29 October 2012 Issue 22 Year 74

Perdeby Tuks se amptelike studentekoerant / Official Tuks student newspaper / Kuranta ya baithuti ya semmušo ya Tuks

29October2012

We say goodbye

The Plastics interview

Sexting: show me yours ...

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Photo: Eleanor Harding and Brad Donald

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American Horror Story season 2 preview

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29 Oktober ‘12

Perdeby

The last one

If my life were a TV show, my last day in the Perdeby office would have been a montage of sad goodbyes and goofy moments, and my final minutes would have played out against a fittingly upbeat indie song, that let everyone know that while this was a sad moment, it was also a triumphant moment. That’s what soundtracks do: they tell you how to feel. Something like Image Dragon’s “On Top of the World” would be ideal.

important to me to make my mark, to leave a legacy: if that means one person remembers one sentence I’ve ever written, I’ll be happy. But hopefully it’s something more permanent than that.

I would like to thank everyone who has played some part, no matter how small, in putting the paper together while I’ve been editor. Publishing a weekly relies on teamwork and trust, and to everyone who has been part of that, thank you.

I would like to thank the top editorial, especially. You guys are awesome: supportive, funny, enthusiastic and honest. The job would have been impossible without you. I think we’ve gotten to know each other better than is healthy or wise, but you have my eternal gratitude and my friendship.

I have all the faith in the world that the new team will do a great job and make Perdeby’s 75th year the best it has ever had. My advice: have fun, work hard, get drunk – and don’t screw up.

As for me: I don’t know what happens next. I don’t know whether I flourish or flounder. That’s part of the fun, though, isn’t it? The next great adventure? Eish, scary stuff.

Sport editor – Carlo Cock

Head copy editor – Hayley Tetley

Features editor – Meagan Dill

Editorial Editor-In-Chief: Carel “Moeksie” Willemse carel.willemse@up.ac.za @Ed_in_Chief

News: Margeaux Erasmus news@perdeby.co.za @MargeauxErasmus Features: Meagan Dill features@perdeby.co.za @meagandill Entertainment: Nadine Laggar entertainment@perdeby.co.za @Alula273 Sport: Carlo Cock sport@perdeby.co.za @CarloRP Web: Marissa Gravett webeditor@perdeby.co.za @perdebynews Copy: Hayley Tetley @Hayley_Tet Layout: JP “Handicap” Nathrass @JPNathrass Visuals: Brad Donald @Brad3rs

Teams Layout Nolwazi Bengu Meghan van Rooyen Copy Louis Fourie India Goncalves Jaco Kotze Nolwazi Mngadi Saneze Tshayana Lizette van Niekerk Marié van Wyk Nadine Wubbeling Yuan-Chih Yen Advertising Sales Tel: 012 420 6600 Cell: 083 318 9738 carel.willemse@up.ac.za

From the Editor (Aside: if I could choose a song to play me out it would be “Long Road to Ruin”, courtesy of the Foo Fighters, but that’s only because I like being dramatic.)

But life isn’t a series of neat moments tinged with Hollywood sentimentality. What actually happened was disappointingly normal: we finished the paper like we always did, had a couple of drinks, and then I went and partied my face off at Arcade Empire. This turned out to be exactly the right send off. You cannot manufacture the perfect goodbye.

Excited and heartbroken; relieved but sad; bitter and sweet. This is what leaving Perdeby after four years feels like. Four years, 86 editions, countless hangovers, a few mistakes, new friends, lost friends, great friends: the best of times, the worst of times.

It is difficult to describe the influence this paper has had on my life, the ways in which it changed me, made me better. So I’ll just say this: this job has made me happy – it’s made me angry-crazyfrustrated too – but mostly it’s made me happy.

It’s been a privilege editing this newspaper, and a privilege serving the student community.

Thinking back, I think I’ve done a good job.

Hell knows I’ve tried. I think Perdeby is better than it was before I got hold of it. It’s been very

www.perdeby.co.za perdeby@up.ac.za m.perdeby.co.za @perdebynews Tel: (012) 420 6600

Editor: Beyers de Vos perdeby@up.ac.za @perdebyeditor

Goodbye

As I’m writing this I am tired, relieved, happy, sad and stressed out and have all but given up on studying. Also, I may be intoxicated, although I’m not entirely sure.

One thing I am sure of, however, is that being part of this year’s Perdeby editorial has led to me being all of the above, including intoxicated. To say it has been a crazy, awesome, unforgettable experience would be an understatement. It has been life changing. I’m going to miss it. I can’t imagine going back to being “normal”. Among the things I won’t miss, though, are being violently head-raped every Friday, without fail; being known as “Sausage McMuffin”; and that creepy look Beyers gives you when he’s editing your pages. Sad as it is, the Caramello Bear is done with university and off to change the big, bad world out there. It’s been real folks. I swear!

Entertainment editor – Nadine Laggar

When you’re crouched down in the dust, notebook tucked in boot, thorn bushes looming towards your naked bottom and you can say, “I love my job,” you’re in the right industry. From the weekend gigs at Arcade Empire to sitting opposite Jesse Hughes backstage at Oppikoppi, rooftops in Jo’burg to Riversands Farm for RAMfest, it’s been damn euphoric. Though, if I didn’t have Melina with her vegan superpowers, this year might’ve turned out quite differently.

If vodka can’t fix it, gin most certainly will.

Peace

I suppose I should feel sad and melancholic that this is my last edition of Perdeby, but there’s no time to be sentimental.

With deadlines to meet and debates about whether or not “ice cream” should be hyphenated, there’s barely even time for a coffee break (the horror!).

Perdeby has taught me important life lessons like, go to Aandklas as often as possible, drink all the coffee all the time and never admit that you come from Benoni. Basically, it’s been sheer awesomeness. Thanks to everyone who made my three years at Perdeby unforgettable. And of course, a huge thanks to my hard working minions. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m going to miss crazy Fridays in the office.

Web editor – Marissa Gravett

I can’t believe it’s been two whole years and that the time has come for me to say goodbye to Perdeby for good.

But alas, such is life. I will miss the amounts of coffee and craziness in the office and the alcohol-inspired extremities of socials. All in all, a lot of good memories have been made here, some of which are responsible for crossing the craziest things off my bucket list (ahem … what happens at Oppi stays at Oppi). I wish the best to the web editor for 2013, Nolwazi Mngadi. I know you’ll make Perdeby’s web presence just as successful as the print version. Cheers vir eers!

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Beyers

After four years at Perdeby (yes, really) leaving feels bittersweet.

To the 2013 editorial: good luck and work hard. If you’re doing it right, Perdeby will pretty much take over your whole life. (In a good way, not in a creepy flesh-eating monster way.) On a more serious note: a special thank you to Beyers, who shared all four years with me, and who has been one of my best friends since the start. On the whole, I will never forget what being at Perdeby taught me and what a special time in my life these four years at Perdeby have been. So this is it – my final goodbye. Keep it classy, folks.

Layout editor – JP Nathrass This is supposed to be a thank you and a goodbye but I’ll rather use this space to reminisce about the last two years I have spent with the rest of the editorial, from camp to Oppikoppi.

I have come to one simple conclusion: you are all bat-shit crazy! I have lost count of the cases of Dash and Jäger consumed in an effort to keep my sanity around you guys, but the ride was worth it in the end. Now let’s move this party to the real world.

“Emphasis, drama, f**k-off!”

[Exit, pursued by a bear.]

