Seren - 183 - 2005-2006 - December 2005 by Seren

!!WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SILLY AMOUNTS OF GIVEAWAYS!!

Seren YOUR English Language University Newspaper December 2005 UNIVERSITY OF WALES BANGOR

FEATURED :

SEREN:SAVE DEREK PETITION

LOTS OF USEFUL STUFF AND THINGS

HALLS OF SHAME

By JAMES AINSWORTH

The halls situation has been noticeably worsening over the last three years and the signs are that further cut backs and significant increases in halls fees are to continue next year. While it is generally agreed that residents of the newer style halls, especially on the Ffridd Site, are relatively happy with their living conditions, there is a definite gulf of opinion when it comes to the satisfaction of the residents in the old style halls of the Ffridd Site, Rathbone and Normal Site. In recent weeks there have been major problems with a lack of running hot water for a period of five days and the yearly problem of leaking windows to name but a few.

Without intentionally assuming a Ffriddoedd site-centric view, it is the Ffridd site that is CWB’s ‘flagship’ accommodation site. It is here that prospective students are bussed en masse for a brief glimpse into the living quarters of students. Parents and potential students alike are shown around the new style Ffridd site accommodation and led to believe that the room they are looking in is representative of ALL the university accommodation. Current students who open up their rooms for the visitors to look around are even told not to mention the “other older and unsightly accommodation” by the Marketing Department. Imagine the surprise when you arrive during Freshers Week and you step into the murky underworld of say, Emrys Evans for example, that you never knew existed from your previous visit. Rooms with just the one plug socket to cater for all your electrical needs, damp and fixtures and fittings that have been around for decades. Even some of the newer halls have problems that are neglected by maintenance staff even when several forms have been completed. On moving into Cefn-Y-Coed last year, a student was forewarned by the cleaner that their room has a terrible problem with condensation and that having the bed up against the wall may result in a build up of black residue. Advice was given to keep the bathroom fan on throughout the day to help clear the room. A representative of Greenberg Glass,

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INSIDE :

SPORT MUSIC FILMS OPINION BLAST FROM THE PAST HEALTH INTERVIEWS

2 December 2005 This issue was compiled by:

Editor - James Ainsworth editor@seren.bangor.ac.uk Production and Graphics Editor James Ainsworth Distribution, Advertising, Finance Chris Snookes Culture Editor - Chris Snookes Music Editors - Christopher Alcock & James Ainsworth Films Editor - Michael Mooney News Editor - Keely Austin Welfare Editor- Helen Tonge Chief Proof Readers-Lecsi Hindley & John Jackson

with contributions from...

Dixxy, Huw Pritchards, Andrew Valentine, Lots of biscuits, Michael O’ Rourke, Adam Isbell, R, Frankie, Gen-, The MOT Computer Centre. *ALL WRITERS CREDITED IN ARTICLES*

EDITOR’S BRIEF

Dear Reader

So here we are again-its Christmas and with that, another issue of Seren. Its been a while since the Freshers Issue that went down so well and now we come to this shiny and somewhat packed Christmas Issue. Inside you will ﬁnd recommendations for Christmas Gifts AND, if you thumb your way through to the centre pages, YOU CAN WIN EVERYTHING YOU SEE to kick start your Christmas holidays. As a special Christmas treat and by popular demand (one person) i have included a Christmas Special Thing of Aceness. The Christmas Sudoku was lovingly created by John Jackson. Not only that, but this issue comes packed with approximately 83% more Student Relevance than the last issue. Features include the Seren Campaign to Save Derek and his ‘part of the furniture’ Burger van as well as coverage of several other local news pieces that are of relevance and importance to you the student in this University community. If you think we are still missing out on something that is of relevance to YOU the reader then you can still get involved with SEREN. Simply e-mail me and let me know what area in which you would like to get involved. For those of you going away from Bangor for the Christmas period enjoy the good sweet tap water of home-this is possibly the ﬁrst time there have been more parasites elsewhere in Bangor other than the Meat Market of Academi on a Saturday night.

CHRISTMAS SUDOKU

Its been an interesting few months since the last issue and scanning the Intranet debates board has highlighted some of the core issues that you the student hold so close to your heart. The mysterious and wonderful Iosef (Get in touch: YOUR Newspaper needs YOU!) and his musings on life may well have to become a permanant ﬁxture of Seren and there are several worthy and jovial petitions doing the rounds. The student voice is screaming to be heard!

C A

Thanks to everyone who signed up at Serendipity and those who have followed up their interest and contributed to this issue of Seren. Its been a long and stressful Semester for many people so take time to relax and enjoy the festive period. I hope you all have a peaceful and Happy Christmas.

The Editor

I T H S I

I T A I S C R

A C M A

M H

H M R S

I S

Question STUDENTS UNION DEINIOL ROAD by John Jackson BANGOR GWYNEDD LL57 2TH Tel: (01248) 388017

“The world is so often cruelly robbed from GENUINE musical talent at the cost of mediocrity and samey commercial fodder that gains big bucks backing, just because it can be packaged as a lifestyle to the highly marketable impressionable sheep of the World.” Page 13

“Surprise league leaders, Mike’s Bites FC are proving to be a fan’s favourite as they remain unbeaten, even in the face of University team opposition.” Page 19

“With a cheer of no small delight, the children enter and sit cross legged at the feet of Patrick, who in turn closes his book and places it on the table. He takes a medicinal sip from his brandy before leaning forward and regaling the fruit of his loins with his tale.” Page 6

December 2005 3

NEWS

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM? By CHRIS BRYAN

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 the German Armistice came into effect, signalling the end of the Great War. The war to end all wars had left nearly eight million people dead, wounded or missing. At this time, on this date, every year, a two-minute silence is held to remember not just those who died during this war, but all those who have died in conflict. This year saw the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. This year it is more important then ever to remember, as soon WW1 will cease to exist in living memory. Only ten British servicemen who fought in WW1 are still alive. Their average age is 109. This year, the University forgot. Armistice day was not mentioned on the intranet, there was no whisper of a twominute silence. The University flag that had been raised to half-mast the day before was safely packed away. This institution, which seems so dedicated to marking the deaths of long-since retired staff, was conspicuous in its apparent apathy. While I whole-heartedly accept that remembrance is a personal choice – forcing it down people’s throats would dilute its poignancy – the University’s failure to even acknowledge the occasion is sickeningly disrespectful. It is a time to remember those who paid the ultimate price; a time to reflect on the ultimate futility of war. To forget is to not care. It is not hard to see where this collective amnesia stems from when such an apparently proud institution can be so ignorant. Those who forget their past are doomed to repeat it.

University Press Officer, Elinor Elis-Williams commented, “The University marks Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday annually. Unfortunately high winds made it unsafe to place a flag at half mast on the University flagpole on Friday this year- but it was raised (to half mast ) on Saturday and remained there for Remembrance Sunday. The Ddraig Goch (Red Dragon) was flown at half mast on the Memorial Arch on Sunday. The University marks the two minutes silence in any official meetings or committees that are taking place. It remains at the discretion of individual lecturers and office staff to mark the silence in any individual lecture or office. The University’s Vice-Chancellor represented the University at the Bangor cenotaph to lay a wreath, as did Rob Harris, Students’ Union president.

By MICHAEL MOONEY

The rays of sunshine suddenly burst through the clouds as men and women from all services and walks of life laid their wreaths out of respect for those who have served and died in battles around the world. Bangor UOTC stood to attention watching with quiet respect as the Remembrance service took place outside Caernarfon Cenotaph. Then when the service ended and the sun returned behind the clouds the ofﬁcer cadets moved to the right and marched around the Castle, giving an eyes right to the mayor, then ﬁnally and most importantly gave an eyes right to the Cenotaph. The green blur of the UOTC was just one group out of many who had turned up to pay their respects to those whom they owe so much. Heath Craster described how the “laying of the wreaths reinforced the idea of why [they] were there”. The setting down of the wreaths seemed to be important to many, as the act embodies the sentiments of all, by physically showing a sign of respect. Catherine Kadus mentioned how important it is to

“respect people w h o have given up their lives a n d suffered for the society we have today”. All the officer cadets understood that it was not just about a single war, but all wars including the current situation in Iraq. When asked if enough was done to remember, Elizabeth Horsley said “People’s lives are too busy to bother remembering; instead they spend their time studying celebrities, where they should be celebrating those with true heart”. The question of whether we do enough to remember is often discussed, but “even if all three hundred and sixty five days of the year were dedicated to those who died it still would not be enough to honour someone who lost their life fighting for others”. Mark Armitage mentioned how many people find it hard to develop a link with the wars as their lives are so detached from any sort of conflict. Overall the day went off without a hitch. Bangor Company did the UOTC proud, with OCDT Jennifer Smith-Harwick laying the wreath,. Steve Nixon describes how he thought the day went “extremely well…considering some were first years”. Most of the cadets will return next year, with shiny boots and rock hard uniforms, but those who do not will surely find some way of paying their respects to the nobility of the human spirit.

STUDENTS SAY DEREK SHALL NOT BE MOVED By STEVE MANNINGS

As a student in Bangor it is your inherent right to have heard of ‘Dodgy Dereks’. ‘Dodgy Dereks’ is a small fast food business operating from a van positioned outside the entrance to the Ffridd Site, near to Lys Tryfan. It is positioned here so that students on the Ffridd site will pass by the van on their way home from a night out. BUT now the Ffridd Site management want him removed! For the past nine years ‘Dodgy Dereks’ has been at the site nearly every night in term time, through blistering cold, wind, rain and snow. The price of the food is cheap and, contrary to belief, the food is pretty decent. It is safe to say that students consider ‘Dodgy Dereks’ to be part of the Ffridd Site culture. Management at the Ffridd have not actually said anything to Derek (believe it or not the owner of ‘Dodgy Dereks’!) about their current wish for him to be removed. They have however dropped subtle hints such as: placing metal bollards in place of his site, sending messages through the grapevine, and, one occasion, sending an ofﬁcer down to photograph Dereks van from a distance. However Derek is bold in his actions and believes the ground on which he positions his van to be public property and so plans to remain in the spot for the foreseeable future – he has managed to squeeze his van into its usual spot

next to the end bollard. During his time Ffridd Site management have accused him of a number of issues including ‘persuading impressionable young students to eat unhealthily’ and even ‘to miss out on valuable study time’! Derek responds to this issue with a fair comment, “It is entirely the students’ own choice whether to buy food from me”, and he does not advertise his business in any way other than its physical presence. The other issue is the ‘chavs’ that have supposedly been seen hanging around next to ‘Dodgy Dereks’. The Ffridd management believe him to be a bad inﬂuence for this reason- even though the biggest problem they’ve had with ‘chavs’ is during the summer holidays when Derek was not there! A huge number of students voiced their opinion on the subject on the intranet. Messages of support for ‘Dodgy Dereks’ ﬂooded in and it was easy to spot a recurring pattern: ‘cheap decent food’, ‘a friend to the students’, ‘a legend’. In addition to this a huge number of students have signed Dereks petition for the approval of his position. If you have not done yet, make sure you do next time you visit! Indeed, if the Ffridd Site management is working in the students’ best

interest then isn’t it fair to say that Derek should remain? The Ffridd Site works to accommodate not only the students and their belongings, but also their wants and needs, and Students WANT ‘Dodgy Dereks’ to remain so ‘LONG LIVE ‘DODGY DEREK!’’

