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Editors Editor: Sam Cunningham editor@qmessenger.co.uk News: Sam Creighton news@qmessenger.co.uk Comment: Bradley Downing comment@qmessenger.co.uk Science & Environment: Richard Dodwell science@qmessenger.co.uk Craig Ferriman environment@qmessenger.co.uk Reviews: Rebecca Wynter reviews@qmessenger.co.uk Film: Alex MacDonald film@qmessenger.co.uk

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Sian Tomlinson

The Office for National Statistics published their most recent unemployment data last week, revealing that over 1 million under-25s are unempolyed; over 100,000 of these are graduates. With 300,000 due to graduate in 2010, this number is set to rise yet again. These figures are

expected to put pressure on students to aim for higher grades, as employers begin to expect a 2:1 or higher. This in turn is expected to influence university admissions, meaning that entrance criteria could be tougher for future applicants.

There appears to be a serious in-balance between supply and deContinued page 3...

P: George Ramsay

Number of jobless graduates reaches over 100,000

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News

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01/12/2009

News in Arts students ‘see academics for Brief less than nine hours per week’ Janani Rathakrishnan

Student bars close It’s time to count your blessings for Drapers as many student unions across the country are being forced to close their student boozers and replacing them with gyms and juice bars. The move comes in response to shrinking alcohol revenues and new legislation that will turn SU’s into independent charities. Takings at student bars have more than halved over the last decade as students begin to abandon the age-old tradition of on-campus excess.

Twitter album

Controversy has been stirred at Oxford University due to the setting up of Man Collective, a society devoted to exploring what it means to be a man. After decades of feminism, equal rights and “women-only” support networks, these new groups are providing a different voice. However, the group has found itself amid accusations of sexism, mysogony and gender stereotypes. Alex Linsley, 20, founder of the group, said: “There is so much conflicting information for men. There is massive confusion as to what being a man means, and how to be a good man.”

Library Silent Disco QM library was taken over on Thursday by a crowd of would-be ravers. The silent disco kicked off at 1pm and saw the usual bookworms surrounded by seventy or so students shuffling around to their iPods. The elusive organiser remained unavailable for comment but the party-goers seemed to be having a good time with the awkward atmosphere soon giving way to the spirit of the event

History at Queen Mary and President of the Royal Historical Society had this to say on the issue: “University teaching for arts and humanities students is not about cramming students in to lecture halls for every hour that God sends. The most important skill that a good university will impart to these students is the ability to work independently. This will prepare them for the world beyond university. University fees pay for the things which allow that to happen: highly-skilled staff strongly committed to research, for example, good libraries and excellent backup services. Additional fees are unlikely to trigger more contact hours, but the money will go towards the indirect means of enhancing the

student learning experience in other more indirect ways.”

Arts degrees are designed in such a way that the lectures and seminars are really there to give guidance and a general background to the topic. The research element, which is a larger part of the course, is down to the student. These degrees, therefore, cannot be compared with Science degrees, as Anushka Asthana did in The Observer, which require more supervision by lecturers for the practical elements of the course. To justify a further increase in the tuition fees, in the case of Arts degrees, more focus should be placed upon improving the resources available to students doing these degrees.

Support for postgraduates lacking in comparison to undergraduates Sam Creighton

A new report published by the National Student Forum (NSF) has given credence to the complaints of many a postgraduate, alleging that the system of support for graduate students is both feeble and inconsistent when compared to that provided for those studying for their first degree.

Postgraduate study had been steadily increasing in popularity over the last decade and has been spurred on by the current economic crisis as people want to put off entering the job market. The growth in numbers however has not been matched by a growth in infrastructure. The NSF was set up last year to evaluate the experiences of the UK’s 500,000 postgraduate students and this report is its second publication. While it acknowledges that the academic life of a graduate student is generally positive it argues that the existing support system is too geared towards undergraduates, that support is patchy and access is insufficient to prevent isolation. The report pinpoints three key problem areas: finance, information and academic support.

The NSF reports numerous complaints from students that they are not sufficiently informed about the cost of undertaking a postgraduate course nor of how to access the various sources of funding. Also, the availability of funding is an issue, with postgraduate students providing an integral skill level to the workforce and helping

P: George Ramsay

A composer and computer scientist in Queen Mary’s Centre for Digital Music (C4DM) has created an album of digital music exclusively for Twitter. Dan Stowell encoded the sounds of waves crashing onto shores using a computer programme and then successfully tweeted the results. In response, other users created their own compositions and now a best-of album has been produced that is free to download, entitled sc140. Stowell said: “My granny might raise her eyebrows if I gave her sc140 for Christmas, but if yours is the Aphex Twin type, then she’d definitely love it.”

Post-feminism

While students doing degrees such as Medicine and Dentistry have approximately twenty three hours of contact time with their lecturers on average per week, students doing degrees such as History, Philosophy and Languages have less nine hours of contact time, despite paying the same amount in tuition fees per annum. The Observer reports that the issue of contact hours is set to become ‘more contentious’ with the prediction of tuition fees to rise up to £7,000 per year. Students at less prestigious universities, furthermore, are also forced to pay the current maximum fee level of £3,225

per year despite also receiving less contact time with their tutors.

Jack Martin, a first year undergraduate history student at Queen Mary, commented upon how his twenty four hour week during ALevel has now reduced to only six hours for the autumn semester, rising to just ten hours in spring. In his words: ‘I simply do not feel I am getting value for money and adequate contact time with lecturers.’

While getting value for money is important to every student launching themselves into debt for the sake of continuing their interest in a subject in university, the way forward may not always be as simple as increasing contact hours.

Colin Jones the Professor of

Postgraduates are complaining that they severely lack support compared to undergraduates hoist their universities up the research rankings, many are complaining that they simply don’t receive enough money to cover their studies. Serena Trowbridge, vicechair of the NSF and a PhD student at Birmingham City explains that despite the importance of conferences to postgraduate development “I know people who only go to a conference once a year, and that exceeds the budget that’s set by their department.”

Given the vocational status of Masters degrees the NSF criticises

the fact that information on postgraduate study is so hard to come by. Lacking a league table like system where prospective students can compare the career prospects of the different institutions available to them.

The report also calls for a tightening of academic standards, increasing teaching hours and improving access to advisors. The NSF says that universities are failing to provide postgraduates with adequate transferrable skills or to facilitate integration and networking.

The NSF has pledged to rectify these problems. Maeve Sherlock, chair of the NSF and a graduate student, says: “If you don’t go into the system through a formal gateway, you don’t know what questions to ask. One of the most useful things you can do for people coming into postgraduate education is to get them to ask the right questions. What’s it for? What do you want to do? And in what way? What would the course you want to do look like?”

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01/12/2009

The President

Universities to face massive fines Harvey Singh

Do we have a right to pray?

Nasir Tarmann

Universities could face multimillion pound fines after defying a government-imposed cap on student places.

Many had feared that well-qualified students would be turned down for degree courses this year, but this seems to have been avoided.

This year there were 60,000 extra applications, due mainly to the increase in older applicants wanting to do a degree during the recession. Whilst the increase in students overall was 10%, the rise among those over 25 was 19.5%.

Ministers had decided to cap the number of extra places that universities could offer, after discovering a £200m funding gap in their university financing.

This sparked the debate over whether the government had abandoned its long-standing commitment to expand higher education.

Queen Mary did not exceed the cap according to the university’s principal Simon Gaskell: “It is not a simple ‘cap’, but a ‘tolerance band’ linked to our contract with the Higher Education Funding Council for England.”

He added: “Actually, the calculation of permitted students numbers is rather more complicated that was evident from reports in the

media.” growth in student numbers - this is Representation of Queen Mary Stu“We had in any case anticipatwhy it is important that each addidents’ Union said: “I agree that ed a surge in applications because tional student place is fully funded. numbers should be monitored and of the College’s excellent and wellIt is also important that we enrich universities should not overestipublicised performance in the Reteaching through appropriate use mate what they can manage. Howsearch Assessment Exercise. of new delivery mechanisms, proever universities should always as“What was very pleasing, howviding in total a truly personalised pire to grow and at the same time ever, was not just an increase in experience.” continue to improve what they offer applications but a very significant Anna Hiscocks, the Vice Presito their students.” increase in the number of applident Educants putting Queen Mary as their cation, first choice.”

Welfare, National Union of Students and President Wes Streeting is pleased that the students were not denied places, he is worried that their degree would be underfunded and would thus affect the quality of their education: “The government should hang its head in shame that it hasn’t funded enough places and created this situation.

“The current predicament could have been avoided had the government taken the right decision and provided universities with the right number of places.”

Mr Gaskell does not share the concern however that increased places will reduce the quality of a university education: “There’s no reason why it should, if resources Universities may pay the price for defying a government-imposed cap on uni places keep pace with the P: George Ramsay

There has been much controversy over the multi faith centre since the beginning of term; we have seen campaigns on campus and demonstrations. How serious is the issue? With the large multi cultural diverse student body it was almost inevitable that the introduction of a Multi faith centre would create tensions amongst religious groups of students and staff, some believing our right to pray has been taken away.