Copyright Perdeby is printed by Paarlmedia. All rights reserved. Contributions are welcome. All due care will be taken with materials submitted, but Perdeby and printers cannot be held responsible for loss or damage. The Editor reserves the right to edit, amend or alter in any way deemed nescessary. Perdeby cannot be responsible for unsolicited material.

The opinions expressed in Perdeby are not necessarily those of the editors and printers of Perdeby.

Lets play a game. Find fatty boom boom.

Hello

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29 October ‘12

Genesis

From the Editor 2013

Flashback to September 2011. Li’l first-year me, bravely snuck to Perdeby’s old office to submit my application form – minutes before the deadline. I dropped it in the box and slipped away, praying that I would get the job as a news journalist. Fast forward to September this year and I have been blessed to become Perdeby Editor in 2013.

And, I still can’t believe how far I have come, despite the fact that I’m sitting here, writing an editorial.

It’s scary, it’s exciting, it’s nerve-wrecking, but I can’t wait.

This last stretch in the year can only be described as nostalgic anticipation. I remember sitting in Aandklas the night I became Perdeby Editor 2013, overcome with several emotions.

When I looked over to one side of me, there sat 2012’s editorial. Memories of late Friday afternoons in the office, Oppikoppi and temporary break-downs flooded my consciousness as I realised that this team will be leaving soon, to aspire to new things. I want to thank this year’s

editorial for all that they have done for Perdeby and for me this year. Basically the whole editorial is new next year, something that is uncommon in Perdeby’s history, and the 2012 editors have truly laid a great foundation for us to build on.

I want to take a special moment to thank Beyers for all the work he has done over the past two years and to wish him good luck for the future, whatever that may hold. The work of an editor is selfless. They rework articles, give advice to their journalists and don’t get anything in return (except the complaints when something goes wrong). So Beyers, I lift up my vodka-filled glass to salute you and I promise to honour your memory at Perdeby with exceptional journalism and epic socials.

With the teary-eyed moment past I look forward to introducing our readers to the 2013 editorial.

They really are a crazy, deluded bunch of people and I see great things in Perdeby’s future. To my team, you thought you worked hard this year as writers, ha, that’s cute. But rest assured it will all be worth it.

Every editor has specific goals in mind when they take over a publication. Mine are simple: I want Perdeby to continue to cater to you, our reader. Coming from a news background, ethical journalism is a must for me, and I hope to instill the same principles in our team next year. I want our news to be objective, fair and to be a watchdog for you. I want our Features section to give you a break from the chaos of the world with an in-depth and quirky look at issues that you are talking about. Entertainment, what can I say, will be entertaining. I hope to provide you with insight into artists and bands through interviews, and to inspire you to listen/read/watch a variety of things through our reviews. You can even look forward to entertainment news. Think Rolling Stone though, not Heat. And in sport, I want you to have accurate portrayals of events along with reviews and interpretations about how seasons are progressing.

Not to mention a stronger focus on all the media platforms we offer to give you a fuller Perdeby experience. New features have already been added

Features editor – Bernd Fischer

Visuals editor – Brad Donald

News editor – Danielle Petterson

“Journalism is literature in a hurry.” – Matthew Arnold.

This is the perfect description of news journalism. We run around frantically crafting quotes and facts into newsworthy articles before the paper goes to print. Journalists, especially news journalists, are probably the only people who get excited when bad things happen (aside from crazy people). Not to put thoughts into anyone’s head, but if you feel like starting a fire on campus or something, I wouldn’t complain. Jokes aside, as news editor I will do my best to bring you relevant, interesting and most importantly, factual news.

These are exciting times for Perdeby.

As sad as I am to see the old editorial go (I’m going to miss you guys), it’s not every year that a publication gets a fresh start with an almost entirely new team of editors. I’m thrilled to be a part of this.

I’m here to ensure that you won’t have to plod through a wasteland of errors, typos, irrelevance and tired analogies next year. You can be certain that an experienced copy team passionate about their work (obsessively so) have meticulously checked and grammatically polished every article in every Perdeby you read.

Entertainment editor – Lusanda Futshane

Sport editor – Maxine Twaddle

Web editor – Nolwazi Mngadi

Layout editor – Nolwazi Bengu

Hello cool kids. As next year’s features editor, I have made it my mission to ensure that the section provides content that is equally fun and informative.

After all, what’s the point of being smart if you’re boring, too? You can expect articles on a range of different topics, which will include general interests, popular culture phenomena and current affairs. The aim of features is to explore all aspects of any given issue, even if this means pushing the boundaries a little and being controversial.

Features promises to be fresh, relevant and simply put: awesome.

Yo. This is the face of Entertainment for 2013, expect to see it running around at concerts with a dictaphone and a notepad getting musicians to tell me cool and exciting things. When you see this face, buy it a drink or three because historically Entertainment has been run on a constant supply of vodka and caffeine – but vodka wins. You can look forward to at least two pages a week of greasy, sweaty awesomeness dripping in vodka. Have I mentioned vodka enough yet? One more time with feeling: vodka!

That should do it. Excelsior!

“Photographers are violent people. First they frame you, then they shoot you, then they hang you on the wall.”

The only reason you pick up a copy of Perdeby is to check out those awesome visuals. Am I right? Well, I like to believe so. On a serious note, I am neither new nor am I leaving Perdeby.

I have been visuals editor since March this year, and I will be next year too. I promise to give you the best and most interesting photographs and illustrations possible. So good in fact, that you may not even need to read the articles.

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic.”

Dumbledore is awesome. Writing is awesome. Perdeby is awesome. The Sport section is the most awesome. You have to read it, or you won’t know what’s going on and then no-one will want to be your friend. I will give you sport content that is interesting, up-todate and informative, and that covers a wide range of sport. Hopefully, you’ll read the sport section before Pssst…. Carlo did a great job as sport editor and I hope to do the same (and I promise to say football instead of soccer).

Hi. I’m the web editor for 2013, and my job is to satisfy all of your internet and social networking needs. Not in my personal capacity though, this isn’t a personals ad. I digress.

2013 is going to be an exciting year for Perdeby’s online platforms. There is going to be a lot more activity online, and hopefully by the end of the year, the wonderful people of Tuks will enjoy Perdeby online as much as they do in hard copy.

I’m also addicted to the internet. So you’ll be enabling me by getting more involved.

Peace, love and happiness.

to our website (go have a look) and we will be using Twitter and Facebook even more to talk to readers.

Until next year. Bonne vacances.

Margeaux

Head copy editor – Jaco Kotze

I’m the girl who gets to make everyone’s content look good. Yes, I’ll be pretty much living and breathing design.

I’m here to make your experience reading each issue visually pleasing, with all our blood, sweat and tears and not to forget the endless hours on a Friday trying to get it just right. But it’s got to be worthwhile doing it for you! Other than being fixated with typography, composition and perfect alignment, the layout team is sure to have a pretty epic year ahead!

From the Editor–in–Chief I walk into the Perdeby offices on 2 January this year only to find out that our hard drive with the 2012 First Years edition has been stolen. What a way to start the year. Beyers, still being on holiday, took the news, as I thought he might, with an expletive or two, downed his vodka and caught the first plane back to Pretoria. The rest of the editorial followed suit and we delivered the First Years edition without any hiccups or complaints.

This is testament to the dynamic team of editors I had the pleasure of working with this year.

2012 marked my eighth year at Perdeby while I’ve been at the helm as Editor-in-Chief for the last five years (yes I have the best job in the world) and I have worked with numerous editors, section editors, designers, photographers and journalists over the years. It takes a special kind of person to work at a weekly, and if you weren’t special before, this publication will change you within the first week.

