to see if the Collingwood rugby team is all it’s cracked up to be!” he said. Plans are currently being made for Collingwood to make the trip to York next term, where the two colleges’ sporting reputation and rivalry will once again be put to the test.
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Sport
Croquet: an inside view on Durham’s newest club Ed Owen
CROQUET
A common misconception about University Sport in general is its intensive nature. Any sport, from rowing to table tennis, requires rigorous and exhausting bouts of daily training in order to stay at a level of competence, leaving the participant shattered and broken. This is not the case for Croquet. Of course, that’s not to say croquet isn’t hard. I attempted the game at an open day on Palace Green. With a large croquet mallet in hand, I at-
“We’re a very inclusive society, encouraging people to give it a go” Jack Percival Croquet Club President
tempted to wield the beast in such a way as to smash a ball through six hoops in a circuit. Needless to say, I failed, having had my game spoiled by other more competent players ‘making roquet’ on my ball, meaning they get a free hit if they struck it, thus making them
able to complete the circuit faster. The open day was put on by Durham University Croquet Club, a new and ever-expanding branch of Team Durham. The club was set up by current president Jack Percival, with a view to challenging the stereotype of herringbone jackets, aristocracy, and above all, exclusivity. “We’re a very inclusive society, encouraging a diverse range of people to come along and give it a go. For instance, we had over 200 people sign up at the fresher’s fair”. Percival was quick to point out the origins of their club captain, an East-Londoner called Adam Thomas with a cockney drawl that belongs far from the trimmed hedges and manicured lawns of the sport’s genteel origins. “Croquet is a summer sport, so we’re preparing for competitions during the Easter Term. In the meantime we’re really pushing the social aspect. It’s good fun,” said Thomas. Thomas has planned fixtures between Durham and other Universities, such as Newcastle, Oxford and Cambridge. Until then, there will be more open days on Palace Green to help define a team, along with plenty of socials. Croquet is a sport which fits well into the Durham experience and it seems only right that the university has its own club. It will be interesting to see how the university compares against its rivals in the summer matches.
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In the last qualifying round, Durham triumphed over Barnsley, setting up a first round clash with
FA Cup delight for Durham Wildcats make it through qualifying to the first round of the Durham Wildcats
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Barnsley Ladies FC
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Spencer Brown
FOOTBALL
Croquet is a popular sport to play in summer on college lawns and, in particular, Palace Green Photograph: Delaney Chambers
Tuesday 22nd November 2011 | PALATINATE
D
urham Wildcats have created history in their debut season by reaching the First Round of the FA Women’s Cup. A resounding 3-0 victory over Barnsley LFC in the third qualifying round secured Durham’s passage to a place in the country’s premier knockout competition. This followed comprehensive wins over Penrith and Tynedale in the first and second qualifiers respectively, setting up a difficult tie against a Barnsley side who sit comfortably above Durham in the wom-
en’s football pyramid. A strong crowd was attracted to Brewery Field, home of Spennymoor Town FC, for the titanic cup clash and Durham didn’t disappoint. Gemma Nortcliffe, a former Leeds United Ladies player, gave Durham a deserved 1-0 lead after just ten minutes, and from there the Wildcats asserted their dominance. They monopolised possession and continued to create the brighter openings, with only one notable Barnsley chance coming just before half-time. After the interval, Emily Clark put the game out of the Yorkshire side’s reach with a tremendous finish, capitalising on a poor clearance to curl a first-time effort into the top corner. Even with a two-goal cushion the Wildcats maintained their industry and tempo, allowing Laura Stockdale to emphatically slot home from the edge of the box on the 70-minute mark, ending the day’s scoring and Barnsley’s slim hopes of a revival.
Coach Richard Warburton spoke with pride after the game. “I was very pleased with the attitudes and work rate of the girls throughout the 90 minutes.