4 December 2005 <CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE In the last three years, halls fees have increased ₤196.71 in a ‘top of the range’ En-suite, Internet, Self-Catered style room in Cefn-Y-Coed on the Ffridd site and for this substantial increase, the following services have been cut; The position of onsite nurse has been eradicated as students aren’t ill regularly enough, this means further strain on the local health resources. The cost of a meal on the soon to be phased out UWB catering card only allows funds for one meal a day for catered students due to price increases in the cost of food, which has remained at a very poor standard. For those of you who have only been in Bangor within the last year and a half, the Halls warden Scheme was signiﬁcantly

reduced at the start of last year for reasons that can only be seen as further cost cutting. The current system sees mature students in the position of Halls Wardens and they have to balance the commitments of their course as well as the welfare of students in halls. The halls wardens are the ones who have to maintain the peace in a corridor dispute situation as well as be on call throughout the night in case of an emergency which could be anything from a ﬁre to signiﬁcant injury. The Halls Warden position was previously carried out by full time persons who had training in all aspects of the job and retained some form of independence from the students. The job of the Halls Warden’s can be very stressful and is not a position to be taken lightly although this appears to not be the opinion of CWB. Cleaning duties are the area that should perhaps cause most concern to the student body given the severe amount of cut backs that have been seen in this area.Consider if you will, the situation three years ago. In most halls, the kitchens would be cleaned twice a week by your friendly cleaner and en-suite

NEWS facilities would be thoroughly cleaned fortnightly as part of an agreement set in 1989. Today, we are in the situation of cleaners giving the kitchens a once over and no cleaning of en-suite facilities. The old style halls still have their communal facilities cleaned twice a week. It simply doesn’t match up when hygiene is a crucial aspect in maintaining good health. The workforce of cleaners numbered 60+ and the cleaning teams would cover all accommodation and scrub it up to the high standards that are set by CWB cleaning staff. The workforce now numbers a mere 20+. The phasing out of Charge-Hands has also affected the workload that is now put onto the current cleaning staff. Len Jones, the cleaner’s Union Representative is keen to state the excellent pay conditions and working conditions that CWB provide however, the workload

As far as student/CWB communication goes, they have meetings with the elected JCR groups on each site to discuss any issues that come to light. Perhaps these meetings should be advertised and opened up to the residents of the sites rather than being kept hush hush from the paying residents. As a former resident of CWB owned accommodation, and active member of the JCR, SU President Rob Harris comments, ‘When I was vice-chair of the Ffridd JCR (Last year) we met regularly with Halls Management to discuss various issues with regards to the Ffridd site from Security to Halls. On the whole these meetings were productive and CWB did listen to the views of the students, although many of the changes we campaigned for can only now be seen to have taken place and with any situation there were certain

is being increasingly stretched. He also says that ,“CWB have difﬁculty in recruiting new staff as their reputation goes before them” He expressed his concerns on behalf of the cleaning staff at the demanding workload, given that there are now no longer any ﬂoating staff who could provide adequate cover for cleaners who are off due to illness or on holiday. In the absence of a cleaner, the remaining cleaners have to complete their set work and the work of the absent cleaner in the same time and to the same high standard.

things that we did not accomplish. I am unaware of how other JCRs fared in getting what they felt they needed as a Halls group. In my position now, as SU President, I believe that if students in halls and the JCRs work closely with each other and the Students’ Union to solve problems even more can be achieved.’

Given the number of health outbreaks that have been seen in schools, hospitals and other public places in recent years, it is apparent that hygiene should perhaps be a higher priority than it currently is set. Students can certainly help the situation by keeping their kitchens tidy and cooperating with the cleaners by clearing ALL kitchen surfaces the day before your cleaner is due in to clean down the surfaces. This in turn will give cleaners more time to do their work properly.

Perhaps the issue isn’t with CWB, and they aren’t quite the money making machine that is the abiding view of many a student. A look at the funding methods of CWB shows that they generate income exclusively from Rents, Catering and Conferences. Given that CWB is,(like most departments) operating in debt, should funding be made available to CWB from UWB in order to bring back the level of services and welfare that were in place three years ago? Or is it a case of prioritising where funds go on the estates. At least the hedges and lawns are well kept. CWB were invited to comment on the article but did not respond.

UWB MOVE FOR AUTONOMY

By CHRISTOPHER ALCOCK

As you should be aware, the University’s initials are UWB – The University of Wales, Bangor. That is to say that the University exists as part of a larger, principality-wide educational institution. However, due to uncertainty over the University of Wales’ future, UWB is applying to become its own, separate University, a largely

political, constitutional action. The move follows those of the other UW Universities. The practical consequences of this are that, as part of their application, the University will be under inspection by the Quality Assurance Association over the next twelve months, and,

in the future, the University will have the power (whether or not it exercises it) to award degrees in its own name. University Registrar David Roberts has assured those studying at the moment that “It does not affect in any way the degrees which our students currently are studying for.”

NO LINK BETWEEN CU AND GRAFFITI

By JAMES AINSWORTH The Bangor Christian Union has denied any link between their Freshers’ Week Literature with that of the anti-war grafﬁti that can be seen on the pavements of Bangor. The issue arose after the graphic on the front of the CU leaﬂet; which was posted under the doors of halls of residence rooms during Freshers’ Week and detailed CU organised events (including the well received free lunches) appeared to share intrinsic design similarities with that of the stencil used to voice dissent against the ongoing and unjust war in Iraq. The organisation behind the “street art” is currently unkown. The locations of the red or black anti war marks are predominantly on pavements and can be seen under the SU Curved Lounge, College Road, College Park and around

the Main Arts complex. Bangor CU Spokesperson, Mark Hawkins explains, “The actual intention was that it should be a fish; which was originally adopted as a Christian symbol because the Greek word for fish, ‘ichthys’, is an acrostic for “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour”. This is probably the most succinct statement of Christian belief you’re likely to come across and something we at the Christian Union firmly uphold as true. By the time my housemate uttered the fateful words “that looks a bit like a bomb” it was a bit too late to change.” The Christian Union meets every Thursday at 8pm in Main Arts and further information can be found online at www.bangorchristianunion.com

NEWS

December 2005 5

BILINGUAL CAROL SERVICE

By EMMA DODD

Get into the Christmas spirit at Bangor’s very own bilingual carol service. Held on the 12th December at 7.30pm in Bangor Cathedral, the Christian Union event is open to all: Welsh speakers and English speakers alike. There will be a mixture of traditional carols, as well as some new ones with the opportunity to sing along in either language. Words for all of the carols will be put

up in both languages. The readings will be done in both English and Welsh, a great chance for any Welsh learners to practice their listening skills. Entertainment will also be provided by Cor UMCB, the Welsh Student Union choir and Christmas refreshments will be available at the end. So come along and have a mince pie. Everyone’s welcome!

CARDIFF DEMO By EMMA GASCOIGNE

ELDERLY residents of Bangor will be waltzing their way to Christmas after they have been to the Student Volunteer’s festive Christmas Tea Dance. The event has been running for nearly 30 years and entertains over 80 elderly residents of Bangor with leisure and tourism student’s providing a buffet for the guests. Andrew Wilson, Chair of Student Volunteering, said: “The Christmas Tea Dance is a nice way to round off the year - it’s also great to give something back to the community of Bangor.” Revelation will be entertaining the guests with live choir music and prizes from local shops will be given away throughout the afternoon. Another highlight of the event includes a game of bingo with AU President, Steve Connor taking on the role as bingo caller. Andrew would like to thank everyone who has been involved with the event and also the 20 volunteers who are helping out on the day. The Christmas Tea Dance will take place in the Curved Lounge on the 11th December between 3pm and 6pm.

Tuesday, the 8th of November, saw our union make another challenge to the National Assembly of Wales to fight the proposals of the UK g over nment to introduce variable top-up fees for a university education. The scheme would favour the more affluent students in their ability to pay for their education as the ‘top’ universities would be able to charge more; leaving many talented working-class students not only looking at their A-level results, but at their finances too, with the possibility of hardship and ruin. The NUS believe that access to higher education should be based solely on merit. So, a Bangor contingent set off at 6.30am

headed by our President, Rob Harris, despite torrential rain, wind and cold, not to mention an 11 hour round trip, and made it just in time for the start of the demonstration representing every

By LLOYD JACKMAN university in Wales. With speeches from the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Tories; it seemed that all were on side and sympathetic to our cause with them taking the time to come and speak to us at our ‘marketstyle stalls’. The absence of a Labour speaker, it was discovered, was due to a whip on any Assembly Ministers who came out to speak to us; yet despite even this, one member came out in deﬁance later, disagreeing with the very principle. The students have spoken, the politicians have listened; the ﬁght goes on!

FRESHERS ISSUE SELLS ON... The Freshers Week issue of Seren was sold on the world famous trading website Ebay in order to raise funds for a local worthwhile cause. The issue which saw the launch of several new features which were well received, as well as the in depth guide to Serendipity. After being on sale to the people of the World on Ebay, the copy of Seren received one bid in the 7 day auction and sold for the starting price of 50 pence! The lucky winning bidder was a Mr Andrew T Rees from Durham. The lucky auction winner left feedback and said “What can i say? the earth moved! fantasmagorical service” and went on to comment on the quality of the issue and it’s “tremendous sense of fun”. The funds were donated to the local Barnados Charity Shop. It is hoped that the money will contribute in some small way to the ﬁne work that is carried out by the UK’s largest children’s charity. Barnardos run more than 300 projects nationwide and help 90,000 youngsters and their families each year. There are no plans to auction off this issue on Ebay but future Seren related fundraisers are in the pipeline

By JAMES AINSWORTH

WHO KNOWS WHAT IT IS.

December 2005

PATRICK

With a cheer of no small delight, the children enter and sit cross legged at the feet of Patrick, who in turn closes his book and places it on the table. He takes a medicinal sip from his brandy before leaning forward and regaling the fruit of his loins with his tale. Patrick: Now children, pay heed as I tell you the tale of “The Mid Twenties,” and the dangers of approaching said state if not fully prepared.