I must disagree with this point of view, it is not the right to pray which was drastically withdrawn from students by the college, but rather the status quo was changed very abruptly which caused shock to many. The main users of the centre was the Muslim students and staff because of the nature of their prayers having three or sometimes four prayers during the college opening hours. Other faith groups also used various spaces for prayer but their bookings usually didn’t exceed two bookings a week.

The question was then raised; is fair use the same as equal use? The answer to which I believe must be NO! The nature of prayer and the number of students who followed Islam weighed heavier then others but this did not give them the right of exclusivity, but certainly a fair amount of consideration should have been placed on these facts while not neglecting any other faith groups’ needs.

As the situation stands at the moment, we have met with all the faith groups who are interested in the centre and came up with what I hope will prove to be the best solution to the current issues. The centre will now be booked for Muslims for the prayer time slots, and outside these times when no other faith group has booked it the doors will be left open for any person of any faith to quietly meditate, contemplate or pray, while the smaller of the two rooms is reserved for females only (of any faith).

Only time will tell how well this approach will prove to be, but I have faith in the fact that most students are reasonable, responsible and respective of others’ faiths. Students at an institute of higher education should be the most tolerant and understanding members of society, we should be at the forefront of tackling prejudice and ignorance, we should learn not only from academic lectures but also from one another, where will harmony reveal itself if not here, and for those who are religious, spiritual or have any faith I’m sure they will find that tolerance, kindness and respect of others is the core of all faith.

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Jobless graduates increases further ...Continued from front page

The number of jobless graduates has finally risen over 100,000

mand in terms of the UK job market, leaving thousands of graduates relying on benefits or on part-time work to support themselves. Many have been forced to move back into their parents’ homes or have chosen to delay the problem by borrowing yet more money from the government to stay in education. This renders these citizens ‘economically inactive’, so businesses are urging graduates to take any job they can to increase their worldly experience and help Britain’s economy stabilize. The recession has played a large role in this increasing problem, for many companies have cut jobs to save money, not only making current staff redundant but also narrowing the opportunities available to graduates.

Some argue that the root of this problem lies in unmarketable degrees, such as Media Studies, Theology and Sociology. However, it is not only students with these de-

grees that are suffering. Since Labour came to power in 1997, the number of 18-30 year-olds at university has risen by 10% and the government is looking to increase this figure. Although there are many jobs that do not require a degree qualification, and many pupils who may be better-suited to vocational courses, schools continue to encourage pupils to apply to university, but with graduate unemployment rising, not to mention an unattractive three-years worth of debt, many young people may be put off continuing into Higher Education.

More graduates are now choosing a career in the public sector, where demand is still high, but to succeed in other fields students must change their attitude. A highclass degree is no longer a sure passport to success. Students must begin to realise that employers are now looking for proof of work experience, internships and an entrepreneurial attitude on top of a 2:1 or 1st class grade.

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01/12/2009

Lecturers face redundancy Chantelle O’Connor

Reduced investment in the UK education system could jeopardise the standard of teaching across schools and universities.

With universities across Britain planning redundancies as managers anticipate reduced funding, the University and College Union estimates that around 5,000 of its members’ jobs are at risk, with 1,300 posts already gone. Yet these cuts are predicted to affect 90,000 students with the situation having escalated from the beginning of the academic when the Union released a report stating 45 universities were making cuts with this number having now risen to 80.

The worrying effects the cuts will have on the teaching standards and the future of universities has already begun to show. Last week, students at the London College of Communications (LCC) staged a sit-in in pro-

test to the cancellation of lectures and the lack of help and guidance from dissertation students.

Although it appears British universities are struggling to cope in the economic climate with huge deficits in funding having surfaced recently, there is the suggestion that some universities are using the tightening of purse strings are an excuse to restructure the way they operate, ending profitable courses and putting targets before university teaching jobs.

Matt Waddup, head of the Union and College campaigns says “The results of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) have led to much gnashing of teeth by not just top research universities but aspiring research universities about their mission. They see themselves as driving forward an agenda about increasing the number of staff who are able to bring in research income and reducing the number of staff available to teach because that doesn’t generate income in the same way.”

Perhaps what is most worrying about this statement is the idea that universities are becoming a simple money money-minded organisation with education sadly falling to the sidelines.

Inquiry into fees, grants and loans lacks independence Harvey Singh

University lecturers and the Liberal Democrats fear that the government inquiry into the future of fees, grants, and loans in England lacks independence.

Tuition fees could double to more than £7,000 a year and the current loans system will be reformed to favour loans set at commercial interest rates.

Since the recommendations are not expected to be published until next summer, and thus after the General Election, the Lib Dems have claimed that there is a “conspiracy between Labour and the Tories to keep plans to hike up tuition fees off the agenda”, and the National Union of Students has warned that the review risks becoming “cozy stitchup”.

Pressure to sanction significant increases in student fees is already being mounted on Labour and the Conservatives.

Universities UK, an organisation which represents vice-chancellors, published a report which said fees could rise to £5,000 without harming student recruitment. Other universities meanwhile have called for a rise closer to £7,000.

Business and university interests are well represented on the team of seven carrying out the review, with former BP chief executive Lord Browne as chairman, two university vice-chancellors, and a se-

nior civil servant who advised Number 10 prior to the introduction of the current fees system in 2006.

However, representatives for teaching and student interests are lacking. “We are incredibly disappointed that there is no proper employee representation on the panel,” said Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the University and College Union.

“I would be very surprised if the ‘independent’ argument holds much weight with anybody when they realise how well-represented employers and business are on the panel.”

Stephen Williams, the universities’ spokesman for the Lib Dems, said: “This review is hugely important and it must therefore be seen to act and think independently. The lack of student representatives is particularly concerning as it is these people who will really suffer if fees are raised.

“It is disgraceful that there hasn’t been an opportunity to scrutinise the make-up of the review’s panel or its remit in Parliament.”

Whilst the NUS welcomed the appointment of Rajay Naik, the former chairman of the British Youth Council, NUS President Wes Streeting said: “It is vitally important that this member is not sidetracked by business and university interests.

“There is a real danger that this review will pave the way for higher fees that would see poorer students priced out of more prestigious universities and other students and universities consigned to the ‘bargain basement’.”

Lord Browne has been appointed chairman of the inquiry panel, despite well-known links with Labour

News

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01/12/2009

What’s going on in America?

QM’s Nick Thomson reports from across the Atlantic

UK students choosing to study in the States James Ayre

A growing number of British students are turning their backs on UK universities and hopping across the pond to study in America, thanks to the “Obama effect” and desire for a “competitive edge”.

One year ago we all stopped hating America. There was a general sentiment of optimism regarding the shift in US politics, domestic and international. However, it’s one year on, and on Barack Obama’s side of the pond, much of the elation that surrounded his election has been replaced with discontent, and the American bodypolitic has become increasingly polarised.

Of course this is not a new phenomenon: any new political leader has a honeymoon period; and switch between two US news networks, say Fox and MSNBC, and it doesn’t take long to realise the intense divide on certain political issues. Yet this polarisation and discontent seem to have emerged over the last 11 months, suggesting that they have been of Obama’s own making and that he could cause much trouble for himself and for America’s potential for reform in the future.

In liberal Santa Cruz, a general feeling of discontent prevails among Obama voters, who persist in making snide and jaded comments about whether he will ever pass anything he promised. Any reform inspires opposition, but Obama selected very antagonistic issues, currently healthcare in which just the Senate voting to engage in debate made headlines.

Obama’s image as a miracle worker, promising the impossible, might have won votes but in office it is creating discontent that could prove troublesome in four years time.

In perusing controversial issues, Obama has not taken a bipartisan approach and on many occasions has been solidly against conservatives; for example, The Economist reported that the administration recently attempted to exclude the right leaning Fox news from an interview. Such actions have alienated conservatives and entrenched the divide between them and liberals. Obama may need to rely on moderate conservatives in the future and he needs to learn not to bite the hand that may potentially feed him.

Any progress will of course take a while; the US congressional system is a legislative labyrinth that is designed to slow down reform. However, by promising perhaps impossible change and intensifying the divide between liberals and conservatives, reform in the USA might face impediments in the future that were Obama’s own making.

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process and expanding international recruitment efforts by US universities, we suspect there has been a so-called Obama effect on international student interest in the US and a growing recognition amongst UK students and parents of the value of a more international education.”

Global polls suggest that foreigners’ opinion of the US has risen since Barack Obama took office last year.

Harry Gibney, Study Abroad Advisor at Queen Mary said: “Queen

Mary has seen a steady 2-3 year increase in the number of applications to study on the US Exchange programme”.

In addition to the Obama effect, he said: “British students are looking for a competitive edge to help them in a saturated job market which finds internationalism an asset”.

Mr. Gibney fully expects the number of Queen Mary students applying for the US Exchange programme to rise again this year.

Wellington College, an inde-

pendent co-educational school in Berkshire, organises conferences on applying to American universities. Anthony Seldon, the head teacher, said: “The attractiveness of US universities is becoming more and more apparent to British families and students. The US system is appealing because it’s better resourced, has a lower pupil-teacher ratio, and there’s far greater celebration of achievement.

“British universities, for all their success in international tables, are increasingly perceived by students to be places that are underfunded. They read stories about lecture halls containing 300 students.