“I was very pleased with the attitudes and work rate of the girls throughout the 90 minutes.” Richard Warburton Wildcats Head Coach
This was undoubtedly our biggest test so far this season and we knew nothing but our best would be good enough, and that’s exactly what we played,” he said. “The last twenty minutes of the
PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
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Athlete of the Week: Reka Zsilinszka
Tennis achieves high-performance status and Palatinate interviews one of its ace performers Tom Ryder
TENNIS
California Ladies Photograph: Sophie Yiannopoulou
Durham
historic competition with a 3-0 win first half were tough and we allowed Barnsley back into the game, but after putting a few things right at the interval, we came out firing in the second half and got the decisive second goal which ultimately won us the game”. The Wildcats will travel to Teeside to face California Ladies in the first round proper on Sunday 11th December, looking to extend their fairytale debut season. Warburton, however, refuses to get carried away. “Excitement is growing in the camp ahead of the first round, but the players know the importance of staying focused in order to get the right result,” he said. Anticipation and expectation is growing within the Wildcats squad, with the added incentive of potentially drawing one of the game’s heavyweights, such as Arsenal Ladies FC, in the later rounds. 276 teams entered the FA Ladies Cup.
DUWAFC cruising with perfect start to season
Durham University Women’s Football team have enjoyed a 100% start to the BUCS season, and currently sit at the top of the Northern Premier 1A division. Four dominant victories in the league, allied with an extraordinary 10-4 victory over Teeside 1sts in the BUCS trophy, have set DUWAFC up for a hugely successful season. The Palatinates began their league campaign with a comfortable 3-0 win over University of Central Lancashire 1sts at Maiden Castle, before travelling to Teeside and doubling their tally with a whopping 6-0 victory. Promotion is now a realistic prospect for the ladies.
It was announced last week that Durham University Tennis has been granted ‘high performance status’ by the LTA. The news puts the university on a par with the likes of Loughborough and Exeter, as only a handful of universities in the country have been given this privilege. It means that greater investment will become available to the sport, with the prospect of developing an indoor centre of excellence facility at some point in the future. Durham women’s number one seed Reka Zsilinszka expressed her excitement about the status and what it might mean for the future of Durham tennis. “The guys have worked really hard getting the junior programme going, and with high performance status we will get more funding from the LTA” she said. “A big part of high performance is getting the university involved with sports in the community. Getting local talented girls to practise with the teams and the fact that we can run kids clinics means that we can take a huge step towards this community involvement”. PROFILE: REKA ZSILINSZKA
Durham women’s tennis number one seed Reka Zslinszka has enjoyed an astronomical rise in the game. Originally from Slovakia, Zslinszka belongs to a strong European tennis tradition which developed players such as Martina Navratilova and Martina Hingis. “I was a little chubby when I was little and my parents said ‘You need to do something with your life’” she told Palatinate. Zsilinszka picked up a racket at age 10 and a half and has since played at Junior Wimbledon as well as the French and US Opens. She made the round of sixteen in all of these competitions and at sixteen she was the under 18 champion for the USA. At her peak in 2007 Reka was the 10th best women’s junior tennis player in the world. Her US university Duke (in Durham North Carolina) won the stateside equivalent of BUCS in 2009 and she travelled to the White House to meet the president. But making it pro these days is
Team Durham University Sport in Brief RUGBY UNION
The university rugby union club have made a remarkable start to the season. After last year’s stunning success, culminating in a memorable BUCS victory at Twickenham and a Middlesex Sevens appearance, DURFC have managed to maintain their standards this campaign. The first team have stormed to five conscutive wins in the Premier North A division, a record matched by the second team in the Premier North B. Similarly, the third and fourth teams have started the season in perfect form.
FOOTBALL
The Slovakian was at US university Duke Photograph: goduke.com
not something which appeals to her, as she is off to study medical science after she completes her masters in renaissance studies. “It takes someone who has an allconsuming fire for the game and it takes a very special person to be the best. “Tennis is all you do from morning to night. It’s such a hard life”. What you eat. How many hours a day you train. Who your fitness coach is. Next tournament. Keeping yourself healthy. Doing rehab. If you’re not completely dedicated to it and it’s not the only thing in your life you want to do, you can’t make it. And I can’t do that”. Reka uses the example of some of her friends back home who have turned pro and regretted it. “They’re miserable. They couldn’t cope with the life and end up hating it,” she said. She calls the pressure on British tennis stars “crippling” - such is the expectation piled on to the likes of Andy Murray by the public. Zsilinszka and shows far more desire to complete her medical studies after this year instead of turning pro. “I genuinely enjoy my pre-med stuff. I love going to the hospital. For me that’s more of an escape – seeing the patients with their problems and I’m like “wow, that puts it in perspective for me”.
