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Are you willing to pay tax on fizzy drinks?
Michelle Hennessy looks into charging for fizzy drinks in order to shrink Britain’s growing obesity figures Page 8
Issue 248
Is it your time to lead?
Special Elections coverage pull out inside
FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
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News
Inside this issue
SU President refuses to apologise Luke Beardsworth Deputy Editor In the last issue of Pluto, the following paragraph was printed in Comment section under the name of the Students’ Union President Edward Graham-Hyde: “I would also like to add that the shameful lip service paid to those with disabilities is absolutely abhorrent and to throw down a gauntlet such as that to just get buy in to a campaign is, in my opinion, disgusting and not something that truly understands the issues that face many students with a disability.” As a result of this, the SWSS have requested an apology from the SU President. At the time of writing, he has refused to give such an apology and has been threatened with legal action unless he chooses to do so.
On top of that, we have received the following statement from SWSS Spokesperson Lee Bradshaw: “The SU Presidents claims we are exploiting disabled people are completely groundless. I myself am disabled, had to take a year out of study due to disability. I am a disabled student support worker. I also teach students with Emotional and Behavioural Diffculties and Autistic Spectrum Disorders, am fully trained in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act 2001 and am an ardent campaigner for disability equality rights. The defamatory smear is not only a risk to our campaign but to our health and well-being. I can categorically state no one involved in the campaign has such disgusting views or would exploit disabled
people in this manner. If they did they would be ordered to leave with immediate effect.” We received documentation to back up all of these claims from Mr Bradshaw and as a result, we are content that the SWSS are not pandering to the disabled student community so people will take notice of their campaigns. Edd Graham-Hyde, currently standing for re-election as SU President, gave his reason for refusing to apologise: “The reason I am not going to apologise for my opinion that I put in my last article in Pluto is simply because I actually believe that it is too easy for people to use demographics of students, whatever their personal background is. “So if you’re going to write about services being cut then that is services as a whole, you don’t need to highlight a particular demographic that will be affected most by those services because it affects the entire student community. I fail to see the rationale behind that.” Pluto would like to make it clear that the statement in question is not an opinion that we endorse, irrespective of our stance on the potential privatisation of the University of Central Lancashire.
Government education cutbacks backfire The increase in university fees has backfired on the government according to recent reports, resulting in them paying six times more than it was predicted they would save. The £9,000 fees implemented this year has left a large hole in the economy. The report, from think tank ‘million+’, has revealed that the economic costs of the new funding system are expected to reach almost £7 billion, which is 6.5 times more than the expected savings. The treasury is hoping to reduce its expenditure by £1.7 billion, including allowing universities to charge high tuition fees. This also means that they are no longer offering teaching funding through the Higher Education Funding Council for
from universities to indirect funding via student loans has kept student numbers high and looking healthy on paper.
Charlie Oldfield, page 5
Features Harlem Shake hits Nisa Adam Legg, page 10
Comment The Brit Awards and the creation of NuBore Luke Beardsworth, page 11
Sport UCLan firsts gain Victory over Manchester University Gavin Mown,
page 14
Editorial Editor-in-Chief Sophie Bennett sumedia@uclan.ac.uk 01772 894883 Deputy Editor Luke Beardsworth News Editors Matthew Murphy Anastasia Bates Tom Greggan
Photo: donkeyhotey
Jess Millington Reporter
England (HEFCE). So, why have the economic costs increased? According to million+, economic costs have risen due to; reduced earnings from graduates, lower tax revenues from the smaller number of graduates entering the jobs market and a higher write off of student loans – which are expected to increase up to 40 per cent. Furthermore, it is expected that there will also be a significant increase in the government’s own borrowing costs as a result of higher tuition fees. Figures show that students due to come to university in September 2013 are likely to pay just over £8,500 per year on average, which is around £120 more than those who came to university in September 2012. Three in four universities are now charging the top rate for at least one of their undergraduate courses. It seems though, according to Pam Tatlow, chief executive of million+, that the shift between direct funding
News The war against illegal tobacco
Cameron has left a legacy on HE
Features Editors Adam Legg Michelle Hennessy Comment Editors Megan Lincoln Charlotte Alty Elections Photos Paul Ridyard
Sports Editors Joe Angove Ste Thomas
Address Pluto, UCLan Students’ Union, Fylde Road, Preston, PR1 2TQ
@plutonews
@pluto_sport Printed by: Iliffe Print, Cambridge. www.iliffeprint.co.uk/iliffeprint Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of the Students’ Union (SU) and the SU excludes responsibility for the opinions expressed in articles authored by students. Whilst PLUTO has used reasonable endeavours to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date at the time of issue, it does not warrant that it is accurate or complete and reserves the right to make corrections in future issues. © 2012 All content is the copyright of SU UCLAN unless otherwise stated.
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PLUTO | FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013
News
UCLan entrepreneurs make national finals
NUS President Liam Burns has blogged about student employment this week. The piece came as a response to the recent NUS ‘Pound In Your Pocket’ research which looked at the working patterns of students. The first wave of results detailed how often students work and what jobs they are willing to take. The findings were that 40% of students work between nine and sixteen hours a week and that 20% of students work more than sixteen hours per week. On top of this, 20% of parent students are working between 33 and 40 hours per week, essentially holding down a full time job on top of their studies. Liam Burns said: “When I was working in a factory packing boxes for Next I was motivated by a wish to have money to pay for extras for myself. Compare this with the motives of working student parents which our research found were ‘to cover mine or my household’s basic living costs’.” More findings will be published via Telegraph Education over the coming weeks.
Matthew Murphy News Editor A group of UCLan students have made it through to the national finals of a new competition for budding entrepreneurs, landing two prestigious awards in the process. MotionBird Media, led by thirdyear Television Production student Adam Shoker, were winning finalist at the northwest finals of the Young Enterprise Start Up competition, and the group are now heading to London in May to battle it out with the best in the country. Adam, 26, spoke of his delight on behalf of the team, as he also surpassed hundreds of other entrants to claim the Student of the Year award for leadership and tenacity, which he says is his biggest UCLan achievement. “We showed that we had a fantastic idea, and the fact that we’ve made profit proves we are successful and deserve to go through to the finals,” He stated. “As for my award, I was pretty shocked. I didn’t find out until the day. But it’s a great honour for me to represent the university.” The opportunity for the group to start their own company came about as part of the module Enterprise Development and Production, where the students decided to put together a video production business. In doing so they’ve now made more money than all the other companies put together at the Young Enterprise event, and their work has attracted attention from a number of top internationally renowned companies. Adam encourages fellow
Finalists: MotionBird Media pose at the northwest finals at Liverpool John Moore University students to take up the module that made their project possible. “It’s fantastic giving students the opportunity to do something like this. The whole idea of coming to university is to give people a taste of what it’s like in the real world, and this module really sparks your imagination, and tests you. I’d definitely recommend it to others.” Gavin Allanwood, head of the module, and one of the group’s mentors for this project, replicated
Adam’s view, and thinks more students should have the ability to start up their own company. “We are the only area of the university that offers the opportunity for students to start their own company through the Young Enterprise organisation. I would like to see the module offered to students on a much wider range of courses.” Gavin also added acknowledgement of the group’s efforts, calling for students to support them at the
national finals. “I think that the group have a real chance of winning at the UK final in May and I would encourage students across the university to support them in any way they can!” He said. MotionBird Media will be one of six in competition for best student company in the UK, and the successes could continue, as Adam admitted the group were pondering on making a career of their production business after they graduate.
Green fingers at UCLan Tom Greggan Deputy News Editor
Eighteen students from University of Central Lancashire’s Preston and Burnley campuses gave Platts Field Park in Manchester a facelift as part of Student Volunteering Week 2013. The students teamed up with other students from Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan, Salford and Bolton Universities to regenerate a community garden in the park in the Rusholme area of the city. The five universities were also joined by
NUS President blogs on our jobs
community groups Envirolution UK, Coffee Crank and Friends of Platt Fields Park. The team of 70 braved cold and snowy conditions to clean up the area and they even built fences from sticks and branches to keep geese away from the grass. Bob Walley from UCLan’s Centre for Volunteering and Community Leadership helped to organise and co-ordinate the event and he said: “This was a great opportunity for students from different universities to make a real impact. I love doing these kinds of events and getting students involved in the community, it’s a vital part of being a student and
getting the full university experience.” The student feedback from the event was extremely positive. Chelsea, a first year Community Leadership student said: “Excellent turn out, good to see the results of the work we did.” Hamza, also in his first year on the Community Leadership course said: “Awesome day. Can’t wait for one in the summer.” UCLan student Vicky said: “A great opportunity to be involved with other Universities and get experience through volunteering,” whilst Rachel said: “An awesome chance to get out and meet new people while working for a worthwhile cause.”
UCLan students get their hands dirty
Police appeal for Squires headbutt info Police have issued a CCTV picture of a man wanted for questioning over a nightclub assault. A 20-year-old man was headbutted in Squires nightclub whilst on a night out on the 11 December last year. He suffered a swollen and bleeding nose in the unprovoked attack. It took place at around 2:35am. The assault was one of many that took place in Squires on that night. PC Richard Brady, of Preston police, said: “If anybody recognises the man in the CCTV or has any information about this incident, then I would urge them to contact police.” Anybody with any information can contact Lancashire police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Alternatively, they can visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org.
