Palatinate Issue 738

Debate: do university politics matter?

indigo exclusive: Hugo & Spencer Indigo Cover Story, pages 4&5

Comment, pages 10&11

No. 738 www.palatinate.org.uk

Palatinate Durham’s student newspaper since 1948

Tuesday 28th February 2012 | FREE

Music: We get genre-swapping

Tough guy: Archie Dallas proved his commitment to the cause in his role as DUCK Officer this year Photograph: Quin Murray

Dallas elected DSU President Wins by over 1,800 votes, largest margin of victory in recent years Alexander Bond Nathan Noerr

Archie Dallas has been elected as next year’s DSU President, winning the election by over 1,800 votes.

Dallas garnered 2,554 votes, while Ian Williamson came second with just 690 votes. Dallas managed to gain more votes than the other three candidates combined, securing a margin of victory that has not been recorded in a presidential election in the last five years.

The decisive factor may have been that he had already demonstrated his ability to work in a sabbatical role as DUCK Officer during the 2011-2012 academic year.

Josh Hewson, a student from Grey, was particularly impressed with Dallas, claiming “he’s the only candidate I believed could fulfil the role and deliver on his promises”.

Students were not convinced by Matt Woddhams’s promise to improve the X1 bus service or Aaron Broxham’s ambition to provide a mobile duo service.

Aaron Broxham achieved 501 votes, marginally higher than Matt Woodhams’s 420 votes. Just 100 voters opted to re-open nominations.

Dallas’s strong performance in Palatinate’s poll – he garnered 38% of the votes, compared to Mr Williamson’s 20%, Aaron Broxham’s 29% and Matthew Woodhams’s 3% – suggests that the election result was expected by many.

In response to the result, Dallas told Palatinate: “I am absolutely ecstatic with the election victory. It’s a really important time for the Union and I am incredibly lucky to be able to see it through this period of change”.

When asked why he believed his

campaign was successful, he replied: “I hope that I won because people recognise that there needs to be a big vision for the Union which requires someone who is already familiar with it to take it forward.”

72%

The turnout at Trevelyan College

He was also complimentary of his competitors, saying “Congratulations to all of the other candidates, successful or otherwise.

It was a pleasure to be able to run against such talented people; it was a nice feeling to know that whoever won, there would be a great sabbatical team on the other side.”

The two colleges with the highest percentage turnout were Trevelyan College and St Chad’s College, with 72% and 52% respectively.

Both colleges had candidates running in the elections.

Ustinov that recorded the lowest turnout, with just 8%.

However, the exact figure – 8.43% –marked the college’s highest-ever turnout in DSU elections.

Runner-up Ian Williamson’s reaction to the defeat was “qualis artifex pereo” which were the last words of Nero, and roughly translates as “what an artist dies in me”.

The race for DUCK Officer proved to be much closer than the presidential election, with Carmen O’Loughlin winning by just over 400 votes.

Continued on page 3

Fashion: New editors cover vintage shops in the Indoor Market

Sport: New Maiden Castle facilities hold grand opening

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Editorial

www.palatinate.org.uk

Student democracy is alive This issue of Palatinate is, once more, leading with a story about student democracy and university politics. This time, we are reporting on something far more positive – a record victory, and a rise in turnout (albeit a fairly miniscule one).

What our front page article in the last issue attempted to demonstrate (perhaps not as clearly or as convincingly as we’d like, which we will discuss further later) is that voting and elections at Durham University have a particular significance.

There is no doubt that the results of these votes tell us something about the current crop of students – exactly what it is they are telling us is sometimes harder to discern.

One important conclusion we can draw is that students care about the democratic process, and, at times, believe in it more at the university than in the context of national politics.

The response to last issue’s frontpage story has clearly shown that the conclusions drawn in the article do not apply to many areas of the student body, something we’re not only willing but also happy to admit.

Helpfully, the past week saw the DSU Sabbatical Elections, which serve as both an important measure of student engagement but also as an illustration of exactly what most matters to students, providing useful context for the assertions made in the last issue of Palatinate.

The turnout is up – by .3 %, as our leading article says – but, more importantly, the presidential election was won by a majority not seen in the same elections of the previous five years (and possibly before then; the online records to which we have access do not go beyond 2007).

As we clarified in the online version of the JCR voting article, we chose to examine the figures from JCR votes, excluding those for JCR Presidents or Senior Men. It is this figure that is falling; conversely, turnout for elections of JCR Presidents and Senior Men, and of the DSU’s Sabbatical Officers, is on the rise.

Does this mean, the article speculated, that more students care about who represents their interests in dialogue with the University, and that students are more invested than ever in the services their Union provides?

Possibly. It may just be a reflection of the fact that the winning candidate was extremely well-equipped for the role, boasting a year’s experience at the heart of the DSU and therefore a competence that his rivals struggled to equal.

We’d like to think that the results show that students are more aware of the problems that they want solved, and of the crucial role that their Union can play in doing so. Students seem to be regaining faith in the DSU, after what has been an undeniably difficult few years.

Some light is shed on the role of university politics in students’ lives

in the debate in Comment, on page 14-15. The debate arises mainly as a response to some of the criticism we received over the front page article in the last issue, and which we’d like to address here (only briefly, we promise).

As our tenure as editors continues, we have come to the realisation that it is simply impossible to do absolutely everything right. Or, more accurately, it becomes increasingly difficult to make absolutely everyone happy.

No matter how hard we try, things are bound to go wrong. We have learned that the best we can do is learn from our mistakes, move on, and resolve not to make the same mistakes again. In this case, the most significant lesson we learned was to admit we’re wrong when we are, but to defend ourselves where it is justified.

In light of the complaints regarding our last issue’s front-page story, as we went into it in our online blog, all I’ll say here is that we have apologised to the appropriate people, made sufficient corrections, and now are trying to move on from what mistakes we did (and didn’t) make.

The past two weeks have been a refreshing reminder that student politics are still important to many.

We’re glad to have sparked a debate on such an important issue, and, as ever, we invite anyone who would like to contribute to get in touch.

Delaney Chambers and Hannah Shaddock

Tuesday 28th January 2012 | PALATINATE

28.02.2012 No.738

Contents Palatinate News pages 3-7

News Features page 8-9 Politics pages 10-11

Careers pages 12-13

Comment pages 14-16 Sport pages 17-20

indigo

Edtorial page 2

Features page 3

Cover Story pages 4-5 Food & Drink pages 6-7 Music pages 8-9 Fashion pages 10-11

Books page 12 Stage page 13

Film & TV page 14

Travel page 15

Back page page 16

Palatinate vacancies Editor-in-Chief

Durham Drama Festival A Review of the recent Dulog performance in the Gala Theatre

Blurred Vision Ep.5

The team, bigger and better, return to Durham streets for the Epiphany term gossip

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. To apply, email dsu.marketing@ durham.ac.uk for an application form. Applications are due at 17:00 on Tuesday 6th March, and all applicants are expected to make a fiveminute presentation to the Palatinate editorial board on the evening of the 6th.

Email editor@palatinate.org.uk if you have any questions about the role.

Corrections and clarifications: In issue 737 of Palatinate, the statistic on the front page was incorrectly labelled. The figure of 13% was referring to a 2008 referendum, and not the ‘most recent referendum’ at Van Mildert college. The turnout for the most recent referendum was in fact 50%.

The figure of 96% for a vote at St John’s on a games console was incorrect - the actual turnout was 91%. We also omitted St John’s and St Chad’s from the list of colleges that decided not to become Durham Student Organisations. We apologise for the errors and any offence that resulted.

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 Delaney Chambers Hannah Shaddock editor@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Editors Alexandra Bottomer & Flo Snead deputy.editor@palatinate.org.uk News Editors Alexander Bond & Nathan Noerr news@palatinate.org.uk News Features Editor Chris Murphy news.features@palatinate.org.uk Deputy News Editors Matt Lee, Katie Pavid, & Tim Perry deputy.news@palatinate.org.uk Business Editor Jon Zhu business@palatinate.org.uk Careers Editor Charlotte Seager careers@palatinate.org.uk Politics Editor Hugh Westlake politics@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Politics Editor Francis Still deputy.politics@palatinate.org.uk Profile Editor Jessica Waite profile@palatinate.org.uk Comment Editors Olivia Rudgard & Charlie Taverner comment@palatinate.org.uk Sport Editors Spencer Brown & William Warr sport@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Sport Editors Kate Houghton & Hugh McDowell deputy.sport@palatinate.org.uk Indigo Editor Larry Bartleet 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 Editor Olivia Swash fashion@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Fashion Editors Ella Cole & Sophia Chan Film and Television Editor Ed Owen film@palatinate.org.uk Stage Editors Anna Bailey & Sarah Johnson stage@palatinate.org.uk Music Editors Jess Denham & William Clement music@palatinate.org.uk Books Editor Izzie Bengoechea books@palatinate.org.uk Chief Sub-Editor Kelsey Tollady sub-editing@palatinate.org.uk Section Sub-Editors Alice Melton, Rebecca Lee, Rebecca Paul, Malik Al-Mahrouky & Gemma Neale Web Editors Dori Beeler & Rhiannon Mehta web.editor@palatinate.org.uk Online Editor Mei Leng Yew online.editor@palatinate.org.uk Photography Editor Nicoletta Asciuto photography@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Photography Editors Arthur Dimsdale & Katherine Merchant 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 Publicity Editor Charlie Taverner publicity@palatinate.org.uk

News News Editors: Alexander Bond Nathan Noerr news@palatinate.org.uk News Features Editor: Chris Murphy news.features@palatinate. org.uk

@PalatinateUK Palatinate

PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th February 2012

3 www.palatinate.org.uk

DUS elect new President Elise Trewick elected president with 93 votes Katie Pavid

DSU Election results Continued from the front page

Last week saw the election of the Michaelmas 2012 Durham Union Society President. Two candidates ran for the position, Joseph Lewis of University College and Elise Trewick of St. Cuthbert’s Society.

Polling closed on Tuesday 21st February and the election of Elise Trewick was announced the following day, who won with 93 votes.

Joseph Lewis received 33 votes and Re-Open Nominations received 21.

“I will continue to try and make the Union as transparent as possible” Elise Trewick, DUS President elect

Elise plans to ensure the Union continues to move towards a more open, welcoming and inclusive society, with debates ranging from the War on Terror to Fashion.

She said that she was: “thrilled to be elected and [she] looks forward to showing [the] members just how

Photograph: Durham University

amazing a Michaelmas term at the Union should be”.

During her campaign, Elise outlined further aims for the Union, which “should be accountable to its membership, and [should] see members of Standing Committee elected on Friday nights, so all our members have a say in who is running their Society.

“I will continue to try and make the Union as transparent as possible

with minutes and budgets published on our website.