They listen attentively.

Children, your twenties are the time in your life that you should set about realising your adolescent hopes and dreams. But, you see, upon leaving one’s teens, one may feel the urge, the necessity even, to grow up, or at least appear to have grown up. Let us take Billy, a young man who, while at university, set about growing up. It was his intention to prove to his friends at home that THE OH-SO-REAL SURREAL WORLD OF OUR LOCAL HERO Christmas Eve. 11:10 pm. The scene is an opulent house in the country his time at university had been particularly profound, side. We are observing an elderly, yet confidently dignified man, Patrick, that it had taught him a great deal about the world, and that he as a result, could be considered their guru in reclining in a luxurious leather armchair at the mouth of the fire place, such things. a suitably academic looking book lying open upon his lap. He lets out a wry chuckle to himself, before stoking the fire’s glowing embers with He told them of his steady girlfriend and steady job, his recently re-shod cane. Above the fire place hang five stockings, and and occasionally arched his eyebrows at the retaliatory tales of his friends’ shenanigans. Such frivolity was now on the side table next to our subject’s chair, a three quarter full glass of beneath him you see. It was this overreaching desire to brandy. Leaning back into his chair, he takes a moment to gaze around appear serious and to be taken seriously that actually, his study. Leather bound tomes of Baudelaire and Foucault line the believe it or not, alienated him from his friends. He bookshelves, themselves of a mahogany hue that match the desk and other looked down on his friends’ excursions as childish assorted furniture. As Patrick marvels at the luxury of his surroundings, and immature, not something to be tangled with. Billy affected this detachment with no little grace, remaining he becomes aware of the pitter patter of footsteps coming from the aloof in social situations, shunning conversation in staircase. His three young children, Hercules, Stanton and Margot, soon favour of wittily scathing, yet subtle, comments. He enter the study, at first peering apprehensively around the door way. returned to university sufficiently assured that he was a developed human being. Patrick: Children! Why ever are you awake at this hour? Two years passed, with Billy furthering his character Margot: We’re sorry papa, but we were too excited to sleep, what through the development of his outsider stance. He learned constructive criticism of alternative culture, with tomorrow being Christmas morn. and that his singular tastes were the only ones worth Hercules: Forgive us papa, but we desired a story from you. Mama pursuing. Upon leaving university, his 2:1 in hand, Billy swiftly used his experience in video game retail is asleep and would not indulge us. Please father? to move into an elevated position of employment. He found that the social skills he had acquired at university Patrick: Come children, enter! Gather around the fire and I shall allowed him to effectively tell people what to do and tell you a Christmas tale to warm the cockles of your hearts. when to do it. People respected him now, just like he

MOOREBACHOV

always wanted. But soon enough my children, Billy was to learn the error of his ways. Returning home for Christmas, aged 24, he arrived on his parents door step to find that they did not recognise him! No place at the table, no presents under the tree! They offered to house him for the night, expressing sympathy for his flummoxed expression, but instead of accepting this, he turned and ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He ran to the old haunts of his friends, only to find them all empty of the faces he used to know. Somewhat confused, he decided to phone some old chums from university. He received nothing but messages informing him that that number was no longer in use. Irritated, Billy begrudgingly accepted his family’s invitation and returned to the house, wondering why his friends had all lost touch with him. You see Hercules, Stanton and Margot, Billy’s efforts to demonstrate his maturity were actually borne of a fear of rejection by his friends rooted in a deep seated insecurity about the worth of his personality, and his inability to accept new experiences left him incapable of communicating with his changing comrades. And he was an arrogant so and so. This is the challenge that you will sometime face my children. To get older and grow up is natural and completely necessary. Just remember to not be a douchebag about it. Hercules: Wow! Thank you papa! We shall not forget the lesson you taught us today. Patrick: I know you won’t son. Now all of you retire to bed. The hour of the Dark Lord’s coming is imminent. Stanton: You mean Santa? Patrick: Yes I do. Now off you trot. Hercules/Stanton/Margot: Good night papa! Patrick: Bless. He returns to his book, and to thoughts of the future.

B A N G O R ’ S M A R K E T E E R S

By ANDREW WEBSTER

The CIM student chapter is the latest addition to the list of Clubs and Societies and the only one associated with a professional body. CIM has been set-up this year for all students in Bangor to get some real hands-on marketing experience while having some fun at the same time. The group meets up once every 2 weeks and work on such aspects of Marketing as PR, Advertising, Direct Marketing and Branding and everyone has a good laugh working together. It’s also in the meetings that we plan trips and events such as our recent trip to Liverpool where we attended a presentation on the current state of marketing given by speakers from Siemens,

Liverpool Hope University and Liverpool 20/20. The society is growing all the time and new members are always welcome especially ones from nonmarketing based degree’s (we have many psychology members!!), so if your interested in any of the areas of marketing above or want to improve your CV in a friendly environment come along and give us a try! We meet every other week in LR2 (2nd ﬂoor Main Arts) at 6pm and the next meeting should be on the 5th Dec, but just to make sure you don’t miss a trick, why not add CIM to your groups list on the Intranet home page and stay on the ball!

FEATURE ARTICLES

December 2005

EXTENDED HOURS FOR BANGOR BARS

By JOHN JACKSON

By the time you’re all reading this, the new Licensing Act 2003 for England and Wales will be in force, in theory allowing alcohol to be sold and purchased 24 hours a day. The Tories and several Labour backbenchers were the main political opposition who only just missed out (by 74 votes) on suspending it until January. So it’s happened. But is this a good or a bad idea?

First and foremost the main myth surrounding the new laws needs to be clariﬁed. The number of ‘establishments’ that have been granted an actual 24hr licence is so far only just over 1000 in the whole of England and Wales, and only about a third of those are pubs or clubs, the remainder comprising supermarkets and petrol stations. Most ‘local’ pubs are by deﬁnition in residential areas and tend to be applying for only an hour or two extra each night. In upper Bangor for example, ‘local’s like the BelleVue and The Menai are not going beyond 12.30, even at weekends! Some of the pubs in lower Bangor are extending slightly later than that but not by more than 1am. Time/Amser and Octagon have got occasional 3am extensions, but again only a few times per week. Those in favour of the changes may well ask what all the fuss is about. The Government’s Licensing Minister, James Purnell claims that “If people want to have a quiet drink after going to

the cinema or getting home late from work, there’s nothing wrong with that. We think that having hours decided locally by local councils is absolutely the right thing to do”. The introduction of any new law brings about much debate, especially those that haven’t been changed for such a long time, but this particular debate has completely split the country. Surveys by The Times, The Mirror and The Sun have all showed divided public opinion. The Times specifically had 71% of females and 52% of males against the new measures. Maybe unsurprisingly, the vast majority of students in and around Bangor interviewed on this subject were in favour, and the 1824 age group as a whole was the highest in favour in the nationwide surveys too! A national survey by BUPA has revealed that 1 in 4 people in England and Wales are classed as binge-drinkers. 8 out of 10 people don’t keep track of what they are drinking on a night out, and again the 18-24 age group are the worst, especially the male side. Opposition to these findings comes in the form of blame on the ‘antiquated’ Draconian Licensing Act for contributing to the binge problem in the first place through people having to drink over a shorter amount of time. An argument started within the alcohol industry itself is that longer opening won’t make people spend more on drinks because they only have a finite amount of money to spend. However, citizen’s advice agencies have suggested that this may contribute to higher borrowing and debt.

Certain police forces are worried that this will cause much more trouble on the streets in the early hours. The government counters this by claiming that customers leaving pubs at staggered times and the newly allocated police abilities in relation to this type of drunken behaviour will help ‘clean’ up the streets, but opponents worry that again the police are being given extra unnecessary power. The last of the arguments is that it works in most parts of Europe so why shouldn’t it here? The main challenge against this though is that if you completely remove Draconian rules, then the public will tend not to know how to deal with their new-found freedom, especially at a time of year when more than the average population tend to go out drinking. So parliament is divided, the public are divided, the police are divided, even the pub industry is divided! There is so much split opinion on this that only time will really tell whether this has been a wise move by the Government or not. Smaller areas, similar to Bangor, will probably not be affected in any really signiﬁcant ways. Larger cities however, with vast populations of drinkers walking, stumbling or crawling the streets at (literally) all hours, especially in the lead-up to Christmas, may be affected in a very different way…

GET A NODDY HOLDER YERSELF ITS CHRISTMAAAAAS!!

By KEELY AUSTIN

It seems like only yesterday that you were subjected to the repetitive conversations of distant and drunken relatives, whining children and inﬁnitely repeated movies blaring with forced jollity and cloying sentiment. But yes Christmas is almost upon us again.Upon reaching the age of ten it seems the magic seems to leave Christmas. Last minute shopping, inevitable arguments developing into family feuds, the devastating realisation that Father Christmas was made up…it all makes you wonder why we even bother.

The Pub - is about as charming now as it is every other day of the year (i.e. not very), but there’s something about a decent pub at Christmas that just feels right. Maybe it’s because it’s an escape from the cold and wet high street, or your festively minded friends are buying you more drinks than they might

Christmas Lights - Not the tacky domestic hang-around-your-own-tree ones…those can rot in hell! I mean the ones that light up the high street and make shopping that little bit less depressing.

But really when it comes down to it, Christmas really isn’t all that bad. So kill that cynicism with a big glass of eggnog and appreciate the little things…

Egg Nog - Mmmm, alcoholic slime. As Homer Simpson says, “We only get eight noggy weeks before the government takes it away from us.” Enjoy.

Christmas Parties - There’s no better time than to look ultra generous and trendy by hosting your own Christmas party and bringing the festive season in with a bang. Or, if you’re a bit tight for that, then you can always feed off other people’s generosity by turning up and drinking them dry. Family Time – Cheesy as it may sound sometimes it’s just nice to spend a bit of time with the folks. This leads me on to my next point... Presents!! – Ah the shiny, shiny wrapping paper! The true meaning of Christmas.

Mistletoe - So, you’ve had your eye on that girl/boy for a while, been getting good vibes form him/her too what better way to f*ck the whole thing up than by trying to get her to stand under the mistletoe! Will they avoid that spot under the fated leaves like the plague? Will you misinterpret their feelings and go in for the full-on snog when they were just expecting a peck on the cheek? Nightmare for one person, hilarity for EVERYONE else.

otherwise do, or because the old rosy-cheeked bloke in the corner sipping stout reminds you a little bit of Santa. Whatever it is, for some reason it justiﬁes shelling out ﬁve pounds for a Christmas special consisting of the thinnest slices of beef you can possibly imagine and roast potatoes harder than granite. Priceless.