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FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
News
UCLan graduate wins award UCLan visits for journalistic talent BBC Megan Lincoln Comment Editor A UCLan student has been crowned the Most Promising Undergraduate Student of the Year. Natalie Mortimer, from last year’s graduating class, made the shortlist for the award which was compiled entirely of UCLan journalism graduates. The New Talent Awards, run by the Periodicals Training Council, have 17 categories open to anyone who is a first-time professional in their field, or one for editors. Natalie, 26, who currently resides in Canada, said: “I was so excited to hear that I’d won the New Talent award, I was eagerly following the event on Twitter and couldn’t believe it when everyone started congratulating me! I’ve already been asked to oversee the editorial on
the website relaunch at work after my boss heard about the win, so I couldn’t be happier. She received the award after submitting three pieces of work to the competition, one of which was an article on the dangers of online dating. This impressed the judges, and was published on the front of the Big Issue in the North. They described her work: “With superb range and versatility, Natalie delivers soft features and hard-hitting investigative pieces to an equally excellent standard.” As she currently works in Toronto, as an Executive Assistant for website Cyberplex, it was impossible for her to receive her award at the ceremony in London. However, Natalie keeps in touch with her English roots by continuing to write on a freelance basis for The Big Issue. The two runners up in the Most Promising Undergraduate category were also UCLan graduates. Francesca Dent is now taking an
MA in Photography at UCLan and Emma Gordon currently works as assistant editor on the John Lewis Chronicle in Newcastle. Cathy Darby, UCLan senior lecturer and MA Magazine Journalism course leader, said: “The short list was a magnificent hat trick for UCLan for the second year running. It reflects
our students’ abilities, versatility and willingness to go that extra mile in research and interviewing. “I am a very proud tutor who knows they will do well in a creative, dynamic and fulfilling industry. It’s good to show that talent doesn’t stop north of Watford Gap!”
Honoured: Natalie Mortimer collects award
vacation
A group of broadcast journalism postgraduates enjoyed a behind the scenes visit to the BBC’s new studio at Media City in Salford. The UCLan students watched a transmission of the news programme, ‘North West Tonight’, from the TV gallery as it went out on air. They were also fortunate enough to receive a tour of the news operation by BBC Newsgathering Editor, Jim Clarke. Annabel Tiffin and Roger Johnson, presenters of the 6 o’clock news programme also showed the group around the studio and gave them exclusive career tips and advice. Caroline Hawtin, the course leader for the postgraduate Broadcast Journalism course said: “It was a great opportunity for the students to witness a fast paced, live news programme go out on air and to get some advice from those in front of and behind the cameras.”
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News
“I thought I was going to die” says UCLan car crash victim Luke Beardsworth Deputy Editor A University of Central Lancashire student flipped her car five times on Saturday February 23. The incident took place at 23:30 on Wigan Road which is just outside of Preston. Rachel Blacklidge, who was driving the car, said: “I thought I was going to die. The police said the seatbelts saved our lives but we should have still died in that crash. Although my inexperience caused it, it also saved us. If I hadn’t of let go of the wheel we would have died” Rachel is a Psychology student currently studying in her first year. She lives with her Mum and Step-dad in Bamber Bridge. Rachel described the accident: “It was dark. There was no lighting other than the lights from my car and no warning of a bend. I didn’t see it coming until the last second. I turned and tried to straighten up but totally lost control. I braked but we’d gone up the curb into the grass so it didn’t really work.” Rachel and her friends, Kharn and Josh, had picked up their friend Shannon from Clayton Brook. They were planning to spend the evening together at Rachel’s house.
“I took my hands off the wheel and covered my face. We smashed through two fences and I thought we were going to stop but there was a ditch that set us off rolling. All the windows smashed, Kharn’s head went through a window and we rolled five times. The airbag went off in my face. As we were rolling I just prayed that we would stop and luckily we landed on the wheels and not the roof ”. She continued: “The car was steaming so I asked if everyone was okay and then to get out quickly. Everyone was bleeding and I was confused so I rang my Mum but couldn’t get through. I rang 999 instead and a man stopped to help. Kharns head was bleeding and he was struggling to breathe. Police and two ambulances came and took us to hospital.” Lorraine Taylor, mother of Rachel Blacklidge, said: “It is every mothers worst nightmare and for me it was real. “I would like to thank the Police, Paramedics and all the staff in the A&E department of the Royal Preston hospital for their wonderful compassionate care.” Despite the seriousness of the incident, Rachel has whiplash and minor spinal injuries that can be treated with paracetamol.
Served up a treat
Mayhem:What the trail of destruction the car left
War against illegal tobacco Students who have bought missold tobacco products have helped a campaign, led by the Lancashire Evening Post, to tackle the sale of illicit tobacco in the Preston area. The campaign, entitled Don’t Let Them Make a Packet, resulted in a large number of articles being published both online and in print that explained how a Lancashire crime ring has been smuggling in low quality tobacco and repackaging it to be sold to unsuspecting students and civilians. Trading Standards chiefs and Lancashire Crimestoppers have suggested the campaign has helped increase the number of people
who came forward with information by a third, with the largest improvement being in Preston. Authorities are pursuing these new leads in an attempt to shut down the group, or possibly groups responsible for the sales. Multiple students have approached Pluto to share their experiences of buying the mis-advertised goods. Mr Smith, the alias of a student who has asked to remain anonymous, admitted to buying three 50g pouches of what he was told to be Golden Virginia tobacco for £20. He added: “I knew it was fake as soon as I saw it, but I didn’t want to call him out. I tried smoking the first pouch and it tasted f*cking vile so I just threw the other two and have that one untouched in my drawer.
“I wouldn’t recommend buying it for that cheap because it’s just gonna be full of trash and sh*t that’ll eat you up from the inside.” Mr Smith didn’t mention whether he was among those to give
information to the campaign. Publicity brought forward by the LEP over the illicit sales has helped Lancashire authorities achieve a much larger amount of community support than those of neighbouring areas.
Photo: Dominicspics
Charlie Oldfield Reporter
Illegal: Much of the tobacco comes in legitimate packets
Students from the University of Central Lancashire were served a tasty treat at Harris library. Celebrity chef Paul Heathcote MBE gave an entrepreneurial talk to high-achieving students about how he climbed the career ladder. In his talk, Paul highlighted how he learnt from the best whilst honing his cooking talents in the kitchens at The Connaught Hotel, The Savoy and Le Monde aux Quat’Saison. Paul then left to start his own business and develop his portfolio, earning two Michelin stars in 1994. During the session, he told them: “Being a chef and an entrepreneur taught me to plan and to listen a lot. “The keys to success are asking good questions and mixing with really good, successful people. The same can be said when you start your career in your job. Don’t go for average, go work for the best even if you start at the bottom.” The session was arranged by LaunchPad, a scheme in the University whose goals are to help students achieve their professional goals. Stephen Huyton, a BA(Hons) Marketing Management student from Chorley, said: “The presentation by Paul was really good. He’s a great inspirational speaker from the North West and has worked his way up in a successful business manner. “It was interesting to hear how someone who comes from Bolton has turned into a nationally known businessman with a successful company. It has given us all the inspiration to actually go out and achieve our set goals.”
A slice of the action Robert Cowan has been crowned UCLan’s fastest pizza eater in association with Dominos. In a competition held in Source Bar, Robert managed to eat an 11 inch cheese and tomato pizza (including crusts) in the fastest time of 2 minutes, 26 seconds. As a result, he won free drinks vouchers and free Dominos pizza for the rest of the term.
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FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
News
Sam’s Barbers fined for avoiding TV licence fees Charlotte Alty Deputy Comment Editor Local barbershop Sam’s Barbers has recently been ordered
by magistrates to pay fines up to £330 after being caught with no TV Licence. Samir Musr, owner of the barbershop on Friargate, Preston,
Illegal: Much of the tobacco comes in legitimate packets
was made to pay out £135 for using a TV on the premises, £180 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge after his hearing in Leyland Magistrates’ Court. Any businesses found without a TV Licence are also automatically required to buy one, costing £145.50, or face further prosecution. Businesses that show television programmes as they are broadcast, for customers or staff, must have a valid TV Licence, even if there is living accommodation on the premises; this must be covered by a separate licence. Any business found without one is breaking the law and risks prosecution, meaning Sam’s Barbers could have been facing a fine of up to £1,000. TV Licensing spokesman for northern England Lucy Baird, said: “We appreciate that these are tough times for businesses, but to be fair to the majority who do pay the licence fee, we have to take action against
those who watch TV illegally. “Those businesses who do try to get away with it might find the price of being caught to be higher than just a fine. We would rather businesses think ahead and check if they need a licence than risk being prosecuted.’’ More than 2,700 businesses were caught without a TV Licence in 2010 and 2011. Research has found that any small gains made by cutting corners are of little importance compared to maintaining a good business reputation. The TV in Sam’s Barbers is now switched off and according to a member of staff, it is not working anyway. They have since applied for a TV licence. TV Licensing are now encouraging other businesses to make sure they are aware of the guidelines they must follow in order to avoid prosecution. A licence costs £145.50 and can be bought in minutes online at www. tvlicensing.co.uk/business
Forgotten Spaces hosted in Preston The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is holding their 2013 Forgotten Spaces in Preston. The competition has previously been held in London, Newcastle and Sheffield and gives the architects, planners or anyone interested in design to come up with ideas to re-generate places in the city. It is open to all university students and professionals within the arts, design and built environment vocations located in the UK. Entrants can choose their own site or choose from a shortlist of sites including Avenham car park, Friargate Ringway or Winckley Square Courtyard. The full shortlist of six sites and the competition brief can be seen at www. architecture.com/forgottenspaces. UCLan will be hosting events and workshops for people wishing to enter the competition throughout March, of which details have yet to be announced.