“I hope to support the Union’s fantastic debating squad in continuing its great performance, as well as the various outreach programmes we run, such as the Second Chance scheme”.

Mr Ben Lewis, the Union’s Returning Officer “thanked all Candidates for running an interesting campaign which didn’t stray outside the rules”.

alongside Christopher Higgins, the University Vice-Chancellor and Charles Johnston from Sport England.

The 6.7 million pound development sees the opening of a new rowing tank near the Main Reception, the only one of its kind in the North of England and one of only three nationwide.

A new fencing hall was also opened, the country’s only world-

class one specific to the sport.

Other developments have seen an extended sports hall with a variety of practice surfaces and bowling machines for cricket training.

Rowing machines, exercise bikes and a performance analysis suite are also new additions as well as three special physiotherapy rooms and a multi-purpose dance studio.

Maiden Castle development opens Tim Perry

Durham University has opened a new sports development that will be used by Olympic athletes, students and the general public.

Hugh Robertson MP, the Sports and Olympics Minister, officially opened the new installation last Tuesday

See Sport, page 17 for full story

Vince Cable’s >> For plans for higher education, see page 6

P

News

For more, visit palatinate.org. uk The facilities were opened by the Sports & Olympics Minister Photograph: Durham University

Runner-up Sally Holt achieved an impressive 1,678 votes to Carmen’s 2,153.

O’Loughlin’s victory was also predicted by Palatinate’s online poll, which indicated that she had 58% of popular support.

However, the closest result of the night was the vote for Societies and Student Development Officer, which Jim Elliott won by a margin of just 39 votes.

The voting had to go through to the second round as neither candidate initially achieved the necessary quota. This left Elliott with 1,616 to Beth Fraser’s 1,577.

Elliot’s key policy is to set up a Societies Committee so that each society can represent their views to the Students’ Union.

39

The margin of victory in the vote for Societies and Student Development Officer In the other election, Jenny James, who ran uncontested, has been confirmed as the new Education and Welfare Officer with 3,244 votes, although 272 voters opted to re-open nominations.

Turnout was up by just 0.3% overall, but the number of voters in the three contested elections were significantly higher this year than in 2011.

However, this may be in part due to an increase in the number of eligible voters, which rose by 2%, from 17,897 in 2011 to 18,328 in 2012.

The average turnout across all colleges was 30.1%, up very slightly on the 2011 average of 29.2%.

This year’s DSU President Mike King said: “The effort from all the candidates was outstanding, showing their commitment to student representation.

“The DSU has made tremendous strides forward over the past year and we’re currently developing a new strategic plan for the next 3-5 years.

“Archie is already heavily involved with this development and we’ll soon be undertaking wider research among the student body to ensure everybody’s voice is heard.”

All of the detailed results are available on the DEVote website, which can be found at www.dur.ac.uk/student.elections/dsu/.

See page 5 for how you can have a say in the DSU’s future.

Additional reporting by Hannah Shaddock

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News

Tuesday 28th February 2012 | PALATINATE

www.palatinate.org.uk

Russell Group hits back at fair access plans New science

forum launches

Stuart Marshfield

The Russell Group, which contains some of the top education institutions in the United Kingdom, has reacted strongly to threats by the head of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) to force universities to meet admissions targets for poorer students or face punishment.

Earlier this month, Professor Les Ebdon, the newly appointed head of the OFFA and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire, criticised the low admissions of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, threatening to withdraw the right of universities to charge £9000 tuition fees if targets were not met.

Ebdon further attacked university admissions by suggesting that one reason for low numbers of poorer students was simply because, at school, applicants had studied the wrong subjects.

Director General of the Russell Group, Dr Wendy Piatt, urged the central authority to consider the real problems within the education system and not to put the blame on university admissions.

20

The number of Universities that make up the Russell Group The Russell Group is made up of twenty leading academic institutions across the country including the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and Warwick.

The group describe themselves as

David O’Farrell

The Russell Group has criticised OFFA’s proposals Photograph: Durham University “committed to academic excellence in teaching and research”, in addition to establishing links to businesses and the public sector.

Piatt stated that the actual reason for low numbers of disadvantaged students was that they simply had not achieved the necessary level of A-level qualifications.

The Russell Group have stated recently that exam results had confirmed that students from low income families were more unlikely to reach the top A-level grades.

Eric Thomas, President of Univer-

“The root of the cause of low admissions is low achievement in A-Levels” Dr Wendy Piatt, Director General of the Russel Group

sities UK, agrees with Dr Piatt and suggests that the root cause of low admissions to top universities from disadvantaged areas is low achieve-

ment in 16 - 18 education.

Dr Piatt went on to say that criticism from the OFFA distracts from the real world problems, and insisted that efforts be put to use in helping Russell Group universities target the young students in deprived areas of the country that are the “hardest to reach”.

Professor Ebdon will take up his post as head of the OFFA later this year following his controversial appointment by Business Secretary Vince Cable.

Klute announces plans for ‘Big Night Out’ Katie Pavid

New Klute is planning a new ‘interactive’ night out Photograph: Delaney Chambers

A new Café Scientifique is being launched this weekend in one of the Durham’s coffee shops where anyone can discuss the latest scientific issues.

At each Café Scientifique, a leading academic from the University will give a short presentation about their current area of research.

This is followed by an opportunity to ask questions and chat about the topic and the latest scientific news.

The event is open to all students, staff and the public. It will run each weekend with a different academic and topic for discussion.

The exact date, venue and topic for the first Café Scientifique is yet to be confirmed, but more details about the launch event can be found by joining the Facebook group and reading the weekly DSU e-mail.

Organised with the help of the University’s Natural Sciences Society, Tim Wiles from the Society is confident the Café Scientifique will be a success.

“It’s great that Durham will have its first regular Café Scientifique.

They are a great way to explore new areas of science and find out about all the latest ‘cutting-edge’ research being carried out by academics at the University and around the world”.

62 Café Scientifiques have been set up around the UK since the first one was held in Leeds in 1998. For more information about them, visit www.cafescientifique.org.uk.

Durham nightclub Klute has introduced a monthly ‘theatrical extravaganza’ party night.

Despite an initial backlash against the club’s redecoration, it has maintained its reputation as one of Durham’s most popular nightclubs and hopes to build on its success.

The club has noted that: “People are going out less frequently in a bid to keep their finances in check, but when they do hit the town, they do so in real style”.

To tap into this growing trend in the student population, Klute has created new, monthly VIP parties called ‘The Big Night Out’.

General Manager Andrew Golding

says: “Everyone has felt the pinch of the recession, so to ensure top nights out are still possible, and to guarantee extraordinary evenings every time, we have created the Big Night Out”.

The club is marketing the nights as “glamorous, exclusive and interactive”, providing “true theatre entertainment in a club setting that is both elegant and full of fun”.

Each month a carnival atmosphere will be created with performers such as fire-eaters and cheerleaders. Themes may include ‘A night at the Circus’, Miami, a UV Party, Festival and Halloween.

Golding continues: “Whether you want to run away to the circus with us, soak up the sun on Miami Beach or join the bunnies for Easter, there’s a real sense of escapism and self-indulgence”.

PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th February 2012

5 www.palatinate.org.uk

NSS security investigated Harriet Line Research has revealed that universities can pretend to be students on the National Student Survey (NSS), corrupting the results.

Students from Felix (Imperial College London’s Student Newspaper) and the Department of Computing (DoC) successfully gained student information from a DoC database in a project to determine whether methods are being used by universities to skew data.

To access the NSS, the student’s institution name, their student number and their day and month of birth, alongside the first initial and first four letters of their surname are required.

Some of this information is provided publicly on social networking sites, such as Facebook.

The security of the survey has been questioned due to the small amount of information needed to log in. False impersonation of students could be conducted, manipulating the results.

Although multiple attempts are allowed on the survey, only the first response is counted towards the final data, so prompt action by universities to answer the survey, before

students could permanently alter the results, could be carried out undetected.

However, there is no evidence that this has occurred, either at Durham University or any other institution.

97%

Student satisfaction rate at Bridgewater Collge in Somerset

The NSS, conducted by market research organisation Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, is important for university rankings and is the most extensive satisfaction survey of its kind.

A Durham University student remarked that “I used league tables and student satisfaction surveys religiously to decide which university

to go to.

“They are fundamental in ensuring the place is right for you, as if the majority of students are happy, then the chances are you will be too”.

Calls for a more rigorous security check have been proposed, yet this could deter students if the process becomes more complicated or time consuming.

However, problems with the NSS are rare, and cases of malpractice are isolated, as in 2008, when Kingston University was reportedly pressurising students to answer dishonestly to manipulate the results.

There is no suggestion that Durham University has ever attempted to manipulate the results of the NSS. The University consistently performs well in the survey, and is currently 13th in the table, with 90% of students satisfied in 2011.

Bridgwater College in Somerset currently tops the satisfaction table, with the highest percentage of content students (97%).

Durham colleges compete to achieve the highest participation in the survey, with contests determining which college has the highest satisfaction rate and the highest survey uptake.

The survey is open to all final-year students and can be completed now at www.thestudentsurvey.com.

News

DSU President’s Column: We need your help Mike King DSU President

Last Friday saw the start of a new direction for Durham Students’ Union, as the Board of Trustees and senior managers met to discuss the organisation’s strategic direction.

DSU President Mike King asks students to express their opinions

The past few years have seen great upheaval for the Union, but after the hard work of officers and staff in recent years to stabilise the Union we are now in a position to look to the future.

Over the next few months I will be involved in writing the strategic plan for the next three years. This process will detail the mission, aims and objectives of the Union and, ultimately, where we see ourselves in three years’ time.

The next step in this process is probably the most important: asking you, our members, what you need and want from your students’ union.

Your responses will be used as the foundations of the strategic plan so

we need as many opinions as possible to gain the greatest understanding of the needs of Durham students.

We also want to ensure as wide a range of students as possible to fill out our initial survey, so as to ensure that we take into consideration all the needs of our diverse membership.

Our survey will go live on Wed 29 February and we ask you all to take part at www.dsu.org.uk. It won’t take long to complete but your opinion is vital to us.

“Your responses will be used as the foundations of a strategic plan” Mike King on the DSU’s University Survey

There is a big difference between what students want and what they need.

We need your feedback to ensure the strategy addresses students’ current and future needs.

To encourage your participation, we’ve got a range of prizes.

Durham Students’ Union is changing. Help us get it right.

Cathedral sleep-out a success Proceeds from the event will help local homeless charity David O’Farrell

Almost 400 students braved freezing February temperatures and spent a chilly night in Durham Cathedral in aid of Moving On Durham, a local charity for the homeless.

The charity works with 16 -25 year olds living in County Durham who face homelessness or housing difficulty and need support to live independently.

Moving On Durham seeks to considerably improve the health and well being of young people so they become less vulnerable and have the opportunity to improve their chances of leading happy and productive lives.