The commitment, long hours and hard work that these guys put into South Africa’s largest student newspaper is of immeasurable value.

You as a reader were very privileged this year to be at the hands of some very experienced, professional and absolutely crazy editorial staff.

And I would like to use my editorial space this week to thank them personally.

Meagan – One of our most senior staff members and fluent in Afrikaans (after 21:00 in Aandklas). Thank you for your hard work and dedication to this publication.

Hayley – Thanks for never really quitting and stopping me from editing pages that didn’t go through you and Beyers first. You kept me sane.

Carlo – Sport, sport and sport. Enthusiast is not the correct word. But isn’t that what you want in a sport editor? Sport is not an easy section but you tackled it head on.

Nadine – The only journalist (along with her team) who kept it together at Oppikoppi (in make-up nogal). Thanks for a diverse and energetic entertainment section this year.

Marissa – The person responsible for getting the news to you when you can’t find a copy of the newspaper on campus. Thank you for

maintaining and increasing our online presence.

Margeaux – A news editor of note. Dropped in the deep end at the beginning of the year and now she is our 2013 editor. Well done. I am looking forward to working with you next year.

JP – The foundation of this publication. Long hours, late nights and lots of Dash. Thanks buddy.

Brad – The largest section in Perdeby. Without you I think the paper would be quite boring.

Beyers – Also a senior at the publication. From the day you became editor you took off at the speed of light. I believe you earned the respect of your peers and readers and you took Perdeby to the next level. Thank you for making my job easier (at times) over the last two years. I wish you luck in all your future endeavours.

Lastly a big thank you to all of the journalists, photographers and designers who made the publication of 22 issues possible this year.

See you in 2013 Carel Willemse

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29 Oktober ‘12

News

Trial bus service implemented

SILIZIWE MABUYA The SRC has funded a trial bus service in the evenings for students living in and around Sunnyside and Arcadia. The service runs at

no cost to students.

This initiative came as a result of students reportedly sleeping on campus due to a lack of nearby accommodation and affordable transport in the evenings. In an SRC survey,

completed by 916 students, it was reported that 82% of students walked home late at night after studying in the library.

SRC President Mthokozisi Nkosi said that this was a major problem for students as

moving train,” he said, adding that no one is taking ownership of the revised constitution.

There is reportedly general confusion as to which version of the constitution is currently in place. Nkosi said that he is unhappy with the changes made and would prefer the old constitution until the whole process can be thoroughly investigated with the right amount of time allocated for the review.

According to the university, the review of the constitution was time consuming and could not be concluded.

As a result, not all the amendments proposed by students could be incorporated. A more thorough review is expected for 2013.

SRC member for constitutions Jordan Griffiths said that the revised constitution did not address certain major issues, while the changes that were made were mostly small and insignificant.

Griffiths wants to discuss the possibility of a system overhaul where the entire

parliamentary system will be remodelled. He told Perdeby that student parliament does not work as well as it should and that, with the current system in place, it never will.

“Student parliament is a farce really, it fails consistently,” he said. Nkosi also believes a system overhaul needs to be discussed for next year as a possible solution to the recurring problems.

The university is of the view that the latest amendments that have been included in the constitution address some of the weaknesses and loopholes of the past.

However, they commented that it is virtually impossible to legislate for every eventuality and there may still be some weaknesses to be addressed.

Griffiths said that the issue of a quorum has been a problem in parliament since it was constituted. Quorum in student parliament has never reached full capacity because many members do not arrive for meetings. In an attempt to solve this problem, the revised

many of them have reportedly been victims of robberies. Nkosi added that students should make use of the study facilities on campus and not feel discouraged by issues of safety. The bus service will be in operation for the duration of the exams in line with the extended library hours.

However, the long-term success of the bus service will depend on student usage.

According to the Deputy Director of Facilities Management, Wessel Oosthuizen, the 2012 budget could not make provision for more bus services and so the additional funding was secured by the SRC. Nkosi stated that if the students use the bus service it would help support their claim that this transport facility is needed. He said that this would secure future funding for earlier time intervals. Oosthuizen added, “We acknowledge students’ needs … we will assess this trial project and base[d] on the outcome we will decide on future service[s].”

The bus leaves from outside the CSC at 20:00, 22:00 and 24:00. The bus route includes the following roads: Lynnwood, Jorissen, Leyds, Park, Festival, Prospect and Jan Shoba.

Image: Brad Donald

Problems with the constitution continue

STEPHANIE VAN DER PLANK

The Constitution for Student Governance has been under review throughout the year and has undergone several changes.

A meeting held on 8 October created a revised constitution that took into consideration the amendments suggested by the SRC and society and residence members.

Changes to the constitution included the addition of day house and service provider constituencies, new rules on quorum in parliament as well as amendments to the way election campaigns are run. Changes like the inclusion of a day house constituency were met with controversy, while changes with regard to election campaigning were encouraged by members.

SRC President Mthokozisi Nkosi was not happy with the way in which the constitutional review was conducted. He said that the process was rushed and that not everyone who should have been consulted was involved. Nkosi claims that this is what the university seems to have planned all along and that the SRC was not properly consulted. “It’s like we got onto an already

“Student parliament is a farce really, it fails consistently.”

constitution makes provisions for quorum to be formed at the second meeting, comprised of whichever members are present at that meeting. Previously, meetings had to be postponed numerous times before quorum was reached and the meeting could proceed.

Despite these changes, and in light of the postponed elections and a Temporary Student Committee (TSC) being proposed for next year, the implementation of this new constitution seems unlikely. There appear to be fundamental flaws in the constitution which need to be researched and corrected.

Nkosi is hopeful that next year, the TSC can work together with the university to solve the problems that have been plaguing student parliament for the past few years. He said that the current chaos reflects badly on the SRC and the university, but hopes that all members of student governance will take these matters seriously.

In the university’s response they said that, “The Constitution for Student Governance, as approved on 4 September, is the product of consultation with students and replaces all previous versions of the constitution and will remain in effect until it is replaced in 2013.”

UP hosts ANC International Solidarity Conference AMY-MAE CAMPBELL

UP hosted the third ANC International Solidarity Conference in the Rembrandt Hall, on LC de Villiers Sport Campus, last week Friday.

President Jacob Zuma used the conference to deliver a memorial lecture on freedom fighter and longest serving president of the ANC, Oliver Tambo.

The ANC International Solidarity movement was initiated during Apartheid as a means of strengthening international action against the Apartheid regime, after the ANC was banned. Oliver Tambo played a key role in securing support from various countries against the Apartheid regime and actively fought alongside Nelson Mandela and other activists for democracy. Tambo remained a key figure within the ANC until his death in 1993 and members of the ANC regard him as an icon for the various contributions he made

to the country.

Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UP Prof. Cheryl de la Rey explained why this conference is relevant to students, “The purpose was to talk about the values which Oliver Tambo stood for: equality for all and supporting human rights.” She emphasised that President Tambo’s most important attribute, which she aims to encourage amongst Tuks students, is “respect for diversity.”

The ANC aims to use this conference as a symbol of unity and President Zuma hopes that by having annual memorial lectures of previous freedom fighters, he will encourage all citizens to continue their vision. “We have a duty to build the type of society that was sacrificed by [these] heroes,” President Zuma said.

Photo: Kobus Barnard

@perdebynews

News

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29 October ‘12

Tuks against women abuse AMY-MAE CAMPBELL

A new initiative called Tuks Against Women Abuse was launched last week Wednesday by the Department of Student Affairs.

Head of Student Support Dr Madeleine Nolte held a women abuse seminar for the launch as the first step towards introducing this new initiative.