“US universities clearly celebrate a far more rounded version. If students win full scholarships, for example, if they are a wonderful musician or sportsperson, it can be very lucrative.”

Britain is also the No 1 choice for American teenagers studying abroad. Data from the Fulbright Commission shows that more than 33,000 American students were studying in Britain in 2008-09 — one in seven of all those at a foreign university.

America is the most popular foreign destination for British schoolleavers and according to the US-UK Fulbright Commission, the number of Britons studying in the US rose 4 per cent in the past academic year to 8,701.

The commission advises on educational exchange between the two countries and awards scholarships that allow students to cross the Atlantic in both directions.

Lauren Welch, head of advising at the commission, said: “In addition to improvements to the US visa application A growing number of British students are opting to fly across the Atlantic to study in the USA

Academics appalled at conversion of 800-year-old building for disabled access Emma Aldridge

So it was reported in The Guardian last week that some academics and (although I doubt it) students are outraged by the changes that are being made to some historic university buildings in order to comply with building regulations to accommodate for disabled students.

As a reasonably regular Guardian reader I was appalled by the way the paper dealt with the needs some students (especially those in a wheel-chair) have. According to the article’s journalist, Rachel Williams, academics and dons at Old Schools, University of Cambridge, have been appalled by the conversion of an area of the 800-year-old building into a lift. Well Mr Cambridge don… get over it!

Buildings (such as the Queens Building and People’s Palace) have obligations to make the buildings more ‘green’ and accommodate hi-tech facilities to compete

with other universities. Old buildings are typically very expensive to heat and have a very low energy efficiency rating. If a building needs to be up-dated in order to improve accessibility for disabled students or to improve its energy efficiency then the age or history of a building should not stand in the way. Any university that considers such issues over the rights of its students should be ashamed of itself.

I asked Simon Jarvis, Head of Disability and Dyslexia Service what changes QM is making in order to accommodate disabled students at the University and he told me: ‘One current development is the installation of a wheelchair lift in the Great Hall in the People’s Palace so that wheelchair users can access the stage during graduation ceremonies. This is a project which should be completed for next Summer, when we have two wheelchair users ready to graduate.’

I am glad to see that Queen Mary is happy to make such changes and is not having the doubts that Cambridge seems to be having. It

seems typical in fact that the only universities that do have an issue about adapting its historic buildings are Oxbridge – the traditionally exclusive and conservative universities. I would feel ashamed to attend a university in which the design of the buildings excluded others and I very much doubt any prospective students think ‘Queen

Mary – the uni looked great…shame there was so many lifts’.

So Mr fuddy-duddy from Cambridge who frowns upon the changes being made to his university should get off his high-horse and start being respectable to the needs of all students…after all, their fees pay his wage!

The Queens Building has been modified to allow for disabled access

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01/12/2009

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Nick Griffin coming to Barking Monty McShane

Nick Griffin, MEP for the notorious British National Party, will stand for the Barking, East London parliamentary seat in the next general election. The seat is currently held by Margaret Hodge of the Labour Par-

ty. Mr Griffin’s statement has worried many, as the BNP have a reasonable level of support in Barking.

If he is successful, the BNP will have their first constituency seat at a national level. This may seem insignificant. However, it will allow Mr Griffin to air his views in the Houses of Parliament – a dangerous thing indeed.

The BNP’s views are contemptible. Having said that, I doubt Westminster will have much time for Mr Griffin and his party. But to those who would have him silenced, it is important to remember that the UK is a democracy, and therefore Mr Griffin unfortunately does have a right to stand.

The problem is that there are many people who find his ideas acceptable. The BNP plays on fears about immigration, advocating racist policies which call for the repatriation of all non-white immigrants and repealing the anti-discrimination legal framework, amongst other things. These are disgusting policies and undermine the multicultural country that is Britain, but sadly some people are listening to the arguments of the BNP and agreeing.

The other problem that would arise if Mr Griffin gained the Barking seat would be that it would give his party a new sense of legitimacy. Despite the fact that the BNP has two MEPs in the European Par-

liament and several council seats across the UK, they are still mainly a fringe, extremist party lacking real political legitimacy. Having an MP would mean that they could stand to win other Parliamentary seats in other parts of the country. Therefore, gaining a new sense of legitimacy.

General disillusionment with Labour and Gordon Brown is pushing voters towards the BNP. It is clear that the majority of British people do not support the extremist views of the BNP, but the party’s number of supporters is growing. Margaret Hodge has a fight on her hands if she is to retain Labour support in the Barking constituency.

President Blair: Does anyone actually care?

Aleister Griffin

The EU: does anyone actually care about it? I would guess not. I emphasize the ‘guess’ in that sentence, as any actual research on the EU would be far too dull, even

for a politics student such as myself. Now, when I refer to the EU, I mean the ins and outs of actual EU policy, not issues of possible interest, such as the supranational versus member state sovereignty argument, the human rights trials or even what fish the Spanish are pinching from our waters this week. When it comes down to it, we just can’t be bothered about the EU. But wait! Blair?! President of Europe? But… He’s gone? Look, I know the prospect Tony Blair had of becoming EU President was only interesting at a stretch, but it was something to cling on to in the mind-numbing world of EU politics. I tried to see what the EU

constitution actually contained; I tried to see whether the Lisbon treaty was actually anything important, and I even tried to find out what the EU parliament actually does. But it was all too tedious.

For the record, I am pro-European. I think it makes economic as well as social sense to be part of Europe. Any harking back to imperial history, when we ruled the world by invading poor people’s countries is ridiculous. Britain isn’t special, and it is not important enough to define any international policy paradigm. We need Europe and Europe probably needs us.

The debate on whether we should or shouldn’t be in Europe is not the concern in this piece,

what is of my concern is our engagement with it. The fact Europe is so dull is important. It affects our position on the world stage and it affects our relationship with democracy. The appallingly low turnout at last June’s European parliament elections sums up our apathy towards Europe.

The majority of votes cast were in protest against the then recent MPs expenses scandal. For the sake of democracy, we need an accessible and engaging EU government, accountable to Europe’s people. President Blair would have at least caused us to give some attention to how we are governed

by Brussels. I am sure Lady Ashton and Van Rompuy will be per-

fectly competent in running the EU, but they’re just not going to grab headlines like a President Blair.

Sri Lanka’s nightmare continues Karan Murugavel

The year 2009 saw what was undoubtedly Sri Lanka’s bloodiest year since independence in 1948. Over 20,000 Tamil civilians were slaughtered in the final phase of the Sri Lankan Army’s (SLA) offensive, with The Times claiming up to 1,000 ci-

vilians a day dying in the last two weeks of the war.

The stories that eventually emerged from the battlefields were truly horrendous.

Civilians were fleeing from the rapidly approaching SLA, who fired from all directions with heavy artillery, multi-barrel rocket launchers and air-strikes from Israeli supersonic jets. The Sri Lankan Government had barred all journalists from travelling to the war-zone in order to suppress any details of the genocide that they were carrying out.

Dropping bombs on Tamil civilians is nothing new for the SLA, which has carried out this practise many times before in previous decades. What was different in 2009

was the sheer scale and ferocity of the SLA’s offensive.

The Tamil civilians cowered for shelter from the oncoming barrage in crude hand-dug bunkers, where they sometimes stayed for days on end. The few photos and videos that emerged were shocking.

Not even babies inside the wombs of pregnant mothers were spared from shrapnel wounds. In the name of conducting a “war on terror”, the government managed to conceal an atrocious genocide.

After the rebels were defeated, the traumatised Tamil civilians were herded into what many international observers have labelled as concentration camps. At first, the government told the world that there were

only 100,000 civilians in the warzone, but after the carnage over 300,000 flooded into these camps.

These were not open to any media or aid-agencies and no-one was allowed to leave.

Channel 4, amongst other organisations, exposed the daily occurrences of rape, disappearances and murder that occur in these camps, perpetrated onto Tamil civilians by SLA soldiers. They have already shot people who have tried to escape from the barbed-wire enclosures, including an 8-year-old child. In July The Times claimed that due to infectious disease the civilian death-toll within the camps was over 1,400 a week.

It has been over 6 months since

the war ended, yet over 150,000 innocent civilians remain trapped in these concentration camps.

The plight of the Tamil people will be discussed at the December 17th Union General Meeting (UGM), where attending QM students can help make a difference to free these innocent civilians. For more information contact: karan_muru@hotmail.com.

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01/12/2009

Labour sneak in alcohol taxation over 12-year reign Nicolette Turki

Why, as a society, have we allowed the Labour government to spend 12 years sneaking such a re-negotiation of the age-old social contract past us? Aside from the furious, but futile protests over their ever interfering nanny state, we have all but given up; any previously recognisable individualism has been gagged and can now be witnessed languishing in a state of compliant surrender.

It’s within this chasm, left gaping by our beleaguered and bereft self reverence, that Labour have crept. They have been known to take on many forms, and can be easily observed most nights pronouncing, from high, about the evils of the dreaded binge drinker. That these drinkers may very well be only enjoying no more than two, or

maybe on occasion a wildly irresponsible third glass of wine, is of no consequence to these grim faced, self-styled custodians of our mental and physical well-being. That would not be within the limit of what they deem to be healthy. And so we must be punished, severely, for we have strayed from their and their pay masters in the Labour Party stated path.