The ultimate vision of Moving On Durham is to completely break the cycle of youth homelessness in the county.

The sleep-in event, organised by DUCK, was held for the first time on Friday 10th February and raised over £11,000 for the charity.

Students began arriving at the cathedral from 9.30pm onwards equipped with sleeping bags, roll matts and plenty of warm clothing.

Sainsbury’s donated tea, coffee

and biscuits, and live buskers provided music until midnight, contributing to the atmosphere of cameraderie.

£11,000

The amount of money raised for local charity Moving on Durham

Several hours of darkness passed until an announcement on the microphone awakened everyone at 6.30am. Tom Arney, who participated, said of the night: “I slept surprisingly well. The cathedral wasn’t as cold as I was expecting, although I was glad of my warm sleeping bag.

It felt quite amazing going off to sleep in the moonlight”. Another participant said: “The whole experience was really good fun, especially listening to the buskers”.

A total of 390 people participated in the event.

Van Mildert College raised the most by donating £1620.20 to Mov-

ing On Durham. Thirty-seven people from the college took part in the fundraising event.

Mike Vasmer, from Mildert, said: “It’s great that so much money has been raised for charity. Doing it really made me realise how awful it must be for the homeless”.

The last time such a large group slept in the cathedral in 1650 when Scottish prisoners captured at the Battle of Dunbar were forced to sleep in the building.

The charity sleep-out was extremely popular, with the historic building nearing full capacity and the sign-up process closing early.

Luckily, the participants had the cathedral for shelter, especially since the sleep-out organiser and newly-elected DUCK officer Carmen O’Loughlin had other plans.

“Initially, I wanted it to be on Palace Green, but there were a couple of health and safety issues - especially given that it could have been -12°C outside,” she said.

The event was a success, and DUCK are hopeful that the sleep-out will run again in conjunction with the cathedral next year.

O’Loughlin added: “If we could make it an annual event, that would be incredible”.

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News

Government makes U-turn on higher education policy David Cameron chooses to stop fines for the early repayment of student debt

Vince Cable’s higher education policy has been shelved Photograph: Duncan Phillips/CASS

Julia Chapman Earlier this week Prime Minister David Cameron made the decision to shelve a proposal to penalise graduates who make payments on their student loans before the agreed repayment deadline.

Currently, graduates are permitted to pay off their debts early without any repercussions.

Under the proposed system, those who cleared their debts within thirty years of graduating would have been charged fines of around 5% of the repayment value.

The system was put forward by Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable as part of ongoing attempts to improve access to higher education amidst rising tuition fees.

Had the new system been approved, it would have been implemented in the coming year, which will see tuition fees increase to as much as £9,000 annually.

Affected students could have been liable to pay thousands of pounds in penalties.

The scrapped system was designed to create greater equality between graduates of varied financial positions, and to help fill gaps left by those unable to pay off their debts.

The plan was axed after advice emerged that those who would most likely make early payments are graduates earning around £18,000 rather

than those with more significant earnings or parental assistance.

Think-tank CentreForum maintains that overpaying is a result of debt aversion, not affluence.

Liam Burns, President of the National Union of Students, expressed concerns that the debt repayment penalties would only confuse students and graduates.

He contends that rather than paying off their debts to the Student Loans Company, students should invest any excess money.

In the last ten years, 225,000 graduates have made early repayments on debt incurred as a result of higher education.

The proposed early debt repayment charges, fostered by the Lib Dems, are understood to have been dropped following negotiations in which Prime Minister Cameron granted approval to Cable to name Professor Les Ebdon the head of the Office for Fair Access (Offa), much to the consternation of Conservative MPs. Professor Ebdon has been criticised for his open attitude towards degrees such as Media Studies and Fashion.

He has also stated that he would consider implementing the “nuclear option” in his position at Offa, whereby he would refuse academic institutions an access agreement requisite for charging tuition fees of over £6,000.

www.palatinate.org.uk

Tuesday 28th February 2012 | PALATINATE

National Union of Students plan protest Joe Mayes The National Union of Students (NUS) has called for a countrywide student walkout from all lectures and seminars on March 14th to protest against government reforms to higher education.

Thousands of students across the UK are expected to participate in the protest, directed at hidden course fees and fears of ‘privatisation’ in universities.

NUS president Liam Burns says the walkout will be a demonstration against the coalition government’s “destructive policies to sell off and privatise our universities and colleges”.

Another student campaigning group, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC), is also organising occupations and town-centre marches for that week, in what promises to be the biggest series of student demonstrations

since November 2010.

Although the government formally dropped its higher education bill last month, which would have made it easier for private colleges to set up new universities, Burns wants students to speak out against potential back-door privatisation in higher education: “The debate around the reforms that David Willetts wants to put in place is so opaque and so technocratic to the general public that no one is questioning them”.

March 14th The date of the walkout called for by the NUS

Burns argues that an example of this privatisation is the growing problem of hidden costs where students are having to pay for things like lab coats, printing and materials, in addition to their tuition fees.

The NUS wants universities to absorb these essential costs and be

completely transparent about them before students apply.

Burns said that “it is becoming very hard to justify why students are having to bear [these] costs … when fees are £9,000”.

However, it is not yet clear how many students in Durham will be joining the walkout.

Daisy-Rose Srblin, a second year History student at Castle, says that students ought to protest because government reforms are “compromising our access to knowledge” and are “completely unacceptable”.

She described the walkout as an opportunity for Durham students to dispel their image as “an idle student body”.

But James McWhinney, a first year Engineering student at Collingwood, said he would not be joining the protest because “it is silly walking out of lectures you have paid for.

“But I do sympathise on the issue of hidden costs”, he said. “It is true that your tuition fee does not cover all of your education”.

PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th February 2012

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News

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Grey College bar is the best in Durham Matthew Lee Grey College bar has been declared the ‘Best University Bar’ according to this year’s ‘Best Bar None’ awards.

The scheme, which has been adopted by over 100 towns and cities across the UK, aims to encourage ‘responsible management and operation of alcohol licensed premises’.

All entrants are judged on the quality of service and surroundings, as well as the responsibility of their management and bar staff.

In Durham alone, the scheme claims significant credit for the drop in violent crime since the inaugural scheme in 2008 as well as a 75% increase in accumulative trade between 2007 and 2011.

Grey College bar has been crowned the winner for 2012.

Grey’s bar manager, Matt Birkett, attributed Grey’s success to “the extensive work we put into training and security as well as a good bar team who follow procedures”.

He also praised the college’s support for ‘Barfest’ which this year raised £4,800 for the bar.

So far, Van Mildert’s bar has been the most successful watering hole

This week at Durham Union Society Nick Freeman

Grey College bar is the ‘best bar none’ Photograph: Nicoletta Asciuto

with three past wins but there are signs that competition is increasing.

A second year Trevelyan student pointed out that “our bar doubles as a dance floor and the drink selection

at Trevs is extensive”.

A Politics student from Mary’s, whose bar has become infamous in recent years, says that “the current bar manager has done a really good

job; it’s had a bit of a revival”.

With bars across Durham improving the quality of their service, the competition is sure to hot up even further in future years.

The past two weeks saw the intellectual heavyweights of US Politics go head-to-head in ‘This House Believes America is No Longer a Model Democracy’.

Professor Iwan Morgan, Deputy Director of the Institute for the Studies of the Americas, opened by criticising money’s influence in Congress.

The following Friday saw The Quilliam Foundation’s Ghaffar Hussain, Dr. Tony Klug, special advisor to the Oxford Research Group, Durham Professor Emma Murphy, Arthur Goodman of Jews for Justice for Palestinians, and journalist Ben White all participating in a heated Forum on ‘Israel and Palestine: War, Peace and the Way Forward’.

On 1st March at 8pm, atheist philosopher Professor A. C. Grayling will explain ‘What’s Good about the Good Book’, following Family Lawyer Marilyn Stowe’s talk on Wednesday at 8pm.

The final of the Inter-Collegiate Debating Cup is on Friday, and the Classic Cocktail Social on Saturday.

8

News Features Matthew Lee and Michelle Newbold investigate one of the DSU’s best loved and most used services

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Tuesday 28th February 2012 | PALATINATE

“Hello, Nightbus?”

H

aving finally got through at the tenth attempt, those comforting Geordie words sound like salvation to the lone student, fresh out of Klute and staggering through the post-quaddy haze towards the DSU. It’s an experience that all too many of us are familiar with, and it is at times like these when we are perhaps the most guilty of taking the Nightbus for granted. After all, it’s always there.

Just dial the number and one of the faithful minibuses will arrive to transport you to a destination of your choice – Klute, North Road, the train station, or, more often than not, home to sleep off that third quaddy.

But what goes on behind the scenes?

And do we really appreciate the vital but challenging service they provide?

The Nightbus began with vehicles leased by the DSU and driven by students, but the early service was by no means efficient. Damage to the vehicles and unreliable attendance by student drivers meant that the buses were frequently unavailable.

The service underwent an overhaul in April 2004, and the Nightbus as we know it is now approaching its eighth birthday.

£0

Amount the Nightbus drivers get paid

A few universities run similar schemes. Students in Oxford can catch a ‘Safety Bus’ to take them home, but their service is still run by student volunteers. In Leeds, a Nightbus charges just fifty pence per trip, but the bus only collects passengers from outside the Students’ Union, and runs to a fixed hourly timetable.

Comparable services are also provided for students at Kingston University and Southampton Solent University, among others. The provision is by no means universal, however, with many UK universities leaving their students to rely on taxis or local public transport when their night finally comes to a conclusion.

Here in Durham the Nightbus en-

One of the Nightbus vehicles pulls up to the Studio dropoff point near the viaduct bridge Photograph: Bente Chen joys considerable DSU support. The average cost of running the Nightbus is £300 a week; expenditure that would be completely unsustainable without the DSU’s willingness to subsidise the service.

Whatever criticisms people may have of the DSU, its investment in the Nightbus has served the student community extremely well. Last year alone, more than ten thousand passengers were transported across Durham City for the meagre sum of a single pound.

One Van Mildert Geography student commented: “it is cheaper than a taxi and much easier to get hold of, especially at the weekends when taxi companies are busy.” Another Mildertian liver-in even went as far as saying: “it’s much cheaper than standard transport and I feel like I can trust the drivers to get me home safely”.

But how much of this money is spent on compensating the drivers for their time and toleration of intoxicated students? Not a penny. All five of the current Nightbus drivers are volunteers.

So what drives a sane person to work until the early hours for free?

One of the weekday drivers had a very simple reason: “all the drivers are family and friends. I started do-

ing it in 2005 as a favour for a brother in-law.”