Lerato Mafuya, a fourth-year LLB student at Tuks, came up with the idea to establish a women abuse support structure at Tuks.

Mafuya explained that this initiative was driven by the recent incidents of two female Tuks students who were allegedly murdered by their respective partners earlier this semester. Mafuya further explained that as a past victim of an abusive relationship herself, she was deeply unsettled by the news and

Res Bites TARYN RICHMOND AND ZUBENATHI JIZANA Vividus Ladies The annual Miss Vividus contest was held last week Tuesday in the Roosmaryn building where Stefney van Deventer won the title of Miss Vividus.

Vividus Ladies’s Primaria, Mideé Buizer, explained that Miss Vividus is more than a beauty contest. Everything from physical appearance, personality, Vividus spirit and event participation is taken into consideration.

“The girl chosen as Miss Vividus will be the face of the house and must attend certain events,” Buizer explained.

Judges included Miss Worthy Woman

2012, Vividus Ladies’s house mother, Miss Vividus of 2011, as well as the State President of Olienhout Tebatso Rampedi and Vividus Ladies’s primaria.

Marike van Zyl and Leandri van Zyl won the first and second princess titles respectively while Laurie du Toit walked away with Miss Personality.

Mopanie The men of Mopanie took to the streets of Hatfield last Tuesday in their annual jock run.

Despite the rain and the cold weather, screams and car hooters could be heard in the streets cheering the guys on as they ran from residence to residence. The guys jazzed up their jocks with Christmas hats, fairy wings, swimming caps and goggles, police hats, bowties, waistcoats and painted faces.

Mopanie also prepared short performances

felt very concerned about the lack of proper support structures available at the university to students caught in abusive relationships.

Mafuya approached Dr Nolte at the beginning of this month to ask whether Student Support would be willing to form part of this initiative.

Dr Nolte said that emotional support forms a crucial part of the services offered by Student Support and that they were more than willing to support the initiative.

“Students have a big need to know more about relationships,” Dr Nolte said. She said that not all students received a proper example of how a healthy relationship functions at home and therefore these students often battle to judge whether a relationship is healthy or not.

Dr Nolte explained that Tuks Against

Women Abuse’s function will be twofold: the first being to empower students with the necessary skills to handle relationship challenges in a healthy way. Secondly, it will serve as a platform for both women and men in abusive relationships to speak out and receive active emotional support and relationship guidance.

Director of Student Affairs Dr Matete Madiba also agreed to support this initiative and aims to implement it as a proper support service offered by UP. “I think UP is taking the matter seriously now after what has happened. I am overjoyed by the positive response [from the university],” Mafuya said.

for the ladies’ residences.

The guys sang a variety of songs, flexed their muscles and received many cheers and screams from the res ladies.

According to Mopanie Vice chairperson Martin Meiring, the guys were even more excited and motivated when the rain started.

They even took their performance to Hatfield Square.

stands included Inca and Olympus’s Shutter Island, Lilium and Zeus’s Tomorrowland, Kollege and Asterhof’s desert theme and the winners, Curlitzia and Olienhout with their Monopoly stand.

Although standing in queues for punch at every stall seemed to be the main aim of the day, there were many other fun activities, including Kiaat and Zinnia’s dunk tank and a jumping castle at Candy Land.

Phil Grabe, Rag short-term project HK for Olienhout and organiser of the winning stand, expressed his gratitude towards all the Rag HK for co-operating well with each other. He also thanked Bes Liebenberg from TuksRes for ensuring the success of the event.

“I think the standard for Pot ’n Pons this year was extremely high and the Republic of Olienhout and Curlitzia [are] happy to walk away with the prize,” said Grabe.

Pot ‘n Pons On 20 October TuksRag and TuksRes held their annual Pot ‘n Pons event on the Rag Farm. The day proved to be a huge success with Olienhout and Curlitzia walking away with the first prize.

Despite the effort put into decorating the many stands by the reses the week prior to the event, it was the ones with the loudest music that drew the most attention. Themes for

Illustration: Modeste Goutondji

Curlitzia and Olienhout’s Monopoly stand at Pot ‘n Pons Photo: Melissa Kemp

Miss Vividus 2012 Photo: Hendro van der Merwe

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29 Oktober ‘12

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Time to say farewell, but not goodbye As 2012 comes to an end I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the year that has passed and the successes that have been achieved by the Student Representative Council. When the SRC took office in March 2012 we adopted a slogan of “2012- the year of the student!”

Our focus was aimed at ensuring that we could make activities at this institution as inclusive as possible, and to gain relevance with our fellow Tukkies. We sought to promote the idea of academic excellence but at the same time also try and ensure that students identify with their University and embrace their ”Tukkie pride” so to say.

Events such as Tuks has got Talent, the SRC debates and Tukkie pride day were aimed at bringing students together and promoting student unity and tolerance.

The SRC also placed particular focus on responding directly to student needs.

After having been at this institution for 4 years now, I have observed different SRCs. And my primary concern was that there was a disconnection between the SRC and the student populace. The SRC of 2012 made an effort to ensure that we got direct input from the students and that we respond to their needs. We organised breakfast sessions with the chairperson’s of societies and the Prims and Chairpersons of the residences. We had mass meetings so that students could express their concerns openly in a public forum, which they did.

The SRC also had numerous students come to our offices with various issues which we addressed.

Perhaps I can also take this opportunity to thank the outgoing SRC for all the hardwork, passion and dedication they have showed in their respective roles. The 2012 SRC has really worked hard, considering that it was elected later in the year but was able to introduce and implement fresh ideas aimed at making the lives of Tuks students better and more fun. It has been great working with such a diverse and dedicated group of leaders and I do hope they forgive me for being too hard on them sometimes.

The SRC has expanded many projects from last year and also had success with other major issues. The Study Finance fund was increased and had more than R250 000 put into it, which allowed us to help more students along with our textbook library which has assisted hundreds of students. In addition we used our budget to establish a feeding scheme working hand in hand with the Director of Student Affairs. We have also managed to get library hours extended (weekdays and even on weekends) and we hope that in the near future we can one day see a 24 hour library. We have also managed to source the funds for a pilot bus service to the areas of Sunnyside and Arcadia. We hope that students use this service so that it can become permanent in the future. The Spring Day bash was also brought back and I know how many of you enjoyed that.

All these achievements above wouldn’t have been possible if we didn’t get assistance from many of the University staff members who went out of their way to assist us. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of them, especially Mrs Goosen (Manager of Study Finance), Mr Chauke (Manager; CSC), Mr Moropa (Director: Library Services) and Mr Simelane (Manager; Student Accounts).

I would like also like to thank the staff of the DSA particularly Mrs Botma, without her I wouldn’t have survived this year. I don’t know how many times I’ve lost my office keys, forgot about meetings, got sick and she has always been there to assist, do my diary and even get me coffee and medication! She has indeed been an engine that has kept the SRC running smoothly.

However the year has not been without its challenges. The “Kiaat incident” was highly unfortunate and raised a lot of questions regarding the internal happenings within residences. However, I am proud to say that as an SRC we reacted to this matter in the swiftest possible manner and played a role in appointing persons to the Commission of Inquiry which conducted a thorough investigation into the matter, which is now being handled by the University’s disciplinary Committee.

I am also very pleased to report that many issues that were raised during the mass meeting have been addressed. To mention but a few: • The students who had run out of money in Kloostersaal and residences had more money put into their meals accounts.