Christmas Movies - Love them or hate them Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without Scrooge shouting “Bah Humbug!”, George Bailey realizing that his life wasn’t in vain and Steve McQueen jumping over that massive fence on his motorbike. And most importantly, if it all starts to get you down, just remember, it only comes once a year!

Happy Christmas!

BLAST FROM THE PAST

8 December 2005

Deep in the murky depths of the Seren ofﬁce is a dark recess leading to another world. Deep the murky of the Seren A world greater than Narnia, with backinissues of everydepths Seren gone before. Fromofﬁce the dawn of the printing press to theiscurrent dayrecess we bring leading you a glimpse into the past when A a dark to another world. animals talked and accommodation wasgreater cheap. The extensive archives scoured for world than Narnia, withareback issues the weird, the scandalous and the irreverent. These are the front pages of yester-year of every Seren gone before. From the dawn of that shaped our Bangor today....

By CHRIS SNOOKES

the printing press to the current day we bring you a glimpse into the past when animals talked and accommodation was cheap. The extensive archives are scoured for the weird, the scandalous and the irreverent. These are the front pages of yester-year that shaped our Bangor today....

Its 1984 and as the sun rises on another February bowl of cat litter-esque morn in Bangor, students everywhere lurch out of museli and a smack someone else’s bed, their nostrils joyous to the tan- round the face each talising spit, hiss, crackle and sizzle of a Fat Freddy’s morning. Fry-up dancing through the dawn, tiptoeing across a sugar-frosted city and climbing into our beds be- Freddy’s with its extroside us whispering “You there, you look like you vert character, colossal need to be content in your life. Have a Freddy’s.” A choice and ‘special mysterious force, an urge, a longing, a culinary pied evenings’ the three piper begging us, teasing us, inviting us to gorge keys to the success of away the grant on two sausage, bacon, beans and any budget studentwhat vaguely SNOOKES resembled a hash brown for many based eatery its develBy CHRIS students provoked temptation and pushed aside opers Paul Ashley and Behold! ‘A Round quantum technological into engineering un- Turner mainthe guilt. these parts those leap breakfasts were Andy knowns’ the Charlatans cried as the flying man cage thwarped legendary made with all the love, blood, sweat and tained. Constantly above of Bangor. was an industrial feat of strived mono- to push the tearsthe andstreets of course fat thatIt only a truly satisfying lithic proportion a truetopped icon byoff sheer scale mans dominance breakfast demands with twoofbuttered ‘convenience come over the rugged and treacherous terrain of rounds, a sachet of ‘red sauce’ and a Freddy’sBangor nap- Mounmid-lecture snack tain had proved almost impassable for inebriated stu-boat as far out kinthat to salvage that what got away. shack’ dents crawling back to the St Mary’s site for billions of into years. the unknowns as In the months leading up to its momentous unveiling Nowadays we look back jovially and cock our cups possible and then reel excitement in North reached pitch with masses of organic shade Wales grownhad latte as wefever precariously it back in with cusdescending upon the University City every day to see these ‘Sky longing for work our way around a ‘slightly sticky’ almondtomers Transportation Podules’ as they were known by locals, hurl topped pain au chocolat with a knife, fork, spoon another Cheese cob both brave, the ballsy and ofheld course students and the spork checking our hand vanity mirrorsat speeds and Cola for 65p. It unknown to man across the bustling streets below. camehave looked like every waking second for that what got away Some in may from as far away as Caernarfon others took to horseback along terms of chocolate icing around our December the inside of your the A55 but lips. all who had made the pilgrimage to see the local intri- high street blemished cate web of industrial sugar spun steel that so elegantly webbed bank and it may above streets of Bangor were staggered by what saw.smelt distinctly Cut the to 1984 however and the opening of Fat Fred-theyhave It could so easily have been a pub-lunch-back-ofdy’s the first restaurant to truly satisfy the ‘heart im- of ‘that guy in the the-matchbox from HG himself. tran- with all that plications on scrawling a plate’ demands of a Wells widening niche A corner scendent vision into the future of Student transportation within the student profile and it is well documented black pudding on ininBangor and beyond, day the man cage manuscripts salvaged perhaps from theone murkiest depths his plate’ and the would connect institutions all over the U.K carrying stu- may have to of the Students Union, that many a man and wom- seats dent types, lost tourists and practical jokes the length and an would infact literally gorge to death on the lard stuck to your bebreadth of the country. Needless based scrapings that were served. to say like many great hind as if perfectly wonders of the era the dream that was the ‘Bangor Sky Lift’ moulded to ones as Freddy’s first highlighted in anInexclusive reportthere by Seren’s was the first. the beginning was own rump every time Isabel Sim The will forever remain in the eighties. Freddy’s. ‘other’ fast foodlost establishments we Somebut by golly wasn’t where Bears and no doubt. knowbetween of todayCare we merely ink The spats Goonies on the back it great. beans and Lets Business not forgetStudies at thelecture time this a ground of O-Level noteswas when what vaguely resembled a hash brown on their breaking news story which‘Dodgy’ flung the very boundaries Fat Freddy’s was king. Derek was merely of stuToday Freddy’s lives on in a reincarnation of sorts plates, a clutch of change in their tiny student dent journalism into and the murky unknown and completely ‘Slightly Crooked’ the word ‘breakfast’ was but the spirit is still there somewhere and lest shall we hands and the hopes and dreams of millions resteclipsed many of the other potential front page candidates. simply a loose associative term for a half soaked never forget where it all started. Two sausage, bacon, ing in their soul. Vive la Freddy’s. So hot off the press was this story infact that an artist worth So, the top ten weird and wacky 5. Golf Management Studies his salt just could not be found to provide an adequate ‘imUniversity of Birmingham University courses as voted for by pression’ of the ‘Sky Lift’ and so a two-minute scrawling on conducted by dot mobile, a the back of a napkin in the Union Canteen by the editor new student mobile phone students are: 6. Space Technology and Planetary Exploration it’s had to suffice. It was a Jim’ll Fix it like no other for service the which launched on the 1. Surf Science and Technology one small step for a BSc (Hons) University of students of Bangor who had grew tired of the conven1st October, demonstrates student, one giant leap Plymouth for student kind at the tionality and monotony of ‘walking’ to and from that,lectures while many of us are still University of Surrey. and longed only for a industrial sized ‘Tomorrow’s World’ Stand-up Comedy (as choosing the more traditional 2. studied by Peter Kay, 7. Wine Business University of monstrosity to be dumped on the landscape to degree aid them subjects, in others are now star of channel 4 Phoenix Brighton Bydespair. STEPH WALDRON their It was left in the hands of an unknown and Nights) University of Kent & turning to a host of seemingly University of Salford rather dubious Scottish firm allegedly based inbizarre Aberdeen subjects in a bit to hone 8. Business Economics and Gambling Studies BSc toAs provide the financial backing, the Jim’ll of the ‘Fix-it’ we come to the end of what is some rather unusual skills. 3. International Football University of Salford Management maybe we equation as it were and thus cast a silver lining around for hundreds of Bangor students should send Sven to In the this 9. Baking Technology so how do everyone’s cloud. But look above De-survey 3000 students the first semester of your a heads new on Buckingham Chilterns they get the jam inside the University were asked to vote for niol Road today and no such dream is visible. Cables are University course, surveys and doughnuts?? University funniest of Wales institute mere wisps ofbegin sunlightto fleeting through an Autumn sky, and most unique 4. statistics appear about Brewing and Distilling courses available in the concrete supports are all but street lamps dispersed solcomplete with modules where the most popular univers10. Stained Glass Window Studies such as the A to Z of (which leads the way in emnly kerbside lifts full ofwe busyUK students BA (Hons) specialising in the ities along are the and whatandcourses alcohol!! Heriotarchitectural study of, well … wacky are simply clouds floating by on a mellow jour-and bizarre courses). Watt University, the new place are choosing. One carelessly such survey, stained glass. to be on a Friday night! ney to condensation.

A LOOK BACK AT THE SEREN OF OLD

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December 2005 9

FEATURE

THE UNSUNG (UNPAID)UNION FOLK By EMMA DODD

Mature Students’ Ofﬁcer

Full name: Sam Charles Godwin.

How he deﬁnes his role: Dealing with and sorting out mature student issues.

Nickname: Pan.

The famous person he identiﬁes most with: Michael Cane, he’s a good cockney and a good actor.

Peter

Year and course: 2nd year, Zoology & Marine Zoology.

Disabilities Ofﬁcer

What plans he has for the year: room, To organise the trip to Ireland 10th11th Dec.

Why he thinks Bangor is great: It has fantastic ﬁshing opportunities.

Year & course: 3rd year, Accounting & Finance.

The famous person he identiﬁes most with: England Football World Cup Winner, Bobby Moore.

How he deﬁnes his role: Students with Disabilities Ofﬁcer.

What plans he has for the year: To break down barriers and obstacles to successful student experiences for students with disabilities.

Union Secretary

Nickname: Lecsi. Year and course: 2nd year, studying Linguistics.

Womens’ Ofﬁcer

Full name: Andrew Kenneth Owen. Nickname: Andy Roo.

How he deﬁnes his role: I’m here to support and represent all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual students at Bangor.

Year & course: 2nd year, French, Spanish & German.

The famous person that he identiﬁes most with: Monica from Friends, because he is organised and fussy.

Union Chairperson

Full name: Vincent Newton.

Full name: Alexandra Jane Mary Cecilia Hindley.

LGBT Ofﬁcer

How she deﬁnes her role: Writes the minutes and communicates with the student body. What plans she has for the year: To increase student involvement. To make council more exciting.

Full name: Joanna Spearing. Nickname: Year Year

JO-JO and Sports

order and that commitees adhere to the Constitutions.

course: Science

How she deﬁnes her role: To make sure that Union and Council meetings keep in

International Students’ Ofﬁcer Full Jesse

name: Kasuku.

Year and course: 2nd year, studying Electronic Engineering.

Welsh Affairs Ofﬁcer

How he deﬁnes his role: To represent International students to NUS. To be there for the general wellbeing of International students. .What plans he has for the year: To increase the communication between International students and other students.

Full name: Samantha Jane Rowe.

Executive Committee and to head the Women’s Committee

Full name: Leila Mair Salisbury.

for the year: To promote bilingual policies and events.

Year and course: 1st year, studying English.

What plans she has for the year: To get the Women’s Group moving. To head an Anti-Playboy campaign, as well as an Anti-violence against women campaign. To highlight women’s issues.

How she deﬁnes her role: To work with departments on their Bilingual Policy.

Year and course: 3rd year, Welsh and Music.

How she deﬁnes her role: To represent women on the

Campaigns Ofﬁcer

Exec Without Portfolio and the weather (in the summer). Full name: Alec Clyde McKenzie. Nickname: Thinks his real name is unique enough. Year and course: 3rd year, studying Business and Marketing. Why he thinks Bangor is great: The closeness of the community

What plans she has

Why she thinks Bangor is great: Is the best university in Wales for promoting a bilingual education.