Of course, family ties may be resilient but are these supplemented by actual enjoyment of the job? The same driver was hesitant, commenting that: “it’s generally a good laugh but some nights are obviously better than others”. It was soon apparent what ‘better than others’ was implying.

“I encourage everyone to say a big thank you for the years of service the Nightbus drivers have given Durham”

Scott Parker, DSU Education and Welfare Officer

“Sometimes students can be quite rude,” he continued. “We’ve definitely had our fair share of abusive passengers in the past, you know, foul language and stuff like that. They’re

often from the same college as well.”

Any attempt to discuss which college he was referring to was met with a knowing smile but no further elaboration.

Most of the student body could probably conjure up a story to prove that the Nightbus is indeed a “good laugh”. A second-year Psychology student recalled: “one time we saw a drunk guy asleep at the back of the bus. When we asked the driver how long he’d been there he said he hadn’t even noticed him! Eventually, we managed to wake him and get him home.”

As for the abusive behaviour, the DSU takes a zero tolerance approach to troublemakers, who often ruin everyone’s journey. It would certainly be unfortunate if volunteers were put off by aggressive behaviour but, so far, this does not seem to be widespread.

Some students do have other worries. One historian commented that she would normally just walk if in a hurry, something that may be down to what another student describes as a “lack of available space” on many buses.

But the driver we interviewed was certainly aware of this weakness. “Sometimes people can get impatient, but they have to understand

that we get really busy. On weekend nights the phone pretty much rings every five seconds. We just get to people as quickly as possible.”

Fortunately, neither impatience nor finance appears to threaten the future of the Nightbus. The DSU has ring-fenced its funding for the foreseeable future, and influential students have shown their support.

Next year’s Education and Welfare Officer Jenny James insists that: “the Nightbus is an incredibly valuable service, and I want to ensure it continues and improves next year.”

Incumbent EWO Scott Parker said: “I encourage everyone to say a big thank you for the years of service they have given Durham”.

For now, at least, the Nightbus drivers are happy with smaller expressions of gratitude: “Most of us wish students would just say please and thank you.”

And although we, the students of Durham, are far from an ungrateful bunch, we should not start taking such an established and important service for granted. Drivers of the Nightbus, we salute you.

P

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PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th February 2012

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The high away end at Newcastle United offers incredible views of the city Photo: Chris Murphy

Breaking from the bubble As the Theatre Royal in Newcastle celebrates its 175th birthday, Palatinate’s writers examine just how much there is to do in the North East

Live music

D

espite all the successful acoustic nights, intimate band venues and open-mic events across Durham, for many fans of live music the Durham scene inevitably begins to feel as small as the city itself.

That is not to say that these events do not draw a crowd, many events staged in small bars and colleges raise considerable worthwhile funds for charity.

However for arena and stadium show enthusiasts there is a requirement to travel further afield for headlining artists - but not as far as one might think at first.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, American blues sensation Joe Bonamassa, Laura Marling, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, to name just a few big names, all playing the Northeast in the next few months, and all at most a single hour away from the ‘bubble’. Who ever said the music scene up here was limited?

Beyond the walls of the ‘bubble’, but not so far as to make a return journey unrealistic, there exists a vibrant music scene; whether you

want the Sunderland Stadium of Light for Springsteen, Snow Patrol at the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena or the smaller theatrical setting of the O2 Academy for White Lies.

“It is clear that there is a wide range of culture available just a short train ride away”

This summer the Stadium of Light will also play host to recent Brit award winners Coldplay and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, bringing global headliners to Durham’s doorstep.

There is no question that an incredible choice of artists and settings is on offer in the northeast for live music supporters.

That said, the concept of ‘live music on a budget’ doesn’t really exist, ticket prices are £30 upwards in most cases and buying drinks will quickly empty your wallet, and it is

hardly an activity that can be undertaken on whim.

For many big name events, if fans are not online at 9am on the opening day of ticket sales the chances are high that they will miss out.

For many students after spending time in Durham, the city itself may begin to feel small and claustrophobic. Even though live music events exist, limited space and the lack of a large venue requires these events to be small.

But there is no need for concern.

The northeast is a hub for music, and Durham students shouldn’t think twice in embracing all that is on offer.

Stuart Marshfield

St James’ Park

Just beyond the Durham bubble lies a little known city, Newcastle, home to the likes of Cheryl Cole, Geordie Shore and, most importantly, St James’ Park, a.k.a Sports Direct Arena.

For those brave enough to venture beyond the streets of Durham, Newcastle United Football Club

News Features provides an excellent day out with matchday tickets from just £11 with student discounts for certain competitions.

Last year this writer witnessed Newcastle’s 4-0 mauling at the hands of Arsenal in the Carling Cup. Both sets of supporters were in full voice, creating a deafening wall of sound inside the stadium.

With the banter flowing from both sets of fans (The ‘Do the Ameobi’ chant to the tune of the ‘hokey cokey’ a particular highlight), it was easy to miss the thrilling action that was taking place on the pitch.

This season particularly is one to watch with Newcastle currently lying in 6th place and within touching distance of those coveted Champions League spaces.

Although not every game will be a goal-packed thriller, the atmosphere, the chants and the chance to see the likes of Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye in action makes this opportunity one not to be missed.

All in all, Newcastle United provides a great day away from the bubble. Great football, great banter and great pies all at a great price.

And for those hardcore Durhamites who are strangers to a normal shaped ball, the chance to see Fabricio ‘Sideshow Bob’ Coloccini is surely worth the admittance price alone.

Sayo Sogbesan

Alnwick Castle

Not too far from Durham lies Alnwick Castle and gardens. A particular highlight is undoubtedly the Treehouse restaurant, which has a huge open (and, rather worryingly, wood-burning) fire, tall wooden chairs, sparkling fairy lights and branches woven around the ceiling and up the walls.

The food was fairly fancy, very tasty and quite expensive (at least compared with Orange Wednesdays at Pizza Express), After filling up on the fine food, one can attemp the suspended wooden walkway around the treehouse, and find the middle of the maze.

The Serpent Garden is great with its cleverly designed stainless steel water features, but the Poison Garden was a bit of an anticlimax. The guide warned us about the dangerous plants inside before unlocking the gates, but it was full of normal looking plants and frankly would take considerable effort for most of them to do any real harm.

The gardens accompany Alnwick Castle itself, which was used as the setting for many of the Harry Potter films, which is open from 31st March. It can take a while to get there from Durham by public transport, but it doesn’t take much planning and is a great option for a day away from the bubble.

Sophie Rothwell

Theatre Royal, Newcastle For most Durham students, a trip to Newcastle is probably in search of Primark, or cheap trebles. However this writer recently went to the Theatre Royal to enjoy their 175th birthday event, and the show certainly didn’t disappoint.

Beginning outside the façade of the theatre and continuing all the way down Newcastle’s famous Grey Street, ‘The Birthday Blaze’ was a spectacle of pyrotechnics, acrobatics, interpretive dance and extravagant costumes, transforming the busy street into a carnival atmosphere for the thousands of visitors who came to celebrate the theatre’s birthday over the weekend.

£10

Face value of a ticket to see Brit award winner Ed Sheeran, at Northumbria University in October 2011

The directors chose to incorporate both a variety of performance mediums and characters to embody the rich history of the theatre, and visitors were treated to excerpts from favorites such as Cinderella, Oliver Twist, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, with the attempts of an acrobat Romeo to reach his trombone playing Juliet on her balcony a particularly entertaining highlight.

Judging by the diversity of the crowd, ranging from young couples to pensioners and families with small children, it would seem that the organisers of ‘The Birthday Blaze’ succeeded in creating a show to demonstrate the universal appeal of theatre and performance. Though freezing weather, large crowds and a lack of microphones in some scenes may have temporarily ruined the magic at times, it would be difficult not to have been impressed by the slick choreography and infectious enthusiasm of the actors involved.

They were lit up by impressive structures of flames that were incorporated into the performances, much to the delight of the many children in the audience.

As an added bonus to this entirely free hour of entertainment, the Theatre Royal were even generous enough to provide the thousands of visitors with a free piece of birthday cake, organized with military precision by Cuth’s student Hannah Andrews, and a very welcome treat on the walk back to the station.

Though sadly it’s not everyday that the city hosts a spectacle such as this, it is quite clear that there is a very wide ange of culture available to Durham students just a short train ride away.

Natasha Tierney

Politics Politics Editor: Hugh Westlake politics@palatinate.org.uk

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@PalatinateUK Palatinate

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PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th February 2012

Cameron and Sarkozy united over defence and nuclear energy Have the two men put Cameron’s EU treaty veto behind them?

David Wynne-Griffith

I

n 1994 Lord Charles Powell wrote an essay for The Spectator that explained the “fundamental incompatibility” between Britain and France, which attempted to define the turbulent relationship between Gallic verve and British pragmatism that has existed throughout the centuries.

Although Powell’s essay may have spoken transient truths about the fault lines that lay between the indomitable Thatcher and her equally stubborn counterpart Francois Mitterrand, today’s Franco-British rivalry takes an altogether different form.

As David Cameron travelled to Paris this week, his main goal was to present his relationship with the hyperactive Nicolas Sarkozy as durable enough to endure any “bump and bounce” as he so lightly put it.

Despite the endless backslapping platitudes in front of the press, there was real political collaboration on the agenda.

In truth, France and Britain need each other more now than at almost any other time in their interwoven histories.

As Washington continues to look eastward, both countries need an ally to back up bold rhetoric over the Middle East.

Furthermore, France is looking to diversify its allies to avoid relegation to Europe’s second lane, and Britain is clinging to France to avoid being cut adrift from Europe entirely.

Despite the tension caused by Cameron’s European veto before Christmas, this week’s summit represented a concerted display of overt solidarity designed to sideline the alliance’s different European outlooks.

The recent tussles in Brussels are still an undoubted sticking point, as

Cameron constantly looks to loosen Europe’s rigidity, while Sarkozy still prefers a full monetary and fiscal union, but it is through foreign affairs that the pairing’s previous miasma has been given its winter sweetener.

£500 billion The size of the recent nuclear energy deal

It is hard to exaggerate the solidifying effect of the Libyan campaign on the alliance. A high-risk intervention paid off politically and a massacre was averted.

It’s corollary lies in Syria, as both men stand united against both Assad himself, and the priorities in international realtions of Russia and China.

The Sarkozy-Cameron relationship provides an apt metaphor for the upside of Franco-British relations. They are never going to be the most harmonious of bed partners; both men have their adamantine tendencies, and just as Cameron must often view Sarkozy as a rather varmint child, Sarkozy must occasionally view Cameron as a rather stubborn and banal toff. However, their shared interests outweigh their idiosyncratic differences.

The recent £500 billion nuclear energy deal, along with the Lancaster House military cooperation agreement (which includes future cooperation on unmanned drone technology) show a marked depth to both countries’ commitment to their alliance.