• From next year onwards Education students will receive a stipend when they have to do their practical work in schools • Students who are on NSFAS will from next year receive 50% textbook allowance upon registration that will be loaded on Eduxtras cards to purchase their textbooks.

As you will all know the SRC election for 2012 has also been cancelled and it is expected that a Temporary Student Committee will be elected for 2013. This has been done for a variety of reasons but with a TSC in 2013 the opportunity will now be granted for student leaders along with the University Management and Council to have ample opportunity developing a system which suits everyone.

There is no doubt that there are certain problems within our constitution which weren’t thoroughly addressed and which will need thorough investigation in the year to come.

Lastly, I would like to thank you for your support and trust. I want to wish good luck to all our fellow Tukkies as you prepare for your year-end exams. For those of you that will be finally getting their degrees and who will be leaving us; I hope that you go onto successful careers within your prospective fields. To those that will still be here next year perhaps I can leave you with this quote by Bill Beattie “The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men” Carry on pushing on so that you can make your own contribution to the betterment of our society! It is entirely dependent on you to make Tuks be known as the University of Possibilities!

2012-The year of the student!

2012 SRC President Mthokozisi Nkosi

Features

7

29 Oktober ‘12

Sextual revolution: Show me yours and I’ll show you mine LUSANDA FUTSHANE None of us are old enough to remember the long history of flirting. But ask your parents or grandparents and they’ll tell you all about the complicated courting that eventually led to, well, you. The intense fleeting glances across crowded markets, the love letters and the pebbles thrown against windows at night.

Our generation, the smartphone generation, armed with instant messaging and megapixel cameras, is guilty of a more concise and direct approach to charming one another. And one of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal is sexting – the messy exchange of sexually charged messages often paired with equally racy pictures. Are we getting carried away with technology or are sexts just the modern (albeit risqué) version of love letters?

Jonathan* and Kevin* are a couple who believe that sexting is a healthy way for our generation to express intimacy. “Why not?” asks Kevin. “On nights when I’m not with him and I feel a little horny, it’s the easiest thing to do.” The two say that they don’t understand what the big deal about sexting is. “If you know how to do it right and you’re comfortable with yourself, it can be a big part of the romance. It’s only done great things for our sex life,” adds Jonathan almost bashfully.

Lifestyle blogger Penelope Trunk maintains that sexting is as dangerous as any other flirting ritual that people practise – where we once dared to expose our emotions, we now expose our physical selves. In an article for The Daily Beast she writes: “Sending a naked photo of yourself is an emotionally intimate act because of the implied trust you have in the recipient. When you act in a trusting way – like trusting the recipient of the photo to handle it with care and respect – you benefit because being a generally trusting person is an emotionally sound thing to [be].”

Trunk later adds that for adults, sexting is all about confidence and having fun. “As long as you make yourself look hot in the photo, you’ll probably be okay. Because good-looking people earn more money, have more friends, and have more fun in life than the not-good-looking. So if you can figure out how to take a good photo of yourself, text it to anyone you want.”

Still, not everyone is sold on the idea of sexting. Marie Oberholzer, a second-year public administration student, finds the whole idea tasteless. “I think it’s shameful for people our age to be putting themselves out there like that. I would never do that.”

Oberholzer adds that our generation is

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overexposed to sexual content and that we are always under pressure to seem more mature and attractive, even at the expense of our morals. “Most of us were taught that sex is something special between two people. If we carry around the evidence of our private moments on our phones, how is that still special?”

There’s a risk that everyone takes when they send someone else a naked picture of themselves. You never know what intentions the recipient may have. IsAnyoneUp.com was a pornographic website founded in 2010 based on the concept of “revenge porn”.

The website gave jilted exes the opportunity to post naked images and sex tapes of

their former lovers, usually accompanied by detailed and embarrassing descriptions of their sexual quirks. The scorned would divulge the full names of their exes and would even include Facebook profile pictures.

The website was temporarily shut down following numerous lawsuits against founder Hunter Moore and was relaunched as a platform for organisations to speak up against cyberbullying. Recently, a copycat website – IsAnyoneDown.com – has been launched, proving the popular saying: the internet never forgets.

A study published in 2011 in the Pediatrics journal by the University of Southern California revealed that American teenagers who were sexting had a greater chance of exhibiting risky sexual behaviour in the real world. The study showed that teenagers who confessed to sending nude pictures of themselves to their peers also admitted to having multiple sexual partners, having sex while under the influence of drugs and alcohol and not using condoms with their partners. This, the survey concluded, showed that what people do online, usually reflects their behaviour in reality as well.

Whether you choose to do it or not, there’s one personal and social obligation you can’t ignore when sexting: safety. The same rules we follow for actual sex apply in the virtual sense too. It should always be between two consenting adults (sextual harassment still counts as harassment). No sexting with strangers. No sexting family members. It’s always best in a relationship, but can be just as fun when you’re single. And finally: if you’re hard up on partners, you can always sext yourself – all the psychologists say it’s perfectly normal. *Names have been changed Image: www.westerngazette.ca

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8

Features

29 Oktober ‘12

7 things you need to do before you graduate

MEAGAN DILL As the academic year draws to a close, many students will be leaving the safety of university to venture out into the big, bad world and find an actual job. Before beginning the treacherous journey into real life, why not make the most of your last few weeks at Tuks, where you can get away with so much more than you could in the workplace? Hence: the official Perdeby pre-

graduation bucket list.

1. Go to a lecture drunk (or at least very, very hung over) Pitching up at work smelling of tequila and McDonald’s will probably result in a swift dismissal. They will fire you. A lot. However, attend a lecture in this condition and the worst that can happen is that the girl sitting next to you moves one seat over. Or you say something like,

“Sir, you look really sexy in that jersey vest.”

Or you climb on your chair and start singing an out-of-tune version of “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Whatevs. No biggie. You might offend a person here and there, but can anyone fire you? No. No, they can’t.

2. Sneak onto the roof of a building at night You didn’t hear this from us, but the rooftops of certain buildings on campus are relatively easy to access if you’re prepared to do a little manoeuvring. But be warned: you’re going to have some incredibly irate security guards on your back if you get caught doing this. Still, if you manage to get away with it, the view is quite breathtaking when you’re up there. There’s something enchanting about being above the darkened campus, gazing out at the twinkling lights.

3. Make out in an empty lecture hall With a campus as big as ours, at any time there are bound to be a least a few empty lecture halls out there – you just need to go looking. Once you’ve found one, enjoy the experience and get creative. If someone walks in, so what? It’d be a little awkward maybe, but you’d probably never see that person again (unless you’re extremely unlucky and it’s one of your lecturers). So don’t be afraid to take the risk – the forbidden quality of this kind of excursion is exactly what makes it so exciting.

4. Steal a golf cart and ride it around campus In every student’s imagination this has happened at least once. Or twice. Or every time they see a golf cart on campus. Sure, security will try to catch you, but with a golf cart you have a much better chance of getting away than you would have on foot. While you’re at it, why not do all future Tuks students a favour and run down

anyone wearing high heels on campus? (Because that’s just wrong.)

5. Try the Perdeby pizza at TriBeCa Campus Anything that has been deemed worthy of the Perdeby name cannot be anything less than extremely awesome. Plus, the fact that there’s now a TriBeCa on campus is something that should be taken advantage of – at least, as much as possible in the short amount of time you still have left.

6. Tell your favourite lecturer how they’ve inspired you over the years It’s no secret that teaching has the reputation of being a thankless job. The same goes for lecturing at university level. Few lecturers – even those popular among students – actually get any kind of credit for the work that they do. This probably has to do with the fact that most classes are large and allow for little one-on-one lecturer/student interaction. Still, if there’s a lecturer that came to mind while reading this, take a moment to thank them for their hard work even if they don’t know you individually. You’ll make their day and will be left with a feeling of satisfaction knowing you’ve given credit where it’s due.