The famous person he identiﬁes most with: Nobody, is quite happy being his own person.

Full name: Stiuart Anthony Edwards. Nickname: Stu. Year and course: 3rd year, studying History, Heritage and Archaeology.

The famous person he identifies most with: The Super Furry Animals, because they are super and furry. What plans he has for the year: There are a lot, but most notably…. To save JP Hall for the use of Drama students. To fight homophobia and racism. To fight ‘Top Up Fees’.

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MUSIC 12 December 2005 h are giving umentary s ta S t n e d at Stu an reader m vely people rtainment, y lo k c e lu h T a nd works his Ego more te iTunes’ U2; self-proclaimed best band inrthe bycrowd. der aBono r the eaworld win than lady have k over luckynonsense, and the other suchaunjustified come y warm this sta The Edge, looking ie ch to latest up with a timely Christmas asdrockFit and roll as anceof their nfluenced b aboutan m o e chrelease r c th r e b A the your Grandad reading snapshot of the current U2 liveoexperience. tudentis on . SGuardian, dThe e g ne of The r ot only a tu ic innin p wDVD s p Vertigo 2005 tour was filmed in the United fine string plucking form and to er two Eagle lesser ignother sthe e n d a ic r d e n Attitude fi m Centreis in Chicagooand sees the slick performances knowns are so well practiced in being A r hard to . in b e e w s li e of old and new U2 songs performed to an energetic background members that this token mention ia c up to the und on th tash spe e fo crowd of burgerSchomping, stadium rock loving maybhave given them more coverage than they n a c d n a earprecision and are used to and Bono’s ears alw M be burning with folk who are captured with clinical Owill casu

RECTED SHas.C‘New Years Day’ and the TAsuch S T lighted with just the right amount of sexified envy. Classics N E D U T OFcomplete with WW lens flare. The songs are the.S cinematics awesome ‘Sunday YPESunday’ TBloody Wtight, T A H W are choreographed with military precision SEandINfloods of lighting still sound fresh and resilient SPECIALI THING? O L r mi C tts

*GLC instore at COB *

Gate on thes cras Mi CHRIS her eTHOMSON ing t By Com nsitry o he b f ts beStraight eoutta latiGoldie s n piThe Lookin’ o en b t iNewport, n choi ig bring his yChain boys their Welsh tour to Bangor. c e n tinhTime/Amser, ear tos theirogig Prior The Chain e ...N managedim l to p take time out of their very hectic A swrecords ME toTpopyintoanCOB schedule on the high er H C

E ‘n’greetandsigningsession. Hstreet ARforEaquickmeet CTEfashion, they arrive a little late Y ENIn true celebrity RS Fbustle IELD and their way through the ever-growing Tcrowd ﬂock of fans. The OOareKa very mixed bunch, young and old. Many, worryingly, are school

Despite the lack of Elizabeth Dukes jewellery, many of the crew are still decked out in their trademark Adidas tracksuits. There are a limited number of GLC posters scrawled with obscenities given away and those not lucky enough to get their mitts on one are more than content to hand over countless other things for the boys to sign. There are CDs, tickets, football shirts, birthday cards, and even a girl’s buttocks (if only she could see what they wrote!). They also urge everyone to donate to Children in Need before they leave. What nice fellas!

against the likes of ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Beautiful Day’ Despite the impression of the whole show being unwrapped and repeated from venue to venue in it’s pristine clear cut military precision, with occassional ad libs on religion and politics from second in line to God himself, this is still a quality production, although lacking in any form of extras that we have come to expect from DVD releases, An evangelical promo piece from a band that refuse to die away yet still have the ability to get on your nerves, but hey, each to their own and all that. God Bless Bono

By CHRIS THOMSON

For anyone with an ounce of musical taste, L!VE, so far this year, has provided a wealth of up and coming talent from around the UK. First of all we had the fun and frolics of El Presidente. Their brand of funky pop rock really kicked off the start of the year and was a sign of good things to come. Next up were Cardiff-based thrash punkers The Martini Henry Riﬂes. This exhaustive trio certainly made a lasting impression and showed the crowd how a live performance It has been entertaining enough seeing GLC should be done. Then we come to the sign posters, here’s looking forward to the gig. Towers of London, a band whose reputation

FT GIVEAWAY

By JAMES AINSWORTH

Live and let L!VE

en* children. Quite what they are doing in town at half one on a Wednesday afternoon I don’t know.

U2~Elevation Tour DVD

precedes them. These tight-trousered rockers were always going to cause a stir and, well, let’s just say it was interesting to say the least. Most recently we have enjoyed indie rockers Apartment. These lively Londoners really whipped the crowd into a frenzy and seemed to like nothing more than a quick chat with the crowd (Especially the Editor) between songs. Lovely stuff. Also of very worthy mention are the several excellent support acts, from the feisty girls of McQueen, to indie kids International Karate Plus to Welsh rockers The Heights. L!VE is without a doubt one of the best nights out in Bangor, and all for the price of a takeaway.

ly THE best ib s s o p e it Qu at explains h t g in o g k boo re on the all and mo e scene. UK nightlif ed guide t a r t s lu il n A atured in that has fe n and The Guardia d by is publishe Publishers. Duckworth a mere ou Marley and The Wailers~ ailable for v A Blink 182~~9 or grab one for free if yBob Greatest Hits~ HICH Singles Collection £7.9 W N I By CHRISTOPHER swer this... Africa Unite: just an PEARED

Christmas Gift Ideas E-mail:

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SystemSimple! Of A Down~ uestions. By DAVID MARRIOTT

Hypnotize

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BOX: X R U O Y PY FOR O C A N I W EARNED IN BLOOD IS THE UP FOLLOW H TO WHIC S IN BROTHER ME? ARMS GA

have released AFRICA UNITE: THE SINGLES COLLECTION, a vital collection of 20 past, present and future Bob Marley and the Wailers classics.

Bob’s importance in pop and R&B music grows greater every year. His music continues to inspire, educate and motivate people worldwide. I’d admit that I would complain rather loudly if my parents chose to listen to his music, but I have since learned to like him and his talent is endless. As well as all the obvious classics, Africa Unite: The Singles Collection spotlights Slogans, the ﬁrst new and ofﬁcial Bob Marley track to be released in more than a decade. Another new recording is a remix

Peas, who was personally invited to create the remix by Rita Marley, Bob’s wife. This album could easily serve as a chilled out, relaxing accompaniment or a drive-time classic. The soft beats and smooth voice of Bob Marley are a ﬁne recipe for easy listening. His music brings back the laid back warmth of summerhe can even help with essay writing, as I have since found out! However some may ﬁnd the very qualities of his music actually irritating – as I have also unfortunately discovered. I feel that, Africa Unite: The Singles Collection deserves a place in any R&B, Reggae, or Pop collection and his music will forever be cherished by his fans.

N WIN WIN WIN IN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN

MUSIC

IN PROFILE:

December 2005

JEREMY WARMSLEY

By ANDREW VALENTINE Jeremy War msley. Genius. Poet. Man. Also paid up supporter of the revoluti on no one is calling “To Wear One’s Braces Outside of One’s T-Shirt.” Jeremy’s cheekil y idiosyncratic dress sense is reﬂected in the music of his debut EP “Fiv e Interesting Lies.” Loosely, he writes songs with words, guitars, and electronic bits in them. In practice, this results in the joyous, storytelling pop of lead track “Fiv e Verses,” and the skittering beats and cheerleading backing vocals of “After The Fac t.” At other times, he ﬂirts insatiab ly with queasy ambience and evil sounding rob otisms in “The Young Man See ’s The City As A Chessboard” and “Home.” But how does one retain one’s hum anity in this brave new digitised world? Well Jeremy has the answer, with his smart lyricism, playful melodies and really quite angelic vocals. By the time the war m blan ket of “World of Sound” closes the EP, you too will support the revolution. Buy his son gs. Be happy.

www.jeremywarmsley.com

ur maybe yo ed my, r o ck r a r r i t m d mply e lea quite si te rses, th i s e u a V q h 5 s y i e h l arms ntally, way wit e d i e c m at n o Jeremy W i s s pull which tence in Lies EP year! It g n lf s i e own exis i t s h s t e f r o iod 5 Inte elease deep per e. 10inch r a s from his n e s t s e s n c e o u b n d the and in lgent u t d r n a i e h possibly f l e h other se ngs of t the stri enned; pity and f l e s ry line p , e n v o e i t d c d n e a fl re f each “I can an meaning o ou think y e f h s o t e k e n a c i m that le pie sparency this sing tlessness . r n r o e o Such tran f t f f t e l i l r h i w c has uld k ith su e. .” Jeremy writer wo u t dropped w g r a n t h o t s o h s r t e , i g So sin fy w m along” ue aspiring do identi string hi discotheq that any o e t e i c d n n n u a i f i e l e h l b t he t t t bri a h g s o i l t m r ng. Gi espond ght it kinda thi n. that corr s o ‘She thou i i s h t e t n p e a o t h d t s Y UALL s into ttent a e i i m d r o e b t Girls ACT n r i i nd ulate the polite a who manip piece ying you a p t s layered l i h y w l h d c n i u r o s ty beat s a ken dir erses i o V r b 5 boy a , with school n aside f posteliness o v o Digressio l t s ls. e e g i g n t n filli pret oy a on the ngels. B of floor a y f l o d r a s w e awk the echo sitting TH hang on h c i h w AINSWOR S s E M A vocal J y

If Words Could Kill... i’d Spell Out Your Name By JAMES AINSWORTH

I present to you a Mr Jack Johnson and his music. So so bland and cutely marketed to the niche readers of the Daily Telegraph and the army of yuppies that wish they could live the surfer’s lifestyle but are stuck pushing paper and “closing the deal”. There are quite simply better singer songwriters out there who convey an indefatigable amount of emotion and soul in their music that doesn’t seem as fake and naff as on Jack Johnson records, where it appears such things are clinically portioned out by JJ label bosses at Universal records. “I’m sorry Jack we can’t run with this track…it sounded too, too real, why dontcha run back to your shack and try that one again, Son.’ In my humble, and purely subjective opinion, there is mellow acoustic strumming and then there is insipid vacuous niceness which just doesn’t show any musical progression from one album to the next. I am not saying this from an uninformed viewpoint (Like Incubus, Razor-

spellbinding encores at gigs without a PA; the weight of the words is equally matched with the intensity of the vocal. The self-titled debut in 2000 saw a well deserved Mercury Music Prize Nomination and a Best Male Brit Award nomination, he lost to a little known Robert Williams who was riding on the wave of success that ‘Angels’ brought the former Take That background member. Three albums down the line, the progression in musicianship and themes has shown the depth in talent and maturity in which Tom McRae excels.