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PLUTO | FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013
News
Mini Mart mayhem: student UCLan on One shop held at knife point Show
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A UCLan professor of English and American Studies made an appearance on the BBC’s One Show on Friday February 22. Alan Rice, a professor at the university, specialises in the area of black Atlantic studies and featured in a package by presenter Dan Snow. The area of the programme features the film epic Lincoln, which saw Daniel Day-Lewis win best actor at the Oscars this year. He focuses on Lancashire’s struggle in Victorian times when the American Civil War disrupted the local industry. The popularity of the film has brought the topic into light and Professor Rice was interviewed for his knowledge and expertise. He said: “Abraham Lincoln is very much in the media spotlight at moment thanks to Spielberg’s Oscar nominated film and so Dan wanted to investigate the famous president’s links with the North West of England.” Professor Rice added: “Unemployment in Burnley affected 10,000 of the 13,000 operatives in the town. Despite these terrible conditions many of the workers in the North West refused to support the slaveholding South and garnered tremendous praise from Lincoln.” The programme can be found on BBC iPlayer.
Languages Carnival The languages department and the WorldWise Centre hosted a carnival in the Atrium last week. The event acted as a social event for language students and to teach other students about celebrations that happen around the world in the run up to festival season. Staff members dressed up in costume for the hour-and-a-half long event whilst students were encouraged to make and decorate their own mask. There was also a catwalk competition, a face painting stall and a quiz. Costumes for the event included togas, matadors, kimonos and a pirate. Amelia Riley, a first-year Modern Languages student won the mask competition and said of the event: “The turnout was quite good with a wide range of students of different nationalities taking part.”
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Held up: Mini Mart is a popular shop for students in Avenham
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Police are asking residents to be vigilant after a shopkeeper in a mini mart on Avenham Lane, Preston, was the victim of a knife attack. Shop owner Salim Patel was cashing up at Avenham Mini Mart when a criminal wearing a surgical mask burst into the shop producing an eight inch kitchen knife, demanding he hand over money. The incident happened at around 9pm on Tuesday February 19. The 37-year old, who was alone in the shop at the time, said that the thug had his face covered by a light blue mask. When the robber produced the knife, the victim handed over a small amount of cash but the robber brandished the blade again and demanded more. The father of two said: “I
didn’t have time to think about it. He had a large knife so I handed it over, I was scared”. The robber is thought to have escaped with around £500. DC Ian Best of Preston CID has said: “This is a serious offence where a man going about his business was confronted by a cowardly offender. “This person is a danger to the area and we need the public’s assistance to catch him”. However this is not the first time that the mini mart has been targeted. Over the years, there have been other attacks on the shop; one in September 2008 and another in September 2009. Mr Patel only took over the shop in 2010. The robber is white, 5ft 10in and aged between 20 and 22. He is skinny with light, blonde, cropped hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a grey hoodie. Anybody with any information is asked to call the police on 101.
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FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
Features
Doctors prescribe tax on fizzy drinks
In their latest effort to combat obesity, UK doctors are proposing a tax on fizzy drinks among other changes to shrink the nation’s growing waist line. Deputy Features Editor, Michelle Hennessy, investigates.
Photo by: Tobyotter
A
medical group representing most of the UK’s doctors announced last week that it wanted to put a tax on fizzy drinks to help tackle the growing issue of obesity in England. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represent 220,000 doctors, want to increase fizzy drink sale by 20% in hope that adults and children will choose healthier alternatives, such as water or juice. The group have said that recent findings suggest that sugared fizzy drinks pose as big a health problem as cigarettes, known for causing illnesses such as lung cancer. The chairman of the academy, Professor Terence Stephenson, describes the UK as the “fat man of Europe”. He continued: “We see it across all our disciplines, from the GP’s surgery to the operating table and everything in between. “So it is no exaggeration to say that it is the biggest public health crisis facing the UK today. The consequences of obesity include diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and people
Will taxing fizzy drink help with Britian’s obesity problem?
are dying needlessly from avoidable diseases.” In the latest Health Survey for England, the Department of Health found 62.8% of adults and 30.3% of children were overweight or obese, with these figures expected to rise to 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women by 2050 if the issue is left unresolved. Cardiologist, Aseem Malhotra, helped put together the report to tackle obesity and explained how some cans of fizzy drinks contain up to nine teaspoons of sugar: “They drive weight gain by interfering with hormones that are thought to control appetite. They lead to type two diabetes.” Tamworth in Staffordshire has been labelled the fattest town in England, with nearly one in three residents having issues with their weight. The North West was the fourth ‘largest’ region in the UK behind the East Midlands, Scotland and the West Midlands, with an average BMI of 27.9. Doctors say that adults should have a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 in order to eliminate risks
of weight related diseases. The director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, Gavin Partington, doesn’t believe that this will help the obesity epidemic the UK is facing: “We share the recognition that obesity is a major public health priority but reject the idea that a tax on soft drinks, which contribute just 2% of the total calories in the average diet, is going to address a problem which is about overall diet and levels of activity. “Over the last 10 years, the consumption of soft drinks containing added sugar has fallen by 9% while the incidence of obesity has been increasing, and 61% of soft drinks now contain no added sugar.” It is not just the fizzy drink industry that has come under scrutiny, however. Doctors are also calling for junk food adverts to be banned before the watershed at 9pm, and fast food chains near schools and leisure centres to be closed. Health Minister, Doctor Dan Poulter, however, has insisted that this is not the “silver bullet” in tackling the UK’s problem with obesity.
What do you think? UCLan students have their say about the proposals. Michael Barber - 2nd year Business joint honours student “I think it’s quite pointless, there’s a lot of other things that are causing people to be overweight, it’s not just fizzy drinks. Things like fast food restaurants, chocolates, sweets, they all contribute to it.” Lauren Haigh – 2nd year Psychology student “I think it’s unfair on the people that aren’t obese to tax fizzy drinks. Not being obese myself, and I buy fizzy drinks, it would cost me more.”
Anthonia Onyeibe – Phd Language, Literature and International Studies “I think it’s an individual’s decision, so if you want to cut down on it you should be able to discipline yourself so it shouldn’t affect those of us that aren’t obese.” Heidi Gore – 2nd year Business student “I think it’s a good idea, I don’t drink fizzy drinks myself but if it’s a higher price then people are more likely to buy it.”
Who’s Next?
Pluto speaks exclusively to candidates running in this years Students’ Union Elections on why they think they have what it takes to fill the positions. From the Student Affairs Committee to council.
FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
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Elections
President Edd Graham-Hyde
Current President: Edd Graham-Hyde The President of the Students’ Union represents UCLan students on a national level. They run the union along with the management staff and head the team of sabbatical officers. The ideal candidate should be organised, be a composed media presence and be incredibly adaptable.
Why do you want the role?
I want the role because I feel actually there is a lot more that can be done that requires a lot more than a year and I think consistency is the key.
Ben Latham
What experience can you bring to the position? I’m the current Student Union President and I’m standing for re-election so I’ve done it for a year and what you often find with Student Union officers is they take about six to nine months to train so I’ve been through that process so I feel that I could hit the ground running and you’d get a full year out of your hopefully elected President rather than just a few good months after they’ve received their full training.
What experience can you bring to the position? I’ve been the APO for this year, so I think that puts me in fantastic stead, obviously I’ve been in contact with a lot of students from clubs, societies and RAG so I have a feel for what students want from the union.
What are your top three priorities?
The first one is student advantage. I think we don’t have an advantage system that covers all of your years here whilst you’re studying. The Vice-Chancellor is resigning this year and there is a new Vice-Chancellor coming in. It’s the single most important priority of a President to make sure that the new Vice-Chancellor is introduced properly and that they’ve got the key issues of a student body at heart. My last priority is; at a time when we’re struggling for money because of the way the sector is with lower student numbers and I want to get better funding models for the union for things like sports, opportunities so that equally you’d just have a better student experience whilst studying at UCLan.
Amal Idriss
Why do you want the role? I have previous experience being elected twice as Student Governor at Blackburn College (where I carried out duties such as dealing with Board Staff) and at Youth MP of Blackburn with Darwen (where I represented Blackburn with Darwen, regionally and also nationally for example debating in the House of Commons). What experience can you bring to the position? A main item on my agenda is the privatisation of UCLan. I am against it. There is a lack of awareness around this issue and there has being no consultation with students regarding this. I plan on creating a politically active and democratic SU, which gives student a voice in the university. What are your top three priorities? I want to raise more awareness and movement within the following student led/ university campaigns: Anti-privatisation -I believe this to be bad for the students and the university. Privatisation means profit led: money, not the students’ wellbeing will be a priority. Courses may be cut or merged if not creating profit. Fees may increase even more. With the backing of the SU and students alike, I look towards preventing this from happening. Promote Equality - My second campaign objective is to have a zero tolerance policy to any type of harassment within the university. These include sexism, racism, homophobia, Islamaphobia and ableism. Liberation in the Middle East - Protest and Fight to show solidarity against Israel’s illegal occupation in Palestine to achieve basic Human Rights. I will campaign for the SU to be twinned with an SU in Palestine. So Stop Austerity, promote democracy, Vote Amal Privatisation should not allowed
Why do you want the role? This year I’ve been the activities and participation officer, so as part of the SAC I’ve seen what the presidential role involves and I believe I’d have the exact skills set that would be perfect for the role.
What are your top three priorities? Everything falls under transparency really, I want transparency from the university, I know a lot of students have been frustrated at things like the advantage and not knowing the future of their course so I want the university to be transparent as to the changes that they are making as well as the union being more transparent as well and better communication between students and the SAC, so we keep students involved with all the processes all throughout the year.
Why do you want the role?
Jason Smith
I’ve been working in student politics in quite a while for the last three years while I have been at university, I’ve listened to students, I’ve worked for them, I’ve campaigned for them and been involved in sports team, societies, and everything else but that’s just my experience , that’s not why I should have a job. I enjoy it, I enjoy working here, I enjoy doing stuff around the university, I enjoy the student lifestyle. I want to continue that and I want to do the best that I can for the people that are here.