7. Don’t wish the year away Okay, so here comes the cheesy part. When you look back on your time at Tuks in a few years, all those late night study sessions won’t be what stands out in your memory. What you’ll remember most vividly are the friends you’ve made, the fun you had, and perhaps most of all, how university allowed you to grow as a person. Until that time comes, savour each moment. And take lots of pictures (so that when you’re old and grey you can look back and reminisce about how skinny and good looking you were).

Photo: Eleanor Harding

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Entertainment Interview

9 Review

29 October ‘12

The Plastics: “What’s in a name, really?“

MELINA MELETAKOS When Cape Town’s quirky retro indie rock and rollers, The Plastics, decided to call their second full-length album Pyramid, they weren’t quite sure why.

“What’s in a name, really?” asks bassist Karl Rohloff, quoting Shakespeare. “I guess afterwards you do think of ways in which it can work,” he says.

While the quartet initially liked the symbology behind the ancient mysterious structures, they later thought of it as a good way to describe their music. “Our band kind of has three sides to it. Rock, then we’ve got the more melodic, softer stuff, and then we’ve got the part where we experiment and play around, the indie stuff,” explains drummer Sasha Righini.

Either way, they are wholly content with not having a clear-cut answer. “Pyramids themselves are completely unexplained. [Our] not being able to explain the name is fitting,” says lead singer Pascal Righini, laughing.

The Plastics’s vague, laid-back approach to the name of their latest offering may seem slightly ironic, but they are really far more focused on the actual music, something that’s evident as they sit down with Perdeby to chat about Pyramid before getting on stage to launch the album at Arcade Empire.

Pyramid was recorded in two parts at Dreamspace Recording Studios. Four songs were recorded at various stages in 2011, while 2012 saw The Plastics going back into studio to record the rest of it. Over the last two years, the band ended up writing over 30 songs for the album. They intended on writing a surplus of songs so that they could be brutal at the end and scrap anything they didn’t think was good enough to make the cut, with the long gap in between giving them the time to do this. “I think because it took such a long time, it gives the album a bit more depth. We had a lot more time to actually think about it. [But] it has that sound of three weeks of our lives as opposed to the sound of two years of our lives,” says Sasha.

Another advantage of having the luxury of time is that the band got to ease into working with producer Shai Hirchson, whom they have never worked with before. “I think we figured out our dynamic with him better by the time we went back to it, so we felt the relationship was a bit stronger,” says Pascal.

On The Plastics’s debut album, Sharks, the sentimental love song “Caroline” was one of the slower, ballad-like tunes on the album. With Pyramid they are careful not to veer in that direction, choosing instead to stick to their concoction of “dancepopfun”.

“Personally, I wish that ballad music was bigger but I don’t think people are that into it. I love soppy, old, super slow songs and as a singer, there’s something very inviting about putting a performance together like that, but it’s not something that’s worked for us. Our sound is more modern than that,” says Pascal.

They have, instead, used Pyramid to explore more psychedelic influences, courtesy of the use of different effects pedals. Selfproclaimed devotees of The Beatles, The Plastics say that they like the way in which the iconic band used the studio as an instrument to make music that sounded different. “Music is one of the few art forms that can conjure up feelings in people. It’s the interesting thing about how you can use the studio to change the mood of things so dramatically. We tried to use that as best as possible,” says Pascal. “The psychedelic influence is just trying to be experimental because you want to keep it fresh for yourself as a band as well,” adds Karl.

The album also sees The Plastics’s first attempt at an ambitious 10 minute long song, “Mud and Money”. The song came about after cleverly piecing together what the band came up with after numerous lengthy jam sessions. “Recording it was the biggest challenge but when we wrote it, it actually came together quite quickly,” says Karl. How difficult was it to record a song of this nature? “Different time signatures and tempo changes [were] a big thing because you’ve got maybe five different tempos in the song and we wanted to jam as much of it to the click track as possible but we didn’t know how long each part was going to be because we were still working it all out in the studio, so Sasha had the tough job of drumming to 10 different tempos,” says Pascal, looking at a nodding Sasha whose half-smile invites commiseration.

Does the band consider the song their magnum opus? “Not at all. We’re very proud of it and we love it but I think from doing it we’re excited to try and do another one or two, or even longer songs,” says Pascal quickly, making sure to clarify his point. “My dad is into long songs and I was really excited to show him and when I asked him what he thought, he said, ‘Ja, not a bad first attempt’,” says Karl to an explosion of laughter from the other band members.

Earlier this year, the MK Music Video Project announced that The Plastics were one of 12 artists who will get the chance to make a music video commissioned by MK. With a penchant for videos based on school hall dance-a-ramas showing gawky teens busting even gawkier dance moves, it will be interesting to see what the band has to offer.

“We can tell you that we are not really in it, and it’s got animation in it, and it’s going to be rad,” says Sasha.

“We haven’t found another school hall,” says Karl.

“No, we’ve graduated. Prom is over,” adds Pascal.

You get the sense that, with the release of Pyramid, the band has done just that. They still sound like The Plastics, but with their more mature, layered sound, they have graduated into a class of their own.

Photos: JP Nathrass

MELINA MELETAKOS “I’ll guess you’re a king for a day if you can take me back to 1968,” announces lead singer Pascal Righini on “Stereo Kids”, The Plastics’s highly contagious single that’s been doing the rounds for over a year now. A fairy godfather in the form of John Lennon isn’t going to cure The Plastics’s longing for a bygone era, so they’re doing the job themselves with Pyramid, their second full-length offering of retro rock and roll.

On Pyramid, the kooky quartet up the psychedelic ante, thanks to their newfound interest in experimenting with effects pedals.

The best example of this is on “Mud and Money”, the impressive 10-minute spectacular that’s almost like a paean to The Beatles as it winds through different moods. They may not be doing the psychedelic thing throughout the album, but when they do it, especially on “Mud and Money”, The Plastics go all out.

There’s the trippy, filthy fuzz of the electric guitar and different effects that one minute sound like an alien landing is taking place and the next, like a ballerina sweetly prancing on the moon. And then there are the surreal, seemingly disjointed lyrics (“Plasticine scheme team cooked up on roofies that make orange people see into the hearts and the minds and the dreams in your bed”) which do a good job of reminding you of The Beatles’s “I Am the Walrus”. Lennon composed the song by combining three songs that he had been working on, which is rather fitting as The Plastics also combined what they had come up with after numerous lengthy jam sessions to form “Mud and Money”.

“Rat”, easily the heaviest song on the album, has a slightly dark tone with Pascal’s drawn-out vocals and menacing lyrics. It brings to mind Oasis, with its gargantuan stadium rock sound and fiery acid guitar solos.

The psychedelic-infused tracks aside, Pyramid offers more of what The Plastics are also good at: melodious pop rock tunes that make it okay to whip out your freakish dance moves in public.

“Out of This Town” is a song about inevitable change and the yearning to escape, and has hints of the glockenspiel, while “Sooner Than Later” speaks of anguish thanks to a girlfriend that’s now a girl friend. There’s also “Best Pretenders”, which is currently enjoying airplay with its simple, but altogether charming chorus of “I’m 45 minutes too late / I’m 45 minutes too early”.

The Plastics still sound like themselves and have taken a step forward in the way of experimentation. But thankfully, it’s not a whopping leap that will leave fans behind in a state of perplexed turmoil. In fact, it might even earn them some new ones.