Cameron took the opportunity to throw his support behind Sarkozy’s re-election campaign. Perhaps he can foresee Sarkozy returning triumphantly to the Elysée Palace, hence his reluctance to meet with François Hollande, Sarkozy’s main opponent in the 2012 French presidential elections.

Relations seem to have improved between the leaders Photograph: The Prime Minister’s Office

How the Coalition’s alcohol plans will affect you:

P

For more, visit palatinate.org. uk

Beer

Cider

-4 pack over 5% abv will have a minimum price of £3.95

-Own brand 2 litre bottle up from £1.20 to £3.75

PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th February 2012

11

News Politics

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Brown earns £1.4 million since No. 10 Elgan Aldermann

Although many health organisations support the proposals; they remain controversial. Cartoon: Jack Hodsoll

Plans to tackle drinking culture Dominic Daly University drinking culture is rife in England and of course Durham is no exception.

With a large student population it is not uncommon to see drunken students stumbling around at 2am after a particularly heavy night on cheap alcohol.

This drinking culture is part of our student experience and helps people to relax and enjoy themselves after a day of lectures, but sometimes people take it too far and end up vomiting, passing out and/or needing to be taken to hospital.

It is this which the government is seeking to combat through introducing a minimum price on alcohol.

David Cameron used his visit to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle this week to give support for a minimum pricing on alcohol and highlight the cost of binge drinking

to the NHS, which is reportedly £2.7 billion a year.

However, a recent government report estimated that the total cost of alcohol to society was significantly higher; estimated between £17 billion and £22 billion annually.

This money is spent on ambulances being called out, people having their stomachs pumped and general injuries to people who have lost consciousness or their ability to control their actions.

In his speech Cameron said “Over the last decade we’ve seen a frightening growth in the number of people, many underage, who think it’s acceptable for people to get drunk in public in ways that wreck lives, spread fear and increase crime.”

The minimum pricing would be based on how many units of alcohol are contained in the drink, so the more alcohol a drink has, the more expensive it would be.

An official study found that set-

ting a minimum price of 30p a unit could prevent 300 deaths a year and a minimum price of 50p could save over 2,000.

£2.7 billion The annual cost to the NHS for treating alcohol-related injuries

In most universities there is a ‘pre-lash’ culture, where, instead of visiting bars and enjoying a few drinks there as in the past, students have instead taken to buying cheap bottles of spirits and getting drunk before they’ve even left their own accommodation.

At the end of last year Academy tried to utilise this by introducing a bring-your-own-drinks system two nights a week, but this has failed to take off.

A government ban on the sale of

alcohol below its cost price will be introduced in April and Cameron has also suggested the use of American style “drunk tanks”, where disorderly drunkards will be put up for the night, avoiding the need to be formally arrested.

But what does the planned pricing system mean for Durham students?

Some clubs in Durham currently sell doubles and triples for what seems like pocket money.

However, with the minimum pricing laws changing, these clubs may have to raise their prices.

However, many supermarket prices will not be affected as currently most branded supermarket promotions and discounts are higher than the minimum price currently proposed by the government.

Some argue that introducing a minimum price will not combat the ‘pre-lash’ culture, and may even worsen if drinks become more expensive in clubs.

Gin

Wine

-Own brand bottle at 37.5% abv up from £6.95 to £11.85

-Cheap bottle of wine up from £3.75 to £4.20

It has recently been reported that Gordon Brown has earned in the region of £1.4million on the international lecture circuit since he was ousted as Prime Minister, supposedly charging up to £75,000 per speech.

He has given speeches to a vast array of companies and sectors in numerous cities across the world.

For his book, Beyond The Crash, Brown received an advance of £78,000, and was also given £7,000 from the Guardian for the serial rights.

This is, however, significantly less than £350,000, the amount Peter Mandelson received for his book The Third Man.

16.6%

Brown’s voting attendence A spokeswoman for Brown firmly reiterated that none of the money has gone to the ex-PM, but rather it has all been donated to various charities, or in some cases to his own charity fund, the Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown.

At this present moment in time, the only earnings Brown is receiving is his Parliamentary wage.

Sources close to Mr Brown have been eager to point out that he forfeited his Prime Ministerial pension.

Others are critical of the amount of time he now spends acting as a Member of Parliament, for which he is still being paid Although, he is the ex-PM his job to represent the people of Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath seems to have taken a back-seat; his voting attendance of just 79 votes out of a possible 476 (16.6%) since the last election seems to support this.

The sums Brown is earning are nothing compared to those earned

by Tony Blair, who earns approximately £12 million every year on the international lecture circuit, once receiving £390,000 for two half hour speeches in the Philippines.

Unlike Blair, Brown is still an MP.

12

Careers Careers Editor: Charlotte Seager

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Tuesday 28th February 2012 | PALATINATE

New ‘Pay your interns’ campaign launches Amy Sandiford-Watts

L

ed by Tanya de Grunwald, the 32-year-old behind careers advice website Graduate Fog, Pay Your Interns is a campaign that names and shames big businesses that take advantage of unpaid interns to ‘cut costs and boost profits’.

Calling unpaid internships ‘the big issue’ for today’s graduates, Pay Your Interns is campaigning for internships which constitute ‘proper work’ to be paid at no less than the National Minimum Wage. Through

£3,500

The winning bid for a week at banking firm Arbuthnot Latham, aunctioned as a prize at a charity event its website and the use of social media it highlights the unfair use of interns by household names such as Tesco, Topshop and Harrods.

So far the campaign has contacted the press offices of nearly 100 brands and asked them to clarify their policies on internships, posting their responses - good and bad - on payyourinterns.com.

Many graduates take it for granted that in order to get a foot in the door of their chosen profession they will spend months working for free as an intern.

The practise has recently been particularly highlighted in the fashion industry - HM Revenue & Customs has created a 12-person taskforce to make spot-checks on fashion businesses where they believe interns are at risk of being exploited, and InternAware.Org recently published an open letter to the British Fashion Council reminding them that ‘the Devil might wear Prada, but there’s no need for him/her to pay nada’.

There is also an increasing trend for graduates to pay for internships.

US website Charity Buzz is currently auctioning a Summer Internship at Balenciaga, expected to go for $5,000.

In the UK, internships have been auctioned at charity events including the Conservatives’ 2011 Black

and White Party, where a week at Arbuthnot Latham private bank went for a winning bid of £3,500.

However, there has been an increasing backlash of interns who want to be paid for the work they do.

Interns Anonymous is a website where interns can post accounts of their experiences.

“You should at least have your travel expenses and lunch paid for”

Posting on the site, a graduate who has completed seven internships without finding paid employment said the unfairness of the internship system ‘makes you want to scream’.

A second year Cuth’s student commented: ‘I did an unpaid internship over the summer but I don’t think I could afford to do one when I graduate. I think you should at least have your travel expenses and lunch paid for.’

The money question: should employers disclose salaries?

Louisa Robinson An increasing number of graduate and entry level jobs are not displaying a salary on their job descriptions, raising concerns over how this may affect choices made my graduates and job seekers.

The law states that salaries must be declared to all new employees in their terms and conditions contract upon commencing employment.

But is this too late and should graduates be fighting for their right to salary disclosure in the job description?

There are a number of reasons why employers choose not to disclose this information before interview.

Firstly, business psychologists and recruitment consultants would argue that employers want to seek the best candidates, and low entry level salary brackets can discourage highly qualified applicants from applying as they believe they merit more, and shouldn’t be starting out at assistant level.

From a commercial point of view, it is not uncommon for salaries not to be disclosed until the firm deal is done, which can leave little room for even the most savvy of graduates to negotiate. It is common practice on most job sites to simply list a ‘competitive salary’, ‘open to negotiation’, or ‘dependent on skills and experience’ in reference to the money question.

Graduates are at the biggest disadvantage when negotiating salaries with employers, as many can’t understand the confusing internal pay scale and benefits system/ Even if graduates see a fantastic start up opportunity, if the salary doesn’t match their expectations, then many would not bother applying in the first place.

“It is common practice on most jobs site to simply list a ‘competitive salary’ or ‘open to negotiation’”

P

For more, visit palatinate.org. uk Angry interns are going online to campaign for fair pay Photograph: Howard Lake

Employers will surely continue to not disclose salaries if it means that they are attracting top class candidates

PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th February 2012 from red brick universities.

Salaries for graduate and entry level positions are usually fixed - only when graduates prove their worth are employers open to offering more flexible options.

Assumed interview etiquette is to focus on how candidates are looking forward to career challenges, working for a reputable company, and how they will grow in the company, and not mention money.

It seems paradoxical that salary is intrinsic to career choices, yet we are not encouraged to discuss this at interview. But can you raise the money question and still make a favourable impression on your potential employers?

After trudging through a plethora of interview handbooks and talking to HR professionals about, here are some suggestions.

It is perfectly reasonable to demand a salary range for the post advertised, as you can politely but fairly link this in with qualifications, references and work skills already acquired and how these will transpose to your new role.

13 www.palatinate.org.uk

Careers

A new report suggests a different way of assessing graduates

Photograph: Durham University

“It seems paradoxical that salary is intrinsic to career choices, yet we are not encouraged to discuss this”

Prior to attending the interview, you should have done your budgeting homework and decided on two crucial figures.

The first figure should concern the minimum salary you will work for, and from industry surveys calculated the average for your chosen area and assigned entry position.

The second figure should be a mid way point for your requirement, and industry standard figure.

The most crucial advice that can be given is that if you are negotiating within a salary range, always make surer that your low figure is always a head up above your ‘real’ average.

Once introducing a figure, you cannot usually raise it, so set the bar high and you can always come down.

Although maintaining a poker face when an incredibly low salary is disclosed may not always be possible, bear in mind that an employer should be willing to compromise on other compensation benefits such as performance related bonuses, longer paid vacation, flex time, profit sharing, professional membership dues, and relocation expenses.

Unfortunately for graduates, the law is on the side of the employers, as there remains no legal requirement for job descriptions to disclose salary details.

Graduates: do you need a 2:1?

The HEAR report offers a more rounded method of assessing students’ abilities Louisa Robinson

F

or many years, the 2:1 degree classification has been the benchmark for securing a coveted place on competitive graduate schemes.

However, professional skills such as resilience, time optimisation and risk-taking can’t all be taught in the classroom.

Vice Chancellor of Leicester University Robert Burgess leads a steering group for HEAR (Higher Education Achievement Report), which found that the 2:1 boundary is a “blunt instrument” method of reducing applications. The report calls for a better method of assessing applicants.

On the one hand, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) don’t possess the HR resources to wade through voluminous CVs and will continue to use the 2.1 golden ticket, as Abigail Morris, employment advisor for the British Chamber of Commerce, explained.