Secondly, I offer up to you the very accessible and festival favourite of the summer, Stephen Fretwell, not just loved by Radio 1’s Colin and Edith but by indie purveyors of darkness and deliciously expansive pieces, Elbow. Fretwell has kept good company and out of this was born a ﬁne debut which displays his love for Bob Dylan on his sleeve like a proudly

“Lady lady love me

Ben Folds

Jack Johnson

light, Nirvana etc most people have an ex who assigned more than a little “love and time” to these false idols). I am not merely picking an easy target. I am not jealous of the easy money one surf dude with a sponsorship deal with Quicksilver has made, I am quite simply saying that there is unequivocally a whole bunch of better musicianship and integrity out there. I will offer you names of these acts and the virtues that they posses and in doing so, weigh up their talents against those of Mr. Jack Johnson. Starting at home, we have Tom McRae, hailing from London and taking inﬂuences from Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley to name but a few. His dark, melancholic and richly orchestrated tunes are mainly piano and guitar based with the addition of a Cello and additional strings to add to the atmospherics. Lyrically, Tom McRae is succinct and stark with little embellishment required on sentiment, “If songs could kill this one is for you” Given his vocal range too, he often performs

The aforementioned are just a few of the shamefully unnoticed singer songwriter talents in the music scene today, a scene that has been dealt several cruel blows with the deaths of the likes

“She’s a brick and I’m drowning slowly”

Cause I love to lay here lazy”

JACK JOHNSON

of somewhat countrified Middle America musings. The hero of America right now from OC teens to the anti-Bush fanatics, Bright Eyes can do no wrong. Musically, Connor has recorded an impressive amount of songs, branching across genres and still in his early 20s. A classically self trained finger picking master of the guitar, Jose Gonzalez is an up and coming star with a cult following in his homeland of Sweden. His influences are wide ranging due to his upbringing in Scandinavia by his Argentinean parents. He is currently the spellbinding and luscious soft vocal accompaniment to the Sony Advert on TV which has the 250,000 multicoloured bouncy balls drifting through San Francisco. Minimalistic, stripped back, one man and his guitar delights.

TOM McRAE earned boy scouts badge. ‘Magpie’ is one of the gems of the year and has seen the status of a young chap from Scunthorpe grow. Having lasted all of two days at Salford Uni, Stephen fell in love with Manchester and the warmth of the music scene. A troubadour of our times, with despairingly beautiful tracks like hit single ‘Emily’ (The kind of track where you don’t recognize the title but come the chorus you know it, love it, sing it back) and ‘Lines’, a moody slow burner that really shows off the fragile nature of his voice that sends shivers down spines. Music that moves you to an introspective emotional state without an overwhelming sense of despair. For further aﬁeld talent, then the following are all delightful artists with their own idiosyncratic styles and virtues. Ben Folds, for those of you that prefer an edgier lyric that doesn’t take itself too seriously and for one guy to gain so much from one piano, give him a go for smiles all round. Bright Eyes, the moniker chosen by Connor Oberst for his project

JOSE GONZALEZ of Matthew Jay and Elliot Smith in recent years. The world is so often cruelly robbed from GENUINE musical talent at the cost of mediocrity and samey commercial fodder that gains big bucks backing just because it can be packaged as a lifestyle to the highly marketable impressionable sheep of the world. This Christmas you may just be in luck and receive vouchers that can be exchanged for musical goods up to and including the face value. Instead of taking the easy option of plumping for what is advertised on TV or on the stands of the subsidised “Artist of the Week”, have a little meander through the A-Z of indie/rock sections and see if you can pick up one of the above recommendations. Hey, if you don’t like it, swap it for something a little more Virgin Radio, but please be aware of your options this Christmas and bring a little cheer to your life with some *REAL* music. Jack has enough money to keep him living his little dream in Hawaii anyway.

FILM

December 2005

R O C K Y

The sixth instalment sees Rocky, a lonely fifty-something restaurant owner in Philadelphia, in mourning since the death of his beloved wife Adrian (Talia Shire). Hard-off for cash, he takes his place in the ring once more to challenge a few smalltime boxers. Rocky once again finds himself in the centre of a media storm when the reigning By STEVE MANNINGS world heavy-weight champion, ‘Rocky Balboa’ is due to the series, released in 1976, Mason ‘The Line’ Dixon, hit our screens in 2006! we have followed the street- challenges him to a title fight. wise boxer in his journey Sylvester Stallone will from amateur boxer to world Can Rocky go the distance reprise his role as the heavy-weight champion – one ‘final’ time in the sport former street-fighter turned surpassing some true greats he loves and regain his boxing- champ in the sixth on his way such as Apollo confidence, his status, and edition to the Rocky series. Creed, Clubber Lang (a.k.a his fans’ respect?... (and his Mr. T), and Soviet-Union physique come to mention it Since the first instalment of propaganda tool Ivan Drago. he is heading for 60 after all!)

Films

Trivia

Dias De Futbol By MICHAEL MOONEY ‘Football Days’ sees six unﬁt friends form a seven aside football team, who decide to play until they win. Antonio (Ernesto Alterio) decides to set up a team to cheer up his best friend, Jorge (Alberto San Juan), who has just been dumped by Antonio’s sister. Their team ‘Brazil’ faces constant defeat, continuously ﬁnding they are miserable, bogged down with

By NATALIE PIERCE-JONES

What 2005 movie, features caves in the Appalachian Mountains, and was directed by Neil Marshall?

Who directed the 2005 ‘Charlie and the Factory’?

What ﬁlm does the quote, “Hey! Zip it! Rule number one: No speaky until the man speaky to you”, come from?

What ﬁlm does Owen Wilson star in where he plays a male model called Hansel?

Eddie Murphy and Famke Janssen, Jean Grey from X-Men, feature in what 2002 movie?

In ‘Team America’ who said “Let’s go, bitch. I’ve done action ﬁlms!”?

‘American History X’ stars Edward Norton as which character?

In ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ what is the name of the lead character?

Which ﬁlm shows Al Pacino playing a corrupt government agent?

10.

Which other famous actor plays alongside Johnny Depp in ‘Donnie Brasco’?

I can‘t remember the full title of the film, but then I was buying red fizzy laces and flying saucers at the time. A girl can’t be expected to remember everything!!! I didn’t know what to expect; as I am a Zorro virgin!!! However I was pleasantly surprised. Antonio Banderas is the perfect swashbuckling hero, complete with cape and sword! (If you close your eyes and ignore the fighting, it sounds like you are watching Shrek 2!!) Despite being a Valleys Girl (although

Alternative

Christmas

Swansea might not be considered part of the valleys by some pedantic people) Catherine Zeta Jones is perfect as Banderas’ Spanish wife. My favourite character though, has to be that played by Rufus Sewell. Appearing as some French guy, his accent is spot on, with a very realistic “Gentlemen!” Pronounced with a French accent! If you are stuck for something to do, e.g. can’t be bothered to do THAT essay, then go see it!

Factotum (You may have to travel a fair bit to see this one) We see Matt Dillon play Henry Chinaski, the alter-ego of the famous cult novelist Charles Bukowski. The ﬁlm is a very black adaptation of the autobiographical novel. The

Film

This is a great film to see; definitely a film to watch if you’re feeling a little sad, not because it makes you sadder, but because you’ll feel really happy afterwards. Maybe you’ll want to start up your own seven aside football team…unlikely but possible. Enjoy the film.

ZORRO LORA FUN

You won’t actually win anything but here are some questions to keep your movie minds ticking over.

By MICHAEL MOONEY

troubles from girlfriends and wives, and involved in ridiculous adventures, such as pig training.

Viewing...

Constant

Gardener

Based on the novel by John le Carré. ‘The Constant Gardener’ sees Justin Quale, Ralph Fiennes, and Tessa Quale, Rachel Weisz in Northern Kenya. Tessa Quale

is found brutally murdered, and all evidence points to a crime of passion. However her widow, Justin won’t stop at anything to uncover what really happened, using all his diplomatic power and connections to get to the bottom of this mystery. Kiss

Kiss,

Bang

An unsuccessful actor is found in the middle of a murder investigation, being given lessons on how to be a private eye by a gay LA detective.

CULTURE

December 2005 15

BBC NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF WALES

By CHRIS SNOOKES

This November saw the return of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales to Bangor to perform one of the concerts in their Classical Masterworks series in an evening of animation and passion at the Prichard Jones Hall. Seldom does a concert of this magnitude spur such excitement amongst music lovers and

classical junkies in Bangor furthermore rarely do we get the chance to experience worldclass classical performers such as Conductor Vasily Petrenko and award-winning French cellist Gautier Capuçon excelling in their art. Petrenko who had recently been appointed Principal Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and who is tipped as one of Russia’s most exciting emerging talents led the audience through Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott’s French Suite the

ﬁrst of three pieces of this ‘Gallic’ themed night. This was then followed by followed by French composer Saint-Saëns’s ﬁery Cello Concerto no. 1 perfectly executed by Capuçon with a truly inspirational performance. The night concluded with Beethoven’s revolutionary ‘Eroica’ Symphony. Originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte

the piece conjures up an appropriate musical backdrop to the recent Trafalgar bicentenary I was honestly taken aback by the night and would thoroughly recommend any future performances in Bangor as a must a truly welcome break from the usual haunts in Bangor. Even if you’ve convinced yourself that classical concerts really aren’t your ‘bag’ I’d say forget the connotations and the clichés get your ticket and go experience a truly great night out whatever the weather.

GUIDE TO LIFE

By LAURA HODSON

This little book really does tell you all you need to know about clubbing! As students we can sometimes feel we know it all, buy this book and you might recognise yourself or your friends in one of the characters or simply marvel at the nice pictures! It is divided into subsections beginning with; Part 1 ‘Pre club- The calm before the storm’ in this section we meet those individuals who conspire to make the club into their euphoric dream which, sadly isn’t always the clubbers reality. Enters ‘the club ﬂyers designer’ shown in comical cartoon form as someone who is somewhat a hermit, whose only personal clubbing...or rather discoing experience in his life was at the Clacton High school summer disco of 1987. So beware when you receive this guy’s

“amazing” ﬂyer showing beautiful people supping at champagne that this is far from the truth, let this guide to nightlife warn you. Progress onto Part 2 ‘Arriving, the carnage commences,’ on arriving at the club stand alert to the female bouncer, male or female? This book isn’t too sure, it does however identify every club character with an amusing ‘also known as’ name in this case ‘Brutus Femmohommo’ seems the most formidable, his/her most notorious nemesis is the Blagger or the ‘Cheekie Chapus,’ neither however are student friendly again let this guide to nightlife warn you! The cartoons of clubland’s stereotypes are the highlight of this book, get it...do it, it is indeed as the blurb suggests ‘For anyone who loves going out, anyone who hates going out or for those who haven’t made up their minds’.