What experience can you bring to the position?
I’m obviously a mature student, some might say a vintage one, I’m 43 years old and I was in the forces for 10 years when I left school, I travelled the world, seen lots of different cultures, worked in lots of different places, worked in industry for 12 years, ran my own business for five years. I bring all of those transferable skills, all of those experiences to this job so I’m professional about everything that I do. I’m sure that I can carry on and bring that forward and I listen to the people and what they want.
What are your top three priorities?
The old cliché’s really, whatever this year throws at the union is to deal with those things in a professional manner. There’s lots of issues on the table at the moment: there’s been stuff over the last few years to do with tuition fees, to do with the disparity between students between UCLan advantage as first years and the rest of the years having to pay for stuff, which is evidently unfair. Try and bring some kind of social justice to the university life as well so try and equal the playing fields so that everyone has got a fair shot.
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PLUTO | FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013
Elections
The Education Officer represents students across a range of educational issues and is responsible for organising the large group of both course and school representatives. The ideal candidate should have a passion for helping other students on an individual level on top of as a collective.
Josh Nicholetts
Why do you want the role?
I just feel over my time at UCLan I’ve had a great experience at this university and the union contributes to student life. I want to be a part of the union and take it forward. I see a lot of good things that it does but it has room for improvement
Education Officer
Why do you want the role? “I think it would be a really good experience and I’ve had a really great time here at UCLan and I just really want to give something back and improve on the things What experience can you bring to the position? I was on my school council in year 6 so obviously I’m qualified. I do counselling and education so I’ve got the knowledge. I can talk to people and I’ve got the education knowledge and I know the system, I know how it works. What are your three priorities? Number 1 is bringing in anonymous marking – just your G number at the top of the paper and that’s it. Number 2 is paperless assignments so reducing printing costs and affecting the environment less and number 3 was more cohesion for combined honours students. A lot of schools don’t really know what goes on with us and I really want to make it a lot simpler for the schools and students.
Adam Bland
What experience can you bring to the position?
What experience can you bring to the position? I’m a course rep so I know how to deal with students and I know what they want in terms of education. What are your top three priorities? I want to have a look at time tabling, I want to get SOLLIS out of Field, I want more transparency between uni and students.
Why do you want the role? I want the role because I believe I can make a difference for the students at this university.
Sarah Macmillan
What are your top three priorities? My three main points are going to be time tabling issues, that has been a major issue this year. Try and stack up lectures over a few days rather than one a day, to maintain a relationship with our Burnley students and get them more involved and look at the short loans in the library to see if they can get them extended.
What are your three priorities?
Claire Wilkinson
Why do you want the role? I think I suit it best and I want to make change.
What experience can you bring to the position? Well I have always worked in societies and I have been on the committee with them so I believe that I am a team player and I know how things are run.
I’ve worked with my society closely so we often work with the union on events. I had the opportunity to study abroad in Denmark and that showed me a whole different way of running a union and possibly an experience not many other candidates will have. When you see how it’s run in a foreign country its totally different so I feel I can bring new ideas and experiences to the role.
The student advice centre needs to be promoted more people need to be aware of it and the grading and marking system. Sometimes people are treated very unfairly, they need to be aware of their rights and secondly there’s a potential privatisation of UCLan and I think students need to be aware of it and what’s going on and I will campaign against that. Finally I think that people should have international opportunities and we should have more links with other universities.”
Tina Schwind
Why do you want the role? I want to continue supporting students, and I’ve realised the issues that some students are facing and I want to bring them up on a higher level. What experience can you bring to the position? “I’ve studied my undergraduate here full time and I’m now doing my post-graduate parttime so I can represent quite a vast amount of the students. I’m currently helping out with the mature student’s society, the second age society, so I can represent them within the university as well. What are your three priorities? “My top three priorities are, making sure the good things the student’s union do, like the course reps and the school reps, that continues. I want to work towards getting the Gilbertson award back and more support for post-graduate students and under-graduate students that want to carry on studying at UCLan. I’d like to help people that are studying different types of courses
Kayleigh Ramsden
Why do you want the role? This year is my second time round so I’m hoping this time I’ve had more experience this year and I’m looking forward to helping the union and keep pushing it forward. What experience can you bring to the position? It’s my second time around running. I’ve been working in the student union advice centre, learning a bit more about the students and how I can help them. What are your three priorities? This year again there’s quite a few things overlapping from last year, there’s still timetabling issues that I would like to iron out because it’s starting to drag on. Things like fines from libraries, people getting locked out of their systems – it’s working on that making sure that it doesn’t actually interrupt their learning when it doesn’t need to and also working more again with the course rep system now it’s moved into the student union, making sure everything to do with that is flowing well.”
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FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
Elections
Activities and Participations Officer Current Activities and Participation Officer: Ben Latham The role APO is in charge of ensuring students get involved with the Students’ Union as much as possible. It is their job to increase the profile of the many societies and sports teams on campus. Vaness Silva
Why do you want the role? I just want to make life better for students, make them feel like they can come to the SU and meet people and just make them feel comfortable. Especially when you’re first coming to uni because it’s very trying and they’re learning independence so I will make them feel welcome.
Sam Bloomfield
What experience can you bring to the position? I’ve been chair of my society for two years so I kind of want to try that in a bigger scale and hopefully that’s enough experience. You’re always learning.
What experience can you bring to the position? I’ve had huge experience from setting up a team from scratch and having great success and making it the biggest BUCs team at UCLan. I believe that I’m hardworking and I can ensure that we progress forward in sports, societies and especially charity work.
What are your top three priorities? I want to try and make societies kind of more out there. Sports clubs are quite popular but the societies are still a bit shy so I just want to bring them out of their shell, collaborate with each other and just try and make it like a big family I guess, and just trying to expose people to new interests. They might try a society about an event they’ve never seen before and they’ve never tried. It’s the same with sports clubs trying to get the shy people interested in sports. They might find a hobby that they never knew about. So it’s about trying to expose them.
Kirstie Curruthers
Why do you want the role? I’ve come in to graduate from uni, I’ve obviously been looking for work and where I’m going to go after I’ve graduated having worked in the union for the past year I have learnt about how much the student committee does, the student affairs committee and what the union can do for students and how they can help them and I just really want to be a part of that and give something back to the people that are going to be at uni after I have left. What experience can you bring to the position? I worked in the students union for the past year in the new opportunities centre so I’ve had lots of contact with people and societies, a bit with people in clubs and just generally students. I want to use this experience of knowing what students want and need and what they want to happen in their life at uni and I just want to make sure that I can create that change for them. What are your top three priorities? I haven’t finalised anything yet but I want to work on the Raising and Giving. I want to take it to the next level and really improve on what he has done. Again, whilst I’ve been at uni I’ve had a limited participation in sport but I really want to get women, ladies, girls into sport and really get participation numbers up. With societies, I know that they’ve had a lot of trouble this year and I just want to make the whole process of re-affiliating, running it and to make new societies easier and more streamlined.”
Why do you want the role? I want the role of APO because I’ve been heavily involved in the students union for the past two years and I think there’s plenty of things that the students union do well, but I think there’s a lot of area for improvement in all aspects. Sports, societies and raising and giving.
What are your top three priorities? I want to give students ownership over the raising and giving and making sure that individual fundraising charity groups, smaller groups can have backing from the raising and giving committee. I want societies to be given their own identity whilst remaining under the UCLan banner and I want to expand the Lancashire cup and possibly develop a UCLan sports day.”
Matthew Fargher
Why do you want the role? I feel that there has been some work done by the current officer and I feel that I can build on that, work with a lot of the sports teams and get some interaction with some other teams such as the Burnley campus and bring it all together. I feel that we can build on what we’ve already got. What experience can you bring to the position? So far, I’ve been at the uni for a couple of years now, I’m and M and M mentor, I work within the Student Union, I work at Source Bar, at 53, so I’m quite involved already, I’m also a course rep so I just want to build on that, I see this as the next step for me. What are your top three priorities? My top three priorities are to help with fund raising, there has been a lot of work for RAG week which Ben has done, which I think has been brilliant. I think that we can encourage that and create additional funding for them. Finally, what ideas students want as well as what we want and work alongside students to give them opportunities to enhance their CVs, working with the Bridge to offer jobs and then working with other agencies to help boost our CVs and to give the best to our students.
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PLUTO | FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013
Elections
Current Media Officer: Sophie Bennett The role of media officer takes control of all aspects of union media. They become editor-in-chief of Pluto and PR1, as well as the head of Frequency Radio and PSTV. They lead a large team of student media volunteers and, as such, the ideal candidate should be a strong team leader.
Media Officer Why do you want the role? I can make a positive change to student’s lives especially with regards to media. This year has shown that we need a strong leader in charge of media, someone that can stand up for what they believe is right. I think that I am that person.
What experience can you bring to the position? I’ve been involved heavily with student media in the past, I am currently head of PSTV, the student television station, I’ve worked with Chelsea football club in their magazine department, Preston North End with their team and I’ve worked in the Burnley Express as well.
Micheal Bailey Why do you want the role? I have endeavoured to work hard to create something that I can be proud of and give something back to the students of this university and now it is time, I feel, that I continue to work to help create a student media that is open, a student media that students feel they are a part of, a student media that represents the hard work and the effort that is put in by different societies.
Why do you want the role? I want the role because I believe that I’m the person that can help student media reach its full potential. What experience can you bring to the position? Over recent years I’ve worked for Sky News, BBC, The Daily Star and a wide range of regional newspapers and radio stations. So the skills that I’ve learnt from those as well as the Journalism degree: I’ll be able to apply those to the role of media officer.