Morris added that businesses are becoming increasingly wary of

qualifications, and out of “6,000 businesses interviewed in a survey of 6,000, only 45% said they were fairly confident of taking on a graduate”.

Today, it is widely acknowledged that a 2.1 degree is becoming a run-of-the-mill qualification,andemployersarequestioining its integrity and sheer value of testing suitability for employment.

“Many critics feel that the 2.1 entry bar should only be a primary tool to reduce the mass volume of applications”

Other than academic criteria, what sets graduates apart is their commitment to pursuing active hobbies, and part-time jobs where transferable skills are often required when entering the real world.

A recent report hosted by the As-

sociation of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), Bernard Hodes Group and Totaljobs.com estimated that around three quarters of large graduate employers still stay faithful to the 2.1 principle, and, “if you include the 2.2, that takes you up to 98% of employers” adds Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive of the HEAR report.

Gilleard seeks to convince employers of taking other criteria into account when finding potential talent for graduate schemes, other than solely academic rigour.

However, Gilleard recognises the fact that employers do have to find tested methods of managing vast numbers of applications - “83 applications per job” - which isn’t exactly regulated shortlisting.

The Guardian’s Careers site recently ran a poll which revealed that around 60% of readers thought employers should stop using the 2:1 to shortlist graduate applications.

Many critics feel that the 2.1 entry bar should only be a primary tool to reduce the mass volume of applications, but that the quality of candidates should be measured in other ways.

The HEAR report compliments the traditional policy of graduate employers to offer candidates an extra lifeline if they fall short of the academic entry requirements.

60%

The approximate percentage of Guardian readers who thought that employers should ditch the 2:1 benchmark However, currently, the report claims, “those with a third class degree don’t stand a chance of getting a job with a large corporate organisation”.

Stephen Isherwood, head of graduate recruitment at Ernst and Young remarks that such companies are “looking for an all-round skill set”, which amounts to hiring 25% of graduates out of 3,000 interviewed.

Despite the findings of this report, graduates can be optimistic. A 2.1 is helpful, but graduate employers also value the experience and skills gained from non-academic activities throughout their university career.

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The Debate Do student politics really matter?

We may have had the DSU elections last week, but are Durham students genuinely interested in the politics of college JCRs and the DSU? YES: Dan Hunt

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henever we vote in elections, attend a JCR meeting, or participate in the student community as a member of a sports team, musical group, political interest, community outreach project, welfare committee, or indeed by reading this newspaper, we all engage in the issues that matter to students. Students are known for their willingness to engage in political issues at University, and Durham is no exception.

212

Current number of University-wide societies

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Politics at JCR level has never been stronger. Van Mildert’s recent Presidential elections saw a record turnout of 71% with three candidates running, and mandated a well attended presidential debate as well as hustings. JCR Meetings are packed to the rafters, College Outreach Schemes reach throughout County Durham, and participation is not forced, but encouraged.

Student engagement is increasing everywhere. In St. Aidan’s, seven fresher candidates are contesting the position of Senior DSU Rep. Trevelyan have sustained unprecedented turnout in the DSU Sabbatical elections over the past three years.

I challenge anyone who criticises student involvement to walk through the front doors of any of these colleges into the garish 1960’s architecture and leave feeling the same way.

The packed halls of the DUS debating chamber are testament to consistently high levels of engagement in the world of politics. Students are constantly expressing political engagement, be it with a JCR, College, the University or the community of County Durham.

The apathy of students is not as widespread as critics suggest. Much of this criticism is directed towards the Student Union; yet we must remember that this is the same Union whose actions caused national notoriety over disaffiliation from the NUS, and who channelled student discontent into the postponement of 38 week lets last year, two examples of Durham students uniting to preserve their rights.

Significant student engagement can be seen in last year’s AV referendum and in the fees protests in London that dominated national news.

Sadly, such events are often manipulated to characterise student politics as violent and one-dimensional, yet protest is a form of political expression. Student politics dictates everything we do at university and beyond.

Having spent the past year as a Senior DSU Representative for my college, what struck me is that people care. Working with the Societies and Development Officer, it became clear to me that student engagement in politics should not be confined to the traditional forums of Parliament and the ballot box.

The Student Union currently boasts 212 Clubs and Societies. The prevalence of humanitarian groups such as the newly created and extremely popular UNICEF society, as well as youth political parties is testament to wider student engagement with politics and allows for the expression of personal interests in social issues.

I feel incredibly privileged to be a member of my JCR, and I know countless more who would say the

Last issue, Palatinate reported a worrying decline in the turnout same. We should not assess the strength of student politics based on statistical turnout of JCR Meetings, especially those which have been misinterpreted. Indeed, if the backlash from the recent Palatinate article on JCR participation is anything to go by, involvement in student politics is seen by many as a duty and a genuine privilege.

“

I feel incredibly privileged to be a member of my JCR

”

Whether you notice it or not, student engagement matters to all of us.

University life is enriched by the people who are willing to get involved in student activity.

Students who participate in political activity are not a minority, but consist of every individual who engages in their JCR, university and beyond; their actions matter, and they should be celebrated.

NO: Chris McQuillan

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here’s a degree of irony that, after having served a year as JCR Chair at Grey College and running unsuccessfully for the JCR Presidency, I find myself writing that student politics don’t really matter. I was very involved in college politics, trying to make a long-term difference and crafting a better JCR for future students.

Soon, though, new people filled every exec position. I passed into the infrequently read annals of JCR history swiftly and quietly.

Friends graduated and entered the world of work; I stayed to medieval history. Visiting friends in London and elsewhere has shown me that there is much, much more to life than the world of student politics.

Student politics can certainly be enthralling. The thrill of winning an election process and becoming part of the coveted Exec is certainly an admirable achievement, but it is an achievement on a personal level.

Nothing is achieved by simply being there. And even to those who do devote themselves to the position and organise thrilling bops, re-write constitutions and shore up JCR finances, they are sadly achievements that few appreciate or even notice.

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Comment

Dear Durham...

This week, James Murray divulges his qualms about student charity

Dear Durham,

in some student political elections. Does no-one care anymore? Illustration: Emma Robinson To the majority of students in Durham, what is important is getting a degree, having good mates and some good nights out. The outrage that followed KluteGate exemplifies this.

I can’t see the same scenes, reminiscent of Kim Jong-Il’s passing, ocurring if the DSU changes its logo.

I by no means wish to denigrate those in student politics. Many of them care deeply, and dedicate great amounts of time for the benefit of others. However, with the University attempting to impose greater control on JCR and DSU autonomy, there’s a limited impact anyone can really have in the grand scheme of things.

As students, we are under restrictions from the university when it comes to finances, events and protecting the long term interests of our fellow students (see the 38-week let campaign: successful at first, but simply delayed until the older students had left).

“Student memory” is a key problem with student politics. Every three or four years, the memory of what has come before passes into myth and legend.

As a result, the long-term impact of any individual’s impact on student politics can be very short lived. All it takes is a few mediocre successors to a great JCR President for everyone to forget how things really should be done.

I reiterate; the work done by those in student politics can be admirable.

I’ve spoken to countless elected of-

ficers in colleges and at the DSU who care passionately about what they do and what they want to achieve. As JCR Chair, I myself took part in a redraft of the Grey College JCR Constitution so that we could register as a charity and retain a semblance of independence from the University.

At the time, it seemed that the future of everyone in Grey hinged on us

“

There is much more to life than student politics

”

making these decisions.

But in the end, even if we hadn’t registered as a charity, the lives of the majority of future students would probably not have changed significantly. The University will still, eventually, be able to make the changes it wants as it has significantly more financial backing and might than students ever will. As student politicians, we merely fought back the tide for a little while. Admirable? Yes.

An effective use of time? Well, that’s more questionable.

The primary benefit of student politics is the change it makes to the individual. The confidence, the transferrable skills of team-work, timemanagement are opportunities that few other positions at university can offer. In that regard, student politics helps us to grow as people.

But, I would argue, similar skills can be attained through sports teams, theatre or employment. Should student politics be treated as the Holy Grail of Importance?

If student politics really mattered, we would be able to make real, longterm differences to the lives of students here.

Sadly, there is no guarantee we can. Our dedications would surely be better spent in a career, or a workplace, etching out a long-term future for ourselves and our future families.

Student politics may be admirable, but it must be kept in perspective: a short-term impact by people in shortterm roles upon a student body who, within five years, will have forgotten their name.

If you keep this Palatinate then look back in two decades and ask yourself: were these issues ever really that important? Did they really matter in the end?

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Please stop trying to do charity. It is with great despair that I encounter an ever increasing number of people trying to ‘do good’. Whether it be raising money to help kids in Nepal ( because one month of access to a Durham undergraduate will do anybody a world of good), or any number of the other conceited schemes which DUCK dreams up to justify extravagant sport regimes or road trips to the middle of nowhere.

Apart from the fact that such charity is compromised by the obvious fact that it fails to acknowledge the causal relationship between our privilege and world poverty, it encourages us to happily forget the problems while it assures us that ‘we’ve done our bit’.

Such ‘charity’ is the ideological equivalent of saying ‘don’t worry about all those big, complicated problems in the world, just run around like an idiot and make sure you donate some money and they’ll all go away - you can carry on the way you were.’

Of course they won’t. Throwing yourself in a fire, or hitchhiking to Greece (or even worse taking a plane to Sydney) will not make the world a better place - regardless of how much money is raised.

And, no, neither is it better than nothing. If you did nothing you might actually feel like making a meaningful change the a way of life which cultivates these problems - as it is it makes everybody feel very proud of themselves sitting around drinking coffee in Yum. It is estimated that for every dollar donated in charity to the African continent, ten leave via a system of inter-

national trade which is weighted in favour of the rich. A system driven by unscrupulous consumer demand.

If you are not questioning the ethics of what you buy then don’t ask me to put money in your bucket.

Perhaps if we spent less time trying to justify trips to Nepal, or skydiving we would start to question the impact of what the everyday choices we make have on the world.

As it is charity encourages us to focus on anything but our selfish actions which perpetuate poverty. It is a system which relieves our consciences and allows us to continue on our way. It is, in essence, a vital part preserving the very problems it claims to be rectifying.

The status quo (and in this case the poverty it entails) is preserved by everyday thoughtlessness, and there is nothing more thoughtless than the ridiculous schemes which DUCK dreams up. God forbid they tried to raise awareness instead of encouraging us to ‘getus lashedus forus charityus’ as the DUCK ball motto read last year.

So please stop asking me to buy a piece of mind, it is something you have to work for.

Why not use your time usefully to work out which mobile phone companies don’t use child mined rare earth metals from the Congo and then tell me not to buy my phone from them or something; I don’t know.