RATING: 8/10 Image provided

10

29 Oktober ‘12

Entertainment

American Horror Story: crazy, creepy, awesome BEYERS DE VOS The first season of American Horror Story hit you like a train. The show about a haunted house had a plot that twisted and turned, tricked and treated, packed an emotional punch and was genuinely frightening. The visual decadence, the frenzied, untrustworthy storyline, the stunning acting and the strange, haunting characters: all of it combined into one writhing, glorious horror story that grabbed you by the throat and forced you to pay attention.

The second season (Perdeby got a sneak peek of the first two episodes) does all of this, and more. Simply put, the second season of American Horror Story is brilliant – at least so far.

Ryan Murphy and his team move the action from modern suburbia to a 1960s mental institution and create a totally new story, a new setting and new characters: this is a different kind of horror story, dealing with a different kind of crazy. This is American Horror Story: Asylum.

Jessica Lange (who acted her demented heart out in season one as the psychotic next door neighbour) plays Sister Jude, the sexually repressed, religiously furious nun who runs the asylum with an iron will and an iron fist.

And boy, does she play her well. Completely shedding her character from season one, she imbues her new character with a force and power that is truly gripping. She is flawless.

Joining Lange from the season one cast is Evan Peters, who goes from a troubled teenage ghost to a troubled adult (perhaps wrongly accused?) serial killer.

The rest of the cast are just as good, playing their specific brand of demented with energy and style.

The new setting is also beautifully realised, so convincing that you can smell the dust, the sweat and the blood; hear the shrieks of patients reverberating through the bleak, macabre halls of the asylum as if they’re standing right next to you.

If season one was all about suburban domesticity gone horribly wrong, season two is all about the true definition of crazy; about a society that pathologises sin and sexuality; about the fight for rationality in an increasingly unstable world.

Who is truly insane? The creepy, but rational, scientist? The relentlessly devout nun? The nymphomaniac? The murderer? Whose version of reality can you trust? Is anyone really who they seem? Is anyone even really real? If season one was anything to go by, rest assured that nothing is as it seems. And that makes for really good TV. American Horror Story: Asylum premiered on Mnet Series last week Friday at 21:30.

RATING: 8/10 Image: www.collider.com

Moonrise Kingdom: retro romance on New Penzance NADINE LAGGAR

Wes Anderson has returned to the retro roots of The Royal Tenenbaums and streamlined his distinctive style to create Moonrise Kingdom, a tale wound round a pair of incongruous 12-year-olds resolved to be together.

Sam Shakusy (Jared Gilman) is a Khaki Scout who plans, together with Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), to escape via the Chickchaw Harvest Migration trail to Mile 3.25 Tidal Inlet – later renamed Moonrise Kingdom.

The pair embark on a hike through the oak and pine forest, getting to grips with each other in bluntly honest and matter-of-fact dialogue.

Alongside this intrepid romance are the adults who behave more like children. There are some great cameos from Tilda Swinton who appears as the militant Social Services bent on recovering Sam, to Jason Schartzman as Cousin Ben, the fast-talking, slick Scout Master in charge of resources at a neighbouring camp.

Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton) is the antithesis to Fight Club’s Tyler Durden with his good intentions and “Jiminy Crickets“ upon discovering Sam’s disappearance.

The most entertaining of the adult characters is, however, Walt Bishop played by Bill Murray,

a familiar face in Anderson’s films. Dressed only in pyjama pants, Murray walks downstairs to a closet, bottle of wine in hand, pulls out an axe and announces to his three sons, “I’ll be out back. I’m going to find a tree to chop down.”

He’s a cuckold, much like Raleigh St. Clair in The Royal Tenebaums, but with a temper, bruised eyes and a tuft of wild white hair, which becomes more animated with the approaching hurricane – the weather mimicking the inevitable climax of the intertwining narratives.

An unexpected addition to the cast, Bruce Willis fills the role of Captain Sharp of the Island Police – a man defeated and depressed.

He’s also the man who’s having an affair with Laura Bishop (Frances McDormand). It’s one of Willis’s most endearing and ironically honest performances.

With extreme close-ups (that take a certain kind of realism and inject it into the stylised and fantastic), immaculately designed sets, orchestral soundtrack and effortless transitions, Moonrise Kingdom is a blessing, from visual to narrative, to cinema everywhere.

RATING: 9/10

Image: www.craigskinnerfilm.com

The Campaign – a series of unlikely events LUSANDA FUTSHANE It seemed like the perfect idea: a political satire to lighten up the grim atmosphere the 2012 US presidential election has created. Throw in Will Ferrell’s precise comedic timing and Zach Galifianakis’s knack for pulling off oddball characters and you’re almost guaranteed a fail-safe comedy. Almost. What The Campaign delivers is hardly satirical and funny only if you think babies and dogs getting punched in the face counts as humour.

Ferrell plays Congressman Cam Brady, a philandering oaf with a bad haircut who is looking to get re-elected for his fifth consecutive term. Brady is all set to run unopposed until one of his lewd booty calls accidentally ends up on the answering machine of a wholesome Christian family. Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) is the clueless pawn set in place by an axis of crooked corporate heads to run against Brady for their own corrupt

agenda. The whole movie then becomes a bid to see which candidate stumbles into office in a comparatively less idiotic way than the other.

The plot is thin and isn’t carried anywhere by the low-brow dialogue. One expects quick, clever bites at America’s infamously theatrical political system. Instead, the viewer gets a series of preposterous events that include a sex-tape campaign ad (as in on purpose), Ferrell dancing with snakes in a religious sect (and getting bitten) and an unfortunate attempt at making us believe that it’s possible that someone could think that the third line of the Lord’s Prayer is “Aloe vera be Thy name.”

Ferrell and Galifianakis do their best with what they’re given. The few times that you catch them going off-script are probably some of the best scenes in the movie. The rest of the cast plays it safe, with Saturday Night Live veteran Jason Sudeikis coming off as a bit amateur and Dylan McDermott’s character sputtering strange one-liners that lack the

quotable pith to even be called one-liners.

There are a handful of funny moments that draw you back in every once in a while. Watch out for Karen Maruyama as Huggins’s father’s Asian housekeeper who’s forced to speak with an African-American Dust Bowl accent to keep her job.

Perhaps there’s a reason why they don’t make more political comedies. It looks like there’s no happy medium between smart commentary and good laughs. If you’re looking for a farfetched, unrealistic take on American politics, The Campaign is your movie. Otherwise, stick to following the coverage of the real-life US election – you’re likely to find funnier moments there.

RATING: 5/10 Image: www.blog.asianinny.com

Sport

29 October ‘12

11

Tuks lose basketball final

KATLEGO PHEEHA Tuks men’s first basketball team played Vaal University of Technology (VUT) in the second game of the Gauteng University Basketball League (GUBL) finals on 20 October.

Having lost the first of the three-match series,

Tuks needed to win this match to force a third game to be played. But Tuks was unable to stop the in-form defending champions, and lost 75-64, which saw VUT win their third final in a row.

Tuks started the match fiercely, netting the first two baskets without a response from VUT. But two jump shots from power-forward Lucky Phiri

allowed VUT to take the lead in the first quarter.

By the end of the first half Tuks was trailing 38-27.

Tuks performed better in the second half by focusing on their offence. Shooting-guard Teboho Nkotsi scored a basket in the third quarter, extending his lead as Tuks’s leading

points scorer.

Even though Tuks dominated in the second half, the defending champions regained control of the match and the third quarter ended 55-46.