What experience can you bring to the position? I have gone from being a presenter on Frequency radio, to station manager to producer. I have also worked at Preston FM, I studied a course qualifying me in community radio. I can use that experience that I have generated over the past few years to create something that our students can feel genuinely a part of.
Christopher Brett-Hall
What are your top three priorities? To encourage a greater diversity of students to take part in student media, regardless of their background or chosen area of study. You don’t have to be a journalism student to work on Pluto, you don’t have to work in media to work at PSTV, all you need is passion and drive. My second point is to increase the coverage that we can give to our societies so that they feel that they are truly represented and also I want to reward the hard work and effort that’s put forward by our volunteers so that they feel that their work is really going to something brilliant.
Ali Stafford
Why do you want the role? Because I’m very heavily involved with the SU and media at the university for the last three years and I want to carry on but actually lead it in more of a powerful role and be able to take it to where I believe it should be and give my experience to it and hopefully take it above and beyond.
Adam Howes
What are your top three priorities? Three main priorities would be: • To introduce more media training to produce a more professional and higher quality end product. • To engage more with the university sports teams and societies from the union to highlight some of the achievements of those groups that often go unnoticed. • To remain editorially independent from the rest of the union at all times.
Why do you want the role? I want the role because I think I would be an excellent candidate. I’m not on a media course, I’m doing marketing and I want to look at it from a marketing perspective and advertising and promoting student media.
What experience can you bring to the position? I’ve been manager at Frequency radio station for the last three years and I have a very big drive and passion for the media at this uni – for all four of the media brands at this uni and I’d like to get more involved with helping the other three brands like I’ve helped Frequency. What are your top three priorities? With Pluto especially more freedom and less scrutiny from the SU and the SAC. Promotion is a big one for all four brands to get them out there and more events putting on from the four brands around university and around campus and Preston in general just to get them out there and really promote the brilliant work and stuff that comes out of media at this university.
What are your top three priorities? It’s time that PR1 and Pluto are revolutionised and bought into the 21st century; including the development of an app where you can download online magazines for both these copies, including one with PR1 fully online which will not only give us a green alternative as a magazine but that can be re-invested into other areas. I aim to provide the voice of truth and I will stand up for what I believe in. This year where people have thought that there was a conflict of interest, I will always go for the true story. It’s about time that there was an ethical approach to student media and in particular the person who is leading that. Also, it is about time that PSTV received its own news channel, so it can operate between the different news outlets, in particular Pluto and PSTV
What experience can you bring to the position? I have experience with advertising- electronic marketing. I’ve also got an experience in media with online media such as websites and stuff like that. What are your top three priorities? My main priority is to get everyone involved. I want to make sure everyone from different clubs; societies feel they can be involved in the student media. I also want to promote student media and showcase talent from different courses.”
Kerry Howard
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FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
Elections
Campaigns Officer Current Campaigns Officer: Lee Mac This officer is in charge of running campaigns for the benefit of students to improve their all round experience. Campaigns such as SHAG Week and Green Week have been run this year by the current officer. Whoever steps into this role will have big shoes to fill. An ideal candidate would bring new ideas to the role to build on the excellent work done this year. Why do you want the role? I’ve learnt a lot whilst being here at UCLan, and it’s taught me to stand up for myself and for what I believe in and I’d quite like to do that for other students as well.
Sabrina Rojas
Danielle C. Sotomi
What experience can you bring to the position? To put it nicely, the experience of being a big mouth. I have a reputation for taking what people said, if you have a problem you can come to me and I can put that problem across to someone else and get results.
What experience can you bring to the position? I have taken part in quite a few SU projects before, such as the ‘Thousand Kisses’ chlamydia campaign and the ‘World’s Aids Day’, I’m also an M and M mentor and I’ve been a course rep for two years so I’ve got those skills now to help students .
What are your top three priorities? Firstly, education, a lot of students have come to me saying “we’d like to have more access to our lecturers”. I would like to be able to campaign so the students are more in charge. Secondly, campaign for more social activities because as students need the make the most of our experience. Fianlly, taking care of things that matter to you. Do you have someone to talk to when you have a problem?
What are your top three priorities? My top three priorities are sexual health, I’m a sexual health student so I’m passionate about that. Also, feedback, I’ve spoken to quite a few different students and feedback still seems to be a problem , also, accommodation – student accommodation – and finance.
Why do you want the role? I believe I can implement change through our campaigns and progress on what Lee, the existing Campaigns Officer, has done already. What experience can you bring to the position? Being Media Officer this year, I’ve got lots of experience. I know his role thoroughly, through and through and I’ve seen his falls as well. Not many falls, but I’ve seen his falls so I’ll be able to improve on them. What are your top three priorities? I’ve got loads of priorities. One is ‘Your Hall, Your Call’ where I want to get students to have their say on creating flat rate charges as third years are going to be charged less for accommodation which isn’t right. I’ve got ‘SOS’ which is ‘Stressed Out Students’ which is going to be a campaign in January to help stressed out students in exam periods and I’m just going to carry on implementing the existing campaigns and hopefully do well at it.
Why do you want the role? I want the role because I feel that the UCLan SU is an amazing place to be. I feel I would be able to bring something to the SU.
Sophie Bennett
Whitney Griffiths
Why do you want the role? I believe that I make the students life better. I can give them a voice and let their opinions be heard and give them the option to make student’s life better. What experience can you bring to the position? Well I used to be head girl so obviously I’ve done campaigning in a lower scale. Also I’m a PR student so I have the skills and the knowledge to hopefully bring a better future to them. What are your top three priorities? My main priority is the students, obviously. Also, I’m just really here to hear what they want and obviously I’m just going to campaign for what they want really.
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PLUTO | FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013
Elections
The student council is elected to represent students on a variety of issues and hold the Student Affairs committee to account. Their main duties are for the members to campaign their own agendas and to be the decision makers of motions that are brought to the monthly meetings. They are the backbone of the Students’ Union. The group consists of a Council Chair, Post Grad Rep, LGBT Rep, Disability Rep, Women’s Rep and five open Council members
Janine Conroy
Utkarsh Sakhalker
Standing for Womens Rep
Standing for International Rep Being an international student myself I know it can be overwhelming when u first come to UK and during your first year of university.I have gone through this and got support of many staff and friends.Being on the council I can voice concerns of the international students and also support them with SU councils help in dealing with issues affecting them.
Tom Dicketts
Standing for Open Council
Student Council Hayley White
Standing for Council Chair
I’m re-running for council chair because over the past year I have become passionate about student politics, activism and student engagement. If elected, I want to continue to chair meetings making sure best decisions are made for students. I would like to work on getting a society, interfaith and sports representative for the forums on council.
Standing for Open Council
I’m running for student council because I believe that I can make a change and I believe, being on the council I can impact on important issues. I think the social aspect to university isn’t as good as it could be and I think we could really change that. I believe the student-tutor link – tutors should talk to students on a more personal level, that will help.
Nicolle Shergold
Standing for Open Council The main reason I’m running for student council is because I’m a fashion student and I don’t feel like the students in Victoria Building are particularly represented very well with the fashion students and the art students in the ways of finance and things like that so that’s why I’m here. I’m also course rep and I have to support my course to go ahead and do it.
I am running for open council due to the fact that I love representing the Students of UCLan. I have been on council for a short term of five months where I have helped students with their concerns, informed them on how they can get more involved, and furthered their knowledge on what our SU can do to ensure our university experience is great!
Emily Cuddon
Standing for Open Council Because I want to build more awareness for the Student Union and what the Student Union does for the university and the students.
Standing for Post Graduate Rep Saima Bilal Zeb is Standing for Post Graduate Rep. Read her full manifesto on www.suelections.co.uk
Alex Re
Jennafer Small
Standing for LGBT Rep
The reason why I’m running is because I’ve got experience in feminist activism. I’ve been involved in the scene since first year, I’m passionate and dedicated about the cause. The things I want to do when I become Women’s Rep is I want to continue zero tolerance, make sure there’s a counteract against sexual harassment, lad culturejust to make sure women are represented well.
Bronwyn Casey
Saima Bilal Zeb
Standing for Open Council
For the past few years, I’ve been very involved in LGBT campaigns and liberation. I know that I’m the best candidate for this role and I can continue to improve life for LGBT students. Currently, I can see my main focus as continuing with the Hate Crime work I’ve done and ensuring the SU keeps its word to install Gender Neutral Toilets.
Adam Legg
Standing for Open Council
I’m running for student council because I want to see more women involved with the student’s union, and because I’m passionate about all of the causes I hope to support if I become elected.
Mark Lee
Standing for Open Council
It was something that I really enjoyed last year, I haven’t put together my manifesto yet, that’s currently in the works.. I’ve been on the fence for a while, the manifesto is half way to being completed so I don’t want to talk about it yet as it’s not been completed. Ultimately I think representing student’s views is very important, I think that nicely encases it.
Calum France
Standing for Open Council Hi I’m Calum France and I’m in my second year studying psychologyI am running for open position, because I think it is important all students have a voice, and I’m passionate about raising your issues on council. I have helped friends campaign for council, and I’m now taking a more active role, I think it’s particularly important all views are equally represented.
The reason I’m running for student council is for three reasons; empowerment, engagement and employability. I want to give a voice to students at all levels, I want to be able to listen to students and be the voice for them.
Also running are: Sally Ngbeken
Standing for Council Chair
Umair Akram
Standing for Open Council
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FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
Elections
NUS Delegate Janine Conroy
Alex Re
Hayley White
Adam Legg
It would be a fantastic candidate for attending NUS Conference as I am a good representative for the students of UCLan. I’m already an activist and would love the opportunity to help shape NUS’ political movement. I want to give UCLan the voice that it deserves and ensure that our students are heard.