To help visualise the next generation of seamless mobility and bring the next wave of mobile connectivity to life, Motorola, Inc. has launched MOTOFWRD, a nationwide competition challenging budding innovators to depict – either through words or visuals – how tomorrow’s society will answer the consumer demand to live life wherever, whenever and however they want. Seamless mobility provides easy, uninterrupted access to information, entertainment, communication, monitoring and control when, where and how we want regardless of the

device, service, network or location If you believe you have the creativity and inspirational ideas to inspire those in the know at Motorola, then don’t miss this perfect spotlight to impress. If you fancy winning all of this then log on to www. motorola.com/uk/motofwrd. Entries will be judged by a panel of today’s most creative and forward-thinking minds, including Tom Dunmore, editor-in-chief of Stuff Magazine, futures director of the Future Laboratory, Martin Raymond and academic and member of the Global Future Forum, Liselotte Lyngsø

ACADEMI’S BEST KEPT SECRET

By CHRISTOPHER ALCOCK

What it is that those in the know know is that this semester, on a fortnightly (or so) basis, Academi has been transformed into a cinema, showing two films a night for two quid. The transformation is pretty sweet, the venue’s famed sofas and sound system used to great effect, with the films projected from DVD onto a sheet on the wall and the bar remaining open all night. Highlights from the season so far have ranged from the blockbuster action of Batman Begins, to the surreal comedy of The League of Gentlemen film to House of Flying Daggers mesmerising martial artistry. The night has also seen an exclusive in the form of a promotional screening of the Rolling Stones biopic, Stoned. Check the intranet for updates on forthcoming films, on Mondays twice a month. At £2 it’s a shame not to.

December 2005

MEDIA

By LAURA HODSON Charity 5 a side football match between our very own Seren and Storm FM took place on the 29th October in Maes Glas Sports Hall where an impressive £68.70 was raised for Annie’s

of having played sportingly. The two teams played this highly competitive game in good jest for a really worthwhile cause spurred on by an audience of 30+ lining the balcony and cheering on their preferred form of media...

Orphans. Annie’s Orphans is the charity shop on College Road that has recently opened up an extensive clothing section. In brief Annie’s Orphans manages to sustain 100 children monthly and helps the disadvantaged worldwide.

Match organizer and all round good egg, Emma Gascoigne would like to thank the Yellow pub and Mike’s Bites for their culinary support towards the two very hungry teams after the match. A very big THANK YOU to Joe and Jessica Edwards from Upper Annie’s, who it has been a pleasure working with to raise this money, obviously a MASSIVE THANKS to the players themselves, Steve Connor also for his (“somewhat suspect”-Editor) refereeing and just to thank EVERYONE who turned up and donated money. Rematch to be arranged.

All in all it was a very close match reaching a draw as it did at 6-6, leaving the match down to the drama of penalties. Michael O’Rourke and James ‘Editor’ Ainsworth scored Seren’s penalties but Storm FM sealed the ﬁnal victory. To the victor the spoils: To the runn ers up, the moral victory

SEREN

6-6

STORMFM

STORM FM WIN 3-2 ON PENALTIES SCORERS:

By HELEN TONGE

w ww.joyzine.co.uk

A music site particularly strong on unsigned/unknown bands, this site includes news, reviews, interviews (notably featuring Kaiser Chiefs and The Subways) and a somewhat London-centric gig listings page. Most of the site’s content is contributed by anyone who fancies a go at writing for it and the message boards provide a place for musicians to publicise their own band or comment on other unsigned ones. The site’s founder has also organised his own small festival, Joyfest. Though clearly (and probably fortunately) created by a music lover and not a web designer - making it confusing to navigate initially - with patience it becomes an essential addition to the favourites list of anyone who is passionate about new music (also ideal for those who like to boast of their love for bands no one else has heard of).

www.edwardmonkton.com

For those of you who don’t recognise the name, Edward Monkton is the bloke who designs the greetings cards with the black-and-white STORM FM:Alex Liddel (2), Sean Deltasound (1), Steve Murphey (1), Lex (1), Steve (1) doodles and surreal but very funny phrases on them. Example: “We can all ﬂy as high as the dreams we dare to live. Unless we are a chicken” (those of you who still don’t know him, get down to Clintons now). Whether this site is useful to you depends on whether you like the basic designs or not – merchandise featuring Monkton’s designs takes up lot of the site, now expanded to include T-shirts and some pretty VARSITY: Hot Chocolate Deluxe £1.75 What is better at this time of year than imaginative novelty gifts (soft toy of a “Madness Hamster” anyone?), relaxing with a hot chocolate? but you can also view and download some of his more popular designs. Good presentation and value for money – a chocolate Good for Christmas presents for anyone with a sense of humour. explosion! Came with sauce and a ﬂake, as well as a Twix I like mine on the side, very large serving but not very hot! Actual drink was a bit watery and tasteless. large

SEREN:James Ainsworth (4), Matthew Wright (1), Nick Baker (1)

DIZZY’S gooey and milky

CORNER 3 stars

COSTA (Dylans in Upper Bangor): Hot chocolate with cream & Marshmallows – £2.20 – 10% Student Discount = £1.98 Nice on presentation, came with a saucer and napkin! Good size of drink, but quite a powdery aftertaste. The marshmallows were not in the drink but on the side. 4 Stars MCDONALDS: Hot Chocolate 79p Actually very good quality drink for the price paid, no cream or marshmallows. Quite watery and very very hot. Good chocolatey taste though. 2 Stars

Here are the reviews from four available So, the winner is Costa! Good in Bangor. presentation, a nice tasty drink and FAT CAT: Hot Chocolate with cream & marshmallows - £2.10 Good milky taste but bitter aftertaste, good size of drink and tasty toppings but no sign of a saucer or napkin! 3 Stars

student discount!

w w w. n u s o n l i n e . c o . u k

The ofﬁcial NUS page, this professional-looking and large site covers current student news and NUS campaigns (currently including, amongst others, environmental and anti-racism campaigns). As well as that, there is a great section covering all your conceivable welfare needs – from health, relationships and drugs through to money, crime and housing – which is practical and non-patronising. There is also a very handy section detailing all the available NUS discounts and competitions, and a bilingual section for Welsh students. This site covers pretty much everything you could need as a student and is a great resource if you need some advice. And if you don’t know what the NUS is about, it also provides a good introduction to what they do – a lot more than you might realise.

Avian inďŹ&#x201A;uenza, or â&#x20AC;&#x153;bird ďŹ&#x201A;uâ&#x20AC;?, is a conta-

gious disease of animals caused by viruses that normally infect only domestic birds including chickens, turkeys, ducks, as well as pigs, horses, whales and seals. Reports say that even tigers and leopards have been infected. Avian inďŹ&#x201A;uenza viruses are highly species-speciďŹ c, but have, on rare occasions, crossed the species barrier to infect humans. One strain of avian inďŹ&#x201A;uenza, the H5N1 virus, is endemic in much of Asia and has recently spread into Europe. The incubation period is 3 to 5 days. Avian H5N1 infections have recently killed poultry and other birds in a number of countries. The disease in birds has two forms of virulence, the ďŹ rst causing mild illness, sometimes expressed only as rufďŹ&#x201A;ed feathers or reduced egg production. Of greater concern is the second form, known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;highly pathogenic avian inďŹ&#x201A;uenzaâ&#x20AC;?. This form, which was ďŹ rst recognized in Italy in 1878, is extremely contagious in birds and rapidly fatal, with a mortality approaching 100%. Birds can die on the same day that symptoms ďŹ rst appear. Avian inďŹ&#x201A;uenza spreads in the air and in manure. The disease spreads easily from farm to farm. Infected birds shed ďŹ&#x201A;u virus in their saliva, nasal secretions, and faeces. Bird ďŹ&#x201A;u is not the same as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Although their symptoms are similar, SARS is caused by completely different viruses. InďŹ&#x201A;uenza viruses also are more contagious and cannot be as readily contained as SARS by isolating people who have the infection. Infectious diseases including SARS and West Nile virus have shown us how easily, and how quickly, an emerging virus can travel across the world. Symptoms of bird-ďŹ&#x201A;u in humans are the typical ďŹ&#x201A;u-like ones (fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches, headaches), eye infections (conjunctivitis), pneumonia, severe respiratory diseases, breathing problems, chest pains and other severe and life-threatening complications. In studies people infected with

H5N1 virus symptoms included fever, shortness of breath, cough, blood-tinged sputum, diarrhoea, and abnormal blood and lung function tests. In one case, a boy with H5N1 experienced diarrohea followed rapidly by a coma without develop-

We all know that Christmas isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always like a Hollywood m o v i e , and those who get through the Christmas period without By HELEN TONGE having times when they feel stressed, anxious or even lonely can probably count themselves in the lucky minority. A recent survey by the Mental Health Foundation has revealed a few (free!) tips to allow you to cope with those moments when Granny asks you what you are going to do with your life just once too often:

1) Moderate your alcohol intake: Yes, you hear it all the time, but not only will drunkenness make you feel rotten over Christmas, it also puts you at greater risk of getting into scary situations like date rape and ďŹ ghts (the Welsh

December 2005

HEALTH ing respiratory or ďŹ&#x201A;u-like symptoms, suggesting non-standard symptoms. Direct contact with infected poultry, or surfaces and objects contaminated by their faeces, is presently considered the main route of human infection. Exposure is considered most likely during slaughter, defeathering, butchering, and preparation of poultry for cooking. The European Unionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s food safety agency got itself in a ďŹ&#x201A;ap when one of its scientists said he could not rule out that the virus could spread through food. There was no evidence to suggest that bird ďŹ&#x201A;u can be transmitted through poultry or raw eggs, which are used in mayonnaise, steak tartare and tiramisu. The risk from bird ďŹ&#x201A;u is generally low to most people but an outbreak of bird ďŹ&#x201A;u among poultry (domesticated chickens, ducks, turkeys), there is a possible risk to people in contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces with excretions from infected birds. All inďŹ&#x201A;uenza viruses have the ability to mutate, and scientists are concerned by the fact that the H5N1 virus is now able

to infect humans. The most recent statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) cited human cases of avian inďŹ&#x201A;uenza A (H5N1), A total of 117 cases and 60 deaths reported since January 2004. In addition, there are many suspected cases that have not been conďŹ rmed as H5N1 infection. It was only a matter of time before an avian ďŹ&#x201A;u virus acquired the ability to be transmitted from human to human. Economists put the cost of a worldwide bird ďŹ&#x201A;u pandemic at $800 billion (ÂŁ460 billion) in a year. On September 27, 2005 two parrots were identiďŹ ed as Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ rst cases of the lethal H5N1 strain of bird ďŹ&#x201A;u and died a few days later. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Quarantine procedures are to be tightened for birds entering Britain after the eventâ&#x20AC;? said the Environment Secretary. All bird-keepers should remain vigilant. For bio-security guidance you can visit the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk) or contact your local animal health ofďŹ ce via www.svs.gov.uk/ahdo_locations.htm Richard Jarvis, a member of the BMA council, said that while the Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plans were among the best in the world, they were not sufďŹ cient to prevent a public health crisis. The UNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s co-ordinator for avian and human inďŹ&#x201A;uenza, Dr