In the fourth quarter, Tuks made the most of every ball and contested rebounds, continuing with their offensive game. However, they lacked the intensity they had shown in the previous quarter.

VUT continued to control the game, ending the game two with a double-digit win.

“The game took a turn for the worse when our starters could not score and [we] were forced to play the bench while they kept scoring. At the end of the day, we did our best and we will be there again next year,” said Tuks1 coach Neo Mothiba.

Despite finishing the season without any trophies, 2012 was Tuks1 men’s best season in the university’s history. The club reached two finals for the first time, having made it to the University Sports South Africa (USSA) National Championships final, and the GUBL finals. The team also finished second in the league during the regular season, behind champions VUT. Mothiba was named as 2012 Coach of the Year after leading his team to their most successful season yet.

“I give it all to the guys that make sure that my job is a bit easier. I have learnt a lot from these players and they have learnt a lot from me.

The support and motivation they showed me is the only reason why this huge compliment was bestowed upon me,” he said.

Photo: Kobus Barnard

Armstrong saga: justice or witch hunt?

CARLO COCK “Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling. He deserves to be forgotten from the sport.” Those were the words of Pat McQuaid, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) president, on Monday 22 October as the sport’s world governing body announced it had accepted the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) decision to strip Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and ban him from the sport for life.

The UCI’s announcement was a response to the findings of a two-year investigation by USADA, which concluded that Armstrong and his US Postal and Discovery Channel teams colluded in what it called “the biggest doping conspiracy in the history of sport”.

The report, based on sworn testimony from several of Armstrong’s former team mates (not the results of any new doping tests conducted on Armstrong’s old blood or urine samples), states that Armstrong used banned substances, including the blood-booster EPO and steroids, as well as blood transfusions dating back to 1996. The report also labels Armstrong a “serial cheat who led the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”.

Allegations of doping have dogged Armstrong’s career ever since he made a miraculous return to cycling, having survived testicular cancer. The American has had to defend himself against claims of doping dating back to his involvement with controversial Italian doctor, Michele Ferrari. Despite constant accusations, Armstrong, through an aggressive PR campaign and the success of his Livestrong foundation, has managed to maintain his squeaky-clean image as a heroic cancer survivor and sporting idol – until now.

He has vehemently denied claims of doping and taken legal action against anyone and everyone who has previously accused him of it.

Now, though, it seems that Armstrong has finally given up. Following USADA’s ruling Armstrong, while publicly maintaining his innocence, decided to not officially challenge the USADA sanctions. In a statement, Armstrong said that USADA had engaged in “an unconstitutional witch hunt” based on “outlandish and heinous claims”. He added that he would have been more than willing to fight

the charges, but that USADA’s “one-sided and unfair” arbitration process was not worth the toll it would take on his foundation and on his family.

Twenty-six of Armstrong’s former team mates testified against him. Most significantly, Armstrong’s self-confessed “most loyal” teammate, George Hincapie, admitted that Armstrong pressured his team mates to dope.

Staff members of the former US Postal Team also signed affidavits in which they confirmed that an organised doping system was covered

up.

While Armstrong faces a life-time ban from competitive cycling, his former team mates turned whistleblowers were handed much lighter bans of six months to one year.

However, they will no longer hold titles which they won while riding for the US Postal team, which later became the Discovery Channel team, or Astana, which Armstrong joined when he returned to cycling in 2008. Hincapie and Michael Barry will retire. Matt White, another former UP Postal rider, has been fired from

his position as team manager from Cycling Australia and the Orica-GreenEdge team, and Bobby Julich has been released from his contracts with both Team Sky and the American cycling federation.

While McQuaid has strongly condemned Armstrong, he has also questioned the fairness and logic of the bans handed to Armstrong’s former team mates. McQuaid criticised Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton, two of Armstrong’s team mates, who tested positive for banned substances. Both originally denied that they used drugs, but wrote books while they served their suspensions in which they admitted guilt. Former UCI president Hein Verbruggen has been accused by the cycling fraternity of covering up positive drug tests from Armstrong’s team: he allegedly warned Armstrong when he would be tested.

Verbruggen has denied the claims and is pursuing a defamation case against journalist Paul Kimmage for reporting on this.

Armstrong has lost not only his Tour de France titles but all competitive titles from August 1 1998 up to the present.

But does his punishment seem harsh when compared to other sportsmen found guilty of doping, especially considering the fact that he has never actually tested positive for a banned substance? Landis, for example, who was found guilty of doping in 2006 and stripped of his Tour de France title from that year, was only handed a two-year ban for testosterone doping.

Despite his continued denial of any wrongdoing, the fallout of the USADA and UCI rulings has hit Armstrong hard. A week prior to the UCI announcement he stepped down as chairman of his Livestrong foundation and was dropped by long-time sponsors Nike, Oakley and RadioShack. Armstrong also removed his Tour de France titles from his Twitter biography the day after the UCI’s announcement.

Whether Armstrong really was the mastermind behind a massive doping conspiracy or is just a victim of a witch hunt, one thing is certain: he has gone from being an inspirational sporting hero to a global poster boy for doping. His image as one of the most admired sportsmen in the world has been irreparably tarnished.

Photo: media.npr.org

Akkomodasie / Accommodation in HATFIELD 2012 Alle verbly is binne loop afstand vanaf Kampus All accommodation is walking distance from Campus Vir meer inligting skakel ons kantoor by: For more information, contact our office at: 012 342 2001 3rd Floor, 347 Hilda st C/o Arcadia & Hilda street HATFIELD

Sport

AmaTuks out of Telkom Knockout

AB BASSON AmaTuks were beaten 1-0 by Mamelodi Sundows at a rainy Loftus stadium last week Tuesday and are subsequently out of the Telkom Knockout Cup. Both teams were looking to bounce back after suffering defeats in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) but it was Sundowns who came out on top to win their first game in over two months.

Sundowns dominated from the start and looked the more determined team throughout the game. They put on early pressure and defender Clayton Daniels was close to scoring in the 12th minute from a corner with

a wide shot. Teko Modise created the best opportunities for the home team in the first half with two free kicks: the first forced a save from AmaTuks keeper Washington Arubi, while the second hit the crossbar.

Sundowns did not have to wait long in the second half to get the break. A brilliant counter-attack, orchestrated by midfielder Elias Pelembe, opened the scoring in the 48th minute.

Pelembe gathered a long ball from deep and beat a few defenders before sliding the ball into the path of Anthony Laffor, who scored easily.

AmaTuks were keen to get back into the game but struggled to dispose of the Sundowns midfield. Aubrey Ngoma went close for

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AmaTuks in the 55th minute with a low drive that just went past the post. Mame Niang forced the Sundowns keeper into his first real save of the night moments later.

Sundowns were worthy victors in the end.

Teko Modise was deservedly named man of the match.

Steve Barker congratulated Sundowns after the game, but warned the Brazilians not to expect the same result when AmaTuks take them on in the PSL in a few weeks’ time. “We went into half-time thinking things [were] going well, but unfortunately a little bit of class by Pelembe created a chance from which they scored the goal. The bigger pitch suited

Sundowns’ play, but I think it will be tougher for them when we host them at our stadium in a few weeks’ time.”

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Johan Neeskens was very proud of his team. “My team was the better team on the night [and] we controlled the game. I am very happy. We did extremely well against one of the favourites,” he said.

AmaTuks face Mamelodi Sundowns in the PSL on 10 November at Tuks Stadium at 15:30.

Read Perdeby’s interview with Aubrey Ngoma online.

Photo: Kobus Barnard

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