I think it’s very important to represent each university on a national level. I’ve always wanted to go because I feel passionately about making sure that policies put forward will benefit students and I’m someone who’s not afraid to stand up and express my views on if I feel something is not going to be beneficial to students.
I think I’m good at getting my point across. I’ve been told I’ve performed well as open council this year. It is something that I am interested in. I’m looking forward to seeing how NUS works as a conference and putting my point across and looking into what all the different issues are and putting my opinion to the NUS conference.
There are seven elected positions for Students’ Union at this year’s NUS Conference in Sheffield being held on 8-10 April. The role of NUS Delegate are to represent students as a whole these are the people are wishing for your vote.
As the NUS study “Cut to the Quick” showed the cuts by our Government will disproportionately affect female students, and the NUS report “Hidden Marks” highlights that sexual harassment on campus is a big problem. I will use my voice to state that further research into the female student experience and appropriate action is extremely important!
Lee Mac
Sophie Bennett
Claire Wilkinson
Jennafer Small
Sarah Macmillan
Ben Latham
Jason Smith
I want to go to the NUS conference to see about the policies, to see that they go through and if I don’t agree with them then I’ll vote against them.
Through working within the union for the past year, I’ve seen many problems with it and I’d like to make the changes. Going down to the conference would help me implement those changes and I feel I’ve got enough knowledge already.
For the past two years I’ve sat on council as an open position and as a postgraduate rep so I’d like to continue representing the Student’s Union on a national level.
I’m running for NUS Delegate because I’m a vociferous student who will definitely convey UCLan’s student voice at NUS Conferences!
After spending a year being actively involved in the students Union I have spoken to a lot of students and hear their concerns and would like to represent them at the NUS conference. I would love the privilege of being able to make sure that policies are made on their behalf.
Being in my role for the year, I’ve had lots of consultation with students, what students want and I feel that I can effectively represent them on a national level at the NUS conference.
I’ve been to the last two NUS conferences as voting delegate, as a representative for the people there. I attended all of the speeches, I attended all of the motions, I have spoken for this university in the past. I believe that I can take the ideas and the wishes of the university and the students here forward.
Voting Opens 6th March 6pm till 13th March 5pm Check out more infomation on the candidates and Vote Online at: www. suelections.co.uk
Tune in and listen to SAC Debates hosted by Frequency Radio Thursday 7th March Media Officer - 6pm Activities and Participation - 6.45pm Campaigns Officer - 7.30pm
Friday 8th March Education Officer - 6pm President - 6.45
Dont Forget Question Time! Wednesday 6th March Starts at 4pm in the Atrium
PLUTO | FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013
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Features
UCLan’s #GingerNinja strikes with TV debut on BBC Three Jess Millington Reporter
A
Below: Tom trends in UK on Twitter. Top: Tom Molloy appeared on Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents Tom trends top in UK.
the programme. Pluto asked whether Tom would want to do the whole thing again and he said “It was an amazing experience. Going to Ayia Napa on a lad’s holiday was great.” However, Tom’s overall thoughts on the programme and what was shown? He wasn’t happy with it. “I’m not fully happy with what they showed. They could have chosen better clips for the programme.”
Photo by: Paul Papadimitriou
first-year Journalism student has quickly become the talk of campus after finding fame by appearing on the popular BBC three programme, ‘Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents’. The television programme features four or five girls and boys as they go on holiday to a clubbing resort, such as Ayia Napa or Magaluf and their parents eagerly watch them whilst their children supposedly have no idea. Nineteen year old Tom Molloy has been enjoying the perks of being recognised after appearing on television and clubs in Preston have been approaching him offering him VIP entry. He spoke exclusively to Pluto and told us all about his experience on the show, how he had to sit in his own house and whether he knew his mum and step-dad were there watching his every move. Watching the programme air on Tuesday February 19 with his friends and a few flatmates, Tom told us that they all enjoyed seeing their friend on television and that the feedback from them was mostly “banter and light-hearted stuff.” However, Tom said that the response on the popular social media networking site twitter was a little less friendly. Although some may see themselves trending third worldwide and top in the UK as an achievement, ‘Ginger Ninja’ Tom felt that he was trending for the wrong reasons. Tom was keen to add however, that the majority of the feedback was positive. For Tom, going about his daily life has never been more different. Many people are stopping him in the street, curious to know whether he was the boy who appeared on the popular TV programme last week. Tom said “I was on my way to a football match the other day when two girls came up to me and asked me if I was the guy from TV.” He later added: “A lot of people have asked me for pictures too.” When Tom applied to the show and was successful, it became apparent that he and his friends would have very little to pay for. The programme paid for their accommodation and their flights, meaning that all they had to pay for was food and drink. However, we learnt that not everything went smoothly on the programme and that on several occasions, the programme almost got cancelled. One of the hiccups along the way was at the beginning of their holiday. Tom’s flight was delayed out of Heathrow Airport, meaning it arrived at Larnaca airport in Cy-
prus dangerously close to when his Mum’s flight got there. The whole show would have been ruined if they had run into each other. Also on the programme, the girls featured from South London caused a problem for the producers. One of the girls was shown to be swimming topless in their villa’s swimming pool which caused a problem for the manager. The girls were asked to leave and find somewhere else to stay. Tom revealed that one of the producers flew from England out to Ayia Napa to confront her and threatened to cancel the show. It became apparent that one of the biggest quandaries with the show seems to be whether or not the people on the programme know if their parents are on holiday with them, watching their every move. For Tom he, “sort of knew that his mum and stepdad were there”, but put it to the back of his mind to “try and have a better time.” Another thing that viewers are curious to know is if the people who appear on the show know what exactly what show they are on. Tom told us that he applied for a popular BBC three TV show so he “kind of knew what programme it was.” With regards to being told what to do and how to behave, Tom said the producers of the show told him to say a lot of things that didn’t really reflect his character. He explained to Pluto that during the introduction of the programme, it showed Tom at home with his Mum and Tom says it made him out to look like he does nothing around the house to help his mum. “I was told to say certain things like, “Make me some dinner mum’ which doesn’t really reflect how I am at home. I was also told to sit a certain way on my own couch for the cameras.” Throughout the holiday, Tom and his friends were given a lot of free time but the producers of the show told them where they had to be and at what time. Their microphone packs were on all the time. Tom told us that the only time him and his friends were not filmed was when they were eating or sleeping. This, however, did not mean that the producers included everything they filmed. Tom explained that during his time on holiday, he argued with one of his friends, Sam, about them both speaking at the same time and not letting each other get a word in edgeways. “It was petty,” Tom said and added, “We are both friends again now though.” This wasn’t featured in the programme. Tom’s days of fame aren’t over yet though. On the 26th February, a small ‘catch up’ programme will be aired for those who have been on
FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
10
Features
Do the UCLan Shake Adam Legg Features Editor
A
few weeks ago, if you had asked anyone about the phenomenon known as the Harlem shake, they probably would have stared at you blankly, looked around for an exit and then slowly back away. However, the dance, which gained popularity at the beginning of February, now currently has 233,000 different videos dedicated to it; all with views well into the millions. Students at UCLan have been quick to follow this tradition: One of the most popular videos of these has been the NISA edition, filmed in the shop under IQ Kopa, with 11,519 views and counting. “I first came across the Original Harlem Shake Video climbing the Reddit.com charts at a rapid pace, and at the time it only had around 200,000 views. So I told one of my flatmates ‘Hey have you seen this video, we should do our own version?’ Only as a joke, but not really getting down to it,” Said Solloman Mcgahan, one of the organisers: “3 days later The Harlem
Shake was like a forest fire over the internet from parody’s in offices and workplaces gaining mass attention and millions of views worldwide and suddenly we thought, ‘better now or never!’ So we did one in my dorms with the help of my friends, posted that onto Youtube and shared the footage amongst students who lived in the same halls as us.” The video in the halls, which is currently on 4,241 views, prompted the group to set their aims higher. They set their sights on Sir Tom Finney but were turned down on health and safety reasons. “This was a bit of a let-down,” commented Solloman: “but quickly got turned around from the permission of the manager at NISA (Our local Supermarket) so we shared the news online via Facebook! We got filming that very night, uploaded it online straight away, and it turned out to be a great success gaining over 5,000 views in a matter of hours!” Although this may seem like just a bit of fun, it has, however, acted as a great bit of advertising for the franchised store. “There were a lot of people that came in the day after!” Said Store manager, Vinny Mistry: “We’ve seen
some old faces since then [the video release], like people who used to live here [IQ Kopa]” “It was hard to tell because 2 days after the video was released, there was a reading week.” There are now 12 UCLan-based Harlem shake videos, including ones situated in various halls and an Umpa Lumpa style one from the UCLan Netball team. The ones put together by Solloman and his group seem to be the most popular, but they didn’t want to stop there though: “This then pushed us to think,” He said: “Let’s do a huge one for the University, and so with the attention our video was getting, we set up a Facebook group to storm the UCLan Library the very next day (without permission this time) “Within a few hours we gained over 250 Participants willing to do the Harlem Shake in the Library! [This] turned out to be on Valentine’s Day, Which my girlfriend was not too happy about at the time!” Disaster struck as the time came towards the Library Shake, as students made complaints to staff, which subsequently meant that all people who had joined the event were banned from the Library until
... AND DO THE HARLEM SHAKE
after the corresponding weekend. “What could have been a UCLan memorable moment, turned out to be an achievement of 250 students barred from the Library and being forever alone for Valentines...” Said Solloman (who is now back together with his girlfriend): “But now everytime I hear this song in nightclubs, on the radio or anyone
Photo by: Paul Papadimitriou
else who is doing it... It gets on my tits!” With other things threatening to take the top spot from the Harlem Shake, it may be that it is in its final stages of being a Youtube sensation. As we head towards the Easter break it will be interesting to see if anything follows on from it.