David Nabarro, told the world, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The range of deaths could be anything between 5 million and 150 million.â&#x20AC;? Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical OfďŹ cer, forecast that a strain of avian ďŹ&#x201A;u could be expected here quite soon, that the likely British death toll was By Dr. RASHESH MEHTA about 50,000, but that it was â&#x20AC;&#x153;not impossibleâ&#x20AC;? that fatalities could reach three quarters of a million. Yet with the present ďŹ&#x201A;u threat we are simply buying the population an increased quantity of antivirals and making, say 30 million doses of H5N1 vaccine available. The Government has stockpiled smallpox vaccine for the highly unlikely event that some scientist rushes around deliberately spreading the virus. There currently is no vaccine available to protect humans against the H5N1 virus that is being seen in Asia and Europe. Research studies to test a vaccine to protect humans against H5N1 virus began in April 2005. If there is a pandemic, the Department of Health has promised to ensure that there is enough vaccine for up to 60 million people. But the vaccine will take six months to prepare once the strain is identiďŹ ed. The Governments are stockpiling TamiďŹ&#x201A;u as a front line of defence against a potential pandemic, but analysts estimate that there are sufďŹ cient supplies for less than 2 per cent of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population. The report predicts that a worst-case avian ďŹ&#x201A;u pandemic could kill from 209,000 to 1.9 million Americans and upto 1.5 million in UK. Outside estimates of a global toll have ranged as high as 50 million or 60 million. The prevention of infection of Avian InďŹ&#x201A;uenza is of utmost importance and critical from the Public Health and Animal health sectors. We need to be very careful about our dealings with natural environmental habitat. Maintaing high standards of sanitisation by use of disinfectants, wearing heavy duty rubber or disposable gloves, wearing safety eyecup type goggles, antiviral medications as well as decontamination have to be taken as a preventive measure. Heating premises more than 100 degrees C would get rid of the virus as it can not surviveat that temperature and humidity. Cooking food at appropriate temperatures and making sure not to handle raw poultry and subsequently bringing ďŹ ngers into contact with the face. Maintaining good respiratory and hand hygiene to prevent transmission to medical or family personnel will also help a great deal. Children, adults and Workers should take a vaccine as our goal is to protect people from exposure to the virus. For safety reasons one can opt for a human inďŹ&#x201A;uenza vaccine available at the local GP or local NHS Hospital.

are the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest Christmas drinkers). 2) Stretch those legs: Surely no oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideal Christmas involves trips to the gym, but try going for a walk after those big meals instead of crashing in front of the television. Who wants to watch The Sound of Music for the umpteenth time anyway? 3) Eat a balanced diet: one mince pie not four, and try and force down a sprout or two. You know you want to. 4) Save pennies: budget BEFORE you go shopping, and have an advanced plan of what you want to buy, or you might end up deciding that, yes, dad would love that horribly overpriced teal cashmere jumper. 5) Sooth away stress: If it all gets too much, lock yourself in your bedroom, put your favourite new album on high volume, phone a friend (who probably feels exactly the same as you) or walk the dog. And remember, feeling low over Christmas is amazingly common â&#x20AC;&#x201C; donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t suffer in silence.

USEFUL NUMBERS FOR THE CHRISTMAS PERIOD SAMARITANS 08457 90 90 90 NHS DIRECT 0845 4647 NATIONAL CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU 020 7833 2181

December 2005

PRETTY PERSON IN TIME LIVE PERFORMANCE SHOCK!

SPORT

December 2005 19

By JACK PEAT

STUDENT’S GB SUCCESS Marine Biology and Oceanography student Rosemary Cripps has recently reached the heights of the Great Britain Kayaking team and been awarded the University’s Llew Rees memorial prize. The prize is awarded to a student who has contributed to their sport at a national and university level. As well as working for a year in New Zealand at a Kayak school, she now also coaches beginners at the university’s canoe club. Since then her paddling career has been rapid. After entering the National Student Rodeo, she twice won the expert ladies competition and received a professional sponsorship deal from Desperate Measures canoe shop. She has travelled to Norway to compete in the Voss Extreme race and secured a place on the Great Britain freestyle team. Rosemary has also recently achieved 7th overall place with the Great British team at the world championships in Australia, and since then taken part in the Eurocup even and Sjoa festival.

Professor Fergus Lowe, chair of the sport and recreation committee commented that “having taken up kayaking so recently, Rosemary’s achievements in the sport have been quite extraordinary. In bestowing the Llew Rees Memorial prize upon her, the University wishes both to honour her hard work and determined dedication, and also to signal our own great pride in her accomplishments. We wish her even further success over the years to come”. Rosemary is thrilled with the award, she said “The award is a great help. Although my sponsorship deal allows me to buy kit at a cheaper price there is little money in paddle sports and I receive no money to buy kit or for travel expenses. This award will allow me the opportunity to train more often, buy much needed equipment and replace broken kit.” Her success has been a real tribute to the University, and we wish her the best of luck in the future.

FRY UPS MAKE FOR A WINNING FOOTBALL TEAM

Bangor University Football Club have increased chances of playing competitive football with the introduction of a new 7a- side league. After previous attempts at making football accessible to everyone, the 7-a- side league has proved to be the most successful option. The league currently stands at 16 teams playing at 3-5 on Sunday afternoon on the Maes Glas Astro. The league seems to be proving very successful so far, and has also opened options (other than trials) of making it to the ﬁrst three University football clubs. Surprise league leaders, Mike’s Bites FC are proving to be a fan’s favourite as they remain unbeaten, even in the face of University team opposition. Anyone who takes part in the League is also eligible to travel with the club on their tour of Spain. Players interested in

COME ON DOWN...

Bangor City have looked to the students in an increasing bid to improve their attendances. Although Bangor City boasts the highest attendance records in the Welsh Premier League, they feel they can increase this margin by looking towards the students for new support. After qualifying for Europe in 2002/03 season their performances have gone down, ﬁnishing 6th in 2003/04 due to an injury blighted season. Since then City found Europe in 2004/05 season, also making the semi ﬁnals of the FAW Premier Cup with victory over Cardiff City, before been dismissed by English League team Wrexham. Hopefully with an increased fan-base, City can once again look to Europe and league success. With a new stadium on the way, Bangor City look to be moving forward. Keep

an eye out for up and coming ﬁxtures at Farrar Road.

BANGOR CITY FOOTBALL CLUB ARE GIVING ONE LUCKY READER THE CHANCE TO WIN AN OFFICIAL BANGOR FC SCARF TO KEEP YOU WARM IN THE STANDS THIS SEASON. QUESTION: WHERE DO BANGOR CITY PLAY THEIR HOME GAMES?

WALK THIS WAY...

‘Ever climbed Snowdon before?’ …Intrigued, I wandered down to the SU the following Saturday morning to be warmly introduced to the UMWC committee, route leaders and those ‘characters’ that are clearly a renowned part of the club already. The various routes were introduced, from those hardcore enthusiasts making several peaks in a day, right through to easy walks catering for those who prefer a more gentle amble to the summit. Having not done much walking, and having never made a mountain before, I chose a medium group ascending the Pyg track and descending the Miner’s. Though I didn’t know anyone, I soon got talking to people in the group, as well as the leaders, ﬁnding that the club consisted of people as varied as the walks themselves. I found the leaders to have everyone’s interests at heart, ensuring that people were enjoying the walks and not struggling or uncomfortable in the moistening conditions on the way up. It was a challenge, but reaching the summit and seeing the World stretched out for miles and miles beneath your feet easily made you feel on top of the World and gave you a real sense of achievement. I got to know a couple of people really well that day, and we agreed to meet up for the club social in the evening. I soon found that as much effort goes into the social as into the active side of the club, and was soon turning up every Saturday to each of the different walks, and eagerly heading off down the pub in the evening to catch up with everyone. Well, that was over a year ago now. I had only gone along to the Freshers’ Snowdon walk on a whim (and to take advantage of the free bus!) and hadn’t planned on staying with the club

making the trip, or ﬁnding out more about the league, please contact the captain, or check out the website. Peue12@bangor. ac.uk/mfootball@undeb.bangor.ac.uk

RUGBY LEAGUE: TURNAROUND Bangor University Rugby League side have dramatically turned things round after suffering a very disappointing season last year. With an inﬂux of Freshers and a complete squad turn around, the Bangor team are ﬂying high at the top of the table and are pulling out results such as an impressive win over Manchester Met. Having

By Bec

only been in existence for a matter of years, the team have gone from barely being able to gather a match squad to an impressive 27 regular players. The team have won 3 out of 4 so far, compared to their dubious single victory last season. With a new kit the league side appear to be the most improved squad so far.

UMWC PR Ofﬁcer

CLUB OF THE YEAR 04/05 or continuing to go out walking. I’m not really sure how it happened, and mostly I blame the people I met, but I have now found myself to be an active member of the UMWC committee and am still enjoying making those peaks!

Our walks this year are as varied as they were before, covering much of Snowdonia. Recently, the club provided a very successful away trip to Cadair Idris, and a night-walk up Snowdon. Our next away trip is to the Peak District, with the club also planning several away trips and night-walks for the future. The recent bonﬁre night party was a huge success thanks to Stefan down at ‘The Farm’ and with the UMWC Christmas Doo at The Bulkeley Hotel also coming up, we can look forward to much merry-making as well as that good ol’ slap-up turkey meal! The UMWC meets every Saturday at the Students Union at 9.15am, with a variety of walks catering for all abilities, as well as the opportunity to test those scrambling skills! You’ll also see us down The Harp, our sponsor, for our social every Saturday evening at 8pm to round off a days walking. The club also has committee meetings down the pub every Wednesday, which just as often will turn into a social lasting till close with a drink or two… or several, in some cases! Our big socials take place every two Wednesdays, including the notorious pub-golf, shot-night, quiz, and AU night so far. There is always a great deal going on with the club, and with over 130 members this year, we continue to be very active (and very social!), catering for all tastes and abilities.