Yours sincerely,

James Murray

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Travelling the world for charity Photo: Durham University

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We must help Durham’s economy boom The city focuses much of its energy on students, but we are very fickle consumers Charlie Taverner

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e Durham students are a fortunate bunch. After studying at a top-rated institution in beautiful, historic Durham for just three or four years, the majority of us – if the statistics are to be believed – enter well paid and secure employment in the south, predominantly London.

But Durham’s native population don’t just pack up and leave. The 97,900 people that live in the greater area surrounding Durham City rely on a thriving economy in order to make a comfortable living. The sustainability of Durham’s economy, which contains so dangerous imbalances, rarely crosses our minds as we go about our short terms here.

Visible symbols of Durham’s danger can be seen throughout the city.

There is a regular turnover of businesses in shopping locations, with North Road and Claypath, particularly full of unused shop fronts, the saddest examples of this trend. The most common outlets are unproductive

charity shops. Durham possesses the widest range - from British Heart Foundation to Scope - in the closest proximity I’ve ever seen.

We have a wonderful Indoor Market manned by independent traders who could fulfil almost all of our shopping needs if we chose to regularly frequent theirs. Yet corporate giant Tesco remains by far the busiest shopping destination.

If you’ve had the pleasure of staying in Durham outside of the 28 official weeks of term time, then you’ll realise how devoid of energy the city feels. For nearly half the year, the city loses the financial boost the over 8,000 relatively affluent students provide and feels like a moribund backwater.

It certainly seems that the city relies heavily upon the large student population. This isn’t a controversial point at all and most Durham businessmen would certainly agree. As would the hairdresser at the Mint on Claypath who urged me to take dozens of business cards back with me to hopefully bring student trade to her boutique.

It isn’t a controversial point but it is an extremely pertinent one. To expand and prosper it has to lose its reliance on students. After all, we

are an odd set of consumers. The Durham stereotype may be a rich, privately educated southerner liberally spraying their cash but it doesn’t mean we are the best consumers for a local economy.

Photo: Durham Markets Our rent goes either straight back to the University if we live in, or to a handful of landlords and estate agents if we live out. The majority of our weekly spend probably goes into nightclubs, bars and pubs. Students don’t want to shop ethically or sustainably, we just want cheap food and pay little heed to its provenance.

Furthermore, the city tries desperately to cater to the students’ needs.

From restaurants with inexpensive deals on specific days, to bars squeezing their profit margins with disgustingly low alcohol prices, to innovative businesses like the fish foot spa which works as a post-exams gimmick but then is entirely redundant, these aren’t the ingredients for an economic boom.

What can be done about it?

There’s no way I can suggest a comprehensive council strategy when it comes to building up Durham’s economic base.

But students need to be more aware of the economic maladies afflicting the Durham economy. We’re so focused on our degrees, our sport, our social lives and then landing that dream job down south after graduation, that we forget our duty as citizens to engage in our northern home, even if it is a temporary one.

That means supporting civic events such as the regular markets and festivals like Lumiere last term.

That means browsing the indoor market or maybe choosing to peruse the butcher and greengrocer’s wares rather than taking the easy route and popping to Tesco. That means taking local politics seriously and actually

having a read of that pamphlet the prospective councillor or MP shoves through your front door.

It might cost you a little bit of time and a little bit more money, but this is negligible when you think of the impact our collective efforts might have. If you think how important the students are to Durham, then just think how influential our potential changes could be.

After we leave, Durham will remain in our minds as that quaint medieval idyll that gave us such great memories. But the problem is that Durham doesn’t just stand still, it needs to develop and prosper in order to continue to be the wonderful place that we know and love.

If we value our second home, then it is our duty to not just bemoan the sad decline in parts of Durham but change our behaviour and be more aware of the problems. If we don’t, that cherished memory of our time here will simply end up as a sorry figment of our imaginations.

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When standing up for beliefs just goes too far Recent debates over equality of religion and secularism are riddled with hyperbole Olivia Rudgard

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ith impeccable timing, a classic British political debate over faith, secularism and equal rights erupted just in time for Durham’s Reason Week.

Perhaps politicians were looking to provide some inflammatory headlines in the absence of any real news bar the odd opportunity to point and laugh at the current Republican effort to present the worst in American bigotry, but all they have succeeded in doing is making themselves look very silly.

Richard Dawkins called religious people stupid, Baroness Warsi pointed the finger at ‘militant atheism’, and David Cameron has tried to reiterate that Britain is a Christian Country without offending anyone. Even the Queen has been wheeled out to claim in her capacity as Defender of (the) Faith that the church is there to protect freedom of religion.

Everyone got very overexcited about an ex-council minister in Bid-

eford who claimed that his human rights were imperilled by his fellow councillors’ pre-meeting prayers.

The High Court ban on worship at council meetings in response to this was then overturned by a ‘fasttracked’ law, to the relief of the religious and right wing.

“

Dawkins has been reliably boorish and pompous

”

The only thing that everyone in this debate really has in common is their completely disproportionate rhetoric. Richard Dawkins has been reliably boorish and pompous. Because he is so smug, everyone (even some atheists) were delighted when

he failed to recite the full title of Darwin’s Origin of the Species when challenged to by the Rev Giles Fraser.

This was hilarious, especially when he reacted by saying ‘Oh God’, but its significance has been massively overstated by the religious camp, who seem to have failed to understand that the Origin of the Species is not a religious text which atheists must learn by rote and blindly follow. However, his purpose in being involved in the debate in the first place was similarly ridiculous; he is seeking to prove that Christians who don’t know much about Christianity are not really Christians at all. Trying to tell other people what they are whilst ignoring how they choose to define themselves is obnoxious and patronising on a level only Dawkins can manage.

However, Baroness Warsi, in accusing secularists of totalitarianism, is also way wide of the mark. She seems to have forgotten that she, as a religious person, is perfectly free to openly practise her faith and hold an important position in government, and that she made her speech to the Pope, having been flown to Rome at governmental expense. Our head of state, Prime Minister and half of the House of Lords are practising Chris-

tians. Religious rights are not under threat in this country, and comparing Britain to Stalinist Russia is borderline offensive; imagine if she had compared it to Nazi Germany.

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Our society is clearly not skewed against religion

”

What is under threat is religious privilege to be homophobic, sexist and exclusionary. Some of the more unpleasant reactions to this religious debate have trumpeted the sanctity of marriage and its apparent threat from the ‘gay agenda’. A petition developed by the Coalition for Marriage implores the public ‘Don’t Play Politics with Marriage’, and the Lord

Carey has written an extremely reactionary article in the Daily Mail arguing that gay marriage would ‘jeopardise the stability of our country’. A recent spate of failed religious freedom cases, including that of Peter and Hazelmary Bull, the Christians who refused to allow a gay couple to stay at their bed and breakfast, have been taken as evidence that society is ‘skewed against religion’. This claim is plainly rubbish.

The atheist opposition to ideas like this does not seek to control religion or limit religious peoples’ freedom of expression, but to protect the equal rights of a large portion of our society. Religious people are free to practise their faith in churches, mosques, temples and synagogues throughout the country. What they are not free to do is limit the freedoms of others because of their beliefs. Nor is Richard Dawkins justified in attempting to challenge the right of Christians to define themselves as Christians.

Both sides of the debate succeeded only in revealing their dogmatic, incendiary sides. I would blame neither humanists nor religious people if this week they were more than a little embarrassed at the behaviour of their representatives.

Sport Sport Editors: Spencer Brown William Warr

sport@palatinate.org.uk

@PalatinateUK Palatinate

PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th February 2012

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Sport

A Maiden voyage for new and improved sports facility Maiden Castle’s £6.7 million revamp is officially opened by the Minister for Sport Hugh McDowell

The long-overdue opening of the new facilities in Durham University’s Graham Sports Centre at Maiden Castle took place last week, on Tuesday 21st February.

The Conservative Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson, came from London to inspect the impressive developments and unveil a plaque to mark the occasion.

In total the investment is worth £6.7 million, and it follows the opening of the £5.5 million sports centre at Stockton in 2010.

“These developments will help to bring the spirit and inspiration of the Olympics to the North East” Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport

Peter Warburton’s often-cited mantra whilst he was Director of Sport for Team Durham was “investment in people”, and accordingly he funded the employment of full time coaching staff rather than developing the somewhat outmoded 60’s facilities at the Maiden Castle site.

However, ex-England international and Durham Head Coach for Cricket, Graeme Fowler, pointed out that the proper facilities are a crucial

Hugh Robertson admired the new indoor rowing tank Photograph: North - News and Pictures

part of training athletes.

“You do need the facilities for people to operate within”.

They include an open plan canteen/foyer area, a performance analysis suite so athletes can monitor and improve their technique, three dedicated physiotherapy treatment rooms, a multi-purpose dance studio and x-bike training room, a row-

the page for >> Turn a report on rugby clash with Cardiff

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For more, visit palatinate.org. uk The new facilities in use Photograph: North - News and Pictures

ing ‘ergo’ gallery housing 28 stations and a new boat house for the University Boat Club.

However, the centrepiece of the day was the £1 million indoor rowing tank, one of only three in the United Kingdom, which simulates the movement and feel of a boat through water and allows hands-on coaching in all weather.

Such developments have been made possible through a munificent rowing alumni and the backing of a partnership with British Rowing.

If the funding were not predominantly given up to rowing, the likelihood is that it would not have been given at all.

Another highlight of the new facilities is the world-class standard fencing-specific facility, the only one of its kind in the country, which includes wheelchair-fencing frames that were being demonstrated by Paralympic hopeful, Gemma Collins.

The Minister for Sport’s emphasis in his speech was that these developments would bring the spirit and inspiration of the Olympics to the communities of the North East of England.

He stated, “You can somehow, if you are in this part of the World, feel a long way away from the Olympic developments - you emphatically shouldn’t”.

Pointing to the facilities around him in the new foyer at Maiden Castle, he recognised that it was “efforts like these” that make the crucial differences.

These “small differences” - O.1 of a second, or half an inch - that have a massive effect for elite athletes.

But also the hope is that the exceptional achievements of elite athletes and additionally the exceptional facilities now featured at Maiden Castle, will serve to enthuse athletes at the university to get involved in sport.

Palatinate Sport If you want your club to feature in a future issue of Palatinate, email us at sport@palatinate.org.uk

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Tuesday 28th February 2012 | PALATINATE

‘Invincibles’ fend off Cardiff Rugby team one game away from Twickenham after reaching BUCS semi-finals James Hallam

Durham University’s 1st XV secured a semi-final spot in the British Universities Cup with a hard fought and physically demanding quarterfinal victory against Cardiff.

David Haigh scored the only try of the match in spectacular style with Mike Ward soundly kicking the conversion and adding a penalty to give Durham their 10 points.

10 - 6

The final score in Durham’s favour

Current British University champions Durham went into the match as favourites, as they are presently comfortably sitting at the top of the Northern Premiership points table.