11
PLUTO | FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013
Comment
Why the Brit Awards are terrible A look into the issues with the Brit Awards and why they might have spawned a new genre altogether in nu-bore...
Photo: staceymk11 (flickr)
Mumford & Sons: One of the figureheads of nu-bore. Luke Beardsworth Deputy Editor
I
t’s a tribute to how predictable the Brit Awards are that even an accumulator correctly predicting all the winners returned very little money. Award ceremonies are always controversial because musical taste differs from person to person but it is with the Brit Awards most of all that you can dissect the motives behind who wins and be very cynical about it. Take, for example, the Global Success Award. In its first year, it is given to whoever has had the most success around the globe. On the other hand, it is an award that was tailor made to be given to One Direction. It has become painfully obvious that the Brit Awards are not for who the best artist is but rather who has sold the most. This can
mostly be hidden away amongst the sentiment that people have different opinions on what is good, but One Direction have proven very difficult in this respect because even their fans struggle to argue that they are brilliant. One thing they are though, is successful. They are the new Beatles if all you care about is record sales and haircuts. By Brits logic, they deserve an award, but they also have to protect the wafer thin sentiment that the Brits award good music. Hence we have an award crafted solely for them, because who can argue that they haven’t been globally successful? So then we have the Best British Band award; that they just couldn’t give to One Direction. It went to the other massive sellers Mumford and Sons, who were 1/3 favourites from bookies that know the formula. Does anyone who has listened to all of Alt-J and The XX actually believe that Mumford & Sons are the better band? Unlikely,
but since Mumford & Sons have sold more records, they won. Here’s my dirty little secret: I hate Mumford and Sons far more than I hate One Direction. In One Direction you have a band that know exactly what they are; a pop act that is not meant to be taken seriously. Some of their fanbase on twitter might struggle to understand it, but people generally know that it’s all a bit daft. Nobody thinks they are quality musicians. They actually give the world somebody to hate, and for all of this, I can’t really fault them. Then you have Mumford & Sons; a band so mind-numbingly beige, yet so universally accepted by the majority of people. The fact that they don’t have one unique quality is overlooked by the majority of people. That I liked Little Lion Man when it rose like the solitary speck of cream in their repertoire is a source of immense regret. There is absolutely nothing to dislike about Mumford & Sons, because
they have been watered down and packaged to the point where they are a walking parody of the band they probably wanted to be. At least One Direction has their immense ability to be disliked as a unique quality. What do Mumford & Sons have other than waistcoats and a banjo? It’s no coincidence that, with no need to plug the best British acts, the international awards become an endeavour in clawing back some of that credibility. How many people sat at home scratched their heads when Frank Ocean came away with Best International Male? Yet his album is the critics’ favourite of 2012. The same arguments can be made for The Black Keys and Lana Del Rey, albeit to a lesser extent, in that they were chosen so that the list of winners looked a little more tolerable to all audiences. I’m incredibly aware that I probably come across like a bitter fan who simply hasn’t had his choices come up in this year’s awards. That
is maybe the case to an extent. Let’s look at Album of the Year, given to Emile Sandé’s Our Version of Events. Think back to 2012’s album of the year lists, made by those who actually listen to enough music to make an informed decision; who had Emile Sandé at the top? Nobody, but Alt-J gets ignored because they need to promote Sandé to the sun and back. We’ll just forget that nobody, not even her accountant, considers it to be album of the year. So thank you to the Brits for creating what I will now call NuBore. Thank you for Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, Mumford and Sons and countless other musicians whose only quirks appear in the appearance rather than their music. Thank you for denying Nick Cave a number one album last weekend with your shameless plugging. You have successfully made radio-friendly alternative music become lower in my estimations than Justin Bieber.
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UCLan Teaching Awards 2013
The We Heart U Award is available throughout the year and allows UCLan students to reward and recognise UCLan staff for moments of excellence – Do you want to show your UCLan staff how great they really are?
The Golden Roses is the annual prestigious Student-Led Teaching Awards held at UCLan Students’ Union on 18th April, and every year it is a great night of recognition and giving something back to the wonderful staff that enhance your student experience here at UCLan.
NOMINATE ONLINE TODAY For more information, to nominate or to see the criteria for each award visit:
www.uclansu.co.uk/teachingawards
PLUTO | FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013
13
Comment
Charlotte Alty Deputy Comment Editor
J
ust months ago Oscar Pistorius was hailed a record breaking, gold medal-winning legend by thousands. Yet now, he is shockingly facing a charge for the murder of his girlfriend with, what you would think, little hope of escaping jail. The athlete admits that he shot and killed his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, however he denies all accusations that the shooting was premeditated in any way. In his defence statement he claimed that he heard noise in the bathroom and panicked. He then shot four times at the bathroom door, only to discover afterwards it was in fact his girlfriend. Now to be fair, the area of South Africa that Pistorius lives in is renowned for its criminal break-ins and shootings, and most residents do own guns, just like Oscar Pistorius. It has also been reported that he had received several death threats prior to the incident, which I’m sure would make anyone that bit more paranoid.
If you lived in a crime capital and had received threatening messages, being so much in the public eye I think you would definitely be on edge. It seems that Oscar adopted a shoot first think after approach, which does seem somewhat rash for a man who has never appeared to be violent or aggressive before. However, as good as the case for the defence is, the opposing side of the story still makes a great deal of sense to a lot of people. The prosecution claim that Pistorius put on his prosthetic legs, before making his way to the bathroom door and aiming fire. This clearly contests his version of events as it implies that he did not act in a spur of the moment panic, but took the time to get his legs on and walk to the bathroom door. The main question on peoples’ minds I think, is why did Reeva Steenkamp not call out after one shot? Or even two? Were they fired so quick in succession that she simply did not have chance? Not to mention the fact that he did not actually check for her in bed before assuming there was an intruder? I’d
like to think that if my boyfriend thought he heard a possibly armed burglar in the bathroom, he would check to see where I was, even if just to make sure I was okay. All the evidence on both sides is proving to be very persuasive, and of course nobody truly knows what happened other than Oscar himself; innocent until proven guilty is the rule we are supposed to adhere to. This would be fine if it were not for the fact that most people probably know that even if he is guilty, he is likely to get off without a prison sentence. It is not that I’m suggesting the justice system is corrupt in any way, just that a man like Pistorius has all the money and means to get the best possible legal team on his side. Already he has been granted bail, because apparently he is ‘too famous’ to try and do anything against bail conditions; it is unlikely that you or I would have been able to get that kind of decision in the same situation. It is going to be difficult for both families involved, but press coverage of Pistorius’ brother’s involvement in a fatal road traffic accident is hardly
necessary. What are they trying to imply, that killing must ‘run in the family’? It is totally irrelevant to this case, and if anything, makes small minded peoples’ views increasingly difficult to endure. There is an obvious possibility that this trial could resemble that of OJ Simpson’s trial in the 90s. Another huge celebrity figure charged with murder, seemingly guilty; but found not guilty after a lengthy, publicised trial. Then years later he is found guilty of various other criminal activities and sentenced to 33 years in prison; it is quite doubtful those were his first crimes. No matter what happens, I’m sure thousands of fans will stick by Pistorius throughout his trial and beyond it. Equally, thousands of people will have penned him a murderer already; probably the same people who believe that his brother facing a charge for accidental homicide, in a road accident 3 years ago, has something to do with Oscar Pistorius shooting his girlfriend.
Photo: Elvar Palsson
Justice for none: Why Oscar is likely to walk free from South African court
Oscar Pistorius: In action
Megan Lincoln Comment Editor
T
he Mirror issued an article last week regarding Dame Vivienne Westwood and her opinion of Kate Middleton. Always one to enjoy reading about who is criticising who, I was particularly interested in this article as it involved criticism of the newest Royal, now somewhat of a fashion icon herself. So why is she being scrutinised by one of the most renowned fashion designers? Like many other young women since the Royal Wedding in 2011 I have been impressed by the Duchess’ choice of outfits to the many events and tours she attends. However, according to the Dame Vivienne Westwood, Kate Middleton is not being environmentally friendly. Westwood reportedly said: “I don’t have any advice to her, except I think it would be great if she wore the same clothes over and again, because that’s very good for the environment and it would send out a very nice message.” Anyone who has read any type of magazine will know that this is completely untrue. I never believe a word magazines say regarding the Royals (or any celebrity), but there is little dispute over the pictures they
publish. You simply cannot fake or Photoshop photographs which show Kate at numerous events wearing the same dress, or the same coat – and those nude pumps of hers are rarely off her feet! Whilst many celebrities are criticised for wearing the same outfit twice, and their photos are openly scrutinised for any evidence of garment recycling, the Duchess has been praised for boldly wearing the same clothes to different events. This sends out a positive image to the public, young girls in particular. I mean, let’s face it; there is definitely not a financial reason behind it. She wore the same pink dress to a tea party at Buckingham Palace back in May 2012, only eleven days after she wore it to a luncheon at Windsor Castle. That can hardly be seen as coincidence, given the short time period between the two events. More recently, last November she was seen in a floor length lace number to a dinner to celebrate the 600th anniversary of St Andrew’s University. She previously wore this same dress to the premier of War Horse. The Duchess obviously doesn’t cast a dress aside, never to be seen again, once the public has had an eyeful of it. Ok, so these dresses probably cost more than my car, but the fact that she wears them more than once,
Photo: kaex0r
Westwood needs to look in the mirror
Vivienne Westwood: Her logo looks oddly like a religious cult symbol probably quite deliberately (as she could have a new one each day if she wanted), shows that the Duchess realises this. Unlike celebrities, she is not horrified at being photographed wearing the same belt, or shoes. Yes, the dresses she wears to functions are expensive, but isn’t that the part she has to play? I must also point out that she has been photographed wearing
several outfits from high street shops too; it’s clearly not designer all the way for this young Royal. The dazzle of her newfound status in the world has not gone to her head. So the real question is, what on earth is Vivienne Westwood going on about? As a fashion designer and celebrity herself, I am inclined to ask if she has ever actively worn the
same outfit twice. Kate Middleton probably has as many clothes as any other fashion-mad girl with the means to fund her passion (I, myself, have three wardrobes full). And as for not being seen in the same outfits recently, I must point out, Dame Westwood, that she now has a growing baby bump to accommodate.