In 2008, the British Medical Association loudly and

aggressively demanded that the government dramatically increase tax on alcohol if it were to avoid catastrophe.

These demands, conveniently enough for the Labour Party, came just a week before the Budget, and as luck would have it, sure enough, this was exactly what the government had already planned for. I’m sure there couldn’t possibly have been any prior agreements reached ahead of time.

Yes, we are permitted ac-

cess to free healthcare in Labour’s kindly British Garden of Eden, but this would only be on condition that we agree to become happily near teetotal productive members of this society. If not, well then, the occasional bludgeoning into submission via the use of the tax system must be the only acceptable form of penalty. But since when was this part of the contract? And why have we allowed ourselves to participate in this?

This is the dire context in which the Prime Minister contemplated the Queen’s speech for the annual state opening of Parliament. Tories have lambasted his text as “electioneering”. I will put to one side that this comes from the party whose leader took his personal photographer into Westminster Abbey’s Field of Remembrance.

The thought process is easy to imagine: a red meat agenda to unite government backbenchers, tough talk on finance and social justice to divide the opposition and some constitutional tinkering that appeals to Liberal voters in marginal constituencies.

Scene fades before being replaced by a shot of Gordon Brown standing triumphantly in front of Number Ten following his re-election, whilst, just around the corner, David Cameron announces the dissolution and ritual flagellation of the parliamentary Conservative party.

Sustaining this vision requires incredible hubris. I do not blame Gordon Brown for “electioneering” – it should come as no surprise that every

outgoing government has had the same attitude. But the programme he set out is grossly inadequate. Public service legal guarantees would overwhelm the courts. Pledges to halve the deficit and abolish child poverty are entirely lacking in substance and seem to be empty gestures. The suggestion that Labour has, after twelve years in power, finally grasped the necessity of Lords’ reform is laughable.

He, of course, had nothing to say about MPs’ expenses and a number of the other mea-

sures outlined in the speech, such as guaranteed equal pay for agency workers, were regurgitations from earlier announcements.

There is nothing wrong with the Prime Minister seeking to use the Queen’s speech to rejuvenate a party widely perceived as worn out, vacuous and cynical. That his words confirm the Government to be all of these things is as regrettable as it is unsurprising.

Gordon Brown and the State opening of parliament George McFarlane

Confidence in any government is finite. Owing to a backlog of policy failures, dead soldiers, allegations of sleaze and impropriety, and sheer inertia, there will come a time when an administration’s popularity peaks and irrevocably declines. This is the point when the pendulum swings, ballots are cast and another portrait is added to the central staircase of 10 Downing Street.

With, at most, six months until the general election, even the most servile member of the Labour party struggles to argue that Gordon Brown is on the right side of this formulation. It is hard to portray a premiership as energetic when Sir John Major pities you.

7

8

Reviews

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01/12/2009

REVIEWS Stocking Fillers

write a review and send it to reviews@qmessenger.co.uk

Simon Amstell sheds a tear Rebecca Wynter

The Slanket 9/10 It’s snugly sofa time with one of these coach-potato toasties. Forget those heating bills, invest in one of these winter-time-wonders instead of dragging the duvet to the living room. At retail price you can pay anything from £20-£45 for one...“what??” I hear you say “but it’s a blanket???” No, not just a blanket, it has a hood and arm holes – so you can still hold a cuppa and operate the remote. But, on the downside, you will look like a fluffy Jedi. And with Amazon practically giving them away at £10 it’s a definite slobber’s winner – may the heat be with you...

Pet Champz Kids Trivia Box 7/10 If you’re a sucker for packaging and love giving those adorable presents, Paperchase’s Pet Champz Kids Trivia Box is the perfect stoking filler. One for the younger siblings, the questions are tailored for 5-7years...or if you’ve got a simpleton flatmate who thinks they know it all about animals, then this is cheap a cheerful present at only £3.

USB Humping Dog 10/10 “Until it pulls out, it does not stop” according to its Japanese producer. The humping dog USB is a classic present for those dirty minded, easily amused students – you know who you are! Slip his USB dingley-dodah into your computer’s port and he will sexually violate it like there’s no tomorrow. £6.95 from IWOOT worth it? Yes. Ice Shot Glasses 5/10 If you can’t afford tickets to Ice Bar bring the sophistication back to the kitchen with this Ice Shot Mould Kit from boysstuff.co.uk The moulds do melt quite quickly once served, but we students don’t have a reputation for classy drinking habits! At £9.95 for a pack of 12, this is an idle messy gift for a student home.

Collage Mug 6/10 Personalised gift for the grandparents (although avoid uploading some of the more explicit uni photos accidently). Snapfish.com offers the best deal at £7.99. Simply upload your chosen photographs, select your mug size, colour and send. Sorted. You can even get it gift wrap delivered to the old folks home.

Origami Sticky Note Pad 9/10 At £1.99 from IWOOT this is the cheapest little stocking filler for your flatmates.

Never again can they complain about a lecture being dull if they’ve got this sticky note pad. Each page has a stepby-step pattern to make a cat, swan, hat, cup, snake, boat, pigeon, penguin, pelican and (bizarrely) a piano! They are quite fiddly to master, but with 100 pages to get through, it may make even the longest seminar entertaining

Since leaving Never Mind The Buzzcocks there has been a part of me missing my weekly viewing of that sarcastic skinny indie boy, Simon Amstell. Luckily I snapped up tickets for the last night of his 2009 UK tour ‘Do Nothing’, at Shepherds Bush Empire, and got my fuzzyhaired funny-man fix.

Expecting a mocking evening picking on audience members with his savage panel show wit, I was genuinely surprised to find this TV personality to showcase such an unexpected neurotic character.

Self-deprecatingly honest, Simon

morbidly confessed to his chronic loneliness; his singleton status symbolised by his ownership of two bathroom sinks “I now brush my teeth in the right one, and in the left one, I mainly cry.”

Tugging at the heart strings his act see-sawed between side-splitting comedy and pantomime reactions of ‘awwww bless him’ from the crowd. A male equivalent to Bridget Jones, the audience cringed for him as he re-enacted horrifically squeamish chatting-up techniques, shameless stalking scenarios and his desperado pursuit for the perfect man “young, skinny and vulnerable.”

A mixture of paranoia, hypochondria, falling in love with invented people, anxiety over his pathetic excuse for a seduction voice and his over-analysis of the dreaded text flirt; Simon’s angst was one painfully familiar to so many of us.

Elegantly articulated, his anecdotes move from mooning his grandma to relentlessly enduring suburban discos in Romford “because no one told me London was so close”. The show’s title not only applied to his love life (where he enlisted a best friend to help wangle him a one-night-stand with a man in the park), but also family

life, with stories of failed intervention regarding his uncle’s chauvinistic views of a siblings non-jewish girlfriend.

Supported by capable warmup act Arnab Chanda, who’s sickly impression of eco-mums “did you know ‘Earth’ is an anagram for ‘Heart’” and his hypothetical response: “did you know ‘Pear’ is an anagram for ‘Rape’? – should I not like pears?”, I felt like I got two stand-up shows for the price of one.

Simon’s style was not just jokes, but well structured and tightly written stand-up narrated with his engaging storytelling skills.

It was weird to see him in a different light to his arrogant cocky television persona – it was like he was a totally different human being.

But this contrast made his act even more believable. Combining the dry wit of the panel show host with the broodings of a philosopher, he extracted brilliant humour from his tragic self-analytical take on life; simply being just an “anxious Jew who needs love.”

RATING

Mariah Carey at Westfield Tasvir Kular

When I heard that the Diva, Mariah Carey would be lighting up Westfield, I knew I had to be present. Arriving at 2pm on Thursday 18th at London’s luxury shopping centre, I received my yellow wrist band and was told I would get a really good view of her - so naturally I got more excited. The yellow band was for VIP people who arrived early, like AM early, I was happy with my spot but I wasn’t happy with the number of school kids tying to get in front in front of me. Obviously I didn’t let that happen...

The stage set-up was amazing and in typical Mariah fashion there were pink butterflies placed in every corner of the hall. There was a wide screen television playing all her music videos for an hour. I didn’t mind that, but I was annoyed when her DJ came on the stage and started scratching album records. It was painful to the ears and made the waiting game a lot more difficult to endure.

Obviously Mariah didn’t arrive on time; in typical DIVA tradition

she came an hour late. Before then Trevor Nelson tried to keep the restless crowds occupied by reminding us what a phenomenon Mariah is like we didn’t know?

When Mariah did arrive she took 10 minutes to walk on stage, presumably due to backstage interviews. But all was forgiven when she did her classic ‘ All I want for Christmas is you’ and little butterflies were released into the air. The crowd went wild, all pushing forward trying to get a closer glance, including me.

She held a Tinkerbelle wand and waved it to turn of the festive light.

She really did look the part. With the fairy light coated princess castle in the centre of the shopping mall and Mariah dressed in a sparkly outfit with her magical wand, it was like a scene dreamt up by Disney.

Mariah was on stage for 14 minutes…Was it worth it? Hell yes!