Cardiff were tough opponents with a strong record having produced an exceptionally strong performance to beat Exeter 22-12 in the previous round. Durham were right to be take the threat Cardiff posed seriously and to be wary of the strength of their adversaries.

The score was extremely close.

Boh teams battled hard until the end with a resilient Cardiff spending the final 10 minutes of the game dominating play in the Durham half, desperately looking for the winning try.

Durham’s defence held on steadfastly to secure the win.

Durham started very strongly stretching the Cardiff defence from kick off.

“Durham failed to find that one pass that would put their opponents out of reach”

However, Durham often failed to convert this constant pressure to points and an infringement at the break down meant that Cardiff fly-half Cameron Pimlo deservedly scored the first points of the match to put Cardiff in the ascendancy.

This lead however, was short-lived as a half break from Tom Shiel saw Mike Ward offload to winger David Haigh who confidently smashed aside three would-be Cardiff tacklers to score for the Palatinates.

Mike Ward converted and further offensive pressure gave Ward the opportunity to stretch the Durham lead to 10-3.

Durham remained strong and confident, spending the rest of the half dominating opposition territory.

A second chance came when great offloading and support from fresher Ollie McCollum was sadly not rewarded as the ball was unfortunately fumbled over the line.

Durham again began very positively at the start of the second half with a series of pick and drives ending with Josh Beaumont being held up over the line.

Simon Hammersley particularly showed great pace in attack from full-back and broke the line several times.

As time grew on however, Durham failed to find that one pass that would seal the match and destroy Cardiff’s hopes of a heroic come-back. Durham seemed to lose attack and direction as the match drew to a close.

“It was then that the physicality of the match was apparent”

Cardiff, however, sensing an upset, grew in confidence and spent the final fifteen minutes battling in the Durham half to try and claw back points. Durham’s defence looked stretched at this point, and it was an uncomfortable few minutes for fans of the Palatinates as their lead was far from guaranteed.

An earlier penalty had meant that the score now stood at a precarious 10-6 and Cardiff were now desperately looking for a try of their own with Durham seeming permanently on the defensive.

It was at this late stage that the physicality of the match became apparent with big hits, cheap shots and yellow cards. Each team sensed that the match could easily go either way.

Key turnovers from Harrison Collins and Josh Beaumont, a stolen lineout, and a penalty from the scrum meant that ultimately Cardiff failed to convert any of the attacking pressure they had shown towards the end of the second half.

Durham held onto their lead and ended the match with strong drives from the forwards before scrum-half Andrew McCulla carried the ball into touch to bring the match to an end, sealing the winning score for a triumphant Durham after a hard fought match against worthy opponents.

Breaking free: Cardiff’s grip on the game was eventually loosened Photographs: Elis Wilkins

PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th February 2012

19 www.palatinate.org.uk

Athlete of the Week: Callum McBrierty Top Durham University Boats Club (DUBC) athlete tells Palatinate about his rowing career and altitude training camp in the Spanish mountains

Sport Durham surge to title triumph Spencer Brown

William Warr

Callum McBrierty It is 8:30 in the morning. Most Durham students have not yet awakened.

Callum McBrierty and the rest of Durham University Boat Club have already been training on the Wear since 6:30a.m.

This is not a one-off training session, but a daily routine for the university rowers.

The idea of training through a Durham winter with the sweat in your hair freezing would sound like hell to most people, but McBrierty reminded Palatinate “I am Scottish, you know”.

McBrierty started rowing at the age of twelve. “A friend at school told me I looked big, and that I should give rowing a try”.

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The minimum number of times the squad train per week

For the next six years, Callum rowed for his school, George Watson College, in his hometown of Edinburgh.

From then on he has enjoyed significant success. In 2009, at the age of 16, he gained his first international vest for the GB juniors.

In 2010 he won a silver medal in the junior coxless four, finishing second behind Romania. (“They were huge,” he added.)

Callum is currently participating in trials for the GB U23 team and racing in Durham’s first eight.

However, this success has not come easily.

“I had a horrendous time in first year dealing with the academic side of things, and ended up having a couple of resit exams at the end of the year.

“This meant I had to withdraw myself from trials and knuckle down with work. Due to that massive setback, I have constantly stayed on top of work this year and completely changed my attitude. As a result I am achieving what I want”.

He believes it is extremely important to constantly remain focused on both work and sport: “It’s a very delicate balance but the two go hand in hand. It is very important to stay on top of them both”.

He and the other DUBC athletes

Stephen Jones, Callum McBrierty and Francis Highton Photograph: Jo Fitzsimons

can train up to fourteen times per week (2-3 times per day) with one day off for rest and recovery.

Ultimately, Callum wants to be in the coxless four in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, “that’s the dream”, he said grinning.

With the GB U23 team they are already thinking about this prospect and have just sent him on a high altitude training camp.

Training at 2882m

Three Durham Athletes (Stu Innes, Will Fletcher and Callum McBrierty) were selected to go on GB rowing’s U23 camp to the Sierra Nevadas in Grenada, Spain, in January.

The camp is ten days of exclusive land-based training. McBrierty said of the experience, “It’s a strange rowing camp as we never actually

step in a boat!”

Training at altitude is a way of developing athletes’ aerobic systems to make them as efficient as possible.

The lack of oxygen at the 2882m land-training facility forces athletes’ bodies to adapt to the conditions by producing more red blood cells, as well as increasing the haemoglobin levels in existing blood cells.

At the camp, athletes were required to do four training sessions per day.

“We could cover up to 40km on the [rowing machine] every day”.

Such intense exercise required a huge food intake, with athletes recommended to eat over 6,000 calories per day (nearly three times the recommended daily allowance).

McBrierty took full advantage of this. “I had three bowls of cereal for my first breakfast and then a full English for my second… as well as another bowl of cereal”.

In the clouds: Will Fletcher at 2882m Photograph: GB Rowing

However, it was very easy for athletes to overstep the boundary and train too hard.

McBrierty explained that “it is very easy to train too hard in one session and become fatigued”.

This leads to a concept called ‘over training’, which is when the volume and intensity of exercise of an athlete exceeds their recovery capacity.

“It is very easy to train too hard in one session”

Callum McBrierty, on the GB training camp “The idea of training,” McBrierty explained, “is to break down your muscle fibres in your body, because when they rebuild themselves, they will become stronger.

“But if you train too hard and break your body down too much, your body will be too fatigued to be able to rebuild itself effectively”.

To prevent this from happening, athletes at the camp were constantly monitored by taking blood samples when they were training, to check the levels of lactic acid (a measure of the intensity of the exercise) were not too high.

Asked if all this effort was worth it, McBrierty replied that it is early training that brings results in later races.

“Whilst the medals are handed over in the summer time, they are generally decided over tough winter training sessions”.

FOOTBALL The University’s football team will play at their highest-ever level next year after securing their second promotion in two seasons.

A typically comprehensive 3-0 win against Sheffield 1sts on Wednesday confirmed Durham as league champions of Northern 2B, sealing their promotion to Northern 1A in the process.

The victory means Durham now enjoy an unassailable ninepoint gap at the top of the table, and stretches their record in the league to eight wins from eight.

The season began with a trip to York, where the team battled back from falling behind within the first ten minutes, to win 2-1.

Since letting in that early goal, Durham have gone well over 700 minutes in the league without conceding in open play.

Sheffield were then dispatched 4-0 on the rubber crumb in the second game, before a heroic defensive effort away at Leeds Met meant a single goal was enough for three crucial points.

Comfortable wins over Leeds and Hull followed before Christmas to leave Durham in the driving seat over the festive break.

York were the first visitors of 2012, and a commanding 3-0 victory meant Durham were well and truly in control of the league.

However, a dangerous Leeds Met side were next up, and with just ten minutes left the West Yorkshire side led thanks to a first-half penalty.

Durham’s sustained pressure finally reaped rewards when an equaliser from Mike Horrocks was followed by a stunning Tom Spurling winner.

It was the moment when promotion was effectively sealed, and the battling fightback typified the team’s winning attitude that has been present all year.

Sheffield were now all that stood in the way of back-to-back promotions, and in terrible conditions Durham kept their customary clean sheet in a dominant 3-0 triumph.

Club Captain Chris Musgrave commented on the performance.

“I am extremely proud - winning the league is no easy task and is testament to the hard work that everyone in the entire club has put in”.

More success could be on the horizon for the club as the second team are storming to promotion too following Wednesday’s dramatic 2-1 victory over nearest rivals Sheffield 2nds.

Sport

Athlete of the week

PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th February 2012

DUBC’s Callum McBrierty, page 19

Maiden Castle unveiling New facilities open for use, page 17

‘Invincibles’ through to semis

Rugby reach last four of BUCS, page 18

League winners: DUAFC

Inside Sport >> Turn to page 19 to read about the First team’s historic promotion

Rowers bring home the medals from BUCS Head William Warr

The annual BUCS Head was held in Peterborough the weekend before last.

The conditions were cold and windy, but this did not hinder performance - Durham won 132 BUCS points over the weekend.

All crews were required to race over a 4.5 km course in a ‘head race’, a time-trial format in which crews set off at 30-second intervals.

The fresher squads were particularly impressive, winning gold in both the men’s beginner eights and women’s coxed fours.

This achievement is particularly noteworthy as this squad is made up

of complete novices, who all started rowing last term when they came to Durham.

132

Number of BUCS points earned in the Head Fresher coach Matt Evans said, “I am really happy with how the squad has developed, and these results are a reflection of all the hard work they have put in with the other coach [Debbie Connolly]”.

The senior squad also had a strong presence on the podium. The men won the Championship coxless

four, came second in the Championship coxed four, Championship eight and Intermediate eight, and earned bronze medals in the Intermediate coxed four and lightweight quad.

Lightweight Lewis Weaver was pleased with his bronze in the lightweight quad, but ambitious about future races.

“We were really happy with the result and see it as a stepping stone to greater things at the Regatta”.

The women won gold in the Championship coxless four and Intermediate eight, silver in the Championship eight, bronze in the Championship coxed and coxless fours, and bronze in the Lightweight four.

Club president Franz Imfield said that the event was “a good weekend for development for the summer sea-

son, but where Durham didn’t win, the tables need to be turned for the Regatta”.

“A stepping stone to greater things at the regatta” Lewis Weaver, on his result at BUCS Head

Senior coach Wade Hall-Craggs said that he thought the club achieved “a good set of results across the board. The golds from the freshers are particularly pleasing”.

However he was keen to highlight

the high standard of entrants to the race.

“For the seniors the golds were encouraging but the event is getting more competitive. Our second eights would have done well in their championship events.

“The overall performance of the club shows the training is working but we will need to focus our talent to win more golds”.

Next on DUBC’s agenda is the Head of The River, held in London in mid-March.

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For pictures from BUCS Head, go to palatinate.org.uk