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FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
Sports
Grayson says ‘togetherness’ in dressing room will help PNE through tough set of games
Recently appointed Preston North End manager Simon Grayson has revealed his side are in ‘good spirits’ following a 1-1 draw with high-flying Swindon Town last weekend in his first game in charge of the Lilywhites. The 43-year-old former Blackpool manager was full of praise for his players following their efforts at the County Ground on Saturday, and revealed there is a positive attitude amongst the dressing room. Grayson said: “I was pleased with the players, they showed a showed a lot of effort, a desire to not get beat. We played some decent stuff at times. “Swindon were top of the division, so everyone probably expected a home win on their coupon. We just said to the players at half-time, just have a little bit more belief in yourselves. Take care of the ball a little bit better and we’ll get opportunities, and we did that.
“You saw today that there’s a desire in the group looking to do better than they have done already this year.” The Lilywhites will be looking to better that performance this Saturday as they travel south to MK Dons. And Grayson admitted although he feels the contest against the Dons (who sit five places above PNE) will be tough, the mood around the club will help the team perform. We’ve got some difficult games coming up, but the players seem to thrive from that,” said Grayson. “MK Dons next weekend isn’t going to be easy, but we go there in good spirits. The players have got a buzz about them. In the dressing room there’s a sense of them really enjoying what they’re doing. “There’s a togetherness in the squad and only time will tell if this group are good enough to get us up the divisions, but we’ll work hard with them to try and achieve that.” North End’s next game at Deepdale is due to be played on March 9, when they entertain Stevenage.
PHOTO: Mark Watmough
Joe Angove Sports Editor
10-man UCLan clinch victory over Manchester UCLan 1sts celebrated another victory over Manchester University after winning 3-1 at the UCLan Sports Arena on Wednesday afternoon, despite being down to 10 men after 55 minutes on the clock. The game provided very few chances apart from those that were converted. However, the visitors should have taken the lead after just two minutes when their striker went rushing in on goal and blazed his shot wide of goalkeeper Joe Clayson’s post. After having a very strong claim for a penalty turned down, UCLan went on the attack and got their just rewards in the 23rd minute when good individual work from the returning Joe Schelmerdine gave him the opportunity to thump the ball into the bottom corner of the net. Just ten minutes later, Schelmerdine doubled his tally when
Despite the extra man, Manchester failed to take hold of the game, and the encounter just petered out in the latter stages despite the visitors hitting the bar in the final moments.
It was a professional performance from UCLan, particularly given the fact they went down to 10 men and they will certainly have to show professionalism against a high-flying
Liverpool John Moores. They are unbeaten so far this season after seven games on 21 points, with UCLan in second place on 15 points.
PHOTO: Paul Ridyard
Gavin Mawn Sports Reporter
UCLan were awarded a free-kick and whilst the wall was being organised by the Manchester goalkeeper, Schelmerdine, with the agreement of the referee, took it quickly and simply placed the ball in the corner where the goalkeeper had vacated – which led to a lot of strong appeals from the visitors. Five minutes later UCLan got a deserved third goal, after a Joe Lolley corner led to a goal-mouth scramble, only for left-back Liam Smith to scuff home. The second-half wasn’t a great spectacle as both sides lacked creativity in the final third. However, after 55 minutes, the Manchester right-winger was sent through on goal, only for Liam Smith to attempt to get his body in the way and consequently bring him down. Smith was dismissed for being the last man and will now miss the crunch topof-the-table fixture against Liverpool John Moores next Wednesday. Manchester converted the penalty to narrow the gap to two goals.
PLUTO | FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013
15
Sport
Table tennis capitalise on man down Liverpool
PHOTO: Sam Gilliland
Sam Gilliland Sports Reporter Robert Hutton and Victor Cai completed a 12-5 win for the men’s table tennis team after the University of Liverpool 2nds arrived a man down. The visitors only brought three out of the four required players for the match in Studio Blue of the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre, therefore forfeiting four of the points early on. Hutton and Cai fired the home side in front from the start, and UCLan never looked back, as Zhanjun Ma won two of his three ties. There was a defeat for UCLan in the doubles at the end, although the match was decided long before the then. The result was a superb sign-off for their last home match of the season, as they travel to Bangor 1sts in their final game on March 6.
Men’s 4ths lose ground in chase for BUCS title
It was an afternoon of frustration for the men’s football 4ths at the UCLan Sports Arena on Wednesday afternoon as they went down 2-1 to University of Bolton 1sts. Despite signs of a late comeback for the home side after Chris Simmons netted mid-way through the secondhalf when his side were trailing 2-0, the visitors held out to register an allimportant three points in the BUCS Northern 5A League. Right from the off it was the away side who stamped their authority on the game as they threatened the UCLan defence on numerous occasions throughout the encounter, and denied the home side very few clearcut chances for the majority of the game. It took just over 10 minutes for Bolton to break the deadlock after some impressive build-up play worked its way out to the speedy wingman on the right, who picked out his teammate just outside the six yard box to slide home in off the post. There
PHOTO: Joe Angove
Joe Angove Sports Editor
were strong appeals for offside from a number of UCLan team members but to no avail. As the half progressed UCLan’s frustration began to grow, and on the 30 minute mark, Simmons was shown a yellow card following a late challenge just inside his own half. After the referee had taken captain Andy Harrison aside to have a word about his players’ conduct, it seemed to provoke a change to the game as UCLan began to play some attacking
football. However, it took until a little under a minute before the half-time whistle until the hosts had a clear chance at goal. Striker Matthew Buckley was fed an inviting ball over the top of the Bolton defence which left him oneon-one with the opposition ‘keeper, however the ball just wouldn’t fall for him - which meant the frontman couldn’t get his shot away - and after being given a second bite at the
cherry following a mistake from the opposing defender, Buckley fired just wide of the left-hand post from close range. Moments later UCLan were on the opposite end of an attack after a well struck shot from the away sides’ midfield man was cleared off the line, just before the referee blew the whistle for the end of proceedings for the opening half. A vocal half-time team talk from UCLan coach Henry Kay seemed to
inspire the hosts in the early stages of the second-half, and Harrison almost produced a spectacular goal after his cross-come-shot from just a few yards inside the opposition half forced the Bolton ‘keeper to tip the ball behind the net. However, UCLan’s urgency to grab an equaliser was almost their downfall when a counter-attack from the away side left their frontman one-on-one with UCLan ‘keeper Declan Oliver, who produced a brilliant point-blank save. Moments later, though, after a welltimed run from the visitors’ number 9, Oliver was picking the ball out of his net – there was little the ‘keeper could do about this one though, as the forward picked his spot in the right-hand corner of the net to double his sides’ lead. Simmons did restore some hope for UCLan with 20 minutes remaining, though, after a whipped corner created a goal-mouth scramble in the Bolton box and was cleared only as far as the winger, who struck a beautiful half-volley into the righthand corner of the net.
FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2013 | PLUTO
Pluto Sport
PHOTO: Cindy Ho
UCLan extend lead after victory over Keele
Ste Thomas Deputy Sport Editor
UCLan men’s Rugby Union 1sts battled their way to a deserved 19-7 victory against Keele University 1sts at UCLan Sports Arena on Wednesday afternoon. At the sun-drenched arena, it was UCLan who got off to the better start after winger Andrew Pollock broke down the left wing, but the attack failed to come to anything. UCLan were putting
Keele under severe pressure in the breakdown and forcing their opponents to make mistakes. However, UCLan too kept making mistakes at the beginning of the game, with both sides knocking the ball on. At times, the home side failed to keep their composure in very promising positions. It wasn’t until midway through the first half when the first score happened after Josh Purnell picked up the loose ball from the halfway line and sprinted down the left-hand touch-line, just about keeping himself in-field, and scored
a fantastic solo effort. Adam Smith converted to make the score 7-0. UCLan seemed to gain more confidence after this score, and after a superb defensive display, it was the hosts who went over and scored the next try after a lineout move involving Purnell and outside centre Harry Reddick, who drove the ball on and offloaded the ball to his centre partner Johnny Hyde who went over and scored. Smith missed the conversion this time to make it 12-0. They couldn’t keep it at this score though; UCLan missed a tackle
soon after which allowed Keele to run the ball in on the left wing to score the try. It was converted to make the scores 12-7 at half-time. The second-half started with UCLan showing some great defence to prevent Keele from getting back into the game. UCLan were starting to get into their stride and beginning to dominate proceedings in the early part of the second-half. This became apparent soon after, when Jack Thomas picked up the ball from the ruck and went straight through the middle and ran a great line to go over
and get the crucial score. Smith converted to take the score to 19-7. However, after this UCLan did start to give away a number of penalties and gave Keele numerous opportunities to come back into the game. However, some solid defence prevented that and to the delight of the home crowd watching, the final whistle was blown and UCLan claimed a great victory. This win extends their lead at the top of the Northern 2A League to six points, with only two fixtures against Salford 1sts and Liverpool John Moores 1sts to go.