RATING

Reviews

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01/12/2009

9

QM Theatre Company Pinter Festival weekend special Fancy a cuppa?

Amy Mayles

One of the highlights of QMTC’s Pinter Festival for me was The Tea Party directed by Liam Mortell. The play follows the story of Disson, and, in particular, his relationships with his wife and secretary. Tom Machell was fantastic in the leading role, his facial expressions, movements and comic timing making the play so funny and captivating. The sexual innuendo that Pinter’s text obviously suggests was brought out and to great effect from the outset, with secretary Wendy sitting provocatively in front of Disson, which Tom and Emma von Schreiber performed brilliantly, creating huge laughs in the audience.

Zara Reeves showed her acting skill performing the male role of Will. She and Rosa Postlethwaite brought their characters’ sibling relationship to life, with a slightly suggestive uneasy quality as well as being humorous.

The only slight distraction to this great production was the regular scene changes in blackout.

However, as this text was originally intended as a film, demanding numerous locations, Liam and the

team dealt with the problem very well, ensuring these changes were as fast as possible.

All members of the cast were strong, in both major and minor roles. Patrick Straine was brilliant as eye doctor Disley, rolling around the stage on an office chair. Charlie Butt was also fantastic; her performance when suggesting that Siamese cats are ‘almost human’ was hilarious.

Although producing great comedy throughout, the final scene was very moving and poignant. The intermittent flashing lights worked very well on stage, creating sympathy for Disson who now appeared vulnerable. The various tones to Pinter’s play were drawn out, making for a great performance.

A huge well done to all cast and crew and to Joe Mcloughlin who assisted with the piece. Most importantly congratulations to Liam, who had clearly put huge amounts of time and effort into making the play so good. Thank you all for a great night!

RATING

The charming, but Dumb, Waiter Anastasia Aboim

Pinter’s charming play, Dumb Waiter, got the Queen Mary treatment in the dark intimate venue of the Post Room.

The characters in this two-man comedy, Ben (Rob Taylor) and Gus (Cameroon Harle), are hit-men who wait in the dark, dank basement of a café for their next job.

From the first scene, it is obvious who wears the trousers in this relationship. The uptight and angry Ben is there to get the job done quickly, while Gus is a sweet simple man who is relatively new to the job and talks of his dislike for “working on an empty stomach”. Then they get a message from the dumb waiter and things get complicated.

For those who are unaware, a ‘dumb waiter’ was a small lift, common in restaurants, where meals and empty plates were transported between the basement and main floor. Some had speaking tubes where waiters could communicate with the chefs below.

After receiving strange orders

from upstairs, the hit-men desperately try to keep the act going by sending bits of food they have on them. While Gus goes to the bathroom to calm down, Ben gets a call saying the man they should kill is on the way, which leads to a shock twist that reveals the true meaning of Ben’s job.

The actors gave believable performances and managed to capture the personalities of Ben and Gus. They used the space well and performed around the audience drag-

ging them into the story, which heightened the tension as the characters argued.

Although this play was written in 1957 it is a captivating short story that can still be well performed with relevance and great humour.

hear the heart beats.

My personal mention goes to Ros Smith whose delicate performance of Gila, Victor’s raped wife was poignant and moving. Also to Oli Roy for his confident and convincing performance as Nicholas (as well his versatile ability to play a completely opposite role in The Birthday Party straight after!)

Unfortunately I can only comment on the actors who performed on the side I was picked to go on, but that’s the nature of this style of theatre and it’s what makes it so in-

teresting and exhilarating for each audience member. l commend director Laura Sykes on her decision to direct the piece in this daring style and look forward to more exciting theatre from the QM Theatre Company during the rest of the year.

RATING

Have One for the Road.....

Bex Coxon

Imagine you’re being led into a dark room. Three blurred television screens surround you. A large spotlight in the middle. You are told to stand in the light, all of you, crammed together. The guards shout at you, make you feel humiliated, punish you if you dare to laugh. But you can’t help it. The atmosphere is so tense, so uncomfortable, so awkward. The silences are suffocating and overwhelming.

This was the welcome we received into the Pinter Festival’s performance of One for the Road.

The play sees Victor, his wife Gila and seven year-old son Nicky imprisoned, tortured and aggressively confronted by an Officer named Nicholas. It is never clear how or why these things are happening but that’s typical of Pinter, ambiguity is his middle name. Being a promenade, site-specific style performance, we were led around the People’s Palace building into back rooms, corridors and stairways

to witness violent interrogation by Nicholas towards the seemingly innocent characters. I am not sure who felt the interrogation more; the audience or the characters.

Being led back into the original spotlight room we were surrounded by the television screens again, only this time you were watching CCTV images of characters chained up like something out of the ‘Saw’ movies. Then the guards picked people, made them kneel before them, do exactly what they told them. No one wanted to get singled out, you could

RATING

10

Film

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01/12/2009

Something for Christmas Andrew Jones

Robert Zemeckis returns once more for the third of his mo-cap films, first was the rather brilliantly sweet and simple Polar Express, second was the dry but exciting Beowulf, now he’s employed Jim Carrery to play about 1000 characters who all don’t sound English by any means, so fit in perfectly with the shoddy accents from the people of London, specifically the children. Think Chev Chelios as a kid in Crank 2, THAT level of painful accents.

Again the film looks stunning, and Zemeckis pretty much throws virtual cameras around like they cost nothing. Probably because they cost nothing. But he clearly wants to show off the worlds that have been built for the film so much by giving us every angle in less time than we can monitor, in IMAX 3D the film will not be for those who suffer from extreme vertigo, Liza Minelli, nor anyone with severe motion sickness, you pretty much whizz around London at the start, after an opening segment.

The film kindly opens with the book being turned to the opening, and we, from there, see Jacob Mar-

ley’s corpse and Scrooge with the undertakers. From there we begin the story as traditionally as possible, sneering, bah humbug, the same dialogue as it once was, rather authentic.

As we meet Marley’s ghost we start to see where Zemeckis’ version has it’s own ideas, rather dry and traditional in Victorian London, when the spirits come in, the humour is being attempted to rise, in the case of Marley his jaw detaches and he smacks it up and down to talk for a bit. It’s as funny as it sounds, maybe less so if I described it well enough. The Christmas Past spirit is a candle with a flame the face of Jim Carrey, sporting a soft Irish accent, that sometimes sounds a tad too Canadian, just before the two go oot and aboot the ‘shadows of the past’.

Christmas Present is Jim Carrey as Brian Blessed, he laughs a lot, is very beardy and booming, and clearly needed the presents of someone with a voice like Blessed, as Carrey cannot sustain the bass to really excel in the vocal department here, however the final scenes are perhaps the most disturbing in a kids film this side of Jar Jar. Christmas Future is the point I

mark on the map wherein the film goes downhill. Before the spirits went into the flashback moments rather quickly, a little introduction and conversation, then BLAM, Scrooge is shown things, here Scrooge is chased down streets by the shadow spirit on a shadow horse and cart and shrunk until he fits through pipes, and for no reason smashes against 10 icicles as he falls off a roof, THEN gets to a flashback, that’s 5 minutes of runtime that could have been cut and the film would feel better, especially since it’s duties to be as traditional in the dialogue as possible make such an extended action sequence seem rather hysterical, like a parody in itself of an American remake.

Of course the tale of Tiny Tim is well done, if a little heavy handed at points, but Gary Oldman as the face of Tim and the face and voice of Bob Cratchit is great, he doesn’t overplay, he just delivers a simple character who is always in the background until the final 15 minutes.

Colin Firth, though high in the credits, has about 3 scenes, all are adequate, but there’s nothing for him here. Bob Hoskins as Fezziwig underplays the Cockney, and during a dance sequence looks far too car-

these films – making a claim of authenticity can always backfire if it stretches its own credibility. Lead the audience on with the promise of “can you believe, it’s really all true?!” makes everything seem more interesting than it maybe actually is.

Still, I don’t think it harms this film as much as, say, The Men Who Stare At Goats, since it never drops into melodrama or leaves the realm of plausibility. So I’m willing to suspend my disbelief.

Plus, it’s a very well made film – ironically, this has more in common with the Ocean’s series of films rather than any other of Steve Soderbergh’s more “sucking-upto-the-Cannes-jury” style films; it’s a cheerful, witty, even lightweight film that deals with a serious and even tragic event.

Matt Damon’s performance is maybe the highlight of the film – he gives Mark just the right balance of eccentricity and sympathy. It would be easy to just have Mark be a complete kook, but instead he’s shown to be an essentially normal guy on the outside whose neurotic, perturbed personality slowly leaks out as the film progresses.

Also, Scott Pakula (Quantum Leap, that Enterprise shite) gives a

cool, collected performance as his long-suffering FBI contact. There is one key problem with the film, though – it’s hard to explain without giving too much away, but let’s just say that the film is not completely objective and does encourage you to give your sympathies to certain people within the film, who maybe, when looked at without cinema’s guiding eye, don’t deserve it, at least anymore than others maybe do.

Films which deal with corporate crime are always going to have problems – it’s too easy for the good guys/bad guys formula to be applied wherein the evil corporation is set against the struggling, lone hero...the underdog triumphing against the odds story, which they love so much in the west.

What makes this film so good is that it does actually mostly avoid doing that, which is so rarely seen, particularly where big business is the target. Still, it does just about duck out of complete objectivity – like it can’t bear not to let someone be the “good guy”. Anyway, it’s still quality stuff.

RATING

Keeping you informed: The Informant

Alex MacDonald

If The Informant can be compared to any film, it’s actually the film I reviewed last issue, The Men Who Stare At Goats. Both films are quirky, socio-political character studies based on true stories recast as quirky, eccentric indie flicks. Except this one’s actually better.

In this case, we have biochemist Mark Whitacre (the often underrated Matt Damon), a successful white collar worker at the company ADM, which has been engaged in various dodgy dealings such as embezzlement and price fixing.

After a visit from the world’s nicest FBI agent, Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula), he suddenly has an attack of morality and decides to tell him everything about the company’s illicit activities.

Soon, he is plunged into a complex mess of allegations, corruption and bureaucracy – all exasperated by Mark’s bizarre personality which causes him to omit details to his lawyers and FBI for seemingly no reason and make baffling decisions and nonsensical accusations.

What’s most remarkable is that it’s supposedly all true. Well, this is the main problem you get with all

toony, then again he never looked all that real in Roger Rabbit either.

Whilst the detail is great on some textures and Scrooge’s face, many Londoners look rather bland and quickly rendered, which is disconcerting when many kids with limited expressions play on the roads.

The music is rather festive without

being too overbearing.

It’s a nice happy film, with some good moments and sequences, but the final act kills off some of the quality from the previous two.

RATING

Film Soc Screening Candy

Time Machine

This film cannot be judged by rankings of “good” and “bad” – this film features Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, John Huston, Walter Matthau, Sugar Ray Robinson, Ringo Starr and Anita Pallenberf all ruining their careers. This film features sex, death, incest, hippies, love, peace, politics, power, poetry, fear, hate, mercy, God, Satan, life, the universe and everything in between. People who don’t like this film are sick. People who do like it are even sicker.

An adaptation of H.G. Well’s 1895 novel about how a Victorian scientist invents a time machine and travels to the year 802,701 A.D and finds Earth in a post-apocalyptic dystopia where mankind has evolved and devolved and the old world is in ruins.

Perhaps the best H.G. Wells adaptation – and far superior to the 2002 film – the film is still astonishing in its use of time lapse photographic effects in showing the time machine’s passage through the centuries, as well its thought-provoking ideas and themes which must have seemed doubly relevant in the Cold War era of 1960, when it was made.

Science & Environment

Got a story? science@qmessenger.co.uk

01/12/2009

11

Size doesn’t count after all, for brains at least The tiniest of insects may in fact be as intelligent as a much bigger animal, despite having a brain the size of a pinhead, according to new research at Queen Mary. According to Lars Chittka, Professor of Sensory and Behavioural Ecology at Queen Mary’s Research Centre for Psychology and University of Cambridge colleague, Jeremy Niven: “Animals with bigger brains are not necessarily more intelligent.”

So why, therefore, do animals have such varying brain sizes? Re-

search has shown how insects are capable of some intelligent behaviours which scientists previously thought was unique in larger animals. For example, Honeybees can count, understand ‘same’ and ‘different’, categorise similar objects like dogs or human faces and differentiate between shapes that are symmetrical and asymmetrical.

“We know that body size is the single best way to predict an animal’s brain size,” explains Chittka, writing in the journal Current Biol-

ogy. “However, contrary to popular belief, we can’t say that brain size predicts their capacity for intelligent behaviour.”

Critical Copenhagen Climate Summit

Large Hadrons finally collide Engineers in charge of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have finally smashed together the proton beams in the machine for the very first time. The step, described as a “great achievement,” came after researchers circulated two beams simultaneously in the LHC’s 27kmlong tunnel earlier on Monday.

The LHC is smashing beams of protons together in order to shed light on the cosmos and origins of the universe.

Housed in a tunnel some 100m beneath the Franco-Swiss border, the LHC uses some 1,200 “superconducting” magnets to bend proton beams in opposite directions around the tunnel at close to the speed of light. At certain points in the “ring,” these beams collide with

enormous energy.

The first attempt at the experiment had to be shut down late last year, when an electrical fault led to magnets being damaged and one

Tanya Dimitrova

tonne of liquid helium leaking out into the tunnel. Two Queen Mary scientists, Dr Eram Rizvi and Professor Steve Lloyd were and continue to be involved in the experiment.

Conflict more likely in unusually warm years US researchers have found that across Africa, conflict was about 50% more likely in unusually warm years. Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they suggest strife arises when the food supply dwindles under warm conditions.

One particular event cited is the fighting in Darfur in Sudan, that according to UN figures has killed over 200,000 people and forced two million more from their homes.

The researchers uses databases of temperatures across sub-Saharan Africa for the period between 1981

and 2002, and searched for a correlation between warmer than average temperature and civil conflict in the same country that left at least 1,000 people dead.

Warm years, thus, increased the likelihood of conflict by about 50% and food seems to be the reason why. ”Studies show that crop yields in the region are really sensitive to small shifts in temperature, even of half a degree (Celsius) or so,” claimed research leader Marshall Burke of the University of California.

“If the sub-Saharan climate

n Men who do not openly express their anger double their risk of a heart attack, revealing Swedish research has shown. The researchers say their study shows a strong relationship between pent-up anger and heart disease.

n Children should be allowed to be dirty. No, I don’t mean allowed to enact lewd scenes with their action men. It’s normal bacteria living on the skin which trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when we hurt ourselves, a US team of scientists have revealed.

Did you know...

QM Environment Many readers will now be aware of the imminent meeting in Copenhagen on climate change next month. Another name for this meeting is COP15, which has nothing to do with Copenhagen. It simply means Conference of the Parties #15. It will take place from 7 to 18 December in the Danish capital and will be attended by officials from 192 countries, hundreds of non-government organisations, and media representatives from all corners of the world.

The purpose of the conference is to establish a new global climate agreement that will take over from the Kyoto protocol when it expires in 2012. The agreement from Kyoto is the legal document that currently governs the carbon emissions reductions by developed nations.

Mainstream scientific research suggests that global emissions must be reduced by 40% from the 1990 levels by the year 2020, and then further cut back by 80 to 90% by the year 2050 if we are to avoid a massive climate change catastrophe. This is what is at stake at the Copenhagen agreement.

We are now aware of what needs to be done to reduce pollution to a safe level. We already have the technical capacity to do it. We know that if we make the transition to a green and sustainable economy, within a few years the initial investments will be returned many times over in terms of financial gains, energy security, more jobs, cleaner air and healthier lifestyles.

There is no longer an issue of affordability - either financial, or technological. Now its all just an issue of political priorities.

The COP15 as a window of opportunity not to be missed. It would take years to rebuild a similar level of social momentum and political pressure. We simply do not have that kind of time.

People can show their support for a strong climate legislation and commitment to a reasonable new global climate agreement in Copenhagen.

On 5 December London will be hosting the UK’s biggest ever demonstration in support of climate action at the National Day of Climate Action where Green Mary will make its presence felt at a rally culminating in a giant mexican wave of solidarity outside the Houses of Parliament.

Copenhagen Summit Comment Max Crawford

continues to warm and little is done to help its countries better adapt to high temperatures, the human costs are likely to be staggering.”

n This year will be one of the top five warmest years globally since records began 150 years ago. The UK’s weather service projects that unless there is an exceptionally cold spell before the end of the year, temperatures will be up on last year too. It’s a shame the UK has been missing out on this sun-worshippers dream.

As the UNFCC convene in Copenhagen this week, during which sixty world leaders will meet to commit to reducing carbon emissions, a landmark global agreement in the fight against climate change could be just around the corner.

So why does climate change seem to have dropped off the political agenda in Britain? With an election and probable change of government imminent, a disaffected and apathetic young population are feeling forgotten by the political classes. Are our political leaders communicating with the public regarding the importance of this summit?

British political involvement in Copenhagen is impressive with Brown declaring on the BBC website that a new deal will be more likely if heads of governments put their own

reputations on the line.

This summit could result in a landmark reduction in greenhouse gases and the policy on climate change but any meaningful progress rests on the commitment of the US. The Observer recently reported that several members of congress in the United States senate were involved in talks with administration officials in Copenhagen. This could point to an agreement involving the US, which are the single biggest contributor to CO2 emissions.

Obama made big promises on climate change during his successful election campaign and has already passed a controversial bill through congress. However, the Copenhagen summit offers a chance for a commitment of global proportions. It is the day of reckoning for Obama; amidst internal opposition this is a chance to nail his colours to the mast. Is he one of them or one of us?

Sport

Interested in sport? sports@qmessenger.co.uk

01/12/2009

13

QM Fencers pipped at the piste in Cambridge

Football fourth team fail to kick start season

Frederica Sheehan-Greatorex

Men’s football SSEES 1s 4-2 QM 4s

On the weekend of the 21st and 22nd November, our sword-wielding Leopardettes faced their toughest challenge in the form of the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol and Imperial College. Following their spectacular run last year, they were promoted to the Premiership; this year they compete against the best in the country. At this level the entire competition takes place over two intensive weekends.

The team of Laura Delaney, Judith Johnston, Aimee Parsons, Vanessa Pietrobon, and Frederica Sheehan-Greatorex made their way to the Fenner’s Sports Centre in Cambridge for a weekend of Fencing, consisting of 12 matches in two days.

The QM ladies got off to an excellent start with victories against Bristol, Oxford and Cambridge in the foil. Subsequent bouts of sabre and épeé proved more of a challenge and at the end of the competition a well deserved victory over Bristol 131 -127 was tempered with narrow defeats to Oxford 135 -123 and Cambridge 124 – 114. Imperial proved to be much tougher opponents on the piste resulting in a 135 - 64 defeat.

As the new kids on the block, QM put up a spirited performance and the weekend was a successful introduction to the elite league.

The Leopardettes look forward to the return matches in the New Year in London where a similar performance will see them retain a place in the Premiership.

Ashley Sweetman

The fourth team were looking to kick-start their season in what they knew would be a difficult match against a tough SSEES side. The first half saw both sides put some neat phases of play together, but SSEES had much more of the ball, and were pressing QM for the majority of the

half. Nevertheless, with the score tied at 0-0 at half time, the Leopards were optimistic that they could come away with a good result.

Two goals by SSEES in quick succession after the interval shocked QM, but some solid goaltending from keeper Sean Mahoney just managed to keep them in the game.

A resurgence from Queen Mary looked possible, inspired by cocaptain Femi Rotimi, in an unfamiliar role in central midfield. Goals from him and striker Martin Bergesson

gave QM some hope, until a horrendous decision by the referee – notably, provided by SSEES- awarded the opposition a penalty, which they duly converted.

Despite the determined efforts of rght-bck Tariq, the QM defence conceded another goal late on to create what can only be described as a generous final score. The commitment was evident, together with the visible bond now formed in the team, which will hopefully lead QM 4s to success in the future.

Hockey firsts win last gasp victory vs UCL Darren McGuinness

Women’s hockey QM 1s 1-0 UCL 2s

ther flank, the play was concentrated in the middle of the park, with Penniket and Stacey Nicholl keeping QM pushing forward. A glut of short corners for the visiting Benthamites kept onlookers biting their nails, but at 0-0 at half time it was a just scoreline.

It was a vast change from the previous week, where QM had shipped five goals in the first ten minutes, conceding nine overall, but their tails were up and another bracing team talk sent the girls out fighting.

However, they couldn’t seem to make it work, and Penniket was carded for persistent bad tackling.

More determined than ever, they broke up the field on many occasions, eventually winning a few de-

cisions and, with less than two minutes to go, squeezed home the advantage. A free hit at the top of the D allowed Nicholl to feed Penniket, who powered her way through three defenders, made space for herself and blasted the ball low towards the keeper. The goalie was in a flap, not seeing the shot until late, and attempts to divert it were futile as the ball bounced over the line to give the Leopardettes the lead moments before the final whistle.

Nerves again looked frayed, but diligent defending and last-ditch tackles presented QM the chance to clear the ball up the field, and there it remained. The final whistle brought three more points to the girls as they continue their charge up the league.

QM Fencers hold their own in the Elite League against tought opponents

ELAINE Penniket, so often the dynamic force in midfield for the Leopardettes, scored in QM’s final attack of the match to help October’s Team of the Month grab all three points after a tight tussle in Redbridge.

The Women’s Hockey team were always on top, albeit marginally, although couldn’t convert breaks into clear-cut chances, with forward Rose McCourt’s frustrations earning her a green card from the umpire.

UCL didn’t do much themselves, and barring a few breaks down ei-

Crossword No. 6

Suduko No. 11 & 12

Across 1. Gesture of approval (6, 2) 6. Clasp for a door (4) 8. Botch (6) 9. Dated (3, 3) 10. Lascivious man (5) 11. Person who lives in seclusion (7) 13. Almost (6) 15. Tipsy (6) 17. Severe (7) 19. Condescend (5) 22. Plaid (6) 23. Most intimate (6) 24. Cushion round a wheel (4) 25. Patron (8)

Medium

Hard

Down 2. Charge made for hauling (7) 3. Humid (5) 4. Ooze (4) 5. That which a person owns (8) 6. Nestled together (7) 7. Sea mammals (5) 12. Sanitary (8) 14. Rose shaped ornament (7) 16. Quick visual inspection (4-3) 18. Not hesitant (5) 20. Characteristic rhythm (5) 21. Sets of equipment (4)

Last issue’s solution (Crossword no. 5)

Last issue’s solutions (Sudukos no. 9 & 10) Medium

Hard

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Sport

Interested in sport? sports@qmessenger.co.uk

McGuinness’ Moment So this is Christmas ALL OF a sudden, nine weeks since we started, the first semester is almost over and deadlines are drawing close. However, it is vital that we keep turning out en masse for just a few more sessions.

As is often the case, squads are likely to be depleted across the country for the next few fixtures as people decide to put their personal achievements above that of their teammates, and while it is not my place to judge, I would remind you of those factors I raised in my second column, back in October.

Easy points are on hand for those who put their hearts and souls into the few games we have in December, and come the end of the season those extra points, or perhaps even just goal difference, could be a key factor in staying up, going down or rising to another for next season. Indeed, other Universities will probably be suffering the same problems, so it’s critical that we capitalise on their complacency.

All Sports tend to suffer seasonal glitches in their performances, but as a University I call for us to avoid falling into the same trap. Late February and March inevitably become packed with attempting to fit rearranged matches in, so there’s a chance that injuries or coursework then will have a heightened effect. I am urging you all to stick at it until the Christmas break to alleviate the stresses from later in the season.

So far there have been few weak links in our Sporting successes, with everyone doing something of merit, so once again I call for you to stick to your guns and keep fighting. Christmas and the New Year affords us all a few days to wind down and regroup, but while your minds and bodies are busiest it is imperative that you focus it on goals set by yourselves and your peers.

On a lighter note, the QM Netballers managed to raise £162.32 from generous donations on the evening of the Foam Party at Drapers (18th November), all of which will go to Children in Need. Charity events like these are a great additional factor for Clubs to offset some of the rumours that tend to be spread about Sports teams at University, so if you’ve done something bad or want to strike before the iron’s hot, let QMessenger know and we’ll get you some column space.

Darren McGuinness

01/12/2009

Football firsts crash out of BUCS Cup James Barker

Men’s football Roehampton 2s 3-0 QM 1s Let me just start by saying this is not the usual pre-match warm up QMFC indulge in, and normally when you associate the word ‘pissed’ with us footballers, it involves more than a few pints of Red Beer rather than a small plastic tube. However, in an effort to make sure the only things still lingering from the tour to Salou last year were a demolished 4th team kit and some incriminating photos, the entire Club started their match days on Wednesday 18th November by meeting up at The Curve to enjoy some lovely STI tests, cour-

tesy of our sponsors C&G. After much banter and many excuses and a certain captain failing to step up, the teams dispersed to their respective fixtures, the pick of them being the 2s, who had a nice gentle train ride all the way to Portsmouth in the Cup! As our own VPSA would say, “F*ck My Life!”

No longer being part of the Mighty Seconds, the 1sts and I had to make do with a trip to Kingston to face Roehampton 2nds in the BUCS Cup. We arrived at the ground 45 minutes late for kick off, the fault of some awful traffic and some even worse directions. With Roehampton playing ‘under protest’ and the match reduced to 30 minutes each way, the Leopards ran onto the field

still getting changed and the game finally began. The heavy winds and bumpy playing surface played against QM, whose slick passing game was overrun by Roehampton’s superior aerial ability.

And it was this advantage that paid off early in the 1st half, when Roehmapton’s big centre forward rose above the defence to power home a header from their first corner. QM fought back, and with the wind behind them started to create chances, but to no avail.

QM started the second half with a determination to get back into the tie, with captain Frank Foster and Robbie Hepburn both going close.

The next goal, though, was to go to Roehampton, who with the wind behind them again pumped a hope-

ful ball up to their centre forward. A lack of communication and a weak header let in the Roehampton winger, who only had to lob the stranded QM goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

Roehampton sealed their victory 10 minutes from time, with another near post corner directed in the net.

QM still fought on though, but knew it was not to be their day when Ali Salama missed a gilt-edged tap-in at the near-post minutes from time.

Although most of the day QM 1sts felt like they were pissing in the wind, they will bounce back from this next week and maintain their lead at the top of their BUCS division.

The football first team knocked out of the BUCs cup by Roehampton seconds and are looking to maintain their lead at the top of the BUCs league

Swimming club’s small squad steal second at ULU Swimming Gala Alice Weaver

On the 31st October three quarters of the QMBL Swimming Club ventured out to South Kensington to compete in this term’s ULU Swimming Gala.

The people in charge kindly forgot to tell us the date of the event which meant we only had a week to prepare – the pressure was on. The committee rushed to get a team together that could challenge Imperial and Kings (our long standing rivals) – some cancelled plans, some travelled far, some were forced, but eventually a team was compiled.

As we were short on team

members, the majority of swimmers competed in quite a few events each, but despite this daunting feat QMBL triumphed in several races. Notable performances came from Emma Harris who swam seven events, winning most of them, and Natalie Vurankaya and Jonny Williams who competed in their first ever gala. At the pub afterwards it was revealed that QMBL came a gallant second with smug Imperial taking first place – unsurprising considering that they had known about it for several months...

Nevertheless, since the gala, QMBL Swimming Club have upped our training sessions to four times a week.

The swimming club finish second at ULU gala despite small squad

Sport

Interested in sport? sports@qmessenger.co.uk

01/12/2009

VP Activities Speaks...

Join Flowrobix QM Jitsu best uni team in UK Anna Salmon

Acrobatics, Ballet, Irish, Lyrical, Street, Hip Hop, Tap, Modern, Contemporary… there are a million different styles of dance in the world and, while so many of us want to push ourselves and try something new, no teacher is going to know about them all.

This week I thought I’d write about something slightly more relevant to my job as VPSA: Qmotion gym.

As many of you are aware, our gym is brand new (as of last year) and has everything you could want in a gym. Not only does it have lots of tread-mills and those rowing machine things, it also has a female only gym and offers a wide range of classes, all included in your membership.

I myself have attended Pilates once or twice and found it to be an excellent class, I felt much more centred and just generally well for the rest of the week. But if you feel that Pilates is maybe not for you just pick up a timetable of all the other scheduled classes including Boxercise, Street Dance and Spin, or go to http://www.qmsu.org/qmotion/.

By passing on all this information to you I am attempting to make up for the fact that I haven’t made it to the gym in a while. Every week I say to people ‘I’ll be in the gym everyday from Monday’ and every Monday I find that for some reason I’m in bed rather than working on my massive guns.

But honestly, if you haven’t yet been to the gym because you find that running on a cross trainer for 30 minutes is just too tedious, don’t forget all the other options available, and remember, right next to the gym there is a bar, need I say more?

I would also like to congratulate the Jistu club for being announced QM Team of the Month, but more importantly being announced the best Jitsu club in the UK! It just shows what excellent sporting talent we have at QM! However, what really annoyed me, were the individuals who booed Jitsu when on stage at Hail Mary!

First of all we all represent our university, so should celebrate all our achievements together and secondly they won medals at the nationals so they would easily kick the sh*t out of you!

Vratislav Domalip III VP Activities

15

So we’ve come up with Queen Mary Contemporary Dance Society - a new company that incorporates as many styles of dance as possible by involving everyone (experienced or not) as both a student and a teacher - if you’re up for it!

Together we’ve started creating our own choreographies in small collaborations or for the whole group; developing our strength, stamina,

creative ideas, and just learning how to work with people of different talents and experiences. We have a lot of fun, stay open to diverse things, meet new people and, of course, keep fit!

Although only recently established, QMCDS is determined to work towards big things: performances, competitions and to grow in size and expertise. In fact, our debut dance show is happening in the last week of this semester so keep a look out for posters around campus or join our face book group “Queen Mary Contemporary Dance Company” for more info. Come for a taster - we are willing to try out any dance on demand!

For more information contact us at: flowrobix@qmsu.org

Rugby firsts match abandoned as three leave in ambulance Harvir Bhogal

QM 1s 5-27 Kinston 1s (Abandoned at HT) QM 2s 38-31 Thames Valley 1s Three ambulances took away injured players on a day of mixed fortunes for Queen Mary’s Rugby Club, in Chislehurst, Kent.

The 1st XV abandoned their Cup tie against Kingston at half-time. With injuries mounting and the priority being on the League, where QM face UCL 2s and LSE 1s in the near future, it was a very sensible decision.

It was going to be an uphill struggle as QM were missing many players including centre Rainer Iveson, and wingers Ben Challinor and Muuo Makau. Kingston dominated from the start, with the usually powerful QM forwards being driven back easily by a Kingston rolling maul. Four phases of play later and Kingston had opened the scoring with a try.

The Leopards hit back almost immediately however, with a try that was straight out of the Canterbury Christ Church handbook, which shows that they have learned something from that loss. Kirby kicked a penalty into touch. Lock Josh Hind then collected hooker Phil Williams’ throw in the lineout. The subsequent heave by the forwards resulted in a penalty try to QM, since Kingston were trying to collapse the ruck.

A minute after Matt Bolous converted the try, Kingston created another well-worked opportunity

which left one of their backs oneon-one with QM full back James Tuttiett, who was sent the wrong way by a side-step. However, as he fell, Tuttiett accidentally and inadvertently slide-tackled the Kingston back, soccer-style. The impact left the Kingston player unable to move, so the game was stopped as an Ambulance came to take him away.

The resulting Kingston penalty was converted to give them the lead again, which they held until the end. Kingston scored two more tries with excellent running play from their backs, despite resolute and strong QM defence.

Phil Williams left the field of play with double vision and numbness in his face after being on the receiving end of studs to his head as he lay at the bottom of a ruck; adding to QM’s injury tally. The Kingston fly-half also left in an ambulance with a severely dislocated thumb.

Simon Smallwood again was impressive with his running and the angles of his lines, and Joe Moody was in the thick of it as usual, and used his deceptive pace in his ballcarrying charges forward.

With the 1sts match abandoned at half-time, the already lively crowd for the 2s match against Thames Valley 1s more than doubled, to witness a thrilling finale and a glorious comeback story for the QM boys.

Shortly after our arrival, the match was moved to an adjacent pitch, because the third ambulance of the day was due to arrive to stretcher-off another injured player.

The hosts were losing 24-17 and the balance seemed to look like

...Continued from back page cy dress efforts were amazing, our guests counting those such as Roger and Jessica Rabbit, Charlie Chaplin, The Full Monty, The Pink Panther and Duff Man among their number! Always a lovely group of really friendly people, the camaraderie and inter-club good humoured verbal jousting made for a really good night, hilarity increased by slightly inebriated third Dan black belts…I’ll leave the rest to your imagination!

The finals on Sunday were a fine display of QM Jitsu Club’s stamina, technique and blood lust. (Blood lust award going to Vasana Don for

completely taking out two of her V formation!) John Bishop was given the Bronze medal for novices, Vasana Don the Bronze BUCS medal for greens and the Bronze Jitsu medal, and Ian Bradley the Gold BUCS for dark blues and the Jitsu Silver medal.

Brilliantly, Queen Mary Jitsu Club was awarded the BUCS shield, declaring us officially the best Club in the UK. Thus we triumphantly claimed the back of the coach for the journey home, stroked our egos and nursed our various injuries. A great time and a hell of a lot of BUCS points!

Rugby seconds win but the firsts’ match is abandoned due to injuries it favoured the visitors. However, a converted try later, and the game was tied at 24-all.

The real turning point came with an absolutely sensational try by captain Elliot Clarke. QM turned over messy ball in the ruck and Ruari Cocks kicked the ball into the gaping hole left by the now out-ofposition and absent Thames Valley fullback. Clarke then ran over half the length of the field past three TV players who were attempting to defend the ball. He then skilfully grubbered it along the ground, collected it in his hands, and dived over the line for a tenacious touchdown.

There was definitely a shift in the momentum after in favour of QM. They now looked more eager, more focussed, and more hungry.

Ruari Cocks, who scored 20 points, was commanding at fly-half and read the game well. He kicked well,

in blustery conditions, both out of his hands, and at goal, and he also initiated the excellent running back play which brought about the Leopards’ third consecutive try in that spell of play.

A late charge by Thames Valley was not enough to prevent a welldeserved 38-31 win for the QM 2nds, who salvaged some pride for our East End institution.

After the game, Ruari Cocks said: “The comeback was brilliant.

I was really proud of the lads today. When we let a few soft tries over in the first half, heads could’ve dropped, but everyone remained positive and really played with their hearts.

“Hopefully we can continue to play well together and I really feel the team are starting to gel. Promotion is the goal for the season.”

QSPORT

Bringing you all the latest fixtures and results from the QM Sports teams

Sports Editor: Darren McGuinness sports@qmessenger.co.uk Sub Editor: Rebecca Ngakane proofing@qmessenger.co.uk 1st Dec ‘09 • Issue 18 • FREE

QM Jitsukas clean up at Nationals Stephanie Walker

Carlsberg don’t do Jitsu Clubs, but if they did, they’d probably be these guys!

The Atemi National Jiu Jitsu Competition was held in Birmingham this month.

Most of the Club was able to attend; the Saturday 6:30 a.m. start causing many shudders, particularly among those unfortunate enough to have forgotten umbrellas, or indeed, to have brought umbrellas, but to have had them destroyed by our curious climate.

The training later that day was particularly spirited, no sleep having been had on the coach due to the fear of being snapped napping by our

enthusiastic photographers, and the competitions later on filled the air with the sound of people hitting the mat and bodies being dragged to the first aid area. (It wasn’t quite as bad as it sounds…for the most part!)

The first day of the competitions saw one of our novices, John Bishop, throw and punch his way through to the finals, as well as two of our green belts, Vasana Don and Durim Manaj, and Ian Bradley, dark blue, without question (as proved later) being the obvious star of his category. Other novices, yellow and orange belts V’d valiantly but sadly were not put through.

Saturday night ensured a notably emptier training session on Sunday morning, post-heavy drinking, dirty dancing and cheesy music. The fanContinued page 15...