The Men’s first XI currently lead the BUCS Northern 2B division, after victories over York, Sheffield and, most importantly, a battling 1-0 win away to Leeds Met 2s. Back-to-back promotions are on the cards, while a successful cup run is a possibility following a 4-0 win against Teeside 3s at Maiden Castle to seal a spot in the last 32. The second XI are unbeaten thus far in the Northern 4B league.
TENNIS
Both the Men’s and Women’s firsts sit at the summit of the Premier North division, while the LTA has recently granted the university tennis club ‘high performance status’ [read about top tennis performer Reke Zsilinszka in our Athlete of the Week interview on this page].
BASKETBALL
Three wins from three in the Premier North have powered the men’s first team to the top of the table. The women’s firsts are also set for a strong season after three victories from their opening four fixtures in the Premier North.
ROUND-UP
The mixed golf team are top of the Northern 1A division. Women’s volleyball firsts are second in Northern 1A thanks to three wins from four. Women’s fencing are leading the Premier North league after three matches. The university’s racecourse ground, for the second consecutive year, hosted the BUCS CycloCross Championships, an annual event that attracts the best riders from across the country.
Sport
PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd November 2011
Women qualify for FA Cup Durham Wildcats success, pages 18-19
Athlete of the Week Tennis promotion, page 19
Durham host York college James College vs Collingwood, page 17
Women’s Lacrosse top table after convincing comeback
England Lacrosse choose Maiden Castle for training
William Warr
Durham University has been named the official training venue for the England Men’s Lacrosse team for 2011/12. The squad will train there this summer before the world championships in Amsterdam. First Team Captain Richard Topman expressed great excitement about the development. “We are real-
“Ultimately we want to establish Durham as a High Performance centre”. Richard Topman, Mens First Team Captain
Strong willed: Durham stick it out to see off rivals Birmingham in a hard fought match Photograph: Delaney Chambers
Durham
9
Birmingham
7
William Warr
LACROSSE
D
urham University’s Women’s Lacrosse fought an impressive comeback against Birmingham to maintain their unbeaten status in the BUCS premiership. This was the key match of the season as Birmingham were previously joint leaders of the table with Durham. Birmingham had a strong start, somewhat taking Durham by surprise with the Palatinates a worrying 3-1 down within the first 24 minutes. Fortunately on the side-lines, Durham’s tacticians called an early time
out. In this break, first team captain Tash Bolt explained to Palatinate how their Coach Rebecca Greenslade told the squad to “calm down, put your heads in the game and get momentum”. This was clearly an effective de-
“We really took confidence from our comeback in the second half”.
Katie Evans cision as in the next three minutes Durham scored three goals. Lou Lou Rolands squeezed the last of these goals in the remaining 30 seconds of the first half making the score 4-4. Fresher Katie Evans was very pleased with the way that Durham
stepped up their game after the time out ‘We had a shaky start but by the end of the first half we really brought it together’. Starting the second half, the girls were back in the game with an even score line, they were on a level playing field with Birmingham. Now with a momentum behind them, Durham managed to keep a lead for the rest of the match. “We really took our confidence from our comeback in the first half into the second half,” Evans said. With such determination flying around the pitch from both sides, the referees had to intervene on several occasions with yellow cards in order to keep the play fair. ‘The two teams were very much cat and mouse for the majority of the second half,” Bolt explained. But ultimately Durham pulled through, largely thanks to a tactical change in the last ten minutes to keep the ball in defence and then
make some attacking moves out. This pushed the final score line to 9-7. First team player Biddy Briggs put Durham’s win down to “the great determination of all girls to pull together and fight back from being down”.
3
Number of Durham goals in the last 3 minutes
With this game under their belts, the first team are still unbeaten and remain top of the BUCS league. But captain Tash Bolt remains cautious about any early celebrations saying: “The real test is yet to come when we play Birmingham at home in February”. The men’s first team also did well, beating Manchester away 11-2.
ly pleased that England have picked us as their venue. “It’s a reflection of all the hard work that Team Durham has put into the set up and the coaches of the club”. Durham is home to the biggest men’s squad in the country. This weekend they hosted a regional training camp for the England men’s squad, which the national head coach attended. However Topman admits that they still have further ambitions. “Ultimately we want to establish Durham as a High Performance centre, so this is a good stepping stone towards that”. It is hoped that the high-performance status would also strengthen the squad, as more talent would be attracted to the club from the UK and abroad.
Inside Palatinate >> Tennis as a high performance status and a feature on Durham’s